Issue 10 - Sarah Thawer - October 2019

Articles
Should I
Quit My
Day job?
By Warren van Wyk
Everyone has a dream and a passion,
and to do that as a living
is everyone’s ultimate goal. That
comes with a price and a lot of hard
work, dedication and some risks, but it
will reward you with the most incredible
life and journey that you could ever
imagine.
I had a young drum student one day
with loads of potential say to me that
he wants to quit his job and start pursuing
drumming full-time. He asked
my opinion, and I am always careful
to answer these questions because it’s
one that you cannot take lightly. I have
played and taught drums for a living
most of my life, and I know the sacrifice
and dedication that it brings, but
the reward outweighs the sacrifice by
far.
If anyone asks me this question, the
first thing I ask is why they want to quit
their job in the first place? Sometimes
it is because they hate their job or that
they wish to pursue their dreams or
both.
If you hate your job and want to quit
to pursue music full-time, there is a
much better and less risky way to approach
this. The mind is a powerful
thing, and if you change your thought
pattern and your outlook on your situations,
you will most definitely get a
different result.
Back to this particular student. Here
is how the conversation went:
Student: I am thinking of quitting my
job so I can focus on drumming. What
do you think?
Warren: You work in a music store,
right?
Student: Yes, but I earn such little
money, and I don’t enjoy it.
Warren: There is another way you can
look at this situation. Firstly, you are
around music all day and meet different
musicians all day. That is awesome
because you never know who you may
encounter. That’s not so bad. Why don’t
you carry on with your job, take that
money you are earning and put it into
your drumming instead of giving the
income away. Buy new gear, use it for
marketing your videos on social media,
use it as a network platform for all the
musicians you meet. I wouldn’t think
of your job as a burden, think of it as
a way to fund the foundation for your
drumming career. If you are thinking
about quitting your day job that probably
means (I hope) that you don’t need
that income to live, so another alternative
is to put that money away in a savings
account. You could try and save at
least three months worth of income, so
you have some back up if need be.
I was listening to a podcast not so long
after this conversation, and I couldn’t
help but smile because it was so relevant
to my discussion with this student.
46 | SA DRUMMER | September 2019