You Need a Side Hustle Before it is Too Late

Everyone is feeling the squeeze, that is, salaries remain the same yet things are getting more expensive. In this generation, it has become apparent to me that we love to talk about big bold dreams, yet we don’t always do things to actually realize them. Some of us talk as if success is something we are owed, and by success, I mean living a lifestyle that allows you to manage and use your time in such a way where you facilitate positive well-being and a sense of freedom. In effect, usually, this is tied to financial management, protection and wealth creation. Based on the last sentence, what are you doing to fulfill these three criteria? If you haven’t started, but you’re a person who says “One day it’ll be alright…” you’re delusional; the last time I checked “One-day” wasn’t in the calendar. Wake up! It does not work like that, the more you say those things and don’t take appropriate action, the more stupid you look. Rather than continue to look stupid, why not adopt a plan and strategy to actually create a lifestyle where you facilitate increased frequencies of positive well-being and a sense of freedom. Here are some things you need to consider in order to manage your expectations when it comes to creating and realizing a plan and strategy.

1. Have you ever seen anyone become wealthy from a 9 – 5?

This is a broad statement, however, it is unlikely that you have. Wealth is defined by Robert Kiyosaki as The number of days you can survive if you stopped working. Google defines wealth as an abundant supply of money. With the first definition, it implies that you need to have some sort of system or plan in place in order to keep a certain amount of money in order to survive without working; your wealth is determined by how long you can do this for. You can calculate the maximum amount of time you could earn in a day in order to maximise your earnings, and that is 24 hours x hourly rate. Most organizations are not so generous to pay you for 24 hours, but wouldn’t mind if you didn’t sleep for the job! Even if you invested into assets, that takes time and there is no immediate idea of assessing success but only from a historical data, expert advice and gut feelings. Even if you got a promotion, income is still reliant upon you working for a certain number of hours per week. The truth is if you want to live an abundant lifestyle you need to find a way to make money around the clock, whilst you are sleeping, using a lean and efficient set of systems.

2. Work on your Passion

I feel like the word passion is losing its meaning. It’s been used so much to inspire that it doesn’t inspire anymore. Sometimes people say “You should work on your passion” and people are on a quest to find their passion. It works for some, and it is a disaster for others. Passion or not, you need to find something to focus on, it doesn’t have to always be a passion, it can be a deep interest, inquisition, cause or a problem you want to solve where you want to learn or exploit a skill that you have. The next step is to find a business model for this thing so that it can generate income. There are too many people doing “Passion Projects” with the hope that the “Lucky Godmother” will fly into their rooms and grant them success, something they may not be able to even handle. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who get great opportunities from their passion as they are able to generate great content or an audience, but due to their tenacity, leadership and involvement in something that is a viable business model, the opportunity lands on their feet. Passion into profit is an accumulation of many things done well.

3. Develop your Leadership skills

This is pretty important. People want to be successful but they don’t want to put in the work. Personal Development is crucial for success. If you don’t understand how people work and how your mind works you’ll fail. If you don’t develop awareness of your actions and of others, things will be difficult. Get into the habit of educating yourself on the topics of leadership, emotional intelligence and the psychology of the mind. The more you become acquainted with these things, the better you will be as a person. This is measured by your ability to do the things you said you were going to do, as well as how you respond to things in your life.

4. Become extremely organized

If you can position things in a logical and orderly manner in everything that you do, you have the ability to develop systems for success. Organization is the reason why someone wins, and someone dominates. Can you see the difference? The person who is organized has a system behind them, the other person may have a system, but it may not be as robust. Organize everything! It may not seem useful now but will be useful in the future. I would also add it is important to make sure you organize your time. Time-management, for me, is the wrong term, it should be “Activity Management.” Learn to say no to things that don’t serve you, learn to adopt pure discipline and commitment to your cause. The moment you learn how to commit to your cause, the moment you become successful. Set the dedicated time after work to do the activities that get you closer to your goal. It isn’t easy, people complain that they are tired, but when really are you going to find time to work? Is it going to be on the weekend, when everything else is happening? The weekend may be all you have but it comes to a point where you need to make decisions and sacrifice things for the priorities you claim to have. Life is about decisions, and we are what we prioritize regardless of what we say. If you want real change, you will commit and be organized in your pursuit to success.

5. Read Avidly

If you want to succeed you need to get into the habit of reading continuously. You can watch YouTube and attend events, but there is something about a book that focuses your mind and cuts out the distractions. Find books that relate to your cause and read around those topics as much as possible. Find the acclaimed thought leaders in your industry and understand what they did to get to where they are. I would say the next step from reading is going on paid courses to learn more about how to develop different technicals. Stop being cheap and develop your skills, or face a slow life. Our society right now requires speed of implementation just because of the way information travels now, but ultimately it is your choice. Here is a list from my GoodReads account of some of the books I have read in the past…

And that is it! If you want to live that lifestyle of abundance, make taking a side hustle important to the point where your 9-5 is your side hustle. Stay focused, Have faith, and take action!