What Music, Theatre, or Dance Career is Right for You?
We live in a culture obsessed with success. As we go about making significant career decisions, most of us will consider how much money we can make, how well we will perform, and how a given career path will impact how we are seen by others. We set goals based on these criteria, and work toward the achievement of those goals.
Meanwhile, whether consciously or unconsciously, each of us is considering what will make us happy. Amidst the questions asked by the loudspeaker of success, we hear a quieter voice asking, “But what am I meant to do?”.
What About Fulfillment?
For young people considering careers in music, theatre, or dance, it’s likely that they’ve tuned into this quieter voice a bit more than some of their peers. With so many messages broadcasting how unlikely it is to make a living in the arts, they have to!
If so, they might actually be a step ahead on the path to success. Articles in Forbes and Psych Central (both backed by scientific research) state it loud and clear:
Happiness precedes success... and happiness can be practiced.
Fulfillment is a habit.
After a quick scan of either of these articles, you’ll see that the experts agree with what you probably already knew intuitively. One of the key ways of practicing happiness is to identify and apply your unique strengths, and more specifically, use those strengths to benefit others.
School presents problems as a back-drop for career decision-making.
Young people coming out of high school or college can struggle with knowing the unique value they offer the world. Our educational systems are built upon the Success Ethic. A relic of industrialization, they reward conformity, compliance, performance, and efficiency. Great for achieving collective goals. Not so great for nurturing individual happiness. Even with the most caring teachers and professors, 12-16 years in such a system can really short-circuit what we think of as being most important.
Along the way, we often forget some of what makes us who we are as it’s replaced with the imperative to serve institutional priorities.
And young musicians, thespians, and dancers face yet another problem. With an industry as complex as the performing arts, many are not aware of the vast number of career options under the performing arts umbrella.
You can’t pursue a career if you don’t know it exists.
It’s easy then for the status component of the Success Ethic to kick in: we go after what’s visible - the rock star, the YouTube influencer with 1M+ followers, etc. If this is all we see, the myth of the starving artist (the one that says artists are bound for either riches or ruin, and nothing in between) will follow and dominate our decision-making process.
how do you get into Your ideal career?
We are slowly starting to seeing the Success Ethic replaced by two far better alternatives:
-
The Happiness Ethic - “Having money is meaningless if I’m miserable;” and
-
The Authenticity Ethic - “I want to do work that aligns with my core values - who I am.”
With the support of caring adults in their life, a young performer is always more likely to move confidently in the direction of their own happiness and fulfillment.
But young people (and those adults who care about them) should be aware of the limitations of their current decision-making model. Guidance counselors can often be overloaded. Parents may not be aware of the career possibilities offered by the performing arts industry. Even arts teachers themselves - while they want to guide students towards a fulfilling career - may have biases or gaps in their knowledge about the industry. Career websites can be helpful, but they are impersonal.
When I work with clients making career decisions, we work through a simple, but proven process to uncover a career direction that resonates with who they are:
-
Understanding You
Everything starts with self-awareness. You must understand your strengths, preferences, and values. How do you make decisions? How do you deal with risk? What are you afraid of? Do you believe that you have value to offer the world? Do you know what it is? Once you have a solid grasp on your distinct qualities and idiosyncrasies, you can begin making decisions that honor who you are and point you towards success.
-
Understanding the Industry
The performing arts industries are made up of multiple sectors and as many different types of jobs and work environments as there are in the business world. I like to group them in unique ways so aspiring professionals can understand them quickly and easily. I also produce a podcast featuring interviews with performing arts professionals from across the industry… it's like a library of mini job shadowing experiences! CHECK IT OUT
-
Understanding Money
As children, we pick up messages about money from those around us while we are generally too young to process them. As a result, money stirs up all sorts of emotions. Aside from a fear of rejection/failure, a paradigm of financial scarcity is one of the top reasons young artists turn away from a life-giving career. Understanding what money really is (as well as how to manage it and how a career will support a given lifestyle) is a key part of career fulfillment.
-
Building Your Network
It’s true… who you know matters. People like working with a known entity. The more you can put yourself out there and meet people - while, of course, maintaining your integrity and being honest about what you have to offer as a professional - the more opportunities will open themselves to you.
-
Preparing Yourself
You need to be ready when opportunities present themselves. I like to break preparation down into three other “P”s, helping clients know what to focus on: 1) staying present in your values, 2) setting priorities based on those values (this is key when it comes to making decisions about what opportunities to accept), and 3) maintaining a practice of the skills that are integral to the value that you offer the world.
-
Expanding Your Options
Sometimes we don’t have a good sense of what will bring us fulfillment because we aren’t considering enough options. Removing imaginary barriers and using techniques like open-ended inquiry help you see the full spectrum of possibility and find alignment with your personal values.
If you are gearing up for a career in music, theatre, or dance, and you can say that you have worked through these steps, you can be confident about being on your way to a fulfilling career… and I have no doubt you’ll be able to pay your bills!