podcasts

On Just Getting Started

I've been listening to the Back to Work podcast with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin for years. The show was one of the early podcasts that made me fall in love with the format, and start subscribing to more and more shows.

The show is typically about productivity, life hacks, Apple and more. On Back to Work episode 430, Merlin did a solo podcast and mainly talked about his new obsession with painting D&D figures with his kid.

His kid was eager to start painting right away, without hesitation or worry about the model not looking good enough. At the same time, Merlin was trying to watch numerous videos, double thinking how it would go, and hindering having fun - and ultimately stopping his inner creative(hi buzzwords!) from getting going.

I think it's a great introspective episode to listen to. The main takeaway that I got from it, is to just start. This of course applies to guitar and many other things in life. It's great to have a plan, but it's also excellent to just start and figure out what'll happen on the way.

I also listened to a new episode of Dialog, in which hosts Federico and John talk to musician Frank Turner. In the episode Frank has lots of great advice for getting started, staying inspired (to write music) on the road, not caring about what people think, and lots more. Dialog's first season is all about different types of writers, and is turning out to be a great show.

While both these podcasts don't typically revolve around music, I think the 2 hours spent listening to them, is time well spent!