I want to pick up my phone. NO. Make music.
I want to post on Instagram. NO. Make music.
I want to search for that thing on Google. NO. Make music.
I want to swipe on Tinder and make plans for tonight. NOOO. Make music.
I want to blog about focusing on music. No. Make music.
There are hundreds of thing to do, what’s the ONE THING that wins. That’s the one thing that’s going to get done. Big project, life projects, masterpieces, the great work of your life, is the one thing that deserves your attention the most, yes? It is going to take the most time, the greatest gift of your energy and focus, and it’s going to get done in the little moments of time you can gather up in between feeding your mouth, washing your body, laughing with friends, crying at funerals, pouring another cup of tea, and paying taxes. You may never get a solid year of time to dedicate to the project. Maybe if you’re lucky. But what you will always have is choices. You can do this or you can do that. You can fill your time with entertainment and silly little things that keep you company and distract you from the fears and doubts in your head. OR you can do the fucking work. Wade through the work the way you hike up a steep hill, try and run fast in a dream (but the dream makes you feel slow), and go to work even when you feel like you’re dying inside. The work must be done despite how you feel about it. You can talk about the work all day, analyze your approach, your reasons for doing it and for not doing it. You can talk all day and at the end of the day, what do you have to show for yourself? Where is the work? Tomorrow morning will you wake up where you are today or will you be one more day forward? Even a shit day with little progress is essential. The shit days are mixed in with the good days. You can’t wait for just the good days because you don’t know which ones they are. Sometimes the days that feel shitty end up shit and visa versa. Stop asking yourself what you want to do. Start doing the work that will take you to the end of the race you want to finish. What do you want to finish? What is your finish line? Your goal? Your vision? Run towards that. It’s going to suck and be hard. Run through it. Go go go. Make the music. Do the thing. Now, I’ve just spent 15 minutes writing this blog post. Enough. Time to go do more work. Bye. — Cha PS: if you need more help, read Stephen Pressfield, you’re welcome.
“Cha-Up” is the new term for put your head down and get your damn work done, according to my buddy Spence Hood.
