Your Job Will Suck the Life Out of You (If You Let It)
Building something on the side isn’t just about money—it’s about staying sane.
There’s a gravitational pull at work:
• Meetings
• Drama
• Slack noise
• Office politics disguised as “collaboration”
Even if you don’t care, it pulls you in.
That’s the trap.
Because the second you get caught up in their chaos,
You lose track of your mission.
What saved me?
A side project that actually matters.
Whenever the noise starts at work,
I redirect that energy into building EchoCart.
It’s been a game changer for my:
✅ Focus
✅ Mental health
✅ Overall happiness
What I realized:
Most companies expect our best selves.
But we rarely expect that from ourselves.
Until we have something of our own.
I’ve been tracking progress lately.
Not just with EchoCart —
But with myself.
And the more I build,
The more I feel like... me.
More calm.
More focused.
More in control.
But here’s the wild part:
As EchoCart gets more real…
It gets scarier.
Why?
Because the next step finally becomes visible.
And it’s always:
⚠️ Harder
⚠️ Riskier
✅ Way more worth it
If you're stuck at work...
You don’t need to rage-quit.
You don’t even have to hate your job.
But you do need a project that’s yours.
Something that pulls you forward
When your job tries to pull you down.
I’m building EchoCart publicly.
It’s real.
It’s raw.
It’s making me better.
Stay building,
– Caleb