The Side Hustle : Decentralised Employment and Individual Freedom

One of the hardest questions I get asked is “What do you do for a living?” Often when I am subsequently evasive in answering the enquirer tends to assume that I’m actually an unemployed (maybe even an unemployable) bum and my dress sense often doesn’t help counter this assumption. In essence nothing could be further from the truth and I’ve actually never been fired in my life, but it’s hard to explain what I actually do since I don’t have a boss, nor any staff, nor any clients and I don’t get a pay check….

So if you’re confused by now then that’s good! You’ll have that same quizzical look on your face that I have grown so accustomed to and we can start off on the same page. First let’s talk about the concept of the Side Hustle. It’s a term I have only really heard very recently and even though I find it to be slightly derogatory (I’m no hustler or scammer – everything I do is legal), I am happy to see that the concept of the Side Hustle is now becoming part of our cultural vocabulary and more people are exploring it every day.

The definition of Side Hustle is still in flux and it is not well understood, but for me it starts out as something you might be doing “On the side” which might be a hobby business outside of your normal work life. Not to be confused with “Moonlighting” which is defined as having a secret second job at night, finding a Side Hustle was for me the first step in the direction of gaining Decentralised Employment and Individual Freedom. Once my Side Hustle grew to the point where it had the potential to support my living expenses I was free to ditch my mainstream job and let me tell you that moment felt like manna from heaven.

Nowadays I am all about the Side Hustle, but it’s not just one. I have about 7 or 8 things that I do now and you could add them all up but it still wouldn’t feel like a full time job. If one of my Side Hustles is going badly, or I’m getting bored with it – I take a break and focus on one of the others. I always have something I can work on and my wife constantly gets annoyed with me because I work so much, but it’s all a question of perspective and it often doesn’t feel like work.

So you’ve probably figured out by now that writing on STEEM is one of my newer Side Hustles. I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I’m sure there is a Fantasy Fiction novel in me down the track, but this is a great way for me to explore and refine my writing talents where really the only thing I can possibly lose is my time. It’s a no-risk venture with no overheads – The best kind! It means that when people ask me that dreaded question “What do you do for a living?” I can simply answer “I’m a Writer” and they’ll understand it straight away. There are about a dozen titles I’ve used in the past, but when I answer with something like “I’m a Sports Analyst…a Risk Trader…a Crypto Investor…” it usually just confuses people and raises more questions that are equally hard to explain when really the enquirer is just trying to make small talk with me (and failing).

Anyway, this post is starting to sound a bit self-indulgent so I will apologise for that and get to the point. Everyone should have a Side Hustle, or even more than 1. You might be one of those working 9 to 5 Wage Slaves, stuck in a mainstream mundane existence – hating your job and hating your boss….even hating your life. Find something you enjoy, don’t just find a hobby but make your hobby into a business. Turn it into a Side Hustle. If you can get good at it you can free yourself from being a Wage Slave. Be your own boss and achieve true freedom. If you’re here on STEEM then you’re already on your way. We have a lot of new technology now, other than STEEM there are places like freelancer.com where you can bid for jobs, and it’s never been easier to work from home. If you’re good at what you do then you don’t need job security and you can be confident the free market will value your work.

I’m not suggesting you throw in your day job today, but the lesser worn path is there for you now to wander down and explore. This is the way of the future. With technology like the internet and blockchain, we don’t need centralised banks or centralised governments…..and we don’t need centralised employment any more either.