My Three Jobs

When starting out I think every artist should have three jobs.  Sounds stressful right?  Well it is, but it’s a worthwhile process.

Here are the three jobs I’m talking about:

1. Your full time job.  This is a job you don’t necessarily want, but it pays well. This is a job that you have to force yourself to enjoy.  This is the job that bank rolls your dreams.
2. Your skill set job.  This is where you start your own business.  This is something that you’re good at and you enjoy.  It’s a job about creating something.  Photographs, making crafts, any hobby that you like doing.  This is not necessarily your dream job, but it’s a flexible job that pays well and you like doing it.
3. Your dream job.  You don’t get paid for this.  In fact, you often have to pay for it.  You have to make it happen.  This is a job that you would do for free and you likely already are.

The idea is that this is a process.  It’s a refining process that will carry you into a place of success.  You start with all three, then slowly whittle down to one.

 

 

Most of us graduate college with debt.  Some don’t have education debt, but they tie themselves down with needless car payments, credit card debt, etc.  When you have the burden of life on your shoulders, you don’t have the luxury to make very little money.  You must pay the bills yet find a way to keep your dream alive, hence, my snowball-like process.

The idea?

Step one:  Get all three jobs going.  For example:  Get your full time job at an accounting firm going.  On the weekend, make a craft and sell it on Etsy, and on a couple of weeknights take an acting class while at the same time spending some time writing a script.

This is just an example, but you get my drift.  Work hard and get things moving.

Step two:  After doing this for a long time and making enough business at job number two, quit job one.  The time it takes to get to this step totally depends on your creativity and hustle.  CAUTION:  If you quit job one too early (Your full time job) and you’re not prepared then when you quit job one, you won’t have enough business in job two to sustain your life and/or your debt and you’ll financially die.  This is no fun.  Be SURE that your new business is ready before you drop your day job.  However, if you are ready, this is an exciting time.  You can quit your day job!  This gives room and flexibility to only do jobs two and three.  At this point you can use all the momentum that you were previously using to make jobs two and three a priority.  This is one step closer to your dreams!

Example:  You’ve quit your accounting job and now you can support yourself only making things for Etsy.  Now you spend your weekdays doing Etsy work and your weeknights and weekends acting and writing!

Step three:

At this point you have a successful second job and third job.  You can now support yourself completely through your third job and no longer need your second one.  You then have three choices:

1. Quit your second job and sell it making some sweet cash.
2. Keep your second job and just do it whenever you want
3. Just quit your second job and keep it stowed away for a rainy day.

Example:  Your acting has taken off and your getting booked all the time.  You now write for a TV show that you star in.  You then can quit making things for Etsy and just live out your dream job, putting all that energy into doing what you love.

This is a long, sometimes painful, process.  However, it’s possible.  It’s real and it can be done.  It’s all up to you.

Only action is real.

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/koonce/6296527293/”>Josh Koonce</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>