I’ve got a faded, scribbled drawing pinned to the wall of my home office, called Hedgehog.

I can’t remember why it’s called hedgehog. Maybe if you look at it from a certain angle and add a few spikes, it resembles Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, but I can’t see it. I think it looks more like a flower, or maybe a black hole.

Hedgehog is actually a Venn diagram for freelance workers and has 3 overlapping circles. It’s not as funny as the one called ‘Much worse since Fergie left’ with Manchester United, Prince Andrew and Black-Eyed Peas as the three circles.

Hedgehog is more prosaic; the 3 circles ask questions to help us try to find an answer to another, very thorny, question: Where do I focus my work efforts?

The 3 questions are:

What do I enjoy/am I passionate about?

What am I very good at?

What pays well

It was Lorna Jack, former Chief Exec of the Law Society of Scotland, who introduced me to Hedgehog, maybe 6 years ago - and I’ve always found it useful.

I have often reflected on the first question in particular: What do I enjoy? What am I passionate about?

Over time, my answers to this question have shifted slightly. I’ve enjoyed event hosting for a very long time, and have chaired/facilitated more than 400 different events - conferences, seminars, webinars, hustings, awards ceremonies, round tables, etc - over 15+ years.

More recently, I have also loved creating podcasts (something I am relatively new to - I did my first one in 2020) and I also love delivering media training.

This is not to say I dislike editing, copywriting, PR, public affairs, or any of the other things I do - I just like the other things more (most of the time).

And as I moved into the latter stages of 2023 (Q4 if you work in jargon), I realised I’m pretty lucky, because I spend most of my working time doing things I enjoy.

Am I unusual in that respect? I don’t know. Answers on a LinkedIn Post(card), please.

And what is the connection between question 1 and question 2? Do I enjoy event hosting, podcasting and media training because I’m good at these things? I think the answer is probably yes, but others would have to judge.

However, it doesn’t always follow that you enjoy things you are good at; I still like playing football but I’m not especially good at it in my advancing years, as the phone signal between my brain and feet is increasingly poor.

And what about that final question: What pays well?

I guess the importance you put on that will vary significantly from person to person. I’m not especially materialistic (as you’ll know if you’ve seen my clothes), but I do want to earn a decent living.

But how does that work? What to charge as a freelance media person is really tough. Having spoken to lots of people about it, those who have the balls to value their own worth and set the bar high tend to get what they ask for - but is that because they are good at what they do, and clients know they deserve to be rewarded appropriately? Generally speaking, yes, but definitely not always. We all know very well-paid people who aren't especially good at what they do.

Coming back to freelancers, I think most of us sell ourselves a bit short and often accept lower payment than our experience and skills deserve. Sometimes, we accept this because it’s work that we enjoy, so we are happier - and perhaps also because we enjoy doing work we are good at.

But if that is the case, shouldn’t we be charging at a higher value - because we ARE good ?

If not, there can be a dangerous knock-on effect of undercharging and over-servicing (whether a retained contract or one-off project). This can limit the opportunity to take on other work and cause additional stress - potentially leading to lower enjoyment and even perhaps lower performance if you aren’t happy.

So while it’s normal to be cautious about charging, asking for that little bit more isn’t being greedy; it’s valuing yourself, your skill and experience, and your time. On all the occasions where I've thought I'm undercharging for work, and asked for a higher day rate or project fee, the client has agreed to the increase immediately.

I’ve never asked for silly money; that’s not my way. But by getting that fairer value, I've felt better, and strengthened my relationship with clients because I have felt more valued. It's also meant less anxiety about needing to bring in more work to fill the financial shortfall, or to work all hours.

So the Hedgehog makes good sense to me. I’d always start with the ‘What do I enjoy?’ question and focus on work that ticks that box. It’s also very important to be good at what you do, but remember, you can always learn new skills, however old a dog you are.

Finally, don't dismiss the ‘What pays well? question. Recognising your personal value might mean you take on less work that you don’t like, and be happier and less stressed too. I’m not saying it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but it might help.

So….embrace the hedgehog.

[I’m not quite sure why I scribbled “Luck is where opportunity meets preparation” in the corner of the Hedgehog. Sorry if that sort of quote (or misquote in this case having just googled it), offends you. Apologies to Seneca, too, the Roman philosopher who the quote is attributed too, with preparation coming before opportunity - though he's long-dead, so he probably won't sue].