I've just gotten one step closer to my goal of teaching piano authentically and profitably.
For me, being authentic and being profitable are equally important in starting and sustaining a home based business.
Being authentic is about passion and principles, being true to what I believe in, and having the courage and confidence to communicate those beliefs.
It's about translating the love for music into material and methods that any beginner can relate to, get excited about and start using right away.
A Diploma in Piano Performance is a good first step, but I believe it takes so much more than a paper qualification to make the leap from musician to teacher.
At the same time, when you're in business, it obviously has to be profitable, otherwise you might as well call it a hobby.
That's taken me a long time to get my head around. I confess I'm guilty of feeling that creatives shouldn't get mixed up with money and materialistic pursuits. Weird, huh?
Recently, a good friend sent me the URL of a US-based piano teacher/TV presenter who has created his own system of teaching piano teachers how to make lessons fun, inspiring and relaxed.
I liked what I read on the site so much that I signed up for the Teacher Certification track right away and sent off for the materials.
Waiting for the package to arrive took on the dimensions of much more than another parcel from abroad. I had just taken a firm step towards my goal of teaching music as a home based career, and the parcel's arrival would help make that a reality.
I took to checking the mailbox every day.
Finally, it arrived.
As I unwrapped the package and started looking through the binders and books, my friend and I started batting ideas back and forth.
How should I use the material?
How soon can I get through the material so that I can start teaching?
How can I leverage on my experience + my knowledge + the knowledge and ideas of others to create my own successful home based music business?
Can't wait to enrol my next student. :-)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Career Tip: Before You Leave That Job Interview...
...Ask for the job!
That is the advice of job search expert Richard Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?
In this article published on whotv, Bolles says: "It doesn't seem to matter how you ask for the job. That is to say, the actual words don't seem to matter. It can be something simple, like: "Can you offer me this job?"
Or something a little more elaborate, like, "I believe that I have both the skills and the experience to do the work we have been discussing, in a way that would benefit your organization a lot. Can you offer me this job?"
Most job counselors and career books advise interviewees to ask, "So, what is the next step?"
Bolles does not recommend this, because it places too much control in the hands of the interviewer, who may not be good at handling this sort of situation.
Bolles says that almost all job hunters who follow his advice invariably report back to say they thought his suggestion wouldn't work, but they asked anyway, and the employer said yes!
That is the advice of job search expert Richard Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?
In this article published on whotv, Bolles says: "It doesn't seem to matter how you ask for the job. That is to say, the actual words don't seem to matter. It can be something simple, like: "Can you offer me this job?"
Or something a little more elaborate, like, "I believe that I have both the skills and the experience to do the work we have been discussing, in a way that would benefit your organization a lot. Can you offer me this job?"
Most job counselors and career books advise interviewees to ask, "So, what is the next step?"
Bolles does not recommend this, because it places too much control in the hands of the interviewer, who may not be good at handling this sort of situation.
Bolles says that almost all job hunters who follow his advice invariably report back to say they thought his suggestion wouldn't work, but they asked anyway, and the employer said yes!
The Forbes One Billion
I came across this thought-provoking article by Jeffrey Sachs in consumer advocate Neil Jenman's newsletter.
It appeared in the Aug 2007 edition of The Forbes 400.
The Forbes One Billion
The FORBES ranking of the superrich is a valuable and entertaining public service. But it's missing something. We need a Forbes One Billion for the other end of the scale--the superpoor.
If journalists spent as much time studying the lives of the poor as they do gazing at the rich, it would help us all keep our heads on straight. We would marvel at a world economy strange enough to sustain such gaps. We'd learn not to blame the rich for the poverty of the poor, but we'd also learn not to blame the poor themselves. Blame is a primitive response. Entrepreneurship is a much better one. The Forbes 400 could do an amazing job to help The Forbes One Billion into the world economy.
Read the rest of the article.
It appeared in the Aug 2007 edition of The Forbes 400.
The Forbes One Billion
The FORBES ranking of the superrich is a valuable and entertaining public service. But it's missing something. We need a Forbes One Billion for the other end of the scale--the superpoor.
If journalists spent as much time studying the lives of the poor as they do gazing at the rich, it would help us all keep our heads on straight. We would marvel at a world economy strange enough to sustain such gaps. We'd learn not to blame the rich for the poverty of the poor, but we'd also learn not to blame the poor themselves. Blame is a primitive response. Entrepreneurship is a much better one. The Forbes 400 could do an amazing job to help The Forbes One Billion into the world economy.
Read the rest of the article.
What happens to the sheep if you strike the shepherd?
Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
Zechariah 13:7
In a recent bulletin message, my pastor shared the following statistics based on the Fuller Institute's research of the church in America.
1500 pastors leave the ministry every month due to moral failure, burnout or conflict in the church.
80% of pastors and 84% of pastors' wives feel unqualified and discouraged.
70% of pastors feel that they have lower self esteem now compared to when they started out in ministry.
40% of pastors reported having a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
37% of pastors confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behaviour with someone in the church.
Some questions to think about:
To what extent are these issues mirrored in your church and mine?
How are we as members supporting our pastors?
How should we as members be supporting our pastors?
My pastor's question is: What impact do these high levels of dysfunction in pastors have on the effective and dynamic life of congregations they are called to lead?
He writes:
"If the pastor is not on top of the game vocationally, relationally, devotionally, spiritually and personally, then, a church is going to suffer.
Sadly, the Christian church is riddled with examples of effective ministry which loses its way, and as a result the whole congregation suffers.
Moral or ethical failure is often the issue most focussed on when a ministry crashes and burns.
But usually that ministry starts to unravel a lot sooner than the time when a personal moral failure manifests.
If the key disciplines of prayer, Biblical reflection, a personal walk with God and a developed practice of regular accountable fellowship with other leaders are not in place, it usually is just a matter of time...
If the perpendicular dimension of relationship with God is not properly practised and maintained, then the horizontal aspect of ministry on the ground will inevitably come under pressure and ... fail."
He ends with this exhortation which I commend to all of us:
"Tend to the matter that matters most - the vital link between God and self. If this is right, the challenge of being an agent for God will be undertaken with vigour and joy."
Let's be joyful, energetic agents for God!
Zechariah 13:7
In a recent bulletin message, my pastor shared the following statistics based on the Fuller Institute's research of the church in America.
1500 pastors leave the ministry every month due to moral failure, burnout or conflict in the church.
94% of pastors felt under pressure to have the "ideal" family.
90% of pastors felt inadequately trained to cope with the demands of ministry.
81% of pastors suffer marital problems due to insufficient time together.
80% of pastors and 84% of pastors' wives feel unqualified and discouraged.
70% of pastors feel that they have lower self esteem now compared to when they started out in ministry.
70% of pastors do not have someone they can confide in.
63% of pastors suffer marital problems due to congregational problems.
50% of pastors would leave if they could make a living doing something else.
40% of pastors reported having a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
37% of pastors confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behaviour with someone in the church.
34% of pastors' marriages end up in divorce.
33% of pastors belive that ministry was a hazard to their families.
5% of pastors felt unable to meet the needs of the job.
Some questions to think about:
To what extent are these issues mirrored in your church and mine?
How are we as members supporting our pastors?
How should we as members be supporting our pastors?
My pastor's question is: What impact do these high levels of dysfunction in pastors have on the effective and dynamic life of congregations they are called to lead?
He writes:
"If the pastor is not on top of the game vocationally, relationally, devotionally, spiritually and personally, then, a church is going to suffer.
Sadly, the Christian church is riddled with examples of effective ministry which loses its way, and as a result the whole congregation suffers.
Moral or ethical failure is often the issue most focussed on when a ministry crashes and burns.
But usually that ministry starts to unravel a lot sooner than the time when a personal moral failure manifests.
If the key disciplines of prayer, Biblical reflection, a personal walk with God and a developed practice of regular accountable fellowship with other leaders are not in place, it usually is just a matter of time...
If the perpendicular dimension of relationship with God is not properly practised and maintained, then the horizontal aspect of ministry on the ground will inevitably come under pressure and ... fail."
He ends with this exhortation which I commend to all of us:
"Tend to the matter that matters most - the vital link between God and self. If this is right, the challenge of being an agent for God will be undertaken with vigour and joy."
Let's be joyful, energetic agents for God!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Breath Of Life
Had an interesting conversation with a friend this week.
We were talking about how ego will drive some people to do anything to hang on to their attitudes, beliefs and habits, even when these prove self-destructive or harmful to loved ones.
My friend volunteers with the Women's Prison Fellowship back home. She shared about the time she challenged the inmates on how they were wasting their time in immoral activities， 只 为了 争一口气 (to fight for a breath, meaning to win at all costs for the sake of pride and to prove a personal point).
After all, she reasoned, our lives are not ours. We are alive because God made us alive. He breathed the breath of life into Adam and Eve, and they came alive. Ditto for us. Conversely, we are all one breath away from dying. All God needs to do is to take away our ability to breathe, and that's the end of us. If our lives are on loan from God, why spend our energies fighting to prove that we are right and that things must go our way?
All flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower fades away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
We were talking about how ego will drive some people to do anything to hang on to their attitudes, beliefs and habits, even when these prove self-destructive or harmful to loved ones.
My friend volunteers with the Women's Prison Fellowship back home. She shared about the time she challenged the inmates on how they were wasting their time in immoral activities， 只 为了 争一口气 (to fight for a breath, meaning to win at all costs for the sake of pride and to prove a personal point).
After all, she reasoned, our lives are not ours. We are alive because God made us alive. He breathed the breath of life into Adam and Eve, and they came alive. Ditto for us. Conversely, we are all one breath away from dying. All God needs to do is to take away our ability to breathe, and that's the end of us. If our lives are on loan from God, why spend our energies fighting to prove that we are right and that things must go our way?
All flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower fades away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Today's headline: Jobs Must Go
Jobs must go to rein in inflation: Rudd
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says an increase in unemployment predicted in last night's Budget is an essential part of the strategy to rein in inflation, and can partly be blamed on the global economic slowdown.
What should be our response to such reasoning?
I believe the Government's approach merely reinforces the fact that employment, in the traditional sense of working for someone else, should not be one's only means of making a living.
I am not advocating that people ditch their jobs and work for themselves.
There are many factors to consider before one makes such a major decision.
Not everyone is suited to self-employment or to being a business owner.
However, people should certainly start thinking of alternative ways to make a living, because with so many uncontrollable external influences, it is simply unwise to put all your career eggs in one basket.
There are so many ways to make a living outside the 8-to-5 box, especially if one has access to the Internet.
If you haven't started, today's the day to start planning for your future.
Considering self-employment or a home based business?
Read this 16-point checklist to evaluate whether self-employment or a home based business is right for you.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says an increase in unemployment predicted in last night's Budget is an essential part of the strategy to rein in inflation, and can partly be blamed on the global economic slowdown.
What should be our response to such reasoning?
I believe the Government's approach merely reinforces the fact that employment, in the traditional sense of working for someone else, should not be one's only means of making a living.
I am not advocating that people ditch their jobs and work for themselves.
There are many factors to consider before one makes such a major decision.
Not everyone is suited to self-employment or to being a business owner.
However, people should certainly start thinking of alternative ways to make a living, because with so many uncontrollable external influences, it is simply unwise to put all your career eggs in one basket.
There are so many ways to make a living outside the 8-to-5 box, especially if one has access to the Internet.
If you haven't started, today's the day to start planning for your future.
Considering self-employment or a home based business?
Read this 16-point checklist to evaluate whether self-employment or a home based business is right for you.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Am I Ambitious?
Dictionary.com defines an ambitious person as "a person who wishes to rise above his or her present position or condition. The ambitious person wishes to attain worldly success, and puts forth effort toward this end".
Recently, I was reading an article about ambitious parents who overstimulate their kids with all sorts of extracurricular activities. One parent bought her son a PDA to help him keep track of his schedule. He's involved in baseball, football, basketball, swimming, etc. He is 10 years old.
Beth leaned over, saw the headline and asked, "Are you an ambitious parent?"
I paused.
How do I answer?
If I say yes, should I feel bad about it? Does being an ambitious parent make me one of those scary Asian parents who push their children academically and send them to private schools and drive up house prices in the school zone?
If I say no, does it mean I'm lazy and lackadaisical and setting up my children for underachievement?
At this point, Beth goes to jazz and tap class, Chinese class and Yamaha keyboard class. Her Saturdays are mad. We have to schedule our activities around her class times. But last I checked, she loves her ECAs. Okay, maybe not the Chinese class. Yet. We read the 南瓜青年 story (a weird tale, that one) the other day and she made me tell it in English!
She's been begging us to send her to swimming classes. We keep putting her off, telling her she's got quite enough to do now that she gets extra homework from her teacher.
Sometimes, Beth frets that she doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up.
I tell her there's plenty of time and plenty of options. Besides, Mummy's nearly 38 and still isn't quite sure she's in her dream career. Not a particularly inspiring role model, huh?
So am I ambitious as a parent?
I suppose it must be yes. I have dreams and expectations. I also have a good idea of my children's abilities. I want them to have every opportunity to explore those abilities and see where they lead. It's all about possibilities and potential and finding out how far one can go. I don't think I'd be the sort of parent who takes a "bo chap/anything also can" attitude to my children's development. I would want to have a say in how they're getting on, to help if I can, and to find help if I must.
Just because a person is inclined towards one field doesn't mean she has to become a professional in that field. There are so many ways to use a God-given gift.
What I do stress to Beth is that God gives gifts for a purpose, not just for our pleasure but also to serve others. If she's a gifted reader, there must be something God wants her to do with her gift. Perhaps she could encourage her friends to read good books, or she could read to the littlies (like J)?
So yes, I am an ambitious parent.
I hope to raise ambitious children. As opposed to children who can't be bothered to learn and to make the most of their blessings.
I am still learning all the nuances of what ambition means. As the girls go through the school years, I am certain there will be ample opportunity for our family to find out together.
Recently, I was reading an article about ambitious parents who overstimulate their kids with all sorts of extracurricular activities. One parent bought her son a PDA to help him keep track of his schedule. He's involved in baseball, football, basketball, swimming, etc. He is 10 years old.
Beth leaned over, saw the headline and asked, "Are you an ambitious parent?"
I paused.
How do I answer?
If I say yes, should I feel bad about it? Does being an ambitious parent make me one of those scary Asian parents who push their children academically and send them to private schools and drive up house prices in the school zone?
If I say no, does it mean I'm lazy and lackadaisical and setting up my children for underachievement?
At this point, Beth goes to jazz and tap class, Chinese class and Yamaha keyboard class. Her Saturdays are mad. We have to schedule our activities around her class times. But last I checked, she loves her ECAs. Okay, maybe not the Chinese class. Yet. We read the 南瓜青年 story (a weird tale, that one) the other day and she made me tell it in English!
She's been begging us to send her to swimming classes. We keep putting her off, telling her she's got quite enough to do now that she gets extra homework from her teacher.
Sometimes, Beth frets that she doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up.
I tell her there's plenty of time and plenty of options. Besides, Mummy's nearly 38 and still isn't quite sure she's in her dream career. Not a particularly inspiring role model, huh?
So am I ambitious as a parent?
I suppose it must be yes. I have dreams and expectations. I also have a good idea of my children's abilities. I want them to have every opportunity to explore those abilities and see where they lead. It's all about possibilities and potential and finding out how far one can go. I don't think I'd be the sort of parent who takes a "bo chap/anything also can" attitude to my children's development. I would want to have a say in how they're getting on, to help if I can, and to find help if I must.
Just because a person is inclined towards one field doesn't mean she has to become a professional in that field. There are so many ways to use a God-given gift.
What I do stress to Beth is that God gives gifts for a purpose, not just for our pleasure but also to serve others. If she's a gifted reader, there must be something God wants her to do with her gift. Perhaps she could encourage her friends to read good books, or she could read to the littlies (like J)?
So yes, I am an ambitious parent.
I hope to raise ambitious children. As opposed to children who can't be bothered to learn and to make the most of their blessings.
I am still learning all the nuances of what ambition means. As the girls go through the school years, I am certain there will be ample opportunity for our family to find out together.
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