1: never run out of money

In the summer of 2016, most of my friends were immersed in job searches. I, on the other hand, was still busy writing my thesis and finishing my graduate internship in Amsterdam. As an intern at a small environmental consultancy, I felt like I was juggling knives while fate became uncertain. About a month before the internship ended, I offered my paintings to one of the employer’s clients, to my amazement they were so appreciative of my work that they asked me if I would love to do a challenge for them. “Is that an offer?” I asked. “Sure it’s miles, if you need it.” “On the road!” I answered, and thus began the long and winding road of my freelance career.

Over the next few months I did things that I never thought I would do. I registered my own company with the chamber of commerce, created invoices, did mission management, visited clients, toured the production plant facilities, all even in pants and a sports jacket. I was working passionately at work, making sure my painting was valuable to the patron. For the first time in my life I had something that I was building on my own and things were looking for things that could go better. I had a crazy experience of optimism and started planning initiatives for my destiny.

The first issue I made with my consulting fee was to hire the top notch Dutch language instructor that cash might want to buy. I saw many foreign students struggling to get process in my discipline due to the language barrier. I thought that if I was going to be successful with jobs or social lifestyles in the United States of America, I had to research the local language. However, this was easier said than done, because the Dutch have an incredible number of close accents given the scale of the United States of America. To make matters worse, in the west I lived in, they always switch to English if they feel a hint of a foreign accent. but I would support my flat company like a rock. He may not switch back to English, even if it meant having 7-12 months of conversations with people in the neighborhood for the next half year.

My main intention at that time was to get a project with the local municipality on sustainability. I found that the opportunities would be endless for the city, so I started spreading the word and showing up at activities. Later I also put together a team to make a YouTube channel on sustainability. I ended up going to a conference in Belgium to meet ecu contacts, on the way to get capacity funding. but the trip turned out to be a complete failure and at that moment I began to realize that money was coming out of my pocket like blood from a serious artery.

with December’s help I had spent almost all of my earnings from the independent project. I figured based entirely on my savings, I might want to run through March, April in great. My rent got pretty expensive for someone in dire straits. To make matters worse, there has been nothing new on the horizon. He also did not understand that to land new common projects he would take up to 6 months. furthermore, the municipality no longer seemed as interested in working with a recent foreign graduate who did not speak the language and had no formal business experience or close network. My initial expectations had no control over reality and I was following difficult lifestyle instructions.

2: when you run out of money, be flexible

During the start of the new year, it became clear that if he didn’t get a project soon now, he was going to be broke. The most difficult element was that I was not ready to give up my dream of being self-employed and doing all the tasks I wanted. So I didn’t look for a regular activity. instead, I doubled down on the municipality’s challenge. I met them every week and they rejected me every week. I called my old clients, who also doubled down on learning Dutch. I read all the business e-books I wanted to find and little by little I started to fix my LinkedIN. I also went to some nice occasions and sooner or later I found an exciting new company in Amsterdam. They wanted to work with me to develop an innovative venture. but, while the rush was on, they no longer had any investment for it and shouldn’t have the funds to wait either.

February arrived and due to expenses that I had not taken into consideration, I was going for a walk without cash at the end of the month! What became what I’m going to do? I didn’t need to go back to Greece or ask my mother and father for help. He wanted cash and fast! but first she had to cut down on unnecessary expenses, along with proper nutrition and yoga classes. The rent happened to be later: I had an annual agreement, so I wanted to stop it and find something cheaper. Fortunately, two of my housemates have also left, moving to a less expensive room in our residence as a result. task accomplished. The subsequent flow became finding that extra money to support myself in the Netherlands, so I needed to get creative again.

I sat in the living room and wrote down all the abilities I possessed on a piece of paper. two of them being that he had worked as a waiter and spoke Greek. you can see where this changed on going. I called and emailed every Greek restaurant in the area. sooner or later a person from a family tavern in a nearby metropolis responded. I had coffee with my destination manager, a 32-year-old Greek of Dutch origin, and we hit it off from the start. The only problem was that I absolutely sucked as a waiter. He would ignore orders, drop business, and not speak Dutch accurately enough.

Later, the boss confronted me, “Look at The O, I really like you and I really like your company, but you’re not that good of a waiter. Maybe we can find something else you can do. You told me you’re up there with computer systems, but you’re not i have no concept about them.luckily i had gained experience in online advertising during my internship, i knew how to design business cards and send big emails.

I would go to the restaurant in as soon as a week. Sitting quietly at a desk by the bar with my computer, I could work for your online marketing campaign. If the restaurant was too busy, he would grab the puck and dispense liquids to customers with a big smile. It became a humble job, but I kept calm and carried on, because I should see a direct result of my efforts. I felt useful. The boss became an excellent manager and knew how to motivate his staff. I learned a lot from him and that work helped me not to drown financially and emotionally during that difficult period.

3: if you are going to take risks, first take care of the inconvenience

The biggest lesson I learned from this experience was that every time you take some kind of risk, you have to protect the inconvenience first. You have to make sure that in case you fail, you have a couch to fill, a second task, a hot meal to devour, a big accomplishment. That takes much of the stress out of failure and allows you to get back on your toes. losing is part of the game, and the little experiments, the little mistakes, are essential to learning. The time at the restaurant also made me realize that I had really done some things in the past year. I started my own business company in a foreign country with little or no pleasure. I had tried very hard to learn the language in a very limited time. I took a brilliant assignment from college and completed it on time and on budget. I met many new humans and attempted my success in obtaining unique tasks while studying how to sell myself from scratch.

And promoting myself I did. sooner or later I managed to recover and started applying for regular jobs. this will help me take advantage of the experience, the community, and the price range if I ever wanted to try freelancing once again. In other words, he was going to protect the inconvenience. To my amazement, my level of Dutch after 9 months is good enough to persuade people that I am capable of understanding the language. This opened up three times as many positions as before. I began to take advantage of the next day as if there weren’t any: I sent fifty letters in two weeks and I was invited to three interviews. I got the da process and normally a well paying job in the sustainability branch of the world substance corporation. Satisfied with myself, I booked the cheapest ticket to the South of France, where I disappeared for a couple of weeks.

After finishing my last Sunday shift at the restaurant, I grabbed my bike to ride home. I ended up for a minute next to my favorite channel. I watched the moon reflected on the water floor. while it became the last moment I honestly took the time to revel in easy stuff like that? I was living in one of the most impressive cities in the world and I had forgotten to make an effort to understand it. I got back on my bike feeling at peace with myself. I returned home with the certainty that everything could turn out very well in the end.

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