Chasing your dreams vs. doing what society says you should do?

Finish college first and then chase your dreams, I think having a good education is needed for security if your plans don't work out.

 

How many years have you been in college/how many years left?

If you don't mind sharing, what is this passion you speak of?

Without knowing these things, I'd have to agree with Yung-T in general... unless your 'dream' is building the next Microsoft in the garage, some other type of business that's gonna make you incredibly successful, or something time sensitive that you have to jump on now before it's too late, you should go ahead and get the degree first.

 

/thread. simple as that

 

Always chase your dreams. Your dreams may lead you back to doing what society says you should do anyways, so you can't lose by chasing your dreams. Don't waste your time doing what you don't want to do. You can always go back to school later if what your current dreams are don't work out, with more life experience, money, and work experience.

 

Mark Cuban was talking about this on Howard Stern last week. I found a blog he wrote that sums it up very nicely.




I hear it all the time from people. “I’m passionate about it.” “I’m not going to quit, It’s my passion”. Or I hear it as advice to students and others “Follow your passion”.

What a bunch of BS. ”Follow Your Passion” is easily the worst advice you could ever give or get.

Why ? Because everyone is passionate about something. Usually more than 1 thing. We are born with it. There are always going to be things we love to do. That we dream about doing. That we really really want to do with our lives. Those passions aren’t worth a nickel.

Think about all the things you have been passionate about in your life. Think about all those passions that you considered making a career out of or building a company around. How many were/are there ? Why did you bounce from one to another ? Why were you not able to make a career or business out of any of those passions ? Or if you have been able to have some success, what was the key to the success.? Was it the passion or the effort you put in to your job or company ?

If you really want to know where you destiny lies, look at where you apply your time.

Time is the most valuable asset you don’t own. You may or may not realize it yet, but how you use or don’t use your time is going to be the best indication of where your future is going to take you .

Let me make this as clear as possible

1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.

2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

3. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it

4. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.

Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it.

http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-follow-your-effort/

 

Lucky for you that your passion is with something which you can master while going to college or having an office job - at least initially. Why not go to college and practice or do gigs at night or on weekends whenever you're free?

About the typical path: draw the line right now. Decide the exact amount of time or the exact amount of saved money at which point you will exit that path of doing the dirty work in someone else's dream. If you don't set the line in advance, it will destroy your own dream as you get more and more lazy. I specifically say lazy because it is not lazy to work like a dog and chase your dream in a risky industry. It is lazy to ignore your own ambitions and follow the template to a mediocre and financially secure life. The template path will swallow you, and you will become that guy who tells people with dreams: "you don't understand the REAL world".

I assume you don't have dependents right now. If true, that puts you at a massive advantage. Make your choices now. No need to do anything drastic. It's good enough that you know what you want to end up doing. Now sit down and figure out how much time you can spare till you get there, and how much money/experience would be reasonable to accumulate before making the jump.

One last thing, I think just being a bass player is a bit narrow. Try to find the area between a bass guitar and music's future and master as much of it as possible (perhaps music production?). You can always rely on being a bass player, but you should constantly be developing into different levels of your craft.

 

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http://youtu.be/jNDZgvne_5k

 

If you have a chance, finish your degree.

I'm following my "dream" and am making more money than I did when employed full-time in a management position in the same industry. Furthermore, I am able to follow my dream of getting a PhD in a topic I enjoy while paying for it myself and having no debts. So in my case it's definitely been worth it, though it requires careful planning of my time and efforts - laser focus is a must.

 

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Change your dreams into finishing college. Then chase that dream. Once you achieve it, you can have yourself another dream.

 

Unfortunately, you're locked into the Westernized life plan ideal here. You're right about spending your time honing your skills, but you don't need college to get a good education.

Spending four (really usually five or six) years treading water, spending time and money on something that you may never use? Horrible plan. I do agree that it's a great growing experience but it's not the only way to expand your mind.

I wholeheartedly discourage people from going to college unless they have a clear passion and plan for it. College isn't for everyone.

 

My advice to you is get back to school as soon as possible.
The reason a say this is because you should always try and
finish what you start before going into any other venture in
your life.

Many people that have started college and have taken a
sabbatical for whatever reason, never return. I'm not saying
this will happen to you but why take a chance. Even if you
don't make a career from your education you will always have
that to fall back on plus you'll feel better about yourself knowing
you've achieved a milestone in your life.

You can always pursue your dreams/passion after you get
your education, regardless good luck in whatever you decide!
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Get your ass back to school. Pura pinche chiflazon.

 

If medicine isn't your #1 passion, do NOT go to medical school. It is a long and incredibly demanding road, and it will push you harder than you've ever known you could go. Once you get though the difficult admissions process, it only gets harder- your life will be mostly studying while many of your friends the same age will be working, earning good money, and going out and enjoying life. After 4 years of that, you will start residency where you will be overworked and underpaid for another 3-5 years. Possibly a fellowship after that as well.
Ask yourself this- if you weren't doing med school, what would you be doing? If the answer to that question comes easily (which I think in your case it does w/ music), then medicine might not be the best field for you. If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to go to medical school?
If you are certain about medicine, then buckle down and get to work. You'll need good grades and a good MCAT score. Med school isn't a fall-back plan, it has to be the #1 option and something you are truly passionate about in order to survive the 10+ years ahead of you of studying. If you have any hesitation about doing it, then I would strongly recommend you consider going into something else and avoid medicine. If you have any other questions about it, feel free to ask. Best of luck.
(Also, I'd say that you should get your college degree regardless of what you end up doing. Don't want to limit your future possibilities. And a career in music sounds awesome if thats what you really like.)

 

In most cases, doing what you need to do to take care of yourself puts you in a better position to chase your dreams.




You got to take care of the stuff at the bottom before you can get to the top.

 

Exactly. You CAN do both. I don't know why people feel like they have to make a choice.

1. Finish college
2. Get a good job to support yourself/family
3. Pursue your dream on nights and weekends

Best of both worlds. Simple as that.

 

Preach!

 

All I'm going to say is it doesn't cost an education to be happy.