Your Personality is the Key You Seek for Side-Hustle Longevity

Because success takes a long time

If you are already suffering in quiet desperation in office, the last thing you want is to suffer in your 6–9 side-hustle.

You might think, what crapshoot is this. Aren’t you speaking the obvious?

Yes, I am. But the obvious is rarely practiced.

We all know we have to eat organic, read books, and exercise. That is what we know. Yet, we consume fried chicken, scroll toxic posts & giving them a thumbs-up, and the only body parts we exercise daily are our fingers.

“I’d overlooked the obvious because my focus had always been elsewhere! All along, this that I had been seeking was already here.”

- Brandon Bays

Brandon is right.

Truth be told, we do need friends we trust to remind us of the obvious we frequently overlook.

And that applies to our choice of side-hustles.

Jason the Product Sales Affiliate

Jason is one hardworking dude I tip my hats off to.

He hustles hard with zero grouses. To top it up, Jason has a high degree of self-awareness. He knows that his day job is only good enough to pay for his personal, household, and children’s bills. Anything more, and he has to find a way, on top of his 9–6.

What a brilliant man.

But yet, he can be foolish at times.

Jason is an introvert by current-day or ancient-wisdom measures.

For one, he carries his word count to the next day every single day. Next, if you ask him something, he will send you an email rather than providing a verbal response. Most importantly, he shies away from human interaction.

I love Jason for who he is because he is knowledgeable (reads a lot), and he is not a chatterbox. Running beside him every week is a joy because I can focus on my run performance instead of #topicoftheday.

But.

Jason lost his self-awareness for a brief moment when he decided to hustle on the side. For reasons I never understood, Jason decided to become a Product Sales Affiliate after working hours.

I find that odd for 3 reasons:

1. He is trying to sell facial products even though he does not use any of them.
2. He is going out to meet people when he avoids people around him?
3. Hang on a second. The person who keeps words within himself is attempting to sell something?

I did ask Jason why subsequently. By subsequent, I meant after he gave up on his side-hustle. I was bewildered by his response.

“Aldric, I focused on the money. They paid good commissions. I forgot that I had to sell to get the commission. Bad decision. I learned.”

- Jason

Sigh.

There are many Jasons around us. Chances are, you might be a Jason too.

Note: We make innocent mistakes all the time. Let us learn from it, realize it does not benefit us, cut losses, and move on.

Our Personality Determines the Success of Our Side-Hustles

I am a strong believer in this.

For one, every personality type can succeed if they play to their strengths. We can also notch a win when we avoid work we hate.

Jason’s story is a simple example of how we got distracted from time to time. Jason may want to learn salesmanship. Without careful planning or having someone with the same personality type to guide him along, he will drop out.

This is not to say he is unintelligible. Sales work does not suit him, 9–6 or 6–9 alike.

We have to work on our self-awareness. It determines the suitability of our chosen side-hustles.

You can try this exercise:

• Do you look at people’s eyes when you speak?
• Do you enjoy talking with people you never knew?
• Do you enjoy working with big groups of people?
• Do you prefer to listen to someone talking on YouTube? Or do you enjoy attending an evening course where you have to participate?
• Are you more comfortable leaving a comment on a post or post a question in class?

Tip: Be absolutely honest with yourself when going through this exercise

Now, the why.

Side-Hustles Require Longevity for Long-Term Success, Therefore We Have to Play to Our Strengths

There are side-hustles focusing on others, and there are 6–9 that focuses solely on our individual efforts.

If we want to be successful in our side-hustles, we have to give ourselves the best shot we have.

• The first step — Be brutally honest with ourselves.
• The next step — Figure out what we do not appreciate in our 9–6 and explore every possible opportunity that goes in the reverse direction.

I do a lot of client-facing work in my 9–6. I enjoy meeting people, but I do get bogged down by weird or demanding personalities from time to time. Therefore, I avoid people-oriented side-hustles during my 6–9.

I choose to hustle-write.

It spared me a ton of human-induced grief, and I enjoyed it.

It must be working because I have not deviated from this side-hustle since I started 14 months ago.

You can, too.

Summary

There is one question that remains to be answered.

Why do we want to engage in a side-hustle that lasts? Because success takes time. If you believe in hustle-writing, you need time to write, write naturally, write better, write faster, write less earn more.

When we enjoy what we do, we stick long enough for success to happen. Of course, your definition of success matters. So, fall back on your NorthStar.

For us to experience success enjoying what we do, we have to understand our personalities and not go against them.

There are too many Jasons around.

Let’s not follow in his footsteps.

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.

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