Cleaning

Cleaning is taking the tools and things that you already have and removing the grime, sharpening them, making them better, upping performance.

Cleaning up is like tidying up. Not really making anything cleaner, but simply putting things where they’re suppose to be, ready for next time, making it easier to move around.

Cleaning out, maybe the most powerful cleaning of all. Removing what was once needed and is no longer needed. Making space. Maybe making space for something better. Getting rid of the distractions that have been hanging around way too long.

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If You're Going To Work Out Tomorrow

It’d be nice if you could start working out tomorrow and just keep working out until you were in shape. All at once. Work really hard and then you’re good to go.

But that’s not how getting fit works.

So if you’re going to commit to tomorrow, you might as well go ahead and commit to two months from now also so the decision is already made when you get there.

The good thing about real change is that it rarely requires you to knock it out of the park or have a monumental breakthrough…but always requires diligence. The slow, persistent, often thankless work that causes real change.

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To Sell Out The Arena

You don’t need to (learn to) be a great performer in order to sell out the arena…but it can’t hurt.

Fame, hits, production and pyrotechnics can sell a lot of tickets…and help mask the lack of skill and emotional connection from the artist.

When you step on stage as the artist, everyone is looking to you to lead them. To know what to do with the spotlight. The audience is giving you their attention and you’re suppose to know what to do with it.

And when you know what to do with it then fame, hits, production and pyrotechnics are simply the sweet icing on the cake.

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Difficulty

Difficulty often doesn’t get its credit until long after the fact.

On a related note…

When experiencing difficulty we instantly think ‘get me outta here’ when it may be more helpful to think ‘what am I being taught here’.

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Tinker

This week is still up for grabs. The week between Christmas and New Years.

While I would love if we all adopted a week long celebration…it doesn’t seem like our culture is very good at (or interested in) multi day celebrations.

I think this could at least become a week of tinkering, dabbling, playing around.

Enjoying the downtime but just restless enough to be curious about something new or forgotten.

»» Every Sunday night I send out an email for songwriters and publishers (and anyone interested in that world). It shows who is writing and producing the popular songs along with tempo and main chord progression. You can look at an example and sign up here.

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Gifts

They are just that.

Gifts aren’t concerned with fairness, justice, evenness, earned-ness, deserved-ness.

Care, love, thoughtfulness and generosity stand on their own…which is why it’s possible to give and receive good gifts.

»» That blast in Nashville took out my phone and internet for the last day and a half. Hence this coming to you a day late. But then again, maybe it’s right on time.

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