'I do not dream of labour - I have a dream lifestyle and I pursue that with my whole heart'
Tell me a bit about your ambitions in life?
I am a bit of a contradiction. I have a job, and I am pretty 'successful' and established with regards to my job: I'm a teacher. But I do not feel like I have any loyalties or anxieties regarding changing my job if it isn't actually serving my life in the ways in which I want it to. That may sound selfish considering the fact that I am a teacher, and please don't get me wrong, I do have loyalties to my students. I wouldn't 'abandon' them if they were in the middle of an important exam season, for example. However, if an employer wasn't actually benefitting my LIFE (not just my working life) then I have no issue in leaving. I was once told by an old line manager that my school principal likes knowing if staff members have a mortgage or children to figure out how much they "need" the school and therefore their salary. I read that as, the principal wants to know how much shit they can throw your way without you complaining because you "need" the wages.
How do you feel about career development?
My attitude isn't to do with greater responsibility, promotion or anything. It is totally to do with who I am, what I value, and therefore how I can be the happiest version of myself. I value the acquisition of knowledge, so I enjoy professional development in that sense, but I also enjoy travelling, having nice experiences and not worrying financially. So my priorities are not to climb the professional ladder, they are to make money, and have the capacity to enjoy that money, whilst also giving back to society, which I feel I achieve somewhat through teaching. But I am never breaking my back to be senior leadership! Just to be on a good wage, and to be able to enjoy that wage. Once I embraced that freedom I had no fear in asking for payrises or considering jumping ship if the conditions were not ones that allow me to thrive.
In a long-winded way, I work to truly LIVE. I certainly do not live to work!
What would you spend your time doing if you didn't have to work? And what about kids?
My philosophy on kids is: I want to be 100% sure that I want them before I even consider having them. One ounce of doubt and it's a no from me. It is a HUGE sacrifice to my life. Which may sound selfish, but really, my (so far) fictional children don't exist, and I truly believe it is more important for each already-existing person to be truly happy, whatever it looks like to them. I would see the world! I would have dialogues with people from every corner of the Earth. I would wake up every morning and pick up trash from the beaches. I would cook, learn to play musical instruments, learn new languages...whatever took my fancy!
Ok, final question. Where do you think your lack of career ‘ambition’ has come from? Was there a moment? Or have you always felt like this?
Ohhh excellent question! I think a number of areas: I suffered pretty extreme burnout earlier in my career. It took a huge toll mentally and physically. I'm also a Buddhist, and I truly believe my practise allowed me the scope to reflect on what we call our "mission" in life or our unique journey in our lives. And one day I had this kind of EUREKA moment that, my purpose on this Earth is not to sacrifice my one short and wonderful life to the constraints of work eat sleep repeat! Soon after that I moved to Dominican Republic for two years, which absolutely cemented my attitude! I could 'dare' to be free, and that was celebrated and encouraged. I feel that it's seen as quite a 'radical' perspective that I have now....
But if we human beings actually grasped the concept that our mere existence on this planet is statistically almost impossible and that our ancestors since the very beginning of time had to survive in order for us to be here, I just don't see how it makes ANY sense that we wouldn't spend as much time as possible wholeheartedly pursuing our absolute happiness in our one wild and precious life.