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Planning a career can be broken into
several stages and goals:
Let's talk about them one by one.
Long term goals
Julie Andrews once sung to a group of ‘music less’
children: “Let’s start at the very beginning; a very good place to start.”
Our beginning starts 20 years into the future. Long term goals. This is
the most important category for planning a career so we need to spend some
considerable time, thought and effort with it. After all, it’s not much
point planning a career when firstly, you don’t KNOW what you want, and
secondly, you’re not sure if it’s something you’ll ENJOY aiming toward for
most of your life.
So I want you to come with me for a moment, into a
wonderland where money is no problem, health is the best always, time is
abundant and opportunity everywhere. Sit back. Relax. And dream … and
discover. What would be the ultimate fantasy job? “When I grow up I want
to …” own a chain of teaching studios across the world, specializing in a
method I have written myself, where students have to audition to be accepted
and the hundreds of teachers under my employ have qualifications and
experience rivaling the most prestigious universities in the world. It
doesn’t matter how out of reach your dream is. The only important thing is
that you get tingles and an increase of heartbeat just thinking about it.
Once you’ve realized your dream, sit down with a
cup of coffee, tea, whisky(!), and write down what elements this fantasy
includes. Did you picture adult students, preparing to be concert pianists?
Did you picture little children laughing and loving music? Were you the
one doing the teaching or were you the one organizing and managing a chain
of studios? Was the teaching done one on one or was it done in groups?
Write it all down, in as much specific detail as you can. This is where
you want to be in 15/20 years time. You now have written down, in front of
you, your long term goal. Congratulations! You are on the road to
fulfilling your ultimate, satisfying career.
As an indulgence, go to your word processor or
publisher, and write up this long term goal so that you may print it out,
and keep it somewhere special; somewhere handy; somewhere you can see it
every day for at least the next month. You want your long term goal to
sink in, wash through you. You want to allow yourself to get excited about
the prospect. This is where you WILL be in 15/20 years. In the next couple
of days, tell your spouse, tell your friends. And feel proud. “I have a
goal for my career!”
You know where you want to be in 15/20 years time. The most pending
question on your mind now, is how do I get there? One foot in front of
another!
Immediate Goals
Again, we’ll need pen and paper to write down our
discoveries. Why write instead of just thinking about it? Firstly, it’s
cathartic, and if you’re feeling a little run down, then this is EXACTLY
what you need. Secondly, we’re after a ‘gut’ response and our recall
capacities may fail when we need them the most! If it’s written, we can
better organize thoughts, better focus on one thing at a time. It also
gives us the opportunity of coming back to our thoughts in a couple of days
and reading them with a ‘removed’ disposition. This is very advantageous
with analysis.
With your piece of paper, describe your current
circumstances and teaching commitments. Be as detailed as your ‘fantasy’
was. Read over this list. Is it accurate? Have you missed something? If
so, add it on. Choose three different coloured pens or pencils. With your
favourite colour, use this to circle the areas of your teaching that you
LOVE. It may be a particular student. It may be a particular day, or
subject. Do not think too much about this. If you have to deliberate,
‘mmmm, is this something I love,’ then you don’t love it! Once you’ve done
this, another colour is for the aspects in your career that you HATE. Hate
is a very strong word. Use it in the context of ‘least favourite’. The
other colour is for indifference or indecision, a ‘lukewarm’ response to
them.
Now your list is in categories. It may be of benefit to write these out
again, on different pages if need be. LOVE, INDIFFERENCE, HATE. Focus
firstly on your LOVE list. Go over it one point at a time. Ask yourself WHY
this point is on this page. Write your answer. WHAT is it about this point
that makes me feel this way? Write your answer.
Let’s peek in on one teacher’s brainstorming. His
name is Mr. Brayley. * These teachers have been fictionalized for
demonstration purposes.
Mr. Brayley's LOVE list.
1. Rebecca. I look forward to teaching this student, always enjoy the lesson
and feel really good afterwards. Why? She has always practiced, she pays
attention, she asks questions, she picks things up very quickly. Good.
Keep digging. She’s a more advanced student. Aha. I am now having a
breakthrough. I enjoy her repertoire, the pieces are more complex and are
difficult to play so gives me more opportunity to give detailed advice.
What is her repertoire? It’s mostly pieces I don’t know myself. This
keeps me interested. Why? ‘Cause I’m learning too. She HAS to learn
certain pieces for exams. She has a demanding technical prerequisite. I
like this because I have to be organized and proficient to make sure she has
learnt everything in time. I must thrive on challenges, and deadlines. I
must like working under pressure. I excel in these circumstances. Thought
to highlight and consider for later. I think I would like to deal mainly
with advancing students. That makes sense—I pictured teaching older
students in my ‘fantasy’.
Mr. Brayley has made a discovery that he may not
have realized, had he not taken the time to analyse. How has this helped
him in planning a career? Let’s see what he writes next:
First change I’m going to make: No more beginning
students. If someone rings up with a five year old beginner, I will
recommend a different teacher.
Problem: my older students will leave
eventually. Who will I teach then?
Solution:
1. Get to know all piano teachers in the area, see what they would like to
specialize in. Find one that would prefer beginners over advanced and try
and come to some kind of arrangement through referrals.
2. Advertise through high school newsletters only. Advertise at
Universities and colleges.
3. Take on beginners at a certain age only.
4. Introduce an audition process.
5. Raise my fees.
Mr. Brayley is realizing that there are certain
problems with idealism and is learning how to compromise but still move
toward his ultimate goal. It is important for you too, to face any
obstacles you may foresee, and come up with a number of solutions that may
or may not work, but ones you can at least ‘try’.
So Mr. Brayley has a plan of action for the short
term future. But what is he going to do with his students now? They’re not
all like Rebecca. Let’s see what he does. He reads over what he has written
about Rebecca. She always practices. What can I do to ensure ALL my
students are like Rebecca in this sense. WHY does Rebecca always practice?
What do I do differently with her than the other students? I’m more
enthusiastic, I give her more detailed advice because I know she’s
listening. I spend more time writing down what she specifically has to do.
Once again, Mr. Brayley is making discoveries he may
not have made had he not analyzed things in such detail. He has made two
pages of notes just on what he is going to do to enable his other students
to produce similar behaviour to Rebecca. His plan can be applied in the
very next lesson, and continues over the next year.
Let’s look at another teacher’s brainstorming. Her
name is Miss June.
Miss June's LOVE list.
Tuesdays. Why do I like this day? I look forward to it, and I’m not
exhausted afterwards. In fact, I’m usually in a really good mood, and wish
my next day was the same. Why? Oh. I only have three students that day.
Is that telling me I can’t really handle any more than that? Why else do I
love it? Who comes that day? Erik, Leah, and Sarah. Do they have
something in common? Yep. They’re all primary school kids. They’re still
in the beginning stage. What’s their repertoire? Oh my goodness, they’re
not learning one classical piece! But I grew up learning the classics! But
yes, that’s why I enjoy Tuesdays. They’ve been doing movie themes, easy
jazz and boogie. That type of music is really fun! And now that I think of
it, those kids really love coming to lessons, and they’re doing really well.
Thought to consider later: I really like working with young kids who just
want to learn music for fun! That would explain why my ‘fantasy’ revolved
around young students. I love how they get excited; I love their energy and
I love how it seems to rub off on me! But how could I just teach young
students and still pay my bills? And three lessons a day is not much. I
couldn’t survive on that and I can’t really charge much more or I’d lose my
students. And what if my young students want to continue with piano and get
into the heavier stuff? My energy levels are diminishing again. There’s got
to be a solution.
Miss June battles out lots of options on paper. She also has to deal with a
guilty feeling that she may not be taken ‘seriously’ if she doesn’t offer to
teach classical music. Let’s see some of the solutions she’s going to try:
These glimpses of teachers may not reflect you at
all. What you want to do is emulate their thinking and analysing patterns.
As you can see, this process takes time. One night may not be enough.
Don’t rush the process. Be as honest and as detailed as possible, and
remember, if you start to experience what Miss June went through (her energy
levels began to drop when she got bogged down with ALL the things that could
go wrong) stop those thoughts, deal with one at a time, concentrating on
solutions.
Remember, this stage is for the short term future—this year, this month,
this week, this lesson!
Middle Term Goals
When considering mid term goals, think about two
areas: Your development as a teacher, both in qualifications and experience
and the development of your studio— the actual physical structure, what it
contains and its general persona. Much can be accomplished in five years.
Look into colleges, universities and other organisations that offer
degrees, diplomas, certificates, courses or workshops that you consider
beneficial to your long term goals. Research these with serious intent.
Keep a record of the ones that you can in all likelihood take part in. Set
a deadline of no more than one year to make a decision about which one you
will enroll in. Determine that, by the end of five years, you will have
achieved these qualifications.
Don’t exclude personal development lectures,
workshops or courses. There are many applicable to our job as private piano
teachers: e.g. the Alexander technique, yoga, running a small business,
resolving conflicts, communication strategies, stress management, finding
the real you—the opportunities are endless!
As you progress into the teacher you want to be,
you will no doubt desire the appropriate environment from which to work!
This too, can be planned. Small things may benefit short term goals, such
as re arranging the furniture, putting up some musically oriented posters or
making relevant charts. Another short term goal for your studio would be to
paint it, decorating it to be more ‘musical’.
But what of mid term goals? Is the room you use at
the moment really adequate? Think of your long term fantasy again. Did you
picture yourself in the studio just as you have it now? If not, what small
changes could you make so that it does resemble your fantasy? What sort of
equipment would you like to have purchased by five years? What of other
resources such as CD’s or a lending library of extensive repertoire?
This is what our two piano teachers have decided
concerning development as a teacher and of their studios. Mr. Brayley,
already achieving a performance diploma many years ago, is going to enroll in
two master classes a year. He knows that at least one of them for next year
he will have to do some considerable traveling, so he is arranging means to
do this now. He is going to arrange local recitals so that his town will
become familiar with him as a performer. In two years, his goal is to offer
his own master classes. His mid term goal is have many of his students
enter in local and area piano competitions.
With these goals firmly in mind, he has realised
that his piano is not up to the task. His mid term goal is to accumulate
enough of a substantial deposit for a quality grand piano. He has given
himself the full five years to save this deposit, and will begin looking at
pianos six months before he wishes to purchase. He also realises that a
grand piano requires more space. In the next two years, he will look into
buying a new home or investing in house extensions.
Miss June has decided to enroll in a two year music
diploma with an emphasis on child education. She cannot afford to do the
course full time, so instead is doing it by correspondence over four years.
Achieving her diploma in five years means having to start in one year’s
time! That makes her a little nervous but very excited. In six months time,
she will attend a three day Kodaly workshop.
Currently, Miss June’s studio is her lounge room in
her two bedroom apartment. She decides to convert the ‘guest room’ into a
studio, and buy a sofa that pulls out into a double bed (she reasons that
she only has guests once in a while; she has students every day!) For now
she only has a piano, a small second hand book shelf and two chairs in the
studio. Over the next year her goal is to add a small sofa and a table.
In two years, Miss June wants to update her computer for her studies and
the business. After her diploma in five years, Miss June will look at
moving not only from her apartment, but perhaps even to a larger town where
she could specialise in children’s music.
These two teaches had been stuck in a rut for over
a year. They were even on the brink of giving up teaching all together. Now,
they are energised, enthusiastic and determined. Their students haven’t
changed (yet), their qualifications haven’t improved (yet) and their studio
is how they’ve left it. The only thing that has changed is that they now have a
plan! Their plan includes long term goals, mid term goals and short term
goals. On paper, they have problems and solutions and strategies that may
or may not work, but are there for trying.
Don’t be alarmed if you find even your short term
goals change. This is to be expected. We’re not the same people as we were
when we were fifteen, or when we were twenty—we can’t expect to be the same
people in another five, ten, fifteen years time. It doesn’t matter if you
change direction, as long as you’re still moving. Just remember you have
pen and paper ready for you at any time in your life to work out how you can
incorporate what you’ve worked on already to complement any changes. Plan
to never be stuck in a rut again! |
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