If not now, when?

Let me tell you something, a year ago today I had a vision. Not a dream, but a vision of building a passion project to satisfy my creative needs.

I created a platform to satisfy my own creative love of writing. It was meant to be something just for me, and maybe that one other random person who might land on it by mistake through a random Google search.

I didn’t expect it to go anywhere, I built it for my own personal development and happiness. But then something weird happened, something I never expected to happen.

People started connecting with it. 

From consuming my weekly articles/ramblings, to signing up to create the community that now receives my weekly newsletter.

One year ago nobody was reading my work, following my weekly newsletter and I didn’t have a passion project, but now… still very surreal to me, thousands of people visit my site, subscribe to my newsletter and have benefitted from content I’ve shared.

To know alone that people have found value in the content I’ve shared is enough for me. I don’t and never have cared about the likes, subscribes or any of that. But I do have to say to all of you who have connected with me and my work on any level – thank you 🙏 

A year ago I would never have imagined this little passion project of mine would be what it is now. Yes it’s taken a lot of hard work to build all of this. But I love it and to know that my work has even just helped a tiny percent of people on this planet, blows my mind.

Ultimately, this post is two things:

1. To say thank you to everyone of you that have put a little smile on my face with your connection to my work.

2. That you can build your own thing and have success on your own terms. Not everything is about building the next billion dollar startup.

You can do it too!

Your passion project could be drawing, indoor gardening, creating apps etc. No matter what gets you excited, the main thing is to get started.

I hear from many people that they just don’t have the time to do what I do. I often say to myself, what makes them think I have the time to do what I do? Time is our most precious non-renewable resource, but we all get the same 24hrs, even Beyonce does.

I believe that we can have multiple pursuits that feed the different sides of our personality. Not all of us will have the opportunity in a day to day career to indulge in those other skills and passions we might have.

This is why side-projects, as they have been coined in mainstream media, are on the rise. You can build something of your own, that fuels your ambitions and still have your daily career. 

If you need even more incentive to explore a side-project, just think about the new skills and experiences you could acquire to benefit your day job. My work at Steal These Thoughts has actually benefited my day job immensely.

From learning how to build a product, create marketing campaigns and design assets, to understanding how to engage an audience. These are all valuable experiences that I have translated to my daily occupation.

If not now, when?

So if you’re on the fence about side projects as you believe they may have no benefits, than think again.

You can open up opportunities to learn new skills, potentially create additional revenue streams and maybe even improve your wellbeing. Remember, success in this is all measured by you, no one else.

For me just finding a space to write, share and connect with people has been my personal definition of success. My parting advice to you is to know what you want and know it can be done if you’re willing to put in the work. But most importantly have fun.

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

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