Is it crazy to quit my side hustle during a pandemic?
When to Quit the Side Hustle
You’re making money. Maybe not a lot but enough to keep you going. You don’t love it. In fact, you pretty much hate it by now. It’s boring and annoying and you’d rather be doing something else. But shouldn’t you just be grateful? I mean a lot of people don’t even have jobs right now. What if you quit your job and everything goes to hell? Do you lose everything? End up broke?
Whether you’re starting a practice from scratch or considering going full time in your practice, there’s a very good chance this decision will test your willingness to do the scary thing.
For years I told myself I’d quit my side hustle when I made money. But as my income slowly inched up, I still kept my hustle. To be fair, it’s not like I was raking it in. I still was making very little money, but it had increased. That was the milestone I had set. So why wouldn’t I quit yet?
After so much soul searching and angst, I discovered I was waiting for it to feel “comfortable” and “safe.” But I started to wonder if it was ever going to feel like “the right time.” I thought “the right time” would be when I was making more money but my experience showed me that wasn’t true. Was that right time ever going to come?
We do this all the time:
“When I’m licensed, then I’ll…”
“When I have a full practice, then I’ll…”
“When I have more money, then I’ll...”
These are many different ways of saying, “When I feel safe, then I’ll do the thing that scares the crap out of me.” Which doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?
Risk is Required
This is inherently scary! It is a risk. There’s no way around that. And in order to grow, you have to take risks.
“You’ve got to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” My insane spin teacher yells this during his 7 am classes.
And he’s right! If we’re waiting around to feel comfortable, there’s a lot of living we won’t do.
Think about it. What are the things in your life you’re most proud of? The things you look back on and think, “Hell yeah! I did that!” Go ahead. List some in your head. Or better yet, write them down.
My guess is that these were things that totally freaked you out. You were scared. But you did it anyway. And it catapulted you to another level.
I’m not saying you HAVE to quit your side hustle. I don’t have a crystal ball. But if you wait till it feels nice and comfy...you probably never will.
So today is the day. It's time to jump off the edge of that rock. It’s time to commit to your big, scary, too good to be true life and business.
