I felt super embarrassed starting this blog.
I started it about a year ago, but had been thinking about doing it for much longer.
I had watched other people start blogs or create social media accounts about their interests and projects and that really interested me. In fact, I would think it was really cool when someone else started an account that followed an interest of theirs.
But this is not something that I thought I could do.
Finally, I decided to start. I had never done any writing for anything like this, and it had been a really long time since I had done any writing for school. But here I was, trying to remember how to write something.
So am I supposed to start with an outline? Do I just try to write a rough draft at first? How do I stay on topic and actually write something that makes a difference?
It was also a struggle to continue to come back and have more to write about. I got a few pieces out there, but then had the issue with coming back to the computer and continuing to write posts that I hoped would inspire and help others.
I also felt really dumb putting myself out there.
What would people think?
Who am I to be starting a blog that helps people with their money?
Am I even any good at this?
I have to say, putting myself out there wasn’t nearly as terrible as I was expecting it to be? In fact, the amount of support that I’ve gotten from others has been amazing. I never expected to get this level of approval from others. Not required to do this project, but really nice to have none the less.
Working on something that I’d always wanted to do also made me feel like I was being really true to myself. And let me tell you, that’s a great feeling.
Have you been tempted to start your own project?
I’m here to tell you that you should do it.
It seems like there’s been a lot of talk of side hustles in the past couple of years, and now that we’re in this economic downturn, people are only talking about it more.
I think eventually things will return to normal and all the talk about needing to pivot to other ways to make money will die out.
But that doesn’t mean that you should stop pursuing your own side project.
You could have the goal to make money, or not. It’s up to you.
What makes you jealous?
This is a good place to start.
Is there someone that you know, or maybe just follow on the internet, that is doing something that makes you jealous?
Maybe your reaction fools you. Maybe you don’t think about it as something you wish you were doing. Maybe you have thoughts like, “yeah, must be nice.” Or, “I can’t believe they’re doing that.”
But is it possible that you wish you were doing what they were doing?
If you find yourself being jealous of the work that someone else is doing, it may be a really good indicator that you should pursue that.
I’ve wanted to write for years
The truth is, I’ve wanted to write for years.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I spent any time writing or learning how to write, or studying how other people were writing.
But when I finally realized it, it clicked.
I wanted to write also.
And so I practice it. My blog is my practice, my emails are my practice. With each post I write, I’m working to get better and better. I’m hoping with each post I get a little closer to helping people in meaningful ways.
So what about you? What do you wish that you could do?
Start pursuing what you wish you could do
The truth is, people care about what we do a lot less than we think they do.
While you’re feeling like people are judging you, they probably don’t care. And if they do, they aren’t worth worrying about anyway.
Think of it this way, if they’re judging you, it’s probably because they’re not taking themselves up on a dream of theirs themselves. These are not the people that you want setting the pace for your life.
So you should start to follow this feeling of what you’d like to do.
Someone else has already done it
Perfect, someone else has already done it? That just means that you can learn from the hard work of someone who went before you.
It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t follow. It means that you should because this thing that you thought was weird is actually widely accepted and helpful to a lot of people.
I mean, how many Mexican food restaurants have you been to? And then everyone has their own opinion about who has the best margaritas. Don’t even get me started on salsa.
Just because someone else is already doing it, doesn’t mean that you can’t as well.
So start the blog.
Set up your Etsy shop.
Say yes to jumping on board your friends business on the side.
Focusing on the craft
Starting a side project doesn’t have to make money.
In fact, if you’re solely focused on making money, it might kill your project before it even gets a chance to get off the ground.
With my blog, I’m focusing on the craft.
I love the craft of learning how to write and practicing it each week.
I love learning how to set up a website.
I love learning how I can best serve people and giving them tools that make a difference in their lives.
Regardless of whether or not I ever make any money blogging, this project is worth doing.
I hope that you can find a project worth doing.
Something that you just love spending time on. Something that you’d really enjoy doing for free anyway.
Is running your side business enjoyable because you can run it from the couch? That’s perfect, because you enjoy doing it anyway. And then the bonus is you make some side cash that way.
Spend more quality time
We’re all really busy. But if you don’t think you have any time to start a side project, take a look a how much time is spent on low quality tasks.
My challenge to you is to spend more time creating something worthwhile to you. Whatever that thing that calls to you is, spend more time going down that rabbit hole.
Spend less time swiping.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the hilarious things people say on the internet, and there truly are some great things that people share and post about.
But I spend a lot less time swiping nowadays than I used to.
When I get up in the morning for example, I try to get to my blog first. Before swiping and consuming what someone else has created and allowing other people to set the pace. I’m trying to create.
Start
So start pursuing that thing that interests you this week.
If it’s something that could turn into some side money for you, that’s really awesome. But focus on doing something that you would enjoy regardless. Something that you’ll love working on anyway.
Then, if it makes money, that’s just the bonus part.
So if I could snap my fingers and it wasn’t hard, what project would you pursue this week?
Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Jared
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