Five things that you did not realise about the value of a side hustle.
The past few weeks have whizzed by in a whirl. I have been working hard at balancing things. I have my work/work balance as well as my work/life balance to consider.
Work/work balance
Work/work balance has been tipped in favour of coaching recently. It is a quiet time for aviation medicals at this time of year, so I have been working hard on writing a new online coaching course. It is the sort of course that I would have found extremely valuable when I wanted to sort out my messy, middle life confusion as I entered my forties and beyond. It is called “Your Life, Your Rules, Your Way” and follows my coaching process.
My course is ready for beta testing of the written content before I make and add some audio-visuals. I need some help with testing the content and need five volunteers, so if you are interested, please do let me know. I do not need you to complete the whole course, but to review the content and provide some feedback via a survey. Click this link to register your interest.
My last post was all about discovering blind spots and asking for your feedback about my online course is a valuable insight into my potential blind spots. It is easy to get bogged down in details and wander away from what you would really like help with as you navigate change.
Work/life balance
Work/life balance has been going well and my strategy for doing more strength training seems to be working. My strategy is about to get another test elsewhere. Talking my talk and walking my walk in action. More about that another time...
Do you have a side hustle?
Anyone who has more than one job on the go, will know what I mean by work/work balance. The concept of the "side hustle" is well known, it is a small business that a person pursues alongside another, usually more stable, job. For many years I had my main job as a doctor in the NHS working as Consultant Anaesthetist, and my side hustle was working as an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). I only had time to do aviation medicals one afternoon per week.
My work/work balance has been a constant for me for as long as I have been in my messy, middle part of life. Looking back, I can see that my side hustle was one of the strategies, that I tried out as part of my route to change. I had no intention of it becoming a new career at the time. I thought of my side hustle as nothing more than an add-on to my "real job."
I did not even plan to start a side hustle. Just as I was turning 40, I was given a trial flying lesson, as a gift, by my husband. He and I knew that it was well outside my comfort zone, and I decided that it would be a one-off experience just to prove that I could do it (to him and to me!). What happened was that I enjoyed it, and that led to learning to fly and achieving a private pilot’s licence. I had no idea that it would be the first step on the path to a career change. All pilots, air traffic controllers and cabin crew need to have a medical certificate. When I went for my own medical, a seed was planted in my mind that I could use my medical knowledge to train and apply to become an AME.
The seed of the idea began to grow, and I decided to do the extra training to become an AME because I was getting disillusioned in my main job. My NHS job had started to feel like it was out of my control. The system was in charge, and I was increasingly working outside my values . It was becoming stressful to fit into a system , that made me feel like I was the problem and in need of fixing.
My side hustle served me well for these reasons:
It reinvigorated my interest in my career and expanded my horizons.
It enabled me to think outside my fixed box.
I learnt new skills. I had never set up a business before.
It gave me back some control. As an AME, I work on behalf of a regulator. That means that there is oversight and many rules to follow. But within the framework, I could choose when, how and with whom I worked. I had no idea how important that one afternoon, of being my own boss, was for me and my wellbeing.
It helped me to stay in my main job for longer. I was not ready to make a drastic career change at the time. A major change felt daunting and scary, but my side hustle felt manageable and within my control.
I have highlighted some of the important words that stood out for me. Some of them may resonate with you.
Sometimes it is not possible or practical to leave your job or change your career completely. But you might be able to do one small thing to change the way you feel about it. One afternoon a week was all that I needed. One afternoon a week started to open doors and it had an impact in so many other areas of my life. It was another five years before I decided to make a bigger career change.
What could you do in one afternoon a week?