1285: Side Hustling Has Never Really Been About The Money To Me by Kevin of Financial Panther on Mental Balance

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[00:00:52] This is Optimal Work Daily, episode 1285.

[00:00:56] Side hustling has never really been about the money to me.

[00:00:59] By Kevin of FinancialPanther.com.

[00:01:02] And I'm your narrator Dan, and I'm here with you every single day reading from these great blogs that cover work and productivity and a whole lot more.

[00:01:10] So for right now, let's get to our post for this Sunday as we start optimizing your life.

[00:01:19] Side hustling has never really been about the money to me.

[00:01:22] By Kevin of FinancialPanther.com.

[00:01:26] A common criticism that I get with some of my side hustles is that they're, to be frank, a waste of my time.

[00:01:33] In all honesty, I can't necessarily argue with that.

[00:01:36] I went to four years of college and three years of law school.

[00:01:39] My education has a retail value of well over $200,000.

[00:01:43] With all of this expense to educate myself, my time, at least in theory, should be pretty valuable.

[00:01:49] Yet if you follow along with this blog, you know that I spend a lot of my free time doing things that seem pretty stupid.

[00:01:55] Things like delivering food on my bike or walking dogs.

[00:01:58] Depending on your point of view, these side hustles could really be viewed as pretty stupid.

[00:02:03] At least quote unquote beneath what someone with my credentials should be doing.

[00:02:08] Instead of wasting my time doing these things, I could be hustling more at work to try to improve my income at my job.

[00:02:14] Or I could instead be doing something on the side that actually uses my legal training and that presumably would allow me to earn more on an hourly basis.

[00:02:23] Instead, I've basically done the opposite of that.

[00:02:26] Over the last two years, I've taken two pay cuts in an attempt to find work that's a better fit for me.

[00:02:31] To the tune of $70,000 less than what my salary was when I left big law.

[00:02:36] And rather than doing stuff on the side that utilizes my legal training,

[00:02:40] I've instead opted to do things that can be considered pretty low level and obviously are completely unrelated to my legal career.

[00:02:47] Dog walking, bike deliveries, and other silly things like that.

[00:02:50] While I understand the criticisms, I still think that there's a lot more value to these sort of simple side hustles than people give credit for.

[00:02:57] As much as I talk about how much I make with these side hustles.

[00:03:01] To be real, side hustles have never really been about the money to me.

[00:03:04] I've always earned enough from my day job to accomplish my financial goals.

[00:03:08] And even when I was paying back my student loans, side hustles played a pretty minimal role in my ability to pay back my debt.

[00:03:15] If not about the money, then what's the point of these side hustles?

[00:03:18] For me, they've always served as an outlet and an escape from the pressures of my day to day life.

[00:03:23] In a profession like law or medicine or dentistry or any other high stress job where stress and mental health issues are becoming more and more prevalent or at least talked about.

[00:03:33] It's important to figure out ways to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy.

[00:03:38] Picking up these little side hustles here and there, ones that weren't mentally taxing and that I found fun,

[00:03:43] is what worked to keep me in physical and mental balance.

[00:03:47] It's the main benefit I got from them and why I still do them today.

[00:03:51] Stress and mental health in the legal profession.

[00:03:54] Professions like law have abnormally high rates of anxiety, substance abuse and depression.

[00:04:00] It's been a dirty little secret of the legal profession for a while.

[00:04:04] I imagine that law is similar to other high stress professions as well.

[00:04:07] Jobs like dentistry, medicine and the like.

[00:04:10] You can see why this is the case when you think about how these kinds of jobs work

[00:04:14] and the people that fall into these careers.

[00:04:17] Lawyers have always been high achievers.

[00:04:19] We're perfectionists, prone to working long hours with tight deadlines.

[00:04:23] The pressure can be overwhelming with pressure coming from clients, partners, senior associates,

[00:04:29] not to mention the internal pressures that we create for ourselves.

[00:04:32] What will my friends and family think if I don't make it as a big shot lawyer?

[00:04:36] Unique to a lot of jobs, being a lawyer is based heavily on outward appearances.

[00:04:41] Even when I was overwhelmed with work, I always had to bury all of that anxiety deep within me

[00:04:46] and act like I had everything under control.

[00:04:48] You know, fake it until you make it is what they say.

[00:04:51] You've got a lot of people looking at you.

[00:04:53] If you're visibly overwhelmed, no one's going to trust you with anything.

[00:04:57] With that backdrop, it's easy to understand why lawyers might turn to other outlets

[00:05:01] to make up for their stress and anxiety.

[00:05:04] If the stats are any indication, all too often that outlet becomes narcotics,

[00:05:08] alcohol and other things that harm us.

[00:05:11] It's a sad state of affairs, unfortunately.

[00:05:14] The therapeutic benefits of a random side hustle.

[00:05:17] I've always been a pretty anxious person in general

[00:05:20] and that definitely didn't improve after I graduated law school and got my first real job.

[00:05:25] I needed an outlet and side hustling filled that void.

[00:05:28] But not just any side hustle.

[00:05:30] I didn't want to do more quote unquote work

[00:05:32] since I already had plenty of that during the day.

[00:05:35] So instead, I looked around and saw what the sharing economy and gig economy had to offer.

[00:05:40] Bike deliveries were the first side hustle I did and the one that I still enjoy the most.

[00:05:44] It appealed to me in a lot of ways.

[00:05:46] It was totally different from my normal work.

[00:05:48] I could get outside and explore my city.

[00:05:51] It was simple and didn't seem all that mentally taxing

[00:05:54] and most importantly it gave me a lot of control.

[00:05:57] I could just turn the delivery app on and off whenever I wanted.

[00:06:01] I remember how silly I felt during those first few months of being a bike delivery person.

[00:06:05] I was a lawyer with a high price degree

[00:06:07] and I was out on my bike doing deliveries to random people.

[00:06:11] But it was just too much fun for me.

[00:06:13] Even if a little embarrassing,

[00:06:15] the benefits to my physical and mental health were too much for me to pass up on.

[00:06:19] It was a stupid side hustle sure,

[00:06:21] but it did something for me internally.

[00:06:23] When I was out doing deliveries I could just shut off my mind,

[00:06:27] get out in the world and explore.

[00:06:29] What works for you of course will differ from what works for me.

[00:06:32] So-called low level side hustles like these kept me balanced.

[00:06:36] They gave me the escape I was looking for,

[00:06:38] a brief moment when I could stop freaking out about the stresses and problems with work.

[00:06:43] Side hustling can be about more than money.

[00:06:46] Side hustling no doubt is probably about the money.

[00:06:49] I wouldn't deliver food or walk dogs for free,

[00:06:52] but at the same time money doesn't have to be the sole focus of your side hustle.

[00:06:56] It can do more than just be a way to make more money.

[00:06:59] It's important to have outlets for your stress and anxiety.

[00:07:02] It's up to you to decide what works for you.

[00:07:05] If you've got a little bit of an entrepreneurial edge,

[00:07:07] side hustling, even stupid side hustling might be the outlet that works for you.

[00:07:12] And even if it's a silly low level side hustle,

[00:07:15] only you can tell yourself how valuable it really is to you.

[00:07:22] You just listened to the post titled

[00:07:24] Side Hustling Has Never Really Been About the Money to Me

[00:07:27] by Kevin of financialpantther.com

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[00:09:46] And thank you to Kevin, who is the attorney and the blogger behind

[00:09:50] Financial Panther, which is a blog about personal finance,

[00:09:53] travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy.

[00:09:57] Kevin paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just

[00:10:00] two and a half years by choosing not to live like a big

[00:10:03] shot lawyer.

[00:10:04] As he mentioned in the post, Kevin is passionate about

[00:10:07] earning money using the gig economy.

[00:10:09] And you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month

[00:10:12] in his side hustle reports.

[00:10:14] So check out more of his great content at financialpanther.com.

[00:10:18] But that does it for today here on Optimal Work Daily.

[00:10:20] I appreciate you being here with me as always.

[00:10:23] And I'll see you again tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.