This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What happens when your first, second, and even your third idea all fail to achieve your desired results? Listen, most of these things are not overnight successes. As you may have heard from many of the stories we have featured in the past four years, I always try to just give you the real story and talk about challenges and obstacles. And once in a while it is a pretty cool thing where this person's first idea really takes off. But probably a lot more often, the first idea doesn't take off.
The first idea is either a flop or it doesn't perform to expectation, or you kind of realize as you go along this is not really what I want to do, so you try something else, then you might try something after that. And, you know, on and on and on. So it is a bit of an iterative process, meaning that you do it over and over and hopefully improve as you go. But of course, you know, this can be discouraging, okay? Especially if it's repeated ideas that aren't working out.
And that is the situation facing our listener today who has called in to leave us a message. Welcome to Side Hustle School, by the way. My name is Chris Guillebeau. I have the privilege of being your host, talking through these situations with our global audience of people all out there who are trying to create something for themselves. So let's talk about this.
How can you keep going in the face of disappointment? That's coming up after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hey, Chris. This is Ruth from Santa Fe. And I've been listening to the show for the last couple of years.
I love the show, but I'm struggling. So far, I've tried three ideas to get my first money-making project up and running, but without any luck. The first two just didn't work at all. I was excited about my new idea, but now it seems like a flop too. How can I move on?
And how can I learn from these experiences so the next time around I have better odds? Thanks, Chris. - Ruth, thank you so much for calling in. Thank you for the message. First and foremost, you are not alone.
This is a common struggle. I think everybody goes through it one way or another. Maybe it's not always three in a row, or sometimes it can actually be like you have a project that works for a while, then you move on to something else, and then your next one doesn't work. And then the one after that, and you start thinking, was it all just a fluke? So I really just, I first of all identify with that.
But also, if at first you don't succeed, the best answer is to keep trying, but try different stuff. I really think that is key. Don't give up, but adjust, learn. In fact, what Ruth mentioned at the end of her question is really key, like how can you learn from each experience? Because if nothing else, you probably learn what you don't like.
Like you might learn what you don't like to do. You might also be able to identify a common sticking point, like did each project fail or kind of get off course at the same point, or with the same problem? Like maybe you were good at setting up the website, but you couldn't get any traffic to the website. Or maybe you had a hard time finding clients, or whatever it is, you got a certain distance, and then you kind of got stuck. Sometimes it's not even a failure, it's that the project works to a certain point, but then you reach a plateau.
And I've noticed this myself, like I tend to kind of come to certain plateaus over and over, and then I struggle to move past. So that's something that I try to work on, just trying to understand why is it that I can do pretty well until I come to this certain plateau, and then I have a hard time moving forward. So I think some of the key is in the trying again, and trying different stuff. Some of the key is in the analysis, the deconstruction, asking how can I use each experience as a stepping stone? And then my last advice, maybe this is kind of optional, but just consider if you feel stuck, and if stuff isn't working, consider trying something really simple for your next project.
Like maybe you had an idea to do something that's kind of big and grandiose, or maybe it's not big and grandiose, but it involves some complexity. Maybe try something that's actually really simple, just to give you a boost of confidence, whether it's reselling or listing something on Etsy or another site like that, a third-party platform, something that probably won't bring in a ton of money, but could, as I say, give you that boost of confidence. So overall, please don't give up entirely. There really is something for everyone out there. That's why I'm trying to show just a range of examples, as well as a range of struggles and obstacles.
So thank you, Ruth, for being so transparent there. And listeners, if you have a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects, as they navigate challenges, and so on. Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From The Onward Project.
