How I’m Turning My Writing Hobby Into a Well Paying Career

From working corporate to working for myself.

The last year has been one of massive growth and change for me.

It was a chaotic year for everyone, myself included. I lost my full-time job working at Yahoo. I lost my confidence because of all the stress and lack of physical activity; at times, I even felt like I lost my passion for life.

The journey to creating the life of my dreams hasn’t been an easy one, but I’ve learned to appreciate the process and all of the mishaps that come with it. I’m still far from my final destination, but I’ve learned to find the beauty in that.

I’m 23 years old, I live in LA, I moved out when I was barely 17, and I’ve been on my own since.

I used to work three jobs at a time to afford life, dropped out of college twice, weaseled my way into working at tech companies, got laid off, didn’t know what to do, tried my hand at writing, sucked a lot — still do sometimes — but with some help and a lot of learning, I’ve been able to make this my full-time job.

One that I’m proud to have and one that I know will take me places.

You feel so inadequate when you try your hand at something, you give it your best shot once, twice, a few more times, and when it still doesn’t work, you give up and think maybe I’m just not meant to follow my dreams.

It’s mind blogging to think the thought even occurred to you. What makes you think you’re less worthy than others? If others can build something great for themselves, why can’t you?

Here’s how I’m doing it, I hope it will inspire you to make your move.

I invested both time and money

It’s hard to invest your money when you don’t have any, and trust me; it took me a few days to decide whether or not I’d take the plunge and purchase writing courses. A grand doesn’t sound like a lot, but it certainly feels like a lot when you barely have that in your bank account.

Last March, I purchased a writing course that taught me a lot about this platform, and it helped me get established. A few weeks later, I decided to purchase another one. It was personal preference, I felt like I needed more knowledge, and both courses were from people I admire.

It took over a year to get that money back, but little by little, I’ve been making a 4 figure income by dedicating my time to my hobby — writing.

I’m making a little bit more than I was making at my job at Yahoo, and I get to do it from the comforts of my home and sometimes in my pajamas or at a coffee shop.

When trying to decide if you should invest your well-earned money into your future — one that you’re not even certain of whether or not it’ll even work out, you need to think long-term. Ask yourself questions like:

• If I take the plunge, what can my life look like one year from now? How about five years from now?
• If I do this, am I willing to dedicate the bulk of my time and energy to making this work for me?
• Do I truly love this enough to work for it?

Don’t waste your money on something you’re not certain of.

I know plenty of people who spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on courses and classes that promised them financial freedom and steady careers, but it never happened.

While there are people out there who provide true value at a high price, you have to differentiate between the ones that are just trying to sell, and the ones that are trying to actually help.

When I first moved to LA, I was lost and didn’t know which career route to take. I didn’t think I could make money from writing — or even dream it to be possible, so instead, I bought a course to become a personal trainer.

It cost me nearly $1,000 and I didn’t even finish it because that wasn’t what I truly wanted to do. I just thought it would be easy.

Next, I spent another grand on real-estate courses — an interesting field, but one that was not the right fit for me. A friend of mine convinced me it was and that the return would be incredible.

You really have to sit down with yourself and have a hard conversation about what it is that you want to do with your life and whether or not you’re willing to invest both time and money.

Your dream life requires a whole lot of both.

I think long-term always

You need to think of everything you do in the grand scheme of things.

For example, how do you spend the majority of your time? Are you out partying, having fun, not doing anything to truly benefit you or your future, or are you actively investing in yourself on a daily basis?

Every morning that you wake up, you should think to yourself, what can I do today to get myself closer to my ideal self?

My ideal self is healthy, happy, supporting my family, traveling, married with kids, and financially free. Those are my long-term goals, and I strive to do something every day that inches me closer to that picture.

This is why while all of my friends go out during the week, I stay in and work because I know I can’t get up and workout early if I’m hungover.

I know that if I don’t work out, I won’t feel energized, which will result in less productivity. It’s all a domino effect — you need to choose wisely when it comes to the choices you make on a daily basis.

By no means am I saying don’t have fun. I love to go out, I love to have a good cocktail, go to dinner with friends, go to the club, etc., but all in moderation and when I know it won’t affect what I’m trying to do. My friends all know I’m unavailable Sunday-Thursday. That’s my grind time.

Friday night? Let’s have a good time.

I *try* to be detached

It’s hard to keep pushing when things aren’t going your way.

The first business I ever got into was food blogging. I created over 200 healthy and might I add — delicious recipes, as well as built my own site and even video tutorials.

I can’t say that it failed because I never gave it a real chance. I spent over a year creating but not really marketing or trying to put myself out there. I half-assed it because I didn’t know how to do it, nor did I want to learn.

I felt like I wasted so much time and money on something I wasn’t truly passionate about, and the number of emotions I felt for not getting the recognition I felt that I deserved was obscene.

I went to bed frustrated every night, hurt that nobody thought the muffins I posted that day were the greatest muffins of all time.

Recipe testing is no joke — hours of testing various ingredients, and I had to close my eyes every time I went grocery shopping. Vanilla extract is like 15 bucks — did you know that?

Nowadays, I create YouTube videos, and I write about relationships and self-improvement. I genuinely enjoy both things, but writing brings me fulfillment.

It wasn’t always like that, though — at first, writing was really hard. To me, writing is like that guy that you really like, and you know you’re perfect for each other, but he doesn’t even notice you.

So you try all of these various methods to get him to notice you, and then after some time — he’s like, oh! Didn’t see you there. How are you? What’s your name?

I try to stay detached when things aren’t going well because when it comes to entrepreneurship or any career really, you have to listen to the logical side of yourself. The one that tells you that this is going to be really freaking hard, but if you invest enough time into it — it will work out.

Your emotional side will just tell you to give up — just like I did with my food blog.

My journey is an ongoing process, I’m still trying to figure it out and it’s not easy. However, I hope that I inspire people like me who feel lost and insecure to step up to the challenge and be willing to fail time and time again.

In the end, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing yourself get the life you aspire to have.

Want to start a side hustle this year?

Download our free ebook “75 Side Hustles That Can Make You $500 Per Month” to get our favorite ideas for 2021.