One of the biggest reasons why I started focusing on a healthy inner life practice is to help performing artists - and by extension myself - discover what it means for us to fully live in the daily experiences of being a performer. That includes living in the real world filled with very fiscal and practical resposibilities, and it includes creating a lifestyle that gives us the best chance to access our creative potential.
The financial conversation is always a challenging one, and the perception that performing artists all wait tables, serve coffee and live in artiste communes is a stubborn and inaccurate misconception. I know plenty of people in the performing arts who are as financially stable as the next person.
All the performing artists I speak to want to provide for their families, want to be able to build a future and want to be financially secure. I mean … who doesn’t? Because honestly, no one can live off exposure, fame and likes.
So what can we do?
1) Get out of the mindset that you will be living from pay cheque to pay cheque for the rest of your life. Sure, it’s doable for the short term, but year after year? It wears on you and will kill your artistry. If you’re worried about where next week’s rent or next week’s grocery money is coming from, then you’re not in the right mental or emotional space to be creative
2) Taking a job outside the performing arts isn’t a cop-out and it isn’t a compromise. You’re buying time now so that you can spend it on your craft later on
3) Get help on financial management from family or friends who manage their finances well. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Honestly, it really doesn’t. It just needs to be practical and it needs to work for you. But you must manage your finances
4) Set financial goals for the year. Practical ones with stretch targets. Look … even if you don’t achieve them, many people will come a lot closer to them by simply having set and monitored them. But not setting goals is the best way to ensure you don’t get to where you want to go.
5) Start from where you are. Everyone comes from a different financial circumstance so this is the one arena that you REALLY don’t want to start comparing. Every single cent counts
6) Buckle down for the long haul but take it one day at a time. Financial stability doesn’t come from having a high paying cushy job or from winning the lottery. It comes from a deliberate management of your finances and the discipline to make every day decisions that move you closer to your goal
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My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big advocate of personal growth in the performing arts. I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.
If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thank you.