Category Archives: Discipline

May 07 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

Preach.

I’m not arguing here to make your music crucial to the world’s existence. SomeOne has already lived, written, and recorded those ballads.

What I am arguing is for you to pour yourself into something that is crucial to your survival.

There is something deep down in all of us that we know must be done. Self-actualization if you will. Listen deep and go there.

You will need your instruments, but listening to your core will open the floodgates on how to, where to, and why to use them.

It’s Monday. Let’s work towards a Regretless Friday.

#LTMP.

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May 03 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

Accidental Art

Accidental art is an oxymoron.

An artist is engaged, purposeful, compass oriented, and mission-minded.

Whatever music your trying to make won’t happen accidentally.

Music combust when all of you, your ideas, your direction, and your purposes collide. It’s up to you to gather the tools for combustion plus a ton of behind the scenes work from the Director above.

Pick up the pen, the paint, the instrument or whatever tools are necessary and have at it.

This is also a plea for you to remove the word luck from your vocabulary.

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May 02 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership, Marketing

Melted Cheese

In the last week I’ve chosen to eat at two restaurants because of their offer of free melted cheese – queso.

They got me.

And so have all these other products, companies, and teams with their own variations of melted cheese.

  • Amazon’s offers queso with Prime (free shipping).
  • Apple’s queso is interface (all products talk the same lingo).
  • The Dallas Maverick’s offer a side of queso with their owner – Mark Cuban.
  • TOMs shoes offers queso in the form of philanthropy.
  • Southwest Airlines queso tastes like affordability and on-time arrival.
  • Zappos changes their queso recipe daily, but I’ve never not come back for more.

 

You won’t believe what the world will do for free queso. So offer it.

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Apr 30 2012
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Business, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

Today Not Tomorrow and the Power of One

If have found the power of one handshake with a stranger, one conversation with a friend, one tough call made, one new idea birthed, one difficult action performed, and one simple day can change your life.

Do you realize how significant today is?

There’s music to be had.

Seize it.

A.E.P,

Ashton

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Apr 27 2012
3 Comments
Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership, Let The Music Play, Marketing

Degree Insert

What if some variation of this was inserted into every tube they put a degree in next month across our nation’s universities?

  • Busy doesn’t mean profitable.
  • The difference in you at 22 and you at 27 will be the books you read and the people you meet. Shake a lot of hands, be nice, and read everything you can get your hands on (the subject doesn’t matter).
  • You get to use your notes in real life – so take good ones and pay attention.
  • You never know the test question in real life – so train, prepare, be sharp, and know your stuff.
  • Find as many mentors as you can possibly gather and spend as much time as you can with them.
  • Take a sabbath and it doesn’t have to be on Sunday.
  • Don’t trade love for money. If there’s no passion in your work, your art will reflect that.
  • Stay close with the friends you’ve made here. They will be on the same battle field you are throughout life.
  • The news media buys your eyes by selling ads. Careful with claiming it as gospel.
  • Just because you can TiVo doesn’t mean your TV consumption should go up.
  • Work hard then work smart. It rarely works in reverse order.
  • Google everything.
  • Find out what it means for you to Let The Music Play.

Looking back over the last 2,500 days, I’ve learned a lot since graduation. Often I’ve wished what I’ve learned would have been taught during my college days.

But I’m not so sure it can be taught. It appears it has to be learned.

PS – I just noticed that learned has the word “earned” in it. Looks like there is supposed to be effort and challenge involved in learning these things.

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