After 243 episodes, The 6-Figure Freelancer podcast is coming to an end.

Manifesting your future is something that I talk about regularly, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t follow that advice myself, as I move from being a six-figure freelancer to a seven-figure CEO. 

In this final episode, I want to say thank you to all of you who have listened and supported this podcast, as well as talk a little bit about why I’m ending the show and what’s next for me and my team. 

“I'm sure one day I might go back and listen to all my podcast episodes, see how I've changed as a public speaker, as a podcaster, as a teacher, as someone who shares things with people. You know, it's going to be so cool to see how I've changed and how I've grown. And I'm glad that this little place on the internet can be that archive, that little memento from the time where I ran a multiple-six-figure agency.” ~ @AvaniMiriyala

• When something is out of alignment, recognize it, and take the steps needed to fix it. 
• I’m no longer a six-figure freelancer which is why I’ve decided to end this chapter of my life. 
• Sharing is a huge part of learning. I’ve learned so much from the process of making and sharing this podcast. Every time we share something or teach something to someone else, we learn it even more, and that is a magical process.
• As you move into different patterns of your life, it’s important to protect your energy, set boundaries, and invest in yourself so that you can show up for your team. 

• Podcast Royale

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Selling a business is something many entrepreneurs dream about. While some are content to own and operate their own business for the long-term, others set out with the goal to eventually sell or exit the business to pursue other interests. But just because you’re ready to sell your business doesn’t mean it’s the right move or that the process will be easy. 

Josh Hall, the founder of Josh Hall Design, joins me today to talk about how he built and sold a design business, and the journey he took to get to this point in his career. 

As with many web designers, Josh’s path was a seemingly unlikely one. He started out as a cabinet maker for custom tour busses while he was also pursuing a career as a musician. But when the financial crisis in 2008 hit, he was laid off from his job and started diving into design as a way to create his band’s merch. 

Through word of mouth, Josh was getting freelance design gigs, which turned on a lightbulb for him: he could actually make money doing the design work he enjoyed so much. He started researching business concepts and marketing and his business took off. 

Now that Josh has sold his design business, his focus is on creating courses and a community to help coach other web designers on how to create and run a profitable business. 

In this episode, Josh and I talk about his perspective on selling a business, how to put the right barriers in place while building a business, and what to look for when you are thinking about changing paths. 

“For anyone who's interested in selling a business, I heard this analogy a while back and I love it. They call it income vines. It's like you're swinging from vine to vine. And if you're going to leave this vine and jump over to this one, you want to make sure it's strong and you're not going to go plummeting to the ground.” ~ Josh Hall

• There’s no right path. Everyone does their job differently and everyone can create their own futures and carve out their own niche.
• Look for red flags that are telling you to change direction. There’s no rule that says you have to stay married to your business forever. 
• When you sell something, it has to be able to work without you. If you’re building a business and it’s all about you, it will be hard to sell. 
• Be cautious when you quit your 9-5 job for your personal business. If you don’t put barriers in place and schedule appropriately, you might end up working 24/7 instead.
• If you plan on selling your business or otherwise exiting, make sure the new “vine” you’re planning on swinging to is strong enough to meet your financial needs. 

• Josh Hall
• Josh Hall Web Design Courses
• Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by Josh Warrillow 
• Josh on Facebook
• Josh on YouTube

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Even though this year has been full of challenges, there’s still much to be learned that we can apply to how we move into next year. 

There’s a lot to be thankful for, especially the growth and resilience that have emerged from the obstacles we’ve all faced in the past year, and I want to spend some time talking about how you can take that growth and build on it moving into the next year. 

"I challenge you to ask yourself what version of you emerged from the ashes in 2020? What version of you are you moving into this new year with? There's a lot of stuff that we all need to learn. A lot of challenges do lie ahead of us, but we are much better equipped now than we were 365 days ago.” ~ @AvaniMiriyala

• Think about the person you are going to be one year from now and start working backward from there. 
• To realize a reality where you are a new person, you need to start acting, thinking, and believing like it now. 
• If you are focused on where you want to be, you don’t need to worry because if you surrender to life, it will take you there. 

• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection by Michael Singer

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The concept of overflow is similar in some ways to the concept of abundance. It’s the idea that the natural state of your life can be an overflow in all areas. To truly embody the concept of overflow, you have to decide to sit in that space and expect that overflow. Overflow of money, of health, of relationships, of love, of support, or whatever it is that you’re desiring. In this episode, I talk through how to experience overflow. This is a good place to start as you begin planning your goals and growth areas for next year.

"That means tapping into and embodying [overflow]. When I say embodying, I mean, feeling the feelings I will feel in my body, actually feeling it in my gut, that abundance, that overflow, that excitement, that peace, that knowledge.” ~ @AvaniMiriyala

• Abundance is putting yourself in a mental state where you physically feel your desires and you are always adding to the mental state that your desires will manifest.
• It’s called overflow because you are constantly adding with each action you take to your end desires and eventually everything overflows. Your goals become reality because of everything you’ve put into this mental state of abundance. 
• Show up, dress, act, talk like your goals have already come to life and you will see your mental state overflow.

• Amanda Frances

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Getting started as a freelancer or with self-employment of any kind can feel like a big risk. There are many unknowns that often become roadblocks. Fear of taking a risk and failing can be debilitating without the right mindset. 

Chris Misterek, the founder of Self-Made Web Designer, joins me today to talk about how you can give yourself permission to take risks, and how you can reframe your mindset to help you feel empowered rather than fearful. 

When Chris got started in web design, it was out of necessity — he wanted to bring in more income for his family. But within his first 18 months as a freelancer, Chris more than doubled his full-time salary. He knew he had made the right decision, and never looked back.

Chris credits much of his success to taking the leap — jumping in and consuming as much information as he could to both build his portfolio and knowledge base. 

A couple of years ago, Chris decided to go back to full-time employment as a designer. And he noticed that the biggest thing holding most people back from starting a side hustle wasn’t a lack of talent, but fear — fear of failure, risk, the unknown, etc. 

Knowing he’d been through all of that before and that his experiences could be helpful, Chris launched his coaching business, Self-Made Web Designer. 

In this episode, Chris and I talk about how he got started, the pivotal moment that led him to make the jump into web design, and how you can overcome imposter syndrome and get started! 

"Winners lose a lot more often than losers. Give yourself permission to fail, and do it a lot. Because you're going to learn a lot of things from those mistakes. And one day you're going to be able to look back, and it might be really slow, progress might be a lot slower than you would hope, but you're going to look back and you're going to realize, you just scaled this mountain.” ~ @ChrisMisterek

• Some people are more risk-averse than others, and that’s ok. But don’t look at nudges toward self-employment as bad. It’s empowering!
• For those just starting out with self-employment, know what you want to accomplish and let those goals drive your decisions. But don’t let it hold you up for too long; jump in and figure out the details later.
• Have the mindset of being able to pivot and shift to attain your goals, even if it means dropping clients. 
• Do something for another designer or freelancer that you wish someone would have done for you. 

• Self-Made Web Designer
• Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Karlgaard
• Chris on Twitter
• Chris on Instagram

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Proposals drive freelance and contract businesses. But how do you know if your proposals are any good? By the time you present a proposal to a potential client, you should know enough about their pain points and goals that you can create something your prospect can’t say no to. 

I’ll share my proposal builder with you, but we’ll also discuss how you should organize your proposal and what you should include that will help your prospective clients see the vision of where you want to take them, and trust that you can get them there.

“The moment they can see [your proposal] laid out, a clear plan in front of them, they will say ‘wow, this person knows exactly what they’re doing, I need to work with them ASAP.’” ~ @avanimiriyala

• A good proposal does one thing really well: it shows how you think. If you can communicate what your thought process is, you’re going to land more clients. 
• When someone hires you, they want to know you can problem-solve to get the solutions they might need. 
• Help potential clients visualize the completed project with a plan laid out in your proposal.   
• A proposal is a critical component of gaining the trust of your prospective client. Show them you know exactly how to execute on their goals and the path you plan to take to get there.

• Proposal Builder

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Going through tough times, whether in your business or personal life, can be stressful and feel like a setback, especially if things were rolling along. But these times of being tested are what we need to grow and improve.

Today’s episode is intended to help you move through challenging times in order to grow and level up to the next version of yourself. I am also here to say that it’s ok and necessary to prioritize yourself and take a break sometimes. 

“You are doing a great job, you are exactly where you need to be right now. There is a reason you are in this moment, there is a reason you are feeling what you’re feeling, it’s all happening for you.” ~ @avanimiriyala

• Take a true, deep look at yourself and ask if you need a break. Are you run down because you need some time to yourself? If the answer is yes, then make sure you allow yourself space to take that break and prioritize yourself. 
• Investing in yourself and your energy is the exact thing that allows you to bounce back and take on the world. 
• If you are someone who runs a business, has a side hustle, or just juggles a lot of things, then you need to be able to prioritize your own energy so you can be ready and recharged to lead and serve others. 
• Focus inward when you need to. It’s OK to step away in order to be your best self. 

• Anna Nassery

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If you’ve ever launched a business or started a project, you know that the litany of things you need to accomplish can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s overwhelming to the point of causing you not to start at all or to stop prematurely. 

Today’s episode is about getting you to start even if the list seems like it’s never-ending. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you just need to get what you want to say or create out into the world for people to enjoy. Done is better than perfect. 

"I firmly believe done is better than perfect. Start before you're ready. Start before you're ready because the world needs to hear what you say. And I promise you it's going to be messy at first. That's okay. Get the messy versions out of the way. Do it again and again and again. And you're going to start to get really great feedback.” ~ @avanimiriyala

• Perfect is just a story. It doesn’t exist, so stop trying to achieve it. That doesn’t mean you should do low-quality work, just stop aiming for perfection.
• If you strive for perfection, you’re just going to get in your own way. People want what you have to say and they want it now. 
• It’s going to be messy at first, but feedback on those messy things is what you will need to make better versions of your content. 
• Keep pushing. Even when it feels uncomfortable or challenging, just know that the feedback and the friction will make the result even better. 

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Affirmations can change your life. I truly believe that. Throughout this episode, I talk about why they work and why you should use them as well as the changes they make to your brain chemistry. 

While affirmations can be a powerful tool in your toolbox, it’s important to be consistent and intentional with them in order to leverage their full power. The strategies and discussion in this episode will help you get started with using affirmations in your own life.

“As I'm saying [affirmations], my brain is listening. My brain is strengthening that neural pathway every single time and my brain is trying to see how can I make sure that being confident is in [your] reality and my brain is going to start noticing things. It's going to start picking up opportunities, picking up little pieces of evidence, and strengthening and building a case for that statement.” ~ @avanimiriyala

• Strong neural pathways are a result of doing something often or believing something to be true. This myelin is what makes something second nature (like driving a car). 
• When you tell yourself that something is going to be true (i.e. “It’s going to be a great day!”) your brain automatically thinks that will be the reality and strengthens the myelin that reaffirms that. 
• You can use this default setting of your brain to do and affirm positive things, which strengthen the neural pathways, make it the reality, and can change your life. 
• Self-affirmations (i.e. “I’m confident.”) will make your brain believe this is reality and you will have more strength in the characteristic you are affirming. 

• Myelin

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Today I’m launching the first of my new mini-episodes series. These short episodes are a way to bring you consistent episodes that touch on whatever was on my mind at the time. Let’s kick it off by talking about something I’ve been struggling with lately: feeling worthy of my desires. For context, I’ve been shopping for a house with my husband and when the price tag of a few of these houses landed in front of us, I was really reluctant to pull the trigger on buying it. After some introspection, I realized it was because I didn’t feel worthy of my desires. These quick tips will help you figure out how to feel worthy of what you deserve and desire.

“Imagine how powerful that affirmation is. I am worthy of my desires, no matter how big they are. I'm worthy of even my biggest desire, worthy of my smallest, all of the desires that come to me because they were put there and they're mine.” ~ @avanimiriyala

• Practice your affirmations. You are worthy of everything that you desire. You’re worthy of your smallest and largest desires because they were put there for you.
• Even when you’re doing the right things to cultivate a mindset that allows you to accept your desires, sometimes you’ll find that you hit a wall. Keep going and expand your mindset even more.
• When we start working on our mind, amazing changes happen in our business.
• If you're feeling pause or stickiness and not sure if you are worth a desire, do some journaling exercises, rewrite that code in your brain, and rewrite those affirmations to help reframe how you feel.

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