Articles

Anyone can make more money.

I have a friend who worked as a salesperson at a bank in Atlanta. But he liked working with his hands. So, he started fixing up furniture in his free time and posting it on Instagram. Then he started doing fix-and-flips on homes part-time, and he found he could make some money doing that too.

Eventually, he got laid off from his bank job. So, the fix-and-flips became his main gig, and he’s become more and more successful at it. This guy is going to become a millionaire. It’s a great story.

• This kind of stuff happens all the time, but only to people who get off the couch.

Years ago, I met a woman who made things out of sea glass and sold them on Etsy. This probably started as a side hustle. Anyway, she got shares of Etsy when the company went public, all because of this little sea glass operation, and the stock went bananas. It shot up 890% from its IPO to its all-time high last November. Sure, the stock has pulled back quite a bit in this bear market, but still…

• There is no downside to a side hustle.

We all get the same 24 hours each day, and we each get to choose what we do in our spare time. You can come home after work, turn on whatever season of Westworld you’re currently watching, order some Thai food off DoorDash, and zone out for five hours. If that’s your choice, fine. Just don’t complain about money problems.

Or you can take some (or all) of that time and try to make more money doing something you enjoy. Maybe you love music like I do, so you start DJ’ing on the weekends. Maybe you start jarring fancy fermented pickles and selling them. Maybe you start a side hustle detailing cars and turn it into a booming business. There are ways to make money doing just about anything.

Remember, we are talking about your free time here. So, if your side hustle brings in a little extra cash, good. If it becomes lucrative enough to morph into your main hustle, even better. For many people, that is the best possible outcome.

• You can be content with the money you have right now. Or you can take action.

And the key word is ACTION. Thinking about it doesn’t accomplish much. You have to get up, put on some pants, do task one, do task two, and just keep going.

If you can make an additional $100k each year, that can solve a lot of problems you might have. Don’t have the money for a down payment? Problem solved. Paralyzed by student debt? Problem solved. Waited too long to save for retirement? Problem solved.

Or you can give up steak, eat lentils for the rest of your life, and save an extra $300 a year. That’s the scarcity mentality solution—and it’s not even much of a solution. Even worse, it’s a miserable way to live.

Hustling to make a buck is a lot more fun than eating lentils. Just don’t do anything illegal. If you’re a DJ, please do not start selling drugs out of the DJ booth. We know how that story ends.

So, what are you going to do to make more money?

Jared Dillian