100 days left of 2023

Got reminded by @andrewtsao that there’s only 100 days left to 2023. It’s a good time to have a quick recap and course-correct:

• The year went by way faster than expected! What, end of September coming already?
• The main thing I’m focused on now is finding a way to extend my financial runway. Some projects didn’t quite pan out as expected, so I’m now running dry soon. Job applications sent out, freelance opportunities sought, any sort of help whatsoever requested. How the year will end—on a high, a low, or a meh—will be determined in the next 1-2 months.
• This hit me way harder than expected. I thought I was good and safe, but I wasn’t. I can’t take risks with the welfare of my family at stake. So I didn’t have time to process it much, but simply sprung into action. Do first, think later.
• Yet at the same time, I wonder if this is just the sort of hunger I should have had all along. Not being too picky. Being open to a wider set of opportunities. Trying stuff out, experimenting. Putting myself out there more. Had I been taking it too easy? It’s hard to say, considering all the other stuff I had to deal with… But the crisis definitely brought out a survival instinct.
• Looking back at the past 3 years, I can’t help but feel like the writing’s on the wall all along. Consulting was drying up to start with since COVID. I held out stubbornly, dipping into my savings. Big time. Now I have nothing left to show for. If I had chosen to go back to a job at the start of COVID, maybe I would be in a better financial state now to return to indie hacking. Not regreting, but thinking if I could have read the situation more objectively and clearly, without ego and wishful thinking back then.
• So what’s the plan for the next 100 days? It’s so simple: Survive. Find money. A job, freelance, new project. Anything. Earn back a buffer of savings. Above all… Don’t try to do more of the same. It’s no longer working.