Earning $0.79 Through My First Side Hustle Changed Everything
I’ve easily read over a hundred articles and watched many videos about side hustles.
“How I Turned My Side Hustle into a Full-time Income”
“How I Went from $0 to $x a Month with My Side Hustle”
“Why I’ll Never Work a Corporate Job Again”
I’ve seen content about blogging, dropshipping, Amazon FBA, digital marketing, course creation, audiobooks, etc. I consumed this content with no real desire to quit my full-time job, but simply curious if any of this success was possible for a regular person like me.
After a long time passively researching/watching, I finally did it. I read over my article one last time, ran it through Grammarly, and clicked publish.
A few hours after it was published, I got a message asking me to submit my article to The Startup. I was shocked, to say the least. My research indicated that it took a long time to get accepted into a publication. On top of that, most authors that write for publications already have huge Medium followings.
Now a week after publishing, I’ve earned exactly $0.79, and that means more to me then all of my bi-weekly automatic deposits combined, here’s why.
It represents endless possibilities.
If I can earn $0.79 from writing why not $790, $7,900 or $79,000?
The hardest part with not just side hustles but many things in life is narrowing focus and actually starting. Most people would love to make thousands of dollars online, but how does one actually do that? Proving to myself that I could earn something, really proves I can earn anything.
It is a direct reflection of the value I provided.
I won’t ever know exactly how much monetary value I bring my company, but I know it’s a LOT more then I’m getting paid. Completing something and seeing the direct results of my labor is incredibly gratifying. I didn’t have to wait for a year-end performance review to hear a modest “good job” for a year’s worth of hard work. I brainstormed an idea, executed behind the scenes, produced a tangible item, and saw the results. This kind of end to end vision is lost in a large corporate environment, and it’s quite refreshing to experience.
It provided a confidence boost
My full-time job has nothing to do with writing: on the contrary, it’s about as technical as it gets. I really enjoy working and learning about technology, but I also work hard to remain well rounded (to avoid typical engineer stereotypes). Receiving affirmation from strangers (albeit only a few) confirms that not only do I have other interests, but they could potentially provide monetary value.
It helped facilitate an abundance mindset
Those with an ‘abundant’ mentality believe there is plenty of everything in the world from resources, love, relationships, wealth, and opportunities.
Right now, anyone in the U.S. who has a job is lucky, considering there are 16 million people unemployed. The pandemic has been a major wake up call to everyone who has/had a “stable job” or “successful business.” Nothing is “stable,” and “success” can disappear overnight due to forces entirely out of your control. Diversifying my skills and income will help protect me from potential future impacts to my income. It also opens up more possibilities since my income is not dependent on one source and therefore has no maximum.
Writing on Medium to me isn’t about making money, it’s more about putting myself out there, pursuing a hobby, and practicing my writing skills. I wasn’t aware that there would be so many other benefits when I started, but I’m definitely going to continue to see what else I discover.
