This was so lovely to read. I relate so much about wanting to progress faster. I made a comic last year and it was SO BELOW the level I wanted it to be. Btw I would be really interested to know more about what the financial side of things was like for you. I’d like to go this route myself but I have a lot of fear around the finances. (E.g. did you make money during this year?) obvs no pressure if you don’t want to talk about it just sharing my curiosities.
Thanks so much Ryan!! I'm so happy to hear this resonated. Also, omg the drawings I uploaded on Instagram today were actually remnants of a comic I had been making for this post but ended up scrapping! so I’m glad all parts of this experience is universal lolll 😂
Oh yes, more than happy to explain the finances! This is gonna be a long comment LOL so feel free to email/message if you have more questions too.
First, I am making no money right now! I have saved enough from past jobs such that I'm now in the privileged & lucky position to be able to pay for a few years of income-free living without putting myself in a risky situation.
I considered freelancing to offset costs, but decided that for myself, I'd rather minmax it and focus 100% of my time on making things, rather than risk being in the worst of both worlds (i.e. making not much money but also not quite having enough focus time for projects). I wanted to focus on projects that would be particularly difficult to attempt while working, and for me that meant focusing on ambitious passion projects that are financially unviable lol.
Another way I think of it: Most business ventures fail, so this is also as if I started a business that’s failing, but in the most efficient way possible such that I have ample time outside of this “business” to focus on myself 😂
Once I need to make money again, then I’ll decide whether I want to approach that by freelancing, starting my own business, rejoining corporate life, or doing something else — but until then I wanted to have uninterrupted creative time! And I’m just at peace with the fact that it’s unsustainable and I can’t do this forever.
A few more tips: Before I quit, I was also SUPER scared about it and I got advice from a mentor who had done something similar. She told me to calculate my current monthly living expenses, multiply that by how many months I wanted to not-work for, and then treat it like runway at a startup: I’m my own investor who has given myself a chunk of cash. I have a monthly burn, and if I want to make money, I don’t have to make enough cover my entire burn rate all in one go; anything I make lowers my burn and extends my runway. But I'm my own investor too; if I'm getting so much out of this that I want to invest more money, I can; but also if it's not serving me anymore I can always change my plans.
Another kinda obvious tip, but it’s really important to understand your finances before doing something like this - I use a free tool called Empower to track all my finances so that I know my net worth at a glance.
That's everything from the top of my head!! I know that’s a lot but I HOPE THAT HELPS and I’m excited for you to have your own free time to make and explore…!
That is super helpful, thank you for indulging me in a detailed response! I think I am a ways off from having enough cash to pull that off myself. I really like my house but it does put on a lot of financial pressure. It’s still very inspiring for me to think about other things I could do like sabbatical or even just a big vacation.
Congrats on all you've given yourself the permission to do in the past year!! I'm in a similar boat and definitely feel you on the quitting == infinite time haha. It can be tough to balance between your passion/vision vs. your physical limits/time constraints. Excited to see what's next :)
congratulations! it's really cool to read your reflections! i think your process of doing the soul-searching part while you were employed is so wise. i've been freelancing for just over a year and i feel similarly about it. 💞
Thank you so much Lee, I'm so glad it was interesting to read!!! That's so cool that you feel a similar way 💓 I hope you're having a blast during your internship, too!!!
Woohoo!! One whole year -- it's been so fun to follow along vrk!! I really resonated with the desirable difficulties bit; I think that's where creativity and FUN lies in any challenge -- tackling all the desirable difficulties and constraints we can. <3 Can't wait to see (and read, and FEEL) what you learn in year 2.
Thank you so much, JM!! I'm so glad that part resonated with you 🩵 It's been sooo wonderful having your supportive energy this whole year and I'm so grateful for all your encouragement!! 🥹
CONGRATULATIONS ON 1 YEAR INDIE!! I am so grateful I met you this year while being on such a similar journey! I read the whole thing and this was inspiring and heartwarming and I can’t wait to see how year 2 goes!!
Omg Kelin!! 💖💖💖 I am so glad we met this year too!! Thank you so much for reading this many scroll-fulls of text LOL, and thank you so much for the kind message!! I'm so excited to continue this journey together!!! 🫶
Really loved reading this analysis of your year and getting the backstory behind Pouch!
This was so lovely to read. I relate so much about wanting to progress faster. I made a comic last year and it was SO BELOW the level I wanted it to be. Btw I would be really interested to know more about what the financial side of things was like for you. I’d like to go this route myself but I have a lot of fear around the finances. (E.g. did you make money during this year?) obvs no pressure if you don’t want to talk about it just sharing my curiosities.
Thanks so much Ryan!! I'm so happy to hear this resonated. Also, omg the drawings I uploaded on Instagram today were actually remnants of a comic I had been making for this post but ended up scrapping! so I’m glad all parts of this experience is universal lolll 😂
Oh yes, more than happy to explain the finances! This is gonna be a long comment LOL so feel free to email/message if you have more questions too.
First, I am making no money right now! I have saved enough from past jobs such that I'm now in the privileged & lucky position to be able to pay for a few years of income-free living without putting myself in a risky situation.
I considered freelancing to offset costs, but decided that for myself, I'd rather minmax it and focus 100% of my time on making things, rather than risk being in the worst of both worlds (i.e. making not much money but also not quite having enough focus time for projects). I wanted to focus on projects that would be particularly difficult to attempt while working, and for me that meant focusing on ambitious passion projects that are financially unviable lol.
Another way I think of it: Most business ventures fail, so this is also as if I started a business that’s failing, but in the most efficient way possible such that I have ample time outside of this “business” to focus on myself 😂
Once I need to make money again, then I’ll decide whether I want to approach that by freelancing, starting my own business, rejoining corporate life, or doing something else — but until then I wanted to have uninterrupted creative time! And I’m just at peace with the fact that it’s unsustainable and I can’t do this forever.
A few more tips: Before I quit, I was also SUPER scared about it and I got advice from a mentor who had done something similar. She told me to calculate my current monthly living expenses, multiply that by how many months I wanted to not-work for, and then treat it like runway at a startup: I’m my own investor who has given myself a chunk of cash. I have a monthly burn, and if I want to make money, I don’t have to make enough cover my entire burn rate all in one go; anything I make lowers my burn and extends my runway. But I'm my own investor too; if I'm getting so much out of this that I want to invest more money, I can; but also if it's not serving me anymore I can always change my plans.
Another kinda obvious tip, but it’s really important to understand your finances before doing something like this - I use a free tool called Empower to track all my finances so that I know my net worth at a glance.
That's everything from the top of my head!! I know that’s a lot but I HOPE THAT HELPS and I’m excited for you to have your own free time to make and explore…!
That is super helpful, thank you for indulging me in a detailed response! I think I am a ways off from having enough cash to pull that off myself. I really like my house but it does put on a lot of financial pressure. It’s still very inspiring for me to think about other things I could do like sabbatical or even just a big vacation.
Congrats on all you've given yourself the permission to do in the past year!! I'm in a similar boat and definitely feel you on the quitting == infinite time haha. It can be tough to balance between your passion/vision vs. your physical limits/time constraints. Excited to see what's next :)
Thank you so much, Julia!! Yeah, it is sooo tough! I still get the balance wrong all the time 😂 I just need another body or 3!!!
congratulations! it's really cool to read your reflections! i think your process of doing the soul-searching part while you were employed is so wise. i've been freelancing for just over a year and i feel similarly about it. 💞
Thank you so much Lee, I'm so glad it was interesting to read!!! That's so cool that you feel a similar way 💓 I hope you're having a blast during your internship, too!!!
CONGRATS ON THE ONE YEAR and i loved
reading this!!!!!!! I am so excited to catch up this summer!!!!!!!!!!
NIKKIIII thank you!!!!!!! Always so much to catch up on!!! Can't wait to see youuuuu 🫶
Woohoo!! One whole year -- it's been so fun to follow along vrk!! I really resonated with the desirable difficulties bit; I think that's where creativity and FUN lies in any challenge -- tackling all the desirable difficulties and constraints we can. <3 Can't wait to see (and read, and FEEL) what you learn in year 2.
Thank you so much, JM!! I'm so glad that part resonated with you 🩵 It's been sooo wonderful having your supportive energy this whole year and I'm so grateful for all your encouragement!! 🥹
I've loved following along this last year - keep going 🥳
Heck yes!! Thanks so much, Mads!!! 🥳 🥳
CONGRATULATIONS ON 1 YEAR INDIE!! I am so grateful I met you this year while being on such a similar journey! I read the whole thing and this was inspiring and heartwarming and I can’t wait to see how year 2 goes!!
Omg Kelin!! 💖💖💖 I am so glad we met this year too!! Thank you so much for reading this many scroll-fulls of text LOL, and thank you so much for the kind message!! I'm so excited to continue this journey together!!! 🫶