Hristo, introduce yourself in a few sentences
I am the founder of lifehack.bg and Masterhack Club (masterhack.bg) – the place with the most useful content in Bulgarian, which everyone gives as an example. I was born in Ruse, I live in Plovdiv, and I have a 7-year-old daughter. My hobby, besides scenic camper trips, is to discover, filter and share information, ideas, know-how, and tools that bring breakthroughs to our readers – in life, work, and business.
How did the idea for Lifehack come about so long ago and how did it evolve?
Lifehack was born out of my own need for useful content that I could apply.
10-12 years ago, everything useful was mainly in English, and I really wanted to learn, read, and achieve more. But like most people, I wanted the essence. I didn’t waste time with general talk. But there was almost nothing in Bulgarian, and I honestly don’t like reading in English.
Then I said to myself – well, why don’t I create a place where I can share in Bulgarian the useful things that I discover so that I will both use them and give them to people? That’s how the idea for Lifehack was born 12 years ago. Since then, many things have changed on the site itself, but the concept and vision of the “place with the most useful content in Bulgarian” remain the same to this day. Fortunately, everything developed and is developing according to my vision even now lifehack.bgTM is synonymous with “useful content”.
Of course, we are still very far from what we really want to achieve, which is to become the #1 source of content for every ambitious Bulgarian who is struggling with life to get more out of it. Thanks to people like you and your audience who are kind enough to give us their time and attention, that goal is getting closer.
Was there a time when you wanted to give up on your dream and what brought you back to it?
I have moments like this all the time…
They are part of my routine simply because I put all my energy and desire into what I do. And that’s exhausting. Sometimes even traumatic.
I’m sure you also put tremendous effort into developing the things you believe in. That’s what I do too. Actually, it’s my hobby. But as much as I love doing it, there are times when I put my absolute all into it, and our audience sometimes doesn’t respond the way I expect.
This is of course our problem, not the people’s. But these moments are discouraging and then I feel like throwing everything away.
However, this takes about an hour. And it’s actually part of my work process.
I realized years ago that people don’t care how much effort you put in. They want their own, and that’s normal.
Therefore, after shaking off the moments of despair, I start looking for the reason within myself – why we failed, where we went wrong, what else to test, etc. I started to think like an investigator, searching for cool and useful things that help people succeed.
The criticism I sometimes receive has made my skin “thick” – I’ve learned to separate the negative feedback from myself and accept it as such for what I’ve discovered and shared. I believe so much that it is important for anyone who creates that I did special material on the subject, which I believe will be useful to other people.
Motivation gives me back my vision – a vision for a way of life and for what I want to create.
I can’t give up what I dream of.
I can’t give up what I love to do either.
You are one of the people who went through having another job and turning your personal project into your own business. Do you have any advice for anyone still making this transition?
I have a lot of respect for people who are in this situation because I know what’s going on in their heads. I know what their concerns are and I know what their fears are. I would not allow myself to give advice for this very important situation, but I can share my experience with you.
I believe that in many of the circumstances, these people will recognize and benefit from my steps…
I’ll start by saying that I really wanted to not work for someone else. In fact, I even hated this situation of carrying out other people’s ideas, tasks, and dreams. I just hated myself for doing it. Therefore, in every free minute I worked on the only thing that I believed could set me free, because only with bare dreams, going to seminars, and other windy things, things would not work. I was clutching at straws like a drowning man. I was stuck in what I was doing with lifehack.bg, I really believed it would work.
I also had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve. I even think that this is the most important thing – to have a clear idea of ​​what you want to happen through the efforts you make.
I’m also a pragmatist – I worked hard wherever I was hired. I was doing well so that I could have money, not only for the bills but also to invest what I could in the development of the site. I spent less, saved more, completed my tasks well, but did not give the maximum of myself, and left something for myself as well. Something I would use in my own business – someday.
And while others went out, I worked, while others rested, I worked. And finally, dear friends, we switched roles, and while I was taunting that life was about living, not working so much. I am currently writing these lines from a beautiful beach in Greece during the week, while my acquaintances are frying in their offices, dreaming of the weekend.
I paid a high price – both personal and all, but it was worth it. In the end, you have to make a choice – whether to sacrifice 5-10 years of your life to live the rest of it the way you want or to dream every week that it’s Friday afternoon…
My last job for a large German company was the tipping point of being freed from working for someone else.
In fact, it was a dream job – my working hours were until 3 pm. My assignments were related to what I understand – digital marketing and content creation. My salary was more than good. I regularly traveled to Germany on business trips. The Germans constantly praised my results, my supervisors were pleased with me.
And just when I was at the top of my career, I decided to jump… because I had already laid the foundation. After all, years before that I worked on it.
Bottom line: don’t rush out of your current job just because you got inspired by some greedy guru, book, or whatever! Build a solid bridge between what you want and where you are right now so you can cross over without falling into the abyss of disappointment.
Even though I was scared and even though the bridge wobbled a lot, I crossed it to get to that place I had been fighting for so long.
I will not give you advice.
Just think about what I have shared with you and judge for yourself if you are willing to pay the price…
What are the most valuable lessons you’ve learned along the way so far?
- Nobody owes you anything. And you owe nothing to anyone.
- Think critically. Don’t believe everything the authorities tell you.
- Before taking an important step, prepare well. Think it over. What resources do you have? What resources will you need?
- Throwing yourself in the head because you should have believed in yourself is the dumbest thing you can do
- He is constantly learning. Be curious. Adapt. Evolve.
- Don’t rest on your laurels – the paranoia that someone else might pass you by is definitely useful
- What they advise successful people has been achieved through their experience and circumstances – test it through yours, adapt it to yourself, and see if it works.
- Motivate people to want to follow you themselves. Don’t force them with appeals. Don’t just talk about yourself. Don’t treat them like idiots
- You can’t help anyone else if you put yourself last
- And remember: there are few people who have absolutely everything they dream of at the same time!
If you want more, check out my TOP 100 lessons, which I learned along the way.
What would you say to anyone who is hesitant to follow their dream?
To think carefully about whether the very process of what he wants to achieve is enjoyable to him.
This is important because the road will be long and if you don’t like the process you will give up very quickly.
To not just rely on positive thinking, but also to use mathematics – to calculate, to think, to prepare, to strategize how to achieve things. To test, to feel the soil, to observe, and not always to follow the logic, simply because everyone is doing it.
I worked on my website for over 5 years in my spare time while working to pay the bills the rest of the time.
It wasn’t until I saw the potential that I could only do what I love to do, seeing that people loved it so much that they were willing to pay, that I jumped.
And yes, I was afraid, but the choice had to be made – do you want to achieve more or do you want to be comfortable?
