Ten Minutes Is All It Takes

I can do just about anything for ten minutes. Run around a track, do the dishes, hang from a pull-up bar, hold my breath… actually, I think that might kill me or send me into a coma. Regardless, the list of things that I can do for ten minutes straight no matter what my mood or level of enthusiasm is quite extensive.

Lately I’ve been trying to accomplish more around the house by coming up with little ten minute tasks that I do daily. These include tidying up the kitchen and bedroom, playing with and reading to my ten month old son, and many other things. Even though I have only been doing this for a week the results have been surprising. The compounding effect of tidying up the kitchen a little bit many days in a row has left the kitchen in a tidier state than it has been for ages.

Spending ten minutes intensely playing with and reading to my son does not seem like much. Regardless, if at the end of my life someone asked me the question: “did you spend at least ten minutes every day playing with your son as a baby?”, I would want to be able to answer that question with a confident and loud: “YES!”

The beauty of time-boxing your tasks is that they become manageable, flexible, and there is no specific end-state you have to reach. I mean what does “clean the kitchen” actually mean? Is it enough to sweep the floor or do I have to drive to the store to get oven cleaner? That’s the beauty of restricting yourself to ten minutes; just look around and do something that has a clear impact for ten minutes and then move onto something else.

Ten minutes isn’t a panacea and it won’t cure cancer but I have found it to be an immensely impactful and practical tool. It’s kind of like a sledgehammer that you can take to your todos list and smash that sucker right into the skull of entropy.

I highly recommend trying this out for a week. Spend ten minutes doing just about anything and witness how your efforts compound into something substantial. Anyway, that’s all for now.

Disclaimer: It did take me more than ten minutes to write this blog post.

I’ve Missed This

It’s been 403 days since I wrote my last blog post. So much for writing a song a day for a full year, eh?

Truth is, I’ve been busy. Incredibly busy. Busiest I’ve ever been actually! So what I have been up to during the last year or so? Well, since you asked here’s the CliffsNotes:

• Got married, yup.
• Became a dad, double yup!
• Worked two jobs.
• Finished my master’s degree.
• Worked on a scientific research paper.
• Became financially responsible.
• …and a bunch of other stuff I’m forgetting.

Due to this list of activities I haven’t had any time to write music or blog posts. I do miss both, but funnily enough I think that I might miss writing these blog posts more. Or more importantly I feel like I need to write more.

It’s surprising but writing a daily blog post and releasing it to the world was almost therapeutic. I feel like there has been very little time to sit down and reflect on all of the things that have happened, and as a result I feel like my mental health has taken a bit of a hit in the process of all of these amazing life-changing events.

So staying true to the origins of this blog I’m getting back on the proverbial horse, and starting before I’m ready. I’ve missed you dear reader, doesn’t matter if you’re an old friend or new acquaintance. So get ready to hear from me again — no more daily songwriting but daily blogging for sure.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Fundamentals Not Basics

Stuck in a rut? Salvation won’t be found in a quick-fix solution or hack; what you have to do is get back to the basics.

Or perhaps instead of the basics we should refer to them as the fundamentals. After all they are the constituents that will always be present and at the core of our work. I highly doubt that any hockey player could ever be too good at passing, skating or stick handling — but that’s all beginner stuff, right? Wrong.

I’ve been stuck for a month with my songwriting and my songs have just been getting worse and worse. To rectify this, I decided to go through a beginners course on Udemy that focuses on simple diatonic progressions and writing melodies using chord and non-chord tones.

I wrote the tune on my iPhone so admittedly it doesn’t sound all that great but I like how robust the theme and chord progression turned out. I also like writing music on the iPhone because the software itself takes a lesser role and the only thing that’s left is the music that you come up with.

So get that pretty nose of yourself back to the grindstone and strengthen your foundation. Anyway, that’s all for now.

Stretch Yourself Out

I’ve never been the sharpest or dullest knife in the drawer. I’ve always enjoyed the comfort of being in the middle of the pack but for the last month I’ve been in a situation where I’m the least experienced and skilled of the group.

If I had to use one word to describe the experience it would be… uncomfortable.

That’s not to say that the situation is bad. It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience because it has stretched me out to new lengths and forced me to expand my skills and keep my attitude in check.

I’ve heard people say that you’re the average of the people around you but I’ve never actually experienced that in effect before. Within any group there’s norms and expectations regarding skills and behaviour. Joining a group where people hold themselves to a higher standard than you’re used to will force you to do likewise or else you face rejection.

Perhaps there’s a price to pay for growth and its preferred currency is comfort so be ready to loosen up the purse strings. Remember that treasure is often guarded by a dragon and entering its lair is not a comfortable nor leisurely affair.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Become Brave Not Less Afraid

I used to be afraid of leaving the house. Trying to walk out the front door would cause a panic attack where I’d collapse to the floor and piss my pants. That happened to me more than once.

I was so afraid to leave the house that I’d raid the pantry until it was empty, just so that I could avoid going to the grocery store. I’d eat plain rice for a week. I was like a scared little rat hiding from the world.

What helped then? I started to confront what I was avoiding despite the fear and panic. It wasn’t fun at all. I’d assume that every person I walked past was judging me and laughing at me. When I’d get back to the house, I’d break down and cry in the shower.

I didn’t stop. I kept pushing forward. I started attending lectures at the university just as a way to get out of the house regularly. I started meditating, trying to focus on my breathing and relax the parts of my body that would tense up when I was out in public.

It took me a long time to get to the point where leaving the house didn’t cause me to break down into a sobbing mess. You’ll never be less afraid but you can be more brave. The burden will never become lighter but you can become stronger.

You deserve better. Stop hiding, lift your chin up and don’t give up. That’s all for now.

When Consistency Beats Efficiency

I used to be obsessed with efficiency and I spent a lot of time trying to discover techniques that would provide the greatest return on investment. The problem was that I wasn’t investing anything to begin with, meaning that no matter how efficient I was the returns always amounted to nothing.

There’s an old saying in strength training circles that hints at this idea.

The inferior workout program that you do will always beat the superior program that you don’t do.

The reason why efficiency is awesome is because you get more bang for your buck, but zero bucks stills gets you no bang whatsoever.  Efficiency for the sake of being efficient is redundant and it only becomes valuable if we’re already putting in some good old-fashioned hard work.

Get good at being disciplined and staying consistent first — efficiency will follow naturally as you discover better ways of doings the things that you keep doing.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

The Importance of Getting Your Butt Kicked Every Now and Then

Having successfully stuck to my daily songwriting challenge for three months I decided to reward myself with a new musical gadget. Turns out that what arrived in the mail wasn’t a gadget after all—it was a can of whoop-ass.

The gadget is called a Roli Seaboard Block. It’s a nifty little expressive keyboard and for some stupid reason I was expecting to be able to start using it straight away in my songwriting. Turns out that things aren’t that simple and this new little instrument really kicked my butt.

It took an hour to produce a short, quite boring piece of music because my skills on the instrument are that limited. My fingers hit the keys at completely random velocities and my musical timing is horrid. The old me would probably have cursed the instrument as a waste of  money but as the old saying goes, it’s the poor carpenter who blames his shoddy tools. 

Picking up a new instrument is something that provides perspective. It makes you realise how relatively good you have gotten at other things. Not only that but I know from experience that knowledge in one field typically provides insight to another; things rarely exist in a vacuum.

So if you’ve just been resting on your laurels for too long I highly recommend picking up a new instrument or some other hobby that you suck at. You’ll hate it at first but it’ll keep you on your toes and perhaps it’ll give you a chance to grow.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Kill the Boy and Let the Man be Born

There’s a moment in Game of Thrones where old Maester Aemon says the following to Jon Snow.

Kill the boy and let the man be born.

I think that death is an accurate analogy for fundamental personal transformation for a few reasons. For one, it’s easy to get stuck in the past and the part of you that can’t let go of what once was, is stuck in a void. It’s lifeless and incapable of transcendence.

I know from my own experience that the reason I’ve found myself stuck in the past was because there was something that I hadn’t processed and there were lessons that I had not learned. I tried hard to avoid going back and facing those memories because I was afraid of the truth that I’d have to uncover.

Heed the sirens, take shelter, my lover
Flee the fire that devours
But the sight held me fixed
Like a bayonet against my throat.

— The Oh Hellos, Pale White Horse

The other reason why death is an accurate analogy is because nobody wants to die. Death is painful. It’s full of grief, sorrow and every part of you will fight hard against it. There’s beliefs that I’ve held onto so tightly that the only way to pry them off me was from the grip of a dead hand.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that personal transformation isn’t always a fun and blissful state down a joyful path of self discovery and wonder. It can be a dark and perilous journey where you have to be willing to face personal demons along the way.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

The Power of Yes and the Power of No

There’s two weapons that you carry with you at all times no matter what your goal is. One of them is YES and the other is NO. When utilised correctly, the combination of the two will help steer you towards your goal and step on the gas when the light turns green.

Let your yes be yes and your no be no and carry them as two swords as you make your way towards your goal and battle those who stand in your way.

— Elliott Hulse, Strength of Assertiveness.

In order to use these two weapons there’s a few rules but luckily the instruction manual is quite short. The first rule is that you need to have direction; something to aim at. Why? Because you have to know what you’re saying YES and NO to. You say YES to all the things that align with your destination and you say NO to all of the things that don’t.

The second rule is that you have to identify as many of the things you’re going to affirm and reject ahead of time. If you’re trying to lose weight and people keep offering you cake then you have to say NO sometime before the twenty-third slice. If you’re trying to become a software developer and a friend of yours asks if you’d like to interview for a position at his company you have to say YES even though you feel overwhelmed by the challenge.

The best part about these tools is that you carry them with you at all times. When you lose control of your environment, you still maintain your ability to assert yourself in a particular direction.

May the Force of Assertiveness be with you, always. That’s all for now.

You Can’t Be Ready for Everything

With some things you just have to accept that you’ll never be ready for them. I’ve heard that countless times from many people who are parents — they weren’t ready to have children, yet when I look at them they always seem to be competent and loving parents. That’s pretty impressive for a bunch who weren’t ready for the job.

I used to assume when I saw good parents that they were that way already before they had kids. I think that it’s quite common to assume that the current form of someone is the reason why they’re capable of doing the things that they’re doing, but quite often it’s the other way round — form follows function and your competence grows in order to meet the challenge.

You can definitely not be ready for certain things, I’m not here to dispute that. Some challenges can be too great for you to undertake currently and that’s perfectly fine. However, I do know that there’s a whole boatload of things that I could have overcome if I simply had given it a shot and in those cases it’s would’ve been better for me to start before I was ready.

It’s a good idea to go over things in your life and really ask yourself if your claims for putting things off are valid. Sometimes they are and sometimes they’re not; usually the easiest way for me to distinguish between the two is when “being ready” is just a codeword for convenience and nothing more.

Audentes Fortuna iuvat. Start before you’re ready. That’s all for now.