My whole life I have enjoyed a sense of curiosity for the world and how it works. I have never been biased to one thing or another. It just always seemed natural to try and do a bunch of things. It seems to me I have tried to make the most of what is right in front of me right now. While this has served me my whole life in adapting to what life has to offer and enjoy the most of it, I now struggle in the face of settling on a side hustle.
You might ask, “Lauren, why do you need a side hustle?” It’s a good question, one that I hope to fully answer through my journey. Right now, this is how I see it; I work a normal 40 hour work week as a bio-engineer designing medical devices. I love what I do, I really do. There is purpose to my work, I work with great colleagues, and it is constantly challenging. However, the longer I exist in this space, I realize that I might want an eventual out. Existing as bottom layer of a large corporation is like being at the end of a whip. Someone at the top lightly flicks their wrist and here at the end of the whip is being yanked from one end to the other. It’s exhausting fighting the bureaucratic *poop*. The other option in this space is to move up the managerial ladder, while I’m not completely ruling it out, I have seen so many lose their souls in the pursuit of the ladder. So here I am trying to find my next space in the world. One that hopefully has just as much purpose and is equally challenging.
Being an engineer, I am going to put a scope on what I am going to try to do here. My objective on this journey is to evaluate different potential side hustles and try to settle on one to run with. The side hustle is just a cog in the system. The real goal is financial independence and the freedom to pursue my passions and find value in the life I have. I am going to make a list of potential side hustle categories and take 1 week to evaluate each one and report back. Hopefully we both come out on the other side of this having learned something new.
Okay, so what are my options? I need this to be sustainable. I come home from work tired, and the pull from Netflix is real. So either, passive, or something I love to do:
Passive Options:
- Airbnb, we have a garage/ spare bedroom? Is there a creative outlet here?
- Rental property (we will call this passive, based on its long term output)
Love to do Options:
- Consulting, engineering design
- Create a product! It is what I do and I love it
- Wine Making
- Guitar
- Cooking, baking/health
- Recording Music
- Latte art
- Biking/bike packing/adventure traveling
- I have always wanted to make a tear drop trailer or cedar canoe
- Whisky
- Dog Training
- Wood working
Now that I have quote the list, it’s time to get busy. I guess I will start at the top and work my way through it.