Side Hustle: Should I Focus On My Finances Over My Passion?

The right way to build a side hustle into a stable and lucrative career to replace your current job.

In this video coaching newsletter I discuss an email from a 27 year old viewer who makes about $42,000 per year in insurance sales. He lives with his mother and sister to save money. He wants to do music and spend more time focusing on that. He is considering doing copyrighting on the side to make extra money to spoil his girlfriend and daughter and so he can move out. However, he is worried the extra work will interfere with his ability to spend time on his music. He asks my opinion if it’s a good plan. My comments are in bold italics like this below in the body of his email.

Hi, I’m Coach Corey Wayne and this is my Video Coaching Newsletter. And the topic of today’s Members Only Newsletter is, “Side Hustle. Should I Focus On My Finances Over My Passion?”

Well this particular emails from a guy. He’s 27 years old. He makes about $42,000 a year in insurance sales. He lives with his sister and in the past year he moved his mother in. And now she’s like bossing them around, telling them what to do. “Where are you going? Who are you going with?” In other words, treating him like he’s a child all over again. And of course, he doesn’t like that. He’s got a girlfriend of a year. And so he wants to get his own place. He wants to move out. But he’s also got a passion for music, and everybody tells him he’s really good at it.

So he wants to focus on doing that, but he also wants to make more money. And so he’s thinking of doing some copywriting on the side. However, he’s worried that if he starts doing copywriting on the side, that that will interfere with the amount of time he’s able to devote to his music. And so he’s got this goal. He’s got this dream in the music business.

He doesn’t say whether it’s a musician or a singer or a producer or in a touring band. He doesn’t really go into to detail about it, but it’s a good email because this particular topic, especially if you’re doing something now, for money, I mean, sometimes you have to be, you have to do things you hate in order to do things that you love.

And I discussed this at Depth in Mastering Yourself, my second Book, which you can also read on in the Members Area of the Website. Especially this guy should definitely read that, because it’s a long process. and so he’s got a good paying job and a good paying career for now. He wants, he’s hungry, he’s determined, he’s ambitious, he wants to make some additional money.

So he has more money for his girlfriend and obviously be able to get his own place and to get a new car because he wants to give his car to his mom and his sister for them to have something to use, but he’s worried about, like, “how do I balance all this stuff out? What should I focus on first?” You know, “I don’t want to sacrifice my passion because of my side hustle to make some extra money.”

Viewer Email:

Hey Coach,

I discovered your work since I first started college through a friend, and I can’t tell you how I grateful I am to have done so. I am now 27 and you have completely changed my dating life and relationship life, and got me to where I am today. I am now in a committed and happy relationship of 6 months, with a woman who adores me and always tells me how safe she feels around me. I can’t thank you enough. Currently, I am working as a health insurance sales agent. The pay is okay, and I make around $42,000 a month.

I assume that he means a year. Because if he was making $42,000 a month, none of this would even be a discussion. So I assume he meant 42,000 a year.

Recently my mother who has moved from Haiti, due to the instability going on in the country, has moved into my apartment. With me and my sister for the time being until things calm down. Only things don’t seem to be getting any better and she has been living with us for well over a year.

Well, I mean, I’m 54 and Haiti has always been a mess. They’ve always had problems. It’s like there’s been many cases where we’ve interfered or intervened, I should say, and depose the leader because they became corrupt. It’s like, that’s just a problem with the government, and part of the culture there. And now, I think you got a bunch of gangs, criminal gangs running the country, and it’s incredibly unsafe. Plus, there’s been a lot of interference from outside countries and interests. So I don’t think Haiti becoming a stable, democratic civilization is going to happen anytime soon, or even in our lifetimes, unfortunately. So it’s very nice for you to move your mother over and take care of her and get her out of out of that place.

Being a mother, she has started to micromanage everything I do especially the time I come home some times at night and the things that I do, especially when I take my girlfriend out on dates. I have decided to move out as soon as possible in order to regain my sense of independence. 

You have to say, “Mom, I love you, but stop trying to micromanage my life. I’m not a child anymore. I’m an adult. I’m 27, and you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. This is my house. I pay for everything. You’re a guest here, and you need to treat me with respect.” So you might have to put your mom in her place. Especially. You’re paying all her bills and taking care of her. Last thing you want to do is pay to have somebody nag you on a constant basis.

I have always been driven to make music and have been told by several that I have a talent for it, however I am also trying to save up in order to move out and get another car and leave the car that I currently have now for my mom and sister.

Well that’s a very nice thing to do. Does your sister work? She should.

I am thinking about doing copywriting on the side in order to make the necessary income to not only move out, but to sustain a lifestyle of living alone.

Well, why not focus more on the career you already have? Maybe. What can you do to increase your income? Or maybe you’re limited? Maybe you should also look at potentially changing employers that offer a more lucrative compensation plan, because now you have experience in that particular industry and being in health care since the government, you know, spends a lot of money. That’s a pretty good stable career for most people to be in.

So if I were you, I’d potentially be looking to make some kind of lateral move within your company that can pay you more, or maybe go work for a different insurance company that has a better comp plan. That’s personally one of the first things I’d be looking at. Because copywriting, doing copywriting on the side, is that something that you know how to do? That’s something you’re an expert at. How much is it going to pay? Is it better to do a side hustle like copywriting for additional money? Is that the best side job that you can come up with?

Because quite frankly, you’re only going to work hard at things you really love and you really enjoy and just doing something for money, especially if you have no experience doing copywriting and you’re doing it because of the money you think you’re going to make. Well, if you don’t really enjoy it, it’s going to be pretty hard to motivate yourself to keep working when you’re not making money. It’d be much better to spend your time on your music.

If that’s something you really have a passion for and you deeply love, and you also should be modeling the success of other people that are doing really well in the music industry, so you can determine which path is right for you. Again, he doesn’t say anything other than he wants to make music. Does that mean producing music? Does that mean writing music? Does it mean composing music? Are you a singer? Do you play guitar? Do you play the trumpet? Do you play the drums? Like, what is it that you play? How is it that you plan to make money? Do you want to go on tour? Do you want to make your own records? Do you want to produce other people’s music? Do you play the keyboard?

It’s like, what is it specifically that really is your passion? And then once you know what that is, or maybe there’s several parts of it. I did an email a couple of weeks ago for a guy that’s already he’s definitely further ahead of you. He has a lot of contacts in the industry, and so he’s a musician, but he also produces music. And so he does a lot of different; he wears a lot of hats in the industry because he’s got a passion for all of it. And you know, when you look at historically, people like somebody like a Carole King who in the 50s and 60s, she was a very good singer songwriter, but she really made her money. And this is somebody you can Google. I don’t know if she’s still alive or not, but she was like one of their early ones.

She was just great at writing music, but what she really excelled at was writing music for other people that were better singers or better musicians. And she made a lot of money off of producing and helping write for other people. So it really depends on what your passion is. It’s because as you, the more you get into something, it’s like, I talk about Mastering Yourself, when I got into real estate, initially, I just wanted to buy, fix, and sell single family homes for a profit.

But after I’d been in the business for several years, we had a real estate brokerage, we had a mortgage company, we had a holding company, my partner had a title company. And so we had all of these businesses, and because I was working in it, I saw another opportunity to increase the leads that were getting instead of just trying to sell our foreclosure properties that we had, we were getting other people that maybe wanted to live in different areas.

And so I looked at that as well, “Let’s continue advertising in the ways that are working, and then we can just sell regular listings off the MLS and provide the loans for them.” So when you get in the business and you immerse yourself in it, you’ll see other business opportunities, other streams of income that you can develop. The important thing is to get into what it is that you really love and do that. Because it’s in the process of doing what you love, that other opportunities come along. It’s something simple like you look at somebody who used to do comic books, or they would do a comic strip.

And so you do the comic strip and then maybe since the comic strip does well, you write a comic book or a book of your best ones, and then you sell that. Now you’ve got a product to sell. And then, because those do so well and it’s got such a huge following, then you end up maybe making an animated movie with your comics or your comic strip or a series of them. You look at something like a Garfield, which started out as a comic strip and eventually got made into, had a cartoon show, and eventually it got made into a live action movie. I think that was Bill Murray did the voice of that.

And so you have to look and see based on the things you love and you enjoy the instruments and the other opportunities that there are in the industry. What are you most passionate about, and like do all of them. You know, I talked about a client of mine that was an actor and had gotten out of the acting business after he had some big hits and did some big movies, one of them with Denzel Washington. I did some video newsletters on him years ago. And he got out of the business for several years because he had to take care of his kids.

And then once his kids got old enough and were in school and could take care of themselves, then he’s like, “okay, I’m going to get back to my acting career.” And then by then he got dropped by the talent agent that was managing him. And it was like because they were like, “what have you done lately?” It was like they didn’t care. “They thought it was really nice. He took care of your kids, but it’s like you haven’t been working in years, so you’re starting at square one.” And so to make a long story short, eventually, you know, him being in the process of acting and grinding and going to auditions and stuff.

He made contacts in the industry, and he got on the other side of the camera instead of dogmatically, “I’ve got to always be in front of the camera. There was a lot of business opportunity to work behind the camera.” So we started producing and help write and develop and get movies made that he could have small bit parts in, but he was mostly working in the back end and had a production company and everything, and it’s done really well and they made a bunch of movies. And so his passion just being in it, he made connections.

He met other friends, they got to talking, they had connections. They each brought different skill sets. And so they ended up creating a whole production company. And so he expanded his talent stack, if you will, to borrow a term that Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comics, first coined. And so when you have a lot of different passions and talents, if you will, you can stack them. And so you can create multiple streams of income that way. So as a musician, an aspiring musician, again, I don’t know much.

Maybe he’s a DJ, maybe he’s a rap artist, maybe he plays an instrument, plays in a band. I don’t know, he didn’t really elaborate on what he’s into. But as you get into the business and you start to meet other people, you meet other musicians. That’s what happens. It’s like when I got in the real estate, the buy, fix and sell business. My background was construction, so I knew how to build. And then the company that I started buying my properties from, I got to know the the owners and the other guys that worked there.

We started hanging out, we became friends. We would talk about properties. We would talk about construction. We would talk about just all the different aspects. And eventually they offered me a job. And so I started working there. And when I went to work there, I got to learn all the other side of the business I didn’t get exposure to. And that’s where I met my other two business partners. And, you know, I developed relationships with them. And so eventually we left and we started our own thing.

And being in the business of doing what you really love. Like I said, that’s kind of how opportunities tend to come along and they tend to happen. And so in this case, this guy has to be able to devote time to his music and he’s thinking, because he’s already working in the insurance industry, he’s got a good paying job, he’s got a track record. And so if it was me, I would be looking. What can I do to get beyond $42,000 a year? Is there a job? Is there a promotion? Is there a lateral move in the company I need to apply for or interview for to increase my income earning potential, take on more responsibility, move up the corporate ladder, whatever it happens to be? Or is there another insurance company that I could go work for that can give me a job or an opportunity that pays me more?

So instead of doing copywriting at all, because again, it’s you already are doing something, you know, as he said, “it’s okay, it pays the bills”, but he’s not really excited about it. And now he’s saying, “hey, I’m going to become a copywriter.” And unless becoming a copywriter is something you’re really passionate about, or it can really pay you a lot of money and you can make more money doing that than insurance. I would recommend that you build upon the career you already have, and the context you already have, and the insurance industry, and then devote your extra time to the music business.

Unless copywriting is just a small part time thing that can pay you a bunch of money and you’re sure you can do it. And this is some kind of skill set you have because we get paid based upon the value that we bring to the marketplace. We get paid for our reserve of knowledge and developing our gifts and our skills and our talents. And I know about copywriting, especially sales copywriting, because I studied it, and I’ve been using that my whole life because I’ve been advertising my companies and businesses since I was in my 20s. So I’m very experienced with this, and I know there are people on the internet that offer courses and classes. “Oh, you’ll make tons of money doing this.”

But they’re really making their money on selling the copywriting course. Not so much making money doing actual copywriting. So you have to take those things with a grain of salt. You know, it’s like the bird in the hand versus the bird in the bush. You have the opportunity to make additional money in copywriting. But is that something you’re really passionate about or something you have a skill set for? Because if you don’t, it’d be better to lean in more to your insurance job and see what you can do to increase your income there, or apply for a different job in the company.

Make a lateral move in the company, or maybe look at going to work at another company completely that has a better comp plan, a better opportunity for you so you can continue to climb the corporate ladder. Because if you’re making 42,000 a year, but there’s a job at a different company that pays 60,000 a year, would that be a much better situation, because you’re now going to spend the same amount of time working in the industry that you already have experience in, and you want to work smarter, not harder. Because you’re not trying to take on a bunch of extra work, and especially what’s going to frustrate you if you start spending all this time copywriting and chasing deals and chasing money and then everything else kind of starts to suffer because of it.

I also want to spoil my girlfriend and her daughter because I believe that they deserve it.

I know I can do well in copywriting, however I am afraid that if I focus a majority of my time on copywriting that I wont have enough time to focus on my craft. The plan was to get really good at copywriting in order to have the freedom to pursue my passion and purpose, and not have to stress or worry about bills. Should I focus on getting my finances in order first, or should I just focus on my passion?

Would love to hear your thoughts. 

Best,

Bob

Well, trying to earn extra money to spoil your girlfriend and your daughter, that’s nice and it’s noble, but that shouldn’t be your focus. Because the other thing you got to keep in mind is you always got to pay yourself first. 20% of whatever you make. So if you’re making 42,000 a year, then about 8 or 9,000 of that needs to be put away for savings, whether it’s retirement account or your IRA account, or if you’re good at picking stocks, you pick stocks directly. And if you’re not good at picking stocks like Daddy Buffett says, then you should probably take your money and put it into some kind of index fund.

Maybe an index retirement fund that is tied to the S&P 500, because you’ll typically earn around 17 to 18% per year with a compounding. And your time is always going to pass. So no matter what you make, 20% comes off the top, and whatever’s left, you can spend that on your rent spoiling your girlfriend, buying a car or buying clothes, traveling, whatever it happens to be. But 20% has got to come off the top first, and then whatever’s left, the 80% is left. You can spend that on your bills. Because your business, your side hustle.

Especially if you’re only making $42,000 a year, it’s like it’s going to be very easy to spend all that money and not have anything left and say, oh, I’ll save tomorrow. I’ll save next week. I’ll save in ten years. There’s always other expenses. And what will happen is you’ll get to be in your 50s and your 60s, and you don’t have any money saved at all for your retirement. Whereas if you start saving in your 20s, by the time you get into your 50s or 60s, you can cut back, you can work part time, because now you can start living off the interest of your investments if you so choose.

Because again, time is going to pass and you need the effect of compounding. So I would highly recommend that you consult with somebody in your country and your city, your state, that can advise you on these matters and help you set up, whether, because again, I’m dealing with people globally. So it’s in Australia. They have a different type of retirement account that’s tax free. It’s similar to what we have in the States. But it’s going to be a little different. So again, you got to seek people that are experts in the finance industry that can help you set those things up.

And no matter what happens, the money gets put away. It’s not a rainy day fund. It’s not emergency money. It’s not money that you take out of your retirement account to start a business. It’s like that is the money that you’re going to live off of when you either don’t want to work anymore or physically can’t work anymore. Unless, of course, you want to be one of those old people bagging groceries in your 80s and your 90s because Social Security or the amount of money that you saved is not enough.

So that’s another thing that you got to keep in mind. And again, so if it was me and I was working in insurance, I’d be looking at it like, “how can I make more money in the insurance industry.” Instead of, “oh, how can I make money in copywriting?” Unless you’re certain it’s something you can do on the side and definitely make money, But I suspect more than likely, you probably came across some dude on the internet that sells a course and claims that you’ll make hundreds and thousands of dollars and millions of dollars being a copywriter. And more than likely the person selling that course. That’s how they really make their money.

Not copywriting, but by selling people courses, teaching them copywriting. So that’s what I would be looking at if I were you. And then in the meantime, once you finally figure out whether it’s a lateral move in your company or finding a company that pays you more or has the next step up the corporate ladder, that’s the way you should be looking at it. And you continue to focus on your insurance career that’s going to pay the bills, even though it’s okay and you’re not really that passionate about it, you’re already doing decently well in it.

And so the idea is you want to increase your income earning potential so the extra time you do have, you can focus on your music career. But again, as I talk about Mastering Yourself, you want to find out, “who are the top ten people in the music business doing the kind of music that I want to do. How are they monetizing that? What streams of income do they have?”

And because the idea is you want to have multiple streams of income, I mean, you look at my business, I’ve got Books, I’ve got Audio Books, I’ve got physical Books, I’ve got phone sessions, I have digital memberships, I have people send donations, I make money on ads being shown on my videos. And so I’ve got multiple and plus I’ve got merchandise, I got mugs and all these other things, t shirts, all that stuff. So I’ve got multiple streams of income and any business you go into, you want to have multiple ways that you monetize it. You don’t want to just rely upon one way to monetize it.

That’s why you want to model the success of people that are ahead of you, that are already succeeding at the highest level, doing what you want to do, and you want to model how they set their life up, how they set their career up, how they set their business up, and what things they tend to focus on so they can have multiple streams of income, like my client, who’s become very successful once again, and the movie business, he gets to scratch his itch for being an actor. Plus he also has his own production company. So now he’s wearing many hats and so he has multiple streams of income, and that is the right way to do things. So as you go through life and you get older, you set yourself up that you can live the life and lifestyle that you want.

So, if you’ve got a question or a challenge and you’d like to get my help, go to UnderstandingRelationships.com, click the Products tab at the top of your screen on any page, and book a coaching session with yours truly. Until next time, I will talk to you soon.