NO MORE FREE SHIT
I knew someone who sold T-shirts.
His friends always asked him for discounts and freebies.
At some point, he had enough.
Instead of telling people he couldn't give stuff away anymore, he made a shirt that said it.
The front read:
NO MORE FREE SHIT
Besides getting the point across, something unexpected happened—the shirt sold like crazy.
People wanted more—long sleeves, hoodies, hats. He stopped printing other designs and just printed these four words.
Clearly something resonated.
It speaks to the tendency to overgive and undervalue.
This applies even more in service-based fields.
When you give away a shirt, there's a hard cost.
But when we give away our time, it can feel nourishing, like we are doing something positive.
But then the bills, rent, mortgage come due, and we're burnt out.
At some point, you may have to say, No More.
No More speaking for free because they're "nonprofits."
No More undercharging because "people don't have the money."
No More wanting to thrive doing your work, yet still stuck at a job you don't like, or stressing about making ends meet.
No more free shit doesn't mean you don't do anything for free.
It's more of an attitude: knowing clearly what is free, how you get paid, and letting yourself ask for and receive what you need to make a living.
This often comes up in my 1-1 coaching.
A recent client was an overgiver. She'd been taking free gigs and low-paying jobs because she thought that's what her work required. It's what made her "In it for the right reasons."
Once presented with an opportunity to create an offer that made money, she defaulted to "Maybe I can get a grant" so someone else could pay for it. We looked at how the "get it funded" move was a way to avoid asking for money. Underneath it was a belief that wanting to be paid well made her a bad person.
After some work together, she shifted her relationship to receiving and claiming her value. She said a clear no to a free gig she'd normally taken and invoiced a large sum for unpaid work she'd let slide. In her words: "I'm not going back to doing shit for free." In other words: NO MORE FREE SHIT
If this resonates with you—if you have found yourself in cycles of overgiving and undervaluing—shoot me an email and let me know.