Subtle changes matter over decades

I’m going to make two generalizations and I’ve found that these two generalizations are consistently true.

One – winners have long-term mindsets. They can think in terms of decades, whereas losers only think short-term.

Two – winners will make subtle changes that won’t make a difference right away. But you’ll see the results over decades. Of course, the second one is tied to the first.

I used the stairs vs elevator one as an example. That one applies to fitness/health.

Note that in life, you can be a winner at one thing and a loser at something else. If you’ve mastered all four of the main ones, you’re definitely in the top 1% of 1%.

This is rare. Really, really rare. I’d be lying to you if I said I was one of those 1% of 1%. I’m hoping I die in that category, but as of February 2021, not yet…

What are the big four? Health/fitness, relationships, finances, and passions of course. In no order.

Well, you can make a solid argument that health/fitness should go first because if you’re consistently in and out of the hospital, the other ones are pretty meaningless.

Self-assessment

I’m easily in the top 1% of health. Which is sad because I’m not even where I want to be. It’s just the majority of men my age look (and feel) like complete shit.

I’ve met some men though my age who still kick ass and I really want to surround myself with men like that.

Relationships – I’m doing great. I dumped my shitty friends last year. I’m very glad I did that. Of course, my wife and I have a great relationship. I got a great relationship with my son as well.

In my inner circle, I have who I really want. Now I want to improve my outer circle as well.

Finances? Well, I got us into the upper-middle class. Next financial goal is to get rich. Which ties into passion. I don’t want to get rich by working for someone else. Not like that will happen anyways because it’s very rare.

The exceptions are generally the first 10-20 people who work for a company whose stock went thru the roof. It happens. That’s more luck than anything else though. I’ve poured my heart out for startups before and you’re pretty much gambling.

Every startup always sounds like a good idea when you get hired. Often, there would be magic in the air for a year or two. Maybe even longer. Then, first test happens. That usually involves a round of layoffs. You vow to keep in touch with your buds who get laid off. Some you do. Most you don’t.

Then the desperation happens. You hope at best you get bought out. You polish off your resume and call some friends who got jobs elsewhere as you know the ship will sink. Sometimes, you get a severance. Sometimes you don’t, depending on if the company is flat out broke. Which it often is.

I already know I’m not going to get rich through my music. As much as I want to, I’ve done music from 1989-1994 and from 2007-present. I’ve barely made shit. Very few people make it in music nowadays. That’s just the bitter truth. And my music went out of date by the time World War I started.

I’ve seen it all in with bands. When you’re on the rise, you’ll get girls. When you’re on the decline, the girls leave you for your rival band.

Only a handful of people actually make money. Even those million dollar deals end up being only $50k after you notice everyone but you gets paid first. I’ve made a lot more than that gambling on startups.

However, my artwork sells. Every year, I’m improving as an artist and of course, I’ll be able to charge more for my paintings.

What about you?

Where are you at? Take a long, brutal look at yourself. How would you rank your health/fitness? How good or bad do you look when you get out of the shower and look at yourself in the mirror?

Take an honest look at where you are with your relationships. Is your love life where it should be? Is your family functional? Do you have awesome friends or are they mostly friends you want to replace?

Next, have you evaluated where you are financially?

And finally, your passions. What are you passionate about? Are you doing what you love? If you are, congratulations. If not, get to work. Ask yourself why aren’t you. Then ask yourself how you can make it happen.

Subtle changes

In all four of these, subtle changes over a decade matter. Cutting out one thing out of your diet will matter immensely over a period of a decade.

For instance, I no longer drink soda. I loved it. Especially Mexican coke. But we no longer have any soda in the house and my gut definitely feels it. I gave up potato chips just last week.

We also got rid of processed food. We eat almost entirely meat/fish, fruits, veggies, rice, and milk products. (We’re both fortunate that we can break down lactose as not everyone can).

Financially, you’ve probably heard the cliché to pay yourself first. Does it matter? Hell yes it matters!

You’ll really notice that little financial mindset change over a period of a decade. Definitely not right away but long-term? Huge!

As for friends, all it takes is that one shitty friend. Does that person need to be replaced? Or has he or she already been replaced?

Note that also, don’t take for granted those who will stick with you thru thick and thin. Another common friend mistake folks make is they take for granted the good ones.

Don’t be one of those people. Nobody likes being taken for granted.

So after you’ve done your self-assessment of where you’re at, think of subtle changes you can do to improve the ones you need to improve.

On a slightly different note…

Recording in a studio is a lot harder than folks realize. It may take you hours to nail a four minute take. When you’re doing overdubs, that really adds up. My songs often have four or five guitars, all played by me.

We actually record on analog tape, which if you’re an audiophile, you already know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, I’ll give you the quick rundown…

When you hear that something is recorded in analog, it’s usually recorded on 2″ metallic tape. Whereas an older technology, still to this day, there’s nothing better.

Vocals sound pretty much the same whether recorded on digital or audio. But drums? Definitely record them on analog. Way, way better! Ask your local audiophile why as he could explain why way better than I could.

We record drums, guitars, and bass guitars in analog, then everything else is recorded digitally.

The high end bands today still record on analog to this day. You know when someone doesn’t care about their product when they use shitty ingredients. That pretty much applies to anything. I don’t skimp on my painting products either. I’ll always use the best tools available.

Anyways, I put 100% in everything I do, even if I know it’s a losing battle. I’ve had enough bands fail to know how hard it is to make it in the music industry. However, I learned directing and editing on the side while trying to promote these dead bands (while they were still alive of course).

I still own the video footage of these dead bands’ music videos and short films since I produced and directed it.

Jin worked with me a bunch of times and Kristy worked with me twice.

I’ve been blessed to work with models with beautiful boobs. This has a quick look at Jin’s so NFSW.

Jin’s a babe. Great girl to work with too.

Buy the music here:

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