On purpose
Why transparency matters, consistency in words and action, and what comes next
Why transparency matters
Transparency is widely endorsed in theory, but in practice it needs to be applied with intention and sufficient depth for the relationship you are building. On the flip side, over sharing is typically not desirable either. The transparency depth is the balance between being personal, or being private.
It may feel uncomfortable. You need to assess what level of transparency you are willing to offer, and understand what level is needed. The latter varies and is tied to your purpose for sharing something. It requires a willingness to share not only polished outcomes, but also intent, direction, and sometimes uncertainty. Otherwise, it will simply not be enough in most cases. That is precisely what makes it powerful. It reduces guesswork and creates clarity. Its depth may vary depending on the relationship you are building, but it is always a prerequisite for building trust.
This post is written in that spirit.
Partly as a reflection on why I started The Bright Side Projects.
Partly as a way to bring sharper focus to what you can expect going forward.
And partly as a small act of consistency.
Two months ago, I published the first post on The Bright Side Projects.
I started with a clear intention.
The idea was already formed: to explore and share side projects as a serious lever for building optionality, resilience, and long-term value. Writing publicly was a deliberate choice, not an experiment.
What has evolved since then is not the purpose, but the execution. I have become more precise in how I express ideas, more comfortable with the format, and more aware of the tone that fits this space.
The direction has been consistent. The craft is improving.
The risk of silence
Lack of transparency has a cost.
For a long time, I hesitated to be visible on the only professional platform I knew: LinkedIn. I am not proud to admit that I have had an account for over 20 years (!) but have barely posted anything.
Some seemingly random updates about my location and whereabouts after I left my home country, but that is pretty much it. I have used the platform for DMs, extensively from time to time, but of course that does not create any visibility beyond your existing network.
Frankly, I did not see the need back then. I was either quite happy where I was at the time, or had enough recruiting managers and headhunters reaching out to me. I relied on corporate brand reputation, and my own reputation within my industry in my home country. I prioritised other things, and I did not feel any urgency.
Later, when I had relocated to my current country, there were a number of factors holding me back. Most importantly, it was about uncertainty. During my first five years abroad, there was an ongoing discussion between me and my spouse about whether we would be able (and want) to stay, for how long, relocate again, or repatriate. It was not possible to share anything about that process at the time, and consequently I found myself stuck in a communication limbo. I could not share anything that implied plans for a specific location. And to be honest, it was exhausting and frustrating. Almost one year ago, our plans finally became clearer and more long-term.
I revisited LinkedIn and realised that location uncertainty had just been an excuse. The truth is, I never liked the vibe there. I think my initial interest got lost around 2008 or 2009. The financial crisis, massive layoffs, and all of a sudden I read the most boring people calling each other “rockstar”, while being incredibly creative with their titles and accomplishments. That never stopped. Add the rise of AI slop, and it has not exactly become more attractive. My least value-for-money subscription is without doubt LinkedIn Premium. I forgot to remove the annual renewal, so I still have it.
I also had another challenge. I have worked extensively with communication, and I knew that, for LinkedIn in particular, I had a challenge:
Positioning
How do you present a profile that does not fit neatly into a single category?
How do you shape your communication?
I had spent half a decade primarily on smaller side projects (monetary and non-monetary), spanning a fairly broad range. My main role, most of the time, had been that of being a present parent, enabling stability in a family where the other parent travelled extensively, both weekly and for longer periods. It was both a deliberate choice and one influenced by location and periods of significant uncertainty.
I had limited time for my side projects and chose carefully when investing it. They were all worthwhile in some way, but I struggled with the framing. What was the pattern? What could be my niche? I knew my private goals and vision very well, but those were intended for me, to stay on track. Not for sharing publicly or for any form of brand building. It took me additional time to pinpoint and choose my niche.
(That niche deserves further explanation, so I will elaborate on it in a separate post.)
In the meantime, I came to a simple but even more uncomfortable realisation.
When you choose not to share what you are doing, what you have accomplished, and what you plan to do, people will still form an impression of you. In the best case, you quietly fade into the background. In the more problematic case, others fill in the gaps themselves, often with assumptions that are only loosely connected to reality. They might describe you, or label you, in ways you are not comfortable with.
That gap between perception and reality became increasingly difficult to ignore. At the same time, I felt a growing urgency to take ownership of my own narrative and to invest more deliberately in building a personal brand that reflects the full picture.
This connects closely to what I explored in Brand non grata. At its core, this is a question of risk management, wealth in different forms, and ultimately resilience.
I am building resilience.
Resilience is options.
Writing here is one way of building that, step by step, on purpose.
What you can expect going forward
If you are reading this, I assume you are looking for something that is both thoughtful and useful.
Over the past weeks, I have explored a few different directions. That has been valuable for me, but it has also made it clear that I want to bring sharper focus going forward.
You can expect three things from The Bright Side Projects:
Personal experience
I will share my own side projects, including what works, what does not, and what I learn along the way.
A practical toolkit
Actionable frameworks, concrete examples, and step-by-step approaches that you can apply directly.
A clear perspective
Side projects seen through the lens of optionality, resilience, and long-term value creation, rather than as isolated hobbies.
My intention is to make this both relevant and usable, whether you are exploring your first side project or already have several in motion.
A sincere thank you
To everyone who has subscribed, read, liked, commented, or shared a post over these first two months, thank you.
Your attention, your reflections, and your willingness to engage are what make this feel meaningful and alive. It is easy to underestimate how much that matters, but I do not.
There are also a few of you whose names I now recognise immediately when I see them in the notifications.
I know you are here for different reasons, but I also recognise that I am the common denominator.
Thank you for being on this journey with me. I am a strong believer in collaborative work, and I look forward to learning and growing together.
Consistency in words and action
I like to apply the same advice I often return to:
Say what you are going to do, and then follow through.
I believe that the value of consistency in words and action should not be underestimated.
In a week from now, I will be heading out on a longer trip, which will naturally shape both my schedule and my perspective.
At the same time, I will continue writing here.
I see this as a long-term commitment rather than a short experiment. I recently celebrated my 365-day streak of learning Chinese through daily micro-lessons in a popular app. That streak reflects consistency, discipline, and follow-through over time.
The same principle applies here. Small, consistent steps that may seem insignificant in isolation become meaningful over time.
Substack is a newer habit, but I approach it with the same mindset. Consistency, combined with reflection, tends to compound in ways that are difficult to predict at the outset.
I am already curious to look back on this in January 2027 and see what it has developed into.
What comes next
I will share April’s theme in a separate post shortly.
Until then, thank you for being here, for reading, and for engaging.
This is a long-term game. I am just getting started.
🪁
I like this; "When you choose not to share what you are doing, what you have accomplished, and what you plan to do, people will still form an impression of you. In the best case, you quietly fade into the background. In the more problematic case, others fill in the gaps themselves, often with assumptions that are only loosely connected to reality. They might describe you, or label you, in ways you are not comfortable with."
Much of this sounds so relatable ... especially the LinkedIn- experience. 🤢😉
All the best going forward ...