Focusing on the Cans, Not the Cannots

I have been self-employed as an English tutor since July 2014, and have been almost exclusively teaching private students (as opposed to freelancing for other companies) since January 2015. Being self-employed, although incredibly rewarding and liberating, is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

I spent 2015 having the biggest ups and downs of my life as I struggled to find my inner confidence. Every time I did something new, a new video, a new private student, a new blog post, a new photo, I had a little voice in my head asking if I was capable of this. Every time I put myself “out there” on the internet, the doubts surface again.
So how have I dealt with this?

1. Reminding myself on a daily basis how lucky I am to be doing a job I love and to have the freedom of working for myself. This is the best job I have ever had, and any time I am with a student I never watch the clock willing it to go quicker.
2. Talking to other people who are doing the same thing, and reading blogs from other teachers. It’s easy to assume that everyone else is feeling incredibly confident and self-assured, but the chances are, they have a lot of the same doubts.
3. Meditation and exercise. I have found that taking a little time to myself with no people, no computer, and no emails, really helps me to reset and quiet my noisy “monkey mind”.
4. Playing cello. Since I’ve been working so intensively with language, reading isn’t quite the relaxant it used to be. I often find myself reading a novel and analysing the language. Playing cello on the other hand involves no English and no language analysis. The perfect way to switch off.
5. Taking the time to reflect on everything I have achieved. This might be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. I found it really helped to think about what I had achieved instead of what I hadn’t achieved. For a while I started making a list every week because I realised that I was constantly berating myself for not getting enough done and who needs that kind of negativity in their life?
6. Looking at the progress my students are making. Seeing the people I have been working with making significant progress reminds me of one of the reasons I love my job.
7. Taking a whole day every week away from work. Working on my own from home means that I never leave work. My email is constantly going and I take work “home” every night. A whole day off doesn’t always happen, but I see a huge difference when I don’t have that time.