After finishing the audiobook version of The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck, I googled “optimizing for joy” on a whim. I’d heard similar language on Cal Newport’s podcast, and I was thinking about Beck’s recent conversation with Tim Ferriss. In it, she talks about tracking joy like it’s an animal. She writes about taking one-degree turns toward joy in The Way of Integrity.
An old article by Barrett Brooks titled “What are you optimizing for? (Or, why I want more moments of joy)” popped up in the search results. I had never heard of him, but the article looked promising. Barrett wrote “Moments of joy is my answer to a powerful question author James Clear asks: What are you optimizing for in your life right now?” The idea of optimizing for joy relates to Martha Beck’s retelling of The Divine Comedy in The Way of Integrity. After Dante gives up trying to climb dilettoso monte or “Mount Delectable” - which represents status and material gain in Beck’s interpretation - he finds Virgil. Virgil guides Dante up the Mountain of Purgatory - a truer, purer path toward enlightenment. Beck admonishes against lying, and shows that joy is a natural consequence of honesty.
I was feeling unsure of my decision to switch from special education to career-tech education. I wasn’t optimistic that it would be any better, despite knowing I’d go from writing 15 IEPs a year and teaching in five different classrooms to zero and one. I thought about giving up teaching altogether. I know that teaching is what’s best for my family and I right now though. My wife is also a teacher in the same district and school and my daughter goes to school in the district as well. We all have the same schedule, snow days and all. Not to mention the fact that we aren’t financially prepared for me to change careers. I didn’t want to feel stuck teaching though, so I figured it required some reframing. What would I need to change to be happy teaching? What would make it joyful?
After reading his article, I immediately subscribed to Barrett’s email newsletter. I needed more of his optimism. The thank you email arrived in my inbox and at the end of it he asked to reply with a little bit of information about me, what I do, and how I found the newsletter. I sent an honest email about what I do and how I was feeling about my career choice and teaching transition. It’s embarrassing to read it now - the tone of my response was negative and hopeless, but it’s how I really felt.
To my surprise, he emailed me back. He sent me an education-related episode of his podcast Good Work, and he recommended Dave Stuart Jr.’s work. In the episode, he interviewed Ryan Delk, founder of Primer. It challenged my views on public education and unions, and I could relate to the parts of their conversation on prioritizing time spent with their kids. I enjoyed it immensely and binged a few more episodes later that week.
Fast forward three weeks - it’s now summer break for my family and I. I read Dave Stuart Jr.’s most popular blog posts, signed up for his newsletter, and bought his two most recent books. I had been looking for content like his. I read The 80/20 Principle this year, and one question I had while reading was, how do I apply this to teaching? What teaching practices are the most effective, efficient, and impactful? And then, what do I focus on first? And finally, how do I leave work at work so I can spend time with my wife and kids? Dave has the answers. I am reading through his book These 6 Things right now, and I wish I would’ve known about it before I started teaching. Embarrassingly, I even sent a school-wide email on the last day of school recommending Dave’s work.
If I’m going to teach, I have to try to do it well. I have to have high expectations for myself and my students. If not, what’s the point? Part of the reason I considered quitting is because I didn’t see that attitude reflected in any of my colleagues. I’m sure I work with high-achieving teachers, but that attitude is not the norm. The norm is to cut corners and blame the workload and the high needs of the kids. I’ve always had a feeling that while the problems in education aren’t our fault, finding a way to teach well in spite of those problems is our responsibility.
Dave’s work is exactly what I needed before venturing out into the world of teaching on my own. It’s funny how a book about integrity and a one-off Google search led to the exact books I needed to read (funnily enough, there is an aside on “The Integrated Life” in These 6 Things on page 32). I knew there were teachers like Dave out there, and I am so glad to have found him and more like him - Mike Schmoker and Michael Linsin, to name a couple.
If you’re a teacher, check out Dave’s writing. He makes YouTube videos, too. If you aren’t a teacher, check out Barrett’s website and his podcast, Good Work.