[SilentTrace]

Hello gentleman,

Lately, I've been generating different streams of income in simple ways, but the amounts are still quite small. I earn a bit by teaching pentesting to people who are interested, I have a stable job in pentesting and compliance, and I also invest in long-term assets to hopefully build some wealth.

Since I’m not yet an expert in pentesting—nor do I have all the certifications or licenses required for many of the job offers out there—I’m not at the point where I can go fully freelance or start a company. (And to be honest, I’m a bit tired of seeing so much “demand” out there, only to find out that most companies are just looking for people with 100 years of experience and 200 certifications.)

So, I’ve decided to invest everything I have into developing my knowledge. My goal is to eventually be able to sell my skills at a high price—or maybe start a business. I genuinely believe that investing in yourself is the best investment you can make.

That said, right now I'm going through a bit of a tough time. I'm feeling some burnout from cybersecurity due to its complexity and the huge time commitment it requires. I think I’m on the right path, but I often feel like something’s missing. I don’t know if any of you can relate, but no matter how much I do, I feel like I’m never “enough”—not for that dream job, not to feel good at what I do, not to be a great pentester. What comforts me is the idea that “you just need time for everything.”

One last thing—I’d like to start a side hustle to earn a bit more money that I can put into my crypto wallet. I want to learn more about crypto, maybe run a small server, or build a lab to experiment. I’m not looking for a get-rich-quick scheme—I’d just really appreciate it if any of you could share your side hustles or situations. I think it could inspire others and help us support each other through the ups and downs.

So, I invite you to share your struggles too—let’s help each other out and deal with all those doubts and negative thoughts that, more often than not, aren’t even true.

Thanks for reading.

[Oh_Well]

I also have this feeling despite the plenty of stuff I believe I already know.

I believe I just want to be good at everything and when something comes up that I can't own, it feels like I have another mountain to climb and it's getting overwhelming if I think about it long enough.

But on the other hand, this is what makes us learn even more. I'm not sure this can stop -at least for me-.

[The Pact]

I also invest in long-term assets to hopefully build some wealth.

What are those if you don't mind me asking? I'm quite risk averse and have not invested in anything other than my own home. However I have mostly paid off my home.

[SilentTrace]

I also have this feeling despite the plenty of stuff I believe I already know.

I believe I just want to be good at everything and when something comes up that I can't own, it feels like I have another mountain to climb and it's getting overwhelming if I think about it long enough.

But on the other hand, this is what makes us learn even more. I'm not sure this can stop -at least for me-.

Hi thanks for making a reply, I have a similar problem, in the end you never settle for what you know and you or others always demand more from you and you never stop, so you end up crazy.

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What are those if you don't mind me asking? I'm quite risk averse and have not invested in anything other than my own home. However I have mostly paid off my home.

Well, I'm also quite risk-averse. Which makes me invest in assets with little risk but very long term. I obtain very little profit since what matters in these types of investments is the amount and time, so I have been doing it for just over a year and it is not a large amount. I'm currently in index funds, gold and paid accounts.

[Oh_Well]

Hi thanks for making a reply, I have a similar problem, in the end you never settle for what you know and you or others always demand more from you and you never stop, so you end up crazy.

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What you're describing is called Social Pressure, the constant feeling that you have to meet others expectations or keep improving just to be accepted or valued. You're not alone in feeling this way, just keep in mind that it's important to recognize when it's time to set boundaries!

[SilentTrace]

What you're describing is called Social Pressure, the constant feeling that you have to meet others expectations or keep improving just to be accepted or valued. You're not alone in feeling this way, just keep in mind that it's important to recognize when it's time to set boundaries!

Sometimes, it's not just social pressure that's the issue. These days, we often hear that there's a high demand for cybersecurity experts — yet no one wants to invest in training them. Everyone expects to hire the perfect employee: already trained, highly skilled, and ready to go from day one. Most job postings list endless requirements — multiple degrees, years of experience, and more — when, in reality, many roles, such as compliance, often involve writing security policies in Word, doing risk management in Excel, and not much beyond that.
This can be really discouraging. I've been working in IT for 4 years and in cybersecurity for 2, and I still don’t meet the requirements for most job listings.

[LordBlag]

I'm in my 20's and recently bought a house and getting married soon. I work as a Team Lead in Cyber Security (5 Years of exp) for one of the biggest companies in my country. I do feel the pressure that comes Cybersecurity and the constant feeling of needing to learn because it's not by choice it's because if you don't you will fall behind. I don't invest any of my income as I'm quite afraid to lose money due to the fact that I have quite a few overheads like mortgage, gas & electric etc.

Right now in life I want to start devoting my time to my career and really learning new techniques and becoming a 'universal employee' in hopes to future proof my employment, for example: Being able to do a pentest for our customers whilst doing my day-to-day job as a Cyber Security Analyst.

[SilentTrace]

I'm in my 20's and recently bought a house and getting married soon. I work as a Team Lead in Cyber Security (5 Years of exp) for one of the biggest companies in my country. I do feel the pressure that comes Cybersecurity and the constant feeling of needing to learn because it's not by choice it's because if you don't you will fall behind. I don't invest any of my income as I'm quite afraid to lose money due to the fact that I have quite a few overheads like mortgage, gas & electric etc.

Right now in life I want to start devoting my time to my career and really learning new techniques and becoming a 'universal employee' in hopes to future proof my employment, for example: Being able to do a pentest for our customers whilst doing my day-to-day job as a Cyber Security Analyst.

It's great to hear your story — you’ve already achieved a lot: a house, a family, and a solid career in cybersecurity. It sounds like you're doing well financially, even with the usual expenses, and that's something to be proud of.

Still, I can sense you're feeling the pressure — always needing to keep up, to evolve, to stay ahead. I get that. But don't forget to slow down and enjoy the journey too. Life isn’t just about chasing the next skill or title. It's also about experiences, growth, and finding balance.

I admire your ambition to become a “universal employee” — that mindset will definitely open doors. I just hope you also make time for yourself along the way. Best of luck on your path — keep learning, keep evolving, but don’t forget to live.

[plops]

Side hustles man. It's a black hole and when you google it, its a bunch of bloggers who one write down top 20 things sourced from other bloggers but they have not 75% of them.

I am building up some side hustles.
One that is consistent for me and pays for its own server time and those of my currently in dev and data subscriptions associated with these is blogging (ha) and plugging in my own referrals in shit I currently do. I plug the blog into relevant conversations across the web. And get sign ups through that method.
Referrals, not affiliate marketing, that pay me out cash based on the subscribers usage. My best ones give me a 10% kick back for life.
This is funding my larger project being built that will provide tech resources to small buissnesses for fees. Which will fund a larger prject after that.
Point is, you have to carve out your hustle. Get creative. I went about this in a low risk mindset. I can not afford to use my day job salary to fund these ventures so this is why I do it this way. Its slow, but works.
Good luck

[SilentTrace]

Side hustles man. It's a black hole and when you google it, its a bunch of bloggers who one write down top 20 things sourced from other bloggers but they have not 75% of them.

I am building up some side hustles.
One that is consistent for me and pays for its own server time and those of my currently in dev and data subscriptions associated with these is blogging (ha) and plugging in my own referrals in shit I currently do. I plug the blog into relevant conversations across the web. And get sign ups through that method.
Referrals, not affiliate marketing, that pay me out cash based on the subscribers usage. My best ones give me a 10% kick back for life.
This is funding my larger project being built that will provide tech resources to small buissnesses for fees. Which will fund a larger prject after that.
Point is, you have to carve out your hustle. Get creative. I went about this in a low risk mindset. I can not afford to use my day job salary to fund these ventures so this is why I do it this way. Its slow, but works.
Good luck

It was a real pleasure to read your post — I found it truly inspiring. I think you're a very smart and creative guy for coming up with such a unique and somewhat unconventional side hustle. Most of what I’ve seen when researching side hustles has been affiliate marketing, selling e-whores, e-books, and similar things — which, to me, feels pretty unethical and a waste of my own potential.

The fact that you’ve managed to build something that generates recurring income is a huge achievement. I sincerely congratulate you for that, and I encourage you to keep going with new projects — I hope they all turn out well.

As for my own side hustle idea, it was still a bit vague. I was in the process of using my salary to pay for a powerful NUC to run Proxmox, with multiple virtual machines for different purposes. One of them was going to host a personal website and a blog to document my work and knowledge. The blog would also help me get my name out there and connect with like-minded people — people who, ideally, might later bring opportunities my way organically, without me having to beg for anything.

Besides that, I was thinking about renting out one of the VMs for a friend’s website or offering small-scale backup services to people I trust. But the main idea was to meet people and write about side hustles to draw some inspiration from others.

Thank you so much, Plops, for sharing this post. It really helped me reflect and gave me a boost of motivation. I truly appreciate it, and congrats again on what you've achieved. I hope we bump into each other in another thread someday and get to talk more!

Best regards and have a great day!