Avoiding the Golden Handcuffs
Tags: career, beginners, productivity, writing
Published: 2023-10-21 17:00:00



Are you caught in a battle of wills between your spiritual purpose and your physical wants and needs?

## I want to be stable 

I want to be stable. I want to be free. I want to feel loved and connected. Maybe too much so. And maybe the restraint affects my forward progress because it means I don’t move until everything lines up. I like to play games where have a significant success rate, because I understand how limited my time here on earth is. In most cases that ends up being the game with a very clear success point that is tangible and something I can see. But as I enter the world of entrepreneurship, I’ve entered a period of indecision. From designing websites, to planning trips, to writing articles, to virtual assistance as a service, to print-on-demand products, to day trading, I’ve attempted a lot. I’ve had at least one client, one sale, or one payout in every category. But nothing stuck. It was either too hard, too unreliable, too time consuming, or too soul sucking.


![The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2a7671360w2znd3k9tzq.jpeg)

Me Pondering the Meaning of Life at the Brooklyn Bridge

## I had two options

Even before my first Software Development position, I understood that I have two options, either work excessively for a FAANG company after struggling to get in, pray that nothing happens to that position, and succumb to lifestyle creep as a result of my surroundings and location, or work a more reasonable remote job and pursue entrepreneurship with the hours I’ve saved from having to commute. And so I moved back to my home state, supported my family where I could and committed to at least try to figure something out in the business world.
## The most difficult thing

I'm convinced that the most difficult thing about entrepreneurship is the unknown.

- Fear
- Greed
- Scarcity
- Envy
- Insecurity

The unknown seems to bring up the worse parts of human nature, bubbling up from our core self in the same way as a fear of the dark and surfacing as emotional states that hinder forward progress, halt us in our tracks, and prevent us from exploring, growing, and developing.

And so, in order to move forward, I had to see the vision, light a path, and figure out the long game, the infinite game. And then I came upon a video by Alex Hormozi discussing how the disadvantage that you think you have can be a strength if positioned properly. I feel that my disadvantage is how risk adverse I am, so I will try to flip it on it's head and use that to position my personal brand for success. 

## Profit / Purpose / Peace.

And so, finally, I took 10,000 steps back. Utilizing all of the knowledge I had from constant setbacks, failures, trials, and tribulations with code, business, and life (a bit dramatic maybe) alongside a whole Pandemic, I did some soul searching, found a cool dude named Dan Koe, and set out on a journey to build my personal brand, join the creator economy, and devote myself to three tenants to life that I hope to follow me around for a long time. Profit. Purpose. Peace. In the same breath, through my personal experiences, I've found a way to directly apply them given my maybe excessive amount of time spent online and in my head searching for answers in a self actualization hierarchy for software developers sort of way.
## Profit - Remote Software Development

I need a base, a way to pay the bills, and consistent paycheck. Money makes the world move. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am not trying to ascribe some deep meaning to this aside from the fact that I need to eat, sleep, and shit. A place to do all three is worth paying and sacrificing for. But I also didn't want to sell my soul to the American highway, the sunrise road rage, or the cold cubicles all too common in corporate America, not to mention my introverted nature. So this seems like a healthy medium to me.
## Purpose - Mentorship & Community

Due to my own self imposed salary cap, so to speak, as a result of deciding to work fully remote as a software developer instead of in office and prioritizing a healthy work environment, mentally sane team members, and quality managers over income and equity, I find myself in a comfortable role that I enjoy, learn a lot at, and contribute well for but not one that is necessarily paying the big bucks. And I find myself looking for a bigger impact on the world as well a bigger paycheck to complete that feedback loop.

And so, I found a potential a way to do both, mentoring the next generation of developers, and generating a sustainable side income that has infinite potential through the development of courses, community, and creative branding. This stage of life, for me at least, is still in it’s infancy.
## Peace - The Infinite Game

Becoming a content creator. Planning my exit strategy. Learning how to do more, stress less, and code well. All of the soft skills, intangibles, and the intersection between profit and purpose lies here. Something really important for me was having a definite progression and not relying on large jumps forward in life that, until mad,  left me in a dark pit unable to see left from right. I am okay with slow. I am okay with subtle. I am not okay with stuck.


![A delicious plate of french toast](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/scb3njlpawvruw2pj0u0.jpeg)
Me finding peace in this french toast

## And so it begins

A journey of entrepreneurship and personal development, learning how to do more, stress less, and code well. Not just picking a direction to run to, but making a decision on what I am running away from because sometimes while the path forward is not always clear, the monster behind is larger than life.