WHY IS THIS EBOOK FREE?

4
PART 1 - Should YOU start a side hustle? 5
4 Signs That You’re a Mis t in Your Current Job 5
6 Side Hustle Bene ts I See Nobody Talking About 11
How I Tripled My Income During the Pandemic 16

PART 2 - Mindset Shifts 22

3 Mindsets to Help You Thrive as a Creative 22
5 Mindsets Shifts I Made to Become Self Employed 27
3 Unusual Approaches That Helped Me Triple My Income for
4 Straight Months 31
7 Mindsets That Have Constantly Helped Me Make Money
Online 35

PART 3 - Balancing it with your full-time job 39

How to Ace Your Side-Hustle When You Have a Full-Time Job
39
5 Subtle Roadblocks Most Creative Entrepreneurs Face 45
7 Micro Habits For a Successful Side-Hustle 50

PART 4 - Quitting your 9-5 54

Don’t Quit Your 9–5 Before Securing these 5 Things 54
A 6-Month Strategy to Becoming Your Own Boss 58
How the 9–5 Mindset Can Help the Self Employed Sort Out
Clutter 65

Part 5 - My success & Resources That Helped Me

68
How I earned money on medium (and how much) 68
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How Medium Helped Me 69
How You Can Get Paid Well 69
A special resource for you 70

Part 6 - What Next? 70

About the Author 71
WHY IS THIS EBOOK FREE?
I know I know. Why is this ebook free, you must be thinking?
Everybody told me to put it up at a cost so I can earn some passive
income - today’s dream.

But here’s why it’s free. For me, side hustles changed my life - to
say the least. In less than a year, pursuing a side hustle:

- Tripled my income
- Made me new friends
- Enabled me to quit my corporate career
- Improved my con dence
- Gave me a sense of purpose
- Helped me pursue a life I could only dream of

And this wouldn’t have been possible had I not read other peoples’
stories, just like you’ll read mine.

Sure, I could make a few hundred dollars out of this because I have
a loyal audience and there’s a market for people who want to know
how to pursue a side hustle. But for now, my aim is that more
people can just get an insight into the fact that they have the
power to create their lives.

You, yes you, have more control over your life than you think you
do. You’re so lucky to be alive in a time when global opportunities
can be found at the ease of your laptop. You can change your
entire career path like I did, or just do something for fun and make
friends along the way.

Feel free to read this entirely or skip onto the section that excites
you!
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 PART 1 - Should YOU Start a Side Hustle?

4 Signs That You’re a Mis t in Your Current Job

You wake up to brew your co ee and go to work. Oh, it’s still

Wednesday. Two more days to the weekend, you feel a sense
of relief. You’re working from home right now during the
pandemic, but it hasn’t got easier.

Opening your laptop to start work gives the same feeling as

going to your chaotic o ce.

Sure, you don’t hate your job. It’s not bad. You’re paid alright,
you’re learning things, your day ies by. But bits of
daydreaming dominate your day, wishing you were in a
di erent place doing something else. More so, thoughts like
‘what am I doing in my life and ‘do I really belong here’ pass
through your head often.

You feel you belong somewhere else, but shun that o as just
a dreamy thought and carry on. Deep down, each day, you
still feel that you’re meant to do something di erent,
something less mechanical, something which makes your
soul feel on re.
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 “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and
the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you
believe is great work. And the only way to do great
work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

What can you do to bridge this gap between your dreams

and your reality? For how long will you continue feeling like a
mis t?

Are you a mis t? Let’s understand if you are.

1. You’re always daydreaming

We all daydream; it’s normal, especially during the current
times when sipping margaritas on the beach would be blissful
as compared to staying at home. I even spent most of my
school days daydreaming because studying wasn’t my forte.
But are you daydreaming to dream or daydreaming to
escape?

A few months ago, I realized my daydreams weren’t just

about vacations anymore. They were more rebellious. I
started questioning the authority, the industry, and the
institution I am surrounded by.

I didn’t want to earn X amount of money or work X hours a

day. I wanted to earn X*2 and work 6 hours a day. Nothing
felt appealing. I started looking for a new job only to realize I
wasn’t looking for a change of role because I genuinely have
no complaints from the organization I am working in; I wanted
a lifestyle change.
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It’s okay to daydream, but if your thoughts revolve around
actively seeking a drastic change, spend time with yourself
and reevaluate.

Here’s what you can do

Pick up cues from your daydreams.
I cannot emphasize enough how powerful your inner voice
can be.
When I was traveling solo 3 years ago, a part of me kept
telling me I want to travel and write for life, for a living. But my
21-year-old naïve and under-con dent self believed that this
is merely a dream and cannot be a reality.

Three years later, I got stuck with the same process and
actually got an action plan that works and is doable.
Your daydreams may not be telling you to change your
lifestyle but could be about a job you feel more inclined to or
a skill you’d want to work towards, pick up those cues instead
of being lost.

2. Daily mechanisms amuse you

What may be normal for us may not be normal for others, and
vice versa. Say, if you’re from the West, then paying rent after
18 and living away from home is normal for you. For me, that’s
a cultural shock. In India, we stay with our parents until we get
married, sometimes even after that.

Similarly, working a corporate job may be normal for most

people but need not feel normal for you. Maybe you want to
work at a young and energetic start-up, maybe you need to
change your industry altogether from FMCG to Tech, or
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maybe you have an entrepreneurial spirit within you urging
you it’s time to come out.

2. You question things.

For me, I started questioning society and industry. I didn’t
want to slog my ass o for a sucky appraisal. I didn’t see the
rest of my life be full of 8–10 hour workdays. I didn’t have it in
me to be cunning and climb my way up the corporate
ladder. For me, work is a part of life; for many of my
counterparts, work is their life.

Here’s what you can do

“Identify your problems, but give your power and
energy to solutions.” — Tony Robbins
If there’s an itch you’re experiencing, scratch it. Life’s short,
and you don’t want to leave space for regret later.

Find out answers to:

- What is bothering you?
- What would you like to do instead?
- How do you want to go about it?
Books are really helpful too. Reading Unlimited Power by
Tony Robbins helped me get closer to guring out what I want
to do and how I should get there.

3. You seek higher-level ful lment

Do you feel that there needs to be more to what you’re
doing? Appraisals come and go. Recognition feels good too,
but something is missing. You constantly think there has to be
something more to this.

Something feels incomplete.

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When you’re doing something you enjoy, you feel whole. You
feel complete. But then you get back to reality, which is your
job.

Here’s what you can do

This is a great place to be in. Keep feeling this way and keep
making time for doing the things you enjoy. If you’re a full-
time student or have a full-time job, having a side
hustle helps.

I started writing out of passion, but I was so happy doing it

that I kept writing. It helped me make money and gave me
the level of con dence I was otherwise missing. I wouldn’t
have even tried had I not felt this way.

4. You don’t give your 100%

Even though you know you have it in you.
The reason is, as an addition to the above points, you’re not
driven. You’re not driven to do this job. Even the rewards, no
matter how yummy, don’t appeal enough for you to give your
best.
There are two types of motivations:

- Extrinsic motivation: This reward-driven behavior. If there

is a known reward tied to the outcome, they will
extrinsically motivate you to pursue it. E.g., doing work for
money, competing in sports for the trophy.
- Intrinsic motivation: Human beings have psychological
needs which need to be satis ed to thrive. This involves
seeking activities with no external reward. E.g., taking part
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 in a sport because it’s fun and you enjoy it instead of the
trophy.

Your lack of motivation does not make you lazy or not good
enough; you’re just a mis t in this world but a rockstar in
another. Find where you can perform.

“Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky

to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it
‘tap-dancing to work.’ “ — Bill Gates

Here’s what you can do

You need to nd where you thrive, and that will only happen
when you keep experimenting. If you think you’d want to be a
coder, start learning to code online and see if that makes you
thrive. If you want to be an artist, produce art on the side and
see if that’s where you put in your 100%.

I was ‘extrinsically motivated’ to code because of the big

bucks which come with it; I planned a full career move in my
head. But I sucked at coding, my extrinsic motivation tied to
the reward wasn’t enough to keep me going.
You will give in your 100% when you nd your ow, and you
will nd your ow only by doing.

Finally
Being a mis t isn’t wrong, but a tremendous advantage. It’s
such a great place to be in. I have always liked my
organization and my work but also felt like I don’t belong
here.
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Of course, my self-defeating voice told me I’m lazy because I
don’t want to work, just like I didn’t want to work hard enough
to get good grades. But one day 6 months ago, I changed it.
I accepted being a mis t, and I embraced it.

I did everything I told you above to become more aware of

where my ow lies. It lay in art, in creativity, and not in Excel
sheets and PPTs. I enjoyed building relationships to lift others
around me and not for the sole purpose of gaining something
or climbing up the ladder.

Embrace being a mis t, for it could take you to the dreamland

you’ve been daydreaming about all along.

6 Side Hustle Bene ts I See Nobody Talking About

You’re aware that creating an additional income stream and

passive income is one reason to start a side hustle. And I will
not waste your precious 5 minutes to tell you what you
already know.

So here are some o beat reasons on how having a side-

hustle can help you.

1. You’ll get better at other things

Having a side-hustle requires traits and actions that can make
you better at your main hustle:
- Perseverance
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 - Rejection
- Negotiation
- Commitment and consistency

The rst three were traits I hadn’t experienced until I started

writing online. And when I did, it made me better at my job.
So learn from one place and implement it in other places;
that’s e cient learning.

2. It’s develops ‘grit’

In her book Grit, Angela Duckworth gives many examples and

studies of how passion and perseverance develop ‘grit’ —
the secret to success.

“Most dazzling human achievements are, in fact, the

aggregate of countless individual elements, each of
which is, in a sense, ordinary.” ― Angela Duckworth

A side-hustle is likely to be something you’re passionate

about because why else would you spend your after-hours
working?

Passion with perseverance gets you closer to grit, a skill that’ll

make you go through tough times to attain greatness.

3. Your brain cells will be replenished

No matter what you do, always do one hard thing
simultaneously.
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 Let me give you an example. When I had a full-time job,
writing was the ‘hard’ thing I did, which was a challenge to
pursue before/after my 9-hour workday but also fun.

Now that I’m writing full time, it’s no longer a complex and
di erent activity from my usual day. So here’s what I’m doing
to work my brain:
- Doing a course on online business
- Writing gig for a client in an unfamiliar industry

According to Harvard Medical School, it turns out that the

human brain has a great potential for something called
neuronal plasticity, or in other words, being highly
malleable. It appears that challenging our brains — for
example, by learning a new skill — leads to actual changes in
the adult brain.

4. Say hello to shooting con dence

Before I wrote on a competitive platform, I still knew I’m a
decent writer but wasn’t as con dent in my writing skills.
Sure, I’d written for my high-school newsletters and was in
the editorial team, but that’s it.

I’d also gone viral on Quora multiple times, but that isn’t a
literary platform so it didn’t validate my writing skills.
Writing on an ambitious platform led to recurrent rejections
because there were so many great writers. After months, I
made it! I gave my articles a home in the publications that
earlier rejected me.

Now I know I’m a proli c writer, and when I say that my voice
won’t waver with self-doubt.
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 Pursuing a side hustle will take you out in the world, and
when you do well there, it’ll make you believe in yourself like
never before.

5. A community and a safe space

And by community, I don’t mean a Facebook group with ten
thousand people. I mean a tight-knit community of more
people in the same eld as you, and even better than you.

A safe space where you can share what scares you, where
you need help, and what your goals are. A place where
sharing your vulnerabilities will be okay.

Your friends and family won’t know much about what you do
— online or o ine. They will celebrate with you, but they
won’t understand what you’re doing and advise you on your
path. That’s when it helps to be a part of a community that
feels comfortable, like talking over hot chocolate in a wooden
cabin on a cold winter morning.

6. The money is a bonus

There are ve better reasons to pursue a side-hustle than
money. Reasons that might shape you to be a con dent
leader and excel in all that you do. If that makes you extra
money, it’s a bonus.

Till today, when I make money o an online platform, I’m in

awe. I’m in awe that people out there with a million
responsibilities and limited time are taking out time to read
my stu . I’m beyond grateful that people take out time on
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weekends to read and reply with kind words to my
newsletter.

It feels unreal. The high-paying gigs I’ve done are unreal

because I never imagined earning that kind of money when I
was in my corporate job. People started valuing me when I
sharpened my skill and valued myself.

The money is a bonus and will give you a sense of freedom

and security. But it’s scarce when money is your sole reason
for side-hustling.

Conclusion
As Mark Twain said,

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

So here are 6 o beat reasons to start a side-hustle:

- It helps you better at other things

- It develops ‘grit’ — passion and perseverance that lead to
success
- Doing challenging things strengthens the brain
- It’ll shoot up your con dence
- You’ll have a community to fall back on and seek help
- You may make money, which is a bonus!

The most impactful change I’ve experienced is that I’m willing

to take risks and work in unfamiliar territory, hoping all will be
well, and if it isn’t, then I’ll still be okay.

It’s a powerful feeling.

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How I Tripled My Income During the Pandemic
As of Feb 2021

I always wanted to reach a certain income mark before I turn

25 — but there was no way to get there. It would take me
many years to work up the corporate ladder and achieve that
result. And even if I change my job and get a pay hike, it
simply won’t meet my income goal before the next few years.

But in September 2020, I took steps to change this.

In just four months, I tripled my income. One stream even
pays me even more than my corporate paycheque.

My intention of writing this isn’t to tell you that there’s a make-

money-quick scheme, but that there exist opportunities you
can tap into. You can change your life around in a few months
if you really want.

Here’s how I did it, and I’d love for you to steal this.

1. Corporate job
Most people on the internet criticising corporate jobs have
never done one. Having experienced working in both a start-
up and a multinational, I pay strong emphasis that they can
help you personally and professionally.

I know that on some days you’re going to work donkey hours

and still get that same paycheque. Your appraisal may suck,
and the job market requires tough skin.
 But it’s not always about toxic culture and bad bosses; it’s
about thriving culture and empowering leaders. It’s given me
a platform to grow immensely, while enhancing my problem-
solving skills and creativity.

There’s also plenty of vacation and healthcare bene ts.

Pursuing passions also don’t come at an additional cost when
doing a corporate job. You don’t have to worry about your
xed bills when you have the safety net of a xed income.
When I work on my side hustle after a tiring day — it feels
blissful. My side hustle comes under leisure instead of
jumping from one job to another.

- Proportion of my monthly income earned: 30%

- Weekly E ort: 40–50 hours

My advice to you
Don’t form a negative mindset of the corporate sector without
rst trying it.

Apply for a job which matches your skill-set. Find a company

which has a culture that most resonates with you. We live in
an exciting time when one can work from large corporations
to places you can enter wearing t-shirts and shorts — make
the most of it!

Also, stay for a while. Don’t judge too quick if you’re making
an impact or if a job is exciting. Your rst one year in an
organisation is all about learning to get the hang of things. All
good things take a little time.
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2. Writing online
I started blogging in May 2015 when I dropped 50 lbs
and wanted to tell the world how to lose weight without
losing their soul.

After that, I wrote about my solo travels and tness

on Instagram and built an audience of 11,000
followers. Similarly, writing for the same topics on Quora built
my audience to a whopping 58,000 followers when I wrote
less than 300 answers in 5 years.

In September 2020, I wrote on Medium. I don’t stress about

followers or number of articles or money; I write to develop
my craft of writing. Writing online has empowered me
drastically to see a future in this side-hustle.

Sometimes you feel that your passion isn’t good enough for
the world to see, but when it gets applauded, it feels like a
ray of sunlight on a gloomy day. It makes battling your
negative inner voice, dealing with rejections, and getting out
in the world worth it.

While writing is fun and enriching and can one day result in
passive income, it needs a lot of time to reach that
stage. You’re improving every time you write, and you have to
write a lot to be an excellent writer. You need to be consistent
even when you don’t want to be and when you’re not earning
a penny.

This income stream is the slowest path to success, but also

the most ful lling one.
- Proportion of my monthly income earned: 3%
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 - Weekly E ort: 5 to 10 hours

My advice to you
Writing online for the sole purpose of money can make you
do silly things like focus only on trending topics or trying to
win the algorithm, which will suck in a lot of your time and
drain your energy in return. You will also hamper your
creative muscle in this process.

Write online for the joy of writing, for discovering other

talented writers, reading enriching pieces, and being a little
sel sh — by carving a path towards your own writing journey.

Of course, your second source need not be just writing but

can be any skill you’re good at/want to be good at. Just get
out there and do it. There isn’t a better time than right now.

3. Writing for others — Ghostwriting

This is the most lucrative income stream I currently have.
Ghostwriting is writing for somebody else and not taking any
credit for it. You’re the writer, but it’s their name in the byline.

People are busy… aren’t we all? Some really want to write a

blog or publish a book, but just don’t know how to write. For
the art of penning down their knowledge, they are ready to
pay you heavily for it.

That being said, there are many types of clients in the market.
I’ve been approached to write 50 pages for $50 and even for
$500.
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I got paid 3 times my salary every month by putting in 1/4th
the work.

While the general advice is to settle for low until you get
better, with my corporate job I just don’t have the time to
settle for low. This is a choice I’ve made. If you don’t have a
demanding job, you can charge low in the beginning and
eventually climb up.

My favourite part about ghostwriting is that it’s super

lucrative. And my second favourite bit is that I get mentored
by top professionals who are doing exceedingly well in their
career. I get to learn from their expertise, journey, and get
advice for my own.

Be ready to follow up each day for weeks if not months for

your contract to pass through. This is one place you’ll have to
keep your ego aside.

- Proportion of my monthly income earned 67%

- Weekly E ort: 5 to 10 hours

My advice to you
Don’t chase too many clients for the heck of money. One
client who you have a great relationship with can be more
rewarding (emotionally and monetarily) than having multiple
clients.

As a writer, the quality of what you deliver must always be a

priority as opposed to the quantity of clients under your belt.
You can nd clients on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr or
reach out via Linkedin.
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 Here’s how you can start
6 months ago, I would’ve never imagined the opportunities
that exist in the current market. The pandemic has moved the
world online. I personally feel that right now is the best time
to be anybody you want to be.

You can turn around your nances, and your work life, starting
now.

Here is what I recommend to bridge the gap between where

you are and where you want to be:

1. Decide: Do you want extra income as a side hustle or

want various sources as your principal work?
2. Explore: What skills do they require in the market and what
can you o er? Learn about people who are currently
experts in what you aspire to do.
3. Apply: Apply your skills on platforms, apply for jobs, always
be on the look for opportunities.
4. Execute: If your skill is lmmaking, always keep a collection
of samples. This will only happen if you’re constantly
lmmaking. Your clients want to see your work, and you
will always have to be better than your last piece. This will
only happen if you’re constantly creating.
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PART 2 - Mindset Shifts
3 Mindsets to Help You Thrive as a Creative

Are you a budding creative?

Or even if you’re not budding (yet), do you aspire to be one?

Does it haunt you that there are millions like you who want to
be one but fail? If your answer was yes to any of the above,
this one’s for you.

Mindsets can make or break your game. Michael Phelps used

visualisation to prepare his mind to win. As his coach, Bob
Bowman says, “for months before a race Michael gets into a
relaxed state. He mentally rehearses for two hours a day in
the pool. He sees himself winning. He smells the air, tastes
the water, hears the sounds, sees the clock.”

Tony Robbins always emphasises xing your inner belief

systems to change actions on the outside. Beliefs create a
subconscious path towards our goals, which is why it's so
important to x them.

Forming a mindset can change your approach to how you do

things and make you do them better.

You could be a writer who always struggles or a writer who

thrives, the choice is yours. You and a fellow writer could both
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be making the same money, yet one of you could be
miserable. What's the di erence? Your mindset.

I have failed for years trying to “lose my tummy.” I could lose

25 kgs, yet never get rid of my belly fat. I criticised it every
day as I looked into the mirror to change. I fat-shamed myself
while hanging out with friends. Now, I am the happiest I have
ever been with my body.

Instead of criticising a part of my body, I appreciated

it. Instead of working out to get rid of fat in a certain area, I
started working out for overall wellness. I appreciated my
body for being strong and healthy, and I was so grateful for
the million things it does right every second.

Because of always feeling happy and showing gratitude, I got

in my image of an ideal body. I also changed things in my
routine out of happiness and not force, which helped me get
there.

Doesn’t this sound similar to the two writer story? Same

goals, but one is miserable and one is happy because their
approach is di erent. Let's check out mindsets you can
cultivate to thrive as a creative.

Figure Out Your Big Why

Why you want to do something has a bigger answer than “I
enjoy it” or “it’s my passion” if you introspect. Your Big Why is
the biggest motivator to get you through the days you don’t
want to be creative, as that's when enjoyment and passion
aren’t powerful enough to pull you in.
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Whatever creative work you want to do, ask why ve times
and answer it. It’s okay if you stop at three times and can’t go
any further. But dig deep.

Let me do this publicly to show you.

Statement: I want to be a writer.

- Why? I love to write. It’s one thing I’ve been doing since I
was 7.
- Why? I enjoy it and am good at it.
- Why? I love putting everything in words.
- Why? It helps me tell stories, I always have a lot to say and
a brain bursting with ideas.
- Why? It can help improve other people who read it.

So, I don’t want to be a writer because I love to write. That's

not my driving factor and won’t get me to wake up early and
get typing every day. My reason for waking up early each day
is to create art that can help improve someone’s life.

Practice Outcome Detachment

Let's say you want to be a Youtuber.

Your month one is all about learning, so you upload videos,

and with each video, you upload you get a better sense of
how to edit it and the tools to use. A month later, you feel a
little con dent.

Three months pass, you’re constantly creating and taking

tutorials to create better, but the stats are negligible. You
have a few subscribers, but with all this frustration you’re also
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 running out of ideas. You want that one idea that will produce
a viral hit.
You check stats every day, which makes your body heated
with frustration.

Six months of being a YouTuber are now over, and most

people will see their zero or dipping stats and will quit.
They’re convinced that this was one unachievable dream.

You can either worry about how much money you’re making
and keep refreshing your stats, or use that time and energy to
create. Our brain has a limited capacity to use and process
information. Consider it as precious and use it for good.

Your rst 100 blog posts and videos may be shit, but that's
because of this thing called growth. After creating 100 times,
your hands ow more easily towards the art you want to
create. So use it as a journey of exploration to know yourself
better.

Set Milestones, But Be Empathetic.

You need to set mini-goals. Only if you know where to reach
can you have directions to take you there. These milestones
are the small steps to reach the door you eventually want to
get to.

Steal my goal-setting method:

- Each month, set a goal of what you want to accomplish.

- Set a weekly goal on what can you do this week, which
can help get you there.
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- After each week ends, re ect on what went well and what
did not, and what can you do better.
- With that re ection, create your weekly goal for the
upcoming week.
- After your month ends, do a monthly re ection on what
went well and what did not.

This will help you build a strategy. If you write to produce 4

videos a week, you may produce only 3 and that's okay
because it's better than zero.

The second part is more important than the rst one. Be

empathetic.

There is a ne line between motivation and giving yourself

shit, don’t move to the latter. If you don’t reach your weekly
goal, that's alright. It’s why you do weekly re ection to re-
strategise. Appreciate what you’ve done and move on.

What we could not accomplish always teaches a lesson.

Celebrate small wins. Celebrate your rst 100, 1000, 10000
followers. Celebrate getting 5 likes. Happiness helps us
perform better.

Finally
“The magic of the creative process is that there is no
magic. Start where you are. Don’t stop.” ― Seth Godin

Your contentment and happiness is a state of mind. What may

be enough for you may not be enough for somebody else,
but how will that help? The lack mindset will always make you
feel that you’re in lack, no matter how much you earn.
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The abundance mindset can make you realise that there isn’t
a deadly competition but there’s space for all of you to
succeed. What you produce is what no one else can, it’s what
makes you unique. Your Big-Why will get you to your table
each day to produce.

Don’t focus too much on the metrics of stats of money, they

seldom move by just staring but move by doing. Create,
instead.

5 Mindsets Shifts I Made to Become Self Employed

Do you read about people doing really well and wish you
could do something similar? Have you at least once thought
about how di erent life would be if you did something you
genuinely like and could get paid for it? Do you sometimes
feel that you’re stuck in the wrong place doing work that
doesn’t ful ll you?

I was at your place too. The world online is full of people

telling us how big they made it, but I thought it’s only for a few
outliers because people like us follow the rules and take the
conventional path.

Then, I read a book that asked me to write my ideal life. I

realized that the reason I feel demotivated to work is that I’m
not driven towards this path. But that doesn’t mean I am not
driven at all.
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I always felt the issue was not being capable enough, but the
issue was not exploring enough opportunities and believing
that there could be an alternate path. That just because most
people are happy doing certain things doesn’t mean I need to
be happy doing the same.

“I’d tell men and women in their mid-twenties not to settle

for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling.
Even if you don’t know what that means, seek it. If you’re
following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear, the
disappointments will be fuel, the highs will be like nothing
you’ve ever felt.” ― Phil Knight (Founder of Nike)

If you’re reading this and don’t t in your current situation,

know that you can move. Strategies will come later, but the
belief that you can move comes rst.

Here are the ve mindset shifts which helped me earn

well and get golden clients to pave my way to self-
employment.

1. Be free of logic and validation

Society is so weird; they tell us to follow a traditional path but
applaud those who do something drastically di erent.
Which of these situations sound like something a sane brain
would do:
- Competing against bestselling shoes globally for 8 years
with an aim to become the world leader in sport’s shoes
- Dropping out of Harvard (!!)
- Graduating from Cornell but going to a developing country
to work for the family business
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The examples above are all billionaires:
- Phil Knight: Founder of Nike
- Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook CEO
- Ratan Tata: Former chairperson of Tata Group

These three believed in their dream and were hungry to go

after it. What is stopping you?

2. Crash the glass ceiling

This glass ceiling could be the surrounding people or even
your inner voice, which is hampering your growth.

We are all products of our environment and get in uenced by

it. You are told what degrees to pursue, the safe ones you
know.
You’re told the safest options to invest your money in. You’re
told what you cannot do, which is risky, but we forget
that high risk = high returns.

Don’t fall for it. Just like we have a comfort zone, this is our
safety zone. Crash this glass ceiling because growth exists
when you walk with your head held high with re in your soul.

3. Want more money? Believe you’re worth it

I haven’t done a single low-paying gig, and I’m proud of it. I
say it bluntly not to show o but to tell you this could be you,
easily.

You can either cry about the number of low-paying gigs that
exist or fetch a high-paying gig for yourself. You can either
read about how much low-paying work to do to get your high-
paying client or upskill yourself and make yourself worth the
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price, maybe even up your negotiation game from YouTube
videos or books.

People will pay you when you add value. Business is all about
making money. Help people make money, and they will put
their money on you.

4. One day at a time > Stressing about tomorrow

I’d be lying if I say it doesn’t worry me. Every now and then,
I’m scared about the path I’ve chosen.

This reminds me of my time when I lose 50lbs. The result of

having lost all the weight wasn’t as fun as the journey! This
comforts me to enjoy the curiosity and uncertainty instead of
stressing over it, which won’t really help.

Take one day at a time. When you feel overwhelmed, just

think of making today a good day, and we’ll stress about
tomorrow when it comes. As for 6 months later, this entire
journey of 6 months can help you to answer the questions
you have right now about that time. Have fun; this time won’t
come again.

5. Choosing hope no matter what

How you feel impacts everything around you.

When you’re happy, studies show that chemicals in your body

function in a way to make you feel your best. Similar to when
you’re in love, and everything feels so energetic and
delightful (I knew you’d be able to relate to this one).
If you’re feeling sad, angry, or upset, you’re inducing negative
chemical reactions in your body. This will not help you
function better or even help you get out of the situation.

Choose hope no matter what, whether you feel sad or

whether you fail. There is always a scope for something
better, but you have to be open to see it. Choose to stay
hopeful through the toughest times, and it’ll help you get
through.

Takeaways

Here are 5 mindset shifts that helped me become self-

employed during the pandemic:
- Be free of logic and validation
- Crash the glass ceiling whenever it hampers you from
growing
- To get more money, you need to believe you’re worth it
- One day at a time> Stressing about tomorrow
- Choosing hope no matter what

I know you’ve read many quotes, but I couldn’t resist adding

the last one before you leave -

3 Unusual Approaches That Helped Me Triple My

Income for 4 Straight Months

What would an extra hundred dollars mean to you? Maybe an

extra thousand? What if you earned them by doing things you
enjoy which don’t feel like work? It would improve your life,
right?

I remember when my rst month of writing online made me

$8. I was so happy! That’s a few free co ees.

Before I started, I read articles about people speaking about

their side hustles and making extra money. But I felt that they
were the outliers. If it was that easy, why isn’t everybody
doing it? It’s later I realized that it’s not easy at all. It requires
you to stay and work during ups and lows, which is why
everybody isn’t doing it — because they expect instant
results.

If it weren’t for these stories of others, I would have never

started. If it weren’t learning about other’s mindset shifts,
behavioral changes, strategic decisions and failures, I
wouldn’t have been able to build my side hustle to the extent
that I can quit my job.

I want to invite you to know the three most important things

that helped me constantly increase my income.

How you feel about yourself changes everything

Pause right now; how do you feel? When you think about
yourself, what do you think? What are those words? Are they
negative or positive?

How you think about yourself impacts your self-image, which

leads you to pursue behaviors aligned with that. So if you’re
constantly feeling sorry for yourself or feel that your work is
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 worth little right now and will go up only with time, then that
will be your reality.

I curbed this with the help of a visualization technique. I woke

up and told myself, “I am a writer,” and imagined myself
happy and typing. I visualized and happy, ful lling, and
relaxed lifestyle where I’m being paid well.

I visualized myself to be a proli c writer whose readers and

clients are happy. And that thought got me to work each day,
without work feeling like work. That’s the only way I had the
motivation to work post the long hours of my day job.

You need to feel you deserve more; you are worth more, and
that you can achieve what you put your head into. Visualize
your success and how you see yourself in an ideal future and
treat your days that way.

You can exercise the courage to choose your life

How many more job appraisals will it take for you to reach
your nancial goal? Does your current lifestyle often hamper
you from setting a dream nancial goal in the rst place?

It’s not your fault because we’re all made to believe that this
is how it works. Work hard, stay below your means, wait for
your appraisal — and repeat this for your entire life.

You can exercise the courage to choose your life, and once
you do, things will change for you.

You can either stick to doing many low-paying gigs until you
can up your rate because that’s what most say is the way to
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go. Or you can choose to see how you want your life to
be. When I started freelance writing, I decided I won’t quit my
job for another struggle but for a lifestyle change.

For me, it was working for 3 to 4 hours for others and 2 hours
for myself. It was working with less than 5 solid clients instead
of multiple one-time clients. It was about building a
relationship of trust and learning from people I work with
instead of just plainly writing for them.

How we want to live is a choice we have, and once you

realize it and work around it, you will get closer to living that
choice. Once you see it in your head, once you choose it, you
will make decisions coordinated to that choice, which will
yield results.

You create opportunities for yourself

My highest paying gig came from a millionaire techie who
wanted me to help him with his brother’s university admission
cover letter. The gig came months later because we spoke
and built a relationship, and I showed my work ethics with the
previous assignment.

Another opportunity came when I created a communication

strategy for a business. They didn’t even ask me for it, but I
know it would’ve helped. Further on, I give ideas on what we
should do because I don’t expect a business owner to know
the ins and outs of content. That’s what he’s hired me for.

People don’t always know what they want, so you o er it to

them. Put something shiny on their table which will help them
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 grow their business. Be an investment for them and not just
another payment.

The opportunities you take, use them to create more

opportunities for yourself. Do it with diligence and passion, do
it because their wins are your wins.
And at the end of the day, a good egg is always treated well.

Lastly
Most people set low standards for themselves, which is
understandable, as we’re a product of our environments, and
the environment doesn’t comprise many outliers.

But your self-esteem, grit, dedication, persuasion and

discipline are learned behaviors. That means that you can
nd your shortcomings and turn them around… if you want to.
Have the courage to envision the life you want to live, behave
like you’re living it and create opportunities even when you
and your clients don’t see them. You’re creative; that’s what
you do — you create.

These three things have constantly helped me up my game

as a creative, and I hope they can help you too.

7 Mindsets That Have Constantly Helped Me Make

Money Online

Here are the 7 mindsets that have helped me get here and
push me even during uncertain times.
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 1. Single-lane mindset
When swimmers compete, they only look at their
lanes. Looking left and right to check their competition is a
waste of their time and slows them down. Follow this single-
lane mindset, especially when you’re not even in a
competition.

How does it matter how many followers and stats others

have? It won’t help you in any way. Also, there will always be
somebody above someone.

Focus on your lane and do the best you can; it’ll help you cut
through the water by reducing unnecessary activity and go
ahead.

2. Chuck the numbers

In my rst month, I checked my stats every hour and was
overjoyed when 10 people viewed my story.

Today, the most frequently I check them is once a day and

otherwise once in a few days. Monthly at best. What will
analyzing stats do? My highest-earning work has come from
the most random articles, so it’s better to focus on creating,
right?

Ditch the stats and go create.

3. Get over your ‘art’

Once you publish an article or upload your YouTube video or
put out whatever you create, get over it. It’s game over.
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them to, it’s not in your hands anymore. Let it go because it’s
time to work on the next one now.

After you hit publish, do something else.

4. Outcome detachment
This has helped me the most.
Don’t just do it for fame or money. If this is something you do
on the side, do something you’ll enjoy even after a full day of
work. And when you’re doing something you enjoy, forget
about the outcome. Don’t get too worked up by what you’re
getting in return.

Keep working on the process; the outcomes will ultimately

follow.

5. Network
Do it for
- Making friends
- Improving your work
- Getting opportunities

Your network will help you go places you otherwise wouldn’t

know. Hit up somebody in the same eld as yours in the
opposite part of the globe, and see how you can help each
other. Extending a helping hand can take you a long way.

6. Don’t think too hard

Is it good enough? Will people want to see it? What will
others say?
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because you’re too busy thinking about others. You don’t
have control over what people think, but what you can do is
go and create. People will do what they have to do, but it’s
time you do your bit.

Chances are most of the things will not work out, but the
practice doing them will build your skill.

7. Take in success, but get to work

I had a LinkedIn post go viral with a million views in 72 hours.
So many friends messaged me and appreciated my win.

The truth is, virality is temporary and random. You’ll shine

today, and tomorrow the light would be someone else. While I
seeped in the success and was deeply grateful for it, I didn’t
shut down and chill because 5 people from di erent
countries booked time with me to discuss potential projects.
Your work has got you where you are. Celebrate your
success, but get back to work.

Quick Takeaways
Making money online is a powerful feeling.

There is no limit to what you can do and how much you can
earn. But, like everything else, it takes time because you
need to know the rules of the game before you win it.

As a woman in a third-world country, it’s given me the

freedom I wouldn’t have otherwise got in a corporate job. I
feel a sense of power and shining con dence when I pitch to
people who pay me well for the value I bring in.
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Here are 7 mindsets that help me make $$$$ online:

- Single-lane mindset: focus on your track, don’t bother

about others.
- Chuck the numbers: refreshing the stats page doesn’t
increase them.
- Get over your ‘art’: create the next piece.
- Outcome detachment: having fun doing it > worrying
about numbers.
- Network: lift and learn from others.
- Don’t think too hard: because you have to get over this
piece without expectations anyway.
- Take in success, but get to work: having your head in the
clouds won’t help you pay rent.

PART 3 - Balancing It With Your Full-Time

Job
How to Ace Your Side-Hustle When You Have a
Full-Time Job

Written when I was balancing both

I pursued a side-hustle for 10 months along my full-time

job. And a 2-hour health routine. And I’m no ninja; I love
watching an episode of Brooklyn 99 with lunch and binge TV
shows on weekends. But I’ve been able to manage all my
commitments and even nd success.
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You can ace side hustles without losing your soul. It’s not as
extraordinary as the world makes it sound — the feeling, yes;
the work bit, no.

Here’s how you can ace your side hustle even if you’re a full-
time employee like me.

Navigate the employed vs freelance rut

We’re currently living in a world of instant grati cation. Lots of
people online are raving about their freedom lifestyle, the
one that allows them to travel the world and earn $100k by
being on their laptops.

I think that’s brilliant for them.

But what you see today is the result of the thousands of

hours they churned at work. Why am I telling you this?
Because after we earn a few hundred (or thousand) extra
dollars from our side hustles, we nd ourselves
asking, should I quit and live my dream life?

My clients pay me much more than my fancy corporate job,

and there are many times I have thought of being self-
employed. Isn’t that the dream, after all?

Take it one day at a time. Don’t worry about the outcome;

focus on your inputs. If you’re creating, do it for the joy of
creating. When you attach yourself to an output, your
production will get a ected. If you start a side-hustle with the
intention to quit your job (output), you will work in a way to
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attain it instead of actually putting your heart in your side
hustle (input) and nding joy in it.

Since your 9–5 takes up most part of your day, it’s easy to get
allured with your side-hustle if you’re making money. But
don’t instantly jump o the wagon because you see money
coming in; you don’t know yet if pursuing this side-hustle full-
time will give you the same kind of happiness.

Key advice:
- Spend a few months (or years) in your side-hustle.
- If you want to take it full time, have a plan in place.
- Network with others who are in the same eld as you.
- Save enough money!

You’re allowed to be busy or lazy

The internet is full of self-help gurus telling you to be
productive. Funnily, they also tell you that being busy is for
people who are lazy and unproductive.

But when you have to work for 9 hours at your full-time job,
come home and cook, exercise, do household work, and get
time for yourself it’s di cult not to be busy. After ve days like
this, spending your weekends focused on your side-hustle at
the weekend can be exhausting.

Results won’t come if you’re too hard on yourself. It’s much

more fun to do something when you enjoy it! This comes from
not being xated on the outcome. If you aren’t having fun, it’s
not worth it. If you are, you will make time to pursue it and the
motivation will come intrinsically.
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Cut yourself some slack, because doing a full-time job isn’t
easy. It drains you out mentally.

Applaud yourself that regardless of that you’re doing

something which makes you feel alive as compared to most
people who don’t step out of the hamster wheel to even go
and take a walk.

You circle around this thing called life, which has its ups and
lows. It doesn’t make you less productive or lazy. Please be
kind to yourself, it will give good energy to your work, to you,
and to those around you.

Key advice:
-While you set goals (more on this in the next section),
take enough rest to replenish.
- Compare your performance with yourself, and
improve.
-Find your sweet time before/after your 9–5 which helps
you focus, and try to work at the same time each day.

Set your goals (even if you don’t achieve them)

Think of what you’d like to achieve with your full-time hustle.

- Would you want to grow your audience for your podcast?

What is your target audience?
- Would you like to write a book? What would it take to reach
there?
- Do you want to upskill yourself with an SEO certi cation to
up your writing game?
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 Set your goals with a yearly and monthly goal. You don’t need
goals for all months, but say the coming 1–3 months is
okay. Attaining something becomes smoother when you
know what you’re going after. Then, set smaller goals linked
to your primary goal of becoming a podcaster, author, or
writer. Little milestones to motivate you to keep your side-
hustles going to the right direction.

The rst month I wrote on Medium, I set huge goals which I

obviously didn’t achieve. Six months later, I know my
strengths and skills much better. But had I not set goals, I
would’ve been nowhere close to where I am.

Start with smaller and attainable goals because lets be

honest, the majority of your day goes in your 9–5. Take it up
from there.

Key advice:
- Set one primary goal — where do you want to be 6 to
12 months from now?
- What can you do this month to get this?
- How would you break this month’s into weekly goals?
- Each week, re ect on what went well and what didn’t,
and re-strategise.
- Repeat the above step each month too to re ect on
your month.

Your passion may not be your business interest

We all think, “I want to pursue my passion” when we consider
pursuing a side-hustle or a dream career path.
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 I love being t. It’s something I’m truly passionate about. I
have been into a healthy lifestyle since I was 18. I haven’t just
battled obesity but have grown so much as a person in this
journey. I have read countless research articles about food
and wellbeing and a few books too. I can con dently coach
you on how to achieve your tness goals.

I realized I could turn my passion into an income stream. I

could create workouts as micro-ebooks, and charge $100/
hour for consultation on being holistically healthy because I
know I can give people the results they want.

I thought this would be the dream; instead it sucked.

In July 2020, I consulted 2 women for 12 weeks on their
exercise and nutrition to help them achieve their tness
goals. It sucked the life out of me to create weekly workouts
and be patient when people made mistakes. I quickly shifted
tness back to a passion, and not a side-hustle.

While we have a natural tendency to do what we love as side

hustles, we should leave some things aside as personal
passions. You don’t have to know right now if what you’re
doing will work or will not; it’s a part of the process of
discovering yourself.

Your side-hustle doesn’t need to be a side-business. It could

just be purely for joy because life is too short not to do things
you love.

How to solve for this:

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- Hit and trial: give your idea a try, either you do well or you
learn.
- Keep learning about what's going in the market and try
your hand at it (I tried coding because it’s lucrative and
failed)

Takeaways

With your full-time job, a side-hustle can either be your happy

place or just another work. With some mindset shifts, you can
make it your happy place and ace it. These are:

1. Employee v/s freelance rut: Whether you get early results,

keep big outcomes on hold and focus on creating.
2. You are allowed to be busy and lazy: you are breathing
and don’t function on batteries.
3. Set your goals: If not achieved, re-strategize — it’s a
learning process.
4. Your passion may not be your business interest: and if
this happens, something exceptional will come your way
soon. Keep at it!

5 Subtle Roadblocks Most Creative Entrepreneurs

Face

Are you on your way to do something of your own? Do you

dream of doing your own thing one day? Are you full of ideas
and wonder how can you leverage them to add value?
 I spoke to a mentor who is a creative entrepreneur and has
two decades more experience than me. He owns multiple
businesses and invests in several more. He has an MBA from
INSEAD and has travelled extensively across the world and
has been a digital nomad way before it became popular.

Today I confessed to him I was scared even though I am

nancially secure. As I wait for my 9–5 to end, I feel like how I
did before my rst solo trip. Excited yet worried about all the
things that could go wrong. During my rst two nights in
Amsterdam, I clutched onto my belongings under my blanket
to sleep.

I didn’t want my entrepreneurial journey to start the same

way, so we discussed what the most likely roadblocks could
be and what I can do about them.

Cooking with the wrong ingredients

When you set out on a journey with a pocket full of strategies
and a leap of faith, everything can go downhill. Your savings
can dry leaving you broke and maybe what you thought
would be a big hit can ultimately fail.

But this is just your mind cooking up stories.

It can use the negative ingredients or the positive ones, the

former is easier to make an impact and get you thinking.
Sure, that could happen. But we don’t know that yet. For that
matter, you could even be a millionaire, but that’s the
ingredient you need to tell your mind to use while cooking
stories next time.
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“Everybody else is doing it”
My colleague told me today that everybody else is already
doing the things I want to do, so it's a colossal risk.

Aren’t there a million managers, senior managers and vice

presidents too across thousands of organisations?
What you want to deliver to people would be a success if it
can improve their lives and solve an issue for them. Lots of
people could solve the same issues, but not all solutions
appeal to everybody else.

Let go of the mindset that you can’t succeed because lots of

people are already doing similar things. Your ideas and your
mind are yours alone and nobody can take that away from
you, focus on your thing.

“Why would anybody listen to me?”

Many years ago I blogged about health and wellness.

Soon, my follower base across platforms touched about

70,000 followers. I always wondered earlier why would
anybody want to listen to me. I’m just following the basics —
workout and eat healthily.

What's basic to you could be because you’ve already

researched and executed cool things. But not everybody has,
and that's what makes it valuable for them.

Continue creating your thing and those who nd value in it

will follow you.
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Not everybody will, and some won’t even bother to give it a
look. But your work isn’t for everybody, it's for those who nd
value in it. Continue to research and create depth in what you
do.

“If it was so easy, others would do it”

You’re right, we can all upload a video on YouTube and
become vloggers. We can all write and publish blog posts to
become writers. Hell, we can even self-publish and become
authors and podcast hosts.

But not all of us will create 150 creative pieces, many of us

will give up in rst 10 or 20. This is why it could be easy to
start, but not to continue.

I thought everybody could write, and it's stupid to quit a job to

become a writer. But it’s di cult to write each day on the days
you don’t want to and continue to produce quality work.
It’s easy to start, but not everybody makes it to the road of
consistency. And that's where the results come in.

“It will take time.”

I can’t talk you out of this one because yes, it will. Let’s look at
the other side of things.

I’m was an Assistant Manager at a corporate and it’d take me

at least another 12 years to become a Vice President.
That's 12 years of over-delivering, late working hours,
increased stress, medium rewards, and low-medium
satisfaction with work.
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 Everything takes time, but you can choose to take the road
you’ll have fun riding on.

Many people enjoy the corporate hustle and kudos to

them. As a creative entrepreneur, there will be highs and lows
just like anything else.

There’s as much uncertainty in a venture not working out as

there is in getting laid o from an organisation. Both of them
are not in your hands, but what's in your hands is to take the
fun road.

Conclusion
Your insecurity comes from a place of irrational fear and
uncertainty, both rightly so, because human minds crave
certainty. Since evolution, we seek to be safe.
As a creative entrepreneur, you can change a lot of your
roadblocks with a mindset shift.

When I was taking my rst solo trip to Amsterdam, I was

terri ed. Had I not taken the leap of faith to push myself and
get through the day ghting my social anxiety, I would’ve
missed an experience of a lifetime.
Maybe you won’t make it, nothing would work out, and you’ll
fail miserably.

But hey, you did something many people just dream about
and regret later in life for not doing it. Isn’t that an experience
worth everything?
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7 Micro Habits For a Successful Side-Hustle

When you talk about side hustles and multiple income

streams, you see two types of people in the comments
section — those who get inspired and those who criticize; the
latter are the kinds who blame others for their lack of
success. If they used their time wisely, they wouldn’t sit and
spread negativity on somebody’s hard work.

You can build a side hustle that can be pro table and a full-
time dream job one day. You can double your wealth if you
want to, but only if you believe you can. If you’re with me till
here and you already feel it will not work out, then there’s no
point in reading ahead because it won’t. But if you can trump
this negative inner voice and just for a second believe that
maybe you too can do this, you can do what you love and get
paid for it.

With a few habits, building a side-hustle can be pro table.

I believe in e ciency more than hard work and am the laziest
person I know, so let me tell you some easy micro-habits that
helped me.

1. Put up a time cap

What happens when you pursue something you love?
Beautiful things. You get in a ow state, time ies, you
produce great results until you burn yourself out one day
because of overworking. I made this mistake in the beginning
by sleeping 6 hours instead of my usual 8 and working before
and after my day job. I fell sick after 2 weeks.
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 To do
Put a time limit on how much you will work in a day. And then,
no matter how interesting a particular task is, or how it’ll only
take a few minutes to nish, let it rest. It won’t run away.

2. Have a re-energising activity

If you have a day job, your mind is always worked up. To jump
into doing a side-hustle task during or after work, your brain
needs to be in the right place to create. For me, my re-
energizing routine is simply sipping tea with my family and
not seeing screens for those 30 minutes. It really helps me
put my head in a better place to refresh and create.

To do
Find out what works for you to feel rested and energized.
Play with your pets, spending time with your family, or cook a
meal. Give your eyes time out from the screen and your brain
some rest from work.

3. Weekly and Monthly Re ection

If you don’t have concrete goals, you will always go with the
ow and then blame the water currents for leading you the
wrong way. Set a monthly goal, and each week set a weekly
goal on what you’ll do to get there. At the end of each week
and month, re ect and re-strategize. This has helped me the
most to build a good side-hustle.

To do
Set a monthly goal and action steps on what you’ll do this
week, which brings you closer to your monthly goal. At the
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 end of the week, re ect on what worked and what didn’t to
create a weekly goal for the following week.

4. Take a mandatory day o

You will want to work weekends because you get more time
as opposed to weekdays when you’re rushing and balancing
two jobs. It’s important to take a day o completely to get
your mind o work (even if it feels fun and not like work) and
do other things. You don’t want to work to the extent that
your brain runs out of ideas, so give it a break from churning
them.

To do
Take one day a week entirely o work, no matter how eager
you are to nish that one last task.

5. Keep learning (but be sel sh)

You have limited brain energy to think, learn, and create — be
bloody sel sh about it. You need to learn constantly, but you
don’t need to learn everything from everybody. You need
to lter excellent advice and feed yourself only what will add
immense value. Everything else is a waste of time you cannot
a ord.

To do
Something which helps me is the method of elimination. I
don’t read all Whatsapp group messages or everything on
LinkedIn as that depletes my focus resources. I prefer
learning from a set of people I admire or new things I stumble
upon that add value. Consume with the intent of
investment. Your time is valuable and needs to be invested
instead of being spent.
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6. Put in the work and don’t lie to yourself
We all read personal development and know what to do to
accelerate our performance, but how many of us apply what
we read? I wouldn’t have come up with this set of advice if I
hadn’t put in the work and made mistakes. Diligently put in
the work instead of creating an illusion. If you only put in 3
hours a week, don’t complain about the process not working
out by comparing results to those who put in 10 hours a
week.

To do
It’s a happy feeling to go to bed with a sense of
accomplishment, to achieve what you set for the day. What is
it you want to achieve today? Put in the work for it.

7. Daily feel check

Prioritize your mental and physical health. If these two things
go down, you get impacted in the worst possible way. This is
a contradictory point to the others above, but an important
one. Don’t get trapped in the guilt of being underproductive
because feeling unpleasant will produce unpleasant results.

To do
Each day, take a minute o to see how you feel. If you’re
overwhelmed or just not feeling alright, go do something that
makes you feel better.

Takeaways

Building a successful side-hustle is a fun journey. Don’t stress

it out; enjoy the process of learning and trying your hand at
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new things. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s called a side
hustle for a reason because most of your time is going full
time into work or university or other responsibilities.

Here are 7 micro habits to help you build a successful side-

hustle:
1. Put a time cap to work.
2. Have a re-energizing activity.
3. Weekly and monthly re ection.
4. Take a mandatory day o .
5. Keep learning (but be sel sh)
6. Put in the work and don’t lie to yourself
7. Do a daily feel check

PART 4 - Quitting Your 9-5

Don’t Quit Your 9–5 Before Securing these 5
Things

Written on June 30, 2021.

Today is my last working day. I’ve been waiting for this day for
nearly 9 months.

I don’t promote pursuing your passion by being broke,

because money is a great stressor. And if you’re pursuing a
creative eld, I can tell you from experience that you perform
better when your art is not directly related to your bills.
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Here’s what can help you swim by when you quit your 9–5.
Maybe your venture will work out, maybe it won’t. But at least
these tools will ensure that you don’t fall and you can take on
what uncertainty brings you.

1. One and a Half Sources of Income

It’s important to have multiple sources of income. But hey,
you’re just starting out. You don’t have to have it all gured
because that's what the comings days and months will be for
you. It’s a learning process.

But attain your income from a little over one source. For me, a
writing platform pays me enough and I have prospective
clients in the pipeline. I don’t know if it will work out with them
or not, but it’s a ray of hope. Plus, I’ll start applying to
freelance marketplaces.

Similarly, having a source that pays you and at least another

source you’re strongly inclined will pay you soon. It divides
the stress.

2. Practical Pessimism + Optimism = Resilience

When I quit my job, I had a high-paying ghostwriting deal in
my pocket. It was supposed to pay me lucratively for ve
more months. Two days after quitting my job, the client got
busy and ghosted his ghostwriter a.k.a. me.
My entire safety net of self-employment fell apart. I cried for a
day. Maybe two, if I’m being honest. But I had to prepare
myself that this is the beginning of many pitfalls.

There’s optimism and practical pessimism. Be optimistic that

it will work out, and be practically pessimistic to be prepared
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 for the worst and get back on track and go on with zest. This
will prepare you to swim through tides and go on even when
things aren’t working your way.

3. Somebody to Guide You

You can gain a lot of knowledge from the internet but you’ll
bene t the most from golden biscuits of advice. Somebody
who has achieved what you want to, and much more, and
wants to help you conquer your goals.

A mentor who has had similar challenges as you’ll face will

have rich advice to help you. You’ll also get help on the
strategies you can use.

I connected with my mentor on LinkedIn, and we meet

monthly to talk about my goals. Having a mentor has
encouraged me to pursue the path I chose and believe in
myself, along with practical strategies to use to get closer to
my goals.

4. At Least 6 Months of Money

Before I quit my job, I earned double and triple of my
income for 4 months.

You don’t need to earn double and triple, that was just a way
for me to gain con dence that I have a skill-set that has
market demand. But you need to have enough savings to
make you go through seamlessly for the next few months.

Consider having a side-hustle to get extra money and an

additional source, and save from your salary.
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How to do this? Calculate your monthly xed costs (rent, fuel,
loan payments) and variable costs (takeaways, subscriptions).
The sum of the two will be the minimum amount you should
have per month. Have this for at least six months to swim
stress-free.

5. A Tribe of Supporters
This doesn’t mean fans or a market ready to buy your product
and service, but people who’re in a similar eld as you and
want to help you get better.

For almost four months I have been a part of a writing

community with writers, most of them being much better than
me, who help and lift each other sel essly. This gives us a
platform to reach out to each other with no fear of being
judged and partake in occasional banter.

It’s a place to fall back on through the highs and lows and a
community you can call your virtual family. They’ll celebrate
your wins and will lift you when you fall.
Interact and network with people in a similar line to yours via
networking platforms for this.

Takeaways
When you quit your 9–5, it’s important to have your armour
so you don’t fall quickly and are prepared for whatever life
throws at you.

It’s a long journey, and not an easy one that too. You don’t
want to be in a position where regret hits you for chasing
your dreams and ideas.
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Here are the ve things you should try to attain before you
quit your 9–5:
1. One and a half sources of income
2. Practical Pessimism Optimism = Resilience
3. A mentor
4. At least 6 months’ money
5. A tribe of supporters

When you quit your 9–5, you should know that it’s so
courageous of you to take this step. Many people don’t sign
their papers out of fear and regret it much later in life.

You’re more capable than you think you are.

A 6-Month Strategy to Becoming Your Own Boss

Steal the plan I followed.

You aren’t meant to live like a robot industrialized by society.

You have the right to feel joy, be a little crazy, enjoy little
things and live the way you want to live regardless of the fear
embedded into you. Why? Because, why not?

If somebody told me in September ’20 that I could be a full-

time writer, work fewer hours, and earn better money — I
would’ve told them it’s a good joke. But when I took some
active measures just as an experiment, I was awestruck and
realized that I’d leaked my potential for years.
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And you can do it too by following this 6-month strategy. You
have nothing in your way that prevents you from reaching
where you want to be.

Month 1: Set an intention

What is it you want to be? Not do, but how do you see your
happiest self?

For me, I saw my happiest self doing things I enjoy and

earning well. Financial independence makes me feel strong
because the society where I come from gives only a fraction
of women the freedom to work and earn.

Apart from that, my ideal life comprised a lot of time with my

family and myself and lesser working hours and stress
because I look at work as a part of my life but not my entire
life.

From this, I derived my vision statement:

- Work lesser but more profoundly on meaningful things and
earn solid money.
- Inspire readers when they read my work
- Help individuals and businesses with their content needs.
- Have enough time to spend alone and with family.

The next steps:

- Find your vision statement: Close your eyes and picture
your ideal life from morning till you sleep. What do your
surroundings look like? What all do you do in your day?
Who is around you? Write all of this down. Now, derive a
2/3-sentence intention from this because that’s
 the vision you shall align with — something which will
make you go forward even through the tough times.
- Research: Read about the experiences of people who are
living the life you dream of. Research about what you can
do, the opportunities available, and what you would like to
do to be your own boss.

Start doing the task you plan to do. Whether it’s coding or
writing, no matter how much you suck, start practicing it right
away for your skill muscle to grow.

Month 2: Find your models

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel if it’s already there. I
don’t support hard work when it’s not required; it’s a
tremendous waste of time and is demoralizing. If there are
people who are doing what you aspire to do, learn from them.
Of course, your journey will not even closely be the same,
and you will carve out your own path. But it’s important to
learn from other’s experiences, their failures, and their
strategies that kept them going.

The next steps:

Pick up 3 models and read up. Figure out how they started
and what their journey was.
- How long was it?
- What did their initial years and months look like?
- What were their failures?
- What makes them an outlier today?

If they sell books and courses you can learn from, consider
investing. Whatever approaches they believe in which helped
them, try to incorporate them into your own practice.
Month 3: Write your goals
Your intention is how you see your happiest self and the
person you want to live like. Now write what will help you get
there. Don’t worry; goals can keep changing, so this isn’t
your ultimate life goal but your goal for now.

“A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often

serves simply as something to aim at.” — Bruce Lee
Writing your goals gives a direction to the place you want to
be in. Otherwise, you’ll just go with the ow. And if you are
still reading this, I’m assuming you want to be above average
instead of just owing where things take you.

The next steps:

Steal my goal-setting exercise. Write the answers to the
following questions:
- Where do you want to be in one year?
- Where do you want to be in 6 months?
- What will you do in the next 3 months to be there? (Write
Monthly)
- Now for the next one month, what will you do to get closer
to your 6-month goal?
- Set your weekly goal for the coming week.

After every week, see what worked and what didn’t so you
can re-strategize and set the next weekly goal accordingly.
Similarly, do so with monthly goals.

Month 4: Evaluation + plan to build the bank balance

By now, you’ve completed 90 days of practicing your craft.
Most people get out after 3 months. These 3 months is like a
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trial time for you to get a feel of is this really how you want
your life to be.

It’s not necessary that just because you like something, you
want to do it forever for a living. But if you’ve made it so far
and have enjoyed it, you have no reason not to believe that
you’re set to achieve your dreams.

Now is the time we evaluate ourselves and work on building

a bank balance. I don’t recommend following your passion
broke/ to get broke.

The next steps:

- Evaluate: In the last 3 months, what worked and what did
not? Can you increase your output without being
overwhelmed? If yes, set a plan with a gradual increase in
output. If you’ve been sticking to a certain method (e.g.,
same genre of writing/ making videos), why not
experiment and play around a bit? Keep stretching your
creative muscle.
- Money: I know you’re overwhelmed with doing your
current full-time role as a student or at work and side-
hustle takes up the rest of your time, but can you do
something little now and then to make extra money? If
you’re a writer, can you freelance edit or copy? When you
get these gigs, your con dence will only go up, and you
will also explore other niches in your domain.

Month 5: Either you give up or have a success mindset

By now, you’ve spent over 100 days working towards your
goal. And it’s hard, I feel you. While it looks cool to do what
you love and get paid for it, the journey is full of trials.
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 So read this as many times as you want to: You will get
rejected, again and again. You will have to keep pushing
forward through it all.

After I told my boss about quitting 9–5, both my “safety-

net” clients turned their backs on me. One ghosted me, and
one didn’t have the budget to pay me. But I had worked
towards this for 5 months, and I was rm that nothing and
nobody would rain on my parade.

And nobody shall rain on yours because you will walk and
push through rain, hail, and storm.

The next steps:

Developing a mindset not to give up is di cult. I have battled
with low self-worth for so long that it a ected my mental
health, work, and relationships.
You need to actively work to develop it, just like a skill you
want to learn.

Here are things that help me:

1. Podcasts: Hearing a Lewis Howes podcast when I’m
getting ready for the day is a dose of inspiration. You hear
success stories of people who were just like you, which
gives a ray of hope.
2. A rmations: I have been saying this for 8 months, a while
before I had a moment of epiphany to do something
crazy. However, a rmations only work if you believe in
them.
3. Talking out: Speaking to my writer’s network or my
friends about my ups and lows is really bene cial. Reach
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 out to your support system because some days don’t need
motivation but just a warm hug.
4. Visualising success: Every night before sleeping and
when I wake up in the morning, I visualize myself sitting by
the mountains with my laptop writing. I’m not sure why it’s
the mountains, but I’m assuming this picture shows that
I’m free. Visualization is a popular technique used by many
successful people.

Month 6: This may not always be Month 6

Now is the time to nally take a leap. If you’ve come this far
and have seen yourself grow personally and professionally,
you can do this. Oh, and there’s a strong chance that nothing
will work out, and you’ll fail.

But hey, at least you tried. Imagine being old and looking
back that you were there in the booming age of technology,
and we’re so close to taking a leap and getting in the game
but missed it out. You’d rather try and fail, right?

Now, this may be month 10, 12, or even month 3 for some of
you. You may not have found something good enough to call
it quits yet.

We all have our di erent paths to a destination, some take

longer, and some don’t, but if we keep walking, we will
eventually reach.

The next steps:

So this is what you do; you keep walking. You stay consistent
no matter what, and you keep doing what you have to. You
keep improving your skill.
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Takeaway
If you are at month zero right now, reading this may feel
inspiring but unachievable. I was you, so I feel you, and all I
want to say is that inner voice that tells you it’s unachievable,
tell it to go to hell.

Nothing will get in your way if you’re putting in the work and
learning and improving along. Do everything in your power to
make it to month 3, because by then, two things will happen:

A. Either you’ll know for sure you’re not set for this, or
B. You’ll be on a roll to take on this journey.

Here’s the 6-month plan in short:

1. Set an intention
2. Find your models
3. Write your goals
4. Evaluate + Build bank balance
5. Develop a success mindset
6. Stay consistent

How the 9–5 Mindset Can Help the Self Employed

Sort Out Clutter

When I dived into my self-employment journey, a lot of

unexpected things occurred. The reality was di erent from
what I dreamt of. I thought it’ll be 4 hours of working and lots
of reading and relaxing, but I’m currently reading the same
book for over a week and hardly relaxing.
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That means I had more time during my 9–5 when I pursued a
side hustle and read one book a week as compared to now,
when the day nishes and I feel inadequate about what I
didn’t do.

If you’re feeling the same or are anywhere close to being self-

employed, you’ll be bound to feel this way because transition
takes time. And this isn’t a time to be hard on yourself.
Instead, feel and embrace the transition. Here’s how you can
smoothen the bumpy road.

The Problem
You’ve been at school since you were 4. Your study time,
playtime, meal times and even bedtime were predetermined.
Then you went to university where you got a little freedom
but your post-school tasks were set with homework.

Then, you do a job where 9 hours a day belong to somebody

else and the rest are for responsibilities at home and yourself.
When you move from this conditioning, which takes place for
over two decades to suddenly being solely responsible for
your day, it hits hard.

1. Where does your day go?

I’m huge on productivity and setting timers. I’ve been waking
up early to work out for 7 years and plan my day well. But this
period made me realise I excelled when I just had a portion of
the day under my control, not the entire day.
That’s too much responsibility at once and can be
overwhelming.

2. You could’ve got more done

On some days, you’re pushing yourself too hard to get things
done. But on most, you’ve got enough done and need to cut
some slack. When the clock is at 3 pm and you’re used to
clocking in 8 hours in the o ce, you feel a sword over your
head telling you that you could’ve got more done.
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This could lead to burnout, so accomplish tasks instead of
chasing time.

3. Output and goals become a blur

I’m still pumping out the same number of articles as I did
when writing was my side hustle. That makes me feel like
there was no point in freeing up all these hours. I feel
inadequate and not good enough, but I hop back to realise I
need to embrace this transition instead of negative self-talk.
You’re now in a space where there’s no limit to work and
achieve, which can get stressful and messy.

Consider having a mentor who can help you with roadblocks

in creative entrepreneurship.

How to use the 9–5 mindset to overcome this?

Here’s how I’m stealing the mindset I had during my

corporate job to make my transition to self-employment
easier. I’m taking it one step at a time and things are slowly
falling in place.

- It doesn’t matter how you feel: Get to work anyway.

Unless you’re really sick, you’re mostly lazy or
procrastinating because the day has plenty of hours left.
Schedule your breaks and work time to not slack o .
- Goal setting: This is important in all spheres of life but is
now more important than ever. Have a mentor and set
concrete goals to achieve. Have somebody to hold you
accountable and guide you to the right direction.
- Nobody wants to hear you cry: Just like your boss didn’t
care about how tough your life is. You’ve made this choice
and you’re still better than most slogging from Monday 9
am till Friday 5 pm. Quit crying about your di culties and
get to the solutions instead.
- Lots of deep breaths: Your clients will pull out. People will
pick on your brains for free. Prospective clients will lure
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 you to get your ideas for their business, you’ll spend days
on a proposal and still not get hired. All this has happened
with me, and it could happen with you too. Use deep
breaths to get over your fumes and know this is just the
beginning of an adventure.
- Shut down when work ends: There are no Thursday
beers with colleagues or relaxed Friday where you take it
slow. So you’re responsible for mentally and physically
shutting down when your work time ends. It's important to
prevent burnout.

After all, life is all about learning and using those teachings
wherever you can.

PART 5 - My Success & Resources That

Helped Me
How I Earned Money on Medium (and How Much)

Back when I started writing on Medium, I thought it’s stupid to

get a course. There’s one writer I really looked up to though.
Reading his work really hit me in the heart, and I wanted to be
just like him.

Sadly, the Indian mentality is all about saving money and

being frugal with it. After a month of thinking, I knew that I
have to INVEST in myself to get better.

Here are my results with the Medium course I took:

I’m not trying to sell this to you, but just revealing the secret
of what helped me. If this is something you’d like, you can
click here to access the course.
How Medium Helped Me
If it wasn’t for Medium, none of this would’ve happened. It
gave me an insight into an amazing community and a bunch
of people doing cool things. There’s so much I learnt from
them and its a place for all those who’re trying to
-- build something
Better themselves
- Want to read good stu

I encourage you to
--Consider being a Medium subscriber
You can also get all my articles in your inbox now, click
here to subscribe.

How You Can Get Paid Well

Here are some articles I’ve written that can help you score
high-paying clients and contracts. This may resonate more
with writers but is helpful to all.
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 1. How I Win High-Paying Writing Clients
2. How to Hook High-Paying Freelancing Clients (contains
my email template of scoring a $15,000 contract)

*some links are a liate links.

A Special Resource for You

Since you entered the email ID while downloading it, I will
add you to the Google Drive which has resources like
worksheets to help you with vision statement, goal setting
exercise, etc.

PART 6 - What Next?

You will probably t in one of these two buckets:

- Think all of this is non sensical and stick to your old

excuses that restrict you from exploring your potential
- Steal my strategies and upgrade your life

Go out there, nd out what you desire, and get it. It’s not too
late.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The

second best time is now.”
– Chinese Proverb
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi is an MSc. Graduate from Alliance

Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester in
the U.K. and has majored in Economics, Psychology, and
Sociology from Christ University in India. She isn’t half the nerd
she sounds here!

After quitting the corporate world at 25, she’s now a full-time

writer and a creative entrepreneur in the making.

In her free time, she networks with her global community across
platforms, reads, binges on Netlix, and heads out for a soulful
cup of co ee (or fresh beer).

You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or her website.

She also writes a weekly newsletter that inspires people to
become healthier and happier
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