Although being self-employed can be gratifying and make you happy from time to time, it sure is a lot of work and it can get you down from time to time.That is when you have to look at the bigger picture to keep you motivated. Here are some motivational quotes to encourage you to keep striving for your dreams.

Being self-employed isn't a career choice. It's a lifestyle choice.

Being your own boss is great. You get to choose which 18 hours a day you work.

Design your business so that it serves your ultimate lifestyle. - Michael Port

If you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to help build theirs.

Ever more people today have the means to live but no meaning to live for - Dr. Viktor Frankl

Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want. - Tony Robbins

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

Motivation comes from looking at the things you want and realising what it takes to get it.

Do your future self a favour and work hard now.

The most important skill you could ever have is the ability to learn.

97 percent of people that quit too soon are employed by the 3 percent that never gave up.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. - Henry David Thoreau.

All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today. - Pope Paul VI

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. - Newt Gingrich

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. - George Bernard Shaw

Coca-Cola sold 25 bottles in their first year - so whatever you're going through, it'll be ok.

The key to success is to start before you're ready.

Don't ever be afraid to pick up your phone. Seven figure business owners don't survive unless they pick up the phone and make that real connection to their clients. Email can be a crutch in client communication. If you need something, call. - Julie Elster

To truly excel in a consulting career, you need to sell your brain. Your strategy, knowledge, and advice will always be more valuable than your hands. Help your clients reduce risk, and build value, not just complete tasks. Don't sell your time, sell clients a better version of their life. - Kurt Elster

You can think of freelancing as volatile and risky, or as flexible and opportunity-rich. Doesn't having multiple sources of income and multiple moneymaking skills sound less risky than putting all your eggs in one employer's basket? Freelancing lets you shift gears when the world does. - Sara Horowitz, freelancers union, author of the freelancer's bible.

Don't freelance to make a living – freelance to make a life1. Money is important – but when you hit ruts, work 16 hour days and get that tough feedback, it's going to be something else that motivates you. You need to remember why you started and keep it in focus. - Joel Klettke

As a freelancer your biggest advantage is that you only need a handful of clients to succeed. Most companies need to find thousands of customers. You only need to find one at a time. - Robert Williams

Remember, nobody is hiring you just because you can design, write, market or code… they're hiring you because they have a business problem. Your service (in their mind and yours) provides the solution to that problem, so focus on that rather than skill-jargon, buzzwords and vague lists of qualifications. - Liam Veitch

Most reasons to delay are invalid if you get right to the core: no time, no money, no audience. These are all future concerns, which make it hard to start anything. Worry about those things later or not at all. Make small decisions at first, and start moving in a direction that feels right. - Paul Jarvis

Becoming an agency seems like the obvious answer whenever you want to grow and make more money. Moving in to an office might seem rather inconvenient for those who became freelancers to avoid an office in the first place.

If you start your own business and link to a physical space, you might find yourself caught up doing admin work, staff management, meetings, pitches and other kind of work to manage your business which might keep you from doing the creative work you love. If you want to earn more money but you don't want to grow an agency, then you just need to up your game as a freelancer and here's how to do so:

Know the worth of your skills

Although freelancing is famed for not making much money, some freelancers are successful and earn a decent amount. If you are a struggling freelancer, you might wonder how this is even possible and the answer is because they are good, they know how good they are and they are not afraid to promote themselves as such and charge a decent rate.

You can tell they know their worth by reading their website profiles, Twitter bios and how they communicate, in general. They are well aware that they have valuable skills that people are willing to pay for and they communicate and charge accordingly.

Think of the money you invested in your studies or doing work experience and charge your clients accordingly. You just have to believe in yourself or fake it till you make it.

Start pushing for the money you deserve and aim to make more money in less time, so you have to slave away just to barely make it through the month.

Confidence

We are all drawn to confident people because they look like they know what they are doing. When you spend money or put your business at risk, you want someone confident to take the wheel and that person can be you. This might be hard for you if you are a little shy but you can work on that. Start with small things like your body language and your appearance. Someone who looks like they have already spent money on their appearance gives the impression that they know how to make money. You have to look like you are already successful. Invest in yourself and it will pay off.

Boost your skills

Just because you are a freelancer, it doesn‘t mean you don't have to move forward in your career. It's a competitive world out there and you need to be on top of your game by continuously improving or learning a new skill. Read books, take a course, research, and so on. If you don't, your competition will and then you will get left behind. In summary, make sure you have something that makes you stand out so your clients will want to put their money and businesses in your hands.

Avoid the world freelancer

It is unfortunate but the word freelancer has become a dirty word in some circles and it can be translate into cheap work for some clients, so they might try and bargain with you to bring your asking price down.

To avoid being taken for a cheap freelancer, try to present yourself as part of a professional studio or agency so your business sounds more established and reliable. Remember that your clients want a guarantee that your work will be properly done.

Acting like a studio and playing the part

If you are working from home, make sure your business address is from a professional office - either via a virtual solution or a co-working space. You might want to have a website with your own domain and this website should match your professional email address. You might also want to create professional-looking invoices to keep up the appearances.

If you want to look more professional, you need to have a solid online presence and a distinct identity on social media that will distinguish you from others and will make your business look reliable and professional. If you have to get paid like a bigger business, you need to behave like one.

Become an expert

You have to convince your clients why they have to pay more for your work when they can get someone else to do it for a lower price. What you are selling is quality and expertise. You need to offer a service that others don't and charge for it.

Remote work has grown exponentially within the last 10 years. Although commuting to work might be a nightmare when you live far away from your office, some people need that commute to switch to work mode. While technology keeps making it easier for employees to work from home, a new debate has emerged: what's better, to work remotely or from an office? We are going to review some of the pros and cons of each of them, but in the end, it depends on each person and their working habits.

Routine

For some people, commuting to work is part of the ritual to clearly define leisure and work time. Some people find it easier to start working when they enter an office and are surrounded by others who are working as well. They actually need the scenery and work environment of an office to get them to work. These workers use the amount of time on the way to work to mentally prepare for the day, and it helps them to transition from home to work and from work to home.

Some people who work remotely also needs this ritual to prepare themselves to work but they make up for it by having their own ritual, like walking for 15 minutes before and after work.

The younger crowd, however, is more accustomed to working remotely and technology has made flexible working a fully immersive, collaborative experience. Out of those who work remotely, most of them prefer to work from the tranquility of home. Only those able to phase out the background noise and get work done are able to work from other places such as cafés. This is the case of digital nomads who are able to work from literally anywhere while travelling.

Cost savings and productivity

Most bosses will tell you that remote workers are not the most productive sort. Stats, however, show that remote workers are actually more productive. According to a Standford study of 16,000 call centre employees found that working remotely increased productivity by 13 percent. Another study showed that 77 percent of workers reported greater productivity working off-site.

While some people might wonder how remote workers manage to be more productive, the answer is that offices can be distracting. Your colleagues are constantly coming up to your desk, you have to attend meetings and there's background noise and constant chatter - an nuisance for those workers unable to phase out the background noise and get work done.

Remote companies save great quantities of money on overhead because there's no physical office, so they don't have to pay leasing fees nor in-house IT, utilities and other expenses.

Access to awesome talent

Instead of settling for the best worker the company can find in the area they are located, remote workers allow them to access the best talent anywhere in the world. This way a company has a wider scope of professionals to choose from.

Remote workers are happier

According to researchers at Harvard and Princeton, workers are willing to accept 8 percent lower pay, on average, to work from home. The reason why they would settle for less money is because they are happier to work remotely, or at least, that's what stats suggest. Accordingly, 24 percent of people who work in traditional offices say they love their job, where 45 percent of people who work remotely are happy with their job. Obviously, remote workers are happier, but on the bigger picture this is better for companies since happy employees are more productive.

Apart from delivering an improved quality of work, the happier people are with their jobs, the lower the turnover will be. Therefore, companies will save a lot of money on recruitment and retention.

While some people need the commute to switch to work more, the slog to work ruins the morale of others. If you live in a big city and it takes you an hour to get to work, your morale is already ruined. By the time you finish and get home, you've lost two hours of your day commuting, which means less leisure time. Other works end their time at the office just dreading the next morning.

The 9-5 is not for everyone. While some are productive in the morning, others need a power nap to get them going and are more productive in the evening. Flexible hours allow workers to work during the time they are most productive.

Although there are many perks to being a freelancer - working from any location, deciding your own hours -, one of the disadvantages has to do with money insecurity. Some clients might try to get advantage of you in terms of money or expertise, so here are some signs you need to watch out for.

Although you and your client might establish a close relationship, you have to remember this is still business and they have to abide by the rules. If you comply with their requirements, they have to do their part as well. Therefore, should they ask you to pay you later, you should say no.

Delayed or nil payments

When you are just starting out, you might feel like you have to say yes to any project that falls on your hands and you have to accept any terms they impose on you, even if that entails getting paid later on. Even when your new client might seem genuine, you can't rely on their word alone because if you do, they might never pay you.

Although you probably won't get paid upfront, you can ask for a deposit or a sign an agreement that states you will get paid at some upon completion of the project.

An alternative to this debacle is to work for a renown company or to go through a third-party service, such as Upwork.com, Guru.com or Escrow.com, which keeps the money safe for both parties until the project is completed.

Redo work for free

Newbies tend to make this mistake as well. Let's say you've completed an assignment, you followed the instructions and you did exactly what you were asked for, but once you've submitted your assignment, your client has changed their mind and asks you to make some changes for free. Although you might be tempted to say yes just to make your client happy and establish a business relationship, this agreement is not far for you as you are actually working for free and instead of acquiring a loyal client, you are just getting a client that will most likely continue taking advantage of you in the future.

Just remember that time is money and you need to value yourself for others to value you as well. Just because you are freelancer and you are starting out, that doesn't mean that you have to offer free services. You can if you that's what you had in mind or if that extra work will help you develop your skills, but if you have already completed your formation period and now you are offering professional services, you deserve to get paid for every hour you invested in any company's project. Just remember that you have to charge for extra work unless you made some kind of mistake or failed to follow instructions.

There are other times clients might ask you to do extra work for them. For instance, let's say a client explains the project to you and then asks you to quote them a price and once you tell them how much the project is going to cost them, they suddenly remember other tasks they forgot to mention when they explained the project to you. Thus, the add the new tasks and expect you to charge them what you had initially quoted them for. This is called scope creep and it's another trap you have to avoid.

To avoid misunderstandings, make sure you mention you tell your client you will charge for scope creep from the beginning. That way, they can opt to either pay you or do the extra work themselves. Just remember that you have to do what you are getting paid for, nothing more.

Sharing your knowledge

Unless you are Swedish, you probably had to pay good money for your studies and even if are a Swede, getting that degree cost you time. Then why share that knowledge with a client for free? Besides, if you do share this knowledge, then why won't need you anymore. As a freelancer, your skills are valuable because you are doing something they are unable to, but from the moment they know how to do your job, you've lost a client.

If a client asks you to teach them how you do your job, tell them that it would take a great deal of training to reach your knowledge level and it's quite a complicated process. Then they'll have two options. They can either keep you as a freelancer or they can invest in training someone on their team or hire someone full time which is probably more costly than hiring the services of a freelancer.

Although you might be tempted to make many of these mistakes in the beginning, you should avoid falling for these traps from when you start to keep any potential client to take advantage of you and to get paid what you are worth.