4 Reasons why you should start a Midlife Side-Hustle

“Don’t wish for things to be easier, wish for you to be better” – Jim Rohn

There’s no denying that things are getting a lot tougher these days, what with pandemics, supply chain issues and the cost of living. It’s particularly worrying for those of us in our 40s, 50s and 60s as we wonder if we’ll be able to support ourselves in our senior years.

Thankfully, while there are lots of things we can’t control, there is one that we can, and on today’s episode, I’m going to give you 4 reasons why you should start a Midlife Side-Hustle!

As a veteran of many a side-hustle – some good, some not so good – I’ve got plenty of first-hand experience with what it takes to start something from scratch on the side, while holding down a job or being a SAH mother.

Launching a side-hustle can certainly be a juggling act, but hey, substitute an hour of chilling in front of Netflix for an hour working on your fledgling business and you will be amazed at what you can achieve over time! Like in my case, you might even find that your side-hustle eventually becomes your full-time hustle.

There’s no doubting the wisdom of starting a side-hustle instead of throwing in your job and hoping that you will earn enough to pay the bills right from the get-go. Today however, I’m sharing 4 other reasons why I think you should start a midlife side-hustle – so let’s dive in!

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4 Reasons why you should start a Midlife Side-Hustle!

1. Supplement your income

This is probably the most obvious of the 4 reasons, but it’s still worth mentioning. Instead of complaining day after day about the rising prices of commodities – something we cannot change – why not focus your energy instead on creating another income stream?

If lockdowns showed us nothing else, they revealed the need to have more than one source of income. Starting a side-hustle – which means that you still have the stability of your main income while getting it off the ground – makes complete sense.

2.  Learn New Skills

Many midlifers are intimidated at the thought of having to learn new skills – particularly tech-related skills. The line “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is their motto, and this story they have told themselves is often the thing that holds them back from creating something which could potentially change their life for the better.

If you are also holding yourself back due to your lack of skills, I want to remind you that you haven’t made it this far in life without learning a few things along the way – and one of the most important is that if you are clueless about something, you have the capacity to research and find someone who does know!

This way you can either outsource the area you don’t understand, or have someone teach you. Not knowing how to do something is not an excuse for inaction! When I look at what I can do now – build a website, create an automated landing page and email sequence, record and upload a podcast, write and publish books – all of these skills have been learned at midlife. Be encouraged, as if I can do it – you certainly can!

3.  Meet New People

As we journey through our midlife season, our circle of friends starts to grow smaller as people move away, get divorced or pass away. I know this firsthand having lost two of my close girlfriends to cancer with the third preparing to leave the country soon.  

We used to have many opportunities to meet new people and make new friends when we were involved with our children’s schools, clubs and sports teams. As well, there were opportunities to connect through work and networking events.These days however our children are grown, and our workplaces changed with many people now working from home or made redundant following the impact of the pandemic.   

It’s no surprise that our personal world is getting smaller and our friend circle tiny compared to what it was a decade ago, however launching a midlife side-hustle can change this! Business coaches, fellow students, entrepreneur groups – both online and offline – can help you connect with many new people and you will be amazed at how quickly your friend circle starts to grow! There is no way that I would be invited to speak at so many international summits, or have the privilege to interview such amazing people for the Rocking Midlife® Podcast, or be able to call so many amazing people my friend if I hadn’t made that initial step to intentionally start a side hustle when my daughter finished school.

When you commit to launching and growing a side-hustle, you will be amazed at how your world grows and the new friendships you will make along the way.

You might like to check out these posts too:

• Have you considered starting a side-hustle?
• Am I too old to build a successful online business?

4. Have a Sense of Purpose

I mention often that midlife is the season when you suddenly realise how quickly time is racing by, and you have less years ahead compared to behind. Along with this realisation is a growing desire to create something significant – and for many, their job is not fulfilling that desire.

Thankfully, a side-hustle has the ability to enable this desire to be fulfilled. You can create a side-hustle around whatever cause or mission you want, and the result will be that instead of just having a business – you’ll now have a purpose – and that is powerful. Imagine being so inspired about what you do, that you can’t wait to jump out of bed and start work each day? That is exactly how I feel about what I do today and let me tell you – it is the best feeling!!

So there you have it – 4 reasons why you should start that midlife side-hustle. Where they what you expected, or have I given you some things to think about? I’d love to know your thoughts, so please do leave me a comment!

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