Growing a music studio is a tough gig. It’s so rewarding but it’s an ongoing battle making sure you have enough students to pay your teachers, keep the lights on and keep your landlord happy.
So what is ambition burnout and what can you do about it? Ambition burnout is when you focus so hard on your aspirations of growing a music studio that you run out of steam and can’t keep pushing yourself any longer.
Here are a few ways to deal with ambition burnout as a music studio owner.
1. Embrace experimentation
Many studio owners are perfectionists. If you grew up as a dancer/singer/performer child, it’s likely you have set very high expectations for yourself. Let’s strip all of that away for a moment and allow experimentation. Allow mistakes. Allow learning. Stop focussing on goals and focus on the process.
2.Create your dream job
If you’re already growing a music studio, you’re basically halfway there already. Congratulations! Let’s focus on the dream part. What makes a job a dream to you? Is it winning awards and being the top player in your field? Is it creating a family-like environment where work feels like hanging out with your best mates? Are you community focussed? Success focussed? Make a mind map of what your dream job looks like so you can reset your goals and leave that ambition burnout behind you
3.Remember that business growth is not linear
Shakespeare says ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ and the same can be said for growing a music studio. There’s no set path to success and you’ll go in every direction. Forwards, backwards, sideways. And often you’ll just stay in the same spot for a while. You must embrace the ever-changing landscape of studio business ownership rather than fighting it all the time.
4.Keep your eyes on your own lane
It can be really tempting to follow every other music studio in your area on social media and sometimes it can be very useful to see what other people are doing. However, if you’re finding yourself drowning in comparisonitis, just mute all other studios from your feed. It’s not mean, it’s just creating a boundary that you need space from their news. The other studios won’t see a mute notification and you’ll have the headspace to concentrate on your own music studio. You can unmute later when you’re in a better headspace.
5.Take a break
If you can! If you have the option to take a week or two away from growing your music studio, do it. It could give you the space and clarity you need to make changes to head in the right direction. It might seem dramatic or even silly – how can you take time off when you’re so busy??? But it might just be the best thing for the future success of your music studio.
Ambition burnout is a drag but you can get through it! I know you can.
All my best,
Chantelle
