Tips For The Unrelenting Creative: How To Avoid A Status Spiral

Hi everyone,

I’m fresh off an incredible trip to SXSW where I was able to be a part of a panel discussion about the future of Classical Music. I’m still working on a complete debrief and should be able to share my experience with you by the time next week’s edition of the newsletter rolls around.

I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy this edition of the newsletter!

Tips

How To Avoid A Status Spiral: When I was in school, I felt like an outsider. In my head, I wasn’t a serious musician and I compared myself to classmates who seemed to regularly get better opportunities to perform. This mindset caused me to focus more on the status and progress of my classmates than concentrating on my own process and growth. 

Tip: Focusing on your status by comparing yourself to others for external validation can lead to a loss of authenticity, agency, and creativity. Let your progress and quality of work speak for itself, rather than seeking the validation of others.

Related: Control What You Can Control

How To Delegate: To this day, one of the things I struggle with the most is effectively delegating tasks. My challenge is that I don’t take enough time to plan for what to delegate so I end up regularly taking on more than I can handle, while simultaneously leaving my team in the dark when it comes to delegating action items. (sorry team)

Tip: Good leaders won’t stop until they get the job done. Great leaders understand how to delegate responsibility so they can focus on the big picture things that matter most. Janel Loi wrote this great article to help you think about delegation. ​

Related: How I Avoid Burnout​
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How To Build A Meaningful Network: Networking has been a challenging idea for me since I started my career. Until recently, I thought of networking as something that happened in parallel to the rest of my career. Today, networking simply means having interesting conversations with others and being genuinely interested in what they have to say.
 
Tip: Your meaningful network is not filled with people you don’t know, it is filled with your classmates, colleagues, friends, and family. Start with those closest to you first and build from there.

Related: Read This Before You Go To Your Next Networking Event​

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Nate Zeisler is the Dean for Community Initiatives at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. He envisions a world where students majoring in the arts have a clear path to a sustainable career, where creative minds are empowered and inspired to rule the workforce, and where access to the arts is not just for the privileged few, but for all.

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