Applying Theory To Everyday Life: A Musician's Perspective

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 300 | Reflection

Even on this journey of expanding consciousness and awareness, 300 entries seems to have crept up and taken me by surprise. Just wow. How on earth did that spur-of-the-moment decision to start a self-actualization journal manage to last this long?

So much has changed over the last 100 entries. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, meeting my boyfriend, learning how to teach one-to-one, a more active YouTube channel, and perhaps the biggest change of the lot, my mindset. It's time to acknowledge that my mindset has changed significantly since leaving university. Getting a dose of reality outside of formal education was not the most pleasant of ordeals to go through. But It's gotten to the point where it feels a bit less doomy than it originally seemed. The world has not ended since being booted out of university and my bank account hasn't been drained.

In terms of my career as a musician, I've never looked at the situation more positively in my whole life (despite the last few days and weeks getting off to a bad start for 2018). Instead of trying to think 1-2 years down the line, I'm slowly starting to imagine what life will look like after decades have passed. If I keep doing what I'm doing consistently for 10-20 years, something wonderful is going to happen. My levels of guitar mastery will be through the roof.

Suffice to say that guitar mastery is going to be the prime focus of the rest of my life. Money doesn't interest me. Neither does a comfy home, social relationships, reputation, or the need to look good in front of others and impressing them. This is a huge step for my psyche to take. Once upon a time, guitar mastery was all about the fame and fortune that would come as a result of being a guitar god on stage. But honestly, those motives feel like a pair of outgrown shoes. The only thing that matters to me in this life is reaching the highest levels of mastery possible.

I have a strong belief that the more I submit to God's will (sorry, there's no more succinct way to put it), the more rewarding this life will be. If I continue to pour my life into mastering the guitar, the universe is going to notice. And the more I surrender to the work laid out for me by the creative muse, the more willing God will be to keep this mind and body alive. This is what I mean when I say that guitar mastery as a purpose is a matter of life or death. The fruitfulness of my life depends on it.

I can envision quite easily what life will look like after 50 years dedicated to the practice of mastering the guitar. By that amount of time, there is no possible way that the universe won't have noticed my efforts by that point. For all the hard work, struggle and emotional labor that I subject myself to for all of those years, the universe will feel compelled to reward such efforts. Food, drink, money, status, fame, success... All of the low-level, materialistic rewards that modern culture seems to want us to chase endlessly. But that's not where the beauty lies.

The beauty comes from going through the hardships of persistent, determined practice for the rest of my life and reaching a place where very few others have made. After everything that I will go through, it might just be possible that I could reach a level of mastery that no other person has managed before. And I don't mean that in the sense of "I'll be better than everybody else" or "I'll know more about my instrument than everybody else." All it means is that I would be able to have access to the immeasurable depths of the creative muse that feeds my current actions.

The music that will come to me after a lifetime of dedicated practice would be divine and pure. The boundary between the musician and the creative muse would be obliterated. For any piece of music that would come to me, I will have become such a master of the instrument that literally God would be playing through my fingertips, not myself. This is what has happened for masters of all art forms in the past. The master musician does not perform a piece of music, for they have become the music itself. They embody the art until it engulfs their entire life and transforms it into something beautiful.

There's no guarantee that this will happen, at least from a logical, humanistic perspective. But regardless of the truth, there's always been an unshakeable feeling that this life is going to be extraordinary. This life is going to grow with divinity until it ends and is reborn. This feeling has been present ever since I held the guitar in my hands for the first time. To see such infinite possibility inside one instrument makes this life so damn meaningful and special.

 

Pick of the day:

 

Auguries of Innocence by William Blake

To see a World in a Grain of Sand 

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower 

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 

And Eternity in an hour

A Robin Red breast in a Cage 

Puts all Heaven in a Rage 

A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons 

Shudders Hell thr' all its regions 

A dog starvd at his Masters Gate 

Predicts the ruin of the State 

A Horse misusd upon the Road 

Calls to Heaven for Human blood 

Each outcry of the hunted Hare 

A fibre from the Brain does tear 

A Skylark wounded in the wing 

A Cherubim does cease to sing 

The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight 

Does the Rising Sun affright 

Every Wolfs & Lions howl 

Raises from Hell a Human Soul 

The wild deer, wandring here & there 

Keeps the Human Soul from Care 

The Lamb misusd breeds Public Strife 

And yet forgives the Butchers knife 

The Bat that flits at close of Eve 

Has left the Brain that wont Believe

The Owl that calls upon the Night 

Speaks the Unbelievers fright

He who shall hurt the little Wren 

Shall never be belovd by Men 

He who the Ox to wrath has movd 

Shall never be by Woman lovd

The wanton Boy that kills the Fly 

Shall feel the Spiders enmity 

He who torments the Chafers Sprite 

Weaves a Bower in endless Night 

The Catterpiller on the Leaf 

Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief 

Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly 

For the Last Judgment draweth nigh 

He who shall train the Horse to War 

Shall never pass the Polar Bar 

The Beggars Dog & Widows Cat 

Feed them & thou wilt grow fat 

The Gnat that sings his Summers Song 

Poison gets from Slanders tongue 

The poison of the Snake & Newt 

Is the sweat of Envys Foot 

The poison of the Honey Bee 

Is the Artists Jealousy

The Princes Robes & Beggars Rags 

Are Toadstools on the Misers Bags 

A Truth thats told with bad intent 

Beats all the Lies you can invent 

It is right it should be so 

Man was made for Joy & Woe 

And when this we rightly know 

Thro the World we safely go 

Joy & Woe are woven fine 

A Clothing for the soul divine 

Under every grief & pine 

Runs a joy with silken twine 

The Babe is more than swadling Bands

Throughout all these Human Lands 

Tools were made & Born were hands 

Every Farmer Understands

Every Tear from Every Eye 

Becomes a Babe in Eternity 

This is caught by Females bright 

And returnd to its own delight 

The Bleat the Bark Bellow & Roar 

Are Waves that Beat on Heavens Shore 

The Babe that weeps the Rod beneath 

Writes Revenge in realms of Death 

The Beggars Rags fluttering in Air

Does to Rags the Heavens tear 

The Soldier armd with Sword & Gun 

Palsied strikes the Summers Sun

The poor Mans Farthing is worth more 

Than all the Gold on Africs Shore

One Mite wrung from the Labrers hands 

Shall buy & sell the Misers Lands 

Or if protected from on high 

Does that whole Nation sell & buy 

He who mocks the Infants Faith 

Shall be mockd in Age & Death 

He who shall teach the Child to Doubt 

The rotting Grave shall neer get out 

He who respects the Infants faith 

Triumphs over Hell & Death 

The Childs Toys & the Old Mans Reasons 

Are the Fruits of the Two seasons 

The Questioner who sits so sly 

Shall never know how to Reply 

He who replies to words of Doubt 

Doth put the Light of Knowledge out 

The Strongest Poison ever known 

Came from Caesars Laurel Crown 

Nought can Deform the Human Race 

Like to the Armours iron brace 

When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow 

To peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow 

A Riddle or the Crickets Cry 

Is to Doubt a fit Reply 

The Emmets Inch & Eagles Mile 

Make Lame Philosophy to smile 

He who Doubts from what he sees 

Will neer Believe do what you Please 

If the Sun & Moon should Doubt 

Theyd immediately Go out 

To be in a Passion you Good may Do 

But no Good if a Passion is in you 

The Whore & Gambler by the State 

Licencd build that Nations Fate 

The Harlots cry from Street to Street 

Shall weave Old Englands winding Sheet 

The Winners Shout the Losers Curse 

Dance before dead Englands Hearse 

Every Night & every Morn 

Some to Misery are Born 

Every Morn and every Night 

Some are Born to sweet delight 

Some are Born to sweet delight 

Some are Born to Endless Night 

We are led to Believe a Lie 

When we see not Thro the Eye 

Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night 

When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light 

God Appears & God is Light 

To those poor Souls who dwell in Night 

But does a Human Form Display 

To those who Dwell in Realms of day

[Liam Johnson]

Question: What's the most common cause of death?

Answer: Life.

 

Avoid death by never living. Avoid life by never dying.

Edited January 18, 2018 by Liam Johnson

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 301 | Bringing The Future To The Now

Theory: In order to make your dreams a reality, you need to know how to bring them into the present moment and start living according to them.

Applying it: Envision how you want your daily life to look in decades to come. Be as specific as possible with the details. Then, plan your everyday life to incorporate these things as part of your daily routine.

 

So having woken up with deep regret for letting things slide over the last week or so (as a result of falling ill earlier this year), I decided to make changes once and for all. I've tried to implement routines in the past and achieved moderate success with them. But they never managed to stick. Why? Maybe because it didn't align with my life purpose, values, etc. This time, however, I'm not just trying to create a daily routine. It's about designing a lifestyle around my deep desire to become a guitar master.

This afternoon, I sat down and tried to envision what my life would look like in 50+ years time. Imagining that I had become a guitar guru of sorts, what would my daily life look like? How would it begin? What would I eat? How many hours would I spend practicing the guitar? How many hours would I spend doing self-actualization work? How often would I take breaks? I tried to imagine what my life would look like as someone who has accomplished everything they need to accomplish. Then once I have a clear idea about it, all I would have to do would be to bring that into the present moment.

So I created a timetable outlining every day of every week. I tried to balance being specific with how to spend each passing hour with also being free and open to change. For example, the idea came to me that I should dedicate 4 hours per day doing guitar practice. Each hour would be spend focusing on something specific like improvisation, composition, or performance. Yet these things are open enough to allow flexibility and playfulness to occur within them. For instance, an hour focusing on composing a new song is specific enough to know what I should be doing, yet open enough to allow whatever ideas decide to come into being.

Unlike routines that I've devised in the past, this one feels very authentic and true to my desires and values. That being said, it will need to be refined over the coming days and weeks in order to find the perfect balance between everything. The main thing is that this feels like a step in the right direction. It feels empowering to not only have a deeper understanding of what it will take to get the most fulfilment out of the day, but also to spend time deliberately designing a lifestyle that will become a perfect fit for me and me alone.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 302 | Open-mindedness

Theory: To make the most out of all self-actualization work, you must be willing to admit all the ways in which you are wrong.

Applying it: Open yourself up to accept that there may be some fundamental beliefs that you've held for many years as being true, when in fact the truth is otherwise. Be willing to accept new ideas, try them out like a pair of shoes before settling for which ones fit best.

 

So I decided to start the routine that I devised yesterday. And of course, it didn't go quite to plan. But that doesn't mean to say it ended badly. Waking up early and doing my morning meditation session as normal was done easy peasy. But then when the time came to go to the gym, I started feeling a little queasy. It could have been psychological. But rather than sit around the house, I thought it would be best to at least get some exercise by going on a long walk. And for that matter, it felt like a good idea to take my camera with me and get some cool shots.

So off I went on a solo trip to the "pit tip," an old mining site that turned into a park. And it felt bloody awesome. One of the values that I've been toying around with for a week or two is 'adventure' and this felt exactly like that. I remembered going on walks as a child and pretending to be some tomb raider character exploring all the different places and things that I could find. Today was a time to relive that.

And (main point of the entry) none of this would have been possible if it weren't for keeping an open mind.

A close-minded way of looking at the situation would have been "I'm too ill to go to the gym, therefore I'll stay here where it's comfortable until I feel better." That would have been a great excuse to use. But I felt open to the possibility of doing something special instead. And indeed, I managed to take some good pictures (although I profess to be no photographer). There's one in particular where it felt like the sun was at exactly the right angle. And if I didn't open my mind to going on this walk back at home, then it wouldn't have been possible to take the picture.

It's almost as if opening your mind up to anything and everything somehow puts you in touch with a supernatural force that guides you to be in the right place at the right time. And that's why it's crucial to accept any idea that you come across.

 

Pic of the day:

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 303 | Selfish Mediocrity

Theory: A life of pampering yourself is likely to turn out mediocre in the end.

Applying it: Remember in the power and promise of delayed gratification. Be willing to put yourself through discomfort now in order to reap the greater, nobler rewards later.

 

First of all, there's absolutely nothing wrong with mediocrity. It's pretty darn awesome compared to what life could have looked like in another time or another country. But personally, there's a drive within me that strives for more. It's not necessarily a drive that I've cultivated myself. It just seems to have manifested within me. But it's a drive to make the most out of life and to explore it in as much depth as possible. Reaching the highest levels of guitar mastery possible, being healthy and fit, exploring different places, learning and understanding the world are what makes my life extraordinary.

At least, this happens at times. It's not permanent. There's still plenty of mundane work to be had. But I think that's the trouble. In this culture, we seem to be influenced to think that we are somehow above doing ordinary, mundane tasks. Why wash the dishes when there's a machine that can do it for you? Why cook a meal from scratch when you could just order a takeaway? Why walk to work when you could just grab an Uber? These are the ideas that we have been fed with. But for anyone who is serious about personal development (which not everybody is), these ideas prevent growth of any kind.

Why spend an hour doing meditation when I could just watch an episode of Doctor Who? Why read a book for an hour when I could just lie on the bed and play video games? These thoughts have crossed my mind a good few times whenever it ever came to actually doing the work. And these kinds of thoughts are prevalent in society today. But ultimately, these are common beliefs. And as a result, they lead to common lives. If you truly desire a more diverse existence than you already have, then you have to drop these beliefs like a sack of spuds. They're only gonna weigh you down.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 304 | First Day Of A New Routine

Theory: The first day of a new routine is always the easiest. It feels the best. The hard part is to maintain the routine long enough for you to reap the long-term rewards from it.

Applying it: Don't be so disappointed when your routine starts to feel like a grind. Keep faithful that it will eventually lead you to create the long-term lifestyle that you seek.

 

This one is very much a reminder to my future self. Today was the start of a new routine that I devised for myself a few days ago. It was created with my long-term vision in mind. Imagining how a guitar guru, with 50+ years of experience, would go about his day was the basis for this routine. And what can I say? The first day has gone ridiculously well. It feels incredibly fulfilling even though I'm knackered. The pacing of the day was near perfection. In short, it consists of breakfast, meditation, exercising, lunch, guitar practice, tea/dinner, "artist development" work (or 'grunt work'), self-actualization, journaling and bed.

The timing of each activity was almost bang on. Having 4 hours of consecutive guitar practice every day fills me with so much joy and faith that only good things are going to come from it. My evenings are going to be the hardest part of the day because my mind will automatically want to revert to rest. But in order to get everything done that I would love to be done, it's gonna have to be a final goodbye to recreational YouTube viewing and video game playing. I've set it up so that every Sunday is a day off though, so it's not gonna be all work and no play.

But as wonderful as today has gone, I know from previous experience that there's every possibility that the next few days, weeks and months of this routine are going to be difficult. This is a way of life, not a novelty. It's going to feel tough at times. But if I can just recapture the vision in my mind's eye, then I can regain faith that things will all work out in the end. As I envision the guitar guru sat meditating by the window of his workshop, I'm reminded that perhaps this will be the person I become. Perhaps not. But optimism is the most constructive attitude to cultivate at the moment.

So dream on.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 305 | Repercussions Of Massive Action

Theory: Whenever you decide to make bold changes in your life, be prepared to encounter the persuasion trying to revert you back to how you were.

Applying it: Realise that people can act in very subtle ways (involuntarily) in order to prevent you from making massive changes in your life.

 

So after two days of the new routine, it still feels empowering. The music is flowing, my muscles are getting a good workout, meditation is as strong as ever... Although (facepalm) I did buy some cookies from Tesco! I decided to make a ritual out of it being the last time I ever buy such junk food. It was serious this time. And I ate them as mindfully as I could knowing full well that I meant it this time. It was like waving goodbye to a past-time that was once a huge part of my life. Now, it's more like a hinderance and so it's getting dropped for good.

Went off on a tangent there!

Despite this routine feeling like one of the best things to happen to me this year (which yes, there's not much to compare it to), it has had some repercussions. Most notably with my boyfriend. He expressed concern for a few days that we would have no time to time to video call in the evening. My routine involves doing self-actualisation and journaling around the same time as we had gotten used to calling each other. This led to him suggesting that I should consider changing my routine to accommodate time to call.

It was an innocent request to say the least but I could understand what was going on at a deeper level. The decision to take massive action in my life had indirectly caused him to feel insecure about the future with me. And if I didn't know any better, I could have just screwed the routine there and then in order to please my boyfriend. But that would mean that my attempts to grow myself would have been snuffed out before they even started.

But ultimately, I don't feel negatively towards him. Not even a little bit. This is, after all, what happens when you decide to make massive changes in your life: people unknowingly try to revert you back to the person they know you to be. If you've ate chocolate your whole life and then decide to give it up, people who've known you for a long time may try to reason with you to give in to temptation. "Just have a little bit." "It won't do any harm." "This isn't you." But they don't intentionally mean it. And I've almost definitely done that to people in the past myself. It's a natural reaction to change: resistance.

We talked it over anyway and are both on the same level of understanding now. I told him that I'm not going to sacrifice our call times completely but they're going to be more prone to change from now on. I'm glad it happened though. It serves as a reminder that no matter how much of a positive change you try to make in your life, your mind will always be tempted to revert back to a place of comfort. Especially from the people you love the most.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 306 | Circumstances Vs Thoughts

Theory: Problems don't come from current life circumstances. They come from the way we think about them.

Applying it: Whenever you must deal with a problem, always ask "what am I thinking?"

 

I didn't manage to journal last night because of another heart-to-heart conversation with my mum. Everything was going really well through the day until it came to sorting out my broken phone. It's on some contract so there's likely to be some financial loopholes to deal with. For some reason, I became stressed and confused about the whole process. But after talking about it, we discovered together that the problem was not dealing with the broken phone. It was dealing with my beliefs of incompetency.

It has felt very true for a long time that without my guitar playing, I'm not a very competent human being. And there's evidence to prove that to be true if I choose to look for it. But on reflection, there are many ways in which I have become more than competent. For example, cooking food. I only started cooking for myself just over a year ago. Now, I know how to prepare tasty, nourishing meals thanks to reading books like The Immune System Recovery Plan. Also there's meditation, teaching, exercising, understanding and awareness.

If I choose to think about my current life circumstances in a positive light, it makes me feel emotionally invested in my ability to create an awesome life here and now. And then from that place, I feel more compelled to give it my all in the work that I've set myself. Because the truth is that competence and incompetence are just labels to describe what is going on in life right now. We are neither of these things. What matters is what we choose to believe that we are.

So it's a new day. Lets continue on the path.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 307 | Music And Emotion

Theory: Music is much loved by cultures across the world because of the emotions it can evoke.

Applying it: As a musician/performer/listener, make a conscious effort to become emotionally invested in the music. You can appreciate it on a much deeper level this way.

 

After 4 hours of guitar practice in the afternoon, the time came to record another performance video for my YouTube channel. After all that practice, I felt confident in my ability to perform without any hiccups. But the reason why things didn't go to plan was because of something unexpected. The piece is called "Waiting For The Good News"and it was written during one of the most difficult times in my life. It was around the time that I felt so low that I had to entertain with the idea of doing self-actualization work, where I was first introduced to Brooke Castillo's podcast.

The first take of the piece was pretty good but still not perfect. But after trying more takes, I started to become very resistant and nervous. Sure, I've had nerves whilst filming my previous videos but none were as prominent as this. I blamed it on the work I did earlier at the gym (it was leg day and standing up to record a video may have felt uneasy). But also, I believe that what also happened was that I started to 'get' the music emotionally. Those emotions that I felt way back when writing the composition seemed to have came straight back the more and more I played it.

Sure enough, this didn't just happen whilst filming. Yesterday when I practiced the piece for a little under 2hrs, I started feeling really sad and emotional. The tears were only just held back. Even typing about this tune is making me feel the same way. Perhaps sorrow is the right word. This piece meant so much to me and it still does. I remember performing this piece in first year to the students in the group who, at the time, had never heard me perform before. And at a time when I was real desperate to just be liked and appreciated by people, they loved it and my wish came true.

Those exact feelings manifested in my mind after performing the piece over and over again. But of course, it's not actually the music that creates the emotion. It's the associated thoughts about the music that create them.

 

Pick of the day:

https://www.liamjohnsonmusic.com/music?wix-music-comp-id=comp-j2upih0m&wix-music-track-id=4804625295212544

(A recording of Waiting For The Good News)

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 308 | Some Things That Needs To Change Right Now

So it's nearly the end of the first week of a full routine of pretending to be a guitar guru and it's been a really great change to make in my life. It still needs refining though as there's a part of me that is resistant to this drastic change, as has been demonstrated by some of the actions I've been doing. So it's time to be honest about all the things that I've been doing that really need to stop. But fortunately, there's not a lot.

First of all, the most important thing that needs to stop is watching YouTube videos. I'm going to put it out there: YouTube is great. Without it, I would have never been able to become the guitar player I am today. Free and instant access to a huge database of videos (old and new) is a wonderful thing to behold. But perhaps I've fallen in love with it a little too much. It mostly interferes with my life in-between the activities I've set out for myself. Like a filler, I end up putting it on to fill the silence on most occasions.

The solution would be to be present with the silence and accept what is happening in the now. 

The next one is eating too much of the wrong foods. Again, this happens when I want to avoid sitting there with nothing to do and there's only silence. I end up eating muesli, toast, protein/snack bars (usually whole-food ones) outside of meal times. The justification that I tend to use is that I'm trying to put on weight, which is true. Whilst a healthy weight, I'm a little bit on the lighter side. But I know deep down that this is not the way around it.

The solution would be to increase the size of the portions of breakfast, lunch, and tea times (including only 1 snack in the day) whilst making sure that the protein intake is high and the fat intake is low.

And apart from wanting to call my boyfriend more often, there's not actually a lot that needs to change. I've kept to my word with everything else this week and it feels so fulfilling to be living this way. Even looking in the mirror today, it's like I can just see that twinkle in the eyes that shows how much I'm loving this. Yes it's hard work and unpaid. But it sure does feel awesome to be using my skills and abilities every day to create something meaningful. Not necessarily tangible, but meaningful. And right now, my life is pretty darn meaningful.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 309 | Let's Pretend

Theory: Why wait for the future to come around to live your dreams when you can live them right now?

Applying it: Let the power of pretending work its magic by pretending to be the person you deeply desire to become right now.

 

Made it to the end of the first week of my newly crafted routine. And damn it feels good! It definitely hasn't been perfect but the majority of it has felt like a joy from start to finish. Just a few hours ago I finished some guitar practice. But it wasn't boring old guitar practice. It felt like just the right moment to put some mood lighting on (a cheap-ass lamp), put on a rockstar costume (pants and a bandana crafted out of my old school tie) and just pretend that I was performing to an audience of hundreds!

Sure it might have looked goofy as hell but it felt awesome and special to me in the moment. It was the result of living my dreams in the most literal sense: pretending. Not to be confused with visualising. The difference being that pretending involves you interacting with the fictitious landscape that you've visualised in your head. It's so much fun! And I'd actually say it's perhaps one of the most overlooked elements of my self-actualization journey, if not the most overlooked.

Back at school and college, I would often pretend that I was this all-knowing, all-out performing guitar player with years of experience and mastery beyond belief. It would usually take the form of me pretending to record a teaching video of all the intricate licks and musical phrases I had been learning. And then when it came to performing, I would always pretend that I was a far better player than I was. Still do! Perhaps it's what allows me to be humble. Because part of me knows that the person who performs is not the same person who washes the dishes. Although, things are changing.

If it weren't for pretending to be a better musician than I was, the amount of growth I had on the instrument would probably have been far less. It was certainly easy to pretend of a better life during school years. But now that life is actually pretty darn good, the need to pretend may have declined. But with bigger dreams and aspirations of an extraordinary future, it might be time to start deliberately pretending more often!

 

Pick of the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLRjFWDGs1g

[Benjamin Jackson]

@Liam Johnson I often feel like most of my music making is a case of pretending I can do it until I don't need to pretend any more. I kinda feel like there are two ways to think about practise, 'I can't do it' which means you work on details till you can, but leads to frustration and 'I am doing it' which may be inaccurate but with the right attitude to the music, the details will come until the statement is accurate. I guess that applies to most things in life, too!

[Liam Johnson]

@Benjamin Jackson Good point! I've been in both of those places with music practice and can say that both are necessary in balanced amounts. One thing I've found incredibly useful is to separate the music of the mind and the music that comes out through reality. The music that you hear inside versus the music that you hear outside. If you can imagine yourself playing the piece of music correctly on the inside, then it really doesn't matter if you make a mistake performing the music on the outside. The essence of what you intended will still be there. That's the power of imagination!

[Benjamin Jackson]

@Liam Johnson Ah yeah, so I guess a balance is needed so that the music on the inside is correct and can be portrayed on the outside, but to do that you need to have the can do attitude!

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 310 | Reflection

It's time to flect and flect once more!

It's been a few days since the last entry because of some personal family business back at home. Don't want to dive into that. Suffice to say that it was unexpected and important but all is well. And when it comes to reflecting on what's been going on the last few weeks, I feel like I already started doing it this afternoon. So let's keep going with that.

I've discovered there are two main addictions that need to be dealt with in order to fully embrace my authentic self: YouTube binging and snacking. Today, I managed to find the root cause of these things and discovered that it was to do with the Ego kicking and screaming for dear life. My newly implemented routine (which is looking to be really promising) threatens my ego's existence. There's so much meditation, exercise, guitar practice and self-actualization happening in the day that what's left of my ego is hanging on for dear life. How does it manage it? Through these addictions.

These are habits that I've been very accustomed to over the majority of my life. And whenever there seems to be a free moment, the ego rushes in with these addictions to fill in the emptiness. It's so successful at it because it likes to use the excuse that "this is who I am." This creates a massive disconnect between the vision I have for my authentic self and my past self. Because my brain has become efficient at choosing the unhealthy food options growing up, it's easily convinced when temptation hits.

I know that just cutting these addictions out completely with no understanding of them would be no good in the long run. That's why I need to keep examining them. Why are they there? Why not some other addiction? Are there any other addictions? When does temptation come? What am I doing when I give in to it? There's so much to unpack there. But ultimately, I know that it's all just a part of me clinging onto the person I was.

But enough about those. Because despite those silly moments of the day, I'm feeling pretty darn fulfilled these days. It really is the best feeling in the world when you go to bed knowing full well that you've done everything you wanted to do in the day. And it's not necessarily about the results. It's about putting the time in. Making the choice to live up to your Higher Self.

And perhaps the most exciting thing of all is that I'm literally becoming one with the guitar. It might have appeared that way for a while now but these are my prime years. Perhaps the prime years are still yet to come. That would be just exciting! But as of right now, the boundary between what I want to play and what I can actually play is breaking down. The music is starting to flow through my fingertips so effortlessly. Making guitar mastery the main pursuit in my life has filled me with such joy recently. Honouring the Muse is what it's all about.

Only a few years ago, my sole motivations for playing the guitar were for approval and fame. Albeit negative motivation, I managed to get those things at university from those things (or at least that's how it felt). And so once that job was out of the way, playing guitar suddenly became pointless within that paradigm. I had gained enough self-confidence to realise that these things aren't satisfying after all. Which is where I had to recommit once more to the path of mastery. A commitment that I've been making this last year. And it feels like it's going to be one of the best choices I ever made.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 311 | The Ultimate Satisfaction

Theory: Living up to your full potential in the day leaves you the ultimate satisfaction of hitting your pillow at night knowing that you couldn't have bossed it any better.

Applying it: Be willing to sacrifice short-term satisfaction for the fulfilment that comes from choosing to act for the long-term.

 

Sometimes, personal development and self-actualization can sound like a broken record. This little piece of advice is something I've heard time and time again: long-term gains over short-term benefits every time. But I suppose there are lots of different ways of understanding this lesson. The way I've come to understand it over today is to do with eating. It's far easier to snack on something like a snack bar, slice of toast or cereal because they're easy to prepare (if they need preparing at all), they're simple and tasty. They "fill the gap" caused by the hunger.

This is something I've been doing over the last month, perhaps the last few. I'm starting to realise that what would be a much better idea is if I take an hour or two out of the week to prepare some salad dishes, side dishes or other mini dishes that can sit in the fridge for days and be snacked upon in the same way. Sure it's extra preparation with lots more ingredients but in the long run, it will be far more nourishing for my body and it will actually deal with hunger issues much more effectively.

So that's what I ended up doing. Tonight I prepared my breakfast smoothie and did half of the preparation for a lemony kale salad dish with help from The Immune System Recovery Plan. I can tell that already it's going to be so much more beneficial to scoop some salad onto a plate and feast on that when I'm peckish than the current habits I've got going at the moment. It's just little realisations like this that remind you that the piece of advice that you're sick to the back teeth of hearing over and over again aren't to be dismissed. They really do help a great deal.

 

Pick of the day:

 

[Ayilton]

On 1/31/2018 at 0:41 AM, Liam Johnson said:

Entry 310 | Reflection

It's time to flect and flect once more!

It's been a few days since the last entry because of some personal family business back at home. Don't want to dive into that. Suffice to say that it was unexpected and important but all is well. And when it comes to reflecting on what's been going on the last few weeks, I feel like I already started doing it this afternoon. So let's keep going with that.

I've discovered there are two main addictions that need to be dealt with in order to fully embrace my authentic self: YouTube binging and snacking. Today, I managed to find the root cause of these things and discovered that it was to do with the Ego kicking and screaming for dear life. My newly implemented routine (which is looking to be really promising) threatens my ego's existence. There's so much meditation, exercise, guitar practice and self-actualization happening in the day that what's left of my ego is hanging on for dear life. How does it manage it? Through these addictions.

These are habits that I've been very accustomed to over the majority of my life. And whenever there seems to be a free moment, the ego rushes in with these addictions to fill in the emptiness. It's so successful at it because it likes to use the excuse that "this is who I am." This creates a massive disconnect between the vision I have for my authentic self and my past self. Because my brain has become efficient at choosing the unhealthy food options growing up, it's easily convinced when temptation hits.

I know that just cutting these addictions out completely with no understanding of them would be no good in the long run. That's why I need to keep examining them. Why are they there? Why not some other addiction? Are there any other addictions? When does temptation come? What am I doing when I give in to it? There's so much to unpack there. But ultimately, I know that it's all just a part of me clinging onto the person I was.

But enough about those. Because despite those silly moments of the day, I'm feeling pretty darn fulfilled these days. It really is the best feeling in the world when you go to bed knowing full well that you've done everything you wanted to do in the day. And it's not necessarily about the results. It's about putting the time in. Making the choice to live up to your Higher Self.

And perhaps the most exciting thing of all is that I'm literally becoming one with the guitar. It might have appeared that way for a while now but these are my prime years. Perhaps the prime years are still yet to come. That would be just exciting! But as of right now, the boundary between what I want to play and what I can actually play is breaking down. The music is starting to flow through my fingertips so effortlessly. Making guitar mastery the main pursuit in my life has filled me with such joy recently. Honouring the Muse is what it's all about.

Only a few years ago, my sole motivations for playing the guitar were for approval and fame. Albeit negative motivation, I managed to get those things at university from those things (or at least that's how it felt). And so once that job was out of the way, playing guitar suddenly became pointless within that paradigm. I had gained enough self-confidence to realise that these things aren't satisfying after all. Which is where I had to recommit once more to the path of mastery. A commitment that I've been making this last year. And it feels like it's going to be one of the best choices I ever made.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

Is it you  ? It sounds great 

[Liam Johnson]

@Ayilton It is, and thank you!

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 312 | Back To Creating

Theory: Sometimes, it's too easy to believe you're making progress based on the passive action that you've took. But the indicator of growth is the amount of massive action that you take instead.

Applying it: By all means feel free to learn as much as you want about how to do something. But never prioritise it over actually doing the thing that you want to be doing.

 

Listening to Brooke Castillo's podcast again today reminded me of this important distinction between passive action and massive action. She has a "best of" episode which is 1hr 30mins long that serves as a montage of her best bits of advice from several years of running the podcast. If you like Leo's direct approach to self-actualization, then you're probably gonna resonate with her too. But here's the distinction:

Passive action: learning about a topic, reading books, going to classes, attending seminars, talk to people about a topic.

Massive action: "taking action until you get the result you want."

The main difference here can be summarised into two opposing words: consumption, creation. I've found that so long as you are doing one thing, you can't be doing another. And the way you determine someones growth is not by how much they have consumed but by how much they have created.

This wisdom stayed with me today as I went on to create three separate recordings each for different things. There was the usual video recording that I do, there was a talky informative video that I recorded about how to transition from electric guitar to acoustic guitar (trying out something new), and also some background music to accompany these videos (which is just a bit of a jam). That's all on top of meditation and working out at the gym. Sure it means I missed out on doing some work with the Life Purpose Course but it's not like it was sacrificed for something worse.

Speaking of creating the new talky video, I felt very nervous about delivering it. Would it sound good? Would I communicate my advice well? Would it be boring? There were a few anxieties about these things but having heard Brooke's advice on another matter, I did it anyway. And damn it felt good. This thing that I had been putting off for a good few months was finally getting started. And this is ultimately why I started doing my stuff with YouTube in the first place. It's not just pieces and performances that I have to offer. It's little bits of wisdom that I can maybe impart to other musicians and guitarists.

After a day of lots of creation and little consumption, it feels like time well spent.

 

Pick of the day:

 

 

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 313 | This Is the Rhythm of the Day

Theory: As you begin to implement new routines and habits from the beginning of the day, you gain momentum which helps you reach flow states of creativity. When it gets interrupted, however, you lose that momentum. This puts you off for the day.

Applying it: Don't get frustrated when you get interrupted and lose momentum. Although it may seem difficult to get back on track for the time being, the worst thing you can do is to quit.

 

This is something I've become incredibly used to living with my parents. The interruptions are very consistent. And because it's the nature of my parents, I could get angry about that and stop caring any more about trying. But I don't. Instead, I've come to realise that there are ways I can prevent such interruptions. Even though things sometimes seem out of your control, prevention measures can be put in place to minimise interruptions during the day. And it's really important to do that when you're trying to embody the lifestyle that you want.

Today was another recording day for me. I was planning to record a Michael Hedges piece for YouTube but unfortunately the only take that was good enough happened when the camera battery died. The underlying reason was that I had been completely thrown off my stride at the beginning of the day. My dad needed me to drive him to a fitness class during the day and during the trip I had a pretty darn unhealthy lunch. (I think it's so annoying food places these days have absolutely nothing healthy). All of these things completely ruined my flow because I didn't plan for them and I suffered later because of it.

It could be argued that my lack of practice with this particular piece was the cause, along with my inability to recharge the battery. But I could have done both of those things this afternoon. Instead, what did I do? Literally can't remember. That's how brainless and unconscious I was. That was the result of eating a big portion of pizza for my lunch. Every part of my psyche hated being myself having to digest that shit. It was tasty shit though! But it's little things like that which take chunks out of your momentum and eventually lead you to screw up when it matters.

But one thing is for sure: we can wake up every morning and start the day afresh. And that's exactly what tomorrow will be.

 

Pick of the day: