This is the third installment in the read-along-with-me series on how Lance Armstrong’s philosophy might apply to songwriting and music. We are only on chapter two even though this is the 3rd installment because the first covered the introduction.

I hope you have all been reading along.  In case you missed the previous episode, we are reading the book, “How Lance Does It” by Brad Kearns

For me, this chapter boils down to a fairly compact summary: Get over yourself and the negative energy that you create by obsessing over results. Instead, just go out there and kick some ass today!

And don’t forget that the Eagles wrote a song called Get Over It

We have to understand first of all that not all of us are Olympic athlete material….or Mozarts. The book succinctly points out that the people you see in these settings have a couple of unique characteristics that many people don’t have:

1. They are Freaks of Nature. They possess unique 1 in a million physical characteristics.
2. They have the X Factor. They’ve got it. Many want to win; Lance HAS to win.

Nevertheless, if you are not a freak of nature or a natural born X factor baby, what can you and I learn from these super-performers, especially in application to music, whether you are a composer, song writer, or performer? The top things that I took away in this regard are:

1. Avoid negative self talk.

Have you ever dissed yourself?  Do you unleash a stream of negativity after or while you struggle hitting that high note or find your fingers turning to mush every time “that passage” of notes comes by?  Page 32 of the book provides some excellent examples of this kind of negativity:

Athletes today are conditioned strongly to appreciate victory but not the enjoyment of the experience and striving to get better. With the young athletes I work with it is surprising to observe the barrage of self-limiting statements and beliefs that they harbor about competition.  At a recent practice session for high school high jumpers, one of the athletes announced to his peers, “I’m like the worst high jumper ever, ” just before launching himself at the bar.  Second grade children assembled for the distance race will whine, “Do I have to do it?  I stink at running.”  The passenger next to me on a recent airplane flight told me she worked in a dental office but was “just an assistant,” implying that this was not as valuable or impressive as being a dentist or certified hygienist.  These self-deprecating comments that are ubiquitous today are simply a protection mechanism against the way we measure and judge everyone by their accomplishments.  We worship money, victory, and prestige, while ignoring the subtler traits of exhibiting good sportsmanship, contributing goodwill to the community, or being a good listener, a mentor to youth or workplace associates, or generally a kind , decent and fair person.

2. Life is like a high jump bar.  See page 33.

In a high jump competition, the bar is set individually for each jumper, providing a completely personal challenge with unlimited potential for success. ….. The metaphor of the high jump bar applies to whatever challenges and goals you have in your life.  If your bar is set at becoming the best dental assistant you can be, there is great honor in that pursuit — far more honor than with a dentist who is more interested in deep-sea fishing than dentistry and just goes through the motions with the patients in his chair.  As I explained to the young jumper after his statement, the “worst high jumper ever” is someone whose feet never leave the ground.

3. Learn to think more efficiently.

Do you get distracted when you play, or sing or try to compose a new song?  Do you waste time on things that are unimportant to achieving your goal at hand?  As described on page 35:

Knaggs explains that the speed of Lance’s brain is right up there with his pedaling speed as a key component of his winning formula.

“Like the flickering images that make up the display on a computer screen, our brains have a cognitive refresh rate,” said Knaggs…..Lance’s refresh rate is three times as fast as the average person’s.  he never zones out at any time; he’s always hypervigilent, during the Tour and during his busy, multifaceted life.  he’s a good fully step ahead of everybody, always thinking toward something, moving at a faster speed and never resting.  he gets three hours out of the day that no one else does.”

4. Strive for Ideal Performance State (IPS)

IPS is not to be confused with IBS!  I think IPS is that state where you lose track of time.  You are totally into what you are doing purely for the enjoyment of it.  You are relaxed and loving it….you are in touch with the music itself.  Interestingly, this ties in in a timely manner with yet another book that I am currently reading called The Inner Game of Music, which just so happens to be modeled and inspired from the sports realm…after, “The Inner Game of Golf”….more about that though on another day.  Anyway, from page 37 of the book:

My favorite line to describe this optimal approach is “Results happen naturally when motivation is pure.”  With a pure motivation, I would experience a higher level of performance without having to struggle or force anything.  At those times, I was experiencing what James Loehr calls the “Ideal Performance State” (IPS) affectionately known as the zone…….described as”physically relaxed, mentally calm, fearless, energized, positive, happy, effortless, automatic, confident,” and so on.

The one story from this chapter that best crystallizes what all of this is about is the “bagel shop” story on page 38:

Lance and I had … made plans to bicycle to the starting line on race morning….he was running well behind schedule…..Pedaling toward the waterfront race venue, we approached a bustling coffee and bagle shop, causing Lance to proclaim, “Man, I’m hungry.  Let’s stop for a bagel, B.K.”  While eating a bagel as the last thing on my mind (most athletes set their alarms for two or three hours before an event, consume some high-tech nutritional supplement … and then go back to sleep), I indulged him in another detour.  Circular snack in hand, Lance and I pedaled on toward the race venue, now dangerously close to the start time.  While my nervousness and anxiety were building inside, I could not help but laugh at the sight of my riding partner rolling into the transition area with a bagel stuffed in his mouth.

As I completed my hurried prerae preparations and hustled off anxiously toward the start of the swim, I heard Lance yell, “Hey, B.K.!”  As I turned to face him, he flashed the thumbs-0up sign and said, “Let’s kick some ass today!”  Instantly, my nervousness and tension melted away yinto a big smile, thanks to a fellow competitor no less.

Alright - Do you feel lucky?

Now, just go out there and kick some ass today!

Let me tell  you, moving from using only guitar and voice to a full band instrumentation has been a big jump upwards in logistical complexity.  I have gone from 2-3 tracks to close to two dozen tracks in this song.

This process has renewed my ambition to do the PC to Apple/Mac and Sonar to Logic Studio switch.  No Pro Tools….”they” say it is, or maybe was, the “industry standard”, but I wasn’t that impressed with Pro Tools, especially for the money involved and especially with what looks like a non robust MIDI and live performance support.  I could be wrong, but that was my impression.  So, Logic it will be for me.  I just hope that I can convert my Cakewalk Sonar projects over painlessly.  Anyway, I am getting really tired of unexplained, unexpected system and/or application lock ups or bog downs under Windows and my Windows life is nearing an end.  Yes, the end draws nigh.

Back to the song:  I am making good progress though and I hope to have a fully mixed version to post still within the month of August.  In the meantime, here is a tiny preview to keep you occupied and out of trouble.  See you soon.

The Hill’s Market history as I remember hearing it was that Lee was originally from Paris – Paris, Tennessee that is.  Times were hard everywhere during the Great Depression, but especially so in small towns like Paris.  As I remember it, for a period of time Lee worked as a truck driver and I suppose his travels brought him as far north as Fort Wayne…this was probably thought of as a considerable distance in that day and age.  I don’t know all of the details or reasons behind it, but at some point Lee settled in Fort Wayne and opened his own grocery store, “Hill’s Market”, on Lower Huntington Road in Waynedale and even lived in the back room for a while.  Perhaps this was simply to try to establish a better life and earn a better living than he could in Tennessee.  All I know is that Waynedale gained a bit of southern hospitality thanks to the Hills.  I also have to confess that I fudged on Lee’s age…in the song I said he was 95, but you will notice his obituary says “91″….95 fit my rhyme scheme!

In my family’s world, some things happened, or actually didn’t happen in my parents reproductive years, such that the time span separating me from my brothers was so great that either one of them was old enough to be my father.  Needless to say, I first saw the light of day rather late in my parents’ lives and

both my maternal and paternal grandfathers had died young…5 or 6 years before my birth.  So, I never had a grandpa that I got to know and learn from as a kid.  That’s okay…it’s just the way it was.  But this is where granddaddy Hill came into the picture, and he probably didn’t even know it at the time. (but, maybe he did)

So, Lee was the closest thing I had to a grandfather and in fact, he never hesitated to offer advice either, even when I wasn’t asking.  I first got to know Lee when I was around 9 or 10.  I was best friends with Lee’s grandson, Rick Hill, who lived across the street from me in the “Indian Village” subdivision.  Before I ever even met Lee, he was already a folk legend in my mind as Rick talked about the exploits of “granddaddy” constantly and I knew Lee must have been a big influence on Rick too.  I would eventually get a job at Hill’s Market, but before I did, I was already coming under the influence of granddaddy.

Lee would come by Rick’s house from time to time usually in the course of working…either going to the store, coming back or driving off somewhere in quest of some great deal on a load of produce.  On one trip, at a tender 12 years old, I got to tag along on a trip through Parrot’s meat packing/slaughter house and boy, did I get an eyeful.  I still can remember seeing the entire slaughter and butchering process for the cattle and hogs going through.  It was one bloody place let me tell you.  On another memorable excursion, granddaddy again stopped by Rick’s house to see if he wanted to go on a drive in the truck to pick up a load of lettuce, and Rick wanted me to come along.  So, my mom gladly gave her permission.  What none of us, except Lee, knew was that we were actually going on a trip to the other end of the state!  By the time we got back home 6 hours later, my mom was a bit beside her self, but very relieved to see that we were okay.  Can you believe there were no cell phones back then?!

Eventually, I got a regular job at Hill’s market and ended up working with Lee quite a bit.  Whether he knew it or not, I was learning a lot from him, besides being able to say “yonder” and “hnnnuh, boy”.  Lee always encouraged me to work smart, to work hard, to “use both hands”, and it impressed me a lot when I saw him put extra free groceries in a struggling customer’s bag after they had paid.  Lee was known by a variety of affectionate names:  Granddaddy, Dad, “wild man”, the Duke….but I just called him Lee.  So, here’s to you Lee, The Wild Man From Tennessee.  Thanks for the memories.

Here’s the song:  Wild Man From Tennessee

>>The core of folk music is anonymity and the public domain.<<

And further:

>>I would add that the music needs to be part of a community, although the community can now be a worldwide-web community as easily as a geographically-based community. True folk music will always be the mortal enemy of intellectual property rights: i.e. it can only thrive when people are free to build on the work of others. Pop music and country music (though maybe not jazz) all treat musicians and songwriters as islands whose creative “product” is inviolable. To make a living in folk music performers need to be constantly interacting with fans and other musicians in ways that labels and established pop musicians would find dangerous.<<

This is an awesome statement and it is exactly what the Creative Commons movement, founded by Lawrence Lessig, is all about. We need to lower barriers and increase creativity and interaction. The internet and especially Web 2.0 has provided a tremendous opportunity to independent artists and those in the folk music movement to interact with their fans and other musicians in a meaningful, fundamentally different way than has ever been possible. Big Brother is no longer in control. We have the means to restart the engines of creativity. Besides professor Lessig, another internet collaboration pioneer and favorite of mine is Jonathon Coulton.  And of course, if you are reading my site, you already know that I have also thrown my hat into the ring and established my own web site with the desire to expand the circle of collaboration and creativity even more.

Stand by.

As was mentioned in the introduction, Lance does not get bogged down in psychoanalyzing his past.  (BTW, I love the Eagles “Get Over It” from their Hell Freezes Over CD.)

None of us go through life without any struggles, with a perfect childhood, and Lance certainly didn’t either.  He had his own share of difficulties as a kid:  A broken home, disappointing father figures, no money, a snobby school, etc.  But one of the key differences for Lance is that he simply chooses to not waste time dwelling on the negative.  Process it and don’t carry it around for 6 months.  The bible has a quote that deals with this kind of thing: “…do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Ephesians 4:26)

Lance praises his mom, Linda Armstrong Kelly, for her influence on him.  Linda, pregnant at 16 years old, was kicked out of the house.  But she too chose (note the active, act of the will again) to survive and succeed.  Linda’s answer to every setback was to push back, to try harder, to try a different way, to try smarter.  Her attitude was, “It’s okay to lose, but never quit!”

Lance would get the opportunity to put these lessons to the test many times, but perhaps the biggest test would be enduring and overcoming cancer and this was before he ever won a Tour de France.  Per Wikipedia,  “Prior to this, he also survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was not originally considered to be great.”

What did Lance have to say about his cancer?  “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”  (pg. 6) I see Linda reflected in Lance’s reaction to his cancer.  He made a conscious choice to make the best of it and process the event in a positive way instead of wallowing in self-pity.  He never dwells on defeats - always thinks of the next race and how training needs to change to improve.

The last thing that stood out to me in this chapter, that can definitely apply to us as songwriter and musicians. That was the idea that you should not spend your time and energy either trying to emulate some celebrity who is your hero, or spend your time trying and hoping that you will get to meet them in the hope that this experience will somehow change or transform you.  1)  You will probably never get the opportunity to meet this person, and 2) Even if you did, it might not make that much difference anyway.

The last page of chapter 1 has a great some great advice:

If a book is as close as you will ever get to Lance, maybe that should suffice.  Take inspiration from Lance’s words and example of how to live life to the fullest.  Then go out and make a difference in the world and inspire others to do the same.  In doing so, you will honor yourself and also Lance as an inspirational component to your success.  With this arrangement, you are connected in a far more meaningful way than having an autographed photo hanging on your wall.” (pg. 21)

• Have you ever failed as a musician?
• How did you deal with it?
• Did you run and hide and pout and refuse to sing or play in public again?  Or refuse to ever show anyone one of your songs again?
• Or did you get back up, dust yourself off and ask yourself what you need to change to do better next time?

So, there you go.  Be yourself.  Don’t pout.  Get over it.  Get going and get working.

See you next time.

My current reading list includes “How Lance Does It” by Brad Kearns

I love reading stories about successful people and who is a better example of a success story than Lance Armstrong?

I think for my own edification and yours, if you are reading this, I will begin a series of posts on my progress through the book and give my thoughts on how the “Lance method” might apply to us as songwriters, guitar players, or whatever kind of instrument you play.

So, there’s no better way to begin than by simply beginning. So, today,I will begin with the beginning! Here are some highlights and my thoughts on what I have read so far:

Introduction

• The basis of Lance’s secret is his pure joy of living life and riding his bicycle.

• Lance’s approach to his sport and life is simple and clean.

Lance tends to live in the moment and does not get bogged down in complex psychological “issues”. Rather, his attitude is best summed up by his statement, “When it’s raining, I just put on my rain jacket and go.” How can we apply this to our own “bad weather” of our own lives? We might not be training for the Tour de France, but we all have stress that comes into our lives, unexpected crises, etc. Do you discipline yourself to write that next verse and just pick up your pencil and go, or do you get sidetracked and distracted with other issues and make excuses to waste time thinking about or worrying about things?

The Lance Success Factors

1. A Positive Attitude: He chooses to interpret past and present experiences in a positive manner. Note the emphasis on choice and free will. This resonates with the “psychology of mind” school of thought (also known as “health realization”) that says that the thoughts we think dictate the feelings we will experience and the best part is that we have the power to choose our thoughts. You don’t like how you are feeling? Think about something different!

2. Clarity of Purpose: Lance Armstrong knows what he wants and he makes the sacrifices needed to reach his goals.

3. Specialized Intelligence: You don’t need to know everything in the world, but you should hone your skills and deepen your knowledge about your chosen area.

4. Pure Confidence: There is an old fashioned way of achieving confidence and building a positive self image: Doing it! Work hard and achieve your goals and you will feel good about yourself and you won’t need others to tell you.

Well, that’s my all for this installment. You might want to get your own copy of the book and read along.

Aloha.

After only one month of being on ReverbNation, I have gone up in the artist rankings from something like 4000 out of 4000 to now in the top 5%! As of this morning, I am at # 230 out of 4073 in the Folk Artist category !