Regret Not Starting a Side Hustle Earlier: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers in 2025

The Regret of Delayed Action

There are so many regrets like "regret not doing something earlier", but unfortunately, they don't really help. We've talked before about not presupposing difficulties. A lot of difficulties don't actually exist; they're just paper tigers.

Today, in a workplace group, I saw a discussion about side hustles. People were wondering why they wanted to do a side hustle but never got started. What were the sticking points?

After summarizing the various answers, here are the main points: no time, no ideas, no direction, no information advantage, no strengths, no areas of expertise, and high trial - and - error costs (time, energy, money, attention, etc.). It's quite realistic, indeed.

Addressing the Doubts

So, the question is, how do other people do side hustles? Don't they have these problems? Or how do they solve them?

Ideas, direction, and information advantage are the easiest to solve, but they also need some opportunities. That is, you need to find the right path and have someone to guide you in. This problem can often be solved by paying for guidance or by spending time exploring on your own. However, some people are afraid of being scammed, or they worry that they'll spend time and money but get no results. They think it's better to just relax. This expectation of certainty is what holds them back.

Many people's time isn't that valuable. Even if they don't do a side hustle, they won't achieve much and will just waste time without generating much value. This is also where many people feel regretful. They see former colleagues suddenly achieving great success, while they've done nothing during this period. Time will pass anyway, whether you do something or not.

As for the fear of being scammed, as long as you do proper research and control your spending, the cost won't be high. Maybe just a few thousand, or at most ten thousand, and you can find a way. If you're not even willing to take out a few thousand or ten thousand for trial - and - error, then many things are doomed to fail. This budget isn't much for someone who has been working for years, and often you don't even need that much. Moreover, there are plenty of free and publicly available resources; it just depends on whether you're willing to take action.

Overcoming the Mindset Barriers

The so - called lack of strengths and expertise, along with high trial - and - error costs, are just limitations in thinking. Just because you don't know anything doesn't mean you can't learn. You can't expect to make a fortune right from the start.

Many people think the trial - and - error cost is too high because they want to start a big project and invest hundreds of thousands or millions. This kind of entrepreneurship does have a very high trial - and - error cost for ordinary people, and they don't have many chances. But for a side hustle or a small business, you don't need such a large investment.

This reveals a problem: being overly ambitious but lacking the ability to match. Many people only want to do projects worth millions or tens of millions and look down on projects worth hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. They may think their main job pays well, but then they spend a lot of time on a side hustle and earn less than a day's or a month's salary from their main job.

But this is how making money starts. We've spent more than ten years studying to get a job and earn money. It's impossible to start a side hustle or a business and make a fortune without any prior investment.

How Others Succeed in Side Hustles

People who are doing well in side hustles solve these problems in the following ways:

• Ideas, direction, and information advantage: They can pay for advice or keep trying until they find the right way.
• Lack of time: They can stretch the time frame or cut down on other activities. For example, they reduce their entertainment, rest, and sleep time and make the most of their free and fragmented time. If they have very little time, they can take three years to do what others do in one year. If you don't do anything, you'll still be at zero after ten years. But if you start, there's a chance of success in ten years.

Making Choices and Taking Action

Some people may ask, what about health, family, and other things? Well, you have to make choices. You can't have everything. You need to balance and make trade - offs. If you don't have the ability to do everything, don't even think about it.

As for developing strengths and expertise, it's impossible not to gain them after spending two or three years, or five years. It just depends on whether you're willing to do it. The only reason for not doing it is that you don't want to, you lack motivation, and you're not in a hurry.

You can find countless reasons and examples to support your decision, whether it's to do or not to do a side hustle. So, the most important thing is not the reasons but what you choose.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 01/08/2025 [Day 492]