Music inspires. It’s the sound of creativity and the lyrical expression of self. It elicits movement and can influence across boundaries. Certain artists know how to push those boundaries, leaving a legacy and setting an example of what can be done by the creative spirit. As these posts are examples of my self expression, this is dedicated in memory of #prince (1958 – 2016)
Practicing my other profession, this is the second installment of a series where I post some of my music mixes to kick start the weekend. Most tracks will be reminiscent of years past. And if you were born around 1969 or earlier, you may actually have memories from when these songs were first released 😉 I intentionally keep the mixes short and byte-size. Nowadays our attention spans are too short and our tastes are very selective!
Going out a little early this week, so we might want to call this Thursday Throwback.
This weekend’s blend is a spicy mix of female vocals with some unusual twists. At 140 bpm, it has a bit of a kick.
It’s early Monday morning as I write this. For those with a traditional Monday-to-Friday work week, how you feel about getting back to work can tell you a lot. Just depends on whether or not you care to listen. Ideally, everyone would be raring to go, excited to return to a current project they’re working on, or simply looking forward to the unknown challenges of a new week. On the other hand, if you’re one of the many who have the Monday Blues, don’t complain about it. There’s a cure.
You could quit. I know that sounds extreme, maybe even unthinkable, but it’s true. You always have that choice. It’s rarely practical, but the option is always there. I don’t necessarily recommend it. We all have bills to pay and if you’re highly dependent on the income, that wouldn’t be a move to make hastily.
That said, it’s something to consider if you’re not excited to go back to work at the beginning of every week. That’s a sign that you should heed. Life is too short not to. So how would you do it?
You could do it in stages, or go all in and take a leap of faith. Hopefully, you’ve been good about managing your finances and making contingency plans. With the right things in place, it becomes more about timing. Timing is an art in itself so don’t hesitate too much. When ready, have confidence and move forward, knowing you’ve done everything you can to be smart about it.
Applying The Hedgehog Concept Outside of Work
What to do is a different, but important, question. Personally, I’ve applied the Hedgehog Concept to help me decide. Find a career or choose a business where the three circles below intersect. If you haven’t read Good to Great by Jim Collins, click through the illustration below for further background on The Hedgehog Concept as it applies to career choices.
To maintain multiple streams of income, I take this approach in parallel ― not as a substitution or replacement for what I’m already doing. This means focusing most of my time on the primary economic drivers while still committing to my extracurricular activities “off the clock.” Only when there are multiple initiatives in play do I consider quitting whatever contributes least to my overall happiness.
Start with Your Interests and Make Time For Them
This is one thing that works for me and what I’m suggesting to you. Set aside regular time each week to work on a hobby you love. For some, it’s trying new recipes in the kitchen. For others, it’s blogging. For me, it happens to be spinning music as a DJ.
Whatever your hobby is, it’s important to make time for it despite the many demands on your already busy schedule. Avoid being lazy or making excuses.
I started DJing over 30 years ago while still in high school. Even though I usually get paid for it, I’ve continued to do it on and off simply because it’s fun. I love music and blending songs in creative ways. To see a packed dance floor of people letting loose, because of the music set I’m playing, is an incredible high. (At the end of this post, you can listen to a mini-mix I uploaded to SoundCloud.)
Last week, I volunteered to DJ a party for the school where my kids attend. Since I agreed to DJ a few weeks earlier, I had reason to dust off the equipment again and practice. It was like time-traveling to the past when I was a resident DJ at a club in college. I used to practice new sets all the time, imagining how the dance floor would react and looking for ways to put my personal signature on the mix. Over the past 3 weeks, I got lost in hours planning possible sets that incorporated the song requests I received in advance. Then I recorded the sets to listen to how the ideas actually came together. I enjoyed every minute of it.
After the gig was over, I remembered how important it is to make time just for the love of it. No need to wait for a reason. Whatever fulfillment I may not be getting from my other undertakings, I’ve found it’s made up in this area. So making the time commitment to my hobby helps provides balance. It has also set me up to succeed when I find opportunities to monetize.
“Study and work in whatever seemingly unrelated areas you are interested in, even if it’s just a hobby. That way, when your dream job/business comes up, you’ll be perfectly and uniquely qualified for it.”
― Sarah Jansen, writer and editor
Where It All Comes Together
Now back to work…Work could be and should be fun. Normally it’s not. That’s why we call it work. So, for now, if you have to work at a job that’s not your calling, but pays the bills, make time outside of work hours to do what you’re deeply passionate about. That might be cooking, writing, DJing…or in my case, all of the above. Perhaps you like to code. Some of you enjoy organizing events or managing side-projects. Doesn’t matter. As you get better and better at your chosen craft, you’ll improve your chances of finding the missing piece and putting it all together ― combining passion and skill with something that can drive your economic engine. Or in other words, creating a part-time gig, or even better, a viable career out of something you love and are also very good at.
I know fitness instructors, magicians, wedding planners, business consultants/owners and of course other DJs who’ve done just that. I’d love to hear if you’ve also managed to make the transition. What were you doing before and what are you doing today? Please leave a comment below.
Let me wrap up this set with a sample music mix created by my alternate persona, DJ ReCreator:
It was the summer of 1991. Although I hadn’t officially finished school, I boarded a plane for Tokyo after being accepted into the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme. I had taken a semester of Japanese language during my freshman year but proficiency in Nihon-go wasn’t even a prerequisite.
My time as an Assistant Language Teacher was only contracted for a year. Six years later, I was still working in Japan. I had extended for a couple more years with the Ministry of Education. Then as I was packing my bags to head back to the States, a Japanese student/friend referred me to the CEO of a local language school which led to another 3 years in the private sector.
The entire cross-cultural experience influenced my perspective on everything from communication to customer service to relationships in general.
In terms of communication, I quickly learned the value of paying close attention and listening more than talking. It took incredible concentration just to carry on everyday conversation in a language I could barely speak, much less read and write. Surprisingly, even if I couldn’t find the right words, I was still able to carry on meaningful exchanges. Sometimes it was enough to just listen respectfully and then combine broken Japanese, simple English and a whole lot of gestures to respond. When totally over my head, I would bow and excuse myself as gracefully as possible. Sumimasen! To the Japanese, there were unspoken expectations and varying levels of formality depending on who you were speaking with.
Being a gaijin (translation: foreigner or outsider) I was often excused for making inappropriate or ignorant comments. I knew I could only play that card for a limited time. After the first year, I had no excuse not to understand the local lingo. More importantly, I needed to better understand the cultural expectations and social context surrounding both verbal and nonverbal exchanges. The more I familiarized myself with what made the Japanese culture unique, the more I appreciated the differences. It became easier and easier to understand what my Japanese friends really meant despite what they actually said.
My Takeaway: Words Are Important but The Nonverbal Means So Much More
More than 20 years later, this perspective still influences every interaction regardless of whether I’m with a client, a co-worker or family and friends. Understanding the subtleties of body language, or knowing when it’s better to keep my mouth shut, has had a huge impact on the quality of my relationships and the differences I’ve made in the various roles I’ve played. It has shaped who I am today and the opportunities that have come my way.
For example, when I DJ a party, the music is the language of choice. How I segue from one song to the next is based on how I read the audience and the mood of the moment. I pay careful attention to how smooth the transitions flow and how the party reacts. When I’ve done my homework and made the effort to understand the audience before the event, our “meeting” leaves everybody pumped up. I put the needle on the record and communicate through the song selections and the crowd replies by packing the dance floor. A track record of packed dance floors makes securing the next gig easy.
Whenever I’m responsible for a team, I flex my management style depending on the person or the group. As I’ve mentioned in my post about simply effective leadership, I always take the individual and the situation into consideration. This tends to produce much better results than the one-size-fits-all style I used to have. In turn, being an effective leader has afforded me greater responsibilities with greater rewards.
At the heart of it all, it comes down to understanding the details within the context of the bigger picture. The meaning of any words spoken or actions taken can change drastically depending on how you frame them. The frame can shift the focus. The context can change the meaning.
So this is what I learned so many years ago thousands of miles away:
It doesn’t matter what language you speak (Japanese or English, Music or Business). what you do and how you respond can mean so much more than the words you actually say. There’s a universal language out there that we all understand, and words have little to do with it. Da yo ne!
