After looking at the title, I bet you’re wondering to yourself… “What does Wayne Gretzky have to do with freelancing?”

I apologize for not having a clever answer.

Even though The Great One doesn’t have any ties to the freelance writing community, he does have powerful insight that we can all apply to our careers.

Without further adieu, Wayne Gretzky’s 8 Tips for Freelancing Success…

Tip 1: Take care of your tools.

“I don’t like my hockey sticks touching other sticks and I don’t like them crossing one another – and I kind of have them hidden in the corner. I put baby powder on the ends. I think it’s essentially a matter of taking care of what takes care of you.”

Tip 2: Overcome Your Weaknesses.

“It’s kind of ironic when I broke in at 17; I was told I was too small, too slow and I wouldn’t make the NHL.”

“I wasn’t naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for.”

Tip 3: Always Deliver Quality.

“There’s no perfect coach in the world. Coaches are human too. Mistakes are made. But fundamentally, if you’re sound, you eliminate as many mistakes as possible.”

Tip 4: Don’t Procrastinate.

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”

Tip 5: Take Chances.

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Tip 6: Be a Trailblazer.

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

Tip 7: Work hard.

“The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.”

Tip 8: Have Fun!

“The only way a kid is going to practice is if it’s total fun for him…and it was for me.”

*Quotes from ThinkExist.com

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Comments

  1. 1
    Human Resource Manipulation // February 8th, 2008 at 6:12 am

    Inspirational post Chad! Love the quotes.

    “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – that is so profound.

  2. 2
    Chad // February 8th, 2008 at 10:37 am

    Yeah, I started out thinking I was going to do an article on that quote alone…but then found the rest of those gems.

    I might have to do a Wayne Gretzky series sometime and spend about 400 words on each of those.

  3. 3
    Laura // February 14th, 2008 at 7:00 am

    Great tips! Especially tip # 8. :-)

    I enjoyed this post.

  4. 4
    Shane // February 15th, 2008 at 11:57 am

    I’ve never watched much hockey, but I’ll always remember one play I watched Gretzky make … he deked out 3 defenders alone and then went in for the goal. It was like the whole world around him was standing still. Amazing.

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