Your Favorite

When the interviewer asks what your favorite song is that you’ve written, or favorite show you’ve played, or city visited, or recording experience…

Just pick one and roll with it.

Please skip all of the, ‘well it’s tough to pick a favorite…it’s like picking a favorite child…I can’t pick just one…they’re all my favorite for different reasons’.

It’s more fun and entertaining (for everyone involved) to pick a favorite. After all, the reason for the question was to have fun and entertain.

Or don’t pick a favorite but give a different entertaining answer. But rolling out the ‘I can’t pick a favorite’ means you’re trying too hard to answer the question rather than entertain the audience.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Sustainability

You’ve had enough mountain top experiences to know that the emotion of that experience doesn’t last.

It’s vital to have the victories. It’s vital to celebrate the victories. But the high always wears off…and you’re left with…

Whatever the real foundation is.

Do you like each other and want to be around each other? Is there a clear, shared vision? How does that translate to motivation in the good and bad times?

The reality you live in while not experiencing a big victory is a good indicator of sustainability.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

What Makes Happy Work?

When you don’t wish away the set of problems that are sure to come your way while working your position.

If this isn’t the case for you, you either need new problems or new wishes.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Commands

‘Hey Siri play Movin’ Out by Billy Joel’.

And Siri does it. Similarly, if I told you to play Movin’ Out by Billy Joel you could easily complete the command.

But as the song is fading out I say, ‘play other songs where the drums groove hard, help the guitar line feel good and sometimes crash on the two’.

You, me and Siri have a much harder time with this one.

Groove hard, feel good and sometimes (especially in combination) are not found by facts and algorithms. They’re found by an intuitive sense for what the other person might mean at the time of the request.

And when we can do this for someone else it’s truly magical.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Freddie And You

You’ve heard Bohemian Rhapsody a thousand times.

But if you sit down for a couple hours with the goal of writing something as catchy and iconic as Bohemian Rhapsody you’ll realize the difficulty. That agony and frustration and creative torment…you’ll realize how far away you are from Freddie. (And you’ll be reminded that hearing greatness doesn’t equate with writing greatness.)

Here’s the thing…At some point Freddie went through that same agony and frustration and creative torment. He wasn’t above it. And you are not beneath him. 

The difficulty is a sign you’re at an important part of the journey.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

No Reason At All

When you have the beach trip coming up, you get busy on those ab workouts.

When company is coming over, you clean up the house pretty good.

When the important people are in the audience, you put the big effort into the performance.

Big reasons provide great inspiration and motivation to do things that benefit everyone involved.

But what about after the big reason passes and you can’t find another one?

At some point the big reasons run out and then all you’re left with is your own quiet decisions.

Why are you working out or cleaning up or putting in a huge effort? ‘No reason at all’ other than that’s what I’m deciding to do, that’s how I’m going to live my life.

Big reasons run out. The power of your decisions does not.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple