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Change of Pace — Have You Ever….

902879_question_mark.jpgIdea stolen from Chris Thomas

Have you ever:

  • Changed a personal habit? What was it and how did you accomplish it?
  • Lost more than 30 pounds? How did you do it and how did it make you feel?
  • Paid off over $10,000 in debt? What steps did you take and how did the process affect your views of borrowing?
  • Done something you never thought you could do? What and how?
  • Done or said something you regret? What were the circumstances and what did you learn from the process?

Joel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.

Joel Wagner
Joel Wagner (<strong><a href="http://www.twitter.com/sywtt">@sywtt</a></strong>) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. <strong><a href="http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/">So You Want To Teach?</a></strong> is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.
http://www.SoYouWantToTeach.com

4 thoughts on “Change of Pace — Have You Ever….

  1. I have lost more than 30 lbs. It took a lot of time — about 3 years — too long really but I’m not complaining. How did I do it? Well, to be honest, I think my metabolism changed when my youngest son was 3 years old and that made it a lot easier. I also started really watching my portions and made tiny changes in what I ate — moving towards healthier choices like switching to non-fat from 1%. At the same time, however, I have not given up anything that I really like — I eat chocolate whenever I want to and I use butter instead of margarine — just less of it. With chocolate, I love really good chocolate so I only eat REALLY good chocolate rather than whatever is handy. I think the biggest thing is not beating myself up if I “slip” and overeat. No worries — I’ll just get back on track. I also don’t expect to lose every week — if I lose, great. If not, I try to stay the same.

    My husband and I had way more than 10,000 in credit card debt. THankfully, it is nearly all paid off. It was hard and painful. The only debt we have now is our mortgage and to my mother-in-law. We will never have credit card debt again. It feels fantastic to be in this situation — way better than carrying all that debt did.

    As for the the saying or doing something I regret — well, that would take too long to explain as I say or do things I regret regularly! :)

  2. Thaks for the kind words, Tim!

    Wow, Liza! You sure have helped to inspire me and I’m sure countless others. Thanks to both of you for sharing and welcome to the blog!

  3. Finally got back to this one.

    By the time I started teaching (after 18 months out of work and one year at a job that did not meet my expenses) I was buried in debt (I think 30k’ish). I was deciding which monthly bills to defer, and paying off one bit of plastic with another.

    I scrimped on meals, ate in. Begged a close relative, got turned down. Essentially stopped spending anything, unless necessary. Quit cigarettes. Worked (we call it ‘per session’) extra tutorials, as many as I could get. Walked to work (saved bus fare), and lost some weight in the exchange. Took extra work on weekends, summer school.

    Also, completely shut in, I blew off friends a lot. It was a high price… but the debt worked down, fast. Three years later my social network was in tatters, but I was debt-free.

  4. That’s awesome Jonathan! What kinds of things have you done since then to restore your social network? Do you find that your liberation from the bondages of debt help you now by giving you more freedom?

    I find that since I destroyed my credit cards two years ago, I enjoy going out with friends more. When I can’t afford it, I know a payday is coming up in the next month or so (ha), so I’ll reschedule it until then. Now that I have a better control over my money (still not debt free yet), I have no problems telling friends I can’t afford to go out with them or suggesting a less expensive alternative.

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