3 yrs to FI: ertyu's journal

[fiby41]

Congrats on completing the fast ertyu and zbigi you too.
I'm fasting today and this thread is providing motivation.

[Western Red Cedar]

First off, congrats on the successful fast. That is something I can't even realistically conceive for myself.

The hyperphagia calms down eventually, but the fast won't fix the fact that we're all creatures of dopamine. Eating enough to be satisfied of something warm and nice feels good, and undereating, even if it's healthier, is miserable and requires constant struggle. I've always found the day to day deprivation and restriction much harder.

I'd encourage you to explore this in more depth. I think one of the most important parts of managing weight and improving health is moving away from a deprivation/restriction approach to diet and nutrition. That approach is why the vast majority of diets fail.

A big part of this is finding healthy meals that are delicious and satiating. Another part is focusing a little less on the scale. Another part is coming up with strategies that allow for a larger caloric intake to maintain weight (reverse dieting, building muscle, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, etc.).

[ertyu]

Might be an electrolyte imbalance (I've been doing 10 mile walks in the summer heat while fasting), might be something else, but I decided I don't want to to risk screwing up my health just so I can say I've finished what I started. Did you have any issues like that?

Good that you stopped. I didn't have heart pain but with fasting, there's no need for heroics. This is the first extended fast I've done in the summer and high temperatures did affect me adversely. Id say that if fasting in the winter, one can afford to be lax with electrolytes, but in the summer, supplementation is essential. In the winter, keeping warm is the bigger thing, when you reduce calorie intake, thermogenesis will also drop. This may be either a bug or a feature depending on one's frame of mind.

I've found a chinese paper saying that intermittent fasting leads to 91% higher chance of cardiovascular disease and death. Coming from China, it might be bullshit, but let's keep an eye out for further research.

Do you mind linking me to it? I'd like to know what fasting protocols they tested, who they tested them on, and what timeframe the effect was observed on.

@WRC, you're conflating health and weight/fat. If you're consuming a larger amount of calories on a daily basis, even if you are not gaining weight and/or the calories go towards the building of muscle (and especially if you lean into "satiating" and increase protein intake), your mTOR is on and your HGH is on. If your mTOR/HGH are on, cancer growth is on. Being lean and being healthy aren't the same thing even though one is more likely to be healthy when lean.

I'd rather pause the fat/weight discussion on my journal at this point if that is alright with folks. Extended fasts are a good tool for achieving autophagy. They may have medical implications. My whole point with saying what I said above is that if one's goal is exclusively being lean, an extended water fast is probably not the way to go even if it might at first appear to bring a big change in the numbers on the scale in a short time.

[zbigi]

Do you mind linking me to it? I'd like to know what fasting protocols they tested, who they tested them on, and what timeframe the effect was observed on.

No problem. Here's an article about the study:
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/8-hour- ... ular-death

[ertyu]

New developments: I am being demoted. I am not sure why, as no one has spoken to me about any issues with my performance and both student satisfaction surveys have been positive, the last one overwhelmingly so. One of my bosses, the one who taught the course before and who has now advanced into a more administrative boss role, has declared that she will conduct all lectures and write all exam papers while I will lead the discussion sessions, effectively stripping me of any control over the content of the course and demoting me to a monkey gruntwork position. Nothing has been said about a change in pay (yet?). My guess is that there are local office politics at play that I've gotten caught in.

As This is a reminder not to get relaxed and continuously keep in mind that this job can be over at any minute and I may need to leave the country. Most of all, I need an alternative plan, but I have very little idea what that might be. Realistically, if I am terminated unexpectedly, I will return to my home country and Trash Place. As I do not want to work what I have experience doing, the rational thing would be to choose a new career and begin preparing now. I am not, however, sure what career that would be, and not excited about acquiring knowledge about any of the "usual suspects" - a low level corporate role in data analysis or accounting or some such. A new profession would require new specialized knowledge and I don't feel particularly interested in or excited about any of that knowledge. I don't feel excited about being in an office full time either -- this assuming that I actually manage to find an office job. What is a viable plan??

ETA: Walked 2 half-marathons over the past couple of weeks. Not an accomplishment by forum standards, but it's there.

[blink2ce]

Ertyu if you don't mind sharing what is the subject that you teach? Apologies if it was already discussed earlier in your journal.

In my area it seems that the jobs that are easiest to get are service jobs (Bartender, waiter) and manufacturing and industrial jobs. Machining, warehouse work, and the utilities. I wonder if your local Water/Sewer or Electric utility needs new employees. Where I am there is quite a need for workers in the substations, meter readers, and etc. I think since the boomers are retiring these steady jobs in the utilities are becoming easier to get. Just a thought.

[ertyu]

Ertyu if you don't mind sharing what is the subject that you teach?

Economics currently. In the past have done a financial literacy course. I only have an MA in Economics, though, which limits me to community college -- which I would love, but so would everyone else who wants summers off and no pressure to publish.

[guitarplayer]

Are you considering a second stab at a PhD? Or is this a closed book now.

[ertyu]

Are you considering a second stab at a PhD?

If it's in Econ, the fist stab was a mistake, that's why I'm still an ABD. I didn't care about Economics at the time but applying and getting funded was a way to stay in the states while being fed, which is what I wanted. What made you suggest a PhD other than the obvious link, "well if it's only the degree that keeps you from that EU lecturer job"?

[guitarplayer]

It was that sentence that you cited that made me suggest, or bring up, the topic. And perhaps also my unreasonable rumination on getting a PhD in my lifetime.

[ertyu]

my unreasonable rumination on getting a PhD in my lifetime.

Why unreasonable, if you want one, get one. That's why god created fire - so ppl can get "unreasonable" degrees if they want to just bc they want them. I forgot, did you end up starting the Masters? Bc if you want a PhD, a. you could absolutely be chopping off the course load alongside full time employment, and b. they give people MA degrees partway through their PhDs, that's how I got mine. Worth looking into imo. Esp bc you seem genuinely interested in the subject

[guitarplayer]

I ended up not starting masters and now do self learning of economics and also continuing learning writing script. But I actually already have two MA degrees. Maybe for a PhD ‘just because’ later in life I could delve more into psychology and explore in more detail one of the many interesting themes from the forum.

[Lemur]

@ertyu

Assuming pay does not change, can you hunker down with monkey grunt work for a while or will the building resentment eventually cause you to quit anyway? Also if terminated unexpectedly, will you receive unemployment benefits? Perhaps combined with savings and you can take a break at trash place for a while and gameplan the next stage of working & saving. I can't remember exactly what your current financial status was but did seem like you're closeish to FI last I remember.

What about self-employed economics teacher on the YouTubes? Or any entrepreneurial ideas? Make some good content. Get monthly income...bam nomadism in Thailand.

[ertyu]

Assuming pay does not change, can you hunker down with monkey grunt work for a while or will the building resentment eventually cause you to quit anyway?

The biggest problem with monkey grunt work that I expect isn't resentment it's lack of motivation arising from not having control over my own work. I can and will hunker down at least until the end of this coming academic year. How unpleasant this will be mostly depends on the why of the demotion. If the ultimate goal is to oust me (eg bc the foreign husband of their cousin needs a job), because someone else has control of course content/grades and I am essentially a TA, they can say, "well let us have one homework students do per week and then you grade it" -- which, over 175 students, isn't negligible. Because it's boring, it can become the kind of task which induces endless procrastination, avoidance, etc.

It is also possible that they will not do this and I will end up working less. In that case, there is a silver lining where the job will require less mental involvement from me and free me up to learn and prepare for a career change.

Also if terminated unexpectedly, will you receive unemployment benefits?

Nope, my immigration status is tied to my work visa and I must leave the country within 30 days - or find another job, but given how I know the visa process to work, this might still involve leaving, reapplying for visa, then re-entering. So, A.) it will be an administrative pita (though not insurmountable). B.), this other job will probably be a downgrade. Eg I am aware of another program like mine but it's not located in a vibrant major city but in a backwater town. There are immediate options, but either the work, the location, or both will be inferior.

In either case, hunkering down and maximizing savings over the coming year is a no-brainer priority.

Perhaps combined with savings and you can take a break at trash place for a while and gameplan the next stage of working & saving.

That is the most likely outcome - live on savings for a while.

I can't remember exactly what your current financial status was but did seem like you're closeish to FI last I remember.

I'm leanfire in local terms in my country of origin (barring unforeseen healthcare expenses and lump sums to be spent on trash place repair). I'm mostly dragging my feet because I'm not ready to reduce my life to the tiny city that is my hometown in perpetuity. Everyone knows and has known everyone else since they were in nappies, so gossip and small-town thinking abound. Your "face" is important: people place much greater weight on appearance and appearances, and I'm too grumpy and feral for that. Connections -- read, drinking with people -- matter, and I am not sure I'm willing to do that.

I am very much not leanfire in any developed western country. I am also not leanfire in terms of the "nomadism in Thailand/VN/Laos" life.

What about self-employed economics teacher on the YouTubes?

Saturated, with a couple of big-name "rockstars" (I know the market well bc I have used the content said rockstars have generated.

Or any entrepreneurial ideas?

Every now and then, I've fantasized about being an online shrink for americans without insurance or with shitty insurance while hunkering down in a lcol country. Charging 20-50 usd per session and needing around 500 usd per month while at trash place, for instance ($20/hr is is McD wages these days). There is a cheap "Psychological counseling" MA in my country of origin I can do which delivers over distance learning all that can be possibly delivered over business learning. I'm not sure it will fit the requirements of evil online platforms like better help or such, and it is not strictly necessary if one is self-employed (eg I know of someone who writes books with titles like "loving awakening," distributes them for free to drum up clients, and hypnotizes people into hugging their inner child and calls it "Internal Family Systems therapy." She lives in Bulgaria to keep costs low while being on disability from the Netherlands, has no formal mental health professional training, and regularly talks to the disciples on her server about how all actual therapists are actually damaged and that's what got them to want to do therapy).

I would need a website, a way to securely charge and bill people, and constant social media presence and self-promotion to drum up clients, the last of which isn't a strength of mine. I will probably not take local clients due to the everyone knows themselves since they were in nappies effect - no one is a prophet in their home town. Also, it's the culture of my lovely country of origin that everyone is unconscious and acts shit out until they're physically shaking with their neurosis, and they're still "fine," a valium and some vodka will help, who's this person calling themselves a shrink they just want to take my money anyway, do they think themselves so much smarter than me to tell me what to do, I had to go to therapy once cause my former wife made me and it was ME that made THE THERAPIST cry hahaha what a loser. And so forth.

But the main reason why I hold back is that when I float the idea to people, literally 0 of them react with, "oh yeah, sounds like an awesome idea, I think you will make a great shrink, and in particular, I think strengths ABCD of yours will be a great asset!" The reaction is mostly, "oh wow ugh -- now how to be polite about this..." I once shared with a friend (who is somewhat close but is also one of those people who places more importance on not rocking the boat and not falling into social situations bothersome to themselves than on authenticity and mutual growth) that being a shrink is something I was thinking of doing but that the idea always gets poor reception so I feel like I'll suck at it, and this friend said, "well, you'll suck now, but that's what school is for." Now, I already know quite a lot about various therapy styles and modalities, I don't know what would happen at school that I haven't yet prepared myself for by reading books written for shrinks, watching various demo videos for various modalities on youtube, and so forth. I don't resent the honesty, I'm better off with honesty than with false platitudes, but if this was the most positive thing one of the least direct and confrontational people could say, it was fairly discouraging. In the end, if people who know me have a consistent, instinctive cringe reaction at the idea of me being a shrink, I probably do have major blind spots about myself in this regard. So, according to the interest/remuneration/talent venn diagram Jacob recently discussed, this one is an interest + maybe remuneration // no talent.

Make some good content. Get monthly income...bam nomadism in Thailand.

Me and everyone else... haha

Thank you for the questions and for helping me think through this, everyone

[Stahlmann]

Every now and then, I've fantasized about being an online shrink for americans without insurance or with shitty insurance while hunkering down in a lcol country. Charging 20-50 usd per session and needing around 500 usd per month while at trash place, for instance ($20/hr is is McD wages these days). There is a cheap "Psychological counseling" MA in my country of origin I can do which delivers over distance learning all that can be possibly delivered over business learning. I'm not sure it will fit the requirements of evil online platforms like better help or such, and it is not strictly necessary if one is self-employed (eg I know of someone who writes books with titles like "loving awakening," distributes them for free to drum up clients, and hypnotizes people into hugging their inner child and calls it "Internal Family Systems therapy." She lives in Bulgaria to keep costs low while being on disability from the Netherlands, has no formal mental health professional training, and regularly talks to the disciples on her server about how all actual therapists are actually damaged and that's what got them to want to do therapy).

Wow, nice idea!
Have you seen online platform for this? In the vein of same workplace solution, I saw third worlders offering online English tutoring for 20 USD/h for Westerners. But... offering psychological help seems tricky (chatgpt is your competitor...). Will be there market for this? Who will believe in your credentials? Won't you be prosecuted in client's country for offering services without mafia style monopolized licence?

My find is;
https://www.balancingbrainchemistry.co. ... ions-.html

Edit:
This part:

She lives in Bulgaria to keep costs low while being on disability from the Netherlands

is outright crazy! xD

@jacob, plz don't delete this post. As they say ''Volenti non fit iniuria''...

[NewBlood]

Good luck ertyu!
Is there no way to ask about the change to understand what happened/is likely to happen?
Are there no comparable positions in other similar countries?

Congrats on the 2 half-marathons!

[bookworm]

I once shared with a friend (who is somewhat close but is also one of those people who places more importance on not rocking the boat and not falling into social situations bothersome to themselves than on authenticity and mutual growth) that being a shrink is something I was thinking of doing but that the idea always gets poor reception so I feel like I'll suck at it

With the way you described your friend's personality, do you think that their opinion would be useful as external validation of your career potential as a therapist?

I am also curious what the range of options would be for credentials in your home country or wherever you end up? What is the capital cost for licensure, assuming such a thing exists? Here in the USA, it is something like 20k if going to a state school. I've only started investigating this as a future job.

In any case, hoping for the best as you navigate the unstable job.

[ertyu]

With the way you described your friend's personality, do you think that their opinion would be useful as external validation of your career potential as a therapist?

Nah, friend is fine. He didn't lie to me. Now, one thing about me that everyone on the forum will have noticed is that I am very open about my many and varied failings, insecurities, "head roaches" (awesome Russian idiom) and so forth. There are things that are going alright with my life and you can spin my story to look quite respectable and successful if you so desire, but I am not interested in that -- if something isn't a problem, you'll probably won't hear me talk about it. I'd talk about the things I want to work through, get off my chest, etc. Given that, it's easy to see me as someone very messed up rather than as someone as messed up as most other monkeys that are just fumbling along. So, part of what friend said can probably be reframed as, "a shrink??? well, you are such a mess and you have none of your shit together, god save us all." (*)

(*) People who "are very messed up and don't have their shit together" have a very important function in normal people society: they make you feel like you can look down on someone and by judging them, feel like you're above their foibles. Further, there's the constipated types that are sincerely overjoyed to find someone they can project their weak "feelingsy" shadow on so they can proceed to hate on it and feel v macho and in control.

The other half of what my friend said is probably rooted in something like, "well I didn't enjoy talking to you about my problems" which if you think about it is a fair criticism - I didn't make him feel better which is what people hope to get from a shrink.

Thirdly, my friend is very well adjusted socially, has good social skills, and can make himself liked with ease. What I see as aversion to authenticity and growth, some matron ruling over a small pond in the rural midwest would probably call tact and social skill. So, tldr, I might grouch about not having gotten what I wanted (an actual open and honest discussion), but according to many it's socially appropriate and fine. I would trust my friend to perceive me the way "society" would, in other words.

I am also curious what the range of options would be for credentials in your home country or wherever you end up? What is the capital cost for licensure, assuming such a thing exists? Here in the USA, it is something like 20k if going to a state school. I've only started investigating this as a future job.

I'm from Feral Slavlandia, so the degrees are crap and the requirements are lax. Whether the degree will be accepted anywhere else, who knows. I have not researched it but I would not be surprised that if I were to show up with said degree in a developed country, I would need to pass additional requirements before I can practice - for instance I'm not sure there's even a residency requirement before one can open an office. The website Stahlmann jokingly found is very appropriate: while I don't intend to run a grift, as long as one calls oneself a "counselor" and not a "therapist" and doesn't ask for anyone's insurance to pay under the premise that they are delivering mental healthcare, requirements are lax and people are free to pay you and spend their money on your snake oil if they so desire. When it comes to my personal ethics, I plan to have a detailed section informing people what I can and what I can't help them with (eg. if they need someone with experience in dealing with complex trauma, that should probably not be my underqualified ass over Zoom. Ditto if they need marriage counseling: not me. On the other hand, if they want someone to lead them through the exercises in Feeling Good and keep them accountable so they don't fail their classes, I can probably do that. Etc.)

Will be there market for this? Who will believe in your credentials?

Good question: and the answer is, by the magic of ERE, I don't need a market. I need 5-7 people who are willing to pay 20 dollars once a week. As for the credentials, there may indeed be people who will doubt them, but those people aren't my clients. If they can source and are able to pay for properly qualified help, they should ABSOLUTELY ANY DAY DO THAT. But also keep in mind, where I'm from and probably all over the developing world, people practice on the basis of these credentials on a daily basis. The training isn't as good as one would get in one of the countries with established training traditions, eg the US where experienced and successful therapists often go on to train others, but it's training. Honestly, if my shitty degree and a membership in the local professional association of psychologists can get me into actual EMDRIA training, I'll probably cream my panties.

[jacob]

Setting oneself up with a youtube channel (or ten+ years ago, a blog) to serve as advertising/credentials and then charging individuals on zoom sessions by the hour as a "life coach" remains a very popular business strategy. It might be selection-bias in my observations, but the people doing this usually do it to branch out from their primary activity as content makers and not the other way around. My guess is that enough people ask them for 1-1 sessions that they eventually go for it. Point being, you need a starting foundation and that foundation can be either a degree or it can be a demonstration in the form of online content or maybe a book.

To go with the employment+talent+interest method: Obviously, you have an interest. The question is whether people tend to come to you and not someone else for "life coach"-style conversations? If so, you likely have the talent. The final question is of course whether enough people doing so would be willing to see this as a service they pay for.

[zbigi]

On the other hand, if they want someone to lead them through the exercises in Feeling Good and keep them accountable so they don't fail their classes, I can probably do that. Etc.)

I don't know about anywhere else, but in Poland this is basically called "coaching" and is super popular as an attempt at second career amongst burnt-out corporate types. The idea is that it's "like therapy", but does not require degree nor credentials, and you don't deal with serious cases. This mostly sounds to good to be true (i.e. there aren't that many people that want to be coached, so you need to be excellent at marketing/sales to fill your calendar), so a lot of these coaches are training coach-wannabees, pyramid-style. I personally know someone who spent 18 months in some coach school, only to fail to get a single client afterwards. Granted, she's not very entrepreneurial, so she, in the most classical way, stumbled on the "???" step between "go to coaching school" and "profit".