Hello everyone! I’m (25F) working as a civil engineer in the government (job order) and earning a monthly salary of 35,000. Bukod sa work, I have a side-hustle which is design and build services. This sideline helps me earn extra, and sometimes it even brings in more income than my corporate job. However, I know I can’t leave my corporate job yet because sidelines don’t always provide a steady income. This year, I got my first construction project, though renovation lang sya.

Things were going well, but pressure started to build as I saw my other college batchmates excelling sa pangongontrata nila. And nabalitaan ko rin na my friend just got a 15 million deal yesterday. Please don’t bash me, I don’t hate or envy them. I’m genuinely grateful to be starting out as an independent contractor like they are. But why do I feel the need to keep up with them? Why does it feel like I’m the least accomplished among us?

I’m also aware that I still have a lot to learn dahil konti pa lang ang exposure ko sa site. Usually, I do estimates, and nag-ooutsource ako ng engineers para makatulong ko sa plano at implementing. Right now, mag-uupskill na ulit ako para mas madami akong mai-offer sa susunod pang services ko.

I’m feeling really overwhelmed right now and I’m not sure what to do. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!