Monday Master Class: Luvvie Ajayi on getting comfortable being uncomfortable

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This presentation by Luvvie Ajayi is a short and powerful. This quote in particular made me fist pump while sitting alone in my office:

“In a world that wants us to walk around being representatives of ourselves, being yourself can be a revolutionary act. And in a world that wants us to whisper, I choose to yell.”

As artists we must be remarkable or worth remarking about. And blending in isn’t going to cut it.

Enjoy this TEM Monday Master Class!

Luvvie Ajayi isn't afraid to speak her mind or to be the one dissenting voice in a crowd, and neither should you. "Your silence serves no one," says the writ...

Monday Master Class: Oprah Winfrey on living in the moment, failure and purpose

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The powerful nuggets of wisdom come one after another in this week’s Monday Master Class featuring Oprah Winfrey. That wisdom resonates on two different levels for me.

One is just the information she shares in this week’s video. It is invaluable. She is encouraging us all to slow down and appreciate the moment. As I plug away at The Entrepreneurial Musician, TEM Coaching, The Brass Junkies, Hitz Academy, being a father, being a husband, being an artist, being a teacher, it can be hard to live in the moment! And every single one of you has a list just like mine!

The benefits of slowing down, taking a deep breath and being in the moment are backed up by science. It helps to clarify our purpose and mission. It helps us to execute that mission more succinctly. It helps us as artists. It helps us as humans.

Like many people, the lessons she imparts in this video are ones that I need to hear over and over again. Today I took a 4-mile hike by myself in the woods and stopped to meditate for 10 minutes next to a fast moving river. It was easy to be present under those conditions.

My problem is there’s a good chance I won’t take any time tomorrow to slow down and be present. In fact, if I’m not intentional about it I almost certainly won’t. That’s why watching things like this video from Oprah are so important for me. When I hear people like her speak so eloquently on the subject it forces me to take action in the best way possible.

The other level of this video is that Oprah Winfrey is such a talented speaker. This is a series of clips from different settings, from large speeches to one-on-one interviews. It is a masterclass in how to give a talk.

Because I have spoken to over 1,000 people probably a couple of thousand times in my career I am pretty darn good at it. But I ain’t Oprah level! I’m not even in the same area code as the same conversation of Oprah in that department. So I like to re-watch something like this video and just analyze her speaking skills.

The dynamics. The pacing. The inflection. What she emphasizes and what she doesn’t. It’s all so damn good and I have so much to learn from her.

I hope you enjoy this week’s installment of the TEM Monday Master Class!

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Monday Master Class: How to Evaluate Your Copy Quickly (Gill Andrews)

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The copy on your website (or in your pitch email, your social media or anywhere you have a public face) frequently makes all the difference between impacting a potential customer and not.

This is a 30-minute video that is packed with clear and actionable advice on how to write great copy.

You spend so much time on your music. It is crazy not to spend time learning the best possible words to describe your art or services. It can be the difference between someone interacting with what you’re putting into the world and not.

Monday Master Class: A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity (Tim Harford)

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From the description of author Tim Harford’s TED Talk:

What can we learn from the world's most enduringly creative people? They "slow-motion multitask," actively juggling multiple projects and moving between topics as the mood strikes -- without feeling hurried. Author Tim Harford shares how innovators like Einstein, Darwin, Twyla Tharp and Michael Crichton found their inspiration and productivity through cross-training their minds.

Master Class Monday: Quincy Jones

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I saw this video titled The Best Advice Quincy Jones Ever Got and clicked on it quickly.

While I love me a deep dive, I also love hearing one short, super impactful idea that keeps me thinking for a long time.

As you’re about to hear in this clip which totals less than 90 seconds, Quincy Jones shares some incredible wisdom that he got from the legendary Nadia Boulanger.

Enjoy!

How to summarize Quincy Jones' impact on modern music? You can't. But over the course of 60 years (80 Grammy nominations; 28 in the bag), Quincy's discograph...

Master Class Monday: Seth Godin on being a linchpin

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Here is the first (of many, I’m sure!) Master Class Monday’s featuring Seth Godin.

This is a talk that he gave at Catalyst 2010 that he recently featured on Akimbo. It is crazy how relevant all of it still is a full decade later!

Seth crams an awful lot of content into 51 minutes here.

One of my favorite parts is when he talks about competence no longer being a scarce commodity in the age of Google. That is only more true 10 years later.

Seth talks about creating a movement and that people will hate your movement.

He also talks about being a linchpin, about making yourself indispensable. The age of Google has done nothing to diminish the importance of being a linchpin and nothing ever will.

Master Class Monday: Dorrie Clark on how to overcome writer's block (or literally anything else!)

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“It needs to be good and it needs to be done. And those are different things than being perfect.”

—Dori Clark

For the latest Master Class Monday, this video addresses overcoming writer’s block in less than two minutes. You can substitute literally anything for writer’s block.

Don’t hide behind the fake excuse of being a “perfectionist.” I’ve done it many times myself. It is a lie you are telling yourself because you are scared you aren’t good enough.

You might not be. So you’d better get your next attempt out of your system and into the world as soon as possible. Because the only way to get to the fourth iteration of your website is to share the first three with the world.

Great advice from Dorie Clark!

Master Class Monday: Annie Duke on decision making

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Introducing Monday Master Class!

I am constantly searching for videos, podcast episodes, blog posts, really any content to keep me learning. I am now going to share one thing such thing each week on Mondays.

When I stop learning I get complacent. But like you, I am busy enough that it can be pretty easy for me to stop carving out the time needed to learn. That’s why I value people online who can curate things for me. When I am presented with great content, all I have to do is consume it. There’s no time tracking it down.

That’s what I’m going to attempt to do with this feature feature moving forward.

First up is former professional poker player Annie Duke. She wrote a book that comes highly recommended (I haven’t read it yet!) titled Thinking in Bets. (You can read Derek Sivers’ notes on the book here.)

One thing she says in this interview is that people frequently associate a good outcome with a good decision and she pushes back on that in a thoughtful way. Sometimes we can make a bad decision and because of luck it can turn out well.

Similarly, we can make a good decision (based on all available information at the time) and due to bad luck, the results can be bad. But that does not make it a bad decision.

She goes into detail and it really got me thinking about how I frame my decisions.

Also valuable in this video is her laying out how to ask people for advice, and specifically, how not to do so.

I found this video worth my time and hopefully you will too!

Last thing, I would love to get some suggestions for videos (can be longer YouTube clips like this or a 90-second IGTV clip from Instagram that you found especially thought-provoking. Ideally, I’d love for their to be a variety of long clips and short clips.

But if you have anything to share, please just shoot me an email to andrew@tem.fm and I might include it in a future Master Class Monday with a shout-out. Thanks!

Poker champion and author Annie Duke speaks with Prof. Adi Wyner on the "Thinking in Bets" panel at the 2019 Wharton Sports Business Summit. Learn more about...