How to… unblock your career path

I’m in a career which is my passion and purpose, yet there are many days where I wonder how I can re-invigorate myself. I hear similar things frequently from some of the most talented performing artists I come across in my work.

Sometimes we become bored with our career path and need a boost to regain our passion and direction. Below are some tips and plans used by my clients to re-invent, re-ignite, and re-energize their careers in the arts.

Create a vision map

Fix the words “Perfect World” in your mind. Mediate on those words for 5 minutes, either in silence or with music you love. Then, WITHOUT CENSORING YOUR WORK, write about the experience for 5 minutes’ maximum and tear out images and words from magazines and paste them into a collage or vision board for another 5 minutes.

The reason for this timing is it prevents your conscious brain being negative about what you are creating. Then spend time looking at your board, taking in the insights, words, feelings, and thoughts that have come up. Most of the time a board will give you a new sense of direction to move ahead. Put this into an action plan with a timeframe, and make sure you commit to a task every day to move your career ahead.

Network

This is something that people in the arts often ignore. It is important to get yourself and your skills out there in front of others. If people do not know who you are, how can you move your career ahead?  Wherever you live there are groups and organisations that connect with your expertise, and those who may be able to utilise your work.

Think about arts organisations that hold regular events with speakers. What can you learn? Could you speak at these events? Who can you connect with who can introduce you to a potential new career path? This is the key to moving a career ahead. It is who you know that opens doors. Let go of your inner voice telling you networking makes you nervous.

Put a script together of all your talents and skills, on one page, then embed it in your brain. When asked about your unique self you can pitch your arts potential to them.

Be Obsessed

When we have changes in our career path it is easy to become despondent. People often stay stuck and afraid, and they will not move out of a career that is going nowhere. These people are talented but the light has gone out in their career path. Re-ignite yourself! Remember that there are only a tiny percentage of the world’s population who are able to step through the door into a career in the arts. And you are one. Re-bundle your talents and skills into a ‘new look’, finding out what it is that employers and audiences want.

It could be finding curious-style venues for performances – a string quartet I worked with had high ticket sales to their concerts in a photographer’s studio. Another client has reworked her solo performance as a singer into a lunch time talk to business people on how they can adapt a performer’s discipline to study, and created work/project orientated success.

Most of all, remember that you can do it. All you have to do is start and give yourself a timeline to reignite and leverage your career now.

Go well, you can do it.

Sally Arnold is a performance coach.

Sally is offering ArtsProfessional readers a 15-minute Free Power coaching session on Skype, which must be booked by end of December 2016. Please email for a time, [email protected], Skype sallyaarnold.