What I've learned from the greatest musicians

I’ve been lucky.

Lucky to play with a large amount world-class musicians.

Like top-shelf musicians. The best of the best. Masters of their craft.

People with Grammys, major record deals, and selling out stadiums.

One thing I’ve noticed being these spheres of mastery is that there are commonalities that they all share.

Little threads made up of traits and habits that tie all of them together.

The weird part is that most of these shared aspects don’t even specifically relate to music.

Even though they mastered entertainment and their instrument/voice, if they would’ve chosen something else, they would be just as successful.

And that is the stuff I like to pay attention to; what can I learn and apply to my own life to achieve similar mastery.

So, without further ado, here’s the list of things I’ve picked up:

1\ They focus on 1 thing at a time

If they are learning something new, be it a song, a mixing strategy, or songwriting, they go all in.

Extreme dedication on a singular goal.

There’s no hopping around.

There’s even a musician word for this: “woodshedding.” You go out to the woodshed with your instrument and don’t come back till you’ve mastered it.

I took a master class with a Swedish banjo player that literally did this when he was 14. Took his banjo and 10 records to an outbuilding, and didn’t come home till he learned every note.

Maniacal.

2\ Who they hang out with matters

In any creative work, inspiration is the name of the game.

If you are around people that are tapped into creative mastery, inspiration is in abundant supply.

They understand that you need to be around people that will make you better.

Also, most of these people are on the road, 80% of the time.

So, they pick the people that are both great at what they do and cool to hang out with.

3\ Skills are honed every day

While they’re on the road, they are singing, practicing, or doing whatever the thing is they love to do and have made a career out of.

I’ve toured with guys that would get off the bus wearing their guitar into the store and play it while going up and down the aisles.

That guy was crazy, but still.

A common theme is that they are always getting better. There’s no days off. It doesn’t feel like work, so there is nothing to take a break from.

10,000 hours comes and goes quickly.

4\ They know who they are and why they are

They know what their superpower is, and have went all in.

Because at the end of the day anything that doesn’t give you joy and bring you energy is a psyop.

We have the ability to choose.

If you know what you love doing and why you love doing it, that is the first step towards true alignment and mastery.

The cool thing about this list is that if you take out the musical references, the principle still applies.

World class marketers, chefs, athletes, investors, etc.

Doesn’t matter.

Mastery takes:

• Focus

• The right network

• Daily skill honing

• Alignment with your inner self

And we can all get there.