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Before moving to North Carolina, I was born and lived in Miami. My father worked as a mechanic in a small garage in Kendall and my mother worked in various positions in food service. While I was still very young, my father enlisted in the Army and we left South Florida. As I grew up, he would rise through the ranks until finally retiring after over two decades of service. During a significant part of this time, he continued to work as a mechanic during the weekends and even at night during the weekdays. Through his network of military colleagues, he would secure clients who would pay him to perform car maintenance and repair. My family lived comfortably as it was, but the extra money my father made was a nice bonus. Suffice it to say, the man of the house had a next level work ethic that gave my family a better life. This virtue was borne out of his upbringing: he was one of the first generations of my family to spend most of their lives as Americans. As such, he wasn’t afforded the same opportunities that I was.
Somewhere In Between
As an adult, the first full-time collar I ever put on was white, while his bled blue even after he entered the upper leadership ranks. Despite this contrast, I learned a valuable lesson from my father’s practice of fixing cars during his time off: everyone needs a side hustle. This could be a second job or a hobby that occasionally generates income, but having this extra outlet is often a positive experience. Doing this isn't necessarily about money though. Ideally, you would want to derive some kind of intangible benefit from your side hustle. Although there’s nothing wrong with doing it purely for economic gain; others will be motivated by their passion, and the lucky few are able to marry both factors. My father falls into the third category, as he enjoys the mechanical process of working on a vehicle along with the payment that follows after a job. But the money itself isn’t why my father had this side hustle. It was simply a means to an end, the end being the ability to give our family a modest and comfortable life. This is the reason why he would often come home in the evening, eat, then immediately get under the hood of a car. Your motivation for grinding is as important as the actual activity, so take time to reflect on why you’re deciding to put in the extra work. Find your purpose and let that steer you toward what you want to do.
But What To Do?
For the best answer to determine what your side hustle should be, look inward. What moves you? What are your interests? It may help to consider your answer through a range between wealth and happiness. At each pole are your options for what you could potentially be doing in your spare time. On the wealth side, activities such as trading and investing in stocks, holding a second job, or starting a small business can be found. On the happiness side, you can find activities like being part of a band with your friends, freelance writing, or serving in a civic organization. For most of us, our side hustles will land somewhere in the middle of the spectrum (even the above examples aren’t entirely on one side). This is the sweet spot, where an activity that you love also makes you money. The end game here could be to eventually make it your primary source of income, but it’s critical to remember that not everything you do outside of your day job has to lead to this result. Some side hustles are temporary, and they’re not necessarily going to be activities we’re passionate about. Even just a few extra hundred dollars a month would be a nice bump for most of us. So maybe driving for Uber on the weekends isn’t so bad (and it’s good networking!).
Wealth Reality
Sticking to one job track in one career may not be the best way to achieve wealth and happiness, either one or both. For wealth in particular, it is statistically impossible for most of us to be very wealthy. There just aren’t enough extremely well-compensated jobs in the current market. A simple review of the tax returns of this country’s top earners reveals how true wealth creation occurs. The majority of their money didn’t come from a salary or commission. It didn’t even come from retirement funds or partnership stakes. The biggest chunk of the windfall arrived through capital gains, which is income that’s generated following the sale of a capital asset for a price higher than the purchase price. So if greatly increasing your wealth is one of your goals, the importance of having a side hustle that could eventually evolve into your empire is critical. Just keep in mind that most of those who are at that level made it there because they truly believed in a product or service at some point, they didn’t simply chase money.
Being Rich Versus Being Happy
Meanwhile, happiness remains a much more relative reward versus wealth. We all definite it differently, albeit with the existence of certain recurring themes throughout each of our perspectives. Therefore, it’s reasonable to accept that your purpose for having a side hustle doesn’t always have to be wildly ambitious or grandiose. Sometimes what you do on the side is for something as simple and straightforward as being able to go on nice vacations more often. Your side hustle doesn’t always have to accelerate and change your professional world, so long as it’s meeting your happiness goals. So find your side hustle. Make time for it. You may lose sleep over it, you may even lose friends. But if you know that this activity is helping you achieve your different goals, if you’re not an ant and happen to see the bigger picture, then make the sacrifice. I hope you hit the sweet spot too. I know that’s what I want for myself.
