How to stop trading your time for money as an educator

Welcome to the Empowered Edupreneur Podcast. My name is Michelle Smit and I am an ex-teacher turned online business coach for Edupreneurs the owner of Digiteach and a six-figure entrepreneur. I am in love with empowering educators just like you to create freedom filled online businesses and lives they love. If you are looking to up-level your skills, your finances, your mindset, and change the trajectory of your life as an educator and business, then you are in the right place.

Think of this podcast as your weekly dose of business and mindset development to help unlock the infinite potential within you. To play bigger with your life and go after your dreams. We are going to have so much fun together. So thank you so much for pushing play today. Now let's dive in.

Hello, amazing ones. It is so good to be talking to you today. I just had an amazing walk on the beach with my mom, my sister and Mike. We got smoothies and we walked up and down the beach, which. Just the most perfect way to start the day. I'm so grateful and I'm feeling good, and I hope your day is going well too.

Today I am going to be talking to you about how to stop trading your time for money as an educator and just my thoughts on this. Now, of course, teachers are born being told they must actively teach to earn an income and that's just how things work, right? Actually, most professions work under this trade, your time for money model.

Which is a problem because time is limited. There are only 24 hours in a day and eight of those hours you should be sleeping, and the other eight hours you should be relaxing and living your life, spending time with family, and doing things that make you happy. So what this means is that you will only have about.

working hours during the day to generate money, which means your income will always be capped. There will always be a ceiling to how much you can earn. And I really experienced this as an online teacher. I was earning $20 an hour. That was actually the highest rate that I could actually ever earn. And it just capped me so badly I couldn't actually teach any more hours, and I was already so exhausted teaching the number of hours I was teaching.

It was really draining and people underestimate how much energy it actually takes to be on for students all day. I know as an online teacher, that was so crazy, and I know for classroom teachers it's probably even worse. Now the thing is with like doctors and lawyers and other professions, they also work under this model, but they earn a much higher hourly rate, and so it's doable.

It can work, right? But there's also a cap on how much they can earn because it's connected to them actively being there to offer their services or do their work with people, right? They actually have to be there to make the money. Now with teachers, the problem is that most teachers are underpaid. You know, in most areas of the world, this is the case.

Some countries are better than others. I know Canada is not too bad. Netherlands isn't too bad. It's definitely better than South Africa, for example. But still, the common theme we see for educators all over the world is that they're overworking and they're being underpaid, and they're being undervalued, and they end up doing all this other work on top of their teaching.

For example, classroom teachers, like they end up doing all this other stuff like grading, extracurricular activities, tests, marking homework, parent evenings. There's like all this other stuff they have to do on top of creating their curriculum and syllabus and all that stuff. And they're literally just being like spread so thin and there's just such little capacity for them.

And like that's what I hear all the time is like burnout, burnout, burnout from educators. And I could relate to that to some extent as an online teacher. And I. Really couldn't settle for that kind of system and way of life for myself, and this is where I made it my mission to find a new way of educating, a new way of helping others, a new way of making an impact and being of service to others, right?

That was sort of my thing, a new way of earning. And that's what sort of brought me to the magic of trading value instead of time. Okay, you move away from trading time and you move towards trading value instead. And you do this through digital products or group programs and courses. So that's anything that people can really do in their own time.

You build it once and then you sell it for however many years, and people then do that. In their own time, whatever it may be. You know, say it's an e-book or it's a course all sorts of digital products exist. Okay? So instead of time you're trading value, you trade information, expertise, processes, curriculums, and all of that helps someone get to some sort of desired end result, right? 

And this is what's happening at the moment in the online business industry is that this industry is built off people selling their expertise, their experiences and their results and what they can do for other people online. Now you might think, oh, I wish I could do that, but I have nothing to help people with, and this is often not true.

We just don't know what to look for. So if you have been a teacher and you've helped someone go from A to B in some sort of transformation and led them from A to B to reach some sort of result. You can package that process and you can sell it, offer it as a digital product, like something people can buy and do in their own time or in a group.

Program capacity where you can do it like group classes or things like that. Now, if you have gone through life experience, if you've overcome something yourself something that others often ask you to help them with, perhaps you are actually sitting on something magical there. Perhaps you're sitting on something that people really need.

You could document that journey of transformation from A to B. You can systemize it, you can create your unique framework, and you can build a digital product on it to help people. Now, perhaps you're just incredible, for example, at making amazing cakes and decorating them with buttercream icing. Maybe you are like the buttercream icing queen, and people are always asking you to help them create beautiful cakes.

That could be your thing. You can monetize that. You can take your skills and learn to document it into a course curriculum that people can then buy from you to guide them to making incredible cakes. This is the way you stop trading time and you start trading value. Do you see what I mean? I don't think this is for everyone.

I certainly don't think every educator can do this and should do this. Building an online course in an online business requires a certain type of person who's, you know, willing to learn, willing to grow, willing to fail a bit, you know, entrepreneurial in some capacity. It's not for every educator.

For sure. But it certainly is for a, a percentage of them. Like there are, there are educators out there just like me, who this is the thing for them. Right. And I don't think everyone will launch a successful course or build a profitable online business. But for the educators out there who are meant for this, this is magical.

This is a revelation you may not even realize the potential you have and the magic you are actually sitting on. Just because you have only ever taught active classes and maybe you've only been a traditional teacher, teaching one kind of subject doesn't mean that's what you have to keep doing until the end of time.

If that's totally out of alignment with you and you're not actually happy, then you can change. You don't have to continue the way it has always been just because it's always been that way that is just called settling, and yes, it may seem like the easy option. But how easy is it living out of alignment?

How easy is it waking up every day to a job that doesn't light you up? How easy is a trading hour after hour after hour for pay that isn't really giving you what you desire and deserve? Is that really the easy option? Because that sounds hard as hell to me. Yes. Challenging yourself to monetize your gifts online is challenging.

Yes, taking your knowledge and packaging it into a digital product to sell is challenging. Yes. Learning how to sell things and make your own money online is challenging. Running a business is challenging, but the person who this is meant for is up for that challenge. That's how I see it. You would rather work harder to create a life you love doing work that lights you up with the freedom and abundance you truly desire then stay in an easy job because it is safe and the easy option that feels like torture.

If you're listening to me right now and you're like, yes, I would rather risk trying, trying and going for my dream then not doing anything at all, then you are the person who should be looking at. Course creation and online business, you're the person who should be thinking about how can I stop trading my time and how can I shift to trading value instead?

You are literally me. Years ago, literally, I taught every day. Four years, like four, five years. I taught online every day, and that was all I knew. I thought, you know, this is just how it is, and just because it was all I knew didn't mean that it was the right thing for me. It didn't mean it made me happy.

It just meant that's what I fell into and that's how my life unfolded, and I didn't really know what I was doing when I was younger. And really most of us don't, you know, we go to school, then we go to university. Then after that you're meant to get a job, then we stay in our job for the rest of time because that's what you must do.

It doesn't matter how shitty you feel, that's just. We should do. That's what we are sort of conditioned to do. That's sort of what society's rules are and like, get a job, then just go to work, sit in traffic for a million hours, be super stressed. Like two weeks of leave a year. Like find a partner, get married, have babies.

Like going to debt. It's like this is the normal thing, right? That's the thing that's expected of us. And so a lot of us do follow that, especially when we are young. We fall into this way of being, and even though we feel completely out of alignment, we're just doing it because that's what we think we should do.

And then suddenly you reach an age where you like. Who the hell came up with this shit? Like, who wrote this rule book for life? Because it's so wack. And eventually you reach an age where you're just like, okay, look, this is, this is just not for me. And you start redefining what you want your life to look like.

And that's a really amazing time. Like that's, I started doing that when I was like, I would say 26. I started really redefining. I wanted my life to look like. And, and the, the, the option of going against the grain is most certainly the harder option because you're going against the grain. Like it feels strange and it's super uncomfortable, but if it's in alignment for you, like that's the thing you should do.

That's. Really, and like, if you keep following that, like your, your intuitive nudges and what you think you should be doing, like what your heart is saying, if you follow that, you're going to be fine. Because the rule book, the things that we're taught, like whatever, all that stuff is just so wildly outdated.

Like the education systems, like how old school and outdated are most education systems in the world? They built out these curriculums like a thousand years ago, well, I don't know how many years ago. And were still teaching in the same way, with the same stuff, the same curriculum the same methods of teaching.

And the systems are all the same. And it's all just outdated because the world has evolved. And humans have evolved. We aren't learning the same way as we used to learn. We are innovating. We have the internet for heaven's sakes. The world changed when that happened and people are monetizing their gifts online.

Children are literally earning millions of dollars through social media like TikTok, like literally from like dancing and doing all sorts of things. The landscape has changed. People are absorbing information differently. Companies are starting to go more remote. the pandemic was a catalyst in history of, for one of the biggest boosts in the changing landscape of how we work, how we earn, how we learn online is literally the future.

And I don't dig all the things about that like that isn't great for many things, but I do see the opportunity in it, and to be honest, as educators. You're in an amazing position because your heart is in helping and in service, and you know how to educate and foster transformations. You know how to take information, break it down, and teach it to others.

And this is a massive skill that not everyone has. And we were born in this epic era of online business where people literally sell information online and make millions of. Teachers are now able to make millions of dollars doing what they want on their terms, and that my friends is freaking amazing. We should see the opportunity in all of this.

No, you don't have to think in the box and think, ah, because I'm a maths teacher now I need to build my business and courses on maths. If maths is no longer lighting you up, you don't have to do that. You can become an expert in the thing you love. For example, it could be cycling, it could be horse riding, it could be vegan baking, it could be life coaching.

Hypnosis knitting for heaven's sakes, as long as there is a market for it, where people are paying for help in those areas. You can create offers, offers, and monetize your gifts online in a way that doesn't involve you trading your time for money all the time. That doesn't involve you teaching back to back classes all day, every day.

The world is your oyster. The key here is to ask yourself the question, how can I start trading value instead? How can I serve a particular group of people and help them reach some sort of end result, some sort of transformation? How can I document my process and create my own method, which I can package into a digital product to sell for years to come?

That is the perspective I want you to leave with today. That's the kind of questions I want you to ask yourself today. Honestly. Ask yourself those questions and get your brain churning. Start looking outside of the box. Start looking outside of the lines you have drawn for yourself. Start releasing yourself from this conditioning that we must earn from actively teaching in classrooms or one-on-one or tutoring, and we must actively be there to do it, otherwise the students can't get the results because it's outdated and the world has moved on.

Will you be a pioneer in this movement or will you stay entrenched in the old paradigm? Now, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being a traditional teacher working one-on-one being, to be honest, we need you and you are absolute heroes to me, all of you. But those of you who find themselves in that situation and you're not happy, You're not content.

You're desiring more. You want something different. You're living out of alignment. You want to do life on your, on your terms, and you have this desire inside to call the shots, to be your own boss, to be able to work all over the world to be. A pioneer to create a legacy, to do something different. You are my people, and you're me years ago and my word, you have no idea the magic that can happen.

When you allow yourself to follow those nudges, follow your heart. Don't let fear keep you trapped and playing small. We all just have one life. We have this one life to live. Let's make it count. We don't have to settle. We're not fixed. We are constantly changing. We're constantly evolving. We can change what we don't like anymore.

We can, and I promise you, even though it's the tough option, it's the most rewarding option you can do for yourself. There is nothing that can light yourself up more than following what is right for you and ignoring the rest, and you are actually being guided all the time by nudges internally, gut instinct stuff.

Those little downloads you get, just follow your energy. Follow your energy, follow your gut instinct, leap, play bigger, do things differently because you're actually meant for that. Many of you are actually meant for that. And by resisting and ignoring, you're increasing your suffering. You're not actually living.

In your truth or in the alignment of what you're meant to be living, and you're not going to become the person that you were destined to be like, you got to listen to those nudges. They are there for a reason. And I promise you, there are so many educators who have shifted from trading time for money to trading value for money successfully.

Go find them on social media. Go follow them. Go be inspired by them. Go let them prove to you how possible this is, and that any limiting beliefs you have about it literally are just stories. They're just false stories that are just keeping you trapped. Go find evidence for your brain of how possible this is.

Go find them on social media and follow them. Connect with them. Teachers who are business owners, who are trailblazers, who are doing the thing that they want to do, who are brave, who are playing in the arena. There are so many of those humans. Once you find them, you'll keep finding them. And that's going to be really powerful for your brain as well.

I hope this episode resonated with you. I feel like I needed this episode in my life. In the early years, back in the day when I was confused as hell about what I was doing with my life, I was living so out of alignment, didn't really know what was happening there, but I really needed like this kind of pep talk.

So let's hope it reaches you and it gives you what you need at this time in your life. And I want you to just think. How can I start trading my value instead of my time? How can I serve people online and solve problems? I'm going to leave you with that. I hope you love this episode. I love chatting to you, and I will catch you next time.

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you haven't yet joined the waitlist for the Educators Income Booster Bootcamp, then head to my website at digiteach.biz to sign up. This is going to be the best live training experience helping you take your knowledge and map it out into a desirable course that can sell for years to come so that you can scale your income and impact like crazy. 

I appreciate you so much, and I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode. In the meantime, go create a business and life you love.