It's super key what you mention about trying out different things before commiting to one.
That's what I tell people. To start dabbling in a few areas first. And once they find something that really sparks the curiosity, go all in on that one.
There's always something we have to give for the things that we really want. The key is finding out what are those and how much are we willing to pay for them.
I’ve seen lots of people debate the multiple projects vs one project. I think it’s so dependent upon your personality but also at the stage of your journey.
As you mentioned, at the beginning it makes sense to try a bunch of different things and see what sticks. It’s part of the learning curve and it’s not wasted time. It’s a necessary process to understand what works through action.
Sure, we could interview people or read stuff online but there’s nothing like experiencing the thing for yourself.
Thanks for the comment, Juan! And nice seeing you here too :)
A couple of weeks ago, I realized I should buy an electronic drum set. I played bass in a band in high school and always loved playing music, but I haven't done any of it for more than a decade. Drumming is something I'd love to pick up.
> On top of that, the fact that it costs an arm to get a proper drum set and finding people to play with was a challenge. I decided it didn’t make sense for me to continue.
Instead of worrying about what might happen in the future, I would have fun drumming right now. Because I imagine it's a ton of fun! And there isn't a huge price tag on getting a basic drum kit, and having fun is priceless. Later, I can always decide to find folks to play with or just sell my kit. :)
Pretty much my whole path is about sustainability.
I feel it does take a lot of work to build a business - so I asked, what's a way to work 80 hours a week but have fun while doing it ?
With my current poker project, I get to write code for a web app, write code for a mobile app, write content marketing blog posts on reddit, do video editing for YouTube, and of course, actually play poker. I get to learn about a lot of new stuff that I'm interested in like SEO and paid ad campaigns.
With my current setup, if you count playing poker as work - which it effectively is for me - then I am pretty much always working besides necessary stuff like eating, some exercise, some time with my daughter. I'm not planning any vacations, not engaging in any fun hobbies, declining most invites to do fun things with friends.
But at the same time, I have a wide variety of stuff I'm really enjoying. If I'm burned out on coding or writing or video or playing cards, I just rotate to another one. And even if I feel "stuck" with progress on one, it's tough to feel stuck on all of them.
And they all tie together, and I have enough income to basically do it indefinitely and I just feel if I keep pushing forward, and don't give up, stuff will click (we'll see).
But at the same time, I could of course make a lot more in corporate jobs. I always see entrepreneurial advice like "don't quit your job untli you're making more at your side-project". And to me, that type of advice looks well-intentioned and sounds very pragmatic, but ultimately is about avoiding any sort of risk and any sort of sacrifice. And I imagine that can work for a few lucky people but I imagine far more people found entrepreneurial success because they understood that risk and sacrifice were part of the game, and designed their lives accordingly.
It takes quite a while to figure it out for sure! That’s awesome that you have enough runway to have fun and make it click for you.
I do think a lot of people got successful because of a lot of work but also because they stayed long enough in the game to benefit from the compounding effect. That’s where the sustainable part of the equation comes into place.
I’ve been skipping some stuff as well like exercise but I need to get back into it eventually. Although we started going back to a decent social life with my wife which feels fulfilling!
I agree that rationally having the side hustle making more than the full-time makes sense. But yeah I’ve seen so many people making it work without being in that situation that I mostly discard this advice. It’s simply not helpful for a lot of people out there thinking about quitting.
Great post, very relatable. I keep "waiting for the perfect time" to pick up the acoustic guitar and see if my school years as a musician (but NOT a guitar player) can get me over the "hump" to a place where I can actually ENJOY playing a new thing. Your idea of "with other people" is good benchmark to keep in mind, hm! Might you update this piece in the future, as you progress in business? Good luck...to all of us here!
I’ve been thinking a bunch about that recently. If we work behind a computer, we’ll most likely have to reinvent ourselves just by the sheer changes of technology.
I do think some people are more prone to hoping around but our environment is also forcing us to do so.
Plus life is long so we might as well have fun and not feel stuck in one path!
Awesome post, Kenny!
Great to see you around here.
It's super key what you mention about trying out different things before commiting to one.
That's what I tell people. To start dabbling in a few areas first. And once they find something that really sparks the curiosity, go all in on that one.
There's always something we have to give for the things that we really want. The key is finding out what are those and how much are we willing to pay for them.
I’ve seen lots of people debate the multiple projects vs one project. I think it’s so dependent upon your personality but also at the stage of your journey.
As you mentioned, at the beginning it makes sense to try a bunch of different things and see what sticks. It’s part of the learning curve and it’s not wasted time. It’s a necessary process to understand what works through action.
Sure, we could interview people or read stuff online but there’s nothing like experiencing the thing for yourself.
Thanks for the comment, Juan! And nice seeing you here too :)
Yeah, nothing beats good ol' fashioned experimenting!
A couple of weeks ago, I realized I should buy an electronic drum set. I played bass in a band in high school and always loved playing music, but I haven't done any of it for more than a decade. Drumming is something I'd love to pick up.
> On top of that, the fact that it costs an arm to get a proper drum set and finding people to play with was a challenge. I decided it didn’t make sense for me to continue.
Instead of worrying about what might happen in the future, I would have fun drumming right now. Because I imagine it's a ton of fun! And there isn't a huge price tag on getting a basic drum kit, and having fun is priceless. Later, I can always decide to find folks to play with or just sell my kit. :)
Thanks for sharing your story!
Go for it! I’ve heard bass and drumming are very connected. I’m sure you’ll have fun and it’ll probably be easy to pick up for you!
Pretty much my whole path is about sustainability.
I feel it does take a lot of work to build a business - so I asked, what's a way to work 80 hours a week but have fun while doing it ?
With my current poker project, I get to write code for a web app, write code for a mobile app, write content marketing blog posts on reddit, do video editing for YouTube, and of course, actually play poker. I get to learn about a lot of new stuff that I'm interested in like SEO and paid ad campaigns.
With my current setup, if you count playing poker as work - which it effectively is for me - then I am pretty much always working besides necessary stuff like eating, some exercise, some time with my daughter. I'm not planning any vacations, not engaging in any fun hobbies, declining most invites to do fun things with friends.
But at the same time, I have a wide variety of stuff I'm really enjoying. If I'm burned out on coding or writing or video or playing cards, I just rotate to another one. And even if I feel "stuck" with progress on one, it's tough to feel stuck on all of them.
And they all tie together, and I have enough income to basically do it indefinitely and I just feel if I keep pushing forward, and don't give up, stuff will click (we'll see).
But at the same time, I could of course make a lot more in corporate jobs. I always see entrepreneurial advice like "don't quit your job untli you're making more at your side-project". And to me, that type of advice looks well-intentioned and sounds very pragmatic, but ultimately is about avoiding any sort of risk and any sort of sacrifice. And I imagine that can work for a few lucky people but I imagine far more people found entrepreneurial success because they understood that risk and sacrifice were part of the game, and designed their lives accordingly.
It takes quite a while to figure it out for sure! That’s awesome that you have enough runway to have fun and make it click for you.
I do think a lot of people got successful because of a lot of work but also because they stayed long enough in the game to benefit from the compounding effect. That’s where the sustainable part of the equation comes into place.
I’ve been skipping some stuff as well like exercise but I need to get back into it eventually. Although we started going back to a decent social life with my wife which feels fulfilling!
I agree that rationally having the side hustle making more than the full-time makes sense. But yeah I’ve seen so many people making it work without being in that situation that I mostly discard this advice. It’s simply not helpful for a lot of people out there thinking about quitting.
Great post, very relatable. I keep "waiting for the perfect time" to pick up the acoustic guitar and see if my school years as a musician (but NOT a guitar player) can get me over the "hump" to a place where I can actually ENJOY playing a new thing. Your idea of "with other people" is good benchmark to keep in mind, hm! Might you update this piece in the future, as you progress in business? Good luck...to all of us here!
I’ve been thinking a bunch about that recently. If we work behind a computer, we’ll most likely have to reinvent ourselves just by the sheer changes of technology.
I do think some people are more prone to hoping around but our environment is also forcing us to do so.
Plus life is long so we might as well have fun and not feel stuck in one path!