Hybrid Careers: Balancing Audio Work with Other Skills and Passions
We’re often advised to choose one career path, specialise in one field or skill set, and stick to it until we become a master in it. But what if you’re a polymath with several diverse interests and want to pursue them all? In the audio world, it’s quite common for people to wear many hats – the audio engineer who is also a musician and composer is a common example. Or perhaps you’re a person who needs a lot of variety to focus and maintain passion for your work – whether it’s working in several audio fields, or in completely different fields. Or your life circumstances might mean you’re not able to work full-time, or you have hobbies or commitments that are important and central to your life and wellbeing. How can you combine several interests and skill sets to create a satisfying career that also pays the bills?
Why Are Your Goals Getting in the Way?
Our hustle culture teaches us that success is measured by how many tasks we check off our to-do list or how many goals we can reach in a given week or month. This achievement-centric perspective isn’t really surprising: When we rack up small successes, when we achieve, one after the other, the tangible milestones we set up for ourselves, we tend to feel a hell of a lot better. It’s about identifying a challenge, working hard to overcome it, and celebrating when we cross the finish line. Linear progress, especially the kind that can be counted up and quantified, feels immediately satisfying and effective.