This is the final step of "Festive" Season 3, where I'm taking you through a process I use to get focus, motivation and clarity for the coming year. If you've missed the other steps...

This is step 4 of "Festive" Season 3, where I'm taking you through a process I use to get focus, motivation and clarity for the coming year. If you've missed the other steps...

This is the 2nd step of the "prep for the best possible next year" process I'm taking you through in this "Festive" Season 3.

Let's kick off "Festive" Season 3 - where we'll get clear on what we're doing NEXT YEAR! Starting with The Review... This is the process I'm using with my team, coaches and clients for birds eye view of last year.

Let's talk about what is coming in PodWalk "Festive Season 3"...

In the last PodWalk of Season 2 let's have the "debate that isn't a debate at all" debate. What is the relationship between quality and quantity? If you've ever said "I'm all about quality not quantity" then this is for YOU! And if you're already familiar with my schtick on this subject - there's even something new for you too! :)

"I know exactly what I want but I just can't get it to come out right" is a problem I've heard repeated 1000s of times over the last decade. (In fact, today on a coaching session with a group of musicians, at least 3 said this was their no. 1 problem.) But there's a problem with the problem itself. It's based upon a set of mistaken assumptions about ideas, the creative process and how the human mind works...

WHY does the Making Machine work? What's behind it? Because any system that works has to be based upon principles... Starting with one of the most insidious, destructive forces I've seen kill many a track, song and even career dead. What's worse is that the tools and technology we use to create suck us into this creative black hole. UNLESS you know what the problem is, why it's so dangerous and what approach to take instead...

I'm launching not 1 but 2 new podcasts! Find out what they are and where you'll find them in this double trailer.

In the 1st 3 PodWalks of Season 2, I've shared how the Making (and Music) Machine fundamentally works. In the final PodWalks I'll share what's the behind the Machine, but first a little background on how it came to be...

Beating a piece into submission is the default method of finishing for many makers... But while it works (I did it for years with my music), is it the best way to get quality or quantity? On our PodWalk today we're going to talk about the problems with "brute forcing" your work, and a much more fun, free and effective alternative...

What is a "bad" idea? From my experience of using the Magic Making Machine I've come to realise that a bad idea is a good idea out of context. One of the benefits of using a system like the Machine is you get a birds eye view of what you've been doing. It tracks what you do over many years, so you realise that you're perception of what you've done and what you've been doing is out of whack with reality. If the only perspective of your creative past is in your head, it is going to be distorted. And this is where the Sketchbook comes in. Because in the Machine, you don't delete your "bad" ideas. You come to understand that what you think is bad is a goldmine! So on today's PodWalk we're going to talk about the Sketchbook and the difference between "Ideas" and "Splurges".

How many top artists have you heard say something like: "I can't stand listening to my past music, all I can hear are the mistakes!" I said this, too, for many years. But there's a glaring problem with this. What are mistakes? What are the problems within the music we have made? And how does hiding from what we don't like about our work hold us back? On our PodWalk today, we will talk about what we do with our past releases. (HINT: it's NOT to hide from them. No matter how bad we now think they are!) Get your Music Machine Trello Template here...

What is your definition of "finished"? After many years saying a piece was "done", then realising it wasn't I had an aha... What was giving me the perspective I needed to know if it was 100% "Done" was the fact I thought it was! This is one of the reasons that in the Making Machine "Done" is separate to "Release" (where we get our stuff ready for release.) So on our PodWalk today I'll get into why and how you make this crucial distinction... Get your Music Machine Trello Template here...

There is a fundamental "pivot" point in any creative process. You move from a "divergent" approach (adding, experimenting, brainstorming) to a "convergent" one (removing, moving, improving, editing). In the Making Machine this pivot happens when you get the piece you're working on out of "Discover" and into "Draft". Then, to keep your process flowing (and not gummed up) you want to make sure you're not putting too much pressure on yourself. On our PodWalk today we'll talk about 2 crucial stages of finishing anything: Draft and Done. Get your Music Machine Trello Template here...

"Inspiration shows up when you do." Let's talk about the start of the creative process... Get your Music Machine Trello Template here...

I did a back of the envelope calculation the other day. Through personal and group coaching, writing, making programs and videos I've invested around 20,000 hours helping musicians and producers with their creative process. In PodWalk Season 2 I'm getting deep into what I've learned by sharing the model I've developed to explain it. Because while creativity is chaotic and uncertain, there is a pattern...

This is the final episode of season 1 of the PodWalk! (I decided to make the number of episodes per season roughly the same as an album.) So this final episode will be slightly off the beaten track. As I often use various models, ideas and concepts to make progress which I KNOW aren't "true", because they allow me to get closer to the truth...

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a famous (and largely wonderful) book which changed my life for the better... Until it started to create barriers and obstacles. And then I noticed the same in more and more of my clients and students who had read it. (Some of whom had read it on my recommendation!) I know what he means by "The Resistance". I too feel the daily struggle. I can see the creative process as a noble battle against the dark forces facing me. But what are the downsides to taking this metaphor too seriously? And what could an alternative be?

"If I don't act upon this idea NOW - it will be gone forever." This idea is very common amongst creators. But I'm always very careful of any belief which fulfils itself: Believing it creates conditions which seem to verify it. Because you believe it, you don't challenge it. You don't challenge it, so you believe it. This is circular thinking. While this doesn't automatically mean it's false, it is worth challenging ANY belief like this. So let's take a look at this belief. Because it may well be ensuring you consign your very best ideas to the dustbin.

Ever fallen down an information rabbit hole of doom? I'm guessing (if you're a human who has an internet connection) that's a YES! Trouble is with consuming information is all too often IT CONSUMES US! (Or at least it consumes our progress, and ultimately our dreams...) So on our walk today I'm going to give you a way of understanding information and how it relates to knowledge. If you're anything like me, when you take it on board and embed this understanding in your life, it will inoculate you against this terrible info-addiction affliction.

You might think that coaching and teaching are the same. I wouldn't blame you, as until I trained as a coach I didn't know the difference. But they're SOOOOOOO DIFFERENT! Both have their place and fulfil different functions. But I can promise that while there is a LOAD of teaching everywhere all the time...there isn't enough coaching in the world...yet. 🤓

This was supposed to be the next PodWalk subject - Teaching vs Coaching, but it ended up as a little autobiography on how coaching saved my life (when I look back on it - literally!) If you're struggling in any way, I hope my story will help you realise - there is ALWAYS a way forward...

The modern world requires that Artists of all kinds are also business people. So if you are to build a business around your Art, it's essential to understand how a "solo artist" business is different from almost any other kind of business...

The human mind simplifies to make sense of the Universe. Thank goodness it does, because the Universe is a bewildering and chaotic place! But often these simplifications seem "real" which is when we get STUCK. Because what is "real" is way more complex...