Hey all! Today we’re going to talk about something relatable to everyone.
LEARNING
Side Hustle
Recently I’ve begun a side hustle as J money would put it. I’m a VIPKID teacher! I actually was approved to start in December, but nothing really happened until last week. Since moving to Italy teaching English has always been available. I honestly was never extremely excited for it. I would much rather create a business or work on a real estate project. My first year in Italy, with my wife’s encouragement, an english teaching job with a local Italian company fell into my lap. I quickly changed my mind however, to focus on a venture in Canada. That venture didn’t turn out as I expected and I returned home. From then on teaching english was always on my mind. Everyone I spoke to told me they needed to practice English since it is pertinent these days. I almost picked a full time job in Milan teaching English, but the travel was to long for the minimal pay I would have received. The thing that bothered me most was committing so much time to it and not having time to pursue more adventurous goals.
New Opportunity
Enter my friend Ryan. He had been teaching with VIPKID for a short period and I stumbled across his social post sharing the chance with others. To me it was the perfect solution to bringing a little extra cash through the door. That week I went through the application process. Ultimately my biggest concern on the whole idea was how horribly weak the internet at our house was. I’m talking snail pace in a period where everyone else drives a Ferrari. In order to get approved you have to go through a series of Mock classes. The first step, you have an option of doing the class with a live veteran teacher, or submitting a video where you teach an imaginary child. I chose to upload a video since I imagined if the veteran teacher experienced my weak internet signal, they would immediately hang up the call. That’s if the call even connected at all. Ya it was that bad.
Live Role Play
Well, I was happy to pass that round, but that meant I would have to teach a live teacher pretending to be a new student. No more avoiding the internet issue. I figured I could pay to upgrade the speed, but I wasn’t going to until i knew I had the approval. My solution, I ended up taking my entire computer classroom to a location where I could guarantee the internet would be strong. It worked too.
Success
As of today I am a full fledged VIPKID teacher! It took me about two months to finally teach a student because of some specifics with documents I submitted, but as of today I have taught over 60 classes. I have found it entertaining to help the youth in China practice their English. They have a working system where all you have to have with you is a smile some energy and a little bit of patience. The rest of the tools are at your disposal. I do recommended it to anyone looking to add a bit to their income or even to do it full-time!
Moral of the story
The reason I share this story is:
- For the referral bonuses if you become a teacher haha
- On a more serious note, recently I was talking to my brother who has always worked hard to make an impact in his field of work. He’s gained certification after certification and if you ask me he is one of, if not THE smartest person I know. He said to me, ‘If you’re not earning, you should be learning.’ I imagine he wasn’t the inventor of this slogan, but it struck me as a good mantra to keep.
My Motto
I’ve always felt this way but at different times in my life found myself taking a break from learning in pursuit of earning. But that is counter intuitive. In order to continue earning one must continue learning in any field of labor. Even successful people who don’t believe in standard practices of public education admit that personal learning has played an important role in where they are and where they are headed.
Lesson learned
Point being, when we sit stagnating in regard to our education, we are losing. We are losing the knowledge that would lead us to better paths in our income driven lives. We are literally losing money for each moment we consider our education at its limit. It’s time to reawaken the once curious mind and discover the path that will lead to a happy fulfilling financially independent life.
