Why Do My Side Hustles Always Fail?

00:00:00.000 | All right, one last question.

00:00:01.960 | This comes from Diamond Michael, a writer from Denver.

00:00:05.800 | So question 13, 13 questions for 2023.

00:00:08.280 | This is question 13.

00:00:10.120 | Diamond Michael says,

00:00:13.860 | over the years I have had numerous situations

00:00:16.880 | where I've tried to launch a freelance business idea

00:00:18.880 | with little or no capital.

00:00:20.600 | At the point in which the resulting financial scarcity

00:00:22.800 | becomes too much to bear,

00:00:23.740 | I resort to a regular full-time or part-time job

00:00:26.000 | in order to yield a steady income.

00:00:28.460 | The problem is it seems like the more well-paying my job,

00:00:30.880 | the greater the expectation in terms of work hours

00:00:32.900 | and energy investment.

00:00:33.880 | This in turn reduces my time and energy bandwidth

00:00:36.160 | to devote to the deep work

00:00:37.680 | tied to what I quote unquote want to be doing.

00:00:40.200 | So I'm curious as to what your advice is

00:00:42.280 | in resolving this dilemma,

00:00:43.860 | where my energy and attention are directed

00:00:45.400 | in two different directions.

00:00:47.200 | All right, so Diamond Michael,

00:00:48.980 | we have to get way more systematic

00:00:50.400 | about what you're doing here.

00:00:51.660 | Two pieces of advice to offer.

00:00:53.560 | First is gonna be the piece of advice

00:00:55.040 | we've been saying throughout this entire episode.

00:00:58.480 | Lifestyle-centric career planning.

00:01:00.980 | You are throwing energetic darts at the wall here.

00:01:05.420 | You're like, I don't like my job.

00:01:06.940 | Like, let me just quit and do the side hustle.

00:01:08.540 | Oh, the side hustle's not working.

00:01:09.700 | I need a job.

00:01:10.540 | What's the highest paying job?

00:01:11.580 | I guess I'll take that job.

00:01:12.860 | You're just bouncing back and forth.

00:01:15.480 | Sort of instinctual grabs from one thing to another.

00:01:19.860 | Let's get more systematic.

00:01:21.220 | Develop a clear vision

00:01:23.940 | of what you think a life well-lived looks like.

00:01:26.000 | All the different aspects of your lifestyle,

00:01:27.360 | the properties of your work,

00:01:28.300 | but the properties of where you live,

00:01:29.700 | your community,

00:01:30.900 | the different types of things you're involved in,

00:01:33.260 | all of the attributes of a lifestyle vision

00:01:35.140 | that really resonates.

00:01:36.780 | Get this really clear,

00:01:38.780 | and then figure out pragmatic paths to get there.

00:01:41.680 | This will inform what you need out of your job.

00:01:44.580 | Where you're gonna live,

00:01:47.380 | what your lifestyle's like,

00:01:48.200 | how much that costs,

00:01:49.400 | what type of properties you get out of your work.

00:01:51.360 | This will help inform what type of job you need.

00:01:54.100 | That's where you might figure out,

00:01:55.340 | wait a second, I can use my expertise

00:01:57.340 | to get a freelance position in the same industry.

00:02:00.660 | Allows me to move here,

00:02:02.640 | ski 50 days, 50 weeks a year,

00:02:05.020 | not 50 weeks a year,

00:02:05.900 | 50 days a year, I don't know.

00:02:07.300 | 50 days a year.

00:02:09.040 | And have flexibility.

00:02:10.500 | Great, this is the right path forward to my lifestyle.

00:02:13.260 | Or I need a whole other,

00:02:14.700 | I need to leave my industry altogether

00:02:15.980 | and start my own business.

00:02:17.100 | This is what's gonna help you answer that question.

00:02:18.980 | Because I think what's happening now

00:02:20.100 | is you're just fetishizing the idea of a side hustle

00:02:22.500 | as being drastically different

00:02:23.940 | than what you don't like about your job.

00:02:25.820 | And if it's drastically different than what you don't like,

00:02:27.700 | then maybe you'll drastically like it.

00:02:29.600 | That syllogism is flawed.

00:02:32.140 | You need to be working backwards from a specific lifestyle,

00:02:36.300 | detailed in terms of properties of your life,

00:02:38.820 | attributes of your life,

00:02:39.860 | and then figure out a career strategy that matches that.

00:02:42.420 | If it turns out after you do this calculus

00:02:45.420 | that starting your own business,

00:02:46.980 | or having a side hustle that allows you

00:02:49.540 | to really pull back on your current work,

00:02:53.100 | and it makes the ends meet.

00:02:54.600 | Oh, I could be freelance twice a week.

00:02:56.860 | That's not quite enough money,

00:02:57.820 | but if I had a side hustle generating $30,000 a year,

00:02:59.940 | now the numbers work fine.

00:03:01.300 | If you need some sort of side hustle or full-time business

00:03:03.780 | to make this vision work,

00:03:05.380 | then we're gonna get to my second piece of advice,

00:03:08.260 | which comes from my book, "So Good They Can't Ignore You,"

00:03:11.140 | which is the notion of using money

00:03:12.900 | as a neutral indicator of value.

00:03:15.520 | You don't quit your job

00:03:19.340 | until the new thing is making enough money

00:03:21.220 | that you don't have to worry about money

00:03:22.500 | when you quit your job.

00:03:24.540 | Now, it could still grow more

00:03:25.660 | when you give it more attention,

00:03:26.780 | but it has to prove itself.

00:03:28.740 | Your side hustle or business idea

00:03:30.300 | has to prove itself by generating money.

00:03:33.140 | People will always tell you,

00:03:34.060 | "What a great idea, Diamond Michael.

00:03:36.500 | "Great, do it.

00:03:38.540 | "Follow your passion.

00:03:39.780 | "You be you."

00:03:41.260 | It's easy to give compliments.

00:03:43.300 | What's hard is to get people to give you money.

00:03:45.620 | They will not give you money

00:03:46.460 | unless they actually like what you're offering.

00:03:48.100 | So use money as your neutral indicator of value.

00:03:51.420 | When your business or side hustle idea

00:03:53.380 | is generating sufficient money to support you,

00:03:56.460 | then you make the change in your other job.

00:03:58.460 | And if it's not, that means it's not a good business.

00:04:01.620 | It's not a successful side hustle.

00:04:03.780 | Don't flee that feedback.

00:04:06.780 | That's the most realistic feedback

00:04:08.020 | you're gonna get on the viability of your option.

00:04:09.860 | All right, so those are my two pieces of advice.

00:04:12.700 | Do lifestyle-centered career planning

00:04:14.340 | instead of action-based career planning.

00:04:16.900 | Quitting will be exciting.

00:04:17.980 | Disruption will be exciting.

00:04:19.420 | My own job is better than one where I work.

00:04:20.980 | That's action-based career planning.

00:04:22.900 | That's just giving into your gut

00:04:24.620 | and fleeting emotions in the moment.

00:04:26.620 | Be more systematic.

00:04:27.780 | And if that plan does point towards the need

00:04:29.980 | for you doing something on the side or something on your own,

00:04:32.460 | let money be your neutral indicator of value.

00:04:34.340 | If people aren't paying you for it, it's not a good idea,

00:04:36.780 | no matter how much you think it is your dream.

00:04:40.300 | (upbeat music)

00:04:42.880 | (upbeat music)

00:04:45.460 | (upbeat music)

Why Do My Side Hustles Always Fail?

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