4 Surprising Reasons Your Crappy Job Can Benefit Your Side Hustle Journey

Especially if you have many interests in life

This post first appeared here.

I had a 6-month plan to quit my job since this February.

I planned to make a living doing what I love online. Unfortunately, if you don’t know what you love can make this becomes harder to achieve.

When I started my online side hustle journey, I wanted to become an online coach. I realized that you could be a coach for anything, and choosing one felt like I was putting myself in a box.

I went from being a travel coach to a business coach to a mindset coach for new content creators.

And I realize that I change my mind a lot. Not because I don’t know what I want, but because I love exploring different things. And sometimes, you have to allow yourself to explore all the things that light you up.

These days, I feel grateful for my ‘crappy’ job (ok, it’s not really crappy, it’s pretty tolerable) while I figure out what I want to do.

If you want to quit a job right away, you might want to hang in there. It might not be the best idea yet. Here’s why.

You can fuel your side hustle with your current skills

I’m quite fortunate to have a high-paying job while working part-time.

I work about 24 hours a week, and I can sustain myself with that amount. I’ve saved a lot of money in the last 2 years, so I can afford to work that little these days. And I have a partner to share this burden with.

I also know that some people can’t afford to do this. Some of them might need to go all-in with their online businesses.

Whatever your situation is, being in your current job might not be the worst idea. If you hate your current job, figure out what skills you can steal from it to fuel your current side hustle.

Personally, I use my nursing job as a source for my online stories. I also use many of the skills I’ve learned in nursing (critical thinking, decision-making, communication) online.

Your job might be boring or soulless. But the truth is, you also have the power to change the way to think about it.

Instead of worrying about how to afford the next food on the table, you can appreciate your current not-the-best job and spend more time and energy on your side hustle.

You have the luxury to explore your curiosity

From personal observations, people jump into online business to gain personal freedom.

I personally hope to make a living out of it so that I can freely explore the world. If you’ve been diving into the online world for a while, you’ll realize that there are a thousand ways to make your dreams come true. Now, the challenge is picking the one that aligns with your personality and values.

And it can take months, if not years, to know what you love doing.

I caution you to pick 1–2 projects and really give them a chance. Maybe spend six months to a year before moving on to another one. That way, you’ll know for sure whether it’s for you.

My personal interests these days are coaching, writing and filming. Before that, I only had an interest in having an online business. But these days, I enjoy pure content creation much more. Over time, I will have the necessary skills and knowledge to make that into a business if I wanted to.

If I had only picked working in an online business and have that as my only option, I would’ve given up.

The reality is that I love learning about many different things, and so picking one thing doesn’t work for me. If it doesn’t work for you, find a different way to go about it.

I promise you, you will come up with the ways you need to once you let yourself do that.

Your current job is your biggest motivator

Every time I’m at work, I think “I don’t want to be here.”

But lately, I’ve been trying to change that because I can’t change my situation right now. I want to make a living income online really badly, but I also know that these things take time.

And as soon as you accept that, you let go of the pressure to hustle day and night that you end up sacrificing your mental health and social life.

When you accept your current reality, you can make it work for you. I’ve used my nursing job as motivation. It’s a constant reminder for me to work harder for my dreams.

When I see my patients lying in bed being sick and unable to do things even as simple as eating or standing up, I feel extremely grateful. Here I am, healthy, typing on my keyboard, making my dreams come true.

I get to be more grateful for what I have because I can truly live. It’s far more important to appreciate your life while working towards your dreams than forgetting where you’re at right now and hustling towards the success you dream of.

You learn what aligns with your personality

While there are hundreds of online programs and courses there teaching how you to be successful online, the truth is, these strategies worked for them.

These people have their own set of beliefs, values, and things they were willing to do that you and I might not. I love psychology, but I hate it when people teach “psychology marketing” to trick their consumers into buying their programs.

If you put all your eggs into one basket (i.e. online business), you don’t have the luxury to figure out what aligns with your true self.

I know because I’ve taken multiple courses online. Any time that I get stuck, it’s my body telling me that because I’m uncomfortable. Take everything that you learn online with a grain of salt.

Who is this person you’re learning from? Besides their asking, “how can I replicate their successful results?” an even better question is, “what did they have to do to get there? Did they have to trick people? Did they burn out? Did they hustle? Will this work for my lifestyle? Will this work for me?”

I want to learn how to make money with integrity and sticking to my core values. Be wary of the teachers you pick online.

Final thoughts

If you hate your job and you want to leave it asap, I get it. But maybe you don’t need to right away. I know it might suck right now, but it can be more helpful for you if you can tolerate it.

As a recap, these are the 4 main reasons of why:

1. You can fuel your side hustle with your current skills

2. You have the luxury to be curious

3. You work harder on your side projects

4. You learn to figure out what you like and don’t like

These reasons might take the pressure off going all-in in your side hustle, especially when you are in an exploratory stage of your life.