Every time I start a new job, I write a list of how I want that job to be. For example, I look for a decent boss, interesting work, and supportive colleagues. Although I already know the salary I will receive when I start, I still include my desired day rate on my list.

As a freelance IT contractor, I change contracts every few years. When I began a job in April ’24, the day rate was quite low compared to what I was used to. Despite this, I still wrote down the higher day rate I envisioned. Honestly, I didn’t really believe I could earn that much.

However, I made it a habit to glance at my list every morning when I logged into my laptop. A few months into this job, a new colleague joined the team, and we quickly became friends. We enjoyed chatting about non-work-related topics almost daily. He, too, was a contractor, and he shared that he had previously managed three contracts simultaneously.

I am typically the kind of person who has never stepped outside of conventional boundaries, but hearing about his earnings sparked my interest. I never expected to make that much money and believed I wouldn’t be able to handle two contracts at the same time due to the stress it might cause. However, as my current contract’s workload dwindled to just 1-2 hours of work per day, I started worrying about being let go. Despite the low workload, my contract kept getting extended, and they even hired another person for the team.

Eventually, after about a year with the contract, I began looking for new job opportunities because my new colleague was extremely difficult to work with. I managed to land a new job quickly, after just a 30-minute verbal interview, and accepted it right away. When I told my friend at work about this new opportunity, he encouraged me to take the new job while still keeping the old one. I decided to do both, and I have been managing both projects simultaneously for four months now.

What amazed me was that the total day rate from both jobs matched exactly the figure I had written on my list. It was such a high rate that I never thought I could achieve it. However, as The Secret suggests, I learned not to worry about how things come together and to let the universe take care of the details. I don’t know how long this arrangement will last, but I’ve been successfully managing both client projects for over four months now.