The 9-5 mentality can be particularly damaging to our side hustle if we’re not careful. This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with having a 9-5 job. But, the value systems and work ethics are quite different. You’ll be best at both if you can understand the differences.

For example, a 9-5 work ethic is very task-oriented. Employees are quite used to having a “to-do” list given to them by their supervisor. This typically comes from a generic job description. When we take this task mentality to our side hustle, we’re often looking for the next thing to do “right” or that will get us success. In reality, a side hustle is very much about creativity. So, it takes more creative thinking, trial and error, and imagination than can be contained in a “to-do” list.

This is one of many examples of the contrasting values between a 9-5 job and entrepreneurial work. However, today I want to share with you one of the keys was your 9-5 job can support you in becoming a better side hustler and entrepreneur.

The concept is this:

At your 9-5 job, you work every day at your job to do your best. You want to do your best for yourself, for your boss, to be a good co-worker, to take pride in your work, to learn more, and probably for a number of reasons.

And, though you show up every day, you only expect to get paid every two weeks. So, getting paid is just one of the many reasons you work hard at your job.

Your side hustle needs to be the same.

I sometimes have people come to me worrying that their side hustle or new business “isn’t working.” They will try to prove their own “failures” to me by showing me how much money they haven’t made or that they didn’t reach their sales goals.

But when we dig a bit deeper, there’s usually more to the story. It can turn out that though they may not have made a sale that week, they’ve revamped their website, their email list has grown tons, they’ve created a new opt-in, they have a new blog post up, or a whole list of accomplishments.

This tells me that your side hustle is working and that you are growing.

We can’t determine our success or achievements solely based on our daily (or weekly) sales!

There is so much more to a business than just that.

The truth is that even the most successful entrepreneurs don’t make sales every single day. They typically launch something and the income from that, which comes in a couple of days or a week, is what they live on for a month or so.

So, it doesn’t matter what stage you’re in, your daily success and pride in yourself must come from a variety of sources; your income only being one of them.