4 Reasons You Need To Have Multiple Hustles
Having several professional identities might not just be an option but a norm in the future
Gone are the days when you chose one occupation in your early 20s and worked in the same job profile for the rest of your life. The world is changing rapidly, we have more opportunities than ever.
Say, you were born 100 years before. What opportunities could you have in life? Just a handful of professions to chose from.
Now, being a doctor and making YouTube videos is the new normal. You could be a banker by day and baker by evening.
It’s too boring to do one thing
If nothing gets you, boredom will. Let’s be honest, how many of you are a big fan of repeating the same task for the next ten years. We are humans, maybe, our brains are not conditioned to do the same job again and again.
I wouldn’t want to do mundane things and then question my existence after years. We all want to try our hand at multiple things.
How else could we what we like? Involving ourselves in various activities will only give us a chance to figure out our passion. And yes, you can be passionate about multiple things. You can be a financial advisor, writer, traveler, investor all at once.
Dabbling into multiple things does not mean you are unstable, it means you are exploring. And the magic of exploring is that you never know what you might end up discovering.
The opportunities in the age of social media
If you were an abstract art painter 20 years ago, imagine the hassle of showcasing your work.
You would chase agent to agent with absolutely no guarantee of finding an audience. Now, you make an Instagram page or a Facebook page to exhibit your art. Guess, the expense of putting out your work, zero.
Social media is one of the greatest marketing tools available, that too for free. For instance, if you want to become an actor, you can showcase your talent by making videos on Youtube or Instagram reels.
At least you have an avenue to show your work and reach your audience. What were the chances that you could make sketches and work in an IT company at the same time?
Who knew that you could turn your passion for traveling into an income source? It was non-existent, only ten years ago. Yeah, maybe you could become one of those TV show hosts. But, now you can have your channel with the potential to make money out of it.
A cell phone and the internet are one the greatest combinations in the 21st century.
Having multiple streams of income
There is no guarantee that you will continue to have a stable income from your stable job. I am not being cynical, I am just being practical. The pace with which things are changing, you never know when you could be pushed out of work.
One stroke of recession and businesses could just vanish in the thin air. Already there is a fair amount of chance that many jobs could simply go out of order because of technology. More and more jobs that do not require human intervention are becoming obsolete. Someone like a bank teller, we might no even need one by 2030.
Creating multiple sources of income could always provide a bit of cushioning during a slump. It builds a safety net. I certainly believe that having multiple streams of income is not just an option, but a necessity for the future.
Scalability
Let’s think probabilistically. Your odds of succeeding will only increase if you try your hand at multiple tasks. By trying out multiple things, you might end up succeeding in two of them.
The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. If you try ten things, two might work in your favor. The idea is not to get bogged down by various things you detest but to discover the things you like.
Scalability is one of the biggest boons of the internet. Every video or article has the potential to reach an audience of millions. A yoga instructor could teach thousands of students at the same time. The potential to earn multiplies with scalability. More the scalability, more the odds of accomplishment.
Final Thoughts
If one had slept for 400 years, from 1000 AD to 1400 AD, he or she could still wake up and take a job as a lumberjack. With the advent of technology, things are changing in the blink of an eye.
What was relevant many years ago is obsolete today. It is essential for one to stay relevant in the 21st century. A skill that you acquire today, might not at all be of any use after a decade.
The reasons that one needs to have multiple hustles are,
- It’s too boring to practice only one thing professionally
- Abundant opportunities are available in the age of social media
- Having multiple streams of income will protect you during a slump
- The internet offers scalability, that could increase your income multifold
