Is the grass greener on the consulting side?

No, it’s not. It’s just the light.

I’ve jumped the fence on April 2023 and it’s not that green. It’s not better. It’s different. It’s stupid but we’re always chasing the next big thing. Delusionally thinking, “It’s going to be so much better on the other side.”

When I quit my job, I wanted more independence (still do), and freelancing was going to be the answer. Now that I’m freelancing, I’m thinking I’d like to make some products and have less client work, be less stressed, less tired, less context switching or less XYZ. But I know on the other side of that, there will be different problems. There will always be some sort of problem to solve. Something I won’t want to take care of, but I’ll need to.

The real question here is, “What problems do I really want to tackle and in what quantity?” 

I liked project management. I did it full-time and quickly realized I didn’t like it THAT much. Same for automation. Same for drumming. Same for climbing. I realized I need to take a breather and take my distance from those things once in a while. Do I need to be better to enjoy it? Or do I only need to take my distance? I’m not sure yet.

In the case of automation, it’s the main project bringing money, so I feel stuck. Feeling stuck is good because it’s fueling my motivation, it’s bad because doing something I don’t want to do for too long leads to burning out.

With all that said, I’m not the only one thinking the grass could be greener and needs watering. I interviewed Johan Marais-Piper a couple of weeks back. Johan is an Australian designer who quit his job almost 6 months ago. I met him through the Small Bets community. He tried to find the perfect job, and because he couldn’t, he jumped the fence too to see what was up on the other side. 

Click on the button below to read Johan’s story!

Juicy bits of the week

1. How on Earth I became an entrepreneur by Peter Askew

   1. Peter is an entrepreneur buying and monetizing expired domains and he’s known for selling onions on the internet. I love his story in this article because it shows you how random his journey is and how he benefited tremendously from having what I call a paid education. He learned a lot on the job while being paid (my favourite type of education). Lots of successful people simply monetize the skills they developed on the job.

2. My first $1 online by Marc Lou

   1. Marc has created dozens of profitable projects while promoting them with fun short videos. Like Marc, early in my journey, I had delusions of grandeur, and my ambition had no limits. I’ve been disappointed because I was putting so many expectations into one idea. It’s exhausting. In this origin story, Marc shares what any new entrepreneur wants to focus on to avoid a fatal failure.

3. Do you make 20k a month?

   1. A great thread from r/entrepreneur. I’ve read countless threads like this one to inspire me and gather hope that one day, I’ll be the one sharing my story under a thread like this one (slowly getting there).