"Yeah man, I'm staying busy!"
"Same here!"
"That's great!"
This has been a conversation that has occurred over and over again for me. I really felt that being busy was a great thing, especially in comparison to the first year I moved into the area. I would call a handful of venues per day and sent multiple emails. The more my scheduled filled with teaching and performing opportunities the better I felt.
Over the last couple of years I have rethought this feeling of perceived fulfillment to find that staying busy really wasn't that great of a a goal. In fact, this mindset is very limiting.
Filling my schedule in order to stay busy began wearing on me. It may be cool to tell others that you teach every day of the week except for one at 3-5 locations and that you are performing at least 1-3 times every weekend. Don't forget the time you are spending making online content, composing, and practicing.
Here's the issue. Being busy doesn't guarantee that your standards are high. In fact, you may have a low standard for the types of gigs you accept and the mediocrity of the content you create.
Let's not forget about the time you sacrifice away from family and friends as well. How many opportunities and memories are being lost due to the ego's push to "compete"?
I am for putting in the hours to push ahead with those opportunities that push a current standard in order to grow personally and professionally. To justify your decision then you must really consider the why. When you start with the why then you become very adept at choosing the next step to take.
Don't let being busy define you. Instead, define yourself as one with a high standard and then get "busy" on meeting those standards!
