Freelance Journey in Japan
I’m having a Freelance Journey in Japan. Before this a question I asked How to Make Life a Thrilling Adventure? I don’t think I’m alone. I’ve never been wildly successful. As a college graduate, I’ve only held down jobs that have enabled my basic survival. I have even treated myself here and there. As most adults know life can quickly bog down into daily monotony as beautifully illustrated by David Foster Wallace.
Ever since I moved to the Japan server it felt like I was starting over. At first, taking that big leap of faith to go live in Japan made life feel like an adventure. It was advertised that way growing up. Like a new world being added in the most complex RPG ever made Life itself. It wasn’t long before I grew too familiar with my surroundings. Once again I felt the excitement engine bog down.
I settled into daily life then moved diagonally up the job ladder switching companies every so often. Finally, I had a comfortable job, title, and desk, and yet I was still unhappy. Part of this can probably be attributed to loneliness. With covid time away from family added up. I still felt there was something deeper that was bothering me. Although I was comfortable, this wasn’t the adventure I had signed up for. Life is a thrilling adventure so why didn’t it feel like one?
Heros You Look Up to
Social media enabled me to have a Freelance Journey in Japan. But it’s also a double-edged sword. It’s easy to see all the amazing things people are capable of and compare. To see success in areas and skills you pursue is as intimidating as it is awe-inspiring. The artists, creators, and athletes I look up to might as well be superheroes. It’s easier to see them that way, but they are just people too. I don’t deny the existence of certain things like talent, good timing, or certain other Unfair Advantages. As Malcolm Gladwell writes, Not everyone will climb mountains. But normal people like me can achieve some great things with some effort. I think when we elevate people to the status of “hero” to protect our ego. This is especially true when we know we’re not being the best we can be.
In addition, We only see the results of the struggles that our heroes have gone through. Rarely are we with them through their whole journey. Part of life being a thrilling adventure is to be unsure at times. It’s the trials, tribulations, and antagonists that make our heroes. And rarely will you know you’ll be ready to face them. I don’t know if I’m ready for Freelance Journey in Japan.
In one of the best animated films I have ever seen Across the Spiderverse. It argues that anyone can wear a mask. I could write a whole article on why Spider-Man is one of the best heroes around. A reason that the mask is so amazing is that anyone can wear it. Even the way most Spider People get their powers is more relatable. Not everyone is an alien from outer space but kids can imagine getting bitten by a spider.
It’s a Leap of Faith
In this new version of Spider-Man, it’s not only Peter but a new protagonist in the form of Miles Morales. I can relate to Miles a lot. I’m sure it’s because he is a mixed kid in a stuffy school. But it’s more than that. He’s not having a Freelance Journey in Japan, but anyone can relate to the struggle of growing up and failing to meet expectations.
When Miles finds himself not ready to fill the shoes of one of his heroes. Spider-Man saves Spiderman and Peter gives him two pieces of crucial advice.
- Don’t do it like me
- You won’t. It’s a leap of faith. That’s all it is, Miles. A leap of faith
When I look to my heroes I know I can never be like them. So I should find my path to “be a hero”. I can take some bits from them, but I have to do it my way.
The leap of faith is what I needed. Just because I was taking the leap of faith didn’t mean I’d reach my endgame. But with dream chasing the one thing that was guaranteed was uncertainty so I jumped.
Accountability
To help keep myself accountable during my Freelance Journey in Japan I’ll use this blog. The practice of logging what I did was something I did at my last job. I think logs are better than schedules in helping to stay on top of things. Weirdly, it’s like scheduling the past with your actions. I simply used Microsoft’s Onenote to keep track of my daily activity. The Learn in Public article teaches us to share this process of growth with the world. So I’m making blog posts out of my logs too. Even if I don’t find success it will show people what not to do when they’re trying to “make it”. I’ve also been more comfortable putting more of myself out there. Not that I think that I’m important or anything, but maybe this will be interesting to someone.
I Thought I Hit Rock Bottom Before I’ve Been Here Once
A lot of you following me will know I walked away from my job to start a Freelance Journey in Japan. I had a plan but it was kind of fuzzy. I need this freelance thing will work. It may have “free” in the title, but it’s a lot of hard work. Unlike a nine-to-five everything is so up in the air all the time. There’s never any security, but perhaps when you’re reaching for a dream there won’t be security.
It seems in all of this chaos I’ve lost sight of what I want. What do I want? I think right now the only thing I can think about is surviving. And to survive in our modern world, you have to make money. Tomorrow I start my first freelance contract. Although I’m not a scheduled employee I plan to work 8-hour days. Still having the freedom to be in control of my life feels nice.
The discipline I built puts me one step closer to where I want to go. My medium-term goal is to be able to go to a school and support my life with remote work. In between doing freelancing work, I’m also working on my projects. My long-term goal is to be able to make a profit on my own creative products and projects. I don’t know if I’ll ever accomplish either of those things that one.
Freelance Journey in Japan: Contract Negotiations
After a host of digital meetings, I’ve landed a freelance contract for a group of international schools. My work centers around Microsoft’s Sharepoint and Power Automation. Everything I learned about SharePoint and Power Automate can be found here. However, that knowledge would have been useless without the practical experience I had working through my last company. I also built the discipline to work remotely and manage my projects in my last position.
I’m also working on a freelance contract with another client in the same field. With this hopefully, I can achieve a higher income level than before doing work I find interesting. I find that power automation works like pseudo coding and is IT automation and systems design for business. I’m hoping to use project management, systems design, and block-based coding experience in the game industry.
YouTube channel
Building a YouTube channel is hard, but rewarding work. It can be a heartbreaker to spend hours on a video and get next to no views. I’ve done it so many times that it’s not only slightly painful when that happens. You brush the pain off and think” of “what you can improve moving into the future”. Thanks to YouTube, I’m continuing to build several useful skills that have already helped me in my life.
The first thing I did this morning was to finish up a video. I’m getting better at shooting, editing, and storytelling. Although I always feel like I should watch more tutorials, I do have to get content out. I want better and new equipment, but I can still make decent videos with what equipment I do have.
I Love You Girl Mika Pikazo
A couple of days ago I went to an art exhibit in Tokyo. The exhibit was titled I Love You Girl by Mika Pikazo. It’s one of those things that fills you with hope it also crashes you at the same time. Someone so talented a year younger than you. I had that feeling while watching the Gran Turismo movie. He’s not the only kid that played racing games that wanted to race cars you know. I know that everyone works hard but sometimes things don’t seem to work out for me. I’ve been trying to be more happy with what I have, but the goalpost always moves.
I did enjoy going to this exhibition, and I think that translates well through the video. Instead of thinking about all the things I could have done better, I’ve been deciding to just release more videos. I don’t know if that’s for better or for worse. I realize I need to do a bunch of stuff to promote the video. Part of that involves making a custom thumbnail and adding tags. I’m not sure if that’s enough anymore. YouTube shorts seem to be the discovery medium, I’ll have to chop up my video and make some shorts. Now finding the time to do that, is a different story.
Freelance Journey in Japan Editing
One of the things shooting, editing, and creating media has allowed me to do is work for others. Sometimes smarter for business owners to leverage their capital. I met James through Facebook and have been working for him for a couple of months now. The flow of video work has increased and I think we work well together. The work is centered around cars in general, but especially JDM cars. Cars are one of the main reasons I came to Japan.
Freelance Journey in Japan: DCC Garage Defend
I was able to finish some freelance video editing today. I think I’m getting good at transforming raw footage into an engaging story. Freelancing feels nice, it’s nice to have control of my own life. That’s a rare commodity nowadays. Not only do I enjoy working on car content, especially in Japan. I also enjoy the process of editing, I can obsess about small details things like colours, camera movement, and sound. I’m also at the point in my career well I’m pretty good at what I’m doing. I’ve passed the early stage of the Dunning Kruger curve so I realize there is still much to learn.
Today’s video was about going to see a bunch of GT-Rs. Working with Japanese suppliers, and looking at specific clients’ cars is interesting to me. It’s cool to see that aspect of the business because I’m not very good at it. Car sales and business in general are about networking and having people skills. I’m not very good at those aspects. I’m more inclined to work with cameras and editing suites. I like technology and messing around with the software a lot and James does business and sales. That’s probably why we work well together.
Freelance Journey in Japan: Stick it To Em
I’m helping a guy named Jay create transparency masks for printed stickers. It’s for his business lowdollardecals . Though I haven’t met him personally through my cousin Brandon, I was able to get some work.
This type of Photoshop work I’m pretty good at. Being able to zone out or maybe put a podcast on and do detail-oriented work alone suits my personality. I get so caught up in what I’m doing that the world just disappears. It’s a calming repetitive work with a clear goal, it is good for the way my brain works. I get a little obsessive about working on them until they are all done. I can sit here for hours only stopping occasionally to eat or drink something. Time seems to fly by when I do this kind of work and I enjoy it. It’s similar to meditation.
Freelance Journey in Japan: LinkedIn Posts
I think it’s silly that we take LinkedIn more seriously than other social media when it’s just turned into a space to spam annoying falsely positive motivational videos and that kind of mega cringe content. But I’m playing the linked-in meta over there.
If a Tree Falls in the Forest and No One is there to listen to it does it make a sound?
I know my music isn’t good enough to post online, but I’ll still make it with the delusional idea that it might take me somewhere one day. I’ve posted probably hundreds of songs at this point, it’s not like I don’t try to improve. At this point I’m grinding class experience for a new game plus if life is a weird MMORPG like I think it is.
