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I have a confession to make: I have a serious case of side hustle fever.

And what this means is that I’d start side hustle after side hustle that I pretty much become what my friends called a “full-time side hustler.” But what’s a side hustle, you might ask? So we’re completely on the same page from here on in, here’s what I mean by a side hustle, easy-peasy.

A side hustle is an alternative source of profit apart from your job.

Nice and simple, right?

If you ask anybody right now whether or not they’d want an income stream that isn’t their 9-5, chances are they’ll say yes. And why wouldn’t they? I mean, I haven’t met anyone who’s started a side hustle and didn’t love all the cool stuff that came along with it.

So in case you’re still on the fence about starting one for yourself – or just plain need more reasons to convince you how awesome a side hustle is – here are 4 life-changing, amazing reasons you should get (side) hustling right now.

A side hustle brings security

Let’s begin with the most obvious reason a side hustle is one of the coolest things in the world: a separate income stream. But what does that mean exactly?

If right now your only way of sustaining yourself is with your day job, then a side hustle can give you more security.

You might find yourself taking one sick leave too many. You might get into an emergency. Or you might even just find yourself in a place where you’ll be spending a lot more than usual. (Like welcoming a new baby or having your rent increased.)

Related: 5 Practical Hacks to Help You Actually Achieve Your Goals This Month

But with a side hustle, you’ll at least earn extra cash to either save or buffer a few hefty expenses. Sure, the amount you earn from a side hustle isn’t probably enough to replace your breadwinning job – but remember that that isn’t the point.

After all, what’s an extra hundred bucks a month? Without a side hustle, that’s an extra hundred bucks a month that you could have made but didn’t.

Let’s insert a little example to help you get the bigger picture.

Say my side hustle is teaching ballet to little girls around my neighborhood every week. Assuming I make $20 per session, that’s an extra $80 in my pocket at the end of the month. And in the long-term, that’s up to $960 a year.

And you’ll earn faster than leaving money in the bank

Now before you accuse me of being a bank-hater, know this: I love putting my money in the bank. Most of my savings are in my bank accounts, and I strongly advise everyone to always keep their money somewhere safer than their homes.

One thing all bank-users might know is that most, if not all, banks have an interest rate. Or simply put: your money grows in the bank without you doing anything. While that’s great and amazing, one reason I don’t rely on this alone is because you don’t really earn a lot that fast anyway.

Related: How I Made My First 100K From Side Hustles Alone

I don’t want to overwhelm you with banking concepts, so I won’t. But know that the average interest rate you earn with your savings account is less than 1%. That’s not much especially if your savings aren’t that big to begin with. So you can imagine where a side hustle might come in.

Instead of waiting to grow your savings account – let’s say you’ve got $1,000 in your account right now, and (best case scenario) it’ll earn you $10 from interest – you can turn to your trusty side hustle.

Let’s say you start a side hustle to sell your old clothes that are all in excellent condition. You might do this consistently throughout the year, even offering to sell secondhand stuff of your mom or sister or friends. Now imagine earning $5 per item, and you sell 100 items in the first three months.

Compared to the $10 you get waiting for interest from your bank, you make an extra $500 just in first quarter of the year. Just to make an extra $500 relying on savings interest alone could take years. But look! A side hustle just totally gave you that in less than half the time.

You get to help other people that need your side hustle

There are other, non-money-related reasons you should start a side hustle. One of them is that you have this real chance to help other people with things they might actually need help with.

Related: How to Manage a Creative Business Even When You Have a Day Job

Say your hobby is in illustrating. Now say you offer to an aspiring-author friend of yours to illustrate their book cover. You show them your portfolio, and they really like your art style. And magic happens: they commission you!

So not only do you get to make money from a hobby of yours, you also help a friend with their own project. Who knows? They might have been considering high-ticket illustrators but were on the fence because of the professional agency-esque prices. Or maybe they didn’t know where to look at all.

But you being their book illustrator? You really helped them get the most bang out of their buck. You aren’t an agency anyway, so you don’t need to charge for all those professional overheads. Your friend might have been able to save a lot of money because of you – and get a beautiful book cover.

And perhaps one of my favorite reasons to have a side hustle?

A side hustle will help you grow

I’ll carry over the previous example because I had a lot of fun with that one.

So imagine this: your author friend refers you to her other friends in need of an illustrator. And you actually get a steady stream of these clients. So what happens then?

Related: You’re a Creative. No, Really.

For one thing, all those clients give you a reason to improve in your craft. You learn more about what you do, and you grow in it. You might find ways to get better at certain techniques – and even in handling these clients systematically.

I’m no happiness doctor, but I know that trying new things, staying curious, and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones are ways to help us grow. And when we grow, the world opens up, and we’re just happier and more content in life.

And that’s honestly why I have side hustle fever: because I’m so, so, so happy when I get to explore and learn and grow – and it doesn’t hurt that I earn a little extra while I’m at it.

Related: Why Trying New Things Makes Us Happier

Bonus

If you want to enjoy all the good things that happen when you start a side hustle, I’ve put together a free handy mini course on how to get started!

I promise that this is full of actionable, valuable lessons and tips – and even fillable and printable worksheets! – to help you along the way. I’ve designed this course so that in just 5 days, you’ll have a solid side hustle idea that you can launch right way!

In case this sounds like a mini course you’d like to take, click on the photo below. I’ll be sending you a confirmation email just to verify that you’re really serious about starting your own successful and profitable side hustle. So be sure to check your email right away and confirm your enrollment to the course!

Leave me a comment

Do you currently have a side hustle, or have you wanted to start one? What kind of side hustle do you have or want to have?