All Around Growth — reflections on faith, freedom, and finding purpose through Orthodox Christian living, formation, and the long work of becoming. Earlier episodes available to supporters.
If we stand together, we'll never fall. We can make a difference.
SPEAKER_01
Hi there and welcome back to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. My name is Rob Kaiser and I am your host. Today is Friday, July 29th, 2022. And the title of today's show is Untethering from Traditional Employment. That's right, today's show is also a career-focused episode, and I'm going to talk about the untethering that has been taking place since leaving the world of full-time employment and some of what my personal experiences have been since quitting my job in May. And I'm excited to talk about this today because I'm in the process of actively creating my career. Like Dan Miller writes about, you truly can create the work and life you love. So today I'll share a bit with you about how I'm going about doing exactly that. Now it dawned on me this morning that it's been a whirlwind of a couple months since I quit my job in May. And I first wrote about that in an article titled Six Steps to Succeed in the Great Resignation, which I'll link to in the show notes. And as I reread that this morning, I'm realizing that, hey, okay, you know, done a halfway decent job of doing what I wrote about in that article when I wrote about it a couple of months ago. Now, in addition to my old day job, I have also gotten rid of some other things that have kept me in bondage. Like for example, a nicotine addiction. But for today, we'll focus on the untethering from the world of traditional employment, and we'll focus on today's show as an episode on career, and maybe touch on that nicotine addiction in another show down the road. Okay, so untethering from the world of traditional employment. What does that mean and where does that term come from? It comes from my behavioral health therapist. All right. I make uh no bones about this, there's no shame in this, it's all part of the functional medicine process that I began last year, September of last year. So I am approaching one year of functional medicine and had a virtual visit this morning with my behavioral health therapist, and this word was introduced to me, and that's a big part of why I'm using it today. Untethering from the world of traditional employment. There's been a lot of untethering lately, and um in many different ways. But in terms of employment, you know, that's something that I am no longer used to in the traditional sense. The terms of my employment right now are very loose. You know, those of you who are out there are probably thinking, like, you know, hey, you know, Rob's self-employed, blah blah blah blah blah blah. I mean, in a sense I am, and in a sense I'm not. Like, I and I need to figure out how I'm going about doing this, uh, because basically, like, I do some side work here, uh, I work, I you know, I work the equivalent of a full-time job here on the farm, in large part at the farmer's market, and all the preparation that goes into the farmers market, the making and packing of sauerkraut and pickles and so on and so forth, you know, all of that is the equivalent of a full-time job. 40 hours a week, and then some, right? And then there's just simple maintenance of the homestead. Like, for example, a lot of prep for mom's 70th party that's going on one week from Sunday, and um so lots of time outside just doing some cleanup, making things look good, and uh just routine maintenance that is generally done all the time, but you know, right now we're doing a little bit more, so um, but how you know I don't I don't really know like I'm not an employee of York Meadow Farm, and I need to really structure, you know, put some structure to what I'm doing with my business. And and and I can say, luckily, that uh over the past two months I've put far more money into my business checking account than I have put into that account over the past uh few years. Okay, now my expenses have been different, and that and the terms of my employment, if you will, and the arrangements with uh my parents and York Meadow Farm uh are very loose and they've changed. But at the end of the day, I'm very happy with what I do, and that's what it is important. And when my father and I talk about what is important in life, we agree that it's about our happiness. And he's become accustomed to telling me that all work is noble. And he's always told me this, but I hear it more frequently because now it's my father whose side I work by. You know, and now my career involves this this, like I said, this untethering from the world of traditional employment, trying to figure out how I fit into the world of employment while spending my time learning about the ancient art of lactofermentation with my father's recipes. You know, and this is um this is this is this is uh this is good. Like I said, I'm happy. And moreover, I I as I'm trying to figure this out, it's it's it's worth figuring out because I I just received my first paycheck, if you will, from dad a few days ago, and that was a big deal to me because we'd already made some arrangements, like I said, the untraditional arrangements with work trade agreements and such until we figure things out in the long run, but uh, you know, this really helps with some day-to-day expenses. You know, granted they're minimal right now because earlier in the year I had arranged for a CSA type of exchange with our tenant farmer Cody. He doesn't do this for anybody else, but he does it for me. And basically what I, you know, have done for the past couple years was help him out in the winter with some seed money, and he just gives me produce, you know, every every week. Even in the winter time, when there's very little for sale, you know, I get a portion of that, and that's fantastic. Um I've also got meat in the freezer. How much? I don't know. I feel like I should go do an inventory of that because some of it I'm going to eliminate eating again. As I return to this functional medicine uh grain-free elimination diet that brought me so much success. And I feel like as I close out 12 months on uh and working a program involving functional medicine, I should spend at least six of it on that plan. So, hey, here we go. Um, yeah, so I've got my produce needs taken care of, I've got my meat needs taken care of, and the big thing that I was sweating when I quit my job was insurance. But guys, let me tell you how it works, you know, because this information that I'm about to provide you with will help the untethering take place that much easier. Basically, I got my insurance policy from the uh agent who sold the policy to my former employer. Alright. And the way that works is I made an appointment with him and he discussed my needs with me. And it was basically created on a similar, like he just looked at the policy that my previous employer had and what it provided to me, and looked at some similar options based on my particular needs, and after a discussion with me, he said, This is what I think is best for you. I trusted him. Or I I I trust him rather. Um and based on my estimated income for you know the remainder of the year, or for this year rather, all I needed to do was write a check, and the result was an active policy with a card in the mail the following week that basically allowed me to maintain a plan very similar to what I had, and quite frankly, one that was even better because I picked up my seizure medications, which I'm still taking at this time, uh, last night, and I ended up paying a little bit less for them as well. So, you know, here we are uh just over two months into self-employment, and the untethering process is going quite well. Basic needs are taken care of, and I am at a point where I believe I can focus on my health again, and I can focus on it a little bit differently, a little bit better now that I am entirely free of tobacco. Nicotine in all ways, shapes, and forms, and there is a certain level of freedom that comes with that as well. And uh the focus on my health again will result in improved health. Improved health will result in improved mental clarity, and that improved mental clarity will result in improved success on goals. And as far as goals are concerned, you know, I will, like I always do, link to the 2022 goal setting workbook that was an integral part of my success up to this point and will continue to be an integral part of my success moving forward. And as far as goals and career are concerned, I've got a question for you. You know, how do you go about achieving your career goals? Now I know the topic of today's show was untethering from traditional employment, and it's not like I just up and quit my job. I had goals and a plan to get there, and I'm realizing right now that uh as I began executing that plan, um I need to change uh my goals, and uh that's something that's important to do. So, you know that realization led me to the question that I have for you guys. You know, how do you go about achieving your career goals and how do you you know make the plans? Actually, I want to include that question, so let's let's do that. How do you go about achieving your career goals? And how do you go about adjusting your plans when they are made? Okay, so got that, guys. How do you go about achieving your career goals and then how do you go about adjusting your plans when they are made? Also, let's talk about accountability, if not by your employer or manager, then by whom? Yourself. Because that's something too that I think is um is important, okay? So in addition to career goals and adjusting your plans, let's talk about accountability because there have been times in the past where you know, I've worked in what you know kind of felt like a dead-end job, you know, didn't have performance reviews or performance evaluations. So, in a sense, I kind of was doing my own performance evaluations and I was trying to learn how to more effectively self-manage me. And over time, those jobs led to other jobs, and once I landed myself within a company that had opportunity to grow, grow is what I certainly did. And um, you know, so yeah, again, these three questions that I would like to discuss with you in the Telegram group chat, which is t.me slash all around growth, are as follows. How do you go about achieving your career goals? How do you go about adjusting your plans when they are made? And then accountability, if not by your employer or manager, then by whom? Yourself? Alright, guys, so again, let us know in the comments and in the telegram group chat at t.me slash all around growth. And that's it for this week. I look forward to catching up with you on Monday when we get back to a financial topic. This is Rob Kaiser, and thank you.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
