328 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 10 Jun freebie \ on: Instead of your life's purpose mostly_harmless
I feel like I might have insights to shed on this matter. First,
My teaching background
Perhaps it would be best if I tell you about my background. I first taught General Paper - a subject that requires students to have strong argumentation skills - at a junior college to pre-tertiary students. Subsequently, I taught oral communication, report writing and critical thinking skills to polytechnic students. After that, I taught English as a Foreign Language to elementary and junior high school students under the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme.
Japan opened my eyes to a lot of things, but reality beckoned, so I packed my bags and went home to teach Foundational English to teenagers at a vocational secondary school. During this period, an opportunity for me to teach English at an elementary school came up. I grabbed the bull by the horns and was attached to this elementary school for three years. Last but least, I returned to the vocational school after my attachment and now serve as a literacy coach for students who have dyslexia.
Typically, people exclaim, “Woah” when I share my job history with them. I don’t necessarily think that my credentials are all that impressive because I hop from job to job like a bee that sips nectar from flower to flower, so I don’t accumulate expertise in terms of teaching at a particular level. Nonetheless, my limiting gap is also my strength since I have had the experience to teach English at different educational levels. I have been exposed to its intricacies, quirks and nuances from different perspectives!
So you can say that I took (and am still taking) a non-linear approach in regard to my career. If I had stayed on at my first iob, I could have climbed up the ladder and become a Head of Development by then. Instead, I strayed off the path and went to be an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan. It’s a step down!
In order to embrace the non-linear approach, I believe you got to be more self-aware than the average person, since you are deliberately taking the path less travelled. If you are not crystal clear about what you are doing, you could find yourself regretting your life choices, which is a recipe for disaster. So, I used to perform academically well in school, and I got to confess that it was a bitter pill to swallow when I chanced upon my ex-classmates a few years ago and learnt that they had taken up managerial positions in their fields. But I didn’t stay envious for long because I have always been aware of my top personal and professional value: FUN. To me, teaching students of different ages at different institutions was worth the trade off I made in terms of fortune n status. No regrets.
Personally, I’m really into the MBTI profiling. So, I’m ENFP, the quirky character who loves to embark on wacky adventures. The description fits me to a T, n helps fortify my resilience against FOMO.
I m gonna assume that you are in your late 20s n perhaps in the middle of a quarter-life crisis? Sorry if I come across as presumptuous. I faced a lot of existential angst in my 20s haha
In order to embrace the non-linear approach, I believe you got to be more self-aware than the average person, since you are deliberately taking the path less travelled.
This seems right. I wonder if this is why some of the most successful people (by my standard, and perhaps, based on what you've written, by yours) are also some of the most self-aware? Because the purpose that emerges will be a function of how well one knows oneself, so that they may follow that non-linear path?
To me, teaching students of different ages at different institutions was worth the trade off I made in terms of fortune n status. No regrets.
Getting an outcome that you've consciously chosen makes these kinds of bitter pills go down more easily. Far more than just the magnitude of the difference, not choosing anything, and not trying for anything, seems to leave people extra bitter and susceptible to the cancerous envy that comes with observing other people's success.
I faced a lot of existential angst in my 20s haha
Let's hope it's the necessary fertilizer for better things later.
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