From my experience, it's better to have things on the side that are more concrete than Medium. Medium is very helpful in getting your name out there and making some money on the side.

It also feels great when your articles get boosted since you know you'll be making quite a lot more from your articles.

However to really gain from that, you need something extra. You need affiliate marketing, merch, several courses, or a day job. Just raw blogging usually doesn't cut it. Take it from someone who is now on social assistance just so I can keep the lights on and try and do any of those aforementioned things.