The idea of a side hustle bringing you an extra 3-figure revenue each month is way too attractive to pass on, right? After all, if you can keep on doing what you’ve done and get extra money just by adding a few hours here and there, why would you not do it?

Nowadays, the internet is full of ideas and concepts to put in place in order to “make a $1,000 a month!” or such “get rich quick” schemes.

I’ve been writing for just over a year now and spend at least 1 hour a day, every single day, on writing. Yet, I have made a total of $156.16 as of today, December 20th. Clearly, this could be considered a sign that it’s not for me, right?

In reality, it isn’t how much money I made that matters and I would even go as far as saying:

I am glad I haven’t made much money.

It taught me invaluable lessons and probably will continue to do so.

1. The value of Patience

Let’s be honest for a moment. Nobody starts a side hustle with the expectation of not making any money from it. That just isn’t the world we live in. If we start an activity and don’t make any money from it, it quickly goes from the “side hustle” status to “hobby”.

Whether we want it or not, the “get rich quick” mindset is inside each and every one of us. If we could make money quickly, who would say no to that after all?

Throughout the year, I have had periods during which I suddenly got more readers and, for a while, I even went as far as thinking I had found my voice and readership. Well, guess what, I didn’t. My views went back down despite my efforts to keep on trying to write better articles.

Then again, I’ve never studied writing properly and one year is short when it comes to writing. Most people who “make it” had been writing for years before they finally got any sort of real success.

Not making money means the time you spent seems— in a way — worthless. You spend hours you could have spent relaxing or on some other more rewardful money-wise.

However, it is a crucial aspect of trying anything new. You learn new skills and knowledge to be ready for the long-term. And, as a result, you learn to be patient.

2. How to Keep Motivation

This being said, no matter how patient you are, your brain will, without fault, get in the way and push you to consider either trying something else or just give up.

The only way to stay on track on not give up when results don’t show is to come back to the deepest reason you started this side hustle in the first place: your “Why”.

Going into any venture without a deeply-rooted “Why” is almost like setting yourself on a path of failure. The moment motivation falters, nothing will be able to keep you from giving up.

My year may not have shown many results in terms of money, but the rare people who thanked me for a piece of advice given reminded me how important it is for me to try to help others. The few responses I got on my article about becoming fluent in a year were priceless.

If you don’t know your “why” and haven’t lost motivation yet, then make sure to take some time to dig deeper within you and find it. You’ll definitely regret it if you don’t.

3. Twerk your actions

Another great reason to not make much money from your side hustle comes in the form of the lack of impact you leave on the rest of the world. If you’re not making any money — or only just a bit — then your actions won’t matter that much, right?

This means you can start experimenting by trying new, related but still different, tasks. This, in turn, can push you to develop new skills, discover new angles to tackle your goals.

You get to evolve in some sort, without leaving too much of an impact on your legacy. If what you try doesn’t bring results either, it’s fine too! At least you will know for sure and will have broaden both your skills and mind as a whole.

Along the months, I’ve tried to write various types of articles but I think the one which was the most “out of bounds” was an imaginary conversation about conversations in writing.

You certainly hope to make money out of your side hustle. It’s fine and I’d gladly make some too if it were fully up to me. Unfortunately, it isn’t so no matter how hard it gets, keep your head high, try things out and remember your “Why ”to find the path.

And until results start appearing, enjoy the learning experience that is a side hustle. Whether it works out or not, you’ll acquire lifelong skills anyway.