The Moment I Heard the Call To Reinvent Myself

Back then, I didn’t think about it as the call to reinvent myself. I thought of it as my pursuit of happiness. Either way, I was inspired by a new direction in life.

In 2007, I worked for a commercial refrigeration company in St. Louis, MO as a national account sales manager for the Anheuser-Busch account.  One of my responsibilities was to attend all AB special events where our innovative and still prototype beer cooler was going to be featured.  This included the 2007 Super Bowl parties in Miami, Florida!  Without a doubt, this was a very cool job and fun client to have as a single 25-year-old.

Outside of my day job, I spent the prior two years parking cars 3-4 nights a week. I started to burn out from juggling both jobs. Fortunately, after two years I finally paid down my credit card debt and only had student loans left.

I decided it was time to find a new part-time job that didn’t require late nights and so many hours. I had an idea to tutor high school math.  If I charged $25 an hour and with enough hours per week, I could replace parking cars part-time. 

So I launched an experiment.  I placed an ad in Craigslist (an online classifieds platform) offering my tutoring services.  Within a couple of weeks, someone replied and I had my first client – Patricio.  Patricio was a pre-med student at Washington University.  He needed help with Game Theory.  This was not quite what I had in mind, but he replied to the ad and was willing to pay me, so we got to work. 

I discovered how much I loved tutoring Patricio. I loved helping him build confidence in the subject and think his way through the problems.

Dating My New Interest – Tutoring Math

After my tutoring experiment with Patricio, I decided to quit parking cars at night. It was clear there was another way to help pay down my debts while exploring a potential new passion – teaching math.

The thought even crossed my mind that I might be meant for another kind of career.

I wasn’t ready to quit my job however, so I looked for ways to continue tutoring and making extra money this way.

While going through Craigslist job postings for tutors, I saw a post for a part-time math teacher role at an after-school learning center.  Naturally, they were looking for experienced math teachers, however, I had to try.

I recalled a story about a time when Leonardo Da Vinci wrote a bold cover letter for a job he had no experience – military engineer.  He detailed all of the incredible things he could do in such a role and played down his previous career as an artist.

That story inspired me to write my own bold cover letter that would completely distract the reader from the fact that I had no formal teaching experience.  I hit submit and waited for a reply.

I got an email back from them thanking me for my application and letter.  They reiterated they wanted someone with experience teaching math. But they thought an in-person meeting wouldn’t hurt given the passion and confidence I communicated through my cover letter.

We met and I got the job!  My flirtation with teaching math was now officially entering the dating phase.  I worked as many evenings and hours as they would offer me after I was done at the office.  I worked with math students ranging from 6^th through 12th grade.

And then it happened, I heard the call Reinvent Myself

After 3 months of tutoring at the learning center, I knew there was something else out there for me.  Seven months later, I gathered the courage to quit my day job and I fully committed to reinvent myself into a math teacher.

The call to reinvent yourself is that feeling you get when your mind and heart have discovered something more aligned to your values, passion, and purpose than what you are doing today.  This call can come several times in your life, each one serving as the starting point to another leg on your journey to reinvention.

This feeling is different than the desire to quit or leave behind someone or something in your life.  If you no longer enjoy your work or you’re in a bad situation that is not the same as hearing the call to reinvent yourself.

The call to reinvent yourself has nothing to do with moving away from something and everything to do with moving towards something.  This is an important distinction because quitting does not guarantee you will reinvent yourself.  During the Great Resignation, many people quit their jobs, but not all of them reinvented themselves or ended up in a better situation.

What Happens Next?

That is ultimately up to you.  One option is to do nothing.  You can ignore the call and keep doing what you are doing. 

Another option is to talk yourself out of it.  Tell yourself that you can’t reinvent your career or life after all you have invested into your current path.  Think about all the people you will let down.  Worry about the financial consequences.  Conclude that reinvention is just not possible for you and that you’ve already chosen and committed to your path.  After all, quitters never win.  But you agree to always wonder, “what if?”

Or you answer the call.  You explore the call, you flirt with it, you get to know it and yourself better.  Start with a project or experiment. Have fun with it.  No need to quit your job or disrupt your life.

For me, teaching math part-time at the learning center for almost a year was my way of getting to know this new passion.  In the process, I also got to know myself better.  After this period of time, I knew, with a lot of confidence, that it was time to move on in a new direction from my current career.

As with all matters of the heart, not everything works out, so if it doesn’t get passed the dating phase, that’s ok.  It is better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all.  If nothing else, you’ll have learned new skills, made a small impact, and gotten to know yourself better.  Not a bad deal.

If you need help answering the call, reach out.  It is my mission to help people move towards those things that align best with their values, passion, and purpose.