Is it time to move? Are you looking to relocate, either for the sake of your music career, or for the sake of your own well-being?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share some thoughts on my last three moves.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Reasons for moving as a musician

00:41 – Moving may not be fun, but at times it’s necessary

00:51 – What I’ve learned from three separate moves

00:57 – My latest move

02:20 – Moving can improve your quality of life

03:30 – Sometimes hard decisions are only made on a deadline

05:04 – Moving can shake up your habits and routine

06;18 – Moving may force you to innovate

07:59 – Summary and final thoughts

Transcription:

I haven’t heard anyone say moving is their favorite activity.

And yet, for a musician, the need to move can arise for a variety of reasons.

You may find yourself:

Wanting to leave an unhealthy situation.

Able to afford a better living space, and therefore a better quality of life.

Needing to relocate due to new career opportunities.

Wanting to move in with your significant other.

On the hunt for a more affordable place, because you want to streamline your lifestyle.

Or otherwise.

Moving may not be fun, but at times it is necessary. It’s surprising how many music blogs talk about the importance of location, and yet leave the topic of moving entirely unaddressed.

So, here are some of my thoughts on moving, and what I’ve learned from three separate moves since 2012.

My Latest Move

Things have been anything but the same old, same old for me since returning from Japan in November 2017.

There were several minor setbacks, as well as some major ones. The biggest of all was my car breaking down. I ended up replacing it urgently.

Little did I know there was another challenge waiting for me on the heels of the last.

Things started changing at home when a longtime roommate moved out. A new roommate moved in shortly after, and let’s just say he wasn’t entirely stable.

This quickly prompted the need and desire to find a new place to live. In some ways, I had been putting it off anyway, and had been putting up with a lot of nonsense where I was living in the interim.

As I write this, I’m not fully moved in to the new home. We just took possession of the place today.

And when I say we, I mean I decided to find a place with a fellow entrepreneur and friend. We knew that splitting the costs would allow us to afford more house. We also felt it would save us from winding up in the same situation again.

Moving to a safer, healthier, and cleaner environment quickly became a major priority, especially considering my goals and life as an entrepreneur.

A stable, peaceful, and consistent environment is what an entrepreneur requires to do their best work, because we’re always trying to solve huge problems with our businesses. Unfortunately, this sometimes leaves us with little time and energy to deal with the smaller problems that arise in our home lives.

Here are several other things I’ve learned from my recent moves.

#1 – Moving Can Improve Your Mood & Quality of Life

With my latest move, my spirits were lifted, almost instantaneously, as I left an unhealthy environment and found myself in an entirely new one.

This is the only time this has happened in the last three moves. When I sold my house in 2012, I was having to move an entire house into a basement suite. So, while this did relieve a lot of financial pressure, my quality of life didn’t exactly get better. I found myself on the far eastern outskirts of town, which wasn’t exactly known to be the safest.

With the next move, I was simply moving from one basement to another. My parents referred to my new room as “the dungeon”, if you’re wondering exactly how much of an upgrade that was.

But with the latest move, I feel like I’m getting a fresh start. After spending a bit of time in our new home,