Thoughts About Personal Projects.
Thinking of starting something of your own but afraid nobody will care? We have all been there. Start it anyways.
Over the course of my life, I have started and stopped on personal projects more than anything else.
My notebooks are filled with ideas that have never seen the light, while my brain continuously brews new ambitions that inevitably end up trumping those dreams that have been waiting to come alive for ages.
This never-ending loop generates in me the same sense of inadequacy and remorse that I experience when I am starving and decide to cook a delicious meal but hunger wins over patience and I end up munching on random snacks until I am too full to enjoy the delicacy I prepared.
In this particular case, gluttony takes over and I force-feed myself into a food coma; in the former, instead of reacting with resilience and stubbornness, I allow despair to conquer me.
To justify the failure and comfort myself, I make up a series of empty excuses like “There’s still time”, “I don’t have the resources”, and “Nobody will be interested in this anyways!”
Obviously, these silly alibis are built on a foundation made of air and so they immediately crumble whenever a project along the lines of something I previously thought is released by somebody else and all I am left to do is feel even dumber.
This very newsletter is the resuscitation of an aborted editorial endeavor I launched a couple of years ago, a blog titled Lost & Found Stories.
Unfortunately, unable to keep myself accountable and track progress and interaction, I very quickly ended up pulling the plug and turning it off after convincing myself, once again, that nobody cared for whatever I had to say.
I was never able to stick to something done by myself and for myself. Every time I even tried to start a personal project, I found a new way to be distracted. I became an expert at creating fictional scenarios only for them to linger in the back of my brain forever.
Luckily, thanks to deep mental work, intensive brain rewiring, and constant cheering on by my life coach (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like but not actually what you are thinking), I was able to rack up the strength and courage to put together a timely schedule and work plan designed to release an essay a week. Since its official launch in December 2021, I haven’t skipped a beat.
I was even proven wrong about not having an audience, or “people interested in my thoughts”, as there are almost 500 people who religiously read my stream of consciousness every Wednesday. Sometimes, they even repost it and recommend it to their friends as good lunchtime literature.
I am most thrilled when I meet somebody new and they reference these letters. It triggers euphoria in me.
Anyways, I diverge.
Personal projects are more critical in a person’s portfolio than any brand-affiliated position one may have had, no matter how renowned or prominent the company is. They demonstrate entrepreneurship and creativity, as well as responsibility.
Moreover, they give you full authority over the execution and they are a great exercise for commissioned work as you get to flex your muscles with no expectations or KPIs.
The ability to say “I did this” after the task is completed is a fantastic confidence booster.
Personally, working on this newsletter alone – even if it was initially thought as an outlet to challenge myself to write more and with a cadence –has landed me a bunch of well-paid writing gigs and a whole lot of connections; not to mention the direct network of like-minded individuals who I know I can turn to for good conversation if needed.
It also helped me overcome the latent fear of failure which hovered over my head and it taught me how to prioritize, sieve through, and vet things I actually want to be part of or not. I am now able to say no to outside noise and concentrate on what matters to me, and shoosh away performance anxiety and perfectionism. If you always wait for the right time to start things, you will never achieve anything.
If you believe in something, the right time is now. As hard as it is to break out of this shell, trust me, it will change your life for the better.
And remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day!
This is another great relatable piece! I stopped looking at everyone's "successful" personal projects online so that I wouldn't throw in the towel and linger in the "defeat" of not having achieved anything. If we don't remember why we started the project in the first place, it can get tricky!
Congratulations on your persistence and consistency with this newsletter. Well done