Lately, I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about my music career. I've had some great conversations with fellow musicians, and friends about our career paths. I've also had long conversations with my private music students about their futures and whether or not to make music their career. Everything seems to boil down to the answers to three questions: What are your talents? What do you hope to accomplish in life? Where does your heart lie?
Each one of us has many different talents. This is a great thing, but it can also make it very difficult to decide on a career path. I think that there is a tremendous amount of pressure to pick careers that seem "normal" according to society. In other words, people tend to pick careers based off of their desire to please other people...even if it makes them miserable. I personally feel that this is one of the key reasons that there are so many unhappy people in the world. If a person truly cares for us, they will not expect us to sacrifice the talents that make us happy. If your talent is hockey and you desire to play professionally...go for it! If you are a fabulous cook and you desire to become a chef...please do it! It is not enough to "sort of have interest" in cooking and decide to be a chef because it is a family business or something that you feel pressured to do. You will eventually tire of your career and you will do a lousy job. Realize that it is all about YOUR desire. If you let other people decide your life, you will have regrets. Your talents have a purpose. They are not a mistake. Think carefully on your many talents and explore the possibilities.
The next step is to consider your life goals with your talents in mind. If you have music talent, but also desire to have a family, you may want to pick a career that would allow you to have a good family life while satisfying your musical desires. Touring with a band is not always the easiest thing for families, but anything is possible with the right plans. The key is to plan ahead and not lose sight of your talents/goals. Denying your talents, will make you just as miserable as failing to plan how your talents will work with your life goals.
Finally, consider where your heart lies. Think about the things that bring a smile to your face. Be honest with yourself. Don't let people or money be the deciding factor. The fear of a lack of money and/or greed becomes a deciding force that is difficult to ignore. However, I would argue that if you have the talent, passion, and excellent work ethic...you can make it to the top of your field. You will have financial and personal success as a result. Those that stay at the bottom of their field, tend to be the people that have chosen their career for the wrong reasons. They are miserable, they make everyone else miserable, and their pay checks reflect their misery since they aren't capable of doing an excellent job due to a lack of heart. Employers would be wise to hire those that demonstrate their passion for a particular field. If you could do anything you'd like...what would you do?
Life is short. Get motivated. Find out what makes yourself tick. There is no point in spending each day, for the rest of your life, at a job you hate. Start searching for your dreams now. Tomorrow is too late. Yes, it will be difficult and it will cost you more than money (check my earlier blog posts and you'll see what it has cost me). Apathy is not the answer. You must do the work to achieve what you want. If you are miserable, you have no one to blame but yourself. Everyone has excuses. Rich or poor, successful or broken, we all have 24 hours in a day. All of the excuses in the world will not change that fact. You can start taking steps right now to achieve anything you'd like. It all becomes a question of just how badly do you want it?
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained." -Curie
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