 Put in all your eggs in one basket. As a coach, I work with career professionals who are currently dissatisfied with their financial positions. The standard of living of Nigerians has fallen. My still fall. God forbid, I just heard you say. But the economic indicators are showing a high inflation rate, a high unemployment rate, a high poverty rate. What this means for anyone in paid employment is that the purchasing power of the NARA is getting eroded. Prices of everything under the sun has gone up, while your salary has remained the same. If this is you, you are still in luck. For some people, the current pandemic forced them to take a pay cut, while others lost their jobs. With 19 brought to the fore, the need for individuals with 9 to 5 to diversify their sources of income. For us, because I'm one of them, to hedge against the adversity that could occur if we get a salary cut or get laid off from work. What then can we do to help ourselves as career professionals still in paid employment? Our first thought usually is to jack bar. Unlike in the past, when we were locating abroad was for the unskilled or semi-skilled labour categories. Today, highly skilled workers have joined the rat race. The sad news is that not everyone wants to jack bar. Not everyone of us can, even if we wanted to. What then can we do to help ourselves those of us still in paid employment? The long answer is having multiple streams of income, that is, any money in addition to your salary. The short answer is for you to get a side business. The benefits of having a side hustle are many, but I would just have liked four. The obvious one being the opportunity for you to earn extra cash besides your salary. More financial security if you like. Two, a possible plan B. We can no longer say that we have job security. If anything, COVID-19 has taught us otherwise. Three, a side hustle helps you monetize your passion or your purpose. That thing you like doing for free, you like doing for fun. You can actually earn extra money from it. Four, a side also can also be a creative outlet for you. A lot of us fall in this fourth category. After the stress of being an employee, of being a spouse, a parent, a Nigerian, life becomes tiring. For some, life is simply frustrating. Most of us resort to phone things like golf, Netflix, massages. I use my side hustle to calm down. What do you use to calm down? Before I talk about what I used to calm down, I need to know what your side hustle is. If your side hustle can really calm down, I want to calm down that way as well. So my side hustle, I coach people. So that's the way I help people. So sometimes helping people makes you feel good. Other times helping people makes you know that you're better off. That's a bad example, but you got the point. Whatever you want is good for you. Your point is well taken. The economic situation we're in is in a quagmire. If I may use that word. Everybody just... In fact, enough of forming, I'm a big man with my suit and tie. If you have to get a blue collar job, you just do it. This morning I was having this conversation with the police officer this morning. We were talking about losing government, retiring. I mean senior, senior public servant, retiring into abject poverty after living an executive life in government without proper planning. That's it. Yes, we know that they have to focus on their work as government officials. But think about your life after working for the government and also think about your life after working in the private sector too. So I don't become useless to your safety. If they really can achieve that, it's by embezzling. No, no, I'll tell you. No, I'm not a director at one of these federal institutions. And we were talking and then I realized he earned 500,000 per month. He asked kids in the university, parents to take care of. How do you manage? Was he one of the 500 or 300? I can't remember. But I think it was between 3 and 5. And he didn't have a side hustle? He didn't have a side hustle. So he has the other side hustles. That's the only thing. So he opened up. The informal sector. Majority of the population do not have a salary job. So they're doing multiple things to survive. How much can they save? How much can I save? I'm in the informal sector as well. So these are things to think about. Yes, there's people in salaries who still have jobs, even with COVID-19, but your money doesn't go as far. You have to think about a side hustle. But majority of the population isn't in that space. And with the constant changing of rules and laws, what's allowed, what's allowed, today your business is walking tomorrow, the government wakes up, has a dream, says something and everything has scattered. So there's no security. There's no planning. You can't plan. You plan for that week, that day. What you could eat. Who are you helping? You know, all those things are weighed down. And like you said, I am one of those who decided to stay. I can get up and go, but I've decided to stay. But even in that, I'm rethinking, because it is so hard. It is hard. It is. There's a lot of pressure on everybody. It is hard. In some sectors, some places in government are thinking of taxing the injurians because they are making money. It's not wrong to tax. Provide them that the tax will be fair. And about to do, puts good use. But they will use it. I'm more concerned about the use of the tax and the fairness of the tax. I tell you, if I see what is good for them, we are not doing anything. Provide them an enabling environment for the people. You know, the thing is, you believe, you know, I believe people should pay taxes. But if you have the choice to eat or to pay that tax that has come in from last morning and you're going to choose to eat, you shouldn't have to make that decision. So guys, it doesn't really matter your opinion on the side hustle debate. What is important is that you endeavor to earn income from more than your salary. Choose a source that helps you to maintain your health and your sanity. Remember, you are the cross of this and therefore you are your biggest priority. Next up is the lower coyote after the break.