Month #11: Becoming a side-hustler

A Year of Monthly Challenges

In August, my challenge was to take on a new side project that would be meaningful, sustainable and profitable.

I didn’t do it — And then I let it drag on for another month.

Here’s what happened:

My plan was to start a freelance design business that I could run in my free time. I’ve recently moved from Design to Product Management at Mira, and though I’m learning a lot in my new role, I do miss a good UX design challenge.

So I set my target — to have one paying client by the end of the month. A friend connected me with an ex-coworker who was starting a business in the recruiting space. I was interested in the idea and got along well with the founder, so we made plans to start working together.

I waited a week — the founder was traveling and tending to some family matters — then another week — I set up a business bank account and learned about E&O insurance — but after a couple of email back-and-forths, it never materialized.

And that’s normal. Things come up. Timelines change. But I had made the mistake of waiting complacently for this one opportunity while telling myself I was doing my part. I wasn’t.

Without getting into baskets of eggs, chickens hatching, or any other bird-related wisdom, I’ll just say that I should’ve had other plans in the works.

I decided to give myself another month; In that time I found two more leads, both of which I’m currently waiting on to get started. In the meantime I completed two unpaid side projects — designing a logo for a friend’s app and building myself a personal website.

While this project is ongoing, I’m going to start my twelfth monthly challenge to finish out the full year. Time to finish strong!

Month #12: Make myself uncomfortable

October’s challenge is pretty simple; I’ll try an activity that makes me kind of uncomfortable and stick with it for at least the month.

Next blog entry to be posted on December 1st