Side Hustle Ideas - What to Do When You Feel Stuck
By: Victoria Sage
Tags: Side Hustle Tips, Side Hustle Ideas, Side Hustle, New Side Hustle Tips, Side Hustle Jobs

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What to Do When You Can’t Figure Out a Side Hustle

Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash

Perhaps like me, for the longest time, you’ve been trying to find a sustainable side hustle that brings in some extra cash and could ideally double as a passion project. You want to spend your free time on a productive activity that you feel excited about and can look forward to outside your normal day job. The timing feels right, but a good mutual fit still hasn’t presented itself.

Nevertheless, maybe you’re continuing to pressure yourself into identifying an additional income stream for one or more of the following reasons:

It seems like the uptick in side hustles today is stronger than ever, and the statistics simply speak for themselves. So many people are doing it. Culturally, success now looks like the side hustler.

In the same way that we are to diversify our investments, we should also diversify our income sources if one goes down.

Financially, you have a need. Your current earnings aren’t sufficient.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re stuck at home most of the day feeling bored. You’re looking to start something new and fun.

If you have free time, why not monetize what you do with it if you can?

The frustration of watching a ton of YouTube videos on this topic, going through the process of trial and failure, and exhausting the options is so real. I myself have been there and wanted to share a few thoughts that are hopefully helpful to you as you determine the next steps and continue to explore the possibilities.

First, don’t be discouraged!

When you don’t know what to do, it’s easy to conclude, “I’m not cool or special because I don’t have any hobbies.”

Although you’re feeling blocked on ideas and your first instinct might be to give in to discouragement, the last thing you need is to let your mind spiral down a trail of negative thought that will only bring you down and stifle your pursuit of discovery. The ability to think and act creatively starts in the mind. Do not give up. Something will come.

To combat this tendency, I’ve found it encouraging to learn about people whom we might define as “successful” — people who began their careers in their later years or only “made it” after decades of relentlessly hard work.

Examples include Vera Wang, Julia Child, and many U.S. presidents. They took a few routes to get to where they wanted to be, but that process is precisely what shaped their success.

Whether you’re pondering your vocation or pondering a humble side hustle, give yourself some time to figure it out. The chances are that if it took 40+ years for some folks to commit to a certain career and thrive in it, it’s going to take less time for you to figure out a smaller ordeal, like a side hustle.

Try lots of different things, but not for the sake of a side hustle

I think the most common reason why people can’t land on a side hustle is that they lack knowledge of what they truly like. The issue is not the nature of side hustles or the options available but rather knowledge of yourself. The key is to first find an activity that you love just because you love it — which means taking the pressure off yourself to have to earn money out of it, at least initially.

This also means being open to different hobbies and new experiences that may lead you to discover something really magical. If you’re often failing, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because it can be proof that you’re trying.

Eventually, you will notice common threads across your more cherished moments in terms of particular elements that you feel drawn to or desire to keep going back to. Getting into a side hustle that is distinct from others or that is more specialized often requires exposure to diverse experiences that define such an interest.

Anything that you love can be turned into an income stream. Every hobby can be monetized. Depending on the activity, your love for it might even matter more than how good you are at it because getting good may just come with time and practice, provided that you make the investment.

Unleash your inner nerd

We tend to like what we are good at or know a lot about. I still remember my sixth-grade history teacher telling my class, “Everybody is a nerd at something.” I always thought it was a bit cheesy, but cheesy is sometimes true.

You are an expert at something. It could be math, writing, athletics, games, being optimistic, finding excellent deals, or a more niche topic like birds. Whatever it is, there is a way to share that with other people for profit as long as you are creative enough to explore how.

Let’s say you’re a marketing professional with love for basketball and content creation. You don’t want to be a coach. You don’t want to be any sort of a public figure. And you don’t want to make a full-on career change into the sports industry because that would be too risky.

Yet you love the sport and expressing your creativity enough to want to spend your free time doing something related to it. You might feel like there’s no option for you in the basketball world, but that surely is not the case.

If you look hard enough or are willing to create a position for yourself, you could, for instance, create content on YouTube in which you don’t self-identify or even feature your voice but present slideshow analyses.

Alternatively, you could reach out to a local basketball team and offer to provide a certain service for free, such as social media management or content marketing. You love it so much that you’d spend your free time doing it anyway, and after building a relationship with the organization, further opportunities may emerge from there. You never know!

Be patient and persistent

When people are searching for a side hustle, many times, they’re looking for a fast way to yield additional earnings. However, this approach typically results in disappointment, which subsequently causes people to assert that side hustles don’t work. In reality, though, maybe we’re just giving up too early in the process to even know whether or not the side hustle really works.

The fact is, side hustles work best when you let your passion fuel the income instead of allowing the income to drive your efforts. Some folks will find themselves in fortuitous situations where they were able to establish a business in record time, but truth be told that many hustlers actually take years to build something great.

Like any experiment involving trial and error, or any historical discovery of years in the making, we shouldn’t expect a fully blossomed side hustle from the very start. So before you go all in, ask yourself if you like it enough to put in the time and stick with it even though it may be a while until it gets off the ground. When you find what you love, you will be willing to patiently stick with it through thick and thin.

Whereas money comes and goes, zeal introduces a kind of sustaining effect that money cannot buy. Discovery takes time. Finding a side hustle that doesn’t bore you easily also means that it must be something you are happy to continue working at. Side hustles can and do work if you are willing to put in the work.

Pay attention to your setbacks and circumstances

Your circumstances and experiences are unique to you. That, in combination with your interests, hobbies, and relationships, are yours alone and have a place in this world.

It may involve a bit of Tetris to see how it all fits together, but the best side hustles often spring from keen observation of how those pieces connect in a way that adds value to other people’s lives. Identify elements that set you apart and think about how they might address a gap in today’s world.

Equally as important as considering your success areas is paying attention to your setbacks because those also position you in a very specific place. Maybe you fell short at something or didn’t enjoy a certain experience. Each will teach you something valuable about yourself.

Vera Wang’s failure to qualify as an Olympic figure skater led her to spend a semester in Paris, where she discovered her love for fashion. Since then, she has become a household name. Her designs have been worn by Olympic skaters, which in a sense, paved the way for her to still be a part of the Games. Rather than taking action, sometimes the next step toward figuring out the side hustle for you is just to be reflective.

Research and connect with people who intrigue you

Just to clarify, not in a creepy way! But if there are certain jobs that interest you or that you’d like to learn more about, don’t hesitate to watch videos on that subject and reach out to individuals in those fields.

Leverage your contacts. Join Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, social media, and relevant forums, and try cold contacting people involved in those industries. Offer something that you think they would be interested in to make their time worth it, and frame the meeting as mutually beneficial.

Conduct brief informational interviews and talk with as many people as you can. It’ll surprise you how much people who are genuinely passionate about what they do would gladly be willing to share about it with others, even if they receive nothing in exchange besides the satisfaction of helping someone else.

Of course, be prepared for a host of tumbleweed responses. But the one response that you eventually do get could open up a whole new world. If you see a dream opportunity that you’re not yet a part of, actively pursue it through networking, and don’t be afraid to be the first to reach out.

Personally, I can say that this has been by far one of the most fruitful actions I’ve ever taken. By doing this, I’ve been able to get in touch with certain research experts, and to my own surprise, an NBA champion. Especially with lots of people staying at home due to the pandemic, now is the perfect time to reach out because they might have more time or even miss meeting new people. These folks could help point you in your desired direction, change your life, or introduce you to people whom they know can help you.

Keep calm and hustle on

If it is of any encouragement to you, I’ve spent over a decade trying to find a side hustle that suits me, and I’m only now starting to discover something that really clicks.

Over the years, I’ve tried at least eight jobs and internships, as well as made numerous failed attempts at new hobbies and entrepreneurial endeavors. It’s taken quite a lot to finally realize what direction I would like to head in, but I’m grateful for every second of it and hope you find what you’re looking for too.