I've got 823 paid subscribers on Substack.

I reached my first $20k month in May, last month I made $19k.

It's all on the side of my 9-5 job.

I built it from scratch, without external audience or social media following.

I have only three simple income streams - paid subscriptions, courses, coaching.

Today I realized one thing.

It all worked because of this one thing.

Here it is.

I didn't do any of that for the money.

I didn't do it with the intention to quit my job.

I did it out of curiosity.

Can I actually build my own business?

I started a paid newsletter to see if I can become a bestseller fast. I did. I now get 100+ paid subscribers every month.

I started courses to see if I can come up with a different format that actually helps people. I did. People absolutely love my QUEST.

I started coaching to see if I can really replicate my model outside of my niche and help people grow. I did. It works on all sorts of niches.

But it wasn't easy.

Felt exhausted. I still do sometimes.

Wanted to quit multiple times. One time I almost did.

It was me I was competing with. Just me.

And I'm sure it will be like that in the future.

So if you're starting new to Substack, look at the mirror - that's your competition.