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⏰ Maybe it's time to quit?
Published 6 days ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader,
I had a conversation once with a podcaster/blogger I know. I’ll go one step further and say this person is a friend as well.
During our chat, she shared that she was in a weird place, feeling a bit stuck. She was about to begin a new role in her school district and is incredibly excited about it, but the excitement for this new position was having a seemingly negative impact on her EDUcreator business.
She had been reflecting and realized that she initially started her side hustle because she was feeling bored at work and needed something to fuel her.
Now that this new opportunity was fueling her, she worried, or wondered, if this meant it was time to step away from her business.
This sparked some interesting conversation and reflection into past opportunities we had both taken, tested, and walked away from.
I asked her a simple, yet complex and difficult question: Is your side business a passion of yours...or was it just an escape from your previous job?
See, that's something that sometimes happens - we get bored, frustrated, unfulfilled, or stuck, in our current role or at our current job, so we look for an escape. For some, this escape is devoting time to our favorite sports team. For others, it's video games or binging Netflix.
But for those of us who have an entrepreneur inside of us, that escape often manifests into chasing a wide variety of opportunities - following new ideas, starting a side hustle, jumping into network marketing, etc.
To be clear, sometimes those things that are initially an escape for us, turn into a successful and fulfilling career.
But far too often what happens is that once we become fulfilled, or the thing we initially wanted to escape becomes less of a pain point for us, these ideas (and businesses) that we pursued become less exciting and therefore less needed.
Or, we build that side hustle into something that now brings its own level of stress and it no longer acts as an escape.
So what do we do when this happens?
What do we do when the thing we used to escape no longer offers us that escape?
Well, we should stop doing it. I know that sounds super simplified, and that’s because it is. The truth is, the reason most of us don't stop is the fear of what others will think when we quit something.
This leads us to continue drudging through our side hustle, which has now become not much more than a multiplier of the stress from our full-time job...you know, the thing we originally started the side hustle to escape from.
Why stay? Why continue with something you no longer love when it is piling on to an already stressful life? Is it really that bad to just quit?
If we allow the potential judgement from others to weigh in, then yes, it can be really bad to just quit.
However, if we can overcome that fear and realize that the judgement doesn't actually matter, and true success comes when we're happy, I've found that stepping away from, or at least taking a break from, a side hustle is not only ok, but often times the best thing for us.
So I want to challenge you to think through the many things you might be doing. Or reflect back on things you've stepped away from and maybe judged yourself for doing so.
Is that thing a passion of yours? Does it bring you happiness? If not, why are you still doing it
I'll be your permission: It's okay to quit things that don't make you happy.
Hit 'reply' and let me know what you think.
- Jeff
*Keep scrolling for I’m listening to, links to check out, and a content creation idea!
Ahrefs looked at a million SERPs to see if it's true.
While it's true to a degree that they matter less, it’s also true that, for certain types of queries, such as for local queries and informational content, links matter more.
Links also matter more at higher search volume and correlate better with branded searches than non-branded searches.
Even if links, in the big picture, correlate to rankings slightly less than they used to, they still matter.
👀 Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors.
While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger Facebook users to sustain itself for the next generation.
Asked about his plans for the “OG Facebook,” Zuckerberg replied that it was one of Meta’s focus areas for the year ahead and something the company planned to both invest in and spend time on.
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💡CONTENT CREATION IDEA
Struggling with Content? Document.
One of the biggest struggles for those of us that need to be consistent with creating new content is feeling like we always have to come up with brand new ideas. But here’s the thing—your audience doesn’t just want polished, final products. They want to see the journey.
Instead of trying to create from scratch all the time, document what you're already doing.
Working on a new offer? Share behind-the-scenes updates on the process.
Testing a new tool or strategy? Show what you’re learning (wins and struggles).
Overcoming a challenge? Share the challenge with your audience and how you worked through it.
Reflecting on your week? Share insights, lessons, or small wins.
People love to follow the journey, not just the finished product. Plus, documenting makes content creation way easier because you’re just sharing what’s already happening.
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Helping educators create and grow brands to promote a product or idea they want to share with others to better education. Tips, tricks, and resources for educators creating content and/or launching side hustles to share their passions.
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