Some days will be filled with enormous Triumph.

Some days will be rife with Disaster.

But Rudyard Kipling reminds us that, “if [we] can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same…[ours] is the Earth, and all that’s in it”.

So long as the trajectory of your life is positive; so long as the mention of your name lightens the spirits of others and brings smiles of cheer and gladness to their lips; so long as the outcome of your life is the increase of Goodness throughout the world: do not despair over the days rife with Disaster.

Instead, content yourself with the knowledge that, though you have often fallen short, still there is some Good in the world, nourished in part by you and your works.

Be sure not to take any day - whether Triumph or Disaster - for granted.

Be grateful for each and every day, for each is another chance to do Good in the world.

Some time ago, I heard an accomplished weight lifter describe how he was able to achieve his extraordinary results.

Instead of gritting his teeth and “pushing” for maximum physical effort during his weight training sessions, he would imagine that the weights had balloons tied to them. He would still be lifting weights at the extremes of his ability, but his imagination would make them feel feather-light.

Of course, the actual weight would be unchanged. But he argued that the sensation and mindset of lifting something easily was much more effective than imagining a Herculean effort to lift this huge, hulking iron mass. Supposedly, this made his training more powerful and enabled him to lift significantly more weight than others without injury.

At the time, I thought it was a cute sentiment, but essentially another “athletic visualization” practice, a “mind over matter” issue.

Yesterday, however, I learned another principle, one that would suggest that our lifter friend was really onto something.

The principle is called The 85% Rule, and I first heard about it in Tim Ferriss’s 2020 interview with Hugh Jackman.

The idea behind the 85% Rule is that, if you perceive that you’re giving only 85% of your maximum effort, you can get objectively better results - faster, stronger, further, etc. - than when you picture yourself giving 100% effort, because at 100% effort, you introduce unnecessary straining, tension, and inefficiency, both mentally and physically.

Based on my personal experiences, in sports, trivia competitions, and especially, piano-playing, this makes sense.

When you try too hard, you end up getting in your own way. Better to relax a little bit and trust that your training and instincts will take over and lead you to excellence.

Today, during my workout, I imagined that there were little balloons helping me lift the weights during each rep.

And by golly, I feel like a got a better workout, without all the strain and tension of trying so hard.

Sure, it’s anecdotal and just what I happened to be feeling in the moment.

But isn’t my life (and everyone’s, for that matter) nothing more than a series of anecdotes and momentary feelings?

So try it out for yourself sometime. Instead of giving 100% effort (or 110%, as many driven coaches seem to encourage), shoot for higher performance.

Shoot for 85%.

Good luck! Let us know what you find out.

All unhappiness is caused by comparison.

If you have the safety and time to ponder the question, then…

Nothing is missing.

Sometimes we feel like we must have something or other, to which I say again:

All unhappiness is caused by comparison.

Just a short reminder from a friend.

Sometimes you create something, and then your dog eats it. Or your kids draw all over it.

Or sometimes, you press the wrong key, and the blog post you’ve just finished writing disappears into the ether.

No matter.

There are a million ideas waiting to be written about and shared.

You see, I’m incredibly wealthy.

I’m a Time Billionaire.

…

What does that mean?

Well, it means that I have a billion seconds left in my life. Probably even TWO billion.

For some perspective, consider this:

A million seconds ≈ 11 days

A billion seconds ≈ 31 years.

So…yeah, I’ve probably got a couple of billion seconds ahead of me.

I’m very grateful and very excited.

I hope you are, too.

I’ve probably blogged about this before; I know it’s an idea that I contemplate often.

The idea is: If I know two Things about you and can guess a third Thing correctly…then you might be living out someone else’s boring stereotype.

Nothing wrong with being boring.

But I’m personally less curious about the Ivy League grad from my hometown who moved to NYC and works in investment banking, and I’m much more curious about the former Broadway pianist who survived Stage III cancer and became a city planner in SoCal.

I’m less curious about the dancer who loves yoga and being vegan, and I’m more curious about the physician who swam the 20.5-mile Catalina Channel and trains in archery and race car driving.

All of these are real people, equally imbued with human dignity, value, strength, and worth.

It’s just that I find some stories more interesting than others. It makes me want to write an interesting story myself.

Whatever your story is, I hope it brings light to your life and nourishment to your soul.

Pat Demain passed away a few days ago, after many years of living with complications from Type II Diabetes Mellitus.

He was a great musician and an even better guy. Somehow, he reminded me of my dad - probably because they both lived in Hawai’i for important parts of their lives.

In January of 2018, I had the privilege of playing a show with Pat at the Super Summer Theater Studios. The show was called A Baby Boomers’ Toast to Broadway, and it featured Lee Sanpei on drums, as well as Pat’s wife, Joy, and the Giocomos, a family of star performers who’ve played houses all over, from Broadway to Las Vegas.

In doing just that one show, Pat taught me so much about music, and jazz, especially. He even gave me my first copy of The New Real Book, a must-have in every jazz musician’s library. I still use it today, and I cherish it as a symbol of Pat’s generosity, artistry, and friendship.

When I asked him about how he’d learned to be such a great musician, Pat told me about studying with Dick Grove at his School of Arranging (a very prestigious pedigree, to be sure), and writing music for local TV in Hawai’i. Pat was the first person to teach me about SMPTE code, which is used in film and TV music to synchronize music with video.

Pat was a brilliant arranger. As far as I know, some of his charts are still being played by the Hawai’i Symphony to this day.

About a year or so after the show we played together, my fiancé and I ran into Pat and Joy at one of our favorite local restaurants, and we ended up sharing a lovely meal together. I thought it was pretty funny how he and I had similar tastes in breakfast food.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was the last time I would see my friend.

In the end, what I loved most about Pat wasn’t his musicianship - though I did say to myself, “Wow - I hope I can play jazz like Pat one day…”

No, in the end, what I loved most about Pat was simply that he was a great guy he was to be around - fun, genuine, and kind.

I’m so grateful for the time I spent with Pat, and I know I’m a better musician and a kinder person for it.

Thank you for everything, Pat. God bless you always.

…and I’m happy to say that I’ve learned (and re-learned) a lot!

• Christin re-taught me how to properly play a glass bottle (my upper lip technique is still a work in progress)

• I learned how to interpret EKG strips (P wave, QRS complex, T wave, PR interval, QT interval…all that jazz - and don’t forget, the little boxes represent .04 seconds, which means the larger boxes are .2 seconds)

• I re-learned how Tyrosine Kinase Receptors work in the body, and reviewed the basics of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway.

• I also re-learned that I get easily distracted online.

All in all, a good morning, I’d say.

Cheers to the afternoon!
-db

“FIGJAM: Fuck, I’m Good; Just Ask Me.”

Shared by David Yarrow on The Tim Ferriss Show.