Why my salary stopped feeling safe
What building a side business is really teaching me about money
I didn’t start building a side business to make $20k a month. I started because I didn’t trust my salary to protect my family anymore.
That’s a very different reason.
I grew up believing life would be straightforward.
Study hard.
Get a good job.
Marry well.
Be taken care of.
And for a long time, I was.
Until I found myself in 6-figure debt, let go from my job and became the primary earner in my family.
There’s a different kind of pressure that comes with that. It’s the kind that keeps you up at night.
Running numbers in your head.
Thinking about school fees.
Bills.
Wondering how long you can keep this going and what happens if you can’t.
That was the moment I realized something I didn’t want to see. I didn’t actually believe I could create money.
The good schools, grades and excellent job reviews I got showed that I knew how to earn a salary.
But creating income? On demand, amidst uncertainty? That felt completely out of my control and honestly, way out of my league.
For years, the way I reacted to that kind of uncertainty was to freeze and stay stuck in resentment and anxiety, hoping for things to change.
But now, life forced me to take a stand. I had two options.
Stay who I had always been - dependent, cautious, waiting for things to feel safe - or become the person my situation required me to be.
Someone who could figure things out, create opportunities and take 100% responsibility for the life I wanted to have.
That shift changed everything. Not immediately, but fundamentally.
I stopped seeing money as something that comes from a job, and started seeing it as something I could generate.
Through skills, decisions and action.
But here’s where it got complicated.
I knew quitting my job wasn’t the answer. I had already tried that and it’s how I ended up in debt.
So I had to find another way. A third path.
I’d keep my job, maximize my salary, and build something on the side.
On paper, it sounds simple. But in reality, it demands a completely different version of you. Because building a business while you’re still employed means you will be seen.
By colleagues, leaders, and people you didn’t expect.
You’ll question yourself.
“Is this allowed?”
“What if someone thinks I’m not committed?”
“What if this affects my job?”
And if you’ve spent your entire career being a “good employee”, this is where most people stop. Not because they don’t know what to do, but because they’re waiting to feel safe before they do it.
I felt that too.
The hesitation.
The fear.
The instinct to hold back.
But what I’ve realized building this business is that the real work is not the strategy.
It’s becoming someone who can act even when you don’t have certainty, permission, or approval. That’s where most people get stuck.
Because that shift from employee to entrepreneur is not just about what you do. It’s about how you think.
I’ll share more about this in my paid newsletter, including:
what actually happens when your bosses see you building something on the side
why waiting to feel “ready” keeps you stuck longer than anything else
and the exact shift I had to make to start moving forward anyway
If this is something you’re struggling with, you’ll want to read that.
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