Do you currently have a side hustle in college? Well if you don’t, you’re falling behind. You need to have a side hustle, especially when you’re in college. You should be investing at least an hour or two every day to work on your side hustle.
Don’t know why you’ll fall behind without one? Well, let’s talk about it.
What is a side hustle?
You need to first understand what a side hustle is.
A side hustle isn’t just a part-time job to earn some money, such as babysitting or Uber driving. A side hustle is an on-going project that will help you gain the skills and experience you need to help get you to where you want to be in the future.
Like I mentioned earlier, you should always have side hustles in college. If it makes you money, great. If it doesn’t, make sure it is at least helping you get closer to reaching your long-term goals.
Which side hustle should you choose?
You should think carefully about the type of side hustles you want to have. They will highly depend on what you want to accomplish in the future.
Let me ask you, do you want to:
- Simply earn more money?
- Become a professional salesperson?
- Run your own business?
- Become a photographer or videographer?
- Run an e-commerce store?
- Join a professional sports team?
- Get famous on YouTube?
There are so many careers you can get into. Here are some blogs I wrote that could help you choose the right path:
Whatever you aspire to be, your side hustles should help get you there. How would you accomplish this? Let’s go through an example where you want to join a professional sports team, specifically in basketball.
Here are the steps you could take:
- First, practice the basketball fundamentals every single day. This includes running, dribbling, passing, shooting, and defensive drills. Run through each of these drills on a daily basis to master the fundamentals. You will continue to do this throughout the remaining steps as well.
- Then, join recreational basketball games at places like the YMCA or local sports gym. Make some connections with the other players and get yourself known within the community. Be known as the person that is “always playing ball.”
- Next, ask your network of basketball players to help create buzz around your skills. You can record videos of you practicing and playing in games, create compilations of your best shots, and pile together montages. Post these videos across all mainstream social media channels and sports platforms. The more content you have, the better.
- Now, add as much exposure as you can to your personal brand. There are so many things you can do here. Search online for phrases like, “Gain social media exposure.” Network and find people who are willing to help you build your brand. In return, you could offer to bring them along, receive a portion of your earnings, or simply receive credits should you get recognized.
- Finally, repeat all of the previous steps and keep adding fuel to the flame. Don’t stop working on this side hustle. As long as you can consistent, you will get recognized for all your hard work. As your personal brand grows, start networking with professionals in the sports industry. Show them what you’ve accomplished and then fight for a spot on a professional team.
If this seems like a lot of detail, believe me when I say it isn’t. I skipped a lot of steps and things you could potentially do. And yes, all of this can be done in college.
No matter what your circumstances are, you can always find time to work on your side hustles. The number of skills and discipline you gain from your side hustles will surprise you.
Having a side hustle seems like a lot of work
You are exactly right.
Having a side hustle is a lot of work, however, it is work that will bring amazing returns if you do it right. There’s a lot of things you have to learn on your own, things you probably never heard of.
Don’t let any of that scare you.
Working on your side hustles is a lot better than spending time watching movies, playing games, or going out to parties, the club, etc. I’m not saying doing any of those is bad, working on your side hustles is just a better use of your time. You can still do them, just make sure to set your priorities first.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it either.
You are going to fail a lot, and you will want to quit. There’s going to be a lot of obstacles and challenges to overcome. As cliché and as cheesy as this motivational speech sounds, just keep at it.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Do something now that your future self will thank you for”? This is the mindset that I believe all college students should have.
How to make the most of your side hustles
If you want to make the most out of your side hustle, you need to fall in love with the process. The process is what’s going to give you all of the skills you need to become successful.
Remember, you’re not doing the type of work you would at a 9-5 job. You can’t think of your side hustle as a chore, because it really shouldn’t be.
You need to think of your side hustle as a continuous work of art that’s going to help you succeed in your career.
So what if it takes a lot of time? It is time well spent. As you gain the discipline to work on your side hustles every day, you learn to really value your time.
The more time and effort you spend on your side hustles, the more you’re going to love doing it. This is what’s going to keep you motivated and determined.
Side hustles not getting you anywhere?
The only time you should say your side hustles aren’t getting you anywhere is if you’ve been seriously working hard on them and have made little to no progress.
If that’s the case, you need to rethink and refine your plan.
Figure out why you’re not progressing as much as you should. Do some research, find a book, and talk to experts. Do whatever you need to figure out the problem.
If someone else has already done what you’re trying to do, look at what they did and see what you’re missing.
I talk about what to do if you’re stuck in my Learning things on your own in college guide.
To put it simply, you’re going to have to do a lot of trial and error. You’re going to have to make adjustments, try new things, and be open to advice and criticism.
All you need to do is find that one perfect move to really get things going. Try your best to figure out what that is.
Conclusion
Side hustles are not part-time jobs to earn some money. They are long-term projects that help you reach where you want to be in life.
Yes, they’re hard, but that’s what makes them worth it. As long as you play your cards right, you will make progress, and you will succeed.
Do you have a side hustle that you’re currently working on in college? Leave a comment down below and describe what it is – I’d love to hear about it.
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