It all started with me feeling extremely frustrated with my new job in a consultancy boutique firm. I never thought I would actually switch into a territory that I long abandoned but because I needed money, that’s where I could make it fast. But the stress comes with it too as my job requires me to read, learn, think a lot and deal with multiple stakeholders with their needs and wants.

At one point, my brain felt like a sponge that was extremely full of water and needed to be squeezed. I felt heavy with all the information I received and wanted to empty it. It’s like a volcano waiting for its time to erupt and I needed to channel my stress. So, I told a friend of mine that I am going to organize a class for free.

Yet my friend suggested that I charged a small fee for it I was and I followed the recommendation. Now, it has been 3 months and not only that teaching helped me de-stress but it also helped me become a better student and make money out of it too.

These 3 months, through ups and downs in my life, teaching helped me lift my mood and balance all the stresses in my life.

Some days were not easy because I also struggled with low mood but this teaching job has taught me about consistency more than any of my previous attempts in doing so. During my low mood days, I still have to show up for my students and somehow everything shifts once I start teaching and talking to them.

[I think this was why my long-time friends suggested for it to be paid, because they know, I'd need a sort of ties to the responsibilities because otherwise, I'd just abandon it. ]

And my course is inexpensive, many of them have asked me why I didn't increase the price. That is because I know with increasing the price that translates as more commitment, more expectations and more work from my end. This is something that I try to avoid especially when something is meant to de-stress.

For something that is supposed to be my way to de-stress, I definitely do not want to make it something stressful. Currently, I only spend 2 hours of my time teaching a few times a week. It's not a huge commitment to me and also I spend about 1-1.5 to organize the materials.

In another side of the coin, I also know that if I have 50 students on the roll for 6 weeks at a time, that’s already triple the minimum wage in my city. Again, that is on top of my regular day job and everything else that I do.

Since I know that I can treat this as a venture, basically these 3 months have become my R&D stage where I test and fail the materials, the way to conduct the course and all necessary work to ensure the class goes smoothly without minimal interruption.

Last but not least, 3 months into teaching also helped me realize that I genuinely enjoy transferring my knowledge. It also helped me to upgrade myself even more, to learn beyond what I have learned, and be really good at it.

While waiting for bigger projects, I am going to keep this going and even if I get a bigger project, I’ll still try to find the time to teach. What I know is that, finally there’s something I do that gives me an energy boost instead of draining it. To me, that alone is worth protecting whether it is paid or not.