Hello all, I am a High School Business Teacher and JH/HS Boys Basketball Coach. I am about to enter my 11th year of teaching and my 13th year of coaching. I have a BS in Mathematics and an MS in Sports Administration. Although I do like the actual practice of teaching, I never like any of the extra duties that go with it. I have also discovered that the more reliable you are in teaching, the more responsibilities get assigned to you. To be clear, I chose coaching. I love it and have always enjoyed it. I'm talking about the other duties, such as being a class sponsor, field trip chaperone, fundraising, etc.
Though not a business teacher originally, I got the business teaching job because it was the only opening at the school I wanted to be at. On top of this, they said that the current math teacher had 2-3 years left until retirement. I am going into year 5 at that school now, and he is still there. Thus, taking on the business teaching position, I also get to be the school FBLA teacher. While frustrating, this position is what opened my eyes to the world of business. I know people say teachers have always been underpaid, but I have never bought into it. I think if you are salary or hourly based, everything is hard to afford right now, regardless of career. My wife and I are both teachers at the school I am currently at, and we are compensated competitively for being at such a small district (we have 200 students K-12).
With two daughters (4 and 2), life has only gotten more expensive. We were lucky enough to get our house pre-COVID, and even that has become hard to keep up with. Even with our competitive salaries, I noticed that as I taught the 50-30-20 rule, our household looks a lot more like 70 - 30 - 0. Even with that, we still can't keep up. On top of that, my wife has been diagnosed with dysautonomia or long-term COVID (doctors don't seem to know which, but either way, the doctor visits have been adding up). We even both worked part-time jobs this summer and put in a lot of hours. This was still not enough.
We've done the Dave Ramsey class, and I could never wrap my brain around 0 credit. I read a Tony Robbins book, then Rich Dad Poor Dad, then multiple books on real estate and investing. None of them ever seemed to have the weight of reality to them for me to get behind. Sure, my investment account is up 40% after starting it 3 years ago but when you can only add $100 or less per month, that doesn't seem very hopeful.
Then, as I was looking at my Audible account at the beginning of this month, I saw "Unscripted : The Great Rat-Race Escape". I was familiar with the term Rat-Race because of the Rich Dad Poor Dad book, so I figured I'd give it a try. After finishing that, I thought I would listen to "Unscripted". Once I finished that, I knew I needed to go back to the beginning and listen to TMF . In less than a month, while consuming these three books, my mentality around what is possible has completely changed. This pull away from education that I have felt since I first started teaching seems to be coming to fruition. I will be teaching and coaching this year, but thankfully we operate on a 4-day school week, so that gives me one extra day to pour into creating and running my business. This is probably going to be the hardest year of my life, but for once, I am excited about that.
I've tried starting my own businesses before and realized after reading the books that they didn't follow enough, or any of the principles from the books. They usually followed my passions and didn't come close to affecting millions. I don't know what I want to do yet, but I am exploring the gaps in the market right now and trying to see where there is a need that is not being met or is being met inadequately. I am also learning as much as I can about running Claude Code in a way that makes this research more efficient. I am willing to create a business in higher barrier-to-entry area as well, limiting the competition. I don't plan on leaving teaching until my business makes me, but it is good to know that I may not have to wait until I have taught 30 years.
My dreams are plentiful, and there is no way that they will ever be realized if I stick with teaching. If anyone has any advice, I am always willing to learn. Thank you in advance and God bless!
Though not a business teacher originally, I got the business teaching job because it was the only opening at the school I wanted to be at. On top of this, they said that the current math teacher had 2-3 years left until retirement. I am going into year 5 at that school now, and he is still there. Thus, taking on the business teaching position, I also get to be the school FBLA teacher. While frustrating, this position is what opened my eyes to the world of business. I know people say teachers have always been underpaid, but I have never bought into it. I think if you are salary or hourly based, everything is hard to afford right now, regardless of career. My wife and I are both teachers at the school I am currently at, and we are compensated competitively for being at such a small district (we have 200 students K-12).
With two daughters (4 and 2), life has only gotten more expensive. We were lucky enough to get our house pre-COVID, and even that has become hard to keep up with. Even with our competitive salaries, I noticed that as I taught the 50-30-20 rule, our household looks a lot more like 70 - 30 - 0. Even with that, we still can't keep up. On top of that, my wife has been diagnosed with dysautonomia or long-term COVID (doctors don't seem to know which, but either way, the doctor visits have been adding up). We even both worked part-time jobs this summer and put in a lot of hours. This was still not enough.
We've done the Dave Ramsey class, and I could never wrap my brain around 0 credit. I read a Tony Robbins book, then Rich Dad Poor Dad, then multiple books on real estate and investing. None of them ever seemed to have the weight of reality to them for me to get behind. Sure, my investment account is up 40% after starting it 3 years ago but when you can only add $100 or less per month, that doesn't seem very hopeful.
Then, as I was looking at my Audible account at the beginning of this month, I saw "Unscripted : The Great Rat-Race Escape". I was familiar with the term Rat-Race because of the Rich Dad Poor Dad book, so I figured I'd give it a try. After finishing that, I thought I would listen to "Unscripted". Once I finished that, I knew I needed to go back to the beginning and listen to TMF . In less than a month, while consuming these three books, my mentality around what is possible has completely changed. This pull away from education that I have felt since I first started teaching seems to be coming to fruition. I will be teaching and coaching this year, but thankfully we operate on a 4-day school week, so that gives me one extra day to pour into creating and running my business. This is probably going to be the hardest year of my life, but for once, I am excited about that.
I've tried starting my own businesses before and realized after reading the books that they didn't follow enough, or any of the principles from the books. They usually followed my passions and didn't come close to affecting millions. I don't know what I want to do yet, but I am exploring the gaps in the market right now and trying to see where there is a need that is not being met or is being met inadequately. I am also learning as much as I can about running Claude Code in a way that makes this research more efficient. I am willing to create a business in higher barrier-to-entry area as well, limiting the competition. I don't plan on leaving teaching until my business makes me, but it is good to know that I may not have to wait until I have taught 30 years.
My dreams are plentiful, and there is no way that they will ever be realized if I stick with teaching. If anyone has any advice, I am always willing to learn. Thank you in advance and God bless!
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