How I Made More Money This Month From Blogging Than I Did From My 9–5
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This is not a blog post about how to make money online or build an online course or get more followers. Many of these ideas about money are flawed and are the result of something else.
So, this month I made more money from my side hustle of blogging than I did from my 9–5 as a leader in a listed tech company. Just reading those words seems strange to me, even now. These words seem strange because the evolution of what you can achieve can occur so rapidly that you forget how it happened.
Not once in the last month or even the last five years did I ever try and ‘make money.’
The result of this month’s earnings has to do with a few factors that have nothing to do with money or harnessing the power of the internet.
Building on selfless
The start of my blogging journey was a strange one. I acted as if a few short years working in a startup made me the go-to person online for advice and self-improvement tips. Over the last 5 years, the idea of the ego getting in the way has been a real focus.
It started with the book “Ego is the enemy” and then the journey took many detours, roundabouts and u-turns that I wouldn’t have expected. As the desire to read more books and learn more set in, a few key themes began to stick out. Putting aside the ego was one of those themes that was hard to miss.
I began to experiment with the idea of one’s ego, to see what would happen. In many ways, putting the ego to one side became logical more than anything. The ROI on leaving the ego at home on the couch to sleep while I was doing the work seemed all too obvious.
All it took was for me to read back over a few early blog posts to see just how ugly the ego can be when it’s front and centre in everything you do.
It’s not easy to admit to yourself that you were an egotistical asshole. That moment doesn’t seem to come in an instant, but it does develop over time. The realization that the ego is in the way plays out like a war that happens in a country you don’t hear about and have never visited.
I credit this idea as one of the reasons that the earnings this month have changed.
