Medium vs. 9–5: How Do I Win?

KayMarie Baird
2 min readMar 17, 2024

Overcome your fear of being seen as a writer

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

These past four months I’ve been devouring algorithmic articles from fellow writers.

I’d read as a writer, dissecting their single-sentence paragraphs and text bricks for their formula to my $1000 month.

What’s their secret sauce, and how can I get a taste?

A creative life will cost you the same stability and freedom the 9–5 claims to give you.

Many say “You can’t save your way to wealth,” but investing your way to your FI number using your 401k could be half of what you invested come retirement.

With these odds stacked against us, neither route is truly safe.

But there is a better way out.

The power of the personal project

We have an innate desire to be comfortable and happy all at once.

Give your undivided attention to your creative craft on a part-time basis.

Eve Arnold is notorious for this brilliancy. I’m one of her 86,000 “part time creators.” She’s definitely worth sharing.

Set time-bound commitments the same way you would at the workforce (SMART goals), but in a fun way (small rewards for completing them).

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KayMarie Baird

Hi, I'm an ISFJ and Certified Financial Education Instructor™. Learn financial literacy for introverts -> https://www.financialbutterfly.com