I’ve long been a proponent of the idea that everyone should have a side hustle of some sort. I believe a side hustle is a very important part of a healthy work life. Some people assume it’s all about the money. And while it’s true that a side hustle certainly can help pay the bills, to me a side hustle is about far more than just money.
Sure, earning some extra cash is nice, but that’s not even the most important thing. Not in my book. In my opinion, there’s something even more important in play here. I don’t care what your side hustle is – I’m guessing one or more of these things will speak to you too just like they do for me.
A side hustle is about freedom.
I have a day job, and I like it. Most days. But as much as I like it, it’s constraining. Some days, I just have to work. I don’t really have a choice. While I’m fortunate to be able to set my own schedule most days, I’m still told when and where I have to do some things. That’s just part of the job.
But a side hustle? I control that. I control what aspects of my side hustle I want to work on and when, or if I want to take it in a different direction entirely, I can. No one is forcing me, and no one is stopping me.
That’s freedom.
If I want to work extra on something, I can. Or if I want to walk away for a few days, I can. I’m not beholden to an employer who is expecting me to perform to a certain standard. My company is my own. It’s a ship that sails where I steer it.
You may like your job (as I do), but you don’t control that ship. You may be in charge of an important part of that ship, but you don’t get to steer it.
A side hustle is about exploring your interests.
I work in IT and have for years. But it’s not really my passion. It’s something I can do, and I do enjoy helping people, but being a professional IT guy isn’t really my passion.
Being creative is.
My side hustles center around being creative. I’m exploring print on demand, writing, and other creative pursuits. Those are my interests.
Granted, I have so many interests it’s hard to pursue them all (even if I had the time). But even while I have the stability of a day job, I’m able to explore what I’m really passionate about: being creative. And that, to me, is one of the huge benefits of a side hustle. I can be my own boss and explore what I like – not what my job tells me I have to like. If I want to take on a project, I can. And if I do, it’s not because I have to but because I want to. That’s a huge difference.
As I work toward my side hustle, I can decide if I truly like what I’m working on. I might come to a point where I no longer want to pursue a certain project, or I might determine that I really like certain kinds of work and that I want to do more like that. I have that kind of freedom.
On the flip side, typically a job means you have to do the work your employer hands you. You may have some leeway here and there, but you have to do what you’re told whether you’re interested or not.
Money is nice, but that’s not the point.
Maybe you’ve started or are interested in starting a side hustle for the purposes of earning extra money and the money is your ultimate goal. But can I suggest to you that maybe that’s the wrong mindset?
Especially when you’re starting out, you may not see much – if any – income from your side gig. (Remember, success is rarely fast.) And it’s important to remember why you’re working on a side hustle. At this point, for example, I’m not seeing a ton of action on my t-shirt business. But I’m still working on it because I have other reasons for it. Yes, the money is something I’d like to see. Sure, I’d like to be able to make that a full time thing someday, maybe, but that’s not my ultimate goal. I want to do something creative while paying the bills.
But even more importantly, I want to build something. I want to build a business – even if it stays small. I want to create something that helps other people or inspires them. And that, my friends, is rewarding.
To me, a side hustle is about having the freedom to live my life while exploring what interests me and building something cool. And if that comes with a nice paycheck, then awesome. After all, bills don’t tend to pay themselves.
Remember: a job may provide stability a side hustle doesn’t (at first).
Even as someone who is 100% for having a side hustle and who believes that people should develop other sources of income, unless your side hustle is stable and is bringing in the kind of income consistently that you feel comfortable living off of, it’s probably best not to quit the day job.
Now you may have an established business that is paying your bills, and you may be able to pull in consistent income from month to month. If that’s you, then awesome. But for the rest of us, it’s probably wise to have another source of consistent, reliable income to fall back on while we build our side hustles.
Maybe that side hustle will eventually replace your full time job. Maybe it won’t. While my IT job isn’t my passion, will it ever be replaced by my side hustle? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But I do know that if that were to ever happen, I would need to be making lots of consistent sales of shirts and other merch and have reliable income each month that would allow me to pay the bills I need to pay and be able to budget.
Could that happen? Sure. But I have miles to go before that’s a possibility. For now, I’m enjoying the stability that my job affords me along with health insurance and decent schedule flexibility. Those are great to have – especially as I work on building up something on the side.
I’m not a financial planner and certainly not your financial advisor. So if that’s something you want to do, I highly recommend talking to a professional who knows your situation.
But whatever you plan to do, remember to be realistic and have fun. Don’t let chasing dollars make you forget why you started a side hustle in the first place.