MAKE BEING A STUDENT A LIFESTYLE

I first want to say thank you for all the amazing feedback that I have received from my last post! Thank you for reading and for sharing my thoughts with friends and family. I hope that we can continue the conversation of working and growth with this post- MAKE BEING A STUDENT A LIFESTYLE.

I have had a week to continue to think about perseverance and hard work. As a professional, how do I receive growth?

Within a career, there is movement.

Most people do not become the CEO of a company right away… It takes time and it takes growth. But how do I get there?

Do not stop being a student.

Yes, I am not a formal ballet student and I am on a contract, but my mindset is that I am still a student. I am very aware that I am FAR from being perfect. There is so much in my ballet technique that I need to continue to work on and improve.

I repeat- DO NOT STOP BEING A STUDENT. The second you stop being a student, you stop growing (RULE 96).

The world around us is rapidly changing. Technology is growing and changing exponentially. Ideas move so quickly. Even within the ballet world so much is changing. Movement and how movement is created is totally different now than it was a 100 years ago. Even within the last 10 years, the growth of more contemporary and modern dance movement in the repertoire of a ballet company is mind blowing. Ballet dancers are called to not only know classical ballet technique but also be quite familiar with modern dance technique.

How do you keep up?

You can look at change two ways.

The first way is to play victim. You will complain about how the change affects your life. You talk about the “glory days.” You get frustrated and you close yourself off from the world around yourself. You are very stubborn to learn about what is new and what the change is all about. At times become defiant about changing to a new way or trying a new technique.

The second way is to be proactive. You see the change happening and you are willing to try to understand what is new. You may not really like the change, but at least you are trying to find how you can improve within a new system or technology. The mindset is that there is a willingness to adapt.

Guess what?

THE WORLD WILL CHANGE WITH YOU OR WITHOUT YOU (RULE 97)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what are you going to do about it?

If you play victim, you only hurt yourself. Not only do you not grow, you fall behind very quickly. The frustration builds up exponentially because since you were defiant in not trying a new piece of technology, you cannot get that promotion because you do not understand how to operate that new technology. If you continue the victim timeline, then instead of trying to learn, you get even more mad and defiant about not trying to learn. As time goes on, the world changes more, but you are so far behind that in some ways you can think, “Is it even possible to catch up?”

But if you play the proactive role, you only win. BE PROACTIVE IN LEARNING AND ADAPTING (RULE 98)! There are huge benefits in being proactive in adapting to the changing world.

One benefit is that you are marketable. You are flexible in your knowledge of your field, but you also show people that you take the time to learn. The higher ups want people who are open to change because they understand that change will come.

The second benefit is that you have empathy within this world and you can engage the world around you. Being proactive shows a spirit of CURIOSITY! If you are curious, you are more likely to desire to learn about what is around you not only at your job, but in your city or a place that you travel to.

Being proactive to learn does not just apply at work, it is a lifestyle. MAKE BEING A STUDENT A LIFESTYLE (RULE 99)!

BEING A STUDENT IS HARD! It takes time. TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN (RULE 100)! Learn how to cook. Take the time to learn what is in your food and how that affects your body. Question the origin of a building or the city that you live in. Ask what is next for your job. Where will the growth in your career come from next?

You will not know everything, but it is not about what you know, it is really all about your mindset on learning (RULE 101). Are you willing to learn or not?

This applies a lot to my life right now. With lots of shows of Nutcracker happening and no rehearsals, it is easy to take ballet class as a warm up and try to survive the run of shows. I have had to really push myself to not fall into a non-growth mindset. I want to make sure that I am safe and take care of my body, but I also know that if I want to get to where I want to be as a dancer and artist, the growth starts today.

It can be overwhelming at first trying to grow. Where do I even begin? Depending on what you do, find trends of growth. Read about them. Ask questions. Watch videos about why there are trends and change in that specific field. Within a trend, find a niche and excel within that niche. Then expand from that niche.

Quite honestly, maybe for some of you, your true calling is still out there, you just have yet to find it. That is okay. If you continue to be proactive in learning, you will find your niche that you can excel in!

Did you like this post? PLEASE share this on Social Media! This means a lot to me. Let me know what you think in the comments below or on my social media!

Nutcracker has been a ton of fun! I have one week left of Nutcracker. Next post will be all about the craziness of being backstage and my trip to the ER because I had an accident on stage. Do not worry though, I am totally fine and can dance fully. It is a great story nonetheless, so do not miss next week’s post!