Writing For A Side-Hustle After 12 Hours Of Work Is Not Easy. The Point Is To Fight For What We Desire.
We need a strong belief to carry us through initial tough times.
Writing is easy, am I right? All we have to do is to type. I mean, how difficult is it to bang our time away typing on a keyboard?
Man, I wish you are right. Unfortunately, practitioners of the sport will tell you the exact opposite. Writing, as with running and other worthy pursuits in life, share one thing in common.
They are not easy, and they are not meant to be easy.
Trophies that can be attained through participation will be discarded in no time. Remember the last running medal placed around your neck when you completed a 10km? Where is it now?
Now, back to writing.
Why is writing difficult?
A little context is necessary here.
Many of us did not start off as full-time writers. We have day jobs and evening gigs. We started writing as a side hustle because we wanted to give ourselves and writing a go. I cannot represent everyone who is writing for an additional income, but this is how I started.
I started by allowing myself to experiment.
The act of experimentation does come with a cost, and I am not referring to the initial membership subscription I have shelled out. The actual expense comes through intangible forms, known to Economists as opportunity costs.
Simply put, it refers to what I have to sacrifice to direct time, energy, and attention to writing. This sacrifice is real because I would really like to kick up my legs, sip an iced cold beer with fried chicken wings, and watch Netflix.
I could have met my friends for dinner and listened to their office gossips. Maybe, I could have met my ex-girlfriend for dinner. Or maybe, get into a Zoom conference with an ex-colleague now based in Dubai.
I have to push all of that aside.
And not forgetting that I have 12 hours of work already in me.
Yes, I am mentally fried. It is 8 in the evening as I am banging out this story at my working desk, and I have to force my progress. I might be as fried as any chicken wings found near a camping pit, only with more soot than the real wings out there. Yup, I am not tasty either.
And this brings me to a point.
If we want to write for a side hustle and build a sustainable side-income from this endeavor, we have to fight against ourselves to get the job done. There is no boss, no salary, no career prospects, no promotion based on the number of alphabets written.
None. Zero. Zilch.
We do it because we are fighting for a worthy cause. We do it for ourselves. We want to prove that we can rely on ourselves to build a high-income skill and carry it wherever we go.
But, before that.
We have to put in the hours, blood, sweat, tears and living harmoniously with a brain covered in soot from overdrive.
No, it is not easy.
And yes, it might be worth the sacrifice.
And the onus is on us to choose our sacrifice. And just like running, the actual work is daunting and painful. We sweat, and our knees may hurt.
However, we get fitter and stronger over time.
We shape to become a lean, mean machine too.
That is the future worth living for!
Enjoy your sweat equity and happy writing!
Aldric
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
