Hey Reader,

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I'm working on a new YouTube video that will be posted on Friday (see, I told you, so now I have to do it), and the essence of it is this:

There are two ways to reach your goals, to be "successful."

The first way is the "do more" approach. Create more, pitch more, write more, connect more, force, hustle, and grind your way to your goal. Do the thing harder faster stronger until you make the money/get the client/make the thing. You are only successful when you reach the ultimate goal: the 10k client, the viral video, the polished website.

The second way is the "do less, intentionally" approach. This way involves a crucial ingredient that the first way doesn't have: boundaries. This way allows you to decide up front: here is my goal, and this is what I will and won't do to achieve that goal. You are successful when you stick to your boundaries vs. achieving the end goal.

For example, your ultimate boundary could be, "I am not willing to sacrifice my physical or mental health to achieve this goal."

Therefore, you cannot outdo the competition to reach your goal because at some point, constantly doing more is going to lead to burnout and phyiscal or mental collapse.

In fact, you're not worried about the competition at all. You're only worried about what is within your capacity to accomplish, given the boundaries that you are not willing to cross.

Here's an example you might be familiar with.

Option 1: Send 50 cold emails every day without fail until you book your first client.

Option 2: Spend up to 30 minutes each day connecting with potential clients and referral partners on LinkedIn. Fit this in where you can, 15 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes on your lunch break, etc. Focus on making meaningful connections instead of X number of connections per day.

Given the right mindset and time, both methods will achieve the goal of getting a client. But guess which one is setting up for long-term success, and which is setting up for burnout.

The bottom line is: you don't have to suffer your way to success.

Actually, those who are suffering their way to success usually aren't successful for very long.

Because no one wants to continously suffer to achieve their goals.

So instead:

1. Decide your boundaries.
2. Stick to them.
3. Keep going.
4. Celebrate along the way.

This is how to be a Health First Freelancer in practice.

If you want to see the full video with different examples on Friday, make sure to subscribe on YouTube. As of this moment, we're at 370 subscribers (!!!), help me get to 400 by sharing with your friends and family! 🫶

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Always anti-burnout,

Amanda

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P.S.

Still deciding on your health insurance for next year? Here's my new video on my experience with CrowdHealth in 2025. I think they are a great option for freelancers and anyone who doesn't get insurance from their employer (with a few caveats, as I explain in the video). If you decide to sign up, make sure to use my referral code WFWIE1 to get your first 3 months for $99 total.