We all know the feeling of being spread too thin.
There literally is not enough hours in the day to get everything done. You cannot be in multiple places at once. You certainly cannot give your full attention to multiple things at once.
In the music industry, it is easy to get pulled in a million and one directions. There is so much to be done, so many places to be, and so many people to meet.
It simply is impossible though.
I think a lot about how I can find balance in my life. Being an aspiring professional in the music industry, I am able to turn my brain off easier than a creative might. While my brain still is turning a million miles a minute most of the time, I can clock in and out of work and go home and just make myself dinner if I wanted to. Although, as many of you know, that is not always as possible as it may sound.
Creatives do not have that luxury. Some love it. Some hate it. Some find it necessary to live. Some find it exhausting. Most find it all of the above.
Finding a balance between your personal life, your business life, and just overall being a human being can be challenging when being in such a stimulating industry.
You feel like you constantly have to be moving. No matter what you do, for many in this industry, creative or executive, you feel immense fear whenever you are stagnant. This industry and the world are moving so quickly, and neither ever stop. If you can’t keep up with its pace, chances are you will be left in the dust and just a moment in time. That is not what anyone wants. No one works hard every day to only be remembered for so long.
But the reality is, burn out is a real thing too. The big reality is that burn out will leave you in the dust way longer than taking a step back will.
As much as you do not want to believe that, you know it is true. By working yourself into overtime, your body and your mind will make it very clear that it cannot take much more.
I certainly am speaking from experience here. By working yourself into the ground, you can seriously affect how you see the beauty in what you do and what you love. The scary part is that your love can deteriorate over time. Your passion may fade. You may not be able to feel as much for what you used to give your all to. You do not want this to happen. You cannot waste the gift and the love and the passion you had for music and this industry on working.
I know everyone says that if you are doing what you love, you will never feel like you are working a day in your life. While that can be an accurate statement, there is also reality in the idea that if you are effectively putting in the work for what you love, you will feel the effects of that work no matter how much you love what you are doing.
This industry can certainly suck the life out of you if you let it. By taking the time to sit back to allow yourself time to embrace everything that you are doing and accomplishing is so necessary. If you do not allow for this within your schedule, it can start to feel too much like work. You will lose the beauty in what this industry is all about. You will start to lose that connection between you and the art of the industry and the art of what we are all here to back up.
Listen to your body. Listen to your mind. Most importantly, listen to your heart. Be intuitive and be intentional in how you find your balance.
Don’t let that happen. Find your balance. Allow yourself time to be human. Allow yourself time to see the beauty in everything you get to do. Not only will it help you in your career, but it will help you in life.
