“Adversity causes some people to break, and other people to break records.” — Anon
The Governator
I think one of the most powerful motivations in my life is when someone tells me that I can’t do something.
In his autobiography, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger puts it this way:
Sometimes you have to appreciate the very people and circumstances that traumatized you. Today I hail the strictness of my father, and my whole upbringing, and the fact that I didn’t have anything that I wanted in Austria, because those were the very factors that made me hungry.
Every time he hit me. Every time he said my weight training was garbage, that I should do something useful and go out and chop wood. Every time he disapproved of me or embarrassed me, it put fuel on the fire in my belly. It drove me and motivated me.
What strikes me, is that it wasn’t the fact that Arnold was tormented that made him into the over-achieving force of nature that he became (warts and all), it was the the way that he used that ordeal as motivation to reach his goals.
What do you do when you need to earn some money quick, and the job market is tight?
When you rely on multiple streams of income, and you don’t have a regular eight to five job, it’s good to have a job that you can turn to that is certain to generate income when you are in a financial tight spot.
For me, one such job is to become a substitute teacher.
We can all think of many reasons not to like about being a substitute teacher, but one overriding reason to like it is that you can generate some quick cash.
The only requirement is that you must have a teaching certification to quality. You don’t have to have actually taught in the past, but you need that certificate in hand. If you already have a degree, there are universities where you can earn a certificate in one year, while studying part-time.
I have been a substitute teacher two times. Once, when I returned from working in Honduras with the Peace Corps, and the second time was when I started again just last month.
5 Reasons to be a Substitute Teacher
1.) Steady money. In the district I work with, substitute teachers are paid between $75 and $125 per day, depending on location of the school and teacher experience.
2.) Short hours. It’s usually 6 to 7 hours.
3.) Interesting people. Teachers and school volunteers turn out to be very interesting people to get to know. Some of them are down right inspiring. I met an effervescent grandfatherly gentleman last week at lunch in the teacher’s lounge who was a minister/substitute teacher. He had worked on the Indian Reservation, and several other remarkable places, as part of his career.
4.) To get a microscopic view of our educational system. I have a better understanding of the strength and weaknesses of the education system. The system is good in that it funnels the energies of many dedicated teachers into schools, but I found many kids attending schools are not prepared to succeed in school, mainly through a variety of issues in their home life.
5.) You get paid no matter how bad the day goes.
3 Reasons not to be a Substitute Teacher
1.) You can be stuck with bad students for the entire day. Sometimes all you can do is grit your teeth, and just try to get through the day.
2.) You have to connect with kids quickly. Not so easy when you don’t know their names or backgrounds, and they see “having a substitute” with synonymous with “having a free day.”
It’s a great feeling when you do connect with kids. Recently, I had one student come up and talk to me what his goals in life were, and one of his goals was to become a teacher. Sometimes students will come up to me after class and tell me that appreciated having me as their substitute teacher, or ask when I’m coming back again. That always helps the old ego.
3.) Some kids won’t like you no matter how good you are. They don’t want to be in school, and they don’t want people telling them what to do, least of all a substitute teacher.
Coping mechanisms to maintain some control of the classroom
Here are some ways that I have discovered to keep the kids pointed the right direction, and to maintain some shred of professional dignity in the process.
1.) Keep kids busy. A good teacher will leave a lesson plan for you that keeps the kids productively busy all day. The bad teachers leave a lesson plan with too few activities for the kids, or in some cases, they leave no lesson plan at all. I always bring my own lesson plan, just in case.
2.) Deal with problems with some sort of consequences, if only to write names on board.
3.) Don’t dwell on bad experiences; start with a clean slate each day. Let criticism roll off you like rain off duck’s back.
4.) If one thing doesn’t work with the kids, try something else. I have certain activities, like games and brain twisters, to fall back on that work in most circumstances. This is easier to do, the more experience that you have.
Of course, there is a humorous side to being a substitute teacher:
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Most people only re-examine the path that their life is taking when they suffer a traumatic experience. Some people take a deep breath when they reach a point where they realize that their days are numbered. They sense the need to focus the remainder of their lives on doing something that provides a deeper satisfaction and allows them to spend more time with their family. For others, they realize that they don’t want to continue to work at a mind-numbing job or for an ungrateful boss.
There is more to life than just making money. Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.” We long for something more fulfilling.
Taking a new path toward earning money requires us “to give up what is familiar and secure,” as Marsha Sinetar says in her book Do What You Love and the Money Will Fol-low. Sinetar feels that working at the “right” job involves “doing our best at what we do best.” Sinetar suggests that we periodically take stock of our true life’s purpose by asking the following questions:
1. What do I want to have accomplished when I look back upon my life in old age?
2. What habits would I need to cultivate and what would I have to delete from my present life to live out my true purpose?
3. What activities would I do if I lived as if my purpose meant something to me?
To improve your economic security you should plant in your mind the idea you should never sell a house. Converting your home to a rental house can provide long-term rental income and economic security to you and your family.
Gary Sutton of Newsradio 910 WSBA, York, PA asked me, “What if you have a creepy tenant like the one in the movie Pacific Heights? What are the rights of tenants?
Michael Keaton in Pacific Heights represented a new landlord’s worst nightmare. He was a master at manipulation of landlords, and pushed the boundaries of the law without actually breaking them.
Laws Favor Tenants
Of course, there is a lot of gratuitous Tinseltown nail-bitting tension in the film, but it does faithfully present one fact that all landlords must face. The laws generally favor the tenant.
Laws may vary from state to state, but in general tenants are required to:
– maintain dewlling units
-dispose of trash
-use in a reasonable manner the electrical , plumbing, heating, AC,
etc., and all appliances
– not destroy, deface, or damage the premises
– not disturb the beighbor
– allow landlord access to the property
Landlords are required to:
-supply a written copy of the lease to the tenants
– comply with all building codes
– make requied repairs so that the property is clean and safe
– maintain in safe working order all electrical plumbing, AC, etc.
– provide recepticles for waste removal
“Practical” vs “Legal” Remedies
As Carlton Casler points out in his book “Arizona Landlord’s Deskbook,” the best remedy to problems with tenants is often by utilizing the “practical” approach rather than the “legal” approach.
For example, instead of incurring all the costs of time and money to legally remove a deadbeat tenant, by telling the tenant that if he is out at the end of the month and the property is reasonably clean that you will refund allow his deposits. Or, if he has no deposits, you give him $100.
Would that solution work for a tenant like Michael Keaton?
He’d probably prefer a fist fight with the landlord or a shootout with the cops.
However, outside of Hollywood the practical solution works pretty well.
Upcoming radio interviews
August 25 at 8:08 am, I will be on Jeff Anderson’s show, KSDR 1480 am, Watertown, South Dakota.
August 26 at 11:05 am, the Ron Ross Show, WJBC 1230 am, Bloomington, Illinois.
September 15 at 8:05 am, the Dan Ramey show, WBEX 1490 AM, Chillicothe, Ohio.
I am making an offer on a fixer-upper townhouse. It’s a 2 bed 2 bath unit in a row of about 10 townhouses, where I already own another townhouse. It’s not the proverbial “worst house in the best neighborhood” but it’s located in a mixed lower-middle to middle-class neighborhood where there is good demand for housing.
They are asking $115,000 and I am offering $100,000. I’ll let you know how it comes out.
One Person/Multiple Careers
I began reading Marci Alboher’s intriguingly entitled book One Person/Multiple Careers. It’s interesting to read about other people doing similar multiple careers to what we part-time real estate investors are doing. I’ll post a review of the book here soon.
Want to teach your kids how to manage money? Do you want them to share your desire to develop income independence?
In the post “Do As I Do” at Overcoming Real Estate Obstacles, Carol says, “You’ll never be financially secure working for someone else. Your job, as much as you love it, is always at risk for many different reasons. Therefore, you need to make your job a bit less important. The only way to do this is to start a business of your own. You can begin small, while you’re still working. That way, you will be prepared if your fired, laid off, or the company you work for shuts down.”
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FIX EM UP RENT EM OUT
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