The 'Tam Tai' years (a period of bad luck in Vietnamese astrology) are often summarized by the word "unlucky," but essentially, they bring many challenges and (major) changes that require a lot of mental and physical effort, difficult choices, and trade-offs. In short, 'Tam Tai' is a tough year that prepares you for later transformation, and that's exactly how it was when I opened my Planning class.
I'm considered a decent professional, but I knew if I opened a class, people would wonder, 'Who is this guy to teach?' I was afraid my students wouldn't succeed after the course, and I'd feel guilty. Added to that was the trauma from tutoring an English student in college who fired me despite me being a national-level English Honors student, which made me doubt myself. Being able to do it doesn't mean you can teach it. This was the first mental struggle during my 'Tam Tai' year.
Fast-forward through a few months of struggle to finally decide to open the class, and I realized how incredibly demanding teaching is. Although the class is limited to a maximum of 5 people, every time I correct assignments, I have to deal with 5 different ways of thinking, and talking continuously makes me want to go straight to sleep after every session. Now I truly appreciate my teachers who stood in class all day long 😂
Skipping ahead through those struggles, I've now taught 16 live courses with 66 students. By the end of the 'Tam Tai' period in 2024, I realized that all this mental and physical effort helped me understand that I can teach, I enjoy teaching, I've overcome my psychological complex about teaching, and that each student receives different levels of value, and I'm happy to clearly state to them that I cannot be responsible for their career path.
So, even though I opened the class during my 'Tam Tai' year, I now feel lucky that students still trust me, recommend me, and send me kind words after the course.
This long, self-pitying post is to thank all my family and friends who supported me in starting this journey, who recommended me, and especially all the students who 'took a leap of faith' to choose me even without knowing who I was before. I wish you all, wherever you are, a solid train of thought and good luck 🤞
