No Formal Training

I must admit, seeing many letters after a person's name initially impresses me: "Joe Schmo, MD, PhD, LCSW, MS, Esq., abcdefghijklmnop.

Aside from feeling impressed, I feel respectful, envious, and even a bit intimated. I also feel pity considering the amount of student debt they must have accumulated. 

There's no denying, that education and training, while expensive in this country, are invaluable. We aren't born brain surgeons or rock stars—we must learn these skills. I certainly understand that having "formal" training and a degree are important for getting hired, not to mention legal purposes—oh, the liability!

However, I'm not convinced that having formal training, particularly in the arts, is all it's cracked up to be. Useful? Yes. But, from my viewpoint, not nearly as useful as passion and practice—diplomas and medals have nothing on these babies!

Oh, sorry. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm Heather. I'm a health coach, but I identify more as a musician and writer, and I have no formal training in either music nor writing.

~~~

Let's start with music.

Sure, I took a few beginner guitar lessons in which I got some basic training. I learned easy chord shapes like G, C, and D. I got guidance on how to strum. But I couldn't play a scale to save my life (nor define it, for that matter). I didn’t know a thing about music theory, had no clue what "the 4th and 5th" meant, or what key I was ever in.

Love propelled me more than education.

I remember the first time I fell in love with guitar playing. The music instructor had us strum three chords in a row (D, A, and G). At first we strummed too slowly to make out what was happening. But then he started singing softly over the guitar: “Hey Jude…. Don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better,” and we began to hear the melody of Hey Jude. It was the most amazing feeling. Oh my God, we’re playing A SONG?!!

I began to see how music is a language—the chords and notes are what letters are to words and sentences. I began to see how I could use chords in specific sequences and timings to create meaning and feeling. 

Now knowing this, I wanted to learn other songs. I took my basic knowledge of six whole chords(!) and began to google the chords of some of my favorites. My Google search bar was filled with phrases like, "Hey Jealousy chords" and "How do you play Bad Moon Rising?"

To my surprise, so many popular songs use not only the same chords but the same chord progression. The only things differentiating one song from another are the strumming patterns, keys, melodies, and tempos.

This then inspired me to write my own songs. If Stand By Me and Brown Eyed Girl both use similar chord shapes—ones that I know (G, C, D, Em)—why couldn’t I use those same chord shapes to compose my own stuff?!

And so I did.

Still, it wasn’t a complete transformation. Although I’ve begun professionally producing and recording original songs, I’m still a novice, still learning. I just didn’t wait to know everything before moving forward. I jumped in with what I did know.

When I began writing my own songs, I had no knowledge of music theory. All I knew was that a C sounded good after a G, and that adding an Am and D also sounded nice together. Years later I learned a little about music theory and understood why these chords sounded good together. But the education was secondary, supplemental, affirming of what I already knew. And much of this new education came from producers and fellow musicians, not textbooks.

~~~

As for writing, like everyone else, I took English class in high school. That about sums up my formal training in writing.

Recently, I published my fourth book. I have written hundreds of blogs and newsletters for my own business, as well as hundreds of pieces of content for various clients. I never studied it. I just love it.

I recognized years ago that, regardless of my skill level, I would lose track of time when I wrote. Hours would pass. I would forget to eat, hold in my pee, and ignore my to-do list in favor of completing a blog or chapter. Writing, like playing music and writing songs, puts me in a flow state. 

And just like learning one chord strum led to two, which led to ten, and one open mic led to more, writing one blog for myself led to more, which enhanced my “body of work,” which led to having writing samples I could submit for paid writing jobs.

You could say I studied writing once I was on the job—I would submit articles to editors who would send back revisions and notes. By paying attention to their revisions and notes, I learned a lot about grammar, sentence structure, and how to improve writing. But again, the education was secondary, an after thought.

Speaking of paid gigs, getting paid for your passion does take time—tiny steps make the ladder. But when you are doing what you love, every unpaid, unpublished moment, every set played to an empty theater is worth it. It’s a true love for the journey regardless of the destination.

~~~

For all you eye rollers, I see you.

Enjoying what you do is not corny. It's what makes you good at what you do. It's what brings you to the work, keeps you there, and what attracts people to your work and to you. Enjoying your work also makes you successful, but be careful not to define success by your income alone. If you want to earn more money, ask why. Keep asking why until you get to the REAL thing you're seeking. It's probably a feeling. That feeling is probably a happy one. You may indeed make lots of money from your passion—the more you love it, the more likely you are to be paid handsomely for it. But, always dig deeper on your motivations.

Enjoying what you do is not elusive either—it is available to everyone. Many of us are just afraid to step out of our lives, even a little, to explore the possibility of doing things we love. "It's a waste of time," you'll say, or "It won't pay the bills," or "It's too overwhelming." Keep telling yourself that. Or, take one baby step toward it.

Without a formal training, without former classmates who can help you network and “break into the industry” it can seem daunting. I get it. So start small. Take it slow. Open yourself up. Take a beginner's surfing/painting/cooking lesson once a week. Start a blog, send an outreach email to one person. Take these first steps with no expectations other than to do something different and to have fun. 

~~~

In a world of PhDs and other advanced degrees, get back to the basics. First, identify your passion. What do you love doing? What do you get intrinsic reward from? Meaning, what makes you feel internally rewarded just by doing it, in a way no external validation, praise, or payment can match?

Next, study it. But study it for fulfillment, challenge, and education, not to be "qualified." And just study it enough to begin DOING it. Don’t read a million books on gardening—go to Home Depot and get a plant! Do do do, practice, practice, practice, with or without an audience, with or without financial compensation. If you’re really pressed for time, just give it an hour a week (if you don’t have an hour a week then we got serious scheduling/priority issues to discuss).

Bottom line: If you love something and you give yourself to it, you are already over-qualified, successful, and ready to share it with others.