Why a Side Hustle is More Than Just a Good Idea

You really don’t need a side hustle if you’re happy with your life. If you are happy with your full-time job, enjoy simple weekends at the mall or places nearby and that’s all you desire, then you really don’t need a side hustle. 

On the flip side, if you are an individual who is passionate about life, yearn to discover your true potential, want to meet and network with interesting people, accumulate valuable life experiences, and achieve the financial independence necessary to pursue this lifestyle; you have a problem.

“The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately.”

If you look at anybody who has achieved a reasonable amount of financial success, you will notice without exception, that every one of those individuals has taken the initiative to cultivate multiple revenue streams over a period of time. 

It’s not as if they had multiple million-dollar enterprises running simultaneously from day one. It’s not that easy. They started small, investing both time and money with caution. The working financial logic is simple – when one fails to give expected dividends, others will make cutting the losses much more practical.

In this day and age, when the concept of a job guarantee is more of a myth than anything else, a side hustle is not just a necessity, it’s mandatory. It’s not simply about the extra income that you’re rewarding yourself with. A side hustle is an opportunity to follow your true instincts and develop yourself to your full potential.

As someone who has bought and sold many businesses and still run a few, I will try to throw light on some convincing arguments that could possibly make you see why a side hustle is more than just a good idea.

Don’t Wait For Somebody Else, Employ Yourself

Sure, you have a daytime job that pays the rent. Does that mean you have to limit yourself to that one single facet of your existence and suppress the ten or twenty other facets that truly define who you are? Everybody has talents and passions that lie latent just because nobody will hire them for it. The question is: If you don’t give yourself a chance, how could you possibly expect some random person to do the same? 

With the internet opening up a gazillion different platforms to showcase your skills and monetize them, you can easily find the motivation to dedicate at least an hour a day to your pet project. Start small and you’ll be surprised by the results.

Cutting Down Risks

If you think that sticking to a day job that barely pays for your existence is low risk, you’re wrong. It’s exactly the opposite. By not venturing out and testing yourself, you lose out on the opportunity to discover new skill sets that could provide you with financial independence, a high-quality lifestyle, and mental wellbeing. 

A side hustle helps you discover that side of yourself without losing out on the safety net of your day job. Even if it doesn’t add any substantial financial value in the beginning, it will provide you with a whole new level of confidence that can empower the entrepreneur in you.

You’re the Boss

Regardless of what your employer has you believe, your day-job boss has a professional obligation to limit you and your skills to the interests of the organization you work for. Don’t let that one person influence your whole life. A side hustle gives you the opportunity to take responsibility for yourself and discover your true priorities.

Spark Your Creativity

Your work environment has you cut off from your inner creativity. If you have a job that takes care of your creativity, nurtures it, and pays you for it; you’re one lucky person! 

For the rest, a side hustle is the only way to take control of your life and to use your creative side to your own advantage. The toughest part is starting, the rest is purely organic.

Time Management 101

You never understand the value of something when you have too much of it. Time is essentially the most valuable commodity and a side hustle helps you learn to manage it better. To be able to multitask between your regular gig and side hustle successfully is a challenge. 

When you have mastered the art of multitasking with a side hustle, the wisdom you acquire from it spills over to other aspects of your life. You will learn to effectively manage time between friends, family, your passions, and your profession.

Enhance Your Connectivity

The most powerful aspect of the internet is how it connects like-minded people so effortlessly. A side hustle expands your circle of contacts in ways you never would have imagined. If you’re passionate about something and starting out on a project, you start connecting with people who have done something similar or have just started out. 

These people could be living next door or they could be on the other side of the world – it doesn’t matter anymore. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities. Having a social circle comprised of people who are passionate about the same things helps you to go the extra mile to achieve your goals and get the most out of life.

Challenge Yourself

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”

-Oprah Winfrey

Your day job places you in a neatly folded envelope where you are cut off from the promise of the world outside. It extracts a sliver of your personality for its interests – wasting everything special about you – and leaving you in a superficial “contentment bubble.” Without challenging yourself, you never grow, never understand your true value, and a treasure of talent is laid to waste. You ARE passionate about something, regardless of what you tell yourself. 

Final Thoughts

It’s your responsibility to go after your dream because nobody else will ever care about it as you do. Developing a side hustle requires courage, determination, and ambition. The hard work that goes into it and the rewards that come out of it will come on their own when you take up the challenge to be limitless.

If you’re passionate about what you’re working on, it ceases to be work. It makes a challenge easier and much more enjoyable. The monetary benefits that could or could not arise from it are secondary. What’s primary is the desire to develop your true potential and getting back your respect.