“When are you going to grow up?” 

We’ve all heard this at some point. I hear it all of the time. I have friends around me who are excited to remind me how they’re married and I still haven’t settled down yet. They ask me about why I bother with the podcasting or the wrestling.

How do you respond when you’re following your passions and working a side hustle, but everyone around you tells you that you need to grow up?

This is one of the toughest questions. I’ve seen many top prospects give up on wrestling, grappling, blogging, an amazing business opportunity, and side hustles because someone pressured them to grow up. A partner, friend, or relative, wanted them to settle down so they nagged them until the person finally quit. Creating a side hustle can be a really lonely journey.

I do many things that I need to grow up from:

• I attend a BJJ class at noon.
• I pro wrestle around Ontario in my underwear.
• I run multiple blogs.
• I write articles that don’t guarantee an income.
• I podcast for fun.

Everyone’s always in a hurry telling me how I need to grow up. I’ve managed to ignore the pressure. I’ve been blogging since 2008, pro wrestling since 2013, and have been avoiding marriage since 1987.

However, I deal with this struggle on almost a daily basis. I don’t want you to give up on something that can change your life because of pressure from family.

How do you handle the pressure of everyone telling you to grow up?

Assess the situation.

Kevin O’Leary was on James Altucher’s podcast and he brought up how your business needs to turn a profit after three years or else you just have a hobby.

He also mentioned how he needs to be brutally honest with some folks because he doesn’t want them burning family money on a horrible business idea.

Do you have an actual business or is it just a hobby that’s costing you money?

I hate to say this, but you might have to actually take their advice.

There are a few signs where you might have to switch paths. It’s very important to be realistic. The most common signs are:

• You’re getting deep into debt.
• You’re bringing your family down.
• You have a family to support and you’re not doing it.
• You haven’t made any money ever at your hobby.
• There’s no track record of this hustle ever working out for anyone.
• You’re not seeing any progress.
• Everyone has surpassed you.

If you’re young and single like myself, then you have nothing to worry about. You’re not hurting anybody if you’re following your passions. However, if you have a family, you might want to think about how you’re going to pay the bills.

Please assess the situation so that you know exactly where you stand. I see guys in pro wrestling quit their jobs to focus on their wrestling career when in reality they can still work and focus on their craft in their spare time until the money comes in.

Think of why they’re telling you to grow up.

Your family usually doesn’t want to see you get hurt. They also may just not believe in you. Nobody wants to see their close friends get hurt. It’s easier to push someone towards mediocrity.

Why’s everyone telling you to grow up?

They might be fed up with helping you with the rent or you just may have to work a full-time job until your side hustle pays off. You have the rest of your life to make it work.

Enlist their help.

“I see your point. What should I do?”

Whenever someone isn’t supportive of a business or one of my passions, I try to enlist their help. This changes the entire dynamic. Now they want to be apart of the process.

I lay it all out once in a while. I’ll tell the person how I’ve always wanted to do this and how I need their help to get things completed. This changes the conversation. Then they actually want to help you instead of lecturing you on growing up.

Find your own support system.

You won’t always find support at home. Sometimes you have to look elsewhere.

How do you find a support system?

• Join online forums (there’s like 1,000 Facebook groups for everything).
• Find local meetups (Facebook or Meetup.com).
• Look for a mentor.
• Find someone who has already done it.

You won’t always get support from your family or close circle and that’s okay. Not everyone will always understand your journey. That’s why it’s YOUR journey.

Focus on your passions.

You have to stay focused on what you’re working on. If you really feel that you’re on to something then don’t give up on it. Find a way to make it work. Losers think of excuses while winners always make it work.

For example, this podcast is a side hustle. We usually record episodes on random mornings. We don’t have all day to edit articles, post memes, and to promote, but we make it work. We’re focused on growing Do You Even Hustle.

What does growing up even mean?

On a related note, what does growing up even really mean?

We all have a different definition of growing up. To most it means getting married, having kids, buying a house, and focusing on a career. I totally understand that. It’s the safest route in the world. Everyone does it.

Growing older and becoming more mature doesn’t have to automatically equate with settling down and giving up though. You don’t have to give up on your goals to feel like you’ve grown up.

How can you get to the next level?

• Invest in yourself. Take some time to invest into your side hustle so that you can see real results. If you don’t invest in yourself, then why would anyone else invest in you?
• Go all in. You can’t just be dabbling in everything that interests you. Try going all in for an extended period of time to see what you’re made of.

What do you do if you don’t want to grow up like everyone else wants to?

If you’re on the right track then keep on going. If things aren’t going well, it might be time to pivot. There’s no shame in switching gears or in working a full-time job while you grow your hustle to where you can focus on it 24/7.

We can only end this article with a powerful quote…

“If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.” — Frank Zappa