Broadening Horizons & Setting Yourself Up For Long-Term Growth

I was lucky enough to form a band with my childhood best friends in 8th grade. We went on to play together for nine years, growing into our instruments, covering classic songs, and writing original material together (for those of you who are interested, here's a link to our final release). Throughout this time, my approach to the drum kit remained predictable and straightforward. It served one genre of music (alt-rock); and for a while, it worked... until it didn't.

Unlike my bandmates, I struggled to latch onto new music trends. As a result, my chops grew stagnant and I began feeling uneasy and self-conscious about my performances. What I failed to recognize during this time is that I was inspired by other types of music, but I didn't take the time to acknowledge or explore my curiosity. An especially painful aspect of this realization is the amount of time I spent applying the same concepts over and over to the kit with little to no improvement... (years!)

Fortunately, after a move across the country, I concluded that in order to join new bands and continue performing drums, I had to push my playing forward. Hours of each week were spent listening to new artists and genres - indie rock, math rock, emo, death metal, black metal, and bedroom pop specifically sparked my interest. And with this newfound inspiration and knowledge of what was possible behind the kit, my playing progressed in a way that I hadn't seen since I first picked up a pair of sticks.

The wonderful thing about this lesson is that it doesn't just apply to musicians who are experiencing burnout. An individual can make invaluable gains to their career by experimenting in different professional avenues.

• Are you a new business salesperson? Try customer success
• Are you in customer success? Try learning & development
• Are you in B2B? Try B2C
• Are you a blog writer? Try writing podcasts

Taking even one short-lived detour could provide you with the insight and inspiration that you need to take your true specialty to the next level.

Last weekend, I tracked my very first death metal album. It was a substantial pivot from what I was previously used to playing, and I couldn't be happier with the shift. I am, however, especially looking forward to jump back into alt-rock if/when the time comes.