Jay Shetty - Rick Rubin

1) Rick Rubin talks about his book "The Creative Act" and how someone can develop a creative mindset. Rubin discusses how developing habits and practicing meditation can help individuals be more curious and open-minded. He emphasizes the importance of understanding all sides of a story to truly understand it and encourages learning to argue points opposite to one's beliefs to gain a more complete perspective. Rubin admits to feeling less fearless in life than in the world of art, where he feels comfortable pushing boundaries and taking risks.

2) Rick talks about how creativity helps him navigate fear and change his attitude towards certain events in life. He shares a personal experience of overcoming his fear of centipedes and realizing that panic is a conditioned response. Rubin emphasizes that creativity is not limited to artists or academics, but something that everyone does every day, such as cooking or making a different decision than the day before. He believes that the biggest blocks to creativity are constructs in our minds and encourages readers to open themselves up to creativity through his book.

3) Get more sales if you write a different book and I said well if it's a devotional act the only way for me to write this book that I feel like I'm offering to God and making a true pure offering is to write the exact book that I'm imagining. So, going against trends and going against data can be a way of standing out and creating something new and fresh, which is often more memorable and impactful.

4) Rick Rubin and Jay Shetty discuss the challenges of staying true to one's vision when creating work, in the face of outside pressure or expectations. Rubin shares his experience with publishing his book, where publishers wanted him to write a different book than what he wanted to write, but he stuck to his vision and eventually found a publisher who wanted to publish the book he wanted to write. They also discuss how the sameness of things can be broken through changing the context, and how each person's unique life experiences can shape how they interpret the world. Rubio gives examples from his experience in music, where changing the context or how a song is performed can make it resonate more with people.

5) Rick explains how changing the meaning or backstory of a song's lyrics can help artists tap into the energy of the song. He gives an example of Johnny Cash changing the meaning of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to a devotional song to God, which helped him tap into the true emotion and vibration of the song. Rubin also shares various physical and tangible changes that artists can make to break the chain of sameness from performance to performance, such as turning off the lights, holding the microphone instead of standing in front of it, and hanging upside down while singing, which can all help to improve the performance. Rubin also suggests inviting an audience to observe the session, even if it's just one person, as it can help artists focus more on the performance.

6) Rick Rubin explains how observing art, no matter what the medium, offers the artist the opportunity to get feedback and improve their craft. The conversation also touches on how feedback is processed and the importance of having a grounded sense of self-confidence when taking criticism - it involves accepting that criticism says less about the work and everything about the person giving it.

7) Rick discusses the idea of comparing art using metrics such as awards shows. He argues that because everyone has their own personal relationship with music, there is no objective way to compare one album to another. The only meaningful competition is within oneself, to continually push artistic boundaries and avoid complacency. Rubin also touches on the challenges of procrastination and distraction in the creative process, noting that while distraction can be helpful in providing a change of scenery, sitting down and focusing is essential for producing quality work.

8) Rick talks about the benefits of walking meetings, as an experiment he conducted in an effort to lose weight. He found that walking meetings were much better than regular meetings as there was a change in context which made conversations more interesting, plus there's something about walking and not looking at someone that makes it easier to go into your own thoughts. He also refers to the idea of forward-facing when walking with someone, which creates a future.

9) Rick discusses the importance of submerging oneself in their crafts without distractions and how this is a natural characteristic of many great artists. He cites his work with comedians who perform every night for years as an example of this. Rubin also recalls his experience hearing a monk speak at 18 and how it resonated with him, leading him to later choose to spend time with the monk and learn from him about living in devotion through using one's gifts in the service of God and humanity.

10) Rick talks about how one person can have a major impact on an individual's life. He shares his own experience of meeting a monk during college, and how this meeting eventually led him to turn down corporate job offers and live with the monk for three years. Rubin also discusses how meditation has played a significant role in his life since he first learned it at 14, and recommends the book "Wherever You Go, There You Are" as an introduction to meditation. When asked about his greatest challenge in life, Rubin cites his struggle with weight and how he managed to lose 118 pounds.

11) Rick about ways to inspire others to tap into their creativity, and Rubin says that people do not like to be told what to do. The best way to inspire someone is by carrying oneself authentically and creatively in the world, which might inspire others to do the same. It's hard to teach someone something that one does not practice. Rubin also suggests that one's purpose in life could be different from one's job, and it's possible to support oneself in a job that is not one's passion while doing art or working on one's purpose outside of work. The pressure of having to support oneself could change one as an artist or creative, not for the better. It's necessary to give oneself permission to make art and realize that what one does is one's role or part in the giant symphony of life.

12) Rick discusses the myth that people who create things that we love are special. He went on to say that we are all just humans, and sometimes we find a way to make something beautiful. Rubin believes that we mistakenly think outward success will change something in us, but it does not. Success may make life more comfortable, but it does not change who we are. Rubin reflects on the first time he experienced success, which was when the Beastie Boys' album Licensed to Ill became number one. He received a call saying he had the number one album, but he responded by saying that he had never been more unhappy in his life.

13) Rubin discusses his avoidance of listening to music that he's worked on, except for certain instances where he uses it as a tool. He also touches on his practice of journaling about dreams and the benefits of this act of observation. Rubin offers practical advice for those who are interested in the process, such as keeping a pen and paper next to your bed and writing down whatever part of the dream you can remember before it disappears. Rubin explains how this practice helps tap into the subconscious and how, looking back on it with some distance, he has come to understand the abstracted reality that his subconscious presented to him.

14) Rick discusses the importance of following one's own intuition and inner guide. He shares a personal story about his heart surgery and how his intuition led him to discover that his anxiety before a heavy lift was related to his undiagnosed heart condition. Rubin advises that when our intuition tells us to do something, even if we don't understand why, we should listen because there's a lot more going on than our conscious mind can pick up. Additionally, Rubin notes that many people lose touch with their intuition over time and offers suggestions for how to tap back into it.

15) Rick shares his insights on receiving advice and trusting one's intuition. He cautions against solely relying on external advice and stresses the importance of listening to what's going on inside oneself. He also emphasizes that nobody really knows what's best, and it's better to approach things with an open mind rather than rigidly holding onto beliefs. He also promotes his new podcast, "Tetragrammaton," where he plans to go beyond musicians and delve into various topics.