[tarey]

Very relaxing read. Thank you.

I have just started a similar journey as well. I have passed my bar exam and became a qualified lawyer during the pandemic. To all minds that are sane, the logical thing would be to keep my high paying job and ride out the lockdown recession. Instead, I have left my job, took up a coding bootcamp for 4 months and became a tenant at a co-working space with my laptop, setting myself a 6-month goal to create something of my own - doesn't matter what it is, as long as I can create it. As throughout my life I have always questioned myself that I haven't created anything that is worth an ounce of meaning, but now I am slowing getting that rewarding feeling.

One thing I know from this journey though, is that not getting paid do make you feel down but at the same time I got my family with me and my health. So I am still pretty happy when I wake up in the morning and work, for, myself.

[padheyam]

Good to see a lawyer here. I have been a venture capital lawyer for 10 years. I am still with a law firm; but have been learning Python, and have also been building a legal publishing platform by hiring a developer. It would have been nice to create the platform myself; but I think the combination of an experienced corporate lawyer and an amateur developer might be more suited in my case. One day, I hope to go solo and consult companies and law firms in implementing technology solutions to make their work-flow efficient and also run the legal publishing platform, which at that point in time would have hopefully evolved into a marketplace for trading knowledge.

[tarey]

Nice to see another lawyer as well! I only counted two people back in my old firm (out of 1,000 lawyers there) who are from a STEM degree and knows some coding. We are definitely a rare breed but in a nice way.

Right now, I am building a simple social media website for home decor and designs just to test myself on using frontend and backend technologies. Then on the side, I am creating small projects with ideas being inspired from the legal field. I have just started on making a lightweight timesheet app so ordinary people or programmers can record their time worked (just like how lawyers mark their time spent on client’s matter) to produce a timesheet report for their clients.

Only hurdle I have is in the aesthetics, as I am OK with building the core functions of an app, but designs wise, the bit that are client/customer facing would require some work - or I could just hire someone to build some nice looking assets for me to use.

[john_yaya]

That's excellent! Best of luck to you. Though in a sense, you have already succeeded by harnessing your courage and doing something that gives you a sense of meaning and ownership.

[kwere]

Cool, but what opportinity can You grasp other than luck? For me, in my Life (low) luck based opportunity are to shun completely.

[tarey]

I rarely rely on luck (although I do count myself to be very lucky up to this point). I tend to rely on myself very often, and my one principle rule is that I have every expectation that I will have to do everything by myself. Any help that I got would just be a bonus, but it is still very much just myself. This has been what it has been like all my life and I don’t intend to change.

[john_yaya]

With that attitude, I’d happily invest in whatever it is you’re creating. Looking forward to hearing about your success on HN at some point.

[tarey]

Thank you for the encouraging words. I will hopefully be posting it at the end of the year and keep you updated.