I spent the past week with a group of world class entrepreneurs and an olympian gold medalist in rural Iceland. Surrounded by so much talent, I was in awe of how so many individuals are stepping up to lead and create change.

The rumors about our generation being entitled and lazy are far from the truth.

Millennials are successful—we make up 23% of the world’s millionaires.

We’re responsible for founding more businesses than any generation before us, and we’ve played a huge role in shifting the trend towards social impact.

What’s beneath our success?

I believe at the root of it is our commitment to turn inward and invest in ourselves while bringing awareness to our environment. Inner work is a key element to outer success. Which is why millennial millionaires like Airbnb’s founders Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia credit personal development as a significant factor to their growth.

Could personal development help propel you towards greater advancement in your career and income?

I spoke with one millennial who says it can. Meet Sydney Campos, a leading transformation mentor who supports young entrepreneurs with comprehensive holistic wellness, business strategy, and mindset mastery. She’s also a former NYC-agency ad & PR consultant, a certified yoga teacher and reiki energy healer, and an avid traveler who currently calls Ubud, Bali home base.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Campos takes us behind-the-scenes of her success.

Just one year ago, Campos was a typical millennial working as a consultant. She says her income surged when she decided to quit her job and launch her own practice, which, in the last few months alone, has netted $150k.

Let’s dive into Sydney’s world to see how the millionaire mind thinks.

You Are Worth What You Think You’re Worth

Psychologists have long known about the relationship between self-worth and money. What they find with those who tend to have more wealth is that these people also have a high sense of self-worth. In other words, net worth and self worth go hand-in-hand.

“The amount of money you are able to hold and receive is directly correlated to how you are feeling worthy in your life and the way you value your services. Worthy of receiving on all levels—not just money but worthy of receiving love and healthy, nourishing relationships. All these things that seemingly don’t feel connected to money are actually intrinsically related to the amount of money you are able to receive in your business,” Campos says.

To increase your sense of self-worth, Campos says it’s important to have self-awareness about the areas in your life where you’re not being a stand for yourself.

In 2015, 94% of millennials said they made a commitment to personal improvement, and would be willing to spend a significant portion of their income on developing themselves. Are you one of them?

Honor Your Own Boundaries

Holding personal boundaries around your time and energy is essential. We often don’t think twice about surrounding ourselves with people who drain us rather than replenish us. But if you’re aspiring to 7-figures, you’ll need to hold a much tighter container around how you give away your time and yourself—time is a precious resource and you need to be resourced to show up fully to your commitments.

Mark Zuckerberg says, “The question I ask myself most every day is ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could … I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time.”

For a direct application, ask yourself, “What are the relationships in your life where you’re giving more of yourself than you’re getting in return?” Campos suggests.

Act In The Face Of Fear

While 64% of millennials say they can’t see themselves becoming a millionaire, I’d wager they still want to.

Campos says if she had listened to her self-limiting thoughts, she would have stayed in her old job and would never be earning what she is today.

“We’ve been conditioned to listen to our first-presenting thought which is usually rooted in a fear, a scarcity, a doubt, an old pattern, an old imprint,” Campos says. “Even if you’re afraid, even if you’re resistant, even if you’re not sure how things are going to work, you take the action anyways.”

Working for someone else could be an inhibitor to accumulating wealth quickly as a young person. 82% of women making $100k annually are self-made, earning money through direct sales.

Campos recommends getting out of your comfort zone and into action. Create a concrete plan to save more, launch a business, or get a mentor—anything you know will shatter stagnicity and hold you accountable to your goals.

Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools to create a life by your own design.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

In the world of freelancing, many of us are all too familiar with the pressure to hustle, pay bills, and “make it.”

I remember a time in my early twenties when I was struggling and would take almost any gig I could get just to make ends meet. On any given day I would be website coding, coaching clients, making marketing funnels, or finding tenants for rental properties.

Currently, one in three US workers are freelancing, with that number projected to rise to one in two by 2020.

The flexible hours, no boss or office, and no fixed wage are just a few of the perks that have attracted so many to freelancing. Not to mention, 61% of freelancers say they’re happier now than they were as an employee.

But freelancing, like anything, has its pitfalls—and it’s essential to be aware of them if you want to succeed.

That’s why I spoke to an expert about what it takes to be successful as a freelancer. He’s built quite the reputation for himself in a particularly competitive field.

Meet Jeff Toyne, a Canadian-born composer who has worked on major film productions like Nine Eleven, the new release starring Whoopi Goldberg and Charlie Sheen; DirecTV’s Rogue, My Little Pony The Movie, and various titles for Lifetime, Hallmark, and The Discovery Channel.Toyne is no stranger to the hustle. As a composer, he says he’s interacted with occasionally needing to do what he had to in order to “keep the lights on,” especially before he caught his first big break.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Toyne shares strategies for navigating the challenges of freelancing, which, in spite of being risky, can also be incredibly rewarding—because there’s no substitute for doing what you love.

Below, read Toyne’s 5 mistakes to avoid for playing the field as a freelancer.

1. Don’t wait until your portfolio is perfect. Toyne says a major stumbling block of his was believing he didn’t have a shot until his demo was flawless. “I had just got out of school, and I was trying to perfect it for these filmmakers. It took me a year before I got in touch with them, and when I finally did they said,’It’s a shame didn’t have your number. We were making a movie but we didn’t have your number so we got someone else to do it,’” Toyne recalls.

Don’t let opportunities pass you by because you don’t yet feel ready. You might be surprised by someone’s willingness to work with you, even if you don’t have all of your materials the way you’d like them to be. Instead, seize the moment and pursue opportunities that may feel even a few steps out of your league. This approach can actually help you build your portfolio in the process.

2. Don’t be a snob about the gigs you accept. Let’s face it—with freelancing, you don’t always have your work lined out for you. There’s no built-in sense of security. But that’s part of the thrill.

Occasionally, you may have to accept jobs that aren’t your first choice, but will help you gain relevant experience and lay the foundation for getting better jobs later on. “Until your big break comes and connects you to this random opportunity, there’s all sorts of things you can do to keep the lights on and work close to what you want to be doing in the meantime,” says Toyne. “It’s possible to do work that may not be the exact job you want to do but it’s in the industry you want to do. It’s a way to keep your skills sharp. There is no ‘path;’ you need to put yourself out there for different opportunities.”

3. Don’t forget to outsource. Don’t waste your time fumbling with tasks you don’t specialize in. Instead, do some independent contracting of your own, and hire somebody else to do it for you. You’ll become more efficient and have more time to dedicate yourself to your craft.

Toyne says social media is a headache for him, so he outsources it. “I’m busy writing the music, but I want people to know what I’m doing so I have somebody help me get the word out.

4. Don’t underestimate the power of relationships. As a freelancer, you might find you’re not directly connected to the people in a project who could really elevate you. For Toyne, he says he’ll spend weeks composing the post-production scores for a film but won’t see the actors or director face-to-face until the red carpet.

If this is the case, you’ll need to put in extra effort to make yourself known and nurture those connections. Don’t be passive or assume they’ll happen on their own; take initiative. “You want to interact and socialize with the people you’re working with… they are a great source of leads,” Toyne recommends.

5. Don’t try to do it all alone. It can be invaluable to get in community with others like you. You can learn what others are doing that’s working and potentially collaborate on projects that are mutually beneficial. Plus, as a freelancer, you may be missing the fact that you don’t have built-in coworkers or an office populated with people. Socialization is key, so make sure to join groups and guilds that put you in touch with others like you. Toyne says he’s a member of a composer’s guild and a director’s guild in Canada.

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If you’re working in corporate America, chances are you don’t love your job.

Gallup reports that only 29% of millennials are engaged at work, while the vast majority of workers are disconnected emotionally and behaviorally from their jobs. While 43% of millennials who leave their corporate jobs say it’s because they weren’t following their passion, 42% say the corporate lifestyle wasn’t for them, and 33% say they felt too restricted.

As one former corporate employee puts it, “I was compromising my life and compromising my purpose to achieve success. I was making all this money, but I had no time to spend it, no time to take care of myself, and no time to spend with my friends and family.”

Meet Kelly Roach, a mom and now-entrepreneur who left her behind her life as a Fortune 500 executive with a dream of building a business that would afford her time, purpose, and freedom. Today, she’s the CEO of Kelly Roach Coaching, which helps entrepreneurs build a life they love, the host of the top-rated podcast, Unstoppable Success Radio, and an international bestselling author.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Roach shares how she built a 7-figure business straight out of corporate America that started as a side-hustle.

Follow Kelly’s tips for hustling your way to a job and lifestyle you love below.

1. Listen To Your Gut Instinct. When you’re in a high-paying corporate job, logic can override your emotions and convince you to stay when you aren’t truly happy. Roach says, “If you’re getting a pull deep down that something’s not right, that there has to be more, I can’t be working this hard and getting this little reward for it, you’re absolutely right. I would say listen to this gut instinct and do something about it.”

2. Be Smart And Strategic. The reality is, most of us can’t leave our jobs with nothing else lined up. Half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and paying bills takes precedence over feeling fulfilled. If you want to shift into entrepreneurship, starting your business as a side-hustle may be the most viable option.

“Test yourself first,” says Roach. “Don’t jump all the way into business if you’re having trouble. Be smart. There’s a reason 95% of businesses fail, and that’s because 95% of what’s required to build a successful business is not what you want to do when you want to do it, it’s what’s necessary to do. Most people don’t realize that it’s more responsibility to be a full-time entrepreneur than it is to be an employee with a side-hustle.”

Use your side-hustle as a way to become accustomed to the lifestyle of managing your own time, taking your own initiatives, and being fully responsible for the successes and failures of your business. If you can handle your side hustle, it’s a good sign that you’re ready to take it full-time. But if you’re having trouble, heed the warning and consider that entrepreneurship may not be for you.

3. Shortcut Your Success. If you’re ready to become an entrepreneur, there are things you can do to accelerate your success and avoid mistakes that most inexperienced entrepreneurs make. Roach’s top recommendation is to seek the counsel of those who are already successfully doing what you want to do. Consider listening to entrepreneurial podcasts that feature entrepreneurs in your industry, or investing in a coach who will guide you through the ropes of building a business.

When you become confident in your abilities, it’s a good idea to consider building a team. “When you can start getting results through others, there’s a multiplier effect that keeps expanding what you can do without putting more hours in. Get a team of 15 people together and you’ll be able to accomplish 15 times what you could do on your own,” says Roach.

If you ask the average millennial a basic question about their finances, they’ll go blank.

That’s what happened in one college senior’s finance class at Purdue University when the professor asked who knew what the Dow Jones was—only twenty-five of the one hundred students raised their hand.

It’s no secret that the majority of millennials miss the mark when it comes to financial literacy. Terms like “401K” and “ETF” sound like gibberish, at best ringing a vaguely familiar bell.

With millennials now at the age of financial independence, this is a big problem. The average 18-24 year old has less than $1,000 in their savings account, and over $30,000 in student loans.

Quite recently, Lend EDU published a survey of 1,000 people from the U.S between the ages of 23 and 38 to observe the types of debts they carry.  The results of the survery were shocking, specifically because no matter how much money someone made they still carried a significant amount of debt!

It’s no wonder that so many millennials experience anxiety about their finances, more so than baby boomers did at the same age. They’re more cautious about spending, and less able to make their dreams like owning a home and saving for retirement a reality.

Meet Rohan Thakkur, the senior in the finance class at Purdue University. Looking around at his classmates, he couldn’t believe that so few knew such a basic financial term. He realized there was a huge need to bring financial awareness to kids his age, and decided to do something about it.

That story was the inspiration for Thakkur’s company Orca Financial, a hub for straightforward, easy-to-digest financial education intended to bridge the disconnect between young people and finance. With article topics like “Emoji Finance Friday,” “How The Dow Jones Is Like Your Favorite Instagram Influencer,” and “Mutual Funds: As Explained Through Dating,” Thakkur is on a mission to break down financial concepts into a language millennials can understand. He’s also a writer for Thrive Global and AOL.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, I picked Thakkur’s brain for financial “hacks” that anyone, no matter their financial literacy, can put into play immediately to save money and begin to make their financial goals a reality.

Make five of Thakkur’s financial fixes below to start seeing improvements in your financial life today.

1. You’re Not Using The 50-20-30 Rule. According to Thakkur, the “50-20-30 Rule” stands for 50% spending, 20% saving, and 30% investing. It’s a guide to keep you on track to compounding your money over time.

With each paycheck you earn, commit to spending just half of it on living expenses like food, rent, bills, Netflix subscriptions, Uber rides, and nights out with friends. Set aside 30% of each paycheck to saving, until you have enough of a cushion to last you 2-3 months worth of pay “for a rainy day.” With the final 20%, consult a financial advisor about making entry-level investments that will help you raise money towards long-term goals like buying a house, starting a business, or attending grad school much quicker.

2. You’re Not Maxing Out Your 401K. Here’s the breakdown: a 401k is a retirement savings plan sponsored by your employer. According to a recent survey, 4 in 10 millennials don’t have a retirement income strategy in place.

Each year, you have the option to put a percentage of your income into your 401k savings account, and the money you put into that account is deducted from your taxable income. So if you make $50,000 a year and put aside $10,000 into your 401k account, your taxable income is only $40,000. Thakkur recommends maxing out your 401k by contributing the upper limit of $18,000 each year. “Why not pay less money in taxes? It’s more money you get to keep,” he says.

3. You’re Not Tracking Your Spending. Do you ever feel like money seems to drain out of your bank account? Chances are you aren’t tracking your spending. 38% of Americans don’t track their spending, and more than half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

When you track your spending, you can bring awareness to nasty habits that are draining your money, and replace them with wiser spending decisions. “Track your expenses,” Thakkur says. “It’s ok if you spend your money. I’m a firm believer about having fun. But we don’t have to be stupid about it. Think about it, if you want to go to Coachella next year, why not invest that money and have that money pay for your Coachella ticket?”