12 Life Lessons Learned From Music (epic truths about life)
I don’t have all the answers. I probably don’t even have a fraction of them. But this post shares some truths about life that just feel right. These are my life lessons learned from music.
As an artist and songwriter (slash blogger and film hobbyist who loves travel), a core part of my identity has always been creativity and expression.
In these pursuits, I’ve stumbled across some insights that I think are worth sharing.
Hence this post…
So I’m psyched you’re here! I hope you find some inspiration and intrigue, and of course if you’ve got any other ideas, I’d love to hear them!
Otherwise, let’s get it.
1. Things Go Rogue (but they work out)
Life can be spontaneous and unpredictable. Fortunately, I like this.
But let’s go deeper.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned being an artist and musician (and through solo traveling as well), is that things rarely work out how we think they will.
But, things always do work out. I have this mantra that most problems have more than one solution.
When producing a new song, without fail, things always end up different than what was in my head. And there are always moments of unplanned magic.
I suppose it’s just one of those truths in life.
2. Emotional Intelligence Is An Asset
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a powerful thing. It’s a measure of how able one is to handle and process emotions and empathy.
As a musician, connecting with your art is essential, otherwise, things can sound flat, disengaged and lifeless.
Even if your technique is perfect, lacking an emotional connection will eventually create issues.
And this idea extends well beyond music and art. Emotional maturity, awareness and intelligence is a modern asset that makes you resilient and stronger.
For example, being able to see other’s perspectives and put yourself in their shoes will make you a stronger marketer or business person.
Similarly, connecting with the concerns and values of your students will make you a better teacher.
We could keep going. But the main idea is this: emotional intelligence helps us better deal with life, relationships and just being happier (and more successful).
Because having better self awareness and recognition of our emotions lets us deal with stress, difficulties and the pressures of life much better.
3. Vulnerability Is A Strength
If you do a quick Google search for the meaning of vulnerability, it can sound quite negative.
But it’s not – it’s a core strength. I suppose there’s some nuance to the word, but for our purposes here, we’ll pivot to the positive.
I think EQ was a perfect segue to vulnerability, since they both deal with a level of emotional maturity.
But let’s get a quick definition for vulnerability.
Vulnerability is emotional exposure, and being open. And it can be difficult.
As a musician, it sometimes feels strange to poor my heart out through metaphors in lyrics, but at the same time, it’s cathartic.
And I think it’s a life truth worth celebrating.
Getting comfortable with expressing your thoughts, emotions and experiences is emotional evolution and it supports better communication, mental health and openness.
It’s an awesome thing, for sure.
4. Being Yourself Is Tricky (but liberating)
“Just be yourself”, they said. “It’ll be easy”, they said.
Well, it does sound pretty straightforward, I admit…on paper at least.
But in practice? Things get tricky.
We’re continually influenced by the people in our lives, social media and pop culture. We have pressures and ideas of who we should be – or at least, who we think we should be.
We tend to think other people are thinking about us more than they actually are.
And of course, this isn’t everyone. Some of you may be amazing at knowing and owning yourself.
But for the rest of us, it can be a bit of a battle. And it can take a long time and requires a lot of self reflection.
But once you start tapping into that authentic self and owning exactly who it is you are, what you like and how you want to spend your time, then life starts to feel pretty different.
But different in the best way possible.
I’m still working on this one, and some days are better than others. But I love this journey of getting closer and closer to uncovering my true self, without all the influence.
5. Take More Risks
No risk, no reward. No guts, no glory. And so on…
We all know these adages and one-liners. They’re like echoes in a digital culture that celebrates entrepreneurialism, go-getting and taking great leaps of faith.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all of these things.
I’ve experienced firsthand – many times – that the best moments and most growth lives on the other side of discomfort and taking some sort of perceived risk.
But it’s one of those things that’s easy to regurgitate, but again, hard to actually do.
But the truth is, trial and error, failing forward and finding what works through calculated risk is a formula that just works.
So be smart about it (like, don’t put yourself in danger), but embracing and dabbling in the unknown always gives more than it takes — eventually.
6. There Are No Finish Lines
When is a song ever actually finished? When is an artwork considered complete?
These are questions that have no answer and they’ve been vexing artists throughout history.
But I suppose that’s the point of this life truth: there are no finish lines.
I mean making goals is important, of course. But I prefer to rephrase the term “goals” as simply being “checkpoints”. Because we usually don’t stop once we reach that coveted point.
That is, once we do finally reach our goals, another larger one usually pops up.
But this is a good thing, otherwise life would get kind of boring.
7. You Don’t Need to Be “Perfect” to Do Great Things
We can all breathe a sigh of relief – perfection is a lie and we don’t need it to do great things.
I suppose this is something we all intuitively know to be true, but easily forget.
Or at least, it’s easy to give the advice, but hard to take it and accept it.
The truth is, the way we perceive our work and effort is subjective. For example, I may write a song that I think is garbage, but other people may find it inspiring.
So I suppose the point of this is to share everything (if growing a brand is your goal) and to not be too quick to write things off as “not good enough”.
Feedback helps, and consistent improvement and quality are important. But perfection isn’t required (if it even exists).
8. Not Everything You Try Needs to Work
This one really is all about embracing failure.
There’s a truth out there, and that is this: some things just won’t work.
It can be hard to hear, and even harder to accept – especially when it’s something you invested a lot of time and energy into (but let’s save that sunk cost fallacy discussion for another day).
But failure usually leads to new skills, experience and knowledge. I helps us dial in on finding the best solution (by finding what didn’t work).
So when this reality inevitably shows up, embrace it.
It’s a lesson and opportunity to grow, cleverly disguised as something else.
9. Quantity Creates Quality
Aiming for quality is important – don’t get me wrong.
But there’s another truth baked in. It’s this: the more you do something, at scale, the better the iterations will become.
There’s a sem-famous example that paints this picture perfectly.
There once was a photography professor who turned their class into an interesting experiment.
They divided the class into two groups: Group A and Group B.
Group A was tasked with the goal of creating the single best, highest quality photograph for the semester.
Group B was tasked with creating the highest number of photos.
The results?
Group B (who focused on quality) also created the highest quality photos.
I suppose this truth happens for a few core reasons:
Focusing on quantity takes away the pressure of making something of quality
It’s a numbers game (the higher the quantity, the more likely you’ll stumble onto higher quality things)
It’s practice and actively sharpening your skills (in whatever the thing it is you’re doing)
So if you’re a beginner especially, or if you’re just feeling like your stuff isn’t quite up to snuff, try shifting your focus to quantity rather than quality.
It works wonders, I’m telling you.
10. Listen More Than You Speak
There’s a quote I’m reminded of here. It goes something like: “When you speak, you’re only repeating what you already know…”
This one may be a bit on the nose, but music has definitely taught me the value in and truth about active listening.
Of course, it’s not always easy.
But I do always walk away feeling better (or at least, lighter) having said less – rather than over-explaining something or voicing an opinion too aggressively.
Listening does a few things. Well, many things – many benefits.
But here are a few of my favorite truths and reasons to continue sharpening my ear muscles:
Everyone knows something you don’t
People will notice you’re actively listening, and will appreciate it more
You’ll become more patient and organized when you do speak
You can hear everyone’s thoughts first before you decide what you want to add
11. Success Isn’t Binary
Success isn’t straightforward.
And the tailend of success is long. That is, some people will reach insane heights – millions of followers and the ability to influence culture or the financial markets.
But others will create time and location freedom, which is more than enough.
So it’s different for everyone. It’s not yes or no – it’s not binary.
Let’s take music success as an example. There’s a myth that if you play music (and you’re sharing it), it’s because you must want or need fame.
Well, I suppose that’s common enough. But it’s definitely not true for all of us.
I love sharing my music – even if only 10 people are watching my shoddy videos. It makes me incredibly happy and motivated. It’s more than enough.
Gratitude. Yada yada yada.
But to be fair, I do have bigger goals, for sure. It’s just that my success isn’t tied exclusively to music and music growth.
I have a lot of moving parts in my creative vision.
And I’m aware that I’m still very early and I haven’t tapped into my full potential yet (as I write this post sitting in a hotel room outside of Seoul in early 2023).
And I suppose that’s the point of this life lesson: success is not one thing.
12. Mindset Is Our Greatest Resource
If you’ve spent any time on my blog, you’ll know that mindset is one of my core themes.
I’m a bit obsessed…
But for good reason. It’s been one of those game-changing moments that reshaped my life (and did wonders for my musical confidence).
So this is the last (but far from the least) truth about life (for now, in this post).
Mindset is a powerful thing, it’s our greatest resource and shapes how we experience life.
My top tips for cultivating a healthy mindset are:
Practice meditation and gratitude
Reframe challenges as opportunities for growth
Study neuroplasticity to learn the science of how our brains can (and do) change and learn new patterns of thinking
Surround yourself with more like-minded people
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