Protocols to Access Creative Energy and Process | Rick Rubin
In this Q&A episode, world-renowned music producer Rick Rubin shares practical aspects of his creative process, daily routines, and mental models. He discusses overcoming creative blocks, sourcing ideas, interpreting dreams, and cultivating a balanced life, emphasizing a focus on the work itself over outcomes.
Deep Dive Analysis
24 Topic Outline
Introduction and Coherence Breathing Practice
Treading Water and Meditation Practices
Sunlight Exposure, Circadian Rhythm, and Natural Living
Diet, Weight Loss, and Health Philosophy
Artificial Intelligence, Childhood Activities, and Magic
Overcoming Creative Blocks and Self-Doubt
Comfort with Uncertainty and Project Management
Artist Sensitivity and Transmuting Pain
Professional Wrestling as a Metaphor for Life
Creative Endeavors: Process vs. Outcome
Resistance in Art and the Music Business
Sourcing and Capturing Ideas in the Digital Age
Dreams, Unconscious Mind, and Motivations
Career Advice and Book Writing Process
Audience Appeal and Innovative Ideas
Alcohol, Confidence, and Psychedelics
Creativity, Chaos, and Organization
News, Truth, and Belief Systems
Rick Rubin's Daily Routine and Light Hygiene
Creativity, Experience vs. Institutions, and Relationships
Book Recommendations and Ancestry in Creativity
Experiencing Music and Album Development
Music Videos and Visual Interpretation
Current Projects and Podcasting Approach
7 Key Concepts
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
HRV is a measure of the variation in time between heartbeats, and a higher HRV is generally considered a marker of better health and resilience. Specific breathing techniques can be used to increase it.
Meta Practice (Loving Kindness Meditation)
This meditation practice involves repeating four phrases: 'May I be filled with loving kindness? May I be well? May I be peaceful and at ease? May I be happy?' It can be expanded to include family, community, and eventually the planet.
Creative Blocks
Creative blocks are typically not a true lack of ideas but stem from internal self-judgment or external fear of judgment. They are based on made-up perceptions rather than an actual inability to create.
Diary Entry Approach to Art
This mental model suggests approaching all creative work as a personal reflection, like a diary entry. This removes the pressure of external judgment or outcome, allowing for honest and uninhibited creation.
Narrative Distancing
This concept refers to the ability to recognize something as a story or not real, like a movie. Giving up a little narrative distancing can enhance the experience of certain forms of entertainment, such as professional wrestling.
Expressive Writing
A journaling protocol developed by James Pennebaker where individuals write for 15 minutes a day for four days about the most challenging, upsetting, or traumatizing experience of their life. This practice has shown significant positive shifts in psychological and physiological health.
Cheap Photons
This term refers to the abundant and inexpensive blue light emitted by modern technology. Similar to nutrient-depleted calories, excessive or ill-timed exposure to these 'cheap photons' can negatively impact health, contributing to issues like the obesity and mental health crises.
17 Questions Answered
Meditation builds a base of internal benefits over time, like making a deposit in a bank, and its ultimate goal is to change how one functions and reacts in the real world, improving overall well-being.
Exposing the body to sunlight, especially in the morning, signals wakefulness, while darkness at night signals sleep. Wearing sunglasses or avoiding natural light during the day can confuse these signals, potentially leading to sleep issues and other health problems.
Rick Rubin is unsure about AI's role in art because he values the unique point of view of the human artist. He questions whether AI can develop its own point of view, which he considers essential for interesting art.
Creative blocks are often rooted in self-judgment or fear of external judgment. To overcome them, one should approach creation as a personal 'diary entry,' focusing on honesty and making something for oneself without outcome expectations.
Rick Rubin accepts uncertainty as the natural state of things, acknowledging that anxiety is present at the beginning of a project. He knows the work won't be finished until it feels right, which alleviates some pressure, and he avoids fighting against the universe if a project isn't flowing easily.
Rick Rubin focuses solely on the creative work itself and does not consider himself part of the 'entertainment industrial complex.' He delegates financial and logistical aspects to others, preferring to concentrate on making beautiful things.
Rick Rubin captures ideas by writing notes in his phone, though he admits he sometimes forgets what they mean later. He has not yet tried voice memos for this purpose.
Rick Rubin believes dreams can offer clues about the subconscious experience of life, acting as reflections rather than direct pointers. He has found that reviewing dream journals years later can reveal clear patterns related to past life experiences.
Rick Rubin's advice is to 'be true to yourself and not to listen to anyone.' This emphasizes authenticity and internal guidance over external opinions.
Rick Rubin tries not to think about money at all during the creative process. Coming from a punk rock, do-it-yourself background, he believes the idea and ingenuity are paramount, finding ways to make things with available means rather than letting financial boundaries hinder creation.
The early stage of the creative process is free, playful, and can be chaotic, allowing for experimentation and exploration without expectation. Once an interesting idea emerges, the process becomes more controlled and organized to refine and develop it.
Rick Rubin approaches all news like professional wrestling, viewing it as a story where the truth is often uncertain. He doesn't hold strong beliefs about the veracity of news stories, especially having personally experienced false information written about himself.
Rick Rubin views formal education as potentially obsolete for creative fields, suggesting that real-world experience, internships, or mentorship from practitioners might be a more effective use of time than institutional learning.
The ideal is for one's home and relationships to be a safe, supportive base, making work the most stressful part of life. Relationships thrive on honesty and mutual understanding, where partners are truthful about their perspectives, even in disagreement, to avoid living in separate realities.
Rick Rubin listens openly, focusing on whether the music makes him lean forward, sparks curiosity, or presents unexpected yet effective elements. He pays attention to the 'intention in the performance' from the very first sound, which often signals the quality of the piece.
Music videos can enhance a song, but they can also limit the listener's imagination by providing a specific visual interpretation. He believes that without a video, the poetry of the words allows listeners to participate more actively in creating their own mental world for the song.
Rick Rubin aims for an intimate, personal conversation, like overhearing a deep discussion between friends, rather than a performance for an audience. He asks questions based purely on his own interests, fostering a natural and comfortable environment, often by avoiding cameras.
39 Actionable Insights
1. Focus on Process, Not Outcome
Focus solely on making the best thing you can as a devotional practice, without thinking about the outcome during the creation process. Outcome-oriented thinking undermines the work and is a waste of energy, as the outcome is largely out of one’s control.
2. Overcome Creative Blocks
Identify the root cause of creative blocks, which are typically self-judgment (‘I’m not good enough’) or fear of external judgment (‘Nobody’s going to like it’). Addressing these underlying fears and judgments is crucial for unblocking the creative flow.
3. Treat Work as Diary Entry
Approach creative work as a personal diary entry, made for oneself without external expectations or judgment. This mindset fosters freedom, honesty, and eliminates blocks rooted in fear of judgment, allowing for authentic self-expression.
4. Be a Vessel for Ideas
View yourself as a vessel or a data analyst for ideas that come from outside the self, rather than the sole creator. This perspective fosters openness, reduces ego-driven blocks, and allows for tapping into a broader range of information and inspiration.
5. Protect Inner Landscape
Protect your inner landscape by curating the amount and type of stimulation in your life, including the people you surround yourself with. Excessive or unwanted stimulation can interfere with one’s ability to maintain a desired internal state and nurture internal life, which is crucial for creativity.
6. Honesty in Relationships
Practice radical honesty in relationships, clearly communicating your perceptions and feelings, even in disagreement. Truthfulness ensures both parties are operating from the same understanding of reality, fostering genuine connection rather than living in separate ‘worlds’ based on untruths.
7. Work as Primary Stressor
Strive to create a home and relationship environment that is a safe, stable, and supportive sanctuary. This allows work to be the primary source of stress or challenge, enabling one to be ‘fearless’ in artistic endeavors and take creative risks, while having a secure base to return to.
8. Implement Morning Routine
Start the day by waking up slowly, exposing skin to sunlight, engaging in physical activity (long walk or gym) within 1-1.5 hours, and incorporating stretching, while avoiding work-related tasks until 11 AM or later. This routine promotes a gradual wake-up, physical well-being, and protects the early morning hours from work-related stress, setting a calm tone for the day.
9. Evening Red Light Protocol
Implement an evening wind-down routine starting at sunset, using only red light (e.g., red glasses, red phone screen), avoiding stimulating work-related activities, and aiming for bed by 10 PM. To suppress cortisol, facilitate natural sleep onset, and avoid the disturbing effects of bright blue light exposure at night, leading to better sleep.
10. Prioritize Morning Sunlight
Get sunlight signals to the eyes at least once a day in the morning, and also in the evening, without sunglasses. To properly signal the body for wakefulness and sleep, as the contrast of blues and oranges/reds at low solar angles triggers the body’s understanding of morning and evening, which is critical for circadian rhythm.
11. Practice Coherence Breathing
Practice coherence breathing at 6 breaths per minute, aiming for 10-20 minutes, once or twice a day, typically with eyes closed. This practice is used to increase heart rate variability (HRV), which Rick Rubin found effective in his own practice.
12. Practice Metta Meditation
Practice Metta meditation by repeating phrases like ‘May I be filled with loving kindness, may I be well, may I be peaceful and at ease, may I be happy,’ starting with oneself and gradually extending it to family, community, and the planet over years. This cultivates loving kindness and expands compassion, building an internal ‘charge’ that spreads outwards.
13. Use Expressive Writing
Practice expressive writing by dedicating 15 minutes a day for four days to write about the most challenging, upsetting, or traumatizing experience of your life. This specific journaling technique has been shown to lead to significant positive shifts in psychological well-being, physiological health, and immune function.
14. Continuously Update & Adapt
Be willing to update and adapt your practices, beliefs, and lifestyle based on new information and personal experience. Approaching life with a ‘I know nothing’ mindset allows for experimentation and continuous improvement, discarding what doesn’t work and adopting what does.
15. Cultivate Open-Mindedness
Cultivate open-mindedness, allow yourself to be surprised, and hold all beliefs loosely. A narrow belief system limits the information and data points available for creative work, whereas openness allows for more inspiration.
16. Prioritize Draft Completion
When writing a book or similar long-form project, prioritize getting a complete draft down before focusing on individual details or refinements. Getting the whole project down first prevents getting bogged down in early details, which can hinder completion and overall progress.
17. Release What You Love
Release creative work that you genuinely like, regardless of whether you think it will appeal to a mainstream audience or what critics say. Personal judgment of what is good is the only reliable guide, as external opinions often predict failure for innovative work.
18. Innovate Creative Solutions
When faced with a creative problem or a task that doesn’t align with your comfort zone, seek innovative solutions that are true to yourself and elevate the task. This approach can transform a perceived limitation into a unique and enjoyable feature, leading to unexpected creative breakthroughs.
19. Prioritize Ideas Over Money
Prioritize the idea and its execution, finding ingenious ways to create with available means rather than letting financial boundaries dictate what can be made. The idea is the primary driver, and ingenuity can overcome financial limitations, often leading to a more authentic and real project.
20. Embrace Minimalist Creation
Adopt a minimalist approach to creation, utilizing the means currently available. This approach can add authenticity and a ‘real’ quality to the project, potentially leading to better outcomes than projects with excessive resources.
21. Journal for Emotional Release
Engage in regular journaling (1-8 handwritten pages) to release frustrations, anxieties, or other emotions. This process helps clear one’s system, preventing emotional ‘clogging,’ and allows one to approach the day with a clearer mind.
22. Question All Information
Approach news and information about world affairs with skepticism, treating it like pro wrestling where you never truly know what’s real. This mindset helps in navigating potentially unreliable information, fostering a more accurate sense of the world by not blindly believing narratives.
23. Cultivate Childlike Wonder
Strive to maintain a childlike sense of wonder and openness, seeing things without prior indoctrination. This perspective allows for experiencing magic and discovery, preventing scientific explanations from ‘ruining’ the wonder.
24. Delegate Non-Creative Tasks
Delegate or avoid involvement in aspects of a project that are not directly related to the creative act itself, such as finances or negotiations. This maintains focus on making the ‘beautiful thing in the moment’ and prevents distractions from the creative process.
25. Embrace Multiple Projects
Work on multiple projects simultaneously and don’t force a project if it’s not flowing easily; allow ideas to come to fruition in their own time. Fighting against the natural flow of a project can be counterproductive; having multiple projects allows one to shift focus to where the ‘universe is helping.’
26. Use Internet Wisely
Leverage the internet as a vast source of information and creative material, but be mindful of information overload and the effort required for curation. To benefit from the accessibility of information while avoiding the pitfalls of constant decision-making and sorting, sometimes preferring curated experiences.
27. Prefer Wired Headphones
Consider using wired headphones or air tube headphones instead of Bluetooth headphones. To avoid potential health concerns like lymph swellings and heat effects experienced by Rick Rubin, and to minimize exposure to electromagnetic signals near the head.
28. Keep Phone Out Bedroom
Remove your phone from the bedroom and consider turning off Wi-Fi at night. To improve sleep quality and reduce potential disturbances from electromagnetic fields.
29. Live Naturally, Eat Clean
Live as naturally as possible, minimizing processed foods, consuming grass-fed animals, and using few products that aren’t naturally derived. To promote overall health and well-being by aligning with natural processes and avoiding artificial substances.
30. Consider High-Protein, Low-Carb
If struggling with weight and health, consider a high-protein, low-calorie, low-carb diet, potentially including healthy red meat, but recognize that different diets work for different people. Rick Rubin successfully lost 135 pounds and improved his health with this approach after finding a vegan diet unhealthy for him.
31. Practice TM Meditation
Practice Transcendental Meditation (TM) as a default meditation setting, allowing it to evolve into other practices like breathing, gratitude, or Metta. It builds a base of benefits over time, with the goal of changing one’s way of being in the world and improving reactions in real-world situations.
32. Practice Treading Water
Practice treading water regularly. It’s a specific form of exercise that improves with practice and leads to quick acclimation and increased endurance.
33. Set Triple Click Red Screen
Configure your smartphone for a ’triple click’ shortcut to switch the screen to red light mode at night. To easily reduce blue light exposure from your phone in the evening, which helps with sleep and overall well-being.
34. Listen for Musical Intention
When listening to music, pay attention to the very first sound for the ‘intention in the performance.’ This initial impression can reveal a lot about the piece and its potential impact, guiding critical listening.
35. Avoid Unprepared Critical Listening
Refrain from critically evaluating music or other creative works when you are not feeling well or cannot be fully present and open. To ensure a fair and receptive assessment, as one’s internal state can significantly impact the perception of art.
36. Podcast as Overheard Conversation
When podcasting or engaging in similar public conversations, aim for an intimate, personal dialogue driven by genuine curiosity, as if no one else is listening. This approach fosters a unique sense of intimacy and authenticity for the listener, making them feel like they are ‘overhearing a personal conversation.’
37. No Performance in Podcasting
When engaging in conversations, especially those being recorded, strive for a natural, unperformed experience by minimizing elements (like cameras) that remind you of being recorded. To facilitate a more comfortable, open, and genuine conversation, allowing for deeper and more authentic interaction.
38. Podcast Success: Follow Passion
To create a successful podcast or similar creative endeavor, focus on having conversations and talking about topics you genuinely love and are passionate about. Authenticity and passion resonate with an audience, making the content more engaging and effective.
39. Be True to Yourself
For aspiring creatives (e.g., comedians), focus on being true to yourself and disregard external opinions or advice. Authenticity is paramount, and listening to others can undermine one’s unique gift.
7 Key Quotes
The goal of the practice is less about the practice. It's about the practice is to change the way you are in the world.
Rick Rubin
I try to live in as natural way as possible. I try to eat as few processed foods as possible, try to eat grass-fed animals, and I use hardly any products of any kind, you know, that aren't just something that grows or lives on the planet.
Rick Rubin
The blocks are all based on dealing with a different force or a different perception that is made up.
Rick Rubin
Any thought you have about outcome undermines the whole thing.
Rick Rubin
Everything in the vessel is coming from somewhere else. It's not, it's not your creation. You're the, it's like you're the sculptor or the, you're the data analyst.
Rick Rubin
The home is the safe place from which you can go out and be a warrior and do all these great things and these crazy things.
Rick Rubin
If someone's not telling the truth, then each person is experiencing a different understanding of the world. They're living in two different worlds.
Rick Rubin
5 Protocols
Rick Rubin's Coherence Breathing Practice
Rick Rubin- Close eyes.
- Follow a guided breath cadence of 6 breaths per minute (5 seconds inhale, 5 seconds exhale).
- Count breaths to stay occupied and focused (e.g., 'one-one, one-two, one-three, one-four, one-five, one-six, two-one...').
Meta (Loving Kindness) Meditation Practice
Rick Rubin- Start by repeating the four phrases: 'May I be filled with loving kindness? May I be well? May I be peaceful and at ease? May I be happy?'
- After about a year of practice, extend the phrases to include immediate family: 'May we (my family) be filled with loving kindness?'
- After another year, extend to your community.
- Eventually, after approximately five years, extend the practice to the entire planet.
Rick Rubin's Morning Routine
Rick Rubin- Wake up slowly and go outside into the sun, exposing as much skin as possible.
- Within 1 to 1.5 hours of waking, engage in physical activity such as a long beach walk or a gym session.
- Perform stretching exercises, potentially using yoga mats, foam rollers, or balls.
- Avoid any work-related activities or thoughts until at least 11 AM, or even 1 PM on some days.
Rick Rubin's Evening Wind-Down Routine
Rick Rubin- From sunset onwards, wear red-lens glasses and ensure the environment is lit only with red light.
- Avoid looking at screens; if using a phone, ensure it's set to a red screen mode.
- Spend time at home with family, engaging in conversation or watching non-stimulating content like wrestling or documentaries with red glasses on.
- Eat dinner.
- Find an activity to occupy the mind that helps transition out of work mode, avoiding stimulating work calls or tasks.
- Aim to be in bed by 10 PM to fall asleep within 15 minutes.
Expressive Writing Protocol (Pennebaker)
Andrew Huberman- Choose the most challenging, upsetting, or traumatizing experience of your life.
- Write about this experience for 15 minutes a day.
- Repeat this writing exercise for four consecutive days, or four days spread out over a week.