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?
So how have I dealt with this?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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”.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.