If there's anything that's obvious to my students, it's how much I enjoy teaching them. If you were a fly on the wall at any one of my lessons, you'd have a hard time discerning who was having the most fun.

This is probably what elicited the following question from one of my Saturday students, "did you always like teaching piano?"

Surprisingly, the answer is no. But before we get into that, we gotta dip back into my childhood.

In my younger days piano was the only thing I was ever good at. Mind you, this didn't mean I was super talented. I just sucked at everything else and displayed more prodigious skill at this instrument than most of my peers.

This was the contributing factor as to why I eventually burned the boats in college and went all-in on my dream of becoming a concert pianist.

My hopes were eventually dashed, naively unaware of what it really took to have a career at the level I aimed for. I believed that work ethic was sufficient, never giving a second thought to strategy.

But I carried on, tabled the thought of becoming a paid musician and changed my focus to academics.

Halfway through my doctorate (yes they have those in music) I became disillusioned. I was falling for the myth that higher education would guarantee a good paying gig and luckily I got out before my student loans ballooned to epic proportions.

That's how I ended up teaching piano, not as a matter of choice but because it was about survival.

I worked at various music studios, which further cemented my distaste for having a boss. It felt like slavery, prevented from having the freedom to do things the way I wanted.

And so I founded my private studio circa 2010.

Once I did become my own boss, things didn't magically get easier. Admittedly I made it more difficult than necessary due to a profoundly big ego, as well as a complete lack of business sense (another thing they don't teach you in college).

What further impaired my progress was I thought this would only be a temporary phase, a little extra income to pay the bills until I made it back to the performance artist track.

Fast forward to today, I absolutely love teaching. Not only since I finally earn what I believe I'm worth, but because I'm able to give these kids an experience that is sorely lacking today - a healthy relationship with an adult who is invested in their personal and professional success.

But what allowed me to reach this point was mastering the skills that mattered, not that I believe they can ever truly be mastered, and having the curiosity to explore a path I had no idea would be made available to me.

As what nearly almost always happens, my personal library held the answer. I learned the truth about passion, from both the title and content of Cal Newport's book:

It usually comes after you're So Good They Can't Ignore You.

Cheers.