Can i have two careers at the same time?

Can you pursue two careers at the same time?

• Engineering( currently studying) and contemporary dance?

• Answer:

  In my experience you cannot be truly great at both. I have also been wrong about a lot of things, but hear me out.   Most research says you need 10,000 hours of work to be considered an "expert" at something. A "normal" corporate job encompasses roughly 235 days of work in a year if you exclude weekends, public holidays, and 15 vacation days. Assuming you are working 8 hours per day that is 1,880 hours per year (235 x 8). If you are at least a mediocre engineer then you can calculate for yourself that you would need to work a little over 5 years to be an "expert" engineer. If you throw dance on top of that - let's say 4 hours per day, 354 days a year - you are looking at 7 years to be an expert.   If you want to have a significant other, get married, have kids, get an advanced degree, sleep, nurture relationships with friends and family, travel, plan your life outside of dance and engineering, then you need to fit that into the 12 leftover hours in the day and weekends.   But then life happens.   What if work needs you to travel a few times a year to visit design centers overseas?   What if you have to take time off from your engineering job to travel to dance auditions?   As you advance in your career are you prepared to work more than 8 hours per day?   I think you get the point. There are always going to be distractions. I would therefore assume it would take longer than 5-7 years to build a good base of knowledge doing dance and engineering simultaneously. Also, a lot happens between the ages of 21 and 28 and your priorities “may” change as mine did when I wanted to have a family and not risk getting my head chopped off in an Afghan opium den..   4 key areas to think about:   1) You are going to be exhausted. When I was at West Point I majored in Aeronautical Engineering and lived on 4 hours sleep, coffee, anger, and the tears of underclassmen for 4 years. I was in the Army for 5 years, deployed to Iraq for 20 months, trained to go to Iraq for the other 40 months, and lived much the same way I did at West Point. I did one thing exceptionally well for 9 years – being a soldier – and was beat to hell. You want to do two.   2) You are going to be poor. Scrimp and save. Live under a bridge. Ride the bus. Eat out of trashcans. PhDs, dance classes, auditions out of state, etc. are going to cost money. As a brand new engineer out of college you are only going to make about $50,000/year tops. Depending on where you live, how you live, and how much student debt you have that gets eaten up pretty fast.   3) Prepare to be lonely and willing to say "No." A lot. Many societal obligations are going to try to interfere with your dreams. Friends and family are going to be pissed and feel rejected. If you explain why then maybe they will understand (but don't count on it). Employers are generally not as understanding or easy to blow off.   4) Try to find a mentor – someone who has been in your situation. It may be difficult to find someone who has taken your path as I haven't heard of many contemporary dancer engineers. However, it never hurts to look on the internet or look for literature to make your wanderlust a little easier.   Ultimately my advice is to choose just one and focus solely on that. You are young (or sound young). Being a dancer isn’t going to make the money of an engineer. But if it is your passion then who cares? You are only responsible for yourself. That is an amazing feeling I reminisce about. I am at a point in my life - as the eloquent Louis C.K. has described – where “I can’t die” because of the number of people who depend on me for survival. Relish your freedom!   Or if you find you love engineering after college then do dance for fun. Try to find what you love now so you don't have to worry about it later. I know that is not a fair task to ask of someone in their late teens – early twenties as I am in my thirties and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. It is important because when you are older it is extremely difficult to change careers. Not impossible, but it is akin to turning a battleship when you are married, have kids, a mortgage, debt, friends, etc., etc. I know because I am slowly starting a writing career to displace my current corporate job. Years away, but everyone needs a starting point.   Hopefully you have read through the entire post and not decided on self-immolation. I wish you luck in your future endeavors and please let me know if you need anything.   RLTW,   Jason