Side Projects: Keeping the Knife Sharp

People often ask if I can help out with projects and typically I pass, but there is the odd occasion where I sign up to help. Often the experience is dull in the beginning but I find that the more I invest the more value I see. Lately I've been working with a primary school Kapa Haka group (Maori performing arts). It started off as something I did when I had a day off, but lately I've been taking time off work to help build and develop it. Here are some benefits to having a side project that I have come to learn.

1. You get to create a new you.

Projects that require you to work with a team of new people, allow the opportunity to start again or to start fresh. No one knows your flaws, strengths, how much you are admired or disliked, and they likely do not care. Everyone gets to be new. This give you the perfect opportunity to decided what kind of YOU that you want to be. This opportunity if used wisely can offer a new perspective, a new start, an opportunity to make a new YOU.

2. Finding more Passion.

Its not difficult to understand that so many 9-5 workers are uninterested and unengaged in their current profession. They work simply for a paycheck and little else. Sometimes we start with a lot of excitement but after 6 months most of that seems to be kicked out of our system. We find ourselves ready to literally do anything else. Side projects can help us find joy in our work. This often leads to increase in passion and that typically leads us to loving our lives again. We should be seeking to engage in things that make us feel alive, energetic, passionate, happy and every other feeling that leads to a better us. To stay sharp in this game we need to be engaged in meaningful things.

3. Build your Network.

The great thing about side projects is that you usually don't have to be a professional. Side projects are more about willingness than professional skills. Many organisations are looking for people just to help, this could be working with youth, helping the needy, doing some service for someone in need or just helping to spread a bit of good in the world. What ever you do I can promise you that it will lead to someone new. It may not be instant but new people tend to always pop up when we try new things. So get out there are build that network.

4. The Power in Finishing.

Side projects usually don't take long to finish and the experience of finishing something regularly can be very powerful. In many cases people don't get to see the end of their work, they wake up, go to work, work 8 hours, go home, return back the next day and do it all over again. In this day and age we rarely get to cross a finish line. There is something empowering about finishing something. Have you ever completed a marathon? Have you ever built something and finished it completely? Have you started something and been able to see it through to the very end and say "its done". Something happens inside a person when they are able to finish something. I served a church mission overseas as a young person that took 2 years to complete. There was something that happened to me the day I finished that made me believe I could achieve absolutely anything, I became empowered. This power enables us to see more clearly, it can craft our thinking and enable us to finish more things in our life. It is so easy to start a new project and never finish it, there is little power in this lack of action. The power in starting new things is only discovered by those who are willing to be persistant and seek to see things through to the end.

5. Having fun again.

Side projects should always be fun, a stress outlet, something good to look forward to. We need to ensure there is an element of fun in our life, don't be ruled by the idea that life is just about work. Having fun and being happy will make you a better worker, a better manager, a better husband or wife, a better parent and a better person. 

So there it is, a few reasons why you may want to consider taking on a side project. This Saturday our group finally performs, this Saturday will be the end. Its been awesome. I've been able to jump into the education industry and work with some great teachers. I've been able to teach kids which has expanded my patience and strengthened my motivation to make the next generation better. Last of all I've had a lot of fun, hung out with my friends and just had a good time, I am refreshed and ready to go back and smash out some more work.

Blessings

Conway Karaitiana