Growing up in Brisbane, Australia, I always wanted to be a scientist. Well, that's not quite true, but it's the story I've told myself for years now. I loved learning things, loved doing experiments and despite hating the idea of 'fame' I thought it would be cool if my name was in one of those textbooks we would use at school. Buuut, I was also fascinated with money, business, entrepreneurship (didn't know it was called that back then), compound interest, the stock market and computers. I also knew I didn't want to be like everyone else - I wanted my life to be extraordinary. I'm sure that's not uncommon here!
The great thing is, I got to do much of that. I excelled at university. I took a broad range of science subjects and intro programming. I tossed my mind between being a computer programmer or a research scientist. In the end, I fell in love with organic chemistry. I also reasoned that I "didn't want to be stuck in front of a computer all day" and I enjoyed the hands-on experimental side of organic chemistry. As an aside, ironically, as the years passed I eventually ended up being "stuck in front of a computer" anyway!
I lived my dream. I applied to do a PhD at Cambridge in the UK and got in! To be honest, I was just as interested in the new opportunities to chase girls as the prestige of a big name degree. I loved most of it. It was hard work, but I loved taking on big challenges, expanding my horizons and the thrill of occasionally discovering something unexpected.
I came back to Australia and eventually got a tenure-track position at a great uni. Settled down with a girlfriend, paid of my student debt and earning good money. The early years in academia were exactly what I wished for. I really didn't pay attention to money or my childhood entrepreneurial ambitions - the saying I kept in mind was "if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life". But things started to erode... As my research group grew, I had to be more strategic, more of a manager. Plus, it's totally true that the reward for success is more work! Working nights and weekends on lectures and grant proposals was killing me.
Then, hooray! I was head-hunted for an academic role back in Brisbane with much less teaching load (for a period of time). We packed our bags and headed back to our home town. Things were great again. It was all about research and I re-claimed my nights and weekends. Things were good again. Bought a house, got a mortgage. New car.
Then, a baby. Whoa, that changed things. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall, but once a kid is in your life, you start noticing so much more if your relationship with your wife isn't so great. I started resenting my work - it was keeping me away from being with my kid. Obscenely, at work, I was getting into negative habits. I would waste time on un-related hobby interests. I started playing the stock market. I learned to code and designed trading systems, thinking that if I could trade myself to a fortune, I could escape from a job that was already starting to feel more like a noose. And I hadn't even gone back to a regular teaching load...
Child #2. OK, now things were even worse at home. Helicopter vs free'n'easy. So much conflict. Teaching workload started to climb. Research group shrinking. Funding drying up.
To cut a long story slightly shorter, divorce happened a few years ago, but was way overdue. Best decision I ever made. The sense of freedom was amazing. And then, well before anyone else would think is reasonable, I met an amazing woman with whom everything is so easy and so 'right' it makes me see how a real, functional relationship can work!
I throw myself back into my work, re-engage and rise to the challenge of bigger and bigger teaching loads by trying to innovate and be the best teacher I can possibly be. I take courses in web programming and a bunch of other things on Udemy and embrace technology in my teaching. I'm amazed at the new face of learning - a $10 course can give you all you need to be competent at a real skill. Unfortunately, it's too late to get my research career back on track - once you've fallen off the funding boat, it's so hard to get back on, and the headwinds at my university for attracting research students are just too strong.
My enthusiasm starts to decline as the teaching continues to pile up. Well, it's not really the teaching, it's the admin associated with it. "Cost cutting" leaves the profs to do dirty work that anyone could do. I spent more time shuffling student names on excel spreadsheets than actually teaching. And then, a restructure. My mind had been heading this way already. They offer voluntary redundancies. I enquire, express interest and then accept. My payout, after taxes, is roughly equal to ~ 2 years living expenses. If I adapt my lifestyle and/or find additional income, I could stretch it for much longer.
When I accepted the redundancy, I was a little nervous, but every time I talked to someone about it, there was genuine shock - they didn't expect I would be one of those to go. Every time a colleague, peer or supervisor says I'll be missed and I can see it's genuine, I feel more confident. When I first decided to leave, my mindset was framed by scarcity. How long can I make the money last? What is the minimum I would need to live if I pursue becoming an entrepreneur? How long do I give that approach before I would give it in and get a 'normal' job again.
Slowly, though, I've been realising - there's no reason for me to have that scarcity mindset. Unscripted and Fastlane have been such a great boost to my mindset. F*ck you, I'm not going to aim to survive. I'm going to thrive. I'm getting into the Fastlane. I don't need to follow the scripts. Instead of limiting myself to what I have been, I'm opening my mind up to all the possible opportunities, and I know I have the skills and dedication to succeed. I really feel like this is the second act of my working life and the possibilities are exciting.
The first scene of this second act of my life, I am producing online content for organic chemistry students. There's a big need and large market. One particular niche that I am targeting is North American pre-med students. They normally need to pass two semesters of organic chemistry to go to med school. There is a high failure rate - indeed, organic chemistry is often called the "weed out" course. Often the Professors teaching these courses are useless, and students are desperate to get external help to pass the course. I have a website - Organic Chemistry Explained and a YouTube channel. I aim to soon make an online course about one particular sub-topic that is often the most difficult for students to pass. My key differentiator is that I will have lots of interactive 'stuff' - 3D molecules that can be manipulated, web-based practice questions, etc. I also have an augmented reality (AR) app - MoleculAR that I will tie in with this. I also have a prototype Virtual Reality (VR) app for HTC Vive to work out a good strategy for.
Beyond that and more courses, I see great potential for AR and VR in teaching and learning. At the start of next month, I'm taking a course in this area. My plan is to apply that to make some AR/VR courses or content for chemistry, then use the skills I develop to create a course about making AR/VR content - aimed at people with no coding experience.
Technically, I have two further weeks with my employer, so I still don't have 100% of my time available to pursue my new goals, but I'm looking forward to it.
Would love to hear any comments and feedback and I'm looking forward to absorbing much more from this forum in the months and years to come!
The great thing is, I got to do much of that. I excelled at university. I took a broad range of science subjects and intro programming. I tossed my mind between being a computer programmer or a research scientist. In the end, I fell in love with organic chemistry. I also reasoned that I "didn't want to be stuck in front of a computer all day" and I enjoyed the hands-on experimental side of organic chemistry. As an aside, ironically, as the years passed I eventually ended up being "stuck in front of a computer" anyway!
I lived my dream. I applied to do a PhD at Cambridge in the UK and got in! To be honest, I was just as interested in the new opportunities to chase girls as the prestige of a big name degree. I loved most of it. It was hard work, but I loved taking on big challenges, expanding my horizons and the thrill of occasionally discovering something unexpected.
I came back to Australia and eventually got a tenure-track position at a great uni. Settled down with a girlfriend, paid of my student debt and earning good money. The early years in academia were exactly what I wished for. I really didn't pay attention to money or my childhood entrepreneurial ambitions - the saying I kept in mind was "if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life". But things started to erode... As my research group grew, I had to be more strategic, more of a manager. Plus, it's totally true that the reward for success is more work! Working nights and weekends on lectures and grant proposals was killing me.
Then, hooray! I was head-hunted for an academic role back in Brisbane with much less teaching load (for a period of time). We packed our bags and headed back to our home town. Things were great again. It was all about research and I re-claimed my nights and weekends. Things were good again. Bought a house, got a mortgage. New car.
Then, a baby. Whoa, that changed things. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall, but once a kid is in your life, you start noticing so much more if your relationship with your wife isn't so great. I started resenting my work - it was keeping me away from being with my kid. Obscenely, at work, I was getting into negative habits. I would waste time on un-related hobby interests. I started playing the stock market. I learned to code and designed trading systems, thinking that if I could trade myself to a fortune, I could escape from a job that was already starting to feel more like a noose. And I hadn't even gone back to a regular teaching load...
Child #2. OK, now things were even worse at home. Helicopter vs free'n'easy. So much conflict. Teaching workload started to climb. Research group shrinking. Funding drying up.
To cut a long story slightly shorter, divorce happened a few years ago, but was way overdue. Best decision I ever made. The sense of freedom was amazing. And then, well before anyone else would think is reasonable, I met an amazing woman with whom everything is so easy and so 'right' it makes me see how a real, functional relationship can work!
I throw myself back into my work, re-engage and rise to the challenge of bigger and bigger teaching loads by trying to innovate and be the best teacher I can possibly be. I take courses in web programming and a bunch of other things on Udemy and embrace technology in my teaching. I'm amazed at the new face of learning - a $10 course can give you all you need to be competent at a real skill. Unfortunately, it's too late to get my research career back on track - once you've fallen off the funding boat, it's so hard to get back on, and the headwinds at my university for attracting research students are just too strong.
My enthusiasm starts to decline as the teaching continues to pile up. Well, it's not really the teaching, it's the admin associated with it. "Cost cutting" leaves the profs to do dirty work that anyone could do. I spent more time shuffling student names on excel spreadsheets than actually teaching. And then, a restructure. My mind had been heading this way already. They offer voluntary redundancies. I enquire, express interest and then accept. My payout, after taxes, is roughly equal to ~ 2 years living expenses. If I adapt my lifestyle and/or find additional income, I could stretch it for much longer.
When I accepted the redundancy, I was a little nervous, but every time I talked to someone about it, there was genuine shock - they didn't expect I would be one of those to go. Every time a colleague, peer or supervisor says I'll be missed and I can see it's genuine, I feel more confident. When I first decided to leave, my mindset was framed by scarcity. How long can I make the money last? What is the minimum I would need to live if I pursue becoming an entrepreneur? How long do I give that approach before I would give it in and get a 'normal' job again.
Slowly, though, I've been realising - there's no reason for me to have that scarcity mindset. Unscripted and Fastlane have been such a great boost to my mindset. F*ck you, I'm not going to aim to survive. I'm going to thrive. I'm getting into the Fastlane. I don't need to follow the scripts. Instead of limiting myself to what I have been, I'm opening my mind up to all the possible opportunities, and I know I have the skills and dedication to succeed. I really feel like this is the second act of my working life and the possibilities are exciting.
The first scene of this second act of my life, I am producing online content for organic chemistry students. There's a big need and large market. One particular niche that I am targeting is North American pre-med students. They normally need to pass two semesters of organic chemistry to go to med school. There is a high failure rate - indeed, organic chemistry is often called the "weed out" course. Often the Professors teaching these courses are useless, and students are desperate to get external help to pass the course. I have a website - Organic Chemistry Explained and a YouTube channel. I aim to soon make an online course about one particular sub-topic that is often the most difficult for students to pass. My key differentiator is that I will have lots of interactive 'stuff' - 3D molecules that can be manipulated, web-based practice questions, etc. I also have an augmented reality (AR) app - MoleculAR that I will tie in with this. I also have a prototype Virtual Reality (VR) app for HTC Vive to work out a good strategy for.
Beyond that and more courses, I see great potential for AR and VR in teaching and learning. At the start of next month, I'm taking a course in this area. My plan is to apply that to make some AR/VR courses or content for chemistry, then use the skills I develop to create a course about making AR/VR content - aimed at people with no coding experience.
Technically, I have two further weeks with my employer, so I still don't have 100% of my time available to pursue my new goals, but I'm looking forward to it.
Would love to hear any comments and feedback and I'm looking forward to absorbing much more from this forum in the months and years to come!
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