If you’re a reader of this blog, it’s likely that you’re pursuing a career somewhere in the arts. But because there are hundreds, if not thousands of related jobs, it’s also likely that you haven’t settled on how you’ll make a living.
Helping you figure out what to do is the focus of a Penelope Trunk post chock full of excellent career advice. Starting with “the best way to get flexible, interesting work is to be great at something, and let everyone know your focus” and ending with the transformational power of “times when you really find out what you can do”, her work is once again insightful and engaging.
I found two sections particularly important for musicians:
- “It’s hard. It’s all about risk, honesty, and, frankly, shattered dreams. Your parents tell you that you can be anything, but you know what? You can’t. If you’re tall you can’t be an Olympic gymnast, and if you’re short you can’t be a runway model.”
This is a positive concept despite the way it sounds, and it is especially positive in the arts today. While it may hurt to discover you can’t do exactly what you want, you can discover exactly what you CAN do and reach out to fans of that. Truth is, having a narrow focus is precisely what you MUST have to succeed today.
- “Most of what makes people great at something is not raw talent but how hard they work at it, according to research by Steven Levitt, economist at University of Chicago and author of the book Freakonomics. So choose to do something you are excited enough about to work very hard at it, and keep testing things until something grabs you.”
This reminds me of a quote attributed to Henry Ford: “Many people miss opportunity because it comes disguised in overalls.” Success takes hard work, pure and simple. There are no shortcuts and there are plenty of challenges.
In fact, the challenges are exactly what Penelope correctly asserts as the “times when you really find out what you can do.” But you’ll have to read her post to find out why.
