Lessons on Creativity with Rick Rubin

I don't look at the

outside very much I look Inward and try

to focus

on what do I feel what am I seeing in

the hopes that by sharing what's going

on in me it maybe resonates with someone

else I can't predict what someone else

would

like and I don't think anybody can so if

I'm true authentically true to myself

that's the best chance of someone else

liking something people like to be

accepted people want to be accepted and

I'm suggesting in the book that the the

best way to be accepted is to be

yourself it's not it's not to change

yourself to what someone else thinks

first of all you don't really know what

someone else

thinks and if you're not genuine to

yourself there's there's like nothing

nothing is there it's just a projection

or a mask it's not true in a sea of

information the more yours is is

personal the more it's not like hers or

his or theirs it's it's yours yeah there

are these different points of view

around us if we're all thinking the same

thing it's boring why would we make

anything if everyone thinks the same

thing what makes us interesting are the

differences and even even the

imperfections the imperfections are what

makes us humans what makes us what we

are as we get new information

we have to evolve how can we how can we

live in an old belief if you believe the

same thing that you believed 20 years

ago about everything I I don't know that

you're living you know there's so much

middle of the

road and it doesn't interest me I want

it because it's

louder

quieter

softer harder it's pushing some boundary

that's why I take notice it's not more

of the same it's not just

another it's the one that makes you like

you stop and did I really hear that did

I really see that what's going on here

you know you see a movie where you have

to lean forward and pay attention like

what's

happening it's not just the audience's

hand is being held and walk through a

story simply I like the um the

complexity and difficulty that forces me

as the viewer to participate in what's

going on I'm not just being uh carried

along you know if I like it that doesn't

mean anything that's what people think

it's like just because I like it that

doesn't give it any value it's like as

an artist if you like it that's all of

the value that's the success comes when

you say I like this enough for other

people to see it not other people like

it so it's successful that doesn't mean

anything because that's other people

liking it is out of your control all

that's in your control is making the

thing to the best of your ability I talk

about it usually the way I talk about it

is greatness and that's the way I

thought of it my whole life was my

interest is in making something great

greatness lasting greatness Timeless and

I came to realize recently it's all an

offering to God and if you're making an

offering to God you're not thinking

about oh what's the budget or I hope I

hope these this segment of the audience

is going to like it we don't we don't

think like that it's a higher

vibration we're making the best we can

make to the best of our ability out of

love and devotion that's what it is and

there is

no I'm changing it for someone else

because it can't be better than this

devotional act that we're doing there is

no higher no higher form most of the

artists I work with don't read any any

criticism or review they work good or

bad most some some do and I would say

the ones who are the strongest in who

they are can even read a terrible review

and laugh at it and that makes sense

because when someone gives you criticism

it's telling you as much about who they

are as what you've made it's like we

make things and then we make it with

one through our filter our perspective

and and then you receive it through your

filter with your perspective so even if

we both like it we probably don't like

it the same way for the same reasons we

all have our own relationship to it

everyone has their own relationship to

it so any of these metrics of which is

better like the idea of the Oscars or uh

the Grammys where we're saying which

which album is better than another it

doesn't make any sense to me because

it's always apples and oranges the only

people who we can honest compete with is

ourselves it's like is this the best I

can make today have I gone further than

I've gone before that's all we can do

that's the only competition that makes

sense is continuing to evolve and push

ourselves artistically and not get

complacent especially in success it's

easy to get complacent once something

works it's like I'll just keep doing

more of that it ends up maybe one more

time you can get away with it but once

three are similar it stops being

interesting it's the obsessive nature of

being really into something that um once

you start down a a thread you just keep

pulling forever if you're interested

many of the artists that that that are

great at what they do are great at what

they do for that very reason they fall

in love with this thing and then they

just want to know everything they could

possibly learn about it um and there are

no distractions I'm working on a project

now uh a documentary project with

Comedians and one of the things that

they talk about is their commitment like

when other people are doing things on

the weekend going out with their friends

they're going to perform every you know

every night that they can possibly go

out and perform until they can get good

at their craft and this could be for a

period of you know 10 years of just

having bad performances you know having

people not like what you do like banging

your head against the wall but that

obsession with breaking through and when

I say breaking through I don't mean

breaking through to the audience I mean

breaking through with themselves to

where they get

past all of the uh blocks and to be free

in this moment in a way where they

can really Express their views and be

heard and people can

react uh it's it's it's a fascinating

thing well I think in general people

don't like to be told what to do so the

best way that you can Inspire someone to

do something is through the way that you

carry yourself and if you if you act in

a creative way in the world and you do

it to the best of your ability and if

someone else recognizes it it might

Inspire them to do the same so I think

it's hard to teach someone something

that we don't practice we have to

practice it maybe your purpose in life

isn't related to your

job maybe your job is your job and the

job is the thing that supports you and

then the rest of your waking hours are

devoted to your purpose whatever that is

if you need to have a job to support

yourself that's great that's a noble

thing to

do and follow your

dreams but I'm I'm not saying they're

one thing they don't have to be one

thing and don't let following your

dreams undermine your ability to support

yourself it could do it could actually

do the opposite if you decide I want to

be a comedian and I'm putting all my

eggs in the comedian basket and I'm

going to be a comedian the pressure of

having to support support yourself will

change you as a comedian not for the

better you you want the stability of

being able to take care of yourself in

the world to be free to do whatever your

passion is whatever it is I think think

there's a mythology that the people who

make things that we love are special

people and that we think that they're

you know the people on Mount Olympus and

there are these magic people who are

geniuses and then there's the rest of us

and that's not the case it's like we're

all just people we're all doing our best

we all are good at some things not good

at other things we're humans and

sometimes we find a way to make

something

beautiful and and the call came how do

you you feel you have the number one

album in the country and I remember

saying I've never been more unhappy in

my

life and uh and I think

we mistakenly think some kind of outward

success is going to change something in

us and it does

not it may make life more comfortable

but it doesn't change who we are and any

uh hole in ourselves that we're hoping

to fill

does not get filled and

if you spend let's say you spend 20

years of your life working towards a

goal that's going to solve

everything and then you finally achieve

what you've been trying to do for 20

years toiling away I I won't have any

fun and because I'm working for 20 years

to for this end and then you get that

end and nothing

changes that's when you get hopeless so

it's not uncommon to see very successful

artists who are very unhappy in life

because they're working towards this the

thing that's going to make them feel

better and it does not make them feel

better I'm sure you've got to meet many

very successful business people you

billionaire people very few of them are

happy very few and they've reached their

they've accomplished their dreams MH and

are unhappy because we don't know what

we want you know we don't know what's

going to make us happy we're trying to

fill something that maybe can't be

filled through material or uh cultural

success public success it's something

else it's some internal thing don't do

things just because you think you're

going to get something for it that's not

why we do things do what's interesting

to you follow what's interesting don't

worry about the outcome yeah we don't

know we we can't predict the outcome we

can never predict the outcome follow

your own inner guide it directs us it

might not make might not make sense to

us might not make sense to anyone else

certainly won't make sense to anyone

else but it might not even make sense to

us and that's okay it's fine yeah listen

to yourself why is it telling you this

there are levels of wisdom that we don't

know we don't understand so when you

have an intuition to to take the stairs

instead of the elevator

or I always go home this way but today

for some reason I feel like going this

other way yeah or maybe I'm going to

cross the street and walk on that side

of the street whatever it is whatever

little intuitions in your body that come

listen to them see what happens be open

to there's more going on than we know

there's a lot more than our conscious

mind can can pick up going on the the

wisest thing we can do is know enough to

know we don't know yeah if you start

from maybe maybe that's true it could

work who knows yeah not hold anything so

firm as this is the way it is I know how

it is anytime you know how it is your

world just got a lot smaller yeah tiny