If You’re Looking For a Side Hustle How About a Hobby Instead?

What we do defines us and gives us our identity. A crisis can cause us to reevaluate our place in the world, especially when what we do for 45-60 hours a week gets turned upside down.

While I see myself as a business-expert the universe seemingly turned it’s head and says “no, I don’t think so.” My job is fine, but I’ve noticed that the workplace environment has changed radically recently.

Outside of work most people have become more patient and compassionate. Save, grocery stores, where it’s all-out hand-to-hand combat for the last roll of toilet paper! 🙂 In the past two months I’ve exchanged more “hellos” with people walking opposite on the street than I think I have in my entire life. I’ve spoken to neighbors I didn’t even know I had. People have become so friendly it seems like I’m in the South. Northeast coast cities, like ours are not known for their friendliness.

The problem at work is when there’s blood in the water people start to act differently. They become entirely fixated on self-preservation.

Even the most docile co-worker can turn nasty. Over the past month I’ve witnessed backstabbing, throwing others under the bus, and spreading false rumors in order to “secure” their spot. I’ve seen vendors who have gone out on a limb slashed and cut down.

This has caused me to question my income streams.

Does it make sense to diversify? Surely, betting everything on one W-2 horse is foolish from a risk perspective.

I keep pondering, “Am I defined by my job?” It’s difficult to come to any other conclusion when the first thing new acquaintances ask is “So, what do you do?”

What I really want is to just slow down, relax and be present in the moment. There is a void lacking in the standard work day. The dance and toil of everyday. Our value system doesn’t seem to be tied to reality. Our stock market isn’t tied to reality. Our politics is governed by other interests.

To want to create is a very core human desire, I think

Being a gentleman farmer of sorts always had some appeal to me. I know I would be terrible at turning a profit but the hard work appeals to me.

What can I do to nourish my self esteem and build confidence when the thing that gives me my identify crushes me on a regular basis?

I could try to make some cakes. Sourdough starters. Gardening, and working with one’s hands I hear can be therapeutic.

It seems to engage in a hobby today is some cardinal sin. If I tell my friends I just made this great sourdough loaf, inevitably one of them will say “Why don’t you start a Shopify store” and collectively they’ll look for ways to monetize it. To do something for the sake of itself without any external reward seems to be a lost art.

By calling it a hobby it removes the necessity to be good at it. Or to be economically efficient or any aspirations of monetizations.

There is no perfect time to start, so how about now?

It feels daunting to start on anything given how uncertain everything looks right now. Last week I tried to make home made pizza dough but it was impossible to get yeast and bread four. All the stores were out including Amazon, Walmart.com, and even eBay. So I made due with regular flour and tried using other rising agents. It didn’t turn out so good. But my family ate it, everything is fine, and I live to knead another day.

Unless you won the natural skills lottery don’t expect to be amazing at it the first time you do it.

Some experts say it takes 10,000 hours in order to truly master a skill. Some people are born naturally gifted with 5,000 hours already in the bank. For me, most of the time to be good at a craft I really need to work at it. The first time I tried to build a piece of furniture it turned out wobbly. The second time was much better. And the third time I have made enough errors in previous attempts that the end result was actually pretty decent. The earlier attempts I just told people were meant to be “rustic.”

Find a tribe

If you’ve found something you truly enjoy find some like-minded people who are kindred spirits. Together you can keep yourselves accountable and it’s always nice to have a companion to have shop-talk with, or bounce ideas off of.

Embrace hobby time

It’s easy to get distracted and be pulled back to a pressing work issue or demands on your time by children or spouse. Here’s where having some mental boundaries can be helpful. Give yourself permission to fully concentrate on your hobby for a few hours each week. Set aside some dedicated time and treat it as important as everything else and not just a way to fill in unstructured time.

What do you do for hobbies? What would you like to start? Leave a comment below: