On why everyone should be a kindergarten teacher

The ideal career is when your work feels like play. Where you are productive but genuinely enjoying yourself. That there are fruits to your labour, but that the labour itself is also fruitful.

Thus, Naval’s advice of “Find what feels like play to you but is work for others” is poignant. But it is lacking. For how are we to find such work? The answer might be: first, be a kindergarten teacher.

In kindergarten, work is play. In preschool, children spend their time drawing, singing and writing; pursuing artistic endeavours and engaging in social activities. Such an experience contributes to a child’s cerebral development whilst at the same time allowing them to play.

Every one of us remains a child. No matter how many layers we may apply on top, the person we were at 5 remains. And in moments of tears or laughter or play our inner child remerges. So, on a quest to discover an ideal career we must be able to tap into our inner child who holds the key to that liberating sense of play. As Richard Feynman said “if you can’t explain it to a 5-year-old then you don’t understand it yourself” – if it applies to physics and maths, then there’s no reason this maxim shouldn’t apply to career decisions.

And then onto the boring bits, the cumbersome bits, the bits that the children don’t pay attention to. What about money? And what about health? Well, these are taken care of by the kindergarten teacher. For the teacher keeps you away from fun that is harmful and sometimes forces you to do that which you’d rather not, like eat your greens or stay out of the rain, but these ultimately lead to a life of lesser complain. And in the same way, we should identify our necessities and attend to them. Whilst always ensuring time for productive play.

And another important caveat: your play must be social, your play must interact with others, your play must serve the world. A study by Decety (2010) found that children begin to develop a sense of empathy at around 4 years old. And kindergarten starts at around 5. Thus, kindergarten is not just about play but also about cultivating our innate compassion for our fellow beings. In discovering what “work that feels like play” is for you, instruct yourself to keep other people at the forefront of your mind. In doing so you are not only being a good kindergarten teacher, but you will inevitably stumble across opportunities for play that add value to the world, and eventually the necessities will take care of themselves.

As we grow, many of our instructions become habits. Like writing within the lines or learning how to queue. There comes a time when the teacher no longer needs to tell us what to do. But being a kindergarten teacher to yourself means reevaluating some of our most foundational impulses – to set out on a path of guiding oneself as if from the very beginning of being conscious.

And whilst it is important to be a kindergarten teacher to oneself; the importance of being a teacher in general cannot be overstated. The best doctors teach junior doctors, the best generals train fresh soldiers and a founder must teach each employee what to do. And teachers will always be prized because learning never stops. On the necessities and general direction, we may take the role of a kindergarten teacher, but we must not forget that the inner child we direct has much to teach us too.

So, if one is conflicted about what to do with their career, the path of a kindergarten teacher likely reaps the greatest returns. To be a personal tutor, a mentor, a disciplinarian for a single child: yourself. And to be given such tutelage makes one very special indeed, for not many are given such unadulterated attention and commitment to growth – certainly not by someone who knows them as well as they know themselves.