The bliss of freelancing

Exactly a decade ago I decided to switch to freelance IT contracting. Looking back, that appears to be perhaps the best decision I've ever made in a lifetime. Integrity, freedom, and health, approximately in that order, are three vital aspects of human well-being that life has taught me to value the most. Freelancing, I can state with confidence, has immensely contributed to the second entry in this list. But freedom is just one of several things I have enjoyed as a freelancer. Retrospecting on those amazing 10 years, here are some aspects of life as a contractor that make me immensely proud of the decision I made:

1. The chance to work on a variety of projects. Contracts are typically signed for 6 months and though there have been a number of extensions here and there, I ended up working for far more projects than I could have experienced as a full-timer. The sheer variety built into this approach has been an absolute personal enricher.
2. The opportunity to work with a gamut of teams spanning across an assortment of organizational cultures. The express need to adapt with each one of them in a truly synergetic mode has definitely honed whatever soft skills I possessed.
3. The dire need to develop a cunning acumen to survive. Yes, for contractors, it is almost always a survival of the fittest. The constant pressure to perform, produce and excel has perhaps brought out the best in me, professionally.
4. The opportunity to learn how to run a company. Agreed, those private limited companies contractors operate through are typically small but the basic rules and principles for managing them remain much the same as those that apply to large corporations. Annual accounts, corporation tax returns, VAT returns, professional/legal insurances, payroll, client invoicing etc. present a golden opportunity for a technology-oriented person like me to catch up with stuff of this kind, even if all of these execute on a low scale. I have always felt this experience is a great enabler for someone taking next steps towards true entrepreneurship.
5. The perpetual need to keep oneself updated. Again, it comes down to survival of the fittest. IT contractors must not only pick up the latest technologies that keep popping out there, they must start demonstrating efficiency and productivity from day one on an account. "Upgrade or perish" remains a general thumb rule for all IT freelancers.
6. Development of an appetite for taking risk. Complacence in the comfort-zone of a full-time job is a recipe for mental health issues. Six-month contracts have forced me to learn to take life as it comes. Believe me, it has been exciting to live on the edge with assurances, if any, almost always set to expire in a few months.
7. Money. While not an absolute driver for me, I cannot discount the fact that financially, contracting has been far more rewarding than full-time roles could potentially have been. Let's accept, money matters. And of course, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
8. And the best of all, those fantastic degrees of freedom! No bosses to please, no quarterly targets to meet and no annual appraisals. The freedom to choose what to work on, the freedom to take leave at will, the freedom to exit a contract at a short notice (one or two weeks for most assignments) and (not sure if this applies to many) the freedom to say no to boring office parties. Freedom of this kind almost on its own, ropes in much of the magical work-life balance that I find an entire generation moaning about. Not to forget the excitement. Freelancing makes it as wild and exciting as it can possibly get to be.

But surely the world of contracting is not utopia, where everything is made out to be perfect. So what have I lost out on then? If I must add a con here for the sake of completeness, I would bring to mention the lost opportunity of climbing up a corporate ladder. Yes, there have been no catchy designations for me along the way but seriously, do I care? Would it matter if I were positioned somewhere in a long chain of "resources", all trained to slog in unison to reap profits for that business owner at the top? I am still a "Director and CEO" in my own little world and will definitely not be stripped of my title the moment the next recession looms large and some heartless top-notch out there decides to start laying off a lot of those that have been flashing their designations around. On to true entrepreneurship now!