---
title: "Gearing"
description: "A way to match what you pay freelancers to when the client pays you."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/let-it-go/gearing/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Gearing

> A way to match what you pay freelancers to when the client pays you.

Stephanie Shirley's framework, from Let It Go, pp. 77 to 90.

Framework 2 of 7 from [Let It Go](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/let-it-go/index.md) by Stephanie Shirley. Category: Life and thinking.

## The steps

1. **Link payment to the job.** Pay each programmer only when the client has paid for that job.
2. **Add a safety net.** Pay anyway if the client has not paid within three months.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: 8. Growing Pains, pp. 77–90

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/gearing.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/gearing-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/gearing.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/gearing-dark.png