A New Journey

Why I chose to become a freelance and start building products as a Solopreneur.

When I started my university studies, I remembered that I had a goal in my mind: I had to work for a big company before I was 25.

In some way, maybe the law of attraction, I don’t know, I started working at 24 years old for what I considered at that time a big company, it was a classic IT consultancy company here in Milan, so I was thrilled, I got along with my colleagues and with my team. In fact, I stayed with that company for almost three years, which was the longest period I had spent in the same company.

Then I started working for different companies for not longer than one year, I started what we call job hopping, and most of the time we think we do this for a salary increase, in my case, that wasn’t the main reason, because there was a time when I also changed for a salary decrease.

Probably I was looking for different challenges, mentors to work with, or other things.

Eventually, I ended up working for a multinational company: a beautiful office in the center of Milan, a library inside of it, a kitchen, a table football, a PlayStation, and even a rock guitar to play music. I thought I would like to stay here for a long period and climb the company ladder.

The first period was very nice, mostly for the cultural environment, smart colleagues, and gatherings in the headquarters once per quarter.

Unfortunately, when a company gives you so much, most of the time it will ask you a lot.

I have had some arguments with a colleague in my team, and little by little, my performance decreased.

My one-on-one meetings with my manager weren’t so good, and over time, the stress increased. I started to feel sad, and in some way trapped, and I felt it wasn’t what I wanted for myself, even if it is the most sponsored path by society.

But there is a saying that if you make a fish climb a tree, it will feel stupid, and again, the value of someone or something depends sometimes on where you are, as you know, a bottle of water can cost 50 cents at the supermarket, 1 euro at the bar, and 4 euros at the airport.

So I reflected a lot about my values, what makes me really happy, and how I wanted to live.

That’s how I realized what I appreciate most, and I wanted to remember every day, and that’s why I wrote it on my skin.

Freedom is what I want most in my life, but what is freedom? Each person has their own definition. What I mean by freedom is to live by my own rules. Yes, for me, freedom is not the absence of rules; the rules are important, but they are my rules.

Wake up at the time I prefer, work on the projects that excite me most, or take a holiday in a period that is not necessarily August, and at the same time earn money from projects I built. The legendary passive income… a dream.

Obviously, there is a process to achieve all of that; it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, but I am sure it’s the direction I want to take.

What I would like to transmit to you is that there isn’t just one single path to achieve success. The definition of success for me is different than your definition. What is important, in my opinion, is to increase our self-awareness.

Learn to know yourself. Listen to you from within. Understand what you appreciate most in life, what drains you most, and what values you want to follow.

I know each person has a different situation, a different story, and it is not easy to change. But I also know that life is just ONE and our time here is limited.

So follow your heart! Follow your values!