This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
In this week's failure Friday segment, we're gonna hear from a long time listener who's had a lot of side hustle ideas, but hasn't taken action on them. Now, fortunately in this case, he has made a plan of moving forward more positively. Listen friends, this episode could be for a lot of people. I just finished up this long book tour, and in so many cities, night after night, I was hearing similar questions, heard from a lot of people who said something, you know, almost to a word like what we've got here. Basically, I've got ideas, but I haven't taken action.
It's been a long time, it's been years. I've been listening to the podcast, I've been reading the books, but I just haven't done anything, or I tried and didn't make progress, so I kind of gave up. And you know, today we were talking about how it turns out ideas don't magically happen. You do in fact have to take action on your ideas. I don't mean to give you like tough love, 'cause I'm not really a tough love kind of person, but it's like you do have to do some work, right?
You know, I have this tagline that I used to say a lot in the beginning of the podcast about how inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. I don't say that as much these days, but it's still very much the essence or the philosophy of this daily project, you know, where I'm sharing stories and ideas and tips and answering questions. I want people to be inspired, but I mostly hope they'll go and do something about it. That's what really makes me happy. Not that it's about me, 'cause it's not about me, it's about you.
Anyway, I want you to be able to take action. So today, it is failure Friday, but as I said, it ends positively. Today's short story features Mark Hanson, a longtime listener. He's had a lot of ideas, you know, hasn't taken action, but let's hear about the struggle and what he's gonna do next, okay? Key point, what he's gonna do next.
I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. But first, here is Mark. [Music]
All right, let's get into it. My name is Mark, and for the past year, I've been what you might call an aspirational side hustler. I can't even count the number of ideas that have passed through my mind, none of which have moved past the concept stage.
To be clear, I haven't been daydreaming about launching SpaceX competitors or inventing time machines. My ideas have been more grounded, but still, I haven't moved forward until now. First, there was the idea of drop shipping tech gadgets. I figured with everyone working remotely these days, ergonomic keyboards and smart home devices would be a hit. I even opened a Shopify account but never stalked it because I started second guessing myself.
Then I thought about freelance writing. I got as far as creating a profile on freelancing platform, but never submitted any proposals. I considered print on demand t-shirts with quirky quotes related to current events. Setting up an account, check. Designing the shirts, nope, didn't do it.
I read articles and watched YouTube tutorials, made a list of potential niches, and then let that Google Doc collect virtual dust. Lastly, I thought about offering virtual PowerPoint and Keynote classes. It's a skill people need, and I'm good at it. I outlined the curriculum but never got to actually marketing it or setting up the classes. The common thread in all these?
In action. I had this constant back and forth in my mind, rationalizing why now wasn't the right time. In hindsight, the barrier wasn't the feasibility of these projects, but rather my hesitance to commit and take that first real step. However, recent changes at my job were a wake-up call. Without getting into details, some instability has made me realize that if there's ever a time to act, it's now.
We're heading into Q4, and I'm officially putting myself on notice. So here's the plan. I'm taking the affiliate marketing route. The groundwork is already there, and the startup costs are low. It's something I can manage alongside my day job, but could also scale in the future.
I'm going to move past ideation and get this off the ground before the year ends. Consider this my pledge, a form of accountability. In three months, I'll be back. [Music]
The tagline of failure Friday is never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. So if you, dear listeners, if you have been one of these people who's had ideas but hasn't taken action for whatever reason, look, there is grace and understanding.
I've had so many ideas I haven't done anything about, right? I think the key point is just to take action on some, right? Don't worry about choosing the perfect thing. Take action on something. So thanks to Mark for bravely sharing the story, and I respect the accountability.
We're going to hear from him again. I really expect that in three months, and that was the deadline he set, we're going to have an update from him with his actual functioning side hustle. Again, his words there. So listeners, I hope that you will take action as well, and don't worry about taking a huge action also, just as there is no perfect idea. Sometimes taking small steps can just kind of help you get going, and then you'll figure out what the next step is.
So ask yourself, what's the domain? You can register. What is the one page website you can set up? What is the outline you can write today? The steps of like, what's it like to have a checkout process or an e-commerce process?
I've shared a lot about this on the blog and in various books and such. So there's all kinds of things you can do. I just encourage you to pick one today. sidehustleschool.com/questions. If you have, well, questions.
Today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2470. My friends, thank you so much for being out there. Thank you for tuning in. I make this show for you, and I'll be back again tomorrow. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
