It's smarter to build a business while working full-time than to dive in without a safety net.

The older we get the riskier it gets because it adds to the responsibilities of the family. Time seems to slip away from us.

If I had more time, I could work more to build my business.

It's what many of us think.

One thing I learned from Parkison's law, every kind of work tends to fill the time we set aside for it, like air fills every corner of a room (Parkinson 1957).

Prove yourself that you could do it with limited time, before having more time.

What would I do with an extra $1000 per month?

It's tangible, it's doable but incredibly life-changing. These are the things I could do with a few $1000 per month:

Invest in building or starting a business

Save for a holiday

Learn a new skill

Pay for any software I use

Ultimately, I would leave something for my wife to keep her happy. She stresses to much when I spend too much time in front of a screen.

Here's how I plan to reach that goal:

1. Making that first $1 online

What's stopping you from making your first dollar online?

I got all excited when I made my first $1 on Medium. I'm not counting the used stuff I sold online. It's about getting paid for something I created.

There's a mindset shift.

From that day it was clear to me I could see this work. Any fears, concerns, or doubts I had, gone.

I come from an age when the internet was not a thing, I had some of the craziest beliefs about making money online:

I'm a factory component. An engineer. I didn't have any valuable skills or knowledge for making money online
I have to get credentials to be an expert in a 'job' to get paid for making money online.
I must show my face and do outrageous things to get attention and make money online.

Many of my age still think this way. My wife still can't see how exactly this is possible.

I also came from a humble family. I didn't want the same fate as my parents so saving was my number one priority when I started working.

It is also one of the things that keeps us poor.

From the countless videos and books, I read about investing, there is one thing I learned:

There is a limit on how much you can save, but no limit on how much money you can make.

When you break from any beliefs you have about making money online, there's little you can do with the right skill set.

2. Learn a skill to sell a skill

What skills do you have that others would pay for?

First, find your value. One thing I learned is the amount of money you make is directly proportional to the amount of perceived value you give.

Your value is the intersection of the things you like to do, the things you're good at, and the things people pay you a lot for.

If you have a 9-5 job, you're not starting from zero.

You have a set of skills and knowledge people will pay you for.

But that alone was not making me happy. There are other things I'm good at, and things I'd like to do that I'd like to explore. I'm at a point where I want a change.

To run my business I want to stack another set of skills. I want to combine my experience and knowledge I have with these other skills:

Sales and marketing
Content creation
Personal branding and storytelling

They are not critical to start but important and it gives you an advantage.

And no skill is a waste of your time.

You can apply any skill anywhere regardless of what you do.

3. Find your tribe

How much could you achieve without a supportive community behind you?

Trust me, you can't do this alone. Besides, building online and staring at a screen every day gets lonely. Many entrepreneurs recommend you find individuals on the same journey as you are.

I recently hopped on a call with Tim J. Schröder.

We share thoughts, ideas, and tips about a different range of topics. We learn more things from each other in one hour than if we were to spend time finding this stuff on the internet.

You will learn 10x faster.

The great thing about finding your group of individuals is you can keep each other accountable.

Find your group and be supportive and collaborative with each other.

4. Reinvest in myself

I ignore my personal growth for too long.

I sat too comfortably on my chair until I found out I was not in control of my time, or the things I'd love to do. I spent most of my 30s not saving for my retirement or investing in my education.

I learned recently reinvesting in ourselves yields the highest returns.

Being in my 40s there are things I need to consider. Like having enough for retirement and an emergency fund. But I do reinvest a chunk of my money into building the skillset I need.

Inspired by Nathan Barry, founder of ConvertKit who said — once you learn a skill, you have it forever. I never wasted time again in stacking skills.

Every time you get the chance to learn something, be grateful to have that opportunity.

Any skill gets you closer to where you want to be in life.

So stop wasting your time and money on things that add no value to your life.

5. Don't ever quit

In 1997, J.K Rowling faced countless rejections before Harry Potter became a global phenomenon.

When confronted with failing 10,000 times, Thomas Edison replied, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". Their failures seem like great achievements compared to a whole lot of nothing from me.

I have no special talent and English is my second language. Despite this, I decided to write online every day.

Since I started, I gathered close to 1000 Medium followers and earned over $100+ in 4 consecutive months. I've been doing this for the last 9 months.

Imagine where I will be in 3-5 years if I commit to this.

Sahil Bloom said once "There's no such thing as a loser who wakes up at 5 am and works out".

You'll be winning in any area of your life if you put in the necessary discipline and consistency.

Don't ever think about quitting when you're getting so close now.

Reference List

Parkinson, Northcote C., 1957, Parkinson's Law and Other Studies of Administration, Cambridge - Massachusetts: The Riverside Press.

How I Plan to Build A $1000 Per Month Part-Time Online Business While Working On My 9-5

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