Spoon-Fed Advice
You see it in book reviews all the time:“Didn’t give me the exact steps.”
“Not actionable enough.”
“Didn’t solve my problem.”
This is what happens when people expect life to be lived for them. The hope that someone else will hand over the perfect answer, tailored to your life, goals, timing, and temperament.
But someone else’s notes won’t work for you.
You’re Playing a Different Song
Imagine I’m playing a song on my guitar, and you’re playing a completely different song.If I hand you my notes and say, “Play it like this,” it won’t match your rhythm, your chords, or your melody. At best, it’ll sound off. At worst, it’ll paralyze you.
But if you look a level deeper — into the patterns, the methods, the principles — you might notice something worth adapting.
You already have a map since you have been living for sometime. Don’t just throw it away just because someone else good at branding, marketing and manipulation told you to do so.
Tesla’s spare parts don’t fit a Toyota.
Trying to bolt on someone else’s answers can mean:You struggle endlessly with the mismatch and friction OR
You contort yourself trying to be a version of them — a clone
Instead, step back and study the music — the rhythm, the structure, the progressions — you might find something useful. Something useful for your own music.
Ask: “What here could I adapt to play my song better?”
Passive learning has its problems, mimicry has its pitfalls, and we need some first-principles thinking.
One of the pieces of advice I remember from my psychologist family friend is: Even if it is your loving uncle, if he tries to give you shit, don’t take it.
Go to first principles
So with this book, as with any book, method, course, or coach — ask:“What version of this — if any — is valid for me?”
“Which levers based on my life can I control to make this work for me?”