I'm not a great drummer. I'm good. I'm competent. I'm solid. And even though I'm not actively playing right now, if I practiced consistently for a few weeks I'd be gig-ready again. But still, I'm not great, and it's for a simple reason. I just haven't played enough. Now, I'm a great public speaker. I'm a great writer. And it's for a similarly simple reason: I've done those activities a lot. Someone was asking me how I've written 7 books in the past few years. Easy. I just write and write and write. Since drumming didn't stay a part of my life on a daily basis, I never got great at it. I still love playing, but I'll admit … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Re-Framing for Proper Perspective
When recording an album, the last step in the process is called audio mastering. You send your tracks to someone who has an expert ear and who applies things like "compression", "normalization", and "equalization" to make your music sound crisp. It's the final bit of polish that makes what you hear on a CD sound different (better) than what you record on your iPhone. I was thinking about that process as I get ready to launch my new podcast: Beer, Beats, and Business. I'm recording and producing it on my own, and while I have gotten some great help from friends who are podcasters, the finished result isn't going to sound like it's on … [Read more...]
The Art of Learning – Josh Waitzkin
This article was originally published on May 2nd 2009. Josh Waitzkin became a world-class champion in two seemingly unrelated fields – chess (they even made a movie about him) and Push Hands Tai Chi. On the outside these may seem like totally different worlds, but both of them are activities that require high levels of internal control to be successful. And Josh became an expert in developing that mental and emotional control. Josh uses The Art of Learning to examine the processes he used to develop mastery in these two fields. He follows a biographical time line to do so, but he’s really more concerned with the lessons he learned … [Read more...]