Why I started this website
Why I built this website, what a personal brand is for, and what to expect from the posts.
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Fuck around and find out. The more you fuck around, the more you find out.
Intro
I had a personal website before. It was ok. It had my CV, a page about me, and some random stock photos from Unsplash. But it didn’t quite feel mine. I built it from a template, barely maintained it, and it ended up really outdated.
Recently I had two of my remaining wisdom teeth taken out (I’m officially never going to be wise) and was stuck at home for a few days to recover. I was faced with a decision: either lie on the couch and rewatch Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones for the third time, or build something.
If you’re reading this, you can guess what I did.
Why now
I’m pivoting my life this year. I decided to take a break from competitive water polo and work, and move to Australia for (at least) four months. I know, typical quarter-life crisis (at least I’m not moving to Bali, duh).
While I’m there, I want to try something different. I’ve been studying and working in software for nine years, so this feels like the best opportunity to try to achieve something new.
So I wondered: why not create a personal brand? I firmly believe life is too short to just:
- Study for 15 years (up until college)
- Specialize in a subject (3 to 5 years in college)
- Work in the same area for 50 years
- Retire
There are so many things one can do, so why do just one? I know why most people do: it’s safer. But isn’t taking risks the fun part of life?
Why a personal brand
The goal of this website is to start building my personal brand: putting my work, my writing and my name out there in one place, with a purpose.
Why bother? I feel like nowadays a personal brand can help with almost any career:
- If you work in a “normal job” (a 9-to-5), it gives you exposure, makes you more attractive to employers and opens the door to better opportunities.
- If you freelance, it helps you showcase your work and land contracts.
- If you work on social media, your whole business model is having a personal brand. Unless you run one of those faceless channels (you’d be surprised by how many people do this!).
I’ve been in the first category my whole life. I’m curious about the other two.
What to expect
The site already has a few articles I wrote before, mainly around software. They were scattered across Medium and my old website, so I moved them here to keep everything in one place.
I’ll be writing about other topics from now on, and I’m committing to post at least twice a month. If this goes in a good direction, I’ll probably increase the frequency.
As for where this goes, I don’t know yet. Maybe socials, maybe freelancing, maybe something else entirely. That’s kind of the point. I’m excited to find out!