Building side gigs

My Notion is filled with all kinds of ideas, many of them about potential side-gigs, and most of those are related to the Creator Economy. I mostly follow and read about it, so it's only natural to have most ideas revolving around this.

In the past, I used to start saving and considering FI because of fear of losing my job and, with it, my primary income stream. I used to consider it irreplaceable, at least in the amounts I'm making combined with where I'm living and with the effort required.

These days I'm much calmer, understanding that I'd be able to replace (and maybe even improve) my income in this new economy; the Creator Economy. As long as I have a computer with an internet connection, I believe I can make a living.

But then the natural (capitalistic greedy) thinking comes up: should I build these ideas into side hustles and increase my current income? I'm not sure.

The fact is, building a website or a newsletter into a business requires time and effort. Let's say that I'm super productive and can build that up by investing 3-4 hours per workday (15-20 hours per week). That might work, and I do have the freedom to achieve that, but why?

Even if I make it work, and the side hustle brings in $1K, or even $5-10K a month, is it worth that extra time? Those fifteen to twenty hours per workweek would be the time I'd be taking away from having time for myself, my family, my friends. For what? —To earn more money and do what with it? All my needs are met, I have no more desires, and at the moment, I have much more money than I need. I'm on the way to reaching that financial independence, and I have no desire to retire early (RE), so there's not much point in reaching the FI sooner. Not if it makes the journey stressful.

I decided to make my living comfortable. Minimalism and frugality bring simplicity, calm, and serenity into my life. I haven't optimized my job and secured all those freedoms to fill it with financial pursuits. That's not the purpose of (my) living.

My priority is joy. I'm living it; I'm grateful for that. I'll keep generating side-hustle ideas as those also bring me joy and relieve stress from potential job loss. They're my backup scenario for alternative living.

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