The important things you have control over
We have some degree of control over all the things that can greatly affect our lives: relationships, health, success, and of course money.
All of them benefit from mindfulness, from investing time and effort in them. In all of them, prevention is better than cure.
I had a really stressful experience this week. The admin at work sent me an email implying that I would not be able to continue with an important side project.
Faced with the choice between stable, comfortable employment and interesting and potentially much more rewarding work, I felt sick.
I would have to resign in order to continue with my project. Or shut down the project in order to keep getting my regular paychecks. Neither of these was a pleasant option.
I didn’t want to give up either of them. It was too early.
My eventual goal is financial independence. For me that means that I can live comfortably entirely from passive income from investments. I want this because I think it will give me freedom. The freedom to do what I want with my time without needing to worry about paying for rent, food, or nice notebooks.
The thing is, we’re not there yet. The choice I was suddenly faced with would put us back 5-10 years in our journey to FI, and drastically reduce my quality of life.
The situation is not fully resolved yet, but it’s looking hopeful.
This experience, while unpleasant, has been a useful one. Recently I’ve been getting complacent as my financial plan seemed to be coming together.
This was a nice reminder that we aren’t there yet, and perhaps there are some things we can do to get there quicker. I don’t want to be as stressed as I was on Monday night again for any preventable reason.
How about you? Can you cope with a drastic change in your employment situation? Would you want to?
Feeling bad for you that you had to be put in this situation. My side gig is borderline conflicting with some of my day work on various levels, and I do not take it for granted: my employer might ask me to stop my side gig and I would not know what to do. At this point though I feel I’m getting so close to financial independence that I would probably choose the side gig…
But I’d rather never have to make the choice, not until I’m really independent
That is exactly the situation! Right now I am jumping through hoops to get permission -should know by the end of the week.
Not sure what I will do if they say no though. Inclined to take the side gig but no optimal solution.
I am very happy (and relieved) to report that the situation has been resolved and I won’t have to make any painful choices this week.
I am very glad this happened though and promise to use the next couple of years wisely 🙂
Wow, weak sauce. From what I hear though, that’s pretty par for the course with most standard Japanese jobs, especially public positions.
Luckily for you, adversity is the only path to real growth. I’m sure that wherever you find yourself next week after the dust settles, you’ll make it work.
Hi S3ndug
Yes, almost all jobs in Japan forbid side work, but university teachers are a curious exception.
In this case it’s not the side work per se (or the side volunteering) but the nature of the work.
Still hoping it’s going to work (heh) out.