A little something on the side

The future of earning is going to probably require multiple revenue streams, where many trickles roll in. On Hive and perhaps crypto in general, we are quite accustomed to the idea where for example, we can earn on content, comments, curation, HP interest, HBD interest, playing games, renting game cards, DeFi staking... and the list goes on. While none of these may be enormous, the strength of multiple revenue streams compounds as well as offers a greater level of risk mitigation by spreading earning sources.

However, while we are still in the early stages of the new economy, earning a little something on the side isn't uncommon and there is a growing trend that in order to cover lifestyle and meet the needs to invest, more people are looking to add additional revenue sources. NAs not all jobs are going to offer enough extra to invest, it is possible to get secondary jobs to fill the gap, with a few part-time hours here and there able to make quite a different to an investment portfolio over the space of a year or two.

A lot of people don't seriously consider this as an option as they think it cuts into too much of their free time, but if we are working a relatively normal work week of 40 hours, adding a couple five hour shifts doesn't change much to the time we have free, especially since the average American for example watches about a fulltime job's worth of screen entertainment per week anyway. I suspect that for the majority of what people watch, they would prefer the hourly in pay instead, the problem being though, the work has to be done.

But, work is not a dirty word and while not all part-time jobs are awesome, in general, they aren't that bad and quite often, the people working there are fun to work with. This means, that it is possible to spend a few hours doing something completely different than the normal kind of work, a well as hang out with people who are not necessarily the usual suspects, which can bring a lot of value.

I was reading an article about how people in Australia are hustling with side gigs in order to get the savings they need to get into a house or for investing. The people they interviewed had the same thoughts as me on it - it is far more fun than people think it is going to be. For me, the reason isn't just that I get to meet new people, but I also get to do new things and learn new skills, plus being surrounded with different kinds of conditions, I learn a lot that informs other parts of my life. For example, a lot of my articles are sourced from conversations that I have in my life with friends, family and the many strangers I get to speak with.

Getting out of our comfortable boxes not only has value today and for the near-future, it also gets us into the habits and carrying some of the skillset needed to create those multiple income sources in the future too. While a lot of people think that intelligence might be the greatest predictor of success, I would suggest that without experience, intelligence largely just goes to waste. And, on top of the value of holding wide experience and skills, there is the value gained through a wider set of knowledge, which means more opportunities arise, without having to search for them - kind of like on Hive.

"Work" itself is an opportunity to use skills to generate something meaningful, which is often taken as some kind of remuneration like money. However, work generates experience and if paying attention, that experience might be more valuable than what the work pays. For example, one of my friends met their partner, so they got something on the side, whilst getting something on the side. Side inception. Another friend I have started working a side-gig and enjoyed it so much, ended up firstly going fulltime and then, starting her own business that she has been running for several years now. For me, I always have several things bubbling away on the side burners, because I love the opportunity and the challenge it offers to move from one skillset to another, as well as coping with the "stress" of learning new things.

A lot of people see taking extra work as a sacrifice of some kind, which from an opportunity cost perspective, everything is. However, I would suggest that by learning to do it well, the personal value as well as the monetary value a side hustle can bring is worth more than the sacrifice made. Of course, balance has to be considered and the potential costs weighed up, but so too do the gains need to be considered.

If the future is about multiple revenue streams that supplement core incomes, which do you think are the ones you will have available and, do you have the resources and skills, or are you one path to have them now? A lot of people "wait til they must" before starting to learn or change, but by then, the bandwagon is already full.

Have you got something on the side going on?

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]