I read a book called Do Less, and everything the author writes in the book resonates with me as I was overworking for a long time. Yet since 2011, I have changed my habits and traveled the world. 😊
What my life was like in the past:
Before 2016, I was working extremely hard (too hard). I had three jobs at the same time. I was teaching at three different institutes. I injured my vocal cords and was crying late at night because I didn’t know what to do – I liked that profession, but my voice was not sustainable anymore.
Well, in truth, before I joined the education industry, I was actually in the entertainment industry – I used to be a professional entertainer, a singer. My voice was already not that great at that time, so I left the entertainment industry in my early 20s.
Anyway, working in the education industry was okay, although it was a bit boring. I liked the content and the knowledge. I also liked most of my students. However, I didn’t like trading hours and physical labor for dollars. It wasn’t a good deal according to my standards. Nevertheless, I still did that for a long time because I didn’t know what other options I had back in the day.
So, every morning I went to work; every night I carried a lot of students’ work to mark at home. I did that for years.
Frankly, the reward was fine and I was quite good at what I did when I was teaching adults various skills. Nonetheless, deep down I knew something wasn’t really right because I gradually lost the passion.
Well, don’t get me wrong. I still like the education industry in many ways because I highly value knowledge and I love seeing my students’ transformation as well as their career success! Having said that, I probably can’t eat the same sandwich for twenty years and still like it. I need to eat a different sandwich.
At the end of 2010, I hired a mentor, someone who could give me career advice and life advice. His support was phenomenal because he showed me a completely different world that I wasn’t aware of. He traveled the world before he turned 30 years old. He has a seven-figure business with managers and employees. He enjoys financial freedom. I’m not saying I must live his lifestyle immediately. But I have been so inspired in so many ways.
The change:
My life was changed the moment I met my mentor. I hired him very quickly and he taught me a lot of things. Initially, the plan was to hire him for one year. Yet later on, since my schedule was hectic, it took me more than two years to complete the learning, but the fee was still based on a one-year contract.
That was probably the most important investment that I’ve ever done in my life because it literally changed my life permanently.
Before hiring a mentor, I was only aware of how to keep a day job. I didn’t know anything about entrepreneurship. If I had that old mindset today, I wouldn’t be able to minimize my risk during the current pandemic now.
Because I learned how to do business from my mentor, I have become business-savvy. Therefore, while I still had more than one job, I already started to try running an online business. I would say that was the most hectic time in my life – I was doing multiple jobs and learning how to do business at the same time. Having said that, it was also a very satisfying period of time because my anxiety was turned into productivity.
After that, I began to find more spare time to travel the world – I simply took time off from work in order to go to other countries for vacations. I also accumulated some profitable clients for my freelance business over the years.
By the way, because of conflict of interest, I terminated my contract with one of my employers. Then because the legislation changed, another employer’s organization was shut down permanently. This year due to the pandemic, my long-term employer’s organization has stopped operating as well.
Now I am a full-time entrepreneur.
“You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. You also need to know how to find time to enjoy life, travel the world and smell the roses.”
