Before I transitioned to freelancing, I used to love end-of-the-year strategy sessions. Sure, most people in a typical workplace may be bored by the icebreaker; I, however, found clarity in assessing the past year and encouragement in planning for the future.

When I began my freelancing career, I held solo planning meetings and found they set the tone for my whole year. Since not everyone makes spreadsheets and worksheets for fun, I began inviting my freelancer friends to my annual sessions, which is now known as the “Annual General Meeting of Freelancers (AGM)” and is proudly in its third year.

Here are some lessons I learned from these AGMs that journalists can benefit from, regardless of their position:

(1) Put on your management hat

One of the crucial lessons you tend to learn as a freelancer is that, unlike in a typical corporate role, you are in charge of everything. That means that you get to do all the wonderful work on the ground, but also carry the responsibility to strategize and manage.

One of the tricks is not just recognizing that you are both the worker and the manager, but finding appropriate times to take on each role to function effectively. For instance, deciding in the middle of a busy, tiring workday whether you should pivot your entire work skillset or diversify your income mix is not particularly fruitful.

Year-end strategies are a chance for the worker in you to sit back and put on the management hat. That means dreaming big and tapping into what you want to do next. But, it also means being honest and strategic about your weaknesses and things that hold you back. So, take this seriously.

Personally, I like to do my AGM on a quiet afternoon at a coffee shop, away from any deadlines, to make myself focus on it fully.

(2) Face the feedback facts

The kind of strategy you use to review your year doesn’t matter, as long as you do it honestly and vulnerably. Very often we try to build what we should do next based on deep but slightly vague feelings, like, “another job would make everything better” or, “I don’t make enough money as a freelancer.”

Though it can be painful, it’s necessary to take time to genuinely work through what happened in the last year. Perhaps make a monthly breakdown or a list of stories or clients. Try to consider what kind of work you did, both in medium and content. If you have a variable income, it can be helpful to use your finances as a tracker to give some idea of how the year flowed.

I also recommend looking at your work environment as a key area to review. Did you like how much you worked, where you worked and in what rhythm? How are your networks and support structures? Are changes possible? All of this can come together to give you a much better understanding of what actually happened during the year.

(3) It’s okay to be intimidated by your dreams

I remember looking around the table after my first group AGM. Once everyone was done strategizing alone, there was a sense of heaviness and anxiety. Eventually, someone admitted, “Now that I know what my goals are, I feel like I have something to lose.” Everyone agreed, even though their dreams were quite different.

I happen to think that the fear of failing can mean that you’ve touched on the exact nerve of where you should be heading. One of the strategies I have found to work well in this regard is a three-step exercise inspired by freelance reporter Rebecca L Weber.

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by Elna Schütz, International Journalists’ Network