4090: The Triad of Hustling by J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy on Side Hustles

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Living Daily, The Triad of Hustling by J. Money of BudgetsAreSexy.com. And I'm Justin Malik, your host. And we'll jump right into today's post as we optimize your life. The Triad of Hustling by J. Money of BudgetsAreSexy.com.

[00:00:52] Five months ago, I was on the verge of burning out again. I got sucked right back into all my projects and had my head down, grinding away as we do, when one day I look up and my son was there asking if I'd like to go on a hike with him. And by hike, he meant a walk down by the river, which was really a creek. I told him sure thing and planned to be back within the hour. Four hours later, we came home, and it was like the heavens shining down with harps and all.

[00:01:19] For the first time all year, I not only completely forgot about my work altogether, but I got to see the world through the eyes of a five-year-old for four hours straight, and wow, was that a beautiful thing. No talking about goals or emails or the internet or really anything adult-related whatsoever. It was literally just him and me in the serenity of nature discussing every little curiosity a boy of that age wonders about. It was pure living. And we'd probably still be on that walk too if his poor little legs didn't fail him midway through.

[00:01:49] He told me he didn't want to stop until we reached another country. But those few hours were enough for me to assess what the hell I was doing again with my time, and even more so prompted me to make real changes so I didn't get sucked right back into it all again. I wanted to not only become a more efficient and productive worker again, but also a better person and overall daddy and husband too. When I got home, I made a list of all the projects I was working on

[00:02:14] and quickly realized that the answers I was looking for came down to three simple variables. Number one, the amount of time each project was taking up. Number two, the amount of money each project was making, or more aptly, not making. And number three, the amount of fun I was actually having if I were being completely honest with myself. I began calling this the triad of hustling anytime I shared this new epiphany with friends,

[00:02:41] and the takeaway was that if you can score well in any two of the three departments, it was a project worth continuing with. No time and lots of money? Winner. Who cares if it's not that fun? No money, but you're loving it? Great. I don't mind spending time on stuff that makes me happy. No fun, no money, and gobs of hours of my time? Shut that s*** down. As embarrassing as this probably comes across, it was amazing how clear these answers came to me

[00:03:09] just by asking these three fairly basic questions. Obviously, if you're not making any money on something, and it's sucking up all your time, and you hate it, you shouldn't be working on it. But again, sometimes you're so deep down in the weeds hustling your a** off that you forget to look up every once in a while and reassess. Not something you have the luxury of doing if you're living paycheck to paycheck, of course. In that case, you grind it out and do what you have to do. But if you're relatively fine and in a position to call the shots, these are excellent questions to be asking yourself.

[00:03:38] Even so, not all projects are so cut and dry. Sometimes you end up with hustles that come with just as many cons as they do pros, and you need help cutting to the core. Especially for those who tend to learn more with their heart than they do with their wallet. For this, I recommend channeling your inner Derek Sivers. Quote, When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than, wow, that'd be amazing, absolutely, yeah, then say no.

[00:04:06] When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, well, yeah, we're all busy. We've all taken on too much. Saying yes to less is the way out. End quote. Boom. The great equalizer. Which is also great because it gets down to your more truer purpose, too, versus the more factual sides of things. Money, time, etc. If I had run this triad of questions on Budgets Are Sexy back in the day,

[00:04:35] it would have scored a paltry 1 out of 3 points. It took up hours of my time, made exactly $0 a month, but the one thing it did have going for it was that it was a ton of fun. And to this day, almost 10 years later now, I can unequivocally state that it's still very much a hell yeah versus a plain old yes. Yay! So whenever the triad fails you, pull out this bazooka to finish it off. Okay, to refresh, here are the three questions to ask yourself whenever you're reassessing your projects.

[00:05:04] Number one, how much time are these projects sucking away from me? Number two, how much money are these projects making me? And number three, how much fun am I really having doing them? Three out of three, and you found a dream hustle. Two out of three, I mean, it's still pretty solid as not all projects can be dreams. One out of three, and it's probably time to reconsider or try switching things up. And then zero out of three, it's finally time to shut that s*** down.

[00:05:31] And let me tell you, I've been shutting down a lot of s*** lately, and it feels s*** good. My family says I'm now much more attentive, apparently. I'm not nearly as grumpy anymore. Nearly? And the most important result of all, I feel like I'm living again. And here's the crazy part. My business hasn't declined at all. If anything, it's only gotten better because I'm much more focused and can appreciate the remaining projects I've actively chosen to keep. Oh, and remember how I announced last month that I've now stopped working on nights and weekends?

[00:06:00] Well, it's another result of this. We're now going into month four of not opening up my laptop even once on the weekend, and I owe it all to my smart and adventurous five-year-old. It's a new dawn, my friends, and I hope you'll join me in challenging your current projects too. The triad separates the winners from the losers, and if all else fails, just ask yourself whether it's a s*** yeah, or it needs to be converted down to a sad little yes, i.e. no.

[00:06:26] They say you can never buy up any more time, but this has got to be pretty close. You just listened to the post titled, The Triad of Hustling, by J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy, and I'll be right back with my commentary. Back to school starts now. Get long-lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core so you can work from anywhere.

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[00:08:39] I like this one, and it started in a way I think a lot of us can relate to. You know, buried in work until his little boy pulled him away for a walk, and he suddenly remembered what it felt like to be present. And I can't help but shout out our walking meditation podcast, since he basically mentions that. Meditation has been scientifically studied for a long time and has always shown benefits. But I get that it can be difficult sitting, restless, just focusing on the breath.

[00:09:09] But walking meditation can be just as powerful and goes by pretty quickly. If you want to walk along with me, come find the Step Into Calm podcast. I'd love for you to check it out. That podcast is minutes, but for J Money, it was four hours of seeing the world through a five-year-old's eyes. That was his wake-up call. And I like the triad idea because of how simple that is. Sometimes we overcomplicate these things, but those questions can be helpful. Do you enjoy it?

[00:09:38] How much time does it take? And how much money does it make? So thank you to Jay for this one. Thank you for being here and listening every day. I couldn't do it without you. And come over to Step Into Calm and walk with me if you can. It'll be a lot of fun. But with that, have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you tomorrow. Where your optimal life awaits.