Are You Ready to Side Hustle?

How my side hustle taught me lessons in personal leadership

Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

When I was in my 30s, the idea of making more money was driven by two factors, starting a family and building wealth. At first, I felt some guilt in the idea that maybe I was being greedy.

Then, after putting in some effort and making a little bit of money off of some of my original artwork, I realized it wasn’t greed.

I was creating something, hopefully of value to others, and being compensated for my work. The best part, I enjoyed being a creator.

Now in my early forties, I have a different mindset. Yes, do I want to create extra income to support my family? Of course. Do I want to continue to build wealth? Yes, of course, I do. That is not greed, that is a necessity.

However, I’ve added to my reasoning. First, I love the idea of being a creator. I simply enjoy making. Second, taking on the effort of creating forces me to improve my personal leadership.

Personal Leadership for a Side Hustle

Being able to balance a family, a full-time career and a side hustle is a challenge. Managing my time is key, but with some effort, anyone can balance the various priorities and still make a side hustle work.

Now, where does this connect to leadership? I learned making a side hustle is about personal leadership through improving my self-awareness. Before you start, you need to ask yourself some questions:

1. Is the trade-off in time worth it?
2. Is this something I really need?
3. What sacrifices in other areas of my life will I need to make?
4. Am I doing this for extra income or personal interests or both?
5. How will this impact my personal well-being?

Any side hustle takes effort, time, and energy. Asking yourself these questions and any others you may think of, will make you more self-aware.

Personal leadership is about understanding the totality of your life. How every small thing, impacts every other thing. Side hustling can be fun, but exhausting and stressful too. This is especially true if you truly need the money to make ends meet.

I suggest you start with your self-awareness. Ask yourself these questions and take a deep dive into your mindset.

Before you jump into the entrepreneurial world, make sure you are mentally ready. Lead yourself, because no one else will.

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