Let me tell you what actually happens inside.

First: The Rules

No talking. No lying. No killing. No stealing. No intoxicants. No phones. No books. No eye contact. No communication of any kind.

It sounds extreme until you realize this is exactly why it works. The moment you strip away every distract-ant, you stop getting distracted . Your nervous system can breathe. You don’t even notice it happening. At first you do feel agitated, scared, not not knowing what is going to happen.

Then they wake you up at 4 AM.

The Schedule is just CRAZY

4 AM wake up. Meditate until 9 PM. That is 17 hours. Then sleep. Then repeat, for 10 days.

Breakfast at 6:30 AM (Break from 6:30 - 8 for breakfast and bathing and cleaning up). Lunch at 11 AM (Lunch Break 11-1). No dinner — just a light snack (light snack is really light - it’s muri (puffed rice) and chai at 5 PM.

What this taught me, viscerally, is that our bodies are overfed and overstimulated. We eat out of boredom, anxiety, habit, and social pressure. We probably need half of what we actually consume.

(My only real complaint: zero protein. Pure carbs. From breakfast to dinner everything is carbs. 10 days doesn’t cause damage but you can’t exactly replicate this lifestyle)

What Happened to My Mind

Day 1: I could hold my attention for maybe 5 minutes. And I’m being generous. At one go. And imagine I had to sit for 13 hours. Every minute felt like centuries, literally. I slept, dreamt, drooled and came back and the clock would have moved 2 mins :P

Day 9: I sat completely still for one full hour. No fidgeting. No scratching. No shifting. Just sitting with the discomfort, watching it rise, watching it pass.

Here’s what nobody tells you: your body can handle far more than you think. Pain is not always a signal to move. Sometimes it’s just a sensation asking to be observed. Observation is the biggest part of Vipassana, we are never in sync with our bodies. Each sensation is a sign of what’s happening in the body but we are not aware of 99.9%

The Ego Chapter

I’ll be honest about something I’m not proud of. When I arrived, I looked around at the other women and quietly judged them. I assumed most of them were housewives with free time. I, on the other hand, run a business. I have things to get back to. I’m important. I wanted to leave almost every single day. (And while you could leave, I would request you not to even if it feels difficult — the rules inside are closer to a prison than a retreat.)

But slowly, something shifts.

You start to see your ego for what it is. And you realize it shows up everywhere — looks ego, height ego, colour ego, job ego, money ego. The whole architecture of social media is built on it. If you’re reading this, you have it too. Even if you think you don’t. Especially if you think you don’t.

And those women I had so casually dismissed?

Railway officers. Police personnel from Electronic City. Designers. Business owners. Housewives who had survived things I cannot imagine. Every single person in that room had a story that would humble you.

That was my first real takeaway. Since we could not speak, we only spoke on the the 10th day evening.

Anicca (pronounced Aniccha). Impermanence. That’s the Whole Thing.

The technique itself is non-religious. You can believe in any tradition, any god, any framework — Vipassana doesn’t ask you to abandon any of it. It just asks you to observe.

And in that observation, something cracked open.

I remembered things I had no business remembering. My grandparents’ voices. The layout of houses I lived in at age 5 or 6. Conversations I didn’t know I had stored. Everything became — I don’t have a better word for it — clearer. Like a lens that had always been slightly smudged was finally wiped clean.

The central teaching is impermanence. Everything arises. Everything passes. The thought, the pain, the joy, the craving, the fear. None of it is permanent. None of it requires your complete identification.

This sounds simple. It is not simple. But when it lands in your body rather than just your head, it changes something that is difficult to undo.

So after everything good or bad, we said Anicca. Simply put, this too shall pass.

The Hardest Part Hasn’t Started Yet

13 hours a day on the floor, on a cushion, with no back support — that was the physical hard part. (I had a disc herniation so I was given a flat chair with back support - sitting on the floor with some support). I also got a chair for a couple of hours a day but most people sat on the floor only.

The harder part is what comes after.

Going back into a world that is engineered, with extraordinary precision, to distract you every single second. Sounds, notifications, conversations, screens. All of it pulling you away from the one thing that actually builds you: stillness.

The real practice isn’t the 10 days. It’s the daily meditation after. It’s choosing, in a world that profits from your distraction, to stay a little bit inside yourself.

Work is not everything. It is one part. I am building a life where I actually believe that, not just say it.

If you read all of this and something stirred inside you, even if you felt scared— go. It is free. It is hard. You will want to leave EVERY SINGLE DAY. But it’s also like a movie. Every evening, there is a debriefing by SN Goenka Ji (Founder of the Dhamma Vipassana org and someone who reignited Vipassana in people across the world. This art o meditation was almost lost to the world for 2500 years.

I would say you should go for it. It requires supreme amount of resilience bu you will not regret it.

Vipassana centres are available across India and globally. dhamma.org

someone your age just announced they quit their job. they’re working from a café somewhere. making money somehow. and you’re lying in bed thinking — wait, how?

it doesn’t feel like luck. it just feels like they know something you don’t.

here’s what they probably figured out: income can come from skills, not just jobs. and if you can write — clearly, usefully, in a way that helps a business communicate better — someone will pay you for it.

the part nobody tells you is how to get that first client. or the second. or the fifth.

so let me try.

---

if i were starting from zero tomorrow — no audience, no testimonials, no portfolio — here’s exactly what i’d do to get my first 5 clients.

---

client 1 — tell your network

open your phone. think of 10 people you already know who run a business or work at one.

don’t pitch them. just send an update.

“hey, i’ve started writing for businesses — emails, websites, content. if you ever need help or know someone who does, i’d love a referral.”

that’s it. no pressure, no sales deck. just a human message.

someone will know someone. that’s almost always how client 1 happens.

---

client 2 — do one free thing, strategically

pick one business you genuinely like. rewrite one email or one page of their website. make it noticeably better.

then send it. no strings attached.

“i rewrote your homepage. thought it might help. feel free to use it.”

this does something a cold pitch never does — it shows them, concretely, what it feels like to work with you. they’ll remember it. some will hire you. all of them will respect you for it.

---

client 3 — be useful in public

post one piece of writing advice on x or linkedin this week.

not “hire me.” just something genuinely helpful. one observation. one tip. one thing you noticed.

do this consistently — not every day, just consistently — and something quiet starts happening. people begin to associate your name with writing. when they need a writer, they think of you first.

inbound is slow to start. but it compounds in a way outbound never does.

---

client 4 — knock on agency doors

this one is underrated.

small marketing and content agencies are almost always overwhelmed. they have clients but not enough writers. they don’t need to be convinced that writing is valuable — they already know. they just need capacity.

dm 10 of them. keep it short:

“i’m a freelance writer. if you’re ever swamped and need overflow help, i’d love to be on your list.”

half won’t reply. a few will say not right now. one will say yes. that’s your client — and often a long-term one.

---

client 5 — show up in communities

join one slack group or discord where your ideal clients hang out. founder communities, startup groups, creator spaces.

not to promote yourself. just to help.

when someone asks “how do i write a better cold email?” — answer it properly. when someone shares a landing page that isn’t working — tell them why, kindly.

don’t pitch. just be the person who clearly knows their stuff.

people notice. dms follow.

---

the pattern across all five:

your first clients won’t come from a perfect website or a cold pitch. they’ll come from someone who saw you, trusted you, and thought of you at the right moment.

most people spend months building a logo, picking a niche, designing a portfolio — before they’ve spoken to a single potential client.

your first client doesn’t care about your website. they care about whether you can solve their problem.

get the client first. build the rest after.

---

one question worth sitting with this week:

what can you do that someone else would pay for right now?

not someday. not after a course. right now.

most people have more of an answer than they think. write down three things you’re better at than most people around you. not world-class — just better than average in your circle.

that list is your starting point.

---

“you don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

— zig ziglar

---

if this was useful, share it with one person who’s thinking about going freelance. that’s all i ask.

see you next friday.

Let me explain.

1. School and Farewell - Maybe realizing that this is the last time you are meeting some people.

2. When a good project ends at work or in college and you miss the team members.

3. Missing your room-mate from college who you spent years with and perhaps will never share a room with.

4. That friend who moves out of the city and country and they were everything you ever needed.

5. A stranger on a journey who made that journey worthwhile.

Here’s to facing more of these small pains because at some point of time they made your life worthwhile.

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Cold emails especially need a thick skin. It takes time to develop it and in the meanwhile I was dropping cold emails, I thought of posting content to attract the right audience. At least build up my credibility as a founder and a business owner.

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Till date I don’t consider myself a good content creator, but I do it religiously and dedicatedly. I focus on Instagram for Side Hustle and Freelancing Coaching and Linkedin for my Personal Branding services.

And the best part? Most of these conversations start with, “I’ve been following your content for a while.”

That’s when I truly understood this: content is the best sales tool a freelancer can have.

When you post content regularly, you’re selling without pitching. You’re showing how you think, how you work, and what you stand for. People don’t just see your skills; they see your perspective. By the time they reach out, the trust is already built.

One LinkedIn post can do more than ten cold emails. A single Instagram Reel can explain your philosophy better than a sales call. Content works because it gives people context before you ever speak to them.

What I love most about content is that it keeps working even when I don’t. I can post a piece today and get a message weeks later from someone who saved it, shared it, or came back to it. That kind of leverage still feels unreal to me.

Think about how powerful that is. You wake up, post one thoughtful piece of content, and go on with your day. Somewhere, someone reads it, relates to it, and decides they want to work with you. No awkward selling. No pressure.

Content also helps filter the right people. When I talk openly about my process, my values, and the kind of work I enjoy, I attract clients who already align with me. The sales conversation becomes easy because we’re already on the same page.

For someone like me, who never enjoyed “selling,” this changed everything. Content allowed me to stay honest, human, and calm while still growing my business. I didn’t have to become louder or more aggressive. I just had to be consistent and clear.

We are living in a wonderful time. A time where you can build a personal brand from your bedroom. A time where you can post one piece of content a day and slowly create a steady stream of leads, clients, and sales.

If you’re freelancing and still avoiding content, you’re making sales harder than it needs to be. Start sharing what you know. Talk about your work. Document your journey.

Let your content do the talking for you.

Most people rush into freelancing thinking about income, visibility, or freedom. But strong freelance businesses don’t start with hacks. They start with basics done well.

I did this too. 1.5 years in, I realize I need my groundwork to be deeper and stronger and better so it continues to reap benefits for longer.

Start With the Groundwork

In the early stage, your focus should be simple and practical.

Build a portfolio, even if it’s small. Reach out consistently to people who might need your service. Improve your core skill every single week. Collect testimonials as soon as you deliver value.

Most importantly, do something that makes you stand out.

Standing out doesn’t mean being loud. It means being clear. Why should someone choose you over the next freelancer?

At this stage, execution matters more than personal branding. You’re building proof. You’re building confidence. You’re learning how work actually happens.

Then Move to Personal Brand Growth

Once your foundation is stable, that’s when personal branding starts to matter.

A personal brand is not about aesthetics. It’s about trust at scale.

You build trust by creating content that shows how you think, not just what you sell.

Start creating content regularly. Write articles on platforms like Substack or Medium. Pitch to journals, publications, or industry blogs. Write for friends, family, or small businesses if that’s what you have access to.

If you don’t have contacts, create your own entry point.

Start an audio podcast.
Or a simple video series.
Talk about your niche consistently.

Talk About the Industry, Not Just Your Skill

This is where most freelancers get it wrong.

They talk endlessly about their skill.
But clients don’t hire skills.
They hire people who understand their industry problems.

If you’re a virtual assistant working with health coaches, don’t just talk about admin tasks. Talk about the challenges health coaches face. Talk about burnout, client management, scheduling chaos, and why support systems matter.

If you’re a personal brand strategist for founders, don’t just talk about content. Talk about why VCs notice strong personal brands. Talk about how hiring decisions change when founders are visible. Talk about credibility.

When you speak the language of the industry, clients feel understood.
And when clients feel understood, they trust faster.

Content Is the Gateway to a Strong Business

Content is not optional if you want a long-term freelance business.

Content builds authority before you ever pitch.
It pre-sells your thinking.
It attracts better clients over time.

You don’t need to be everywhere.

Pick one audio or video-based platform and one text-based platform.
That’s enough. If you genuinely have constraints around being on camera, choose audio. But don’t avoid visibility because you’re shy.

People trust people.

Ask yourself this:
Would you trust a fund manager who never showed their face and only sent messages asking you to invest?

Probably not.

The same applies to freelancing. Visibility builds trust.

Align Everything

Your skills, your content, and your positioning should point in the same direction.

Don’t create random content.
Don’t chase trends that don’t serve your audience.
Align what you learn, what you talk about, and who you want to help.

Freelancing becomes easier when your work, content, and audience are connected. Build the foundation first. Then build trust at scale. That’s how freelancers grow into real businesses.

If you would like to be a freelancer and learn more about freelancing and side hustles, would you please subscribe to my newsletter?

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But when I shifted to freelancing this had to become a daily ritual. And I feel this became my biggest challenge. How do I promote myself? What do I talk about? I felt icky. Because that’s what we have been taught our entire life. Sales people are scams and they take money, so naturally we all felt awkward. Sales as a profession itself is considered shady or scammy which is far from the truth right?

A few sales people should not tarnish the reputation of everyone who is trying to add value.

So I slowly started figuring out how to sell - I am still not great at it but I am learning.

What Selling Actually Means

I used to think selling meant convincing someone to buy. Now I see it differently. Selling is simply communicating value — helping someone understand how your skills, product, or service can solve their problem.

It’s not about pushing.
It’s not about closing.
It’s not about ego.

When I reframed it this way, everything changed. Selling started to feel like helping.

Where the Fear Comes From

Most of us grew up in homes where money talk was uncomfortable. We were taught to be humble, polite, and grateful and not to talk about our worth, not to “brag.”

So when it’s time to promote ourselves, we freeze. We feel like imposters. We underprice. We hope our work will “speak for itself.” But freelancing doesn’t work that way. If you don’t talk about your work, no one else will. If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.

Learning to Sell Like Yourself

For me, the biggest shift was realizing that I didn’t need to sound like a salesperson. I could sell in my own way — quietly, honestly, and with context.

I stopped thinking of it as “pitching” and started thinking of it as inviting.
I started replacing “Here’s why you should hire me” with “Here’s how I can help.”
It instantly felt lighter, more natural, and more human. Selling should never feel like pretending. It should feel like sharing something useful with someone who needs it.

Make It a Process, Not a Personality Test

When I first started freelancing, every sales conversation felt personal.
If a client said no, I took it as rejection. If someone ghosted me, I thought I had failed.

But over time, I realized — the more emotion I attached to every “yes” and “no,” the harder it became to keep going.

Now, I follow a simple process. Reach out, share what I do, listen to what they need, and if it fits — make an offer. If it doesn’t, I move on.

That shift from taking it personally to treating it as a system made selling less emotional and more sustainable.

I also try and speak to people every day to help overcome the shyness I used to feel earlier.

Start Small

You don’t have to land a huge deal right away. Start by selling something small, a one-hour consultation, a short project, a workshop, or a low-commitment package.

Every time someone says yes, it builds confidence. And every time someone says no, it teaches you something. I am making a small diary where I note down all my sales conversations.

Selling is Self-Trust in Action

At its core, selling is an act of self-trust. It’s saying, “I believe what I’m offering is valuable, and I’m willing to stand by it.”

When you genuinely believe in what you’re selling, you stop worrying about sounding pushy. You stop worrying about rejection. You just share what you know can help.

The awkwardness fades when you stop trying to “get” something from people and start offering something that truly serves them.

A Note for Creators and Freelancers Who Still Struggle

If you still feel awkward selling, remember, you don’t have to become a different person to do it well. You don’t have to force confidence or fake enthusiasm.

You just need to find your rhythm. The more you show up, the more natural it feels. Sales, like creativity, becomes easier with repetition.

Side Hustle OS: Freelancer Pro starts on 17th November, and it’s built for anyone ready to take freelancing seriously. Over a few focused weeks, you’ll learn how to find clients, price your work, build systems, and create consistent income — without the chaos or guesswork. This isn’t another online course; it’s a playbook for building your own business from the ground up. If 2025 is the year you want to quit your 9–5 or finally go full-time as a freelancer, this is where you start.

I want to freelance

But even as this change becomes normal, there is still fear. The fear of instability. The fear of failure. The fear of what people will say. Quitting your job doesn’t make that fear go away. It often makes it louder.

If you are thinking of taking that leap, you need to be honest about where you stand. This is not a motivational checklist. This is a realistic one, meant to help you prepare before you leave.

Have an emergency fund

Before anything else, save money. You need at least six months of expenses before you quit, ideally a full year. If your monthly expenses are around ₹60,000, you will need ₹3.5 to ₹7 lakhs.

Having savings means you can focus on building without the daily stress of survival. It gives you the space to create instead of panic. Most freelancers or business owners do not earn consistently in the first year. So give yourself that cushion.

Know your backup

Privilege plays a huge role in how easily you can take risks. It is not something to feel guilty about, but it is something to acknowledge.

Do you have parents, a partner, or friends who could help you if things don’t go as planned? It does not have to mean financial help. Sometimes it is emotional support, rent taken of for a few months, or just having someone to talk to when things feel uncertain.

If you have that support system, use it wisely. If you don’t, plan tighter. It’s not weakness to have backup. It’s being smart enough to build a safety net before you jump.

Build a small network before you quit

Before leaving your job, identify at least five people who might be able to give you work, recommend you, or connect you to someone who can. These could be former colleagues, clients, or mentors.

Reach out early. Let them know you will be starting on your own and will be open to freelance work. That way, when you do make the move, you are not starting from zero. You already have a warm network to lean on.

Work often comes from people you already know, not strangers on the internet.

Start networking with intention

Networking is not about sending random LinkedIn messages or attending every event. It is about being visible in the right places and building trust over time.

Start small. Spend an hour every week engaging with people in your field. Comment thoughtfully on their posts, share your perspective, or reach out to learn, not just to ask for work.

Your name should start to appear in the right circles before you ever announce you are going solo. Most opportunities come from familiarity, not luck.

Know what you are selling

If you are going to freelance or start a business, you must know exactly what you are offering. Make a list of your top skills and ask yourself which ones are worth paying for. Writing, design, marketing, coaching, strategy, whatever it is, be clear about it.

If you are not confident in your current skill level, take three months to learn, practice, or build a small project before you quit. Do not leave your job with vague plans to “figure it out.” Clarity saves time and stress.

Build systems before freedom

Most people dream of leaving their job for freedom, but it quickly turns into chaos.

Set up small systems before you leave. Track your expenses and income. Create a weekly schedule for client work, outreach, and learning. Prepare templates for contracts, proposals, and invoices.

When you leave, you’ll have fewer unknowns. Freedom works best when supported by systems.

Prepare yourself mentally

This is the part most people underestimate. Quitting your job will challenge your identity. You will no longer be “the person with a stable job.” You will be a creator, a freelancer, or a founder and that feels exciting until it feels uncertain.

There will be days when you question your worth. There will be conversations where someone makes you feel small for “not having a real job.” You will need to learn how to sit with that without letting it break your confidence.

You have to be willing to let go of shame, comparison, and validation. You will need to get comfortable with being in the grey zone for a while.

Test your side hustle before you leap

Before you quit, build something on the side. Try to make at least ₹25,000–₹50,000 a month for three months in a row. That is proof that your skills can earn you money and that people are willing to pay for your work.

If you cannot build something small while you still have a job, quitting won’t magically make it easier. Time does not create discipline. Practice does.

This stage also helps you build trust in yourself. Once you see your skills earning even a small amount, you realize that you don’t have to depend on one paycheck forever.

Understand that freedom has a cost

When you finally leave, you will feel excited. But a few weeks in, you will also feel lonely. You will miss having colleagues, office conversations, and the routine of work. You will need to build those things for yourself again—through community, co-working spaces, or other creators.

Freedom feels amazing, but it is not free. You pay for it in uncertainty, in slow months, and in self-doubt. The trade-off is worth it, but only when you know what you are trading.

Quitting your job is not the goal. Building something meaningful, stable, and truly yours is.

You do not have to escape. You can prepare.
You do not have to burn bridges. You can build new ones.
And you do not have to rush. You can take your time to make the leap with confidence.

The 9–5 may be fading, but it still teaches you things you will need later: structure, discipline, and resilience. Keep those lessons. Take them with you.

I’ve spent the past few years building my business from scratch, and now I’m helping others do the same.

If 2025 is the year you want to leave your 9–5 and build your freelance or creator business, I’ve created something for you.

💡 Side Hustle OS my course and community to help you:

• Build your income before you quit

• Create systems that keep you consistent

• Find clients, network better, and grow with confidence

This isn’t about rushing out of your job. It’s about leaving ready.

If you’ve been thinking about taking the leap this is your sign.

Join the cohort below. We start on 20th November 2025.

I'm in!

There’s a softer side to creating that rarely gets spoken about. The side that honors how you feel, how your ideas arrive, and how you move through your creative seasons. When you start paying attention to that side, your content begins to feel more natural, more fluid, and more alive.

Batching Based on Energy

One of the simplest shifts is to batch content based on your energy. There are days when you feel excited, sharp, and full of ideas — those are your creation days. Write, record, plan, and build momentum when you have energy to give.

Then there are quieter days when your focus dips, that’s the time to edit, format, or repurpose what already exists. You don’t need to push through every low-energy day. You just need to listen to your rhythm and use it well.

A Running Diary of Ideas

Keep a running diary of ideas. The best content rarely comes from brainstorming sessions. It comes from living. Something a client said, a sentence from a book, a quiet thought during a walk — they all count.

Capture them without judgment. A simple note on your phone or a messy Google doc is enough. Over time, that diary becomes your creative safety net which you can go back to when you feel blank or uninspired.

Ask Better Prompts

When you sit down to create, it helps to have prompts that bring you back to your own story.

What do you wish you had known when you started?
What’s something that made your work easier or lighter?
What’s one thing you’ve learned the hard way?

Questions like these unlock honesty and honesty always makes for good content. Use ChatGPT liberally here. Ask it to create a list of 20 or 30 prompts for the entire month and try answering them one by one.

Repurpose Generously

You don’t have to create something new every time. Repurpose what works. If a post resonated three months ago, bring it back. If you wrote something that didn’t get traction but still matters, reframe it.

You’re growing, your audience is growing, and your ideas can grow with both. Repurposing is not a forma of laziness, it is to ensure the content that did well reaches more people.

Good Enough Is Good Enough

Perfection doesn’t make your work better; it only delays it. The only bad content is the one that never gets published. You can always improve later. But first, you have to show up now.

Remember that our mind is a wonder and we can rarely execute at the same

“Good enough” doesn’t mean careless. It means released. It means done. It means you did it anyway.

Create from How You Feel

At the heart of all this is one simple truth: how you feel while creating is how your audience will feel while consuming it.

If you’re rushed, anxious, or detached, your content will carry that. If you’re present, curious, and grounded, your content will feel the same. Your emotions are part of the process, not a distraction from it.

This is why I am talking about the Feminine side of Content creation. I know men reading this might be put off but I hope you read this and realize. It is a masculine trait to get up every single day and do what is needed. Everybody needs to do it, no questions asked. But if you understand your body well, you can achieve the same goals in far lesser time.

It’s basically not stressing the body. Remember how you do those pushups or finish work in the morning when you are motivated. That’s your energy running high. And remember the times you are dragging on the work even though you are tired. Imagine if you could shut down your laptop then and pick up when you have some more energy! Which brings me to the most important point of this essay…

The Feminine Side of Creativity

The softer side of content creation is about listening , to yourself, to your energy, to what feels right for the season you’re in. It’s the balance between discipline and flow. Between showing up and slowing down. Between being consistent and being kind to yourself.

Maybe that’s what sustainable creativity really looks like, not constant motion, but gentle awareness. Not endless posting, but honest expression. Not chasing algorithms, but creating from the heart.

I understand the feeling. I’ve felt it too.

The longing for freedom. The curiosity to build something that’s your own. The fatigue of working on someone else’s dream while yours sits quietly in the background.

But here’s the thing no one tells you, quitting your job doesn’t automatically lead to clarity, creativity, or success. It just gives you more time with your own uncertainty.

1. Stability is underrated fuel for creativity

Most people think safety kills creativity. I think the opposite.

When your rent is covered, your bills are paid, and your meals aren’t dependent on your next client payment, you create better.
You think clearer. You take smarter risks.

A job can be your funding. A quiet sponsor for your future ideas.

The stability that everyone rushes to escape often becomes the very thing that allows you to build something meaningful on the side.

2. You don’t learn independence by escaping structure

A lot of people quit because they feel suffocated by their company or boss.
But the truth is, leaving structure doesn’t make you independent. It often makes you directionless.

Independence is a muscle built within structure, by learning to manage your energy, time, and ideas while still being accountable to something.

If you can’t find focus while employed, you’ll likely struggle even more without the external boundaries that come with a job.

Leaving isn’t liberation if you haven’t built self-discipline first. Please trust me on this - The days I decide to not follow a structure, I get nothing done, keep awake till 3 AM and feel extremely overwhelmed and tired.

3. The first 12 months after quitting are rarely glamorous

People often imagine their post-job life as creative mornings, slow coffee, and fulfilling work. What they don’t see is the anxiety of inconsistent income, the quiet panic of no structure, and the long hours spent wondering if you made a mistake.

You’ll question yourself constantly.

You’ll probably take on projects you don’t love just to pay the bills.
And you’ll realize that being your own boss sometimes means being a worse one than the manager you left behind. You are not neccessarily a better manager than the manager you hate on.

Freedom has a cost and too few people can bear it.

4. Learn to build before you leap

If you truly want to quit, start by building while you stay.
Start that side project. Test your ideas. Build your audience. Create your content.

Give yourself a year to understand the basics. How to pitch, how to sell, how to build systems, and how to stay consistent without being told to.

That year of doing both, your job and your dream, will teach you everything you’ll need when you finally take the leap.

Leaving is easy. Leaving ready is rare. Look at hundreds of examples of people who built something, whether a business, a content creation engine before they left their jobs.

5. Your job doesn’t define you, but it can refine you

Maybe your job isn’t the problem. Maybe it’s your relationship with it.

You don’t have to hate what sustains you. You can use your current role as a creative lab, to learn how to manage deadlines, collaborate, communicate, or lead.

Those same skills will become the foundation for whatever you build later. You don’t have to romanticize struggle to prove you’re brave. PLEASE

A gentler way to start

Instead of quitting, reframe how you see your job. It’s not the enemy. It’s the investor quietly funding your next chapter.

Use it wisely.
Build your base.
Then, when you finally leave, it won’t be out of frustration, but out of readiness.

Because the goal isn’t to escape work. The goal is to build a kind of work that feels like home. Otherwise anything we build will feel the same!

The traditional path looked something like this: You start as a solo freelancer offering services. Work starts picking up. Demand grows. And because there’s only so much you can do in 24 hours, you hire a junior or two.

Soon you’re building a small agency. You benefit from cost arbitrage — clients pay you premium rates, and you outsource parts of the work at lower costs. That’s how most “successful” freelancers scaled in India.

It worked. But it also had limits.

The problem with only chasing premium clients

There’s a ceiling when it comes to raising your prices in India. Yes, you can move upmarket and serve a handful of premium clients. But not everyone can afford your rates, and only a small percentage of the market pays at that level.

If you want to grow beyond that ceiling, the usual route has been to hire a team. More people = more projects. But more people also means more responsibility, more operations, and honestly, more headaches.

So does that mean one-person businesses are doomed to plateau?

Not anymore.

The rise of info-products, consultations, and courses

Here’s what’s shifting: Today, creators and freelancers don’t have to just sell their time. They can sell their knowledge.

Courses, consultations, coaching, workshops, digital products — these are no longer seen as scams or shortcuts. They’re becoming trusted business models. And for good reason.

• You can choose your business model: high-ticket, low-volume (premium coaching, niche consulting) or low-ticket, high-volume (courses, templates, digital products).

• You don’t need a massive team to scale. You need systems.

• The education and edtech industries in India are booming, creating more awareness and trust around paying for online learning.

A freelancer in 2015 may have only thought about their next retainer client. A freelancer in 2025 is also thinking about how to package what they know into scalable income streams.

My own journey

I run two businesses myself.

One helps coaches and CEOs build strong personal brands on Social media channels like Instagram and LinkedIn. The other focuses on helping women build side hustles and freelance businesses.

A few years ago, I would have second-guessed myself constantly. Who am I to coach someone? Who am I to run two businesses? The imposter syndrome was very real.

But then I looked at the data. I saw freelancers turning into solopreneurs. I saw creators monetizing communities, selling workshops, building products, and living lives on their own terms. I saw companies growing by investing in individual experts, not just agencies.

And I realized this isn’t a fluke. This is the future of work in India.

Why this is the right time to start your own one-person business

If you’re still on the fence, here are a few points to keep in mind:

1. The market is ready. The stigma around buying courses or paying for consultations is fading. Customers now see it as an investment.

2. You already have leverage. Your skills, your experiences, your stories — all of these can be packaged into more than just services.

3. Flexibility of models. You can decide whether you want fewer, higher-paying clients, or to serve more people at lower prices. Both paths are viable now.

4. Tech is on your side. Platforms make it easy to distribute, sell, and deliver products without needing a team. You can use sites like Topmate, Tag mango based on your needs. I use Topmate for consultation calls and I am building my courses tech on Tagmango. It has everything set in — from payments, to funnels to course viewer. Everything you need.

5. Edtech growth = more opportunity. India’s online education market is projected to grow massively in the next few years, and freelancers who step into consulting or education will benefit.

Final thoughts

One-person businesses in India are no longer an in-between phase. They are a legitimate, sustainable model of work.

You can scale without hiring 20 people. You can grow without burning out. And you can build a business that’s deeply aligned with your skills and lifestyle.

For me, that shift happened when I stopped seeing freelancing as “just services” and started seeing myself as a solopreneur. Someone who could run more than one business, create value beyond billable hours, and build a life on my terms.

And I believe this is possible for you too. So maybe it’s time you asked yourself what side hustle, product, or consultation could you start building today? And if you are ready to build your course, digital product or coaching program, I can help you get it ready in 30 days!

Launch your digital product

So what is Agency?

Agency means your ability to make choices and take actions that influence your own life or the world around you. It’s about believing “I can do something about this” rather than feeling like life is just happening to you.

Essentially this is in your mind, mindset if you may.

So if agency is about having the wheel, High agency is about figuring out how to steer the wheel come what may.

High agency describes a mindset where:

• You take ownership of problems, even if they aren’t strictly “your job.”

• You focus on finding a way instead of looking for reasons it can’t be done.

• You believe obstacles are challenges to work through, not excuses to stop.

• You act resourcefully, trying different paths until you get results.

Now you might hear of these “high-agency” people around you, in offices, in your friends and family circle. In India, they might perhaps be known as “Sharmaji ka beta” ( a neighbour’s son who always does well in every thing).

But this seems like a common trait, so why don’t people have this trait or mindset?

1. The first is very obviously your upbringing. You have been brought up in a bubble. Your parents gave you everything you needed and even things you did not need. Students are taught to look for the one “right” answer instead of exploring multiple possibilities. This habit trains people to wait for instructions rather than build their own momentum.

2. Another reason is the deep fear of failure and judgment. High agency requires taking risks, experimenting, and facing the possibility of being wrong. But most of us grow up equating failure with shame. To avoid embarrassment, people retreat into passivity. If they never try, they can’t fail and so they avoid the discomfort that comes with ownership.

3. There’s also the phenomenon of learned helplessness. When people repeatedly experience situations where their actions don’t seem to change outcomes—whether under strict parents, rigid workplaces, or unresponsive bosses, they start believing their efforts don’t matter.

4. On top of this, external blame feels comforting. It’s easier to say, “The system is broken,” than to admit, “I could have done more.” High agency strips away excuses because it demands personal responsibility. That level of accountability is uncomfortable, so most people avoid it.

5. Finally, environment plays a huge role. High agency thrives when you are surrounded by resourceful, action-driven people who model problem-solving and persistence. Without such examples, many individuals never even realize it’s possible to approach life differently.

But the good news is you can become a high-agency mindset person just a few months. The first thing you need to do is evaluate every task that you do in life, see if you are showing high-agency or you are simply letting life happen to you.

For eg. you want to lose weight, but haven’t done it for the last 8 years (Yes, I am talking about myself here!). What are my excuses - Stressed, too much work, binge-eating and the list goes. Classic examples of a low agency mindset.

But what if I did this - Get up on the treadmill for 15 minutes and walked daily for 365 days. I wouldn’t just lose weight. The ripple effects of getting on the treadmill - renewed motivation, discipline, eating better will all come together. That’s the power of a high agency mindset.

You know dominoes right? In 1983, Lorne Whitehead wrote in the American Journal of Physics that he’d discovered that domino falls could not only topple many things, they could also topple bigger things.

He described how a single domino is capable of bringing down another domino that is actually 50% larger.

High agency is placing the dominoes one after each other and achieving bigger and better things by just making that first move.

Actually here’s a simple, actionable 5-step roadmap to build high agency:

1. Train yourself to ask: “What can I do right now?”

Instead of dwelling on what’s unfair or out of your control, shift focus to the next possible action. Even small steps (making a call, drafting an outline, sending a message) build momentum and rewire your brain to look for solutions.

2. Take radical responsibility

Stop outsourcing blame. Whether it’s a missed deadline, a low income month, or a failed pitch, ask, “What was in my control, and how will I adjust next time?” This doesn’t mean blaming yourself for everything, but owning the parts you can influence.

3. Redefine failure as data

High agency people don’t treat failure as shame; they treat it as feedback. Each attempt tells you what works and what doesn’t. This mindset makes it easier to take risks, experiment, and keep moving despite setbacks.

4. Build resourcefulness as a habit

Instead of saying “I don’t know how,” practice saying “I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out.” Look for alternatives, ask for help, use free tools, and try unconventional methods. Over time, you train yourself to believe there’s always a way.

5. Surround yourself with high-agency people

Mindsets are contagious. Spend time with people who act instead of complain, who solve instead of stall. Their energy will push you to level up, and you’ll start normalizing initiative and ownership in your own life.

High agency is not about having all the answers, but about believing you can find a way forward. The more you practice ownership and resourcefulness, the more life starts working with you instead of to you.

More income.
More respect.
More freedom.

But here’s the part we often ignore:
We want all that without changing much about how we live.

I’ve seen it, in others, and honestly, in myself too.
We say we want to build a second income stream.
Launch a side hustle.
Write a newsletter.
Create content that gets noticed.

But when it’s time to work?
We give it an hour. Maybe.
On a good day.

We scroll. We tinker. We tell ourselves we’re “thinking” or “researching.”
But deep down, we know: we’re not actually doing the work.

Now imagine taking that same level of effort and applying it to the most important areas of your life.

Your kids.
Your partner.
Your health.
Would it be enough?

Would you feel proud giving your child the same attention you give your goals?
Would you feel confident investing one distracted hour into your marriage or your body?

Probably not.

So why do we expect our dreams to bloom from scraps of time and half-hearted effort?

This isn’t meant to guilt-trip anyone.
It’s a reality check I had to face myself.

When I first started building something on the side, I treated it like a side thought.
Something that would “hopefully” take off — as long as it didn’t disrupt my routine too much.

Spoiler: it went nowhere.

I didn’t grow.
I didn’t get better.
I didn’t earn anything.

Because I was still operating with the mindset that things should be easy if they’re meant to work.
That effort would naturally match outcomes.
That life would somehow “reward” me for simply showing up once in a while.

It doesn’t work like that.

Every meaningful thing you want will come with a cost — time, energy, focus.
And in a world where distractions are endless and responsibilities pile up, that cost feels higher than ever.

But that’s the job.

You have to work through it.
Not just around it.

You don’t have to work 12-hour days or destroy your peace.
But when you do sit down to build — actually build.
Focus.
Push.
Commit.

Because no one stumbles into a life they’re proud of.
They construct it, choice by choice, hour by hour.

If you’ve been treating your goals like a hobby, that’s fine.
Just be honest with yourself about what you can expect in return.

But if you want your dream to become your reality,
It can’t just live in the margins of your day.

It has to be something you protect.
Something you prioritize.
Something you work for.

No shortcuts.
No easy mode.

Just the daily discipline of doing the hard things,
Especially when you don’t feel like it.

That’s where the growth lives.

Every week, I share honest reflections, practical lessons, and experiments from my own journey as someone who left a stable job to build a business and life on her own terms.

If you're figuring this out too, I've launched Side Hustle OS — a year-long community to help freelancers and creators grow their business, get consistent clients, and stay accountable while building what they love.

You'll get access to our group chat, live Q&As, monthly workshops, and a crew of people who get what you're trying to do.

Every week, I explore how creators, freelancers, and solopreneurs are building meaningful businesses with content. Not just what they’re doing—but how they’re doing it, and what we can learn from it.

This week’s deep dive: Justin Welsh

From solo posts on LinkedIn to a million-dollar digital product business, to now building a new kind of creator community on Substack.

Let’s break it down.

What makes Justin stand out is his clarity.

He picked one niche: helping solopreneurs build leveraged, one-person businesses.
And then every post, product, and platform he touches loops back to that one idea.

But here’s where it gets more interesting. If you look closely, Justin’s entire LinkedIn strategy revolves around three types of posts:

1. Educational — actionable breakdowns, frameworks, personal systems

2. Contrarian — pushing back against popular startup/creator advice

3. Engagement/Banter — light posts designed to build connection or start conversation

This mix keeps his content sharp but accessible.

And most importantly, it stays in the same niche. First, SaaS businesses. Now, creator-led businesses.

He turns every idea into a Solopreneurship angle

Justin doesn’t just post productivity tips or thoughts on tech.
He re-frames everything, from writing habits to sales calls, through the lens of being a one-person business.

That framing is what builds a brand.

People don’t follow him for general advice, they follow him because every insight helps them build a simpler, more intentional business.

His system is boring - in the best way possible!

He writes every day.
He understands what performs well.
And he repurposes his content every 3–6 months.

If a post does well in February, you’ll likely see a variation of it again in July. Sometimes just a new hook. Sometimes the same words with a different CTA.

Most creators are afraid to repeat themselves.
Justin isn’t. He respects attention by giving people what works and he doesn’t waste time reinventing the wheel.

From LinkedIn brand → to Substack community

Recently, he launched @Unsubscribe on Substack.

It’s so clean and simple it’s mind-blowing. Nothing complicated, just long-form writing. Thoughtful essays. Simpler packaging.

And yet, people showed up.

You probably read that he made $100,000+ on launch. That isn’t just an email list at work. That’s trust built over years, repaid in a month .

He created a high-trust brand on LinkedIn. Now he’s converting that trust into community on Substack.

What stands out is how quietly he did it. He is not promoting it like crazy on Linkedin or X which could have gotten him more subscribers. But he is leveraging the organic growth of Substack and his brand value!

What most people miss

Justin’s not trying to go wide. He’s going deep. He’s not everywhere.
But his ideas are, because they’re repackaged, re-used, and redistributed intelligently.

He built his brand by doing two things well:

• Saying the same thing better, every day

• Making it easier for the right people to find him

I am a huge fan and loved breaking down his work on social media. It also helps me improve my content game! Hope you liked reading it as much as I did writing it <3

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Every week, I share honest reflections, practical lessons, and experiments from my own journey as someone who left a stable job to build a business and life on her own terms.

If you're figuring this out too, I've launched Side Hustle OS — a year-long community to help freelancers and creators grow their business, get consistent clients, and stay accountable while building what they love.

You'll get access to our group chat, live Q&As, monthly workshops, and a crew of people who get what you're trying to do. But meanwhile you should check out my E-book that will help you decide if freelancing is for you. Click the button below to get your copy!

Freelancer over a Weekend

I know you’re looking to quit your job.

You’re “inspired” by everyone sharing their story about starting something of their own - people talking about quitting their jobs when they wanted to or when it got too toxic. These narratives have us believing that starting up is the easier and better way to go. But is it? Let’s explore that a little more.

Before you even think of leaving your job, here are 5 things you should evaluate:

1. Savings and Expenses

Do you have enough savings (not investments—never dip into your investments) to cover your expenses for at least 12 months? Also, consider how long it will take for your business to become monetizable. Based on that, you might need savings that last you up to 3 years.

2. Are you a leader or a follower?

This is an extremely important step, perhaps the most important one. Why? Because in freelancing or a startup, your success depends on how well you can carry yourself. Meeting people, asking for work, building connections, finding funding - all of it requires certain capabilities.

A lot of us might not be suited for them.

I’m seeing freelancers who leave their jobs to start their own business and then wait for jobs or roles to come their way. If you’re planning to go the startup way, you have to be extremely high-agency, relentless, and to a certain extent—shameless.

This isn’t to say that corporates don’t require these traits. But as a solopreneur or entrepreneur, you need to have this 10X.

3. Do you have a network, connections, or a lead pipeline you can leverage the moment you start?

If you’re someone restarting work after a big gap, or someone young and just starting out, this might be difficult but not entirely impossible. This is a key factor that shapes how your business will turn out. It’s all about who you know, and who they know.

4. Do you have the patience to wait and build something over the next few years?

Think about this honestly. Don’t answer in the spur of the moment.
Do you have kids? Parents who need your financial support? Loans or bills to pay?

If all of these are true, you might be looking for ways to make money quickly and you’ll likely lose patience entirely when things don’t go your way for a few months or even a few years.

Remember this -

Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

5. Do you have backup—aka privilege?

What happens if you don’t make it or until you do?
Not just financially, but emotionally and logistically.

I’ll be honest: the biggest reason I can take this risk is because my husband has a stable job (touch wood), and my parents and in-laws are well off. If I lost everything, I could rely on my parents to help me get back on my feet.

We have to realize that a lot of people don’t have this.
While this shouldn’t be the reason not to start up, remember this about advice you see online:
You don’t know their financial situation or how much backup they have.

I have 3 friends who left or were asked to leave their jobs last year. This was around the same time I started working on my own. All of them tried freelancing.

• One person realized it wasn’t for them. They had bills to pay and hated the uncertainty, so they went back to a job.

• Another friend took a 6-month break. They could sustain themselves, tried freelancing for some extra income while looking for a job.

• The third friend—like me—has decided to give freelancing a proper shot over the next couple of years.

Let me give you a few stats:
80% of businesses or freelancers don’t make money in the first 2 years or shut down completely.

So imagine you read 10 posts about people starting their own business.
Only 2 of them might actually be making money. Now do you think you should be listening to all 10?

This letter isn’t to say you shouldn’t start.

It’s to say - consider your situation and privilege before you do.
And more importantly, ask if you’re really suited for entrepreneurship.

Also reasons like:

• “I don’t want to spend so much time at work,”

• “I want to take it easy,”

• “I want to work from anywhere”

…are not reasons to quit your job.
That’s usually sheer stupidity.

A much wiser decision?

If you really want this, start with a side-hustle.
Build everything you want on the side.
Do it consistently for a year.

You’ll either make some money.
Or gain a whole load of learnings.

Both are great outcomes.

If you are still reading, you might want to give freelancing a try. Read this E-book to understand what you need to do to become a freelancer!

Get Freelancer over a Weekend

To ship out whatever we create.

Startups

Side-hustles

Content Creation

The expectation is that we keep churning out at a rate never known to humanity. While working in a startup, our marketing campaigns were supposed to go live yesterday. While managing social media, we had to post daily to keep the momentum going.

But in all of of we lost the spark, content and campaigns became a checklist. If the idea was above average we would run with it. Even today for my content, I run with half thought ideas and run to execution.

But what if this was not the case?

What if we could take the time to enjoy what we do?

Put in love and soul and effort. The kind that is immediately visible when you see something.

Because there is enough mediocrity in the world.

Scroll for 5 minutes and you’ll see it - content that looks the same, sounds the same, feels the same. Everyone’s in a rush to be seen, but no one’s pausing to think and feel what they’re creating.

What if we became the ones who chose depth over speed?

What if we created like it meant something?

Not every post needs to go viral. Not every launch needs to be tomorrow. Sometimes, the most powerful work is the one you took your time with. Tthe one you almost didn’t publish because it felt too simple.

That’s what I want to aim for now.

Not to keep up.
But to create with care.
To ship work that doesn’t just check a box but cracks something open.

To put it my heart and soul into writing, scripting, recording, editing and I know it will take me a long time to get where I want.

But here’s to starting.

Welcome to the first edition of Creator Deep Dive—a series where I unpack not just what creators post, but how they build a world that draws us in and makes us stay.

And we begin with the one creator who has made content creation a beautiful art.

Sarah Snow
📍 Instagram: @iamsarahsnow
🧠 Niche: Content + Self-Growth + Creator Strategy
🎯 Followers: 493K+

Her Content = Warmth + Wisdom

Sarah doesn’t just post content tips. She wraps them in emotional awareness, like:

“You don’t hate content. You hate performing without being seen.”

“Batch creating isn’t just a strategy. It’s self-preservation.”

This mix of strategy + softness is her signature. Beautiful storytelling with stunning visuals, everything to keep you hooked.

She teaches creators how to:

• Think like a strategist

• Feel like a human

• Create like a calm, consistent artist

Behind the Scenes: What Makes Her Content Work

Shooting Style

• Natural settings: Home, kitchen, desk, sunlight by the window

• Camera angles: Mostly tripod-based, mid-frame shots with depth placing Sarah at the center of calm chaos

• Framing: Rule of thirds, often allowing space for text overlays

Lighting

• Always natural or made to feel that way.

• Warm whites and late afternoon sun = calm + trust

• No ring-light reflections or sterile whites

Editing

• Jump cuts to move through long-form thoughts with pace

• On-screen text overlays in serif fonts (like Cormorant or Lora) with an added glow

• Muted color grading - earthy tones, zero contrast overload

• Subtle background music to soothe, not distract

Props

• The delicious food she cooks.

• Cutouts of charts, graphs, images on hard 300 gsm paper

Storytelling

Sarah understands one core principle that most content coaches miss:

We don’t just consume content. We enter a world.

And in her world, you:

• Learn to stop chasing dopamine

• Remember you’re more than an algorithm

• Build slowly, intentionally, gently

Lessons for Other Creators

If you’re building a content brand that isn’t just flashy but feels like you, here’s what to borrow from Sarah:

You can accept your soft life era where you are not in panic mode, you are happy, peaceful, calm. Everything does not need faster, quicker cuts.

To create content like her follow these X rules:

1. Sit down, introspect and think about a story you want to tell

2. Plan your story, scripts and divide the script into 5-6 parts

3. Each part will have you doing a different action. For eg. You say line 1 while opening the fridge or walking.

4. Write the script line and the action on a piece of paper.

5. Choose areas in your house you will be able to place the lighting or have natural sunlight

6. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Shoot extra B-roll videos as well

7. Spend time on the editing table and stitch a story using music, sound effects, video effects, graphics, transitions and more.

8. Develop your unique style by practicing.

Final Thoughts

When I first watched Sarah Snow’s content, I didn’t learn something.
I remembered something.

That maybe showing up online doesn’t have to be hard.
That maybe it’s okay to be soft and strategic.
And that maybe, just maybe,
the content I make can feel like me again.

Next in this series: @chloeshih on Instagram. I promise you her content is amazing! Coming next Sunday.

Hit reply and let me know whose storytelling you'd like me to break down next 👇

Did you get the picture or should I continue?

This is just the 3rd year of ChatGPT and imagine the damage it has done to all of us. Before you hit me with AI is making lives simpler, think about this…

Remember the time when you got an idea, you let it brew. You wrote it down so that you don't forget. It took you days to finish content and felt irritated, tired and often annoyed that what you wrote on paper or online was not as good as you wanted it to be. But you know what?

That was the fun part. The slow life, fishing for ideas, running to note it down as soon as we found inspiration. But that's just getting now. We are generating more and more content and barely anything ever makes sense. Perhaps this letter also makes no sense. But I wold rather write it this way than anything else.

Let me also be honest, I have used AI - a LOT. It's not because I can't write or can't bring myself to get fresh ideas. It's because I got into a lazy cycle of procrastinating writing content and waiting till the last moment to finish an article, a newsletter or even client work. I figured if it could be done in 2 hours, why not spend the rest of the days doing something else! And that is where the downfall starts. Last minute you have no option but to use AI to finish the work. AI manages to do a decent job so nobody questions you either!

But it's time to change that. It's time to write better, practise more and share more raw (and badly written content) because let's be honest - Do you really want mediocre AI content to your name staying on the internet?

This is not a AI bashing post but one that warns you of the struggles and realities of using AI. You can be an amazing writer and still lose your voice to AI if YOU LET IT. Because it's designed to be generic, its designed to not have opinions, it's designed to be bland and boring because that's the sort of content it learns from. We have the potential to create something that everyone is proud. Make AI your ally, not a replacement.

PS. Not even a tad teeny tiny bit of AI has been used in this later. This was supposed to be raw and honest. I will continue to use AI to help in areas where I can reduce work but here's to writing content on our own - content that speaks directly from the heart!

If you’ve been reading these letters, you already know —
I believe in showing up.
Not perfectly. Not always confidently. But with intention.

And over the last two years of coaching 500+ freelancers and side hustlers, one thing has become very clear:

Most of us don’t need more information.
We need a system.
And a support circle to walk with.

So I built one. With love. With real lessons. With people in mind.

🎯 Introducing: The Side Hustle OS Community

A year-long container for freelancers, creators, side hustlers, restarters, and women who are ready to build something real — without doing it alone.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Live trainings, templates, and systems

• Co-working sessions + accountability

• Offline meetups in select cities

• Lessons in content, branding, AI, offers, storytelling, and more

• Opportunities to collaborate and earn

This is the space I wish I had when I was just trying to figure it out —
and I’ve kept it accessible on purpose.

First 20 members get it at the lowest price ever. Because you shouldn’t have to be rich to get support.

👉 Join us here: https://thesidehustle-os.lovable.app/

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to start, or restart — this is it.

Let’s build your side hustle into something powerful. Together.

With love,
Aditi

I used to think creativity was a mood. That it would visit me if I was lucky

Now I know better.

Creativity isn’t a mood. It’s a muscle.
And like any muscle, it needs practice, play, and the occasional reset.

In this week’s letter, I’m not going to give you vague advice like
just be more curious or consume better content.

Instead, here are a few real things that actually helped me create better ideas and get unstuck as a writer, creator, freelancer.

1. Steal Like a Collector

The most creative people I know?
They’re always borrowing but never blindly.

They notice what works.
They collect things that move them - a line from a book, a visual motif from a movie, a random Reel transition.
And then they remix it into something of their own.

Tip:
Keep a Creative Swipe File in Notion, Notes, or even a physical notebook.
Include ideas, designs, sentence structures, hooks, jokes, anything that catches your brain.

2. Boredom is Fuel

I don’t get my best ideas while brainstorming. I get them while washing dishes. Or walking the dogs.

If your brain feels noisy, let it be bored.

Tip:
Take 20 minutes this week with no music, no podcast, no scrolling. Just walk. Or stare at a wall. Notice what exciting thoughts come up!

3. Write One Bad Idea a Day

The pressure to be brilliant is the #1 creativity killer.

So here’s a trick: Every day, write down one really bad idea. Like, really bad.

What happens next is magical.
You start laughing. Then you tweak it. And suddenly, the bad idea becomes the seed of something interesting.

Tip:
Start a Bad Ideas page in your journal or doc. Watch it become your best folder.

4. Switch Mediums

If you're stuck writing, start sketching.
If you're stuck filming, go make a collage.
If you’re stuck designing, write a poem.

Creativity cross-trains.

The brain loves novelty. Giving it a different way to play often unlocks a door you didn’t know was closed.

5. Talk to People Outside Your Bubble

Some of my best ideas didn’t come from other content creators.

They came from speaking and listening to random people and just observing.

We forget this: creativity is not just output. It’s how we notice the world. And the more people you listen to, the more angles your brain collects.

And one more thing…

I'm launching something special soon….
The Side Hustle OS Community✨

It’s a year-long community + system designed for freelancers and creators who want to grow their business with focus, clarity, and support.

Inside, you’ll learn:

• Personal Branding – Carve a niche so unique that competition doesn’t matter.

• Content Creation – Write short-form content that grabs attention and earns trust.

• Scriptwriting – Build authority through storytelling.

• Social Media Management – Grow your audience with simple strategies, not algorithm chases.

• Funnels and Offers – Learn what to sell, how to sell it, and how to make people want it.

• Using AI for business – Use AI to speed up ideas, content, and systems—without losing your voice.

More details soon. But if you've ever thought - You want someone to help you stay accountable + show you the steps. That’s exactly what Side Hustle OS is for.

Hit reply if you want early access.

Hoping to see you inside,
Aditi

Subscribe now