Currently reading: Side Hustle by the great Chris Guillebeau. I’ve always been pretty thrifty and disciplined about money in order to support myself as a writer. But I’ve recently started looking at things differently: there’s a limit to how much you can cut back on your spending, but there’s no ceiling on how much money you can make.

Tons of artists and creative people I’ve known think that money is evil and view making a living as “selling out.” I think this just helps perpetuate the myth that creativity requires struggle and hardship in every aspect of life. I’d rather have a boring, comfortable life so I can focus my energy on creating things of value to others. The definition of a stressor is something that threatens homeostasis because you don’t have the resources to control it—and when you don’t have money, you simply don’t have the resources needed to deal with lots of things that come up. Being stressed out about money makes it harder to think.

You are under no obligation to live a traditional 9-5 life. Lots of great case studies and inspiration are available at Guillebeau’s Side Hustle school.