You will only act to the level of your belief. Let that sink in... You will NEVER act out of alignment of your beliefs. That's why beliefs is THE MOST important thing to get right for your music (and life in general). It's something that Incredible artists, top performing athletes and successful business people all have in common - they have belief systems that serve them in their journey. So...what's a belief? Without going down the rabbit hole, at its most basic form a belief is a statement perceived truth. (we'll save what "truth" is for another time) An example of a belief could be: - Finishing music is hard - I'm not good enough to make quality music - No one will listen to my music As you can see, if someone were to hold even one of these beliefs will follow suit with their behaviours. The great thing about belief systems is that they can change since they're are perceived truths, not absolute truths. So... how do we change them? Before being able to change them - we need to know how they're created first. You can think of a belief as as a spectrum with a scale. For example: on one extreme we can have "finishing music is effortless" and on the other we have "finishing music is impossible". Then we have the whole range in -between. Most of the time a belief isn't a "yes", or "no, but rather... "how much?" Belief is created by experience. Throughout your life, you go through events that tip the scales and solidify your worldview. Maybe you had an uncle that spent YEARS composing pieces of music, maybe you tried to play trumpet in band class and sucked, maybe the first song you ever wrote was rejected by your friend... Those experiences stack up. Over time they create beliefs, in this case "music is hard and I'm not good at it". Here's the game changer.. your brain don't know the different between "real life" experiences and "imaginary" experiences. What does that mean? You can create experiences that tip the scales of your beliefs IN YOUR MIND. Visualizing a situation, reciting a statement of truth and feeling an associated emotion is THE SAME as formative childhood memorized and hardened belief systems - to your brain at least.

Wild stuff! In case you didn't know I play in a pretty crazy prog rock band called Dizzy Mystics. One of the biggest publications in the rock / metal space featured our album as one of the top 10 albums that will "make your brain hurt" lol. Honoured to be on a list with other legendary bands like The Mars Volta, Genesis & Gentle Giant. Sometimes the noggin needs a little workout Check out the article here: https://loudwire.com/prog-rock-metal-albums-make-your-brain-hurt/ Here's the album they talked about if you want to check it out: https://open.spotify.com/album/5WQ3XI9baWVBia3OfufPTp?si=oDOWwE8HSVCoWynBihFRzQ Who else listens to mind bending / mentally stimulating music?

Hello All . Lucky here from New Zealand , Gisborne City ...

In most cases, we think in a very linear way when it comes to finishing music. You start with an idea and start to force it forward into a finished song. And let’s be honest, most of the time you’re going to get stuck along the way. It could be in… Idea creation - You start to hate your loop or you’re not impressed by what you’re currently making Arrangement - You don’t know where to take your ideas Mixing - You can’t make it sound great It basically comes down to: we start ideas and try to finish them somehow. The problem with this is it creates a lot of pressure by expecting a particular result. It also assumes that every idea is worth moving forward. I call this a "linear process" A "cyclical process" is the opposite. Or as I like to call it: a pyramid process. Because why not lol Pyramids start super wide at the base and get more and more narrow all the way to the top At the very top, you have the pinnacle = finished songs At the bottom of the pyramid, you have ideas. You want to create as many ideas as possible. The stronger your foundation the higher you can build your pyramid. The key is you don’t have to force yourself to create an idea that has to make it into a song at any single point. It’s a more relaxed, flowy approach. You'll find that some of your ideas are naturally stronger WITHOUT having to work any harder on them. The next stage of the pyramid is to only choose the best ideas and turn them into rough compositions. Then guess what? Only choose the most promising (or objectively better) rough compositions to turn them into finished songs (editing, mixing & mastering). What makes a cyclical process so powerful? You're focusing on the phases of music production and allowing ideas to move forward instead of trying to force them. It also prevents you from wasting a ton of energy trying to refine, edit and perfect ideas that are mediocre as best. This creates a pathway to discover the music that is at the top of your current abilities while maintaining creative flow.

I just wanted to say this. If you don't know it already (and you probably do, because you're reading this) Alex, creator of Meta Mind Music is awesome. His work has changed my life. I'm incredibly grateful for his guidance and to be fortunate enough to call him my friend. He always aims to encourage sincere, humble, and curious discussion, and embody truth and deep wisdom. He wants you to succeed. Listen to what he has to say. He wants to connect with you to help you, and if you think you can help him, do it. Reach out. Don't be a stranger. Let's all help each other. There's plenty of success for everyone to go around. Human beings are amazing. By the way, creating music is good for you. If you're not doing it already, make room for it in your life. Why? Because it's supposed to be there and it might presently be missing, which would be tragic. It's a health priority. Treat it with the significance it deserves. These are some of the best decisions I've made in a world I have found all too challenging too many times. Kind regards, be well.