Designing A Life

Summary

Rebecca, in her late 30s, has realized that her traditional job won't lead to her dream life and has embarked on a journey to make money online through various side hustles, documenting her experiences on Medium.

Abstract

Rebecca, now on the later side of her 30s, reflects on her long-held belief that her life would take off by this age, influenced by her father's assertion that the 30s are the best years. However, her reality hasn't matched these expectations. After an epiphany about her 9–5 job's limitations, she began exploring online money-making opportunities. Despite initial skepticism from encountering dubious online schemes, she discovered the potential of Print on Demand (POD) and other digital ventures through free YouTube tutorials and subscriptions. Rebecca has since developed a list of side hustles to pursue, including creating digital products, writing for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), producing YouTube videos, writing on Medium, and engaging in affiliate marketing. She is optimistic about her new path and invites others to join her journey on Medium as she strives to become her own hero and realize her dream life.

Opinions

Rebecca is disillusioned with the traditional notion that the 30s are the best years of one's life, as her personal experience hasn't aligned with this ideal.
She is critical of online "gurus" who charge for training while profiting from sources unrelated to their teachings.
Rebecca values free resources, such as YouTube tutorials, as she started her journey into side hustles without significant investment.
She expresses excitement and a sense of possibility about her future, despite her current life being described as "mediocre."
Rebecca believes in the power of consistent effort and is committed to working towards her goals to achieve success.
She views herself as the key agent in changing her life's trajectory and encourages others to follow her progress and potentially be inspired by her journey.

Designing A Life

All my growing up years, I looked forward to turning 30.

18? Yea, sure. 21? Who cares? 30? That’s when my life is going to take off.

My dad always said that “the 30s are the best years of your life: your life has come together and your body hasn’t started to fall apart.”

This has not been working super well for me.

I am now on the later side of my 30s, and it has not been the wonder decade that I was hoping for. In fact, if this is my life coming together, whoo boy, this is not what I thought that meant.

A few months ago, it dawned on me that my good 9–5 job is never, ever going to take me where I want to go in life. I have a dream life, and this job will never make that possible. My partner’s job will never make that possible. I keep playing the lottery, but we all know that’s a really bad plan. So I started looking into how to make money online. Side hustles.

I think we all know how this goes.

First search: Real side hustles. Results: play solitaire on your phone and make $83 a day! Honestly, who is getting paid to post that garbage all over the internet? I bet they are making bank.

Then I fell down the rabbit hole of “free” webinars from various gurus, but see the thing is I need to make money, not pay you several thousand dollars for a training of really questionable value. I know where your money is really coming from, and it isn’t what your teaching in your course.

Then I ran across Print on Demand, and all the guidance that is on YouTube for FREE. So I watched a bunch of videos, bought a few subscriptions, and signed up for a couple POD platforms.

As I took action, more ideas came to me. Good ideas, I think. So many side hustles to try, and you can start them all for nearly nothing. POD! Digital Products! KDP! YouTube! Medium! Affiliate Marketing! I have lists of things to try. Books to write, videos to record, printables to create!

I don’t know what is going to work out, but I have a whole new excitement about my mediocre life, that I believe that I can pursue my dream life and that if I put the work in consistently, I can be successful.

So here I am, on Medium, inviting anyone to follow along on my journey to be my own hero and make my own dreams come true.

Rebecca is designing her life. Follow along to see how this goes!