Applying Theory To Everyday Life: A Musician's Perspective

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 252 | Mastery

By George Leonard.

So this book is Leo's highest-priority book on the entire booklist. Was it worth reading it? Definitely. Was it worth the top spot? It's hard for me to say. Especially given my background in pursuing musical and guitar mastery, the topic in and of itself is very familiar to me. For that reason, I don't think it had the revolutionary effect on me that it could have had for someone who has never pursued mastery.

HOWEVER, this book is full of wonderfully written insights about the entire process of mastery and it's importance in everyday life. The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first part describes the several paths we can take with any domain we choose, and how the most fulfilling one is the path of mastery. The second part describes "the five keys" to unlock mastery which are instruction, practice, surrender, intentionality, and "the edge." The final part of the book describes the nuances that appear along the path of mastery and how to prepare for and deal with them.

It gives a clear overview about what the path of mastery (of any domain) requires from you and has in store for you, seeing as it is a field of work worth mastering. As a self-actualizer and musician, this serves as a great reminder to keep pushing forward in spite of what our modern culture would have us do instead. It's full of anecdotes and stories that illustrate the key points, even mythical ones. Many of the quotes that I have underlined were so inspiring and thought-provoking for me that I've started writing them on post-it notes and sticking them around my wall.

This book is probably best for those who have never consciously pursued the path of mastery. But even as someone who has been on the path for a while now, not only can I recognise the truth in each one of the key points made but I found that there was still plenty of good stuff to be learned from this book. Would recommend.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 253 | Die To Live

Theory: The person you are before you go to sleep is completely different to the person who wakes up in the morning. One must die for the other to live.

Applying it: If you want to retain any kind of wisdom from one day to the next, you must expect that the person who wakes up in the morning will be completely different to who you are at night. Through this awareness, you can more easily carry wisdom across from one day to the next.

 

A bit of an airy-fairy topic, perhaps. But every time I go to sleep, I aim to treat it as a death. It might seem highly unlikely that you could just go to sleep one night and not wake up the following morning. Although it's uncertain, it's possible. It happened to a local gym instructor a year or so ago. He was seemingly a young, healthy, fit guy when he suddenly died through the night. Sudden death syndrome.

What's more, our minds and bodies are changing constantly. The person who started writing this journal will not be the same one who finishes this journal. And the person who wakes up in the morning will not be the same as the one who goes to bed the night before. To attempt at being poetic, it's like one version of you has to die in order for the new version to wake up the next morning. But the only trouble is that the one who wakes up will have a completely fresh mind. A blank canvas onto which thoughts can be painted on.

I've started implementing a morning and night routine to accommodate this. At night, I will read and explain out loud several of the quotes posted on my bedroom wall in order to develop wisdom. Then before it is time to sleep, I will remind myself that the person who wakes up will be sleepy to begin with. They will want to snooze in bed a little longer or they will want food immediately. Basically, the monkey mind will kick in unless I provide constructive thoughts for the brain to digest.

By becoming aware of this the night before, I can go to sleep and wake up with the same level of awareness. Then once I've gotten out of bed, I will repeat the process of explaining and interpreting the quotes on my wall to reconnect with that inner wisdom that was cultivated the night before. This process might become really useful in stitching together each day to construct a narrative instead of waking up every day as if it were a fresh start (which is only a practical thought to such an extent).

Although the nocturnal version of myself metaphorically dies to allow the morning version of myself to wake up, I can make sure that both versions are connected strongly through this procedure.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 254 | Dyad Trial

My partner and I decided to try out some dyad work with some guidance from the web. Admittedly, we haven't been shown anything about how to do it properly nor do any of us have prior experience as to what to do or expect. But we did the exercise anyway for a short trial session. We sat cross-legged on the bed facing each other, became present with some deep breaths in unison, and proceeded to give instructions to each other and respond to them.

He took the first turn at giving the instruction for which I would comply. The first instruction hit me deep almost immediately: "Tell me how you want to be loved." The way he delivered the instruction was heartfelt and with every intention of discovering the answer. It was such a personal question that it pierced deep into my authentic self. After years of small-talk and shallow conversation with others in everyday life, this line of questioning came as a bit of a shock. But it felt incredible to open up myself in front of him knowing full well that he would not react (as part of the exercise).

We continued for a few more turns with this line of communication. And that's exactly what it felt like: not conversation, but pure communication. I opened up to him and he opened up to me. Not only did I discover so much about him in such a short space of time, but I also discovered so much about my own desires, feelings and attitudes. Admitting your own feelings to yourself is a wonderful thing. And to have my partner in front of me without reacting as I did this felt all the more special.

As I say, this was just a trial. But from that small session, we discovered that this could have some wonderful effects if we keep up the habit.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 255 | Post-it Quotes

Theory: The quickest and most efficient way of learning key insights and understanding bits of wisdom is to place them where you will come into contact with them on a daily basis.

Applying it: Decorate your space with post-it notes containing quotes and nuggets of wisdom that are meaningful to you. Make a regular habit of examining them one-by-one until you can explain in depth what they mean.

 

This is a new habit that I've started over the last week or so that has become both incredibly fun and rewarding. As I've started reading more books, I've realised that it isn't enough to just underline important quotes. In order to fully understand the concepts of the book, you have to be able to internalise them. One of the best ways to show that you have internalised any teaching is to be able to explain it in your own words. But to do that, you need to know certain quotes well enough to perhaps recite them from memory.

Post-it notes have become my tool of choice for implementing this strategy. My bedroom is perhaps below-average when it comes to decoration. The walls are quite bare, which makes them the perfect place to put these post-it notes. I use post-its of different sizes and colours to articulate my own thoughts on paper as well as to document important and relevant quotes from the books I've read.

I've also started the habit of methodically going though these quotes every morning and night. There are three distinct sections on my wall for post-it notes to be, and there are three different colours to choose from (although the quotes are not colour-coded). The method would be to walk up to each section of the room and pick one quote of each colour to examine and internalise through explanation. This could take from anything to 15 minutes to an hour to complete depending on how deep into the explanation I am willing to go.

I've only done this for Mastery so far and there are still plenty more quotes I could pin up onto the wall. But this procedure has allowed me to internalise some juicy bits of wisdom that wouldn't have been possible through a simple read and underline of a quote.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 256 | Insight About Money

Theory: Money is spiritual poetry in motion.

Applying it: Be mindful of all the ways in which you are spending and accumulating money. Notice how the money is a clear expression of your authentic desires and values.

 

I'd like to start off with a powerful quote from Mastery to explain this insight:

Quote

Every time we spend money, we make a statement about what we value; there's no clearer or more direct indication.

Money in itself is a shallow thing. Chasing for more money all the time is therefore a shallow thing to be doing. But if you really take the time to observe the ways in which money operates in your life as well as others, you can get in touch with the spiritual connections that are associated with money. Reread the quote above. And reread it again. And reread it. And again. Because there's so much truth in this statement when you bring it into your own life.

It's even more abundantly clear if you've ever paid for something that contributes to your personal growth. As a guitarist, I regularly spend a few hundred pounds on guitar strings alone every year. And in all of that time, I've never once looked back and thought "gee, that was a bad investment." With every pack of guitar strings I buy, I make a statement about how much I value the beauty of music and the desire to improve as a musician.

As someone who is also interested in becoming wiser and more knowledgable in relation to self-actualization, I've made some pretty significant investments given my current predicament. I've spend over £100 on books and have recently purchased the Life Purpose Course for £200. Am I sceptical? Sure. Those thoughts have occurred to me. But after I made the investment, the insight about money came to me.

There is something magical that happens when you consciously decide to spend your money on personal growth. You choose to value your Higher Self, not your Lower Self. You choose to honour your Muse, rather than your Ego. You sacrifice your physical possessions to receive wisdom from the Infinite Intelligence. Spending money is a way of making a final commitment to yourself. And it feels spiritually satisfying to do that.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 257 | Meditation For Musicians

Theory: As a musician, you have the possibility of meditating in a completely unique way by using your instrument as a mantra.

Applying it: Perform a repeated pattern, drone or phrase and loop it for 45-60mins straight. Maintain full awareness of your bodily sensations, sights, sounds, and other raw data.

 

I've used my instrument to do this kind of thing before. It's given me some wonderful outer-body sensations and heightened states of awareness before. But I'd never considered using it as a supplement for a formal meditation practice. Perhaps because it never really occurred to me that the instrument could be used as a mantra to bring you into the present moment. It really is no different, when done correctly, to the sacred "Om" chant that has been practiced for centuries.

Today, I used a repeating fingerpicking pattern to produce a drone from my guitar. Nothing complicated at all. And I performed this pattern over and over and over again without deviating or manipulating it. Then once I became comfortable with the pattern (after only a few minutes), I then shifted my awareness from my hands to the rest of my body. I tried to become as conscious as possible of all the different sensations in my body. Then, I would become conscious of the actual frequencies and overtones of the guitar as it played. And I bathed in this awareness for as long as I could maintain it.

The results were phenomenal. I could feel something growing and expanding from within. It felt godly to the point where I became partially disoriented about the reality around me. Several layers of resistance were peeled away until I reached a state of deep calm. And as wonderful as it was to listen to the guitar drone and experience its richness and beauty, it will never compare to the magical state of being that came over me when I gradually brought down the volume to silence. Everything became stillness.

After doing a fairly standard type of meditation every hour of every day for the past year, it felt so wonderful to try meditating in this way. Not only was it good guitar practice, but there was something so special about using my passion to produce unimaginable peace of mind. It was a highly personal and authentic way of using my creative voice to expand my consciousness. Such a powerful moment to witness in this life.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 258 | Grieving Over Yourself

Theory: The only way to you can come to terms with death is to go through a grieving process with yourself.

Applying it: Become as conscious as possible of all the suffering that revolves around your thoughts about 'me.' Realise that in order to eliminate this suffering, you must face your own death. Open yourself up to the raw emotions that you feel when you genuinely feel crushed that you must die.

 

Yesterday, I spoke of the magic that occurred when I used my guitar as a meditation tool. Today was the second day of such a meditation practice and it proved to be even more powerful than I could have imagined. After peeling back the layers of resistance, I suddenly found myself becoming conscious of all the thoughts about 'me.' My body. My life. And as time passed, the suffering behind all of these thoughts also came to the surface. I've been running away from the truth about the "no-self" for a long time. But finally, I had the courage to face it head on.

I allowed the feelings of terror and despair come to the surface as I contemplated death. My death. So many thoughts came up. "I don't want to die." "Why can't I live in this beautiful existence forever?" It was so emotional that it brought me to deep sadness and tears with it. In order to reach a place without suffering, I had to die. Or at least, the thoughts of 'me' had to die. And for the ego, that feels soul-crushing.

This feeling remained with me for quite some time. I wanted to end the meditation early, but the fingers kept plucking away at the guitar as if to completely ignore Ego altogether. Then as if by magic, that raw and powerful emotion that came with grieving myself suddenly transformed into ecstatic joy and fulfilment. It made the present moment feel extraordinarily beautiful. It was beautiful already but not on this scale. It felt like orders of magnitude larger.

And with that experience brought the strongest possible feelings of presence. Stillness. As if something died within.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 259 | Getting Used To Relationships

Theory: Building a strong relationship is like a field of mastery in itself and is not separate from any other facet of self-actualization.

Applying it: Make sure both you and your partner understand this concept and are willing to work together to improve on it over the long-term.

 

So I'm away from home this weekend to visit my partner. It has been really fun to come and support him in a concert that he performed in for part of his university degree. We've been together for around three weeks and I'm still getting used to it. In fact, it felt to me like our relationship was on a bit of a plateau. We discovered together that the main reason why I felt this way was because I was worried about bringing my self-actualization work and routines into our relationship.

We only see each other once every few weeks so it was very easy for me to throw out all of the progress I'd made to focus solely on spending time together. And as much as I love spending time with him, it kinda felt like I was sacrificing that stuff just to be with him, even though he is fully supportive of the work I do. It was my belief of "I must devote all of my time to you whilst I'm here and nothing else" that was making me worry about being my true self.

After talking about this together, we realised that this was something we both wanted to change. We both wanted to not only spend time having fun together, but more importantly we want to support each other's work and encourage each others growth, even doing it together. And that's when I remembered that building a strong relationship is like a practice in itself. There's certain challenges that need to be overcome but this is what leads to the truest kinds of growth.

And it feels great to have found a partner who actually is supportive and understanding of this growth. Things don't have to be perfect all of the time. What matters is that we both know that this relationship is a practice like any other. And practice is the surest way to travel the path of mastery.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 260 | Reflection

The days since my previous reflection post have been incredibly fulfilling in every way. It feels like I've had the chance to explore every emotion in great depth. There were times when I cried, felt heavy resistance, worry and stress. But also times of utter joy, excitement, happiness and tranquility.

I've cultivated a new type of meditation practice which is ideal for me. Using my biggest passion in life in such a way that promotes the art of raising awareness and consciousness has got to be the biggest breakthrough I've made. Every single time I've done it, the results have been incredibly satisfying. Sure enough, I could still just sit motionless for an hour in silence and meditate that way just as I have for over a year now. But this highly individual approach to meditation has transformed everything. My love for life just deepened immensely.

In terms of the YouTube channel, ideas are bubbling away in my mind ever since I made the commitment to produce weekly content. I've only produced one video so far because of the limiting beliefs holding me back. But now that it's out there, I feel motivated to produce even more. And to be honest, I don't care what kind of reception it gets. In fact, writing this public journal has eliminated that desire for recognition completely.

When I started, I used to secretly keep track of the views it got. Petty for sure. But for a long time now, the priority of this journal has been about telling the truth and documenting anything that interests and helps me. I've always known that it really shouldn't be about the views of your work, but it's only now that I can say that I honestly live that way. The passion comes first. It humbles me to receive a reception of any kind these days and I am grateful to everybody who shows even a slither of interest in what I do. It does seem to encourage the passion and the desire to put more work out there but I feel mature enough to understand that it should never be the fuel.

So I'm also getting used to being in a relationship with a guy I met from the Edinburgh tour. In some ways, it has felt kinda strange to be out in public and display affection because of a few potential reasons: being with a guy for starters, the fact that it's still relatively new, worrying what others think... A lot of surface-level resistance. But I feel more than confident enough to battle through such resistance. Especially because I'm deeply satisfied with how this relationship has gone.

The whole means of starting a relationship via dates and sex just goes completely against everything that I would want. It's an incredibly pretentious way to go about doing things for me because it feels like I have to act in a certain "gentlemanly" way in order to have a successful date. It prevents me from being myself. Whereas with this guy, I had several weeks living with him in Edinburgh and spending time as nothing more than friends. Turns out we had an unbelievable amount of similarities, desires, values and other things in common, enough to suggest best friend material. Then when the tour ended and I couldn't stop thinking about how much I loved being with him, that's when I submitted to myself that this guy meant something deeper to me.

Ever since then, it's been strength to strength. The typical relationship-type stuff is wonderful but perhaps the thing I enjoy most is that we are both passionate about growing ourselves as individuals and as one. I feel incredibly comfortable to talk to him about whatever is on my mind and he tells me he feels the same way too. We both inspire each other in different ways. We're starting to do work together, meditate together, and potentially make a dyad practice together. This relationship feels like such a rarity and it's incredibly exciting!

On a note for potential improvements, my eating habits have slipped a little maybe. I've been to some fancy restaurants with my partner and stuff without considering my health and I've also been eating a lot of protein bars. My spending has also gone through the roof over this period of time but most of it to a worthy cause, including the Life Purpose Course, Tab Pro (lifelong guitar tablature access), bonding activities with my partner and Christmas presents.

But things overall are going so wonderfully. My fulfilment levels are incredibly high these days. And perhaps the best part of that is that it doesn't seem to be as a result of achievement. It's more form the sheer joy of living. Life is beautiful right now. And that meditation session where I ended up grieving my own death... Wow. I don't think I've ever seen life in a more beautiful light since then.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 261 | Love Being Alone

Theory: Constantly wanting to be with others can limit your potential for growth.

Applying it: Detach from the desire to seek the company of others and spend some time on your own. Genuine love of your own company can be found.

 

All creative endeavours require some degree of solitude. Without it, you can never allow yourself to access the deeper wisdom within you. You can never practice your craft. Neither can you truly appreciate the company of others.

For a lot of years, I hated the fact that I was a loner. To fill the void, I would turn to the guitar to provide a distraction from the lonely feelings. "If I get good enough at this, maybe I'll get more friends." That was the logic, the long-term goal. So the hours went by and my practice became my life. No parties, no alcohol, no drugs, no social life. School felt emotionally difficult and practice was my medicine. And over the years, my skills became better and I found myself loved by the people around me rather than hated. I felt the love for people again. Through being more love, I could give more back.

But perhaps the biggest lesson I learned was that I don't need to have friends in order to be happy. That was the original story behind my guitar playing. But in achieving it, I realised that I had learned to love myself. I loved spending time on my own and loved being alone. It feels uplifting to know this. And as a result of loving being on my own (and not having lots of friends), I can deeply appreciate the time I spend with others and I'd rather have fewer closer friends than more distant friends.

The reason this topic occurred to me now is to do with the latest YouTube video posted on my channel. It's an outtakes teaser video of the Wiimote music video I've been banging on about for months (it's finally nearing completion!). It was hard to realise at the time that I was genuinely loving the time I had on my own. So watching this footage back to myself just fills me with so much joy that such a state of mind could be possible. Because it seemed impossible for a very long time.

This is not supposed to be a plug for my channel but more a reflection of the person in the video. The behaviours in the video were completely genuine and unknowing that such a video would ever get released. This is perhaps the truest depiction of myself that has ever been put out there and it's such a thrill to be doing it. No ego-trips intended. It's just an expression of my happiness.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 262 | Money Is Just Math

Theory: Believing that money is just math can transform your ability to love the concept of money.

Applying it: Rather than believing the common beliefs about money, entertain the idea that making money is just a math problem. It's a far more optimistic belief to have than the default beliefs.

 

Today, I was using a salary calculator online to investigate just how much money I would need to earn in order to live autonomously. After taking into account how much money would be ideal for me to earn each year and many hours per week would be ideal for me to work, I entered my preferences to the website and realised that this could be totally possible for me. In order to earn £20,000 per year, there are quite a lot of possibilities: work 35hrs per week for £14 per hour, 25hrs / week for £20/hr, 15hrs / week for £34/hr, or even 5hrs / week for £99/hr.

Looking at these figures fills me with so much optimism. And it reminds me of the words of Brooke Castillo: "making money is just a math problem." Just listening to her talk about money is so refreshing and inspiring and now I genuinely believe it too. As impossible as the latter options may seem for a musician whose just starting out, it's totally doable. The know-how will come to anybody who desires it enough so badly.

Of course, there comes the gazillion ways in which we have to spend money in order to live. But I looked up on that too. I'm not bothered about living in the most expensive, luxurious houses for the time being. Just a place to call home is good enough for me. And with income like this, I could afford to live somewhere pretty decent with plenty of money for food, bills, car stuff, guitar strings, equipment, and all other essentials for my life. If I'm wrong, then I'll adjust my money goals with no problem.

Otherwise, I feel incredibly satisfied by seeing these figures for real. As someone who really didn't know that much about money to begin with, just seeing some of these figures gave me peace of mind that it can be done. Even better is that I can envision myself making the money through all sorts of means. The "how-to" of making money is becoming apparent. And that's such a thrill!

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 263 | The Rut Of Making Excuses

Theory: We are incredibly good at making excuses for our (lack of) actions. So good that it becomes so well-practiced that it's very difficult to break.

Applying it: Every time you notice yourself making excuses for our (lack of) actions, don't condemn yourself. Instead, be understanding and accepting that this habit is more engrained in your psyche than you may have thought. Then use that positive energy to fuel the change you want to make.

 

Excuses are fun. Be honest. When was the last time you told yourself to put off the gym for another day? Sometime this week? Only a fool would try and pretend that this option never occurred to them. Often, I follow the excuse up with phrases such as "I could be doing something more productive" or "there's more important things to worry about than my own fitness." But just because excuses are fun doesn't mean they solve any problems. Like sticking masking tape on a crack in the wall, the habit has no healing properties about it.

Excuses are incredibly difficult to stop making. Not only do we practice this art form unconsciously, but we convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing. That's the thing about any kind of practice. The longer you do it, the more true it feels to you that you keep going along with it. I've been playing guitar for over a decade now. The very idea of hanging it on the wall forever and quitting seems ridiculous. That's also exactly how I felt about eating chocolate. I ate it for over a decade during childhood that it felt almost impossible to give it up. But my diet today is radically different. I make no excuses about the food I eat. Chocolate is a luxury for me now, not a necessity. And in the future, it may become a thing of the past.

So what changed? How did one form of practice remain strong while the other died away? One word: can you guess it? This thing maintains my passion for playing guitar. It guides my practice and influences my compositions. It's also the reason why many types of junk food, that I once used to love eating, suddenly became toxic. It's the thing that converted me into a vegetable-loving health junkie. It's the thing that gets me to the gym on time. It's the thing that motivates all of my actions, feelings and thoughts.

Vision.

My vision changed. Not only do I want to grow up to be a professional guitar player, but I also envision a healthy, well-exercised body. One that's full of energy. And a mind that's just as healthy. Never letting the negativity of the world penetrate my subconscious mind and create depression, anxiety and fear. Never expressing hate but only love for the world. And the more I focus on it, the more secure I feel spiritually.

A strong vision of a healthy future can dismantle any shoddy excuse the Ego could come up with.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 264 | 100% Commitment

Theory: Any commitment less than 100% actually makes it impossible to create everlasting change.

Applying it: If you really want to install healthy habits to your everyday life, you have to commit to the change 100%. Be decisive and choose to follow through on your commitments because there really ought to be no alternative. Take massive action.

 

This last month has been especially big on commitments for me. It's exciting to be honest. First of all, a relationship. Next, the Life Purpose Course. Then it was the Wiimote video (which is finally up for all to see!). But perhaps the biggest commitment I've made in my life so far: signing up for Tommy Emmanuel's Guitar Camp in Scotland. Tommy Emmanuel is considered to be one of the greatest acoustic guitarists living at the moment and he is holding a retreat in Scotland for players to learn from him, play for each other, and play together.

So much money has left my bank account this month (feels like around 25% of my total amount). I really ought to be shit scared and part of me is. But the other part of me knows that I've made 100% commitments to improve as a guitar player and as a human being. It feels great knowing that the money that I spend doesn't go on things like alcohol, drugs, pointless holidays etc. It's all been invested in personal growth. Why? Because the more you grow yourself, the more you can influence others to grow with you.

There are still lots of areas in my life that need complete commitment in order to produce the change. My habits have been slipping really badly. Meditation, gym, healthy eating, journalling, reading, reflecting, contemplating... It's all gone a bit tits up really. Somewhere in my psyche, there's a belief clinging for dear life that says "I don't want to change. Change is bad. I'm not worthy of growing my own happiness levels. Isn't that selfish?" After almost a year of committing 100% to the self-actualization path, I can now appreciate just how difficult it is to create transformative change.

It's about time I committed 100% to the positive habits I've spend months cultivating. Clearly 95% wasn't enough.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Leo Gura]

Love the commitment to the process here. Keep walking the path!

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 265 | Practicing Music and Practicing Habits

Theory: There's a strong similarity between practicing different pieces on your musical instrument and practicing habits in your daily life.

Applying it: Realise that it's okay if you forget to practice and old piece or habit recently. It doesn't take much catching up to recapture your level of mastery.

 

So massive thanks to Leo for that cheeky message first of all! It's awesome at this point in my life to be assured that the path ahead is not the wrong one. But I love the irony that I failed to commit 100% to keeping up my journalling habit for a few days! I was actually really ill the day after posting that entry and didn't feel all too willing to be as present as normal. But here goes another try!

I've noticed that there's a huge connection between practicing pieces of music and practicing certain habits in your life. As a musician, I've learned to play hundreds (maybe thousands) of pieces in the past. But many of those pieces are out of practice. I wouldn't be able to play them to you now without going through a short period of catching up beforehand. And the great thing about 'catching up' is that it takes so much less time than the time I spend learning the piece for the first time.

The same thing can be said for habits. Last year, I used to get up at 7 every morning without fail. I used to be able to hold my breath and swim around 25m underwater. I used to play golf. And I earned a black belt in karate. Does that mean I still have those habits and skills right now? Of course not. But the fortunate thing is that it's only a case of 'catching up' that needs to happen if I want to install these habits once again. I still know lots of karate moves, golf technique, pretty good lung capacity and enough positivity to get up at 7 without whining like a bitch. The potential is still there because it has been discovered before, rather than new habits and levels of mastery which test your undiscovered potential.

Also, there's the different aspects of practice to consider. There's the practice of playing a piece of music and playing the instrument itself. There's the practice of installing healthy habits and creating a healthy life in itself. While in both cases it may feel like you are 'catching up' with the former, you are still learning how to master the latter. Just because you have to re-practice old pieces of music doesn't mean that you are failing to master your instrument. Likewise, just because you feel like you have to constantly re-practice your healthy habits doesn't mean that you are failing to master yourself.

Every recommitment to the practice is a step away from quitting and a step toward mastery.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 266 | Desire to Get vs Desire to Give

Theory: Situations which allow you to give your gifts bring you the most satisfaction, not the ones which get you gifts.

Applying it: Completely let go of the desire for possession and be willing to accept that what is yours is everybody's.

 

It's hard to say when my mindset reverted to giving more than getting. At one time of life, I was passionate about getting recognition, friends, money, and even getting mastery (of the guitar). But no matter how much you deny it, the time will always come when you must ask "okay, so how do I use this?" or "what do I do with this?" At which point, you discover that the best thing you can do with any of your possessions is to give them out. By possessions, I mean anything of value that you consider to be your own. This could be physical things such as objects, money, etc., or it could be more imaginary/spiritual things like relationships, knowledge, wisdom, experiences, memories, etc.

I've found myself wanting to give out more of my gifts along this journey. The lessons and insights I've learned in the past year alone have blown my mind wide open and changed my life for so much better. In a sense, I feel more qualified to share my music and wisdom, even though the limiting thought of "but I'm too young and inexperienced, right?" has cropped up so many times. Sure, job experience might be lacklustre compared to many. But life experience has been incredibly rich over the last 21.5 years.

I've laughed, cried, shouted, cowered, chased, ran away, smiled, and fumbled my way through life pretty spectacularly up until now (not dead yet). Not only have I felt excruciating pain and suffering in the past, but also ecstatic joy and euphoria beyond words. What's more, this self-actualization has allowed me to engineer ecstatic joy and euphoria, which has deepened my understanding of how the mind works and how life works. Being more conscious of the success principles have also made me better appreciate how lucky I was in creating this musical lifestyle as a teenager (whilst feeling incredibly depressed at the same time).

It's still a little nerve-wracking to consider making YouTube videos where I share some of the wisdom I've discovered on this journey. And perhaps it'll attract some hate from people saying that I'm too much of a naive youngster. But I can't deny that the study of self-actualization is really fascinating me at this time. And the better I understand it, the more able I could then be to articulate some of the wisdom I've accumulated as a musician. Perhaps that's why I'm here in the first place. Not to become a life coach or self-actualization teacher but simply to deepen my love for music.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Scarecrow]

awesome journal, very inspiring 

[Liam Johnson]

Thanks @Scarecrow , glad you're benefitting from it  

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 267 | Complete Surrender

Theory: True self-expression comes from the complete absence of resistance.

Applying it: Try to raise your consciousness to become aware of all the ways that you resist the present moment. Then have the courage to completely surrender to it.

 

Quote

“You can’t make your music good. You can’t try to be good. You can try to be present and you can try to remain open so what is going to speak to you can speak through you.”

This quote comes from my biggest musical hero, Michael Hedges. This guy was so unlike anyone I had encountered before whilst studying guitar players that it made me realise that there was something special about his way of being. And come to think of it, the reason why he is so different is because he completely surrendered to his creative Muse. Michael was the kinda guy who would spin around whilst playing guitar, combine yoga and poetry to produce a performance, wore unusual items of clothing like dog collars, wizard hats, and kitchen appliances on his head.

This was all in the final years of his life before he tragically died in a car accident. But if you study into his past, you can find YouTube videos of his performances some 15+ years earlier back when he was an undiscovered artist. This version of Michael seemed incredibly shy and resistant, playing on tiny stages to tiny audiences. Clearly, there's value in surrendering to your authentic passions and desires. But also it takes great courage. It's the most vulnerable position you could put yourself in, opening yourself up to hate and criticism.

Over the weekend, I managed to completely surrender to my authentic self in the company of my partner. I traveled up on the first day and we had a wonderful evening together which left me feel incredibly joyful. So much so that I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. And so the many thoughts of "oh that'd be weird" came up to try and prevent me from doing so, but I surrendered myself to that desire to express my true feelings. We sat on the bed facing each other and I just allowed myself to laugh and cry tears of joy for a good 40 minutes. He allowed me the space to just express myself and my love for the present moment without asking questions.

This moment was one of the most profound of my entire year and almost my whole life. To be totally absorbed in love for the present moment was the most beautiful state of being I've ever experienced: love for this body, love for his body, love for our connection, love for the room, love for the space we were in. And the kicker realisation was that of all the possible realities in all that is Infinite, it made me conscious of just how special it is to be conscious of this one right now.

Love will always prevail over resistance. Complete surrender to resistance means complete surrender to love.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 268 | Learning From Yourself

Theory: No matter what lessons you learn, you will always need to be reminded of them in the future.

Applying it: As soon as you receive an insight or nugget of wisdom, save it as quickly as you can by writing it down or typing it into a commonplace book. Then as it accumulates, read back on previous entries and rediscover what you have learnt.

 

When Leo made the video about keeping the ultimate journal or commonplace book, I remember thinking "this is exactly what I need to learn." As soon as I watched it, I took immediate action on producing a commonplace book using Onenote on my MacBook Pro. I have it open all of the time on a separate desktop which I can swipe to in an instant. Inside it are the goals I set for myself, the ideas I have for the future, composition ideas, music recommendations, teaching notes, book notes, product notes, quotes, and a wide variety of journals to cover food, money, meditation, dyads, online activity, puns (because they are important too), and last but not least, my self-actualization journal. THIS one.

The cool thing about copying all of my previous entries into Onenote is that I can perform keyword searches to include them. It's going to be a long old while before I get every single entry I've ever made into it but it'll be worth it, as I found out the other day. On the subject of fear, I found myself suddenly focusing on the fears I had and worrying about them. So to give me inspiration, I performed a keyword search on my entire notebook for the word "fear." This covered all the book and product notes I've put into it so far (admittedly not as many as I'd like right now) and also my previous journal entries.

The best piece of advice I found was one from my own journal written a few weeks ago. Not to blow my own trumpet, but it made me realise that I actually get in touch with some genuine wisdom as I do these journal entries. This nugget of wisdom about freedom was very simple and comes from Entry 251:

Quote

So long as you are resisting the fears and anxieties within you, they become stronger.

A very simple, yet overlooked truth. Acceptance is the truest way to deal with any fear or anxiety. The willingness to be present with them, rather than running away from them, is the ability which allows you to conquer it.

So when you learn something for the first time, don't feel enlightened. Only when you are reminded of the fact over and over again until you can't forget it should you then become enlightened.

 

Pick of the day: