Why quitting my job was the best thing ever

Its been 7 months since I quit my 9–5 desk job and I wanted to share why it’s the best thing I have ever done. I will summarise this short time of the long-awaited journey in 4 simple sections which will give a small insight into why, when and how my mircrostartup-phase-nomad-life has panned out.

I have been coding and building products at Practo for the past 4 years. From writing the first version of doctor search, conceiving a new vertical, online consultation with doctors, to taking care of the core product of Practo, doctor search. I have been an Android developer, a Team lead, an Engineering Manager and a Product Manager. Yes, that's a lot, I know but I loved doing everything that was creative enough 😎. So without further adieu, I will jump right in from the left side.

The Inspiration

A year back, my mentor and friend, Ankit shared an article about the Pieter levels. I was instantly intrigued by his idea of bootstrapping 12 startups in 12 months. It changed the way I perceived things around me and what I wanted to do in life. It was a really inspiring journey and I knew I also wanted to explore something similar. Coincidentally he also gave another advice which would later completely change my life. This is sure going to resonate with almost everyone(if not come talk to me personally 😏).

The idea is an old one and probably we all know it but have never applied it anywhere except in financial sector. We always diversify our wealth which makes it less risky which is the holy grail in the investment sector. Don’t Put All your Eggs in One Basket. What if we did the same with our time and energy, we usually focus most of energy and time on one particular job. The day we stop working, we stop earning. This is a bad investment of our energy, if we can invest our energy in multiple things which can then eventually keep multiplying on its own, that would be a great investment. It felt like I have found the secret map to a lost treasure and so I started my expedition to attain my precious….

The Dots

While I was working for Practo, in the last 2 years of the 4 years, I felt now and then that I wanted to do more. I know I had it in me but was most of the time either Directionless, Focusless-ness (not sure if it’s a word, 🤔 I coined a new word! Yay!!!), Preoccupied with people I cared blah… blah… blah…

In the beginning of my career, I started learning Android in 2009 on my own, wrote my first app in a week. I fell in love with it instantly 💕. In a month I was training two more people about android. I had to leave Android and join an MNC, where I worked for Microsoft ERP software, used X++(sounds cool but I hated it as it was closed source). All this while my love for Android never left me. At that time, there were no good file managers, so I decided to do my very own first side project. It took a while but I was able to finish and have been working on it ever since whenever I get time. It eventually started making $500 though ads and ad-free version. I love FOSS so much, I even open-sourced it, AnExplorer. Yes, there are like 20 clones of AnExplorer, straight rip-offs, some people don’t really understand what open source really is, but I stopped minding that now.

 

All this while didn’t know back then but when I look back now, I always wanted to build things that I needed. I understood that we are always stopped from realizing and using our true potential as we are scared of our financials. Yes, we don’t think about it constantly when you are paid handsomely but a small fear is always there lurking subconsciously and it always drags us back from reaching our true potential.

The Checklist

What if we solve this problem,? what if we get rid of this subconscious fear? Then we can do what we really wanted to do or destined to do, right? So to be financially independent, you need to be earning constantly a decent amount every day. I set a goal of earning $100 daily which would be same as my 9–5 desk job. The idea was once I reach this goal, I will be financially free. I also wanted to travel as this opens up a new perspective in you which I realized from my past travels.

Here is my mental checklist

#1 Microstartups: I will do a microstartup which will solve a small niche problem, help it grow and along the way monetize it and once it's successful I will put it in autopilot mode and move on to the next. My microstartup Mantra

🛠 Build 🌱 Grow 💰 Monetize 🤖 Auto Pilot 🔁 Repeat

#2 Diversify: Invest time and energy into multiple things. With the advent of the new-age era of crypto, I got bugged by investment bug 💸 . So I decided to invest in cryptocurrency. With a close friend, Amit, I also started mining ⛏ cryptocurrency, invested in the hardware.

#3 Travel: Start traveling, have adventure trips, experience different cultures, and countries

The Goal(s)

Now this is where I stand, sit, and lie 😏

#1 I made ACrypto, a cryptocurrency tool for crypto traders. I have built an Android and iOS app and have been riding the crypto wave. I did this because I wanted to for me and this has been making MRR of $6K. I can now say I have reached my goal of $100 with a smile 😁. It's been an amazing journey which has cleansed my entrepreneur soul in and out and has been very long and adventurous journey. I will write in detail about it soon once I put it in autopilot mode. You can read about my interviews on ACrypto here for the time being.

ACrypto on Indie Hackers

ACrypto - Exclusive Success Story | CryptoHackers

#2 I have invested in some of the best cryptocurrency that I believed in. I also had a strategy in place which I adhered to religiously. And so in the last 7 months have made more than what I have earned in the last 8 years. You nice little bug, why didn’t you bug me in 2016. We started mining ethereum and now we have got all the ROI and everything else going forward would be just profit. Thanks Amit for running the rig at your home 😘.

#3 I love doing treks especially the crazy ones. I did ice trek and volcano trek last year. This January I did waterfalls trek. I didn't know there are so many kinds of treks 😅. I have traveled to Indonesia, Thailand in the last 7 months. I’m Planning to visit Australia soon. All the while doing these, I want to work on my “Things” as well, Digital Nomad is what I like to call myself. You can read about my ice trek here.

A walk on river Zanskar

And so in the last 7 months have made more than what I have earned in the last 8 years

I stopped doing what I didn't like, I decided to do what I like, I answered my calling and did what I want, I reached my goals. What about you? What’s your calling? Let me know in the comments.

I stopped doing what I didn't like, I decided to do what I like, I answered my calling and did what I want, I reached my goals. What about you? What’s your calling? Let me know in the comments.

Want to know my investment strategy? Know hows its like to do Volcano trek or Waterfalls trek? Hit me up in the comments and I will write a story just for that.

That all folks! This is HaKr signing off. Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed reading please upvote this article so others can also enjoy.

You can also follow me on Twitter / GitHub.