The 3 Laws of Side Hustle Physics

Ready to get nerdy with me?*

I’m all scienced-up after reading The Martian, so consider that the inspiration for this post.

Law 1: Inertia and Momentum

An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force.

An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force.

Or, put another way, a side hustler at rest will stay at rest…

Are you an object at rest?

What’s going to be the force that puts you in motion?

Are you already in motion? Are you happy with your velocity and trajectory?

Do you have some good momentum? Or do you need some boosters?

Law 2: Force and Impact

Acceleration of an object occurs proportionately to the force applied to the object.

Basically, the harder you smack something, the faster it takes off.

Sometimes external events are the “forces” that accelerate us into action. A job loss, an unexpected expense, or the desire to buy a new toy.

In any case, the result is the same: you get off your butt and start hustling.

I call this force your motivating factor or your “why.” And the truth is sometimes the force isn’t strong enough for us to change our habits.

One example I like to use is with physique. If I really wanted a 6-pack, I’d have one by now. But the motivation clearly isn’t strong enough.

And on the flipside, think of the force you can demonstrate in the world once you start accelerating. What kind of impact can you create with your side hustle?

Law 3: Action and Reaction

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

“This is BS, because I’ve written hundreds of blog posts that got no reaction at all!”

But there’s always a reaction. The reaction of those crickets-inducing posts were:

• Practicing my writing.
• Learning WordPress.
• Finding my “voice”?
• Figuring out how to create (and market) better content.

I liken this to Julie’s chess analogy. When you’re starting out in a business, as in a game of chess, it really doesn’t matter what your first move is. The sole purpose of it is to garner a response from your customer or potential customer (or opponent).

That will give you a hint as to what your next move will be.

You can also think of this law in terms of tradeoffs, the sacrifices you may have to make to focus on your side hustle. After all, you still have the same 24 hours in the day; by definition some activity is going to get cut.

Your Turn

As you go about your week, think about the physics of your side hustle:

1. Inertia and momentum.
2. Force and impact.
3. Action and reaction.

What’s your current momentum like?

What force will be your accelerator?

What reactions are your actions generating? What reactions to you want them to generate?

*Apologies to all the side hustling physicists for butchering your beautiful science.