What I'm Doing:
Mid-March I return to gainfully employed full-time work. I have left teaching (school) for the time being and am excited to move in a new direction. At roughly the ten year mark, in any field of full-time investment and expenditure, you're deep enough in to reflect back and decide which direction comes next.
This weekend I'm working Friday night, then riding out of town Saturday to compete at a Jiu-Jitsu invitational/death match/super fight/whatever-you-call-it event.
My match is 15 min's, Gi, purple belt, submission only. I've been training hard and added sprints and Olympic lifts back into my weekly training regimen.
March 12th I'll be reffing and competing at US Grappling's Submission Only event in Virginia Beach. They run a great event, and even their Sub Only events run more on time than a ton of other tournaments I've attended.
The following weekend I hope I can afford to do Copa Nova as I've never done one of their tournaments.
As for my new career path starting in March, long hours are to be expected as I'm starting at the ground floor in a new environment, but I've worked 2-3 jobs in addition to teaching to make ends meet for most of the time I was a teacher and long hours to me simply denotes that I have the opportunity to outwork and outpace the 97% who for various reasons don't embrace the grind of learning and persistence in any endeavor. 80% of success is showing up springs to mind, but showing up is more than simply being physically present. It's being there day after day, willing to keep trudging even when your heart really isn't in it but insisting on doing good work and improving over time.
It's training the day after the tournament, training the day after promotions, but most of all simply being consistent regarding a few primary and necessary tasks that are not always short-term rewarding that outpace everyone else who's just going through the motions.
The more you insist on finding time to do, the more hours you find in the week.
A typical weekend for me while working as teacher was: work monday-friday full-time, work downtown Friday night, get off at 2am, wake up, drive to wherever the tournament was 2-4 hours away, referee, compete, then drive 2-4 hours and be back in town by 10pm to then work until 4am.
When people complain about long hours or have their hand out asking others to help them with their journey in pursuing a dream I'm conflicted at times between altruism and skepticism.
Perhaps I've read too much Ayn Rand and her diatribe of trade as the ultimate medium of exchange and welfare or unwarranted support being vilified. Perhaps I just need some coffee.
You can work a full-time job, still train 1-2 times a day given sacrificing things like having kids, a large circle of friends/acquaintances and other less significant hobbies.
I've only been able to compete because of reffing for the awesome folks at US Grappling.
Through them I had the opportunity to compete and referee something like at least 30 times in the past few years. That being said, I also look forward to actually being able to afford attending Jiu-Jitsu seminars, IBJJF level tournaments and some training trips outside of my current area.
Reading:
- The River of Doubt by Candice Malard: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
- Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
- Various PDF's of research data and theory on :system justification, cognitive bias, outgroup bias, and ingroup preference,
Watching: Documentaries on Zimbardo's work (other than the Stanford Prison Experiment), social contract theory, bystander effect, and cult leaders.
Listening: The Last Podcast on the Left - each week recaps various horror-related topics such as true crime/serial killers/conspiracy theories et cetera.
Mid-March I return to gainfully employed full-time work. I have left teaching (school) for the time being and am excited to move in a new direction. At roughly the ten year mark, in any field of full-time investment and expenditure, you're deep enough in to reflect back and decide which direction comes next.
This weekend I'm working Friday night, then riding out of town Saturday to compete at a Jiu-Jitsu invitational/death match/super fight/whatever-you-call-it event.
My match is 15 min's, Gi, purple belt, submission only. I've been training hard and added sprints and Olympic lifts back into my weekly training regimen.
March 12th I'll be reffing and competing at US Grappling's Submission Only event in Virginia Beach. They run a great event, and even their Sub Only events run more on time than a ton of other tournaments I've attended.
The following weekend I hope I can afford to do Copa Nova as I've never done one of their tournaments.
As for my new career path starting in March, long hours are to be expected as I'm starting at the ground floor in a new environment, but I've worked 2-3 jobs in addition to teaching to make ends meet for most of the time I was a teacher and long hours to me simply denotes that I have the opportunity to outwork and outpace the 97% who for various reasons don't embrace the grind of learning and persistence in any endeavor. 80% of success is showing up springs to mind, but showing up is more than simply being physically present. It's being there day after day, willing to keep trudging even when your heart really isn't in it but insisting on doing good work and improving over time.
It's training the day after the tournament, training the day after promotions, but most of all simply being consistent regarding a few primary and necessary tasks that are not always short-term rewarding that outpace everyone else who's just going through the motions.
The more you insist on finding time to do, the more hours you find in the week.
A typical weekend for me while working as teacher was: work monday-friday full-time, work downtown Friday night, get off at 2am, wake up, drive to wherever the tournament was 2-4 hours away, referee, compete, then drive 2-4 hours and be back in town by 10pm to then work until 4am.
When people complain about long hours or have their hand out asking others to help them with their journey in pursuing a dream I'm conflicted at times between altruism and skepticism.
Perhaps I've read too much Ayn Rand and her diatribe of trade as the ultimate medium of exchange and welfare or unwarranted support being vilified. Perhaps I just need some coffee.
You can work a full-time job, still train 1-2 times a day given sacrificing things like having kids, a large circle of friends/acquaintances and other less significant hobbies.
I've only been able to compete because of reffing for the awesome folks at US Grappling.
Through them I had the opportunity to compete and referee something like at least 30 times in the past few years. That being said, I also look forward to actually being able to afford attending Jiu-Jitsu seminars, IBJJF level tournaments and some training trips outside of my current area.
Reading:
- The River of Doubt by Candice Malard: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
- Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
- Various PDF's of research data and theory on :system justification, cognitive bias, outgroup bias, and ingroup preference,
Watching: Documentaries on Zimbardo's work (other than the Stanford Prison Experiment), social contract theory, bystander effect, and cult leaders.
Listening: The Last Podcast on the Left - each week recaps various horror-related topics such as true crime/serial killers/conspiracy theories et cetera.
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