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What’s up Heroes, welcome to episode 54 of the Producer Life Podcast. I’ve been busy working on 2021 goals which got me thinking about how to accomplish those goals and what new habits those goals would require.  Goals are really only useful if they help create the processes that support them. In this episode I’m going to talk about some of the key ideas I learned from James Clear’s bestselling book, Atomic Habits and how to apply those to your music career.  

You’ll Learn

James Clear’s Four Law for Behavior Change:

1. Make it Obvious
2. Make it Attractive
3. Make it Easy
4. Make it Satisfying

Resources

• Jamesclear.com – lots of free resources including articles and a mailing list.
• Audible – free 30 day trail! my affiliate link. You can listen to a copy of Atomic Habits for free and support the podcast at the same time… at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

What’s up Heroes, welcome to episode 54 of the producer life podcast. I’m your host, the House Ninja, and I’ve been busy working on 2021 goals…. which got me thinking about how to accomplish those goals and what new habits those goals would require.  

Goals are really only useful if they help create the processes that support them… goals just set the desired endstate. In this episode I’m going to talk about some of the key ideas I learned from James Clear’s bestselling book, Atomic Habits and how to apply those to your music career.  

But first, cue the intro music.

Atomic Habits is a 2018 New York Times’s bestselling book that talks about ways to develop, or remove habits from your life.

The book is broken down into into four laws:

1. Make it Obvious  
2. Make it Attractive   
3. Make it Easy 
4. Make it Satisfying   

Each law is supported by both entertaining stories and psychological research. You can reverse the laws if you’re trying to break a habit. For example, instead of “make it obvious” your goal is to “make it invisible”

Law 1, make it obvious, first means raising the habit to the conscious level so you can affect it. Many habits become so ingrained we don’t even realize we’re doing them. For example, most of us have had the experience of driving home on near-autopilot, or perhaps going to the refrigerator for the sixth time this hour while working from home.  Japanese Train conductors have a method called “point and call” that they use to take routine safety checks from that unconscious level to the conscious level.  As they’re going through pre-travel checks, they physically point at dials, knobs, and screens, and verbally call out what they’re seeing.   This can be used (rather humorously, if people are around you) to break bad habits.  A DJ could use this “point and call” technique as you’re packing your bag for a gig or setting up for a performance, particularly if you’ve got a complex setup with a lot of midi controllers. Point to teach fader, nob, and dial and verbalize that they’re in the right position before heading for the green-room.    This helps avoid being on autopilot as you’re packing your bag or setting up for the 50th time. Point and call forces you to act intentionally. 

He also talks about setting up the environment. If one of your goals is to practice your mixing for an hour each day, make sure you set up your practice room so it’s obvious and visible. If you have to pull your CDJs out of the closet or remove all of the stuff you’ve stacked on top of it last weekend, you’re less likely to use it.  Many of us want to eat healthier so we’ll have more energy performing; simply hiding the junk food and  leaving fruit out in an obvious location can dramatically improve your diet, or purposefully carrying a water bottle with you throughout the day to ensure you stay more hydrated.

The second law is make it attractive.  The author talks about the positive effects of peer pressure, and the way we tend to conform to the people around us.  Humans naturally want to conform to the culture they’re in, so find people you enjoy being around that are performing the habit you’re trying to develop.  Want to get in shape during the pandemic? Find an outdoor running club full of other like-minded individuals. If your goal is to produce more music, join a producer collective where everyone is making and sharing music.   Once the pandemic is over, meet up with other hardworking local producers and encourage one another. 

Another option is “temptation bundling.”  Let’s say you hate posting on social media but love binging the latest show on Netflix.   Only allow yourself to watch netflix if you’re liking, commenting, and re-posting on your socials.  If you don’t multitask well, perhaps only allow yourself to catch up on Netflix if you’re on the stationary bike… which you’ve conveniently placed where that comfy lazy-boy chair used to be.

His third law is to make the habit easy.   He’s got a bunch of tips here, but one that struck me was the 2-minute rule which is great if you’re having trouble even getting a habit started. Boil your desired habit down to something you can do in two minutes, and force yourself to do two minutes… and only two minutes… for a few weeks. Once the habit sets in, it will get easier and easier to extend that time.  Let’s say one of your 2021 goals is to build out your mailing list spanning several different email campaigns, but you know you HATE writing emails.   You could force yourself daily to spend two minutes in a Google Doc drafting emails for a welcome email series you’ve been putting off. After you do that for a few days or weeks, you can gradually start increasing your time.      

Finally, his fourth law is make it satisfying.  One way is to give yourself a reward after you complete the desired behavior.  Perhaps you’re not practicing long enough on an instrument. Reward yourself with a cold beer (hot cup of sake in my case) after you put in an hour.   Another option is to have some sort of tangible measuring system for a behavior.   Perhaps you’re not at a point where you’ve got a booking agent and you’re handling all of your own promotions and bookings, but you hate making phone calls to venues and promoters. Get two jars, one filled with paperclips and another one empty and as you make calls move the objects from one to another. Perhaps you set a goal of 10 calls per day. Put 10 paperclips in your jar to start, and when they run out… you’re done.   There is something satisfying about having a tangible marker for your progress.

I really enjoyed Atomic Habits and have already started applying some of his laws to make, and break, some of my own habits. The author has a really informative website, too, with a lot of free resources and a mailing list, you can find him at Jamesclear.com.   

Even though this was a short book, if you’re like me it’s hard to find time to sit down and read…that’s probably why you’re listening to this podcast, and that’s also why I’ve been a customer of Audible for years.  Listening to audiobooks is a terrific way to find some additional time in your day while you’re commuting, cooking, exercising, or relaxing. …. You can get a 30 day free-trial and pick up a copy of Atomic Habits, or one of thousands of other titles, using my affiliate link at ProducerLifePodcast.com look, look for episode 54.  That link also helps to support this podcast at no cost to you. 

Thanks so much for listening. Until next week, this is the House Ninja reminding you to be somebody’s Hero today.