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5 Signs You Picked the Wrong Side Hustle

Benjamin Nweke
The Startup
Published in
5 min readJul 15, 2021
Photo by Justaf Abduh on Unsplash

Everyone seems to have a side hustle these days, whether it’s a startup you’re running alongside your 9–5, blogging online, or playing in a band. If it brings in income and adds some kind of experience to your portfolio, it is a side hustle.

While working as an elementary school instructor, I juggled cinematography on the side. Yeah I know it sounds cool — but it wasn’t so cool to me.

As many already know cinematography is a huge deal in every industry, as everyone needs customized footage for their company, personal brand, and other lucrative purposes.

As a cinematographer, I was privileged to shoot at award shows, top events, grand openings for businesses. And as for the monetary aspect, I was paid and compensated with decent benefits to boot.

But no matter how well I was rewarded I always felt this kind of emptiness and worthlessness within, like I wasn’t maximizing my true potential and was missing out on other opportunities waiting for me to explore.

You may not realize you need a different side hustle or maybe you do but are scared of making the switch. I’ve been there. You just need self-examination, and courage to take that huge step. After you’ve done it, you’ll wish you had done it sooner. For those still debating whether their side hustle is right for them, here are five signs you’ve picked the wrong one.

1. You feel like you are not being challenged.

One of the reasons I dropped cinematography was that I got what I wanted effortlessly. After calling quits, I picked up freelance writing. Like every other side hustle, I struggled for the first few months. One of the editors at Inc.com knows me personally (apart from being an Ambassador to Nigeria) due to the countless number of rejections I’ve received in the past.

I’m talking about double-figure rejections in two months. Was I demoralized? Yes. But I channeled all those frustrations into getting better at my craft.

Challenges breed innovation. If you feel unimaginative, bored, or tired of just doing the same thing over and over again, it’s time to unleash your creativity…

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The Startup
The Startup

Published in The Startup

Get smarter at building your thing. Follow to join The Startup’s +8 million monthly readers & +772K followers.

Benjamin Nweke
Benjamin Nweke

Written by Benjamin Nweke

I value your time. Data scientist, positivity therapist, and mental health advocate. Works in: The Startup, Mindcafe, Towards data science, and others.

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