C'mon Mike, this sounds too good to be true!

Look, I totally get it. There's GOT to be a catch - right?

In the image above, that expression on my face says it all. THAT'S how shocked I was.

So you're understandably skeptical. 
But hear me out.
Once you understand where it came from, you'll get how it works. 

Because in hindsight, this new mechanism makes complete sense...

When I made 524 pieces of music in 17 months, my music was anywhere but the forefront of my focus. Mostly, it was an afterthought.

Every day I’d have thousands of to dos for my coaching business and run out of time. Day after day I'd end up with max 30 minutes before I'd have to stop to make dinner for my wife and little boys...

So I’d slam out a quick session without thought or effort. I was tired, often bored and tbh I was calling it in.

This was as far from "deliberate practice" as you can go!

Sure - I was doing it, which is a win, but it felt like I was spinning my wheels. As if my music was firmly stuck on the back burner.

Between you and me. I'm amazed I kept going for so long!

And the reason I stopped this practice (at the end of February 2022) was because I believed I was going nowhere fast...I thought I could do with a break.

How WRONG I was!

A few weeks later I had to find some music for some new videos I was making. And as I had 524 pieces of music I could use for free immediately, I decided to take a listen back.

What I found blew my mind...

The quality of the music I was hearing had no correlation with the periods I was "in the doldrums".

(These were most of the time!)

Similarly, when I had more time, more focus, more excitement and energy DID NOT produce better music!

By no means was the improvement a straight line up. Just like all improvement, it was bumpy.

But where I ended up was with WAY BETTER music. And the inevitable leaps in quality tended to be when I WAS NOT excited. The most progress was being made when I invested LESS time.

In short, the less I thought I was doing, the quicker the improvement.

So what the heck is going on?

I know this makes no sense on first reading.

It didn't to me. But then, the penny dropped...

You see, when I was in the doldrums, and had almost zero time or energy, I admit I did beat myself up.

I felt guilty that my music which was so important to me had become an afterthought.

So to feel better, I developed a repeating process before and after a session.

Much of this process I could do in a few minutes on my phone anywhere. So I'd often do the "after" bit on my phone when I was cooking the sausages for the boys dinner.

Over months (and 100s of sessions), I developed, distilled and refined this process...

I made it quicker, easier but also more potent.

It was as if the lack of time I could invest in making music was creating the conditions where I HAD to make what little time I had COUNT.

And what I was doing every day had an unexpected and unintended effect...

I thought my music was on the back burner.

But it wasn't...it was somewhere else entirely...

IT WAS IN MY BACK BRAIN.

Day after day, I was accidentally sending the “how to improve my music problem” to my unconscious processing.

(I like to call this my "back brain".)

Ever had that thing where you are completely stuck on a problem, and have no idea how you're going to solve it?

Then next day it's obvious?

Or it comes to you in the shower?

Or (if you're anything like me) on the toilet?

(I now call the loo the “Throne of Wisdom”)

That’s your back brain at work.

By definition we're not conscious of what our unconscious mind is doing. So we ignore what it can do and automatically does.

Instead we believe (and so ensure) that the ONLY way we can improve is by trying harder...

Spending more time. More effort. More MONEY.

Of course, hard work, deliberate practice and killer gear result in better music.

If you can afford them, and know how to use them.

But what if you can't?

What if you don't have the time?

The energy?

The money?

By using the alternative I've just discovered...

Engage your back brain!

You see, you CAN enjoy life while producing lots of music by practising the FAST Splurge...