Follow Your Passion

I am someone with many passions. It’s nearly impossible for me to do just one thing because there’s so much that piques my interest. It can be easy to feel boxed into doing one thing with our lives, but the truth is our options are unlimited. For those with a career that doesn’t interest them, or who are looking for an extra source of income, or maybe someone like me who just enjoys doing it all, side hustles can be a major source of joy and passion.

When you go on Google or YouTube and look up side hustles, you mainly get the same list of ten or so jobs over and over again. And more often than not, these “side hustles” are advertised as get rick quick schemes. If you’re looking to add a new job or hobby to your life that actually excites you, ask yourself the following questions.

Questions to Help You Find Your Passion

• What would you do everyday if money was no object?

• If you could do it all over again, what would you go to school for?

• What were you most interested in and excited about as a child?

• What would you do with your free time when you retire?

• Which skills come naturally to you?

• Whose life are you envious of?

• What are you most proud of?

• What could you talk about for hours on end if someone let you?

It’s important to ask yourself these questions because you might not even know that something you’re interested in could be a job. I love the last question because if there’s a topic we have researched endlessly or learned about our entire lives that we could talk about for hours, chances are there’s a decent side hustle in that niche that we’d be really excited about. If we’re passionate about the side hustle(s) we choose, we’re more likely to stick with it than if we were solely doing it for the money.

As a kid I was a voracious reader. I had no idea that my appetite for books would one day turn into a career in the entertainment industry where reading novels is a major part of my job. I also recently started a side hustle as a travel agent. I realized that I was rarely having more fun than when I was planning out detailed itineraries for my upcoming trips. Now I’m organizing honeymoons, family trips, and more. I’m passionate about it, and as a plus I’m getting paid to do it.

So often people choose a side hustle because they think that particular job or hobby will make them the most amount of money at the fastest rate. In some cases that may be a helpful or necessary strategy. But for others, so much of our time is already spent doing things that don’t bring us much joy. So ideally our side hustles should be something that pays us well but that we also enjoy.

If after reading this you still aren’t sure what you’re passionate about and what would make a good side hustle, you’re actually further along than what you realize. In fact, if you’re in that camp I have a fun exercise for you: Start saying yes. Start doing more things that you never thought you’d do. Or, do things that you’ve always wanted to do. Try out new hobbies and see what brings you joy. Even if you don’t find a side hustle out of it, you’ve probably formed some new hobbies, made some new friends, and got closer to finding your passion than you would have sitting at home! You never know what crazy, unrelated situation in life will bring you to your passion. I might not have reignited my childhood passion for reading without the concussion I got in college that rendered me unable to do anything other than listen to audiobooks for a summer.

Next week’s newsletter is all about time maximization and creating pockets of time even in the midst of the most hectic schedules. Read along next week to see how you can maximize your time for the new side hustle you’re excited to start!

✪ Your action item is to create a side hustle you’ll stick to by making it something you’re passionate about. Find your passion by asking yourself introspective questions about how you like to spend your time, what your childhood interests were, and what you could talk about endlessly.