The Aaron Jacobs Podcast

Aaron Jacobs

A former public school Band Director of 15 years, I decided to leave the classroom to help Band Directors become elite leaders of young people. By setting the example for young people in how to take care of themselves, Band Directors can radically alter the course of so many lives for the better...if they can lead by example first!

  1. 04/10/2025

    42-The Sound of Silence

    Teaching has always been an overstimulating job. The constant barrage of questions from students. The hundreds of split second decisions that need to be made every day. The amount of time in front of other people. The amount of time you need to be "ON" as a person. And now...our WORLD is overstimulating. With the propagation of smartphones, many people, adults and children alike, are in a constant state of overstimulation. If you've listened to the podcast before, you may know my story about how the "social and noise overload" from being a high school band director led to a major depression episode, and ultimately, causing me to leave teaching for good. Let me tell you...it is really challenging to teach music when you literally start to resent "sound" in general from overstimulation. And unfortunately, this resulted in some less than stellar interactions with students and colleagues in my last year of teaching. I think teachers, students, and frankly...everyone could do well with more mental health maintenance practices that focus on desaturating yourself from sound, screens and just taking in information. And while I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, I can say there are habits I have now that I consider just as important as my nutrition, fitness and hydration habits that are geared toward my mental health. If you are a teacher and feeling overstimulated, I'd bet you can relate to this week's topic. Take care, and be well. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/25155-anhedonia

    15 min

About

A former public school Band Director of 15 years, I decided to leave the classroom to help Band Directors become elite leaders of young people. By setting the example for young people in how to take care of themselves, Band Directors can radically alter the course of so many lives for the better...if they can lead by example first!