If you haven’t read my previous post re: teaching, I’ll quickly summarize now: I went into a full-time teaching contract without any previous teaching experience — no substitute teaching experience at all.
Those four months were a way to experiment in a way that Tim Ferriss has architected for me: taking risks where the worst case still has a ton of upside. In the case of that teaching gig, the worst case would be that I would burnout for a couple of months because of barely being able to handle the classroom and having to reach out to colleagues for guidance and assistance. But there is a lot of upside to this worst case.
I decided not to extend that contract because I felt like I had learned 80% of the job, and wanted to pivot to learn another 80% of a new circumstance (in 20% of the time), since I have the flexibility at my stage in life to do so (no dependents).
I’ve elected to go backwards and do some substitute teaching for a couple of months before I jet off to Japan for the month of March. As much as I enjoyed teaching my elementary school students, there are a few reasons why I’m choosing to substitute teach right now:
- To experience different age groups and subjects that I have previously not encountered, which will allow me to see if there is a different environment that is more aligned to my skillset and personality.
- Visiting various schools exposes me to various principals, figuring out which schools I would want to work at on a more permanent basis in April.
- Substitute teaching = net 5 hrs/day; teaching on a contract = net 9–10 hrs/day. Huge difference in workload for basically the same pay rate because of 1. my lack of built up seniority at this stage in my career and 2. my lack of experience requiring me to prepare for hours after school.
- Because of the 40–50% of work time reduction, I have more free time to pursue two main “projects” of mine: deepening my spiritual practice and doing manual brew coffee pop-ups (@manualcoffeebar), both of which have already become a reality.
- This is a time where there is tons of substitute work to be filled, so I basically have guaranteed employment.
I have the freshness of a nomad, while not being constrained to a computer screen for several hours every day. This lifestyle took some thought to build, and a lot of courage to challenge the following societal norms:
- stable income/job
- achieving career goals within a 5–10 year plan
- sacrificing savings for the future, for present moment learning and exploring
Now is the time for me to do this, more than there will be in the future. Tough to say what the future holds, but I can say with certainty that there is nothing/no one holding me back right now, and nothing to lose with the way I’m living out my “career life”.
I have never felt so alive before. Interestingly enough, this tremendous amount of exposure in various environments has created tons of career opportunities as well.
So ask yourself: When in my life will I have the least to lose? If it is the present moment, consider creating opportunities for yourself in the most dynamic way possible. Career opportunities will be created if you are smart/valuable enough to society, but organizations have to know you exist for those opportunities to arise in the first place. Get out there and become a nomad in your own way.