Why You Should Not Wait To Start Your “Gig”, Even if You Are Broke
“I’m too broke.”
I’m sure I heard the same thing at least ten times today, from ten different people. I get it, most of the ‘average human’ survives paycheck to paycheck and works hard to make ends meet and this what the term ‘broke’ signifies. If you are broke, it is obvious that you need to make more money. But again, most of us would rather sit and wait for our next paycheck before we actually begin to put our time to some use.
If you’re broke, you have more obligation to make extra money than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates or Warren Buffett.
But if you are going to keep complaining, nothing is going to change. The average life expectancy of a human being is 70 years. Sadly, 99% of our population spends their whole life waiting for the ‘chance’ to make an additional income for themselves.
Stop Waiting, Start Working
Your ‘gig’ is something that you know you can do to earn an additional income. It could be anything — a hobby, a business, an investment, or something out of the ordinary. If you keep it in your head all your life, you are not going to get anywhere.
All businesses which are billion dollar enterprises today did not wait for the ‘right time’ to start.
In fact, businesses that were really successful entered the market when everyone else was exiting. The clock is ticking and with every second, you are aging. You have only one life to live and it depends on the choices you make.
Jeff Bezos quit his job as a Vice President of a financial services firm in 1994 to start his ‘gig’ in a garage. This turned out to be Amazon, which is one of the most profitable companies in the world today. Bill Gates started Microsoft after he was shown an article in the Popular Electronics magazine. Warren Buffett did not wait all his life to start Berkshire Hathaway.
If you are going to wait for the moment until you have enough time or money to start your gig, it is highly unlikely that it will happen. Procrastination is a common human trait, but to be a part of the 1 percent, you have to overcome it. As I mentioned in one of my previous stories, I mentioned that every multi-billion dollar enterprise started its journey in a garage. These entrepreneurs did not wait until they saved enough money to open an office. They started from scratch and worked their way up.
The 21st century is one of the easiest eras to start a business. It is the age of the internet and sometimes, all you need is a computer to start your gig. Well, what are you waiting for?
Overcoming the Fear of Failure
But… what if it fails?
Yes, this is the questions that prevents you from starting your gig. You would rather be broke and continue paying your bills instead of putting some extra effort because you think you might fail. Let me ask you this question: “But what if your gig succeeds?”
The world only tells you success stories. There is no success without failure; the failure stories are the missing link to success.
If you already live paycheck to paycheck, you are only working on your gig during your ‘free time’. This means that you are trading your current vacation time for better vacations in the future. If you are broke and awaiting your next paycheck, you have nothing to lose. What is the fear of failure we are even talking about?
When you could trust someone else to run their own gig which you depend on, why not trust yourself? If it fails, let it be. Start another one. Overcoming the fear of failure isn’t easy, but the only way to do that is to not worry about how you would ‘come out’ to the world.
Success stories are the ones that actually come out. Most failure stories don’t. Even if they do come out, it is only after the successful person blurts out their life history. People tell you that you cannot make it big just because they could not.
In case you still do not understand, there’s Ashley McBryde’s Girl Goin’ Nowehere, one of the best songwriting masterpieces that narrates her success:
Don’t Let People Bring You Down
The major reason why people like you and me refrain from starting their own ‘gig’ is because we are negatively influenced by the people around us. Unfortunately, a ‘traditional’ way of earning your income is applauded by most communities, rather than the non-traditional way of putting some extra effort to make something for yourself.
Work. Earn. Pay Your Bills. Repeat. This is the vicious cycle we should break ourselves from!
Associate yourself with people who encourage to bring the best out of you. Read books that were written by entrepreneurs. Listen to podcasts that are uplifting. Try not to fall prey to the social conditioning that has ruined the baby boomer generation for years. Remember that you are unique and no one else can understand you better except yourself. All you need to do is to be dedicated and strong-willed.
Forget the ‘Money’ Part, At Least for a While
When you start doing something, the first question people ask is ‘what is your profit?”. That is a good question, but only if you own an established business. When you start your gig, you are not established yet; instead, you are just beginning. These type of questions are just used against you by people who cannot do their own thing. You could choose to ignore it, or respond in a polite, assertive manner.
If you are focused on your earnings, you are never going to get there. Keep working consistently and invest more of your time than money in your gig. Sometimes, it might fire up quickly; most other times, it might take a while to catch up.
But if it takes too long and you know that it’s not getting anywhere, it might be time to quit. But don’t let that discourage you. Life is not always about winning; we all lose. But remember, with every second you are surviving, you are losing life too. It’s about time we start living and doing what we love the most.
With that said, I wish you all the best for your very own gig. If you have had any inspiration or success from reading this, comments on this post would be greatly appreciated.
