Everyone has experienced the dreaded question: “tell me about yourself.” Whether it’s an interview, the first day in a classroom, or meeting someone at an event, the question comes up. The most common answer to this question is to name a hobby. Hobbies give us insight into a person’s values, beliefs, and wants. Many people have the same hobbies like watching TV, reading, and drawing. However, if you have a more niche hobby or interest you probably have heard something similar to this:
“OMG, you should definitely sell that!”
People say this in good faith and just want to compliment your work. But, this reaction brings up a great conversation about hustler culture. There has been an increase of “grinding” and being overly productive. Let’s dive deeper!
Hustle culture really took a turn during the COVID-19 pandemic. People needed an outlet for being stuck at home. But, according to Lauren Perrodin from the University of California, hustle culture is counterproductive and can lead to “anxiety, apathetic attitude, guilt, and high risk of illness or disease”.
Money is a sensitive subject. Everyone wants to have enough money to fund their lifestyle. This is totally understandable! However, it seems like every scroll on social media is someone promoting their business, or the comments are asking someone to sell a product.
We are losing the art of keeping hobbies as they are. Hobbies are meant to calm us down and have fun. For college students like myself, it is important to have something to balance school life. Turning your hobby into a business completely takes away from this aspect.
Something hobby-turned-businesses take away from is the beauty of making mistakes. For example, many of my crochet projects have missing stitches or parts where I used too much glue. Selling those projects would mean having to make sure everything is perfect.
So, before you quit your job and take a huge risk, think about why you are starting a business. What does your support system look like? Are you doing this for yourself, or are you taping into an overlooked community? Lastly, and the most important one to me, are you prepared to fail? If all else goes wrong, will you be able to pick yourself up?
If you see a craft or product you would love to have, learn how to make it! Don’t beg someone to change their hobby so it benefits you. Besides, you’ll have tons of fun making the craft and it will feel more rewarding once you get it.
What's Your Reaction?
