The CORRECT way to integrate your day job with your passions

A few days ago, I read a post from one of the proponents of building in public, and he is winding down his main program and going back to getting a full-time job. (If you don't know what that means, let's just say it's a way for you to carry people along in your side project journey.)

He is one of many others who have been running their own thing but are realizing paid employment will give them better leverage.

To me, this is becoming a rising trend, especially with predictions that 2024 will be a year where many may lose their jobs.

I will be on my watch tower and will report back to you on how it goes.

It’s also quite interesting that for years, I've heard opinions like, “A salary is what you get for ignoring your dreams and building someone else’s.” I don't think that's true.

While it’s understandable that some people genuinely dislike their jobs, organizational psychology suggests that dissatisfaction doesn't arise merely from having a job.

It occurs when interest in the job shifts, when your creative outlet gets blocked, or due to other emotional factors.

Reflecting on the idea of a blocked creative outlet, an ancient quote says:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings…”

For a creative or someone who has done something that betters the life of someone else, when you stop the flow or it gets blocked, it can feel unsettling, as if your feet have stopped moving, no longer positioning you to spread your message or engage in creative expressions.

When we're engaged and fulfilled at work, it enhances our creativity and motivation.

On the other hand, a lack of interest or a stifled creative outlet can lead to emotional distress, affecting our professional and personal lives.

This is where a side business or project comes into play.

When your job doesn't provide enough creative fulfilment, you can channel your energy into another endeavour.

But I must say, building something alongside a full-time commitment is challenging, as I've experienced firsthand in the last 15 months as a parent of 2 kids.

If you love what you do, your job becomes a container, but you can also transplant that passion into some other area, like a personal brand or side business.

Now, let's shift our focus to practical strategies. Here are steps you can take to integrate your full-time job with your creative or entrepreneurial endeavors:

1. Understand Your NDA: Know what aspects of your job are public knowledge and which are the intellectual property of your employer. Every company has this. Read yours.

Share only the public elements as part of your journey. That’s a good base for content.

2. Read and learn more: Since you do the practical side of your job, learning more about what you do helps you talk about the theoretical components more coherently.

There's a common saying that experts in a field often struggle to teach their skills, while great teachers may not excel in practical application.

By continuously learning, you can bridge this gap, doing well in both doing and teaching.

And by committing to ongoing learning, you refine your practical skills and enhance your ability to share and teach these skills effectively. I can help you with this, but that's for later.

3. Create something out of that growth: Be it a product or a service. But please there is no need to register a business or company yet. You are the brand / business. Again, and especially, if your job contract has a clause around it.

If you look at the bucket illustration above, you will see that you are finding expression in many ways. Your job is one of them.

For me, I see myself as a leader, consultant, and parent.

4. Build small side projects first: Transform an idea into reality by taking small, actionable steps. Have that first shot at success.

Even if at first, it does not succeed, get up and try again (sang Aaliyah)

Only then should you start working on major projects that may lead to quitting your job, if that's your goal.

5. Build an audience by sharing your thoughts publicly (some people call it “giving value”) and showing up.

Having an audience is so valuable that I often joke that I should have focused on a concentrated community sooner.

A little story: the first community I ever tried to intentionally build was called the Nigerian Podcast Network, which grew to close to 8,000 members who wanted to learn how to start and grow a podcast in a country where technical conditions were stiff. That was some ages ago.

I got tired of the community and talking about podcasts and handed it over to some managers before venturing into other interests of mine.

Today, if I were to do it all over, I would educate the community on the new direction I'm headed rather than leave them alone.

6. Practice saying a lot of NOs. Shiny objects will pop up along the way as ideas you can explore, especially if you use Twitter or Instagram. It is pretty easy to get carried away by another idea when the current idea is half-executed.

In my case, what I do is hang them on an idea waitlist. My Ideas Waitlist is where I dump random and thought-through ideas that are not ready to be executed yet, so I don’t go down that rabbit hole and lose track of other things that matter in the moment.

7. Patience. Slow is better. As you build your side business, slow progress is still progress.

Don’t be carried away by marketers who share tales of how they made $100K in 100 days. There’s a lot more to that story than what they’re sharing.

8. Don’t be superstitious about success: "Wake up at 3 AM. Journal every day. Meditate for 3 hours. Read your Bible. Pray every day." We've all heard those.

The fact is that most of these things can be filler content for people who don’t exactly want to paint a clear path of what they did that worked.

I am not against those things.

But success is more of a portfolio of small bets than one huge stroke of action.

If you’re not seeing success yet, enjoy the journey.

Don’t destroy yourself with too much thinking.

Focus on small, consistent actions rather than looking for a single breakthrough moment.

The balance between paid employment and pursuing your passions isn't always straightforward. It's about finding a healthy rhythm between financial stability, creative fulfilment and your mental and emotional wellbeing.

Your job can be more than a safety net; it can be a launch pad for your dreams.

Whether you're expanding your knowledge, building side projects, or simply finding joy in your daily work, every step is a part of your unique journey.

Embrace the process, stay curious, and, above all, be patient with your progress.

Hope this is helpful to you. Let me know. Reply.

Every week, I collect new tools across Web2 and Web3. Here are some of my recommendations that may be useful:

1. Senja: If you collect testimonials from people who use your products or services, this is a good tool to use. It can fetch your testimonial directly from social media or anywhere else.
2. Teleprompter: Use this in your browser to read your text directly to the camera without making mistakes. An easy way to reduce video editing time. I now use this for my videos since I found it.
3. AnimStats: Do you create content frequently? This may help you create cool animations that you can use to increase engagement. I just found it 2 days ago.

Try out any of them and let me know how it goes.

New Video Episode

I took all my learnings since landing in the UK and made a video about the most important ones so you can avoid mistakes and settle faster if you've just relocated to a new country. You're going to want to watch this episode.

Watch on YouTube

That's all from me for today.

Live courageously,

Dayo Samuel 💯