Success is not the key to happiness – Perils of a Side Hustle!

I had a Dream!

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

– Albert Schweitzer

I used to write articles for blogs as a freelancer.

There were a couple of websites I was working with like – Hire a Writer and iWriter.

The average that I used to get paid was about $80 for an article!

I was doing it along with my full time job.

The plan was to build a side income and then quit my job to make it my full time business.

Every article took about 3-4 hours to write including the research, editing etc.

And there were times when the customer would come back asking for edits or, further addition to it.

Something that I realized in about 3-4 months was that –

If I quit my job and start doing this freelancing job, I would still be spending 12-14 hours to make that kind of money.

It was not going to give me what I wanted – freedom!

That’s when I happened to read something about creating time using the concept of exponential growth. (I will discuss more about this in another edition)

Which got me thinking.

How do I use it in my case.

It took me another month or, so to figure it out.

But once I had got it figured out, I was writing one article for my blog and was getting paid approximately $1240 almost every 2 months, from that single article!

Time required = about 3-4 hours

Total earnings in a month = $620 (passive)

I could write 30 such articles in a month and these articles would keep paying me over and over again.. month after month.

That’s what I will be discussing in the next few editions of the newsletter.

Dreaming of Freedom!

When you quit your job to start working online, you’re likely chasing a dream.

A dream of freedom —

more time with your family,

the chance to pursue your passions,

and the ability to live life on your terms.

But for many, this dream quickly turns into a nightmare of 12-hour workdays, zero freedom, and endless to-do lists.

I am sure a few of you would be familiar with this.

If it does, then let me tell you that you’re not alone.

Many of us find ourselves on this new hamster wheel, running just as fast as we were before, if not faster.

You may have quit your job, but what you’ve essentially done is changed your boss.

Instead of reporting to someone else, now you’re answering to your own relentless ambition and an ever-growing list of tasks.

So, what’s the solution?

How do you get off this hamster wheel and reclaim your freedom?

The last week I spoke to lady who was in the same situation. That conversation is what triggered the idea for this newsletter.

Let us call her Sarah for confidentiality purposes.

Sarah is a graphic designer. A very talented one.

She left her corporate job to start freelancing.

Her objective?

Flexible working hours, more time with her kid and more time for her hobbies.

Instead, she found herself working late into the night, weekends included.

She was caught in a cycle of client demands, administrative tasks, and endless marketing efforts.

She wasn’t in a situation to outsource some of the things that she was doing.

So it was all “HER”.. a classic solopreneur model!

She was struggling to decide if she should go back to her corporate career or, continue with her freelancing work!

But going back to office would mean other problems like traveling to office, little time for her kid and so on.

That’s when she reached out to me.

I hear such stories pretty much every month.

A lot of people choose going back to their corporate jobs and a few others continue to do until they are able to find a way out of it..

Demands of FREEDOM!

Before we get into discussing some practical tips to manage the demands of freelancing, let us look at some of the downsides to this self-employment journey that we consciously choose:

Work Pressure:

Work pressure is a truth at corporates.

While it is often spoken about as negative at corporate jobs, the truth is that it is better if you compare it with the pressure when you are self-employed.

In your regular office job, you know what the pressure is like – targets, goals, deadlines etc.

And you know that there is a person breathing down your neck to get things done – either your boss or, a business client that you are working for.

Unconsciously you start to adjust your routines and your expectations to that pressure so that you can handle it.

And so that you can handle that person.

The truth is that it is more about handling that person than it is about handling the pressure of the work.

But when it comes to being self-employed, the pressure is invisible.

You cannot attribute it to a single thing or, a single person.

In fact, you are the one who is pressurizing yourself against targets that you have set for yourself.

This can be extremely difficult to handle.

Because you are not sure who to handle and how to handle!

Compromised Family Time:

We have always been bad at prioritizing.

Probably because we were taught the wrong lessons always.

When it comes to prioritizing, the 2 things you would keep the last on your list were – your family and your health.

Our family is what often gets crushed under our work pressures.

They are the ones who are sacrificed, when we need additional time to get things done.

Why?

Because it is easy.

Because we take them for granted.

There is this quote I had read somewhere – “For us, our loved ones are just a part of our lives. But for our loved ones we are their lives.“

We quit our jobs and started the solopreneurship journey to have more freedom of time. So that we could spend more time with our family.

But we eventually end up using that time too..

Deprioritizing health:

“Health is wealth”.

At least that is what was taught to us in our School.

But as we grow, we forget that quote and push our health to the last on our priority lists.

There are a few things in life that are just not compromisable.

• Sleep
• Mental health
• Physical health

Everyone of us understand that.

Yet, we believe that we can compromise on our health and get away with it..

Because we feel that we will fix it once we have everything else settled.

But what we don’t realize it is that, that day will never come!!

Poor Control:

The first thing that we compromise on, as soon as we get into self-employment is – our routines.

We have no routines, we work haphazard hours, whenever we feel like and we spiral into a total lack of control.

Corporate jobs put us in control over at least few of those things.

You know that you have to wake up at 6 AM, get ready by 7, have breakfast by 7:30, get onto the road by 8 so that you can reach office by 9:30..

There is a routine to everything, even if it means coming back from office, switching on the TV set and watching that game of football.

But we lose that control as soon as we start working for ourselves.

Poor control leads to poor routines which in turn means lack of discipline and an eventual burnout!!

Disciplined Solopreneurship – Reversal Techniques!

Now that we have gone through everything that you shouldn’t be doing when you working on your own, let us look at the ways we can fix it.

Yes, there is hope and we can fix all of those problems.

Thousands of solopreneurs that I know, have done that and are enjoying real freedom.

In fact, there are ways you could be working for yourself, making decent money and yet have all the time in the world to do the things that you love doing.

But I will keep that for another edition of the newsletter.

But for now, if you want to reverse the negatives, then here are a few tips.

Here’s how you can do it:

Prioritize

This is an art that you absolutely need to learn.

You will need to be very intentional with it because, it can be a monotonous activity and it is easy to feel like it won’t yield any results.

When working for yourself, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks.

The only way you can get over it is by prioritizing.

You must prioritize ruthlessly.

Identify the tasks that directly contribute to your income and personal satisfaction, and focus on those first.

Plan

Planning isn’t just about making to-do lists.

It’s about scheduling your day in a way that balances work and life.

Block out time for family, hobbies, and rest.

Use tools like digital calendars and project management apps to keep yourself on track.

And most importantly, if it is not your working hours, refrain from attending work related calls, client meetings etc.

You might have to sacrifice some revenue, but it is better to work with clients who understand that you have a personal life than working with mindless workaholics who are worser than you previous boss.

Restrict

Set boundaries for your work hours.

Just because you can work around the clock doesn’t mean you should.

Establish a start and end time for your workday, and stick to it.

And set that expectations with your clients in the first meeting itself.

It is better to be transparent in the beginning itself, rather than going to the unnecessary arguments around it later.

Explore Multiple Revenue Streams

Diversifying your income streams can significantly reduce the pressure to work long hours.

Consider creating digital courses, writing eBooks, or looking into affiliate marketing.

These options not only leverage your existing skills but also offer the potential for passive income.

Remember that the most successful solopreneurs, all have multiple revenue streams. They don’t rely on a single source.

And most importantly, they learn to leverage time!

Leverage Your Existing Audience

If you already have a fan base or a significant social media following, use it.

Engage with your audience, offer them value, and they will become your best customers.

Customers acquired through this channel can be more understanding and easy to handle.

Also this strategy can help you earn more without having to work more. It takes away a lot of the efforts that you will have to put into your promotional activities.

Balance Work and Family Life

When you’re your own boss, balancing work and family requires intentional planning.

Prioritize family time and self-care.

I would recommend allocating time for it on your calendar. That is the only way you will be able to do it intentionally!

It’s easy to get caught up in the pressure of earning enough, especially when you set your own goals and deadlines.

Remember, your personal well-being and your relationships are just as important as your professional success.

Intentional Self-Care

Finally, make self-care a non-negotiable part of your routine.

Whether it’s a daily walk, a weekly hobby class, or just some quiet time for yourself, these activities are crucial for maintaining your productivity and mental health.

Don’t consider them as a waste of time. Instead treat them as investments.

Takeaway:

Quitting your job for an online career is supposed to give you freedom, not take it away.

To truly achieve this freedom, you need a solid blueprint.

Irrespective of what part of the journey you are in, you can do it.

This is just about the right time to put together a plan and start working on it.

This week, take a step back and assess your routine.

Are you truly working towards the life you dreamt of, or are you just running on a different hamster wheel?

Implement these strategies, and you’ll find yourself closer to the freedom you dreamed of when you took the plunge.

Remember, the purpose of life is not to be busy but to be productive and happy.

Recommended Newsletters

Here are few newsletters that I would recommend that you sign up to if you are interested in learning the art of running a side-hustle:

• Send and Grow – https://sparklp.co/p/3ad4af3653
• The Story Grid – https://sparklp.co/p/dfc5ea06d0
• The Book Bub – https://sparklp.co/p/3bcef5f1d4
• The Stacked Marketer – https://sparklp.co/p/5c2039bc2c

Sign up to these and follow them. You will get a lot of information and content for your blog posts, podcasts and even social media posts.

I will share more such ideas in my future newsletters.

I put in about 18 hours every month to create this newsletter, starting from researching to writing and editing it.

So, If you enjoyed reading this Newsletter, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could recommend it to others. You can send them to https://theloudspeakeronline.com to subscribe to it for FREE!

What am I reading?

I finally finished off “The Boron Letters”.

It was an interesting read but wasn’t the kind of read I was expecting.

Maybe, most of the reviews and snapshots online set the wrong expectations.

But, I would still recommend reading it for the sheer style of writing.

This week I picked up another book – Hook Point by Brendan Kane

More about it in my next newsletter.

Check out all of my favorite books at my Amazon store. Go ahead and check it out!

The Last week on the Podcast

I have been getting quite a lot of questions around what kind of microphone to go for – USB or, XLR.

I had published an episode on this around 2 years back.

It made sense to republish it, so that people who have questions around this can get it answered.

If you too are struggling with finding an answer, then this episode can help you.

Listen to that episode below:

Episode – 151 : USB Vs XLR Microphones – Which is better?

And if you have any questions, just drop me a note and I will respond to your questions.

That’s it for this week!

Do let me know your thoughts, feedback, and opinions about this newsletter.

If you have a question or, simply enjoy reading this, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could write a recommendation for me on LinkedIn. You can use this link to do that.

If you are comfortable writing a review for the newsletter, you can do that here. Your support would be sincerely appreciated.