If you are interested in pandemic-proofing your income then it is going to require working hard but the good news is you can get there by multiplying your effort. If you lost your job or always wanted to start your own business or have a side hustle, the pandemic is offering you a chance to live your dream.

In an earlier post, I discussed how these uncertain times call for pandemic-proofing your life. Pandemic-proofing your income is a necessary step in getting there which is what I talk about in this current post. Note that this discussion is especially geared towards entrepreneurs and the side hustlers amongst us.

Uncertain times call for pandemic-proofing your life

Step 0

Understand that pandemic-proofing your income is to take control of your income. It is to figure out what you can do to take charge of earning money come hell or high water. As in, it does not depend on a job or a boss. It is on you and your creativity in finding ways to earn that are supported in this current environment. Not just supported, you will find that certain things are more in demand right now and waiting for you to seize the opportunity. Question is, are you ready to take the jump and do it?

Pandemic-proofing your income means that working hard is back

You can’t half-ass a pandemic. It’s time to think big and work hard, friends. Working hard is back. You can’t be “meh.” If you are going to take advantage of a pandemic to live the life you always wanted to live, you are going to have to 

• Decide to do it
• Realize you are doing it 
• Continue to do it
• Work day in and day out towards it
• Take full responsibility 
• Stay committed 

There is no going back. There is no halfway into this thing. You are in a pandemic. People are dying and you have decided to follow your dream. You are empowering yourself. You have decided to not only survive this thing but to be better from it. That is brave and bold and requires your full commitment. 

The biggest thing is we already knew this. We have always known that hard work is the answer. Successful business owners and leaders such as Gary Vaynerchuk have articulated it already. There is no substitute for going all in and working super hard on something you are passionate about. 

We all have dreams but are too scared to pursue them. We trade passion and true happiness for things like convenience, job security, and honestly, just working less hard. 

When you are not that passionate about something, you kinda just don’t work all that hard on it. We have been settling for working from 9 to 5 because that’s all we can bring ourselves to do. That’s all the energy and motivation we can summon. It’s more than work-life balance, it’s not caring all that much. Stop making excuses. You don’t love your job that much and you are not alone. That’s most people.

We don’t have the future and financial freedom we want because we haven’t done enough to deserve it, yet. So yeah, these dreams are not going to come true on their own, pandemic, or no pandemic. We have to work very, very hard on them. Like extra hard. However much you can work and feel like working, of course, it’s up to you. Things are going to have to be sacrificed, but nothing good ever comes easy. 

We knew that already. It’s just, NOW, happens to be a great time to take action. The pandemic is here to give you the gift of NO OPTION but to follow your dream. 

As an example of hard work or some version of it, I wrote my first book “How to PhD: The Graduate School Handbook” last year, that is, in 2019. I wrote this book while holding a demanding, full-time job. So, I worked double shifts to make this book a reality. But, I really, really wanted to have this book out there and help students through it. And, I LOVE writing. It’s like oxygen. When you love doing what you do, it doesn’t nearly feel as bad. 

So, I made it happen but let me be super clear about the fact that: 

• it was a TON of work,
• and I enjoyed doing it.

The result? It’s a bestseller in the College Guides category on Kindle. It sells, at least, a few copies every month and I make some dollars from it each month. I haven’t made a fortune from it yet, but it sure is exhilarating to see the royalties get direct deposited to my bank account from Amazon each month, even if it’s only a few dollars. I followed my “How to PhD” book up with another book “How to Antarctica: 31 Things You Need To Pack For Your Antarctic Expedition” and that is selling, too. Both were written as, purely, a side hustle. 

The lowest amount I have made in a month from my two books is around six dollars. That’s still lunch. I mean, it’s passive income and I do almost nothing to promote these books. But, the hard work of writing and publishing these books is paying off consistently. Most importantly, helping people through these books makes me very happy and I am glad to do it. 

Getting any results at all is exciting! After all, it’s only a side hustle. I don’t do it full-time. But, that’s what I am getting at. Even to get any results at all takes an incredible amount of work. The market is humbling but it’s there. You just have to keep up the hustle. 

What the pandemic brings to the table is that there is no question about the presence of a market, and some undeniable needs have emerged. You are simply lots of hard work away from being able to benefit from that market. There are you and the market, and you can seize it if you want. You just have to work very hard.

Pandemic-proofing your income means you need to multiply your effort 

Alright, time to do the math. I mentioned that the lowest amount I make from my two books is six dollars per month. Usually, I make more than that. But, let’s say, I will only ever make six dollars a month with my current level of effort and resulting output. Well, if I multiply six dollars by 12 months, that is $72 in a year. Then, if I multiply my effort of a year by 10, that becomes $720. That’s still not that much. What about 100 times more? That would be $7200. Looking better. And, with a thousand times more output, I would be at $72,000. I can live on that. At that point, this side hustle could sustain me. 

What I am getting at is we can and will get there. We just need to multiply and scale our effort to match our goal. It is not the case that our dream is unrealizable. It is simply true that it will take hard work and multiplication of hard work, so, more hard work, to get there. We have to keep our heads down and do this and get the result of ultimately getting there.

What better time, though, than a pandemic to multiply our effort? Stay indoors and work your ass off every day to produce content. If you were writing one book per year, write more now. If you were blogging once a month, blog once a week, if not every day. 

Get your audience to engage more, to lean in. They are out there, scared, and filled with uncertainty. Give them what they need. Help them to solve their problems. An audience with problems is a market for you. A chance to help out is a chance to push your business, and resulting income, to the next level. 

Good luck pandemic-proofing your income and enjoy the process! Let me know in the comments what you think and if I can help to answer any questions. Do you have a small business? Tell me about it below.