This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
I try to stay away from predictions or prophecies. I'm not very good at telling you what the next trend is going to be. In fact, I was once quoted in a major publication saying that podcasts were a brief trend that would disappear soon. This was probably, I don't know, six or seven years ago, more than three years before I started a podcast. So pretty sure I was wrong about that one. Sorry
about that. But I thought a lot about this listener's question, the one we have today. And I think I actually have a decent answer to it. Our listener has noticed that 2020 has been a ridiculous year. I don't know if you've noticed that too. Okay, I'm pretty sure you haven't missed
it. Well, this listener is wondering what comes next, at least in terms of opportunities, potential possibilities. Let's say that this whole thing will continue to produce going into the new year. I am all about trying to find an opportunity in the midst of the uncertainty. That's been a big theme of a lot of stuff I've been doing this year in 2020.
So let's fast forward a bit and say what might be coming up on the horizon. We've got that question from our listener and my best attempt at a response coming up after this short message. Hi, Chris, this is Jared from Portland, and I've been following your projects for many years and have previously attended the World Domination Summit. I don't need to tell you how ridiculous this year has been in so many ways. We're all living it. At the beginning of all of
this, I heard you say a few times that disruption presents opportunity. Aside from investing in Zoom or hand sanitizer at the beginning of the year, what can we do now? What's the outlook for 2021? I'm not asking for your public health predictions. Just wondering if there's something you've noticed that will be a new opportunity for side hustlers in the coming year.
Thanks, Chris, and hang in there. Hey, Jared, thank you so much for listening. Oh my gosh, yes. What should we say about 2020 and 2021? I don't know where to begin with that. If you have not heard this song, F2020, I would encourage you
to listen to that. It's not safe for work, but I mean, who goes to work these days? It's all virtual. But if you have kids, you might want to listen to that on your own. F2020 by Avenue Beat on Spotify or wherever. It reflects how a lot of people feel about this year. Also, I should just acknowledge
if you've had a great year somehow, then that's cool. I don't mean to bring anybody down, but I think a lot of people are already down. That's the baseline of where I'm starting at. To talk about predictions and such, when this all started, one of the things I said a couple of times then was that whenever there is a disruption, there is opportunity. Just as whenever there's progress, some businesses and industries are harmed. That's just how things work.
What I think now, now that we've had this for a while, the short-term adjustment is over. We all went into quarantine or lockdown depending on what part of the world you're in for a time. There was a moment there. Now we're in this new moment where people are settled into what is the reality, will continue to be the reality for a minimum of several more months, probably longer than that. I don't have any health predictions, as Jared mentioned. He's not asking for those,
but my healthcare prediction would be wear a mask and just try to be safe. Try to take care of people so that we can actually get through this at some point. But in terms of the side hustle stuff, Jared mentioned something about wish I had invested in Zoom or hand sanitizer. Yep, that's correct. But here we are now. We're going from that immediate adjustment to something where
we're more settled. What I'm seeing is, for example, making face masks in the very beginning of the transition to pandemic life, that was an opportunity. A lot of people were doing it and are still doing it in creative ways, which is cool. But now the other day, I saw scarves with face masks. Some really nice lightweight scarves that are fashionable, but have a face mask built into it. That's not something that can be invented in a day.
Somebody had to put some work into that and figure out how to manufacture them and such. So that's next level. A little bit of a different example. In the beginning, everyone was doing live streams all the time. And now we're starting to see experiences like drive-through comedy shows.
So people actually are able to go out and have a shared experience just in a different sort of way. Or my sister-in-law actually had a drive-through baby shower recently. And I was going to say I'd never heard of that before, but I don't think anybody had ever heard of that before until this year. So a lot of stuff is moving from that short term adjustment to a more middle term. And I don't know exactly what's coming up, but if you approach it with that mindset, I think there's room for a lot of creative thinking. And I think above all, community
continues to be a great need for all of us. We have a great need to connect with people. So if you just kind of keep that at the forefront, how can you help people connect and feel in community with others? How can you help them feel less alone? So mental health needs and lots of different forms and fashions are going to continue to be very important going into 2021. So that's what I've got. Listeners, of course, I'd be curious to know
what you think. Feel free to let me know. Come to www.sidehustleschool.com/questions. We're going to keep dealing with these issues and trying to help people out, provide some inspiration, but also some practical tips. You know, I always say inspiration with action is better.
That's my goal as we continue to navigate this time. And I'm so grateful for you joining me on The Journey. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
