The Side Hustle That Ate My Main Hustle

When your escape plan becomes the trap

Side hustles get hyped as freedom. But some turn into traps.

Mine did.

It started with excitement. Insurance sales at night, after long days in tech. Kitchen table appointments, late-night calls, weekends that disappeared into demos.

The hustle grew teeth.

Family dinners slipped. Energy drained. I told myself it would turn. It never did.

The trade-offs outweighed the results. The sixty-hour weeks never matched the modest checks.

I kept ignoring the signs until it consumed the very time and energy I thought I was buying back.

Not every hustle is a path. Some are dead ends.

Real reinvention isn’t adding more. It’s cutting what’s killing you.

The lesson? Pay attention to the cost. If the hustle is eating your life, it’s not a bridge. It’s a cage.

So let me ask you: is your side hustle buying you freedom, or costing you everything?

CTRL: R