Alright, so I wanted to share something I’ve been working on for myself lately. It started a few months back. I was looking at my job, you know, the usual routine, and got this nagging feeling. What if something changed? What if the company hit a rough patch, or my role shifted? It felt like I was walking a tightrope without a net. So, I decided I needed to build my own safety net, something I started calling my “personal parachute” in my own head.
Getting Started – The ‘Uh Oh’ Moment
First thing I did was just sit down and be honest with myself. I realized I was way too reliant on my one job. That felt risky. So, the goal wasn’t just to worry, but to actually do something. I figured I needed either a side hustle that could bring in a bit of cash, or skills that would make finding another job super quick if needed. Something tangible.
I spent a weekend just brainstorming. What could I actually offer? I looked at my current skills:
- Okay, I know my way around [mention a general skill area, e.g., project management basics].
- I’m pretty decent at [mention another skill, e.g., organizing stuff, maybe basic spreadsheets].
- People say I’m good at [mention a soft skill, e.g., explaining complex things simply].
Then I thought about what I could learn reasonably fast. Maybe some basic graphic design? Simple website building? Technical writing?
The Grinding Part – Learning and Trying
I landed on trying to pick up some web development fundamentals. Seemed useful no matter what. Man, finding the time was the hardest part. Nights and weekends, chipping away at online tutorials. Some days I felt like I was getting nowhere. It was a real grind, not gonna lie.
After a couple of months, I felt just barely confident enough to try something small. I reached out to a friend who runs a small local business. Their website was, well, pretty dated. I offered to build them a simple, clean site for a very small fee, basically just to cover my time and get the experience. It was nerve-wracking, putting myself out there like that.
That first project was slow. I made tons of mistakes. But I finished it. They were happy, which was a huge relief. It wasn’t about the money, really. It was proof I could learn something new and actually apply it.
Where I’m At Now
Since then, I’ve done a couple more tiny projects for contacts. Nothing major. It’s definitely not replacing my day job income, not even close. But that wasn’t the only point.
The real win? I feel less stuck. Knowing I have these other skills, knowing I went through the process of learning and applying them, that’s the core of the ‘parachute’. It’s the confidence that if things went sideways at work, I wouldn’t just be frozen. I’d have options, things I could do.
It’s still a work in progress. I keep tinkering, learning a bit more here and there when I have time. It’s not some magic bullet, but it’s my little safety line, built piece by piece. And honestly, just having started feels like a big step.