When you look at a screen for 8 hours a day, keep your fitness routine going, and make sure your social life exists, youâll sooner or later have a realization:
This is fucking exhausting.
I donât know about you, but for me, it becomes a great reason not to do things. Hence why this is the first email youâve got from me since December.
Iâm not new to office life or the 9 to 5. In fact, getting into an environment where you have access to senior professionals who can mentor you, an environment that promotes growth and learning - thatâs a win.
But⌠And big đ here: Unless youâre getting equity; unless youâre getting that slice of ownership; a share in profits; your entrepreneurial soul just isnât getting nourished. And yeah, look, thatâs cheesy at best, but you, like me, probably have these tendencies - especially if youâre here.
So what do you do about it?
đś The Tail Wagging The Dog
When youâre running low on energy, you want to do things that replenish that energy.
â The process shouldnât be:
âI want to make some extra cash.â
âLetâs find a side hustle.â
âTime to power through this in my spare time.â
This is the tail wagging the dog.
â The process should be:
âI want to have great quality, creative downtime.â
âThis thing is giving me that. Awesome!â
âI wonder if this can be a side hustle?â
This is the dog wagging the tail.
đĄ Hereâs The Real Opportunity
When youâre pursuing your entrepreneurial goals full-time, especially as an amateur, you hit certain roadblocks - I 100% hit all of these at some stage:
You lose focus and jump from one thing to another.
You procrastinate because there is no structure.
You follow the crowd instead of innovating.
You take your time because thereâs a lot of it.
And you learn to deal with these using systems, experience, and learnings. But when youâre working your day job, you donât have that luxury.
When youâre working your day job:
You donât have unlimited time.
You never work on something you donât truly want to work on.
You become ridiculously resourceful.
When youâre dedicating your free time to something, youâre probably passionate about it.
You and I both know that passion wins. So in effect, whatâs happening when you take up a side hustle is that youâre weeding out the weak projects. Instead, you're doing something you love, something that can have longevity, something that you wonât bore you.
And if you can make it work in your free time, itâs the ultimate litmus test.
Something you can make work in your free time will be several factors more successful if and when you decide to adopt it as a full-time gig.
And therein lay the real opportunity.
đ§ Keep This In Mind
Donât do something you donât want to do. Hell, lay around on the weekends. Sooner or later, youâre going to want to do something creative.
Youâll try more than few things until you find something you really like doing - and when you find that thing, figure out how to turn it into a side hustle.
Thatâs when the fun really begins.
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Sah
Thank you very much for this article. Although short, it is inducing me to make powerful reflections.
Love your articles. Keep them coming. I've been wanting to have a 2nd stream of income, but haven't found the "thing" I want to take on.