In short
Podcast Summary: The Daily Motivation - If Your Art Doesn't Pay The Bills, Do This Instead | Rick Rubin
Overview In this episode of *The Daily Motivation*, host Lewis Howes speaks with acclaimed music producer Rick Rubin. They explore the intersection of art and commerce, the importance of self-discovery in creative processes, and the necessity of separating financial stability from artistic expression.
Key Themes and Concepts
- Trusting One's Taste
- Self-Discovery: Rick Rubin emphasizes the importance of identifying what you genuinely enjoy without second-guessing.
- Analogy of Taste Buds: Rubin compares personal preferences in art to tasting food, stating that one cannot be convinced to like something that does not resonate with them.
- No Second Guessing: Artists should focus on what "tastes good" to them creatively, rather than conforming to external expectations.
- Balancing Art and Commerce
- Separating Art from Financial Pressure:
- Rubin advocates for artists to maintain a job that supports them financially, allowing their art to remain free and authentic.
- This separation empowers artists to create without the constraints of financial need dictating their work.
- Real-Life Example: Rubin shares a story about his cousin, who spent decades as a dentist but ultimately felt unfulfilled, illustrating the risks of following a predetermined path without reassessment.
- The Nature of Creativity
- Continuous Exploration: After 40 years in music production, Rubin still finds excitement and surprise in the creative process.
- Unexpected Moments: He describes moments in the studio where inspiration suddenly strikes, emphasizing the thrill of discovery in creativity.
- Curiosity: Rubin highlights the importance of maintaining a sense of curiosity and openness to new ideas.
Conversations and Insights
- Struggles of Artists: Howes raises the concern of artists struggling to monetize their work, prompting a discussion on the balance between passion and financial stability.
- Personal Growth and Career Paths: Both Howes and Rubin reflect on the shifts in their careers, underlining the importance of adaptability and evolution in one's professional journey.
Additional Resources
- New Book Announcement: Rick Rubin mentions his new book titled *Make Money Easy*, aimed at transforming people's relationship with money and creating financial freedom.
Conclusion The episode concludes with a reminder of the importance of self-acceptance in the creative journey, the necessity of separating artistic pursuits from financial pressures, and the joy of maintaining curiosity throughout one's career.
Call to Action Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Greatness newsletter, follow the podcast on popular platforms, and engage with the content for more inspiration.
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This summary encapsulates the key discussions and philosophies presented in the episode, providing insights into the relationship between art and commerce, and the importance of trusting one's creative instincts.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:11how do you coach someone to actually eliminate or diminish decades of conditioning within a week or two yeah to make their art i would say the um it it comes down to a like a personal reaction to something if i if i gave you two different foods and i asked you to taste them you wouldn't have a hard time telling me which one you liked if you really liked one and didn't like the other. So if you had people around you saying, no, but this other one that you don't like, that's the good one. No one could convince you that the thing that tastes bad to you tastes good to you. So it's a very simple, it's such a simple idea getting to what do I actually like.
0:59No second guessing. No, it doesn't go past and it doesn't have to stand for anything. It doesn't have to represent you. It's just, this is the thing that tastes good to me. What do you think? That's our whole job is this tastes good to me. What do you think? When an artist is, you mentioned commerce and you mentioned art. When an artist is struggling financially. And they're like, I want to make things that I enjoy that taste really good for me. But I've been doing that for five, seven, 10 years, and it doesn't taste good for anyone else. How can I make a living around my art? Or should I not think about my art as making a living, but I should be thinking about commerce separate from the art?
1:43I think dividing them is a really healthy idea. And having a job that supports you so that you can be free in your art is ultimately what's best for the art. Really? Yeah. Now you can get a job related. You know, you can get a job in the industry you're interested in. You can get a job if you're a painter, you can get a job in a gallery. You can be around it. And then also when you do something like that, if you were to work in a recording studio, you may decide this is not for me. You know, we don't really know. We have ideas of what we want to try, but then when you try them, sometimes, yes, that works.
2:23Sometimes you don't. So many people get on a track when they're young. I have a cousin who went to school to become a dentist, and he was a dentist for years. And after 15 or 20 years, just like, I can't do this. I don't want to do this. It was a wrong choice. So many people live a, an unhappy life sticking to a program from when they were younger. And we have to find like you, you are speaking to people now versus playing sports. It's a big change, but it seems like a really positive change for you, but it wasn't what you set out to do originally. Right. Yeah. You've been doing this for how long now?
3:09Producing music for 40 years, roughly 40 years. Close to 40 years. Have there ever been a time where you felt like it was stagnant for you or you weren't creatively inspired or you felt like it was dull? It wasn't this awe or magic that you were wanting. It was, it's always magic. It's always exciting. I can't say that every moment of every project has been that, but there are always these glimpses of wonder that come through the, through the creative process. that are staggering and they're very addictive. You know, being in a room where something's not happening and all of a sudden it's happening and you don't know why and you don't know what changed.
3:55It's a very exciting feeling. How often do you experience that feeling? All the time. Really? All the time. Now, when I say all the time, we may start a project that maybe doesn't happen for a few days, but then it starts happening. What is that moment and what is the feeling that you have and what is it that you notice either in your mind or in the environment that is shifting for that feeling to occur? It's an inner excitement. It's like a leaning forward. It's a curiosity of like, can we hear that again? What was that? What was that? I've not heard that before. That's interesting to me. Absolutely.
4:39So after four decades of doing this, you still get surprised by hearing new things. All the time. Really? All the time. Why does this work with this? Who knows? And if I were to tell you the idea, or if someone were to tell me the idea, I would listen to their words and think, that's a terrible idea. And then we try it and it's remarkable.
5:04I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. And if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life, and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following. And thank you for listening to this episode of The Daily Motivation Show.
5:47Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation. And I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description. That will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want to get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
6:37Again, have an amazing day, and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.
From the publisher
Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!
Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1847
"It's such a simple idea, getting to what do I actually like? No second guessing." - Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin asked Lewis a question that sounds simple but cuts through everything: If I gave you two different foods to taste, could you tell me which one you like? Of course you could. And no one could convince you that the one that tastes bad to you actually tastes good. That's the whole secret to creative work, he says. Trust what resonates with you the same way you trust your taste buds. It sounds almost obvious until you think about how much of your creative life you've spent second-guessing yourself, trying to like what you're supposed to like, making what you think will succeed instead of what genuinely moves you. Rick has spent 40 years producing music's biggest artists, and this simple principle is what he keeps coming back to.
The conversation goes somewhere unexpected when Lewis asks about struggling artists who can't make money doing what they love. Rick doesn't preach belief or hustle. He says divide them. Get a job that supports you so your art can be free. He talks about his cousin who became a dentist, practiced for 15 or 20 years, and finally had to admit it was the wrong choice from the beginning. How many people are living that exact life right now, stuck in a program they chose when they were young? But what really strikes you is how Rick talks about being in the studio after all these decades. He still gets that feeling when something's not happening, and then suddenly it is, and he doesn't know what changed. He's still surprised all the time. Still leaning forward with curiosity. That's not someone going through the motions. That's someone who protected the magic by keeping things simple.
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