Alright, it’s the start of the week, so, as always, let’s kick it off as strong as we possibly can. Grab a coffee, find a quiet corner, lock in with me, and let’s get into this…
You know I love my reading. At the moment, my early morning reading is a book called ‘This Is Earl Nightingale’, given to me by my wife’s 90-year-old nana, Helen.
This book is already very special to me and means a lot for a couple of reasons…
Firstly, because I’m a big fan of Earl! I have been for years!
And secondly, it was her late husband Peter’s book – my wife’s grandad.
This was an original copy that Peter purchased back in 1969, when it was first pressed, that he kept beside his bed and read a page from every night.
Unfortunately, Peter is no longer with us, but I always got on well with him. As we got to know each other over the years, we realised we had quite a lot in common – specifically when it comes to business and personal development. Very cool.
For those that don’t already know, Earl was a radio broadcaster from the 50s, and one of my all-time favourite thought leaders and public speakers. He also put out one of the most inspiring pieces of audio ever made, called ‘The Strangest Secret’. That recording actually became the first spoken-word record to go gold, purely off the demand from his audience after he read it out over the airwaves.
As a side note, I highly recommend going and listening to The Strangest Secret, (after you’ve read this newsletter, of course), and really lock in to what he is saying. This audio had a profound impact on me years ago, and I still go back to it often to this day!
Anyway, in the chapter ‘Goals’, Earl mentions a 12 point list around the idea of success. I quite liked it.
It’s called the ’12 Priceless Qualities of Success’, loosely credited to a man named Marshall Field, an American businessman from way back in the early 1900s. Yes, this thing is over 100 years old!
So here’s the list –
I love these sorts of big ideas! Especially the early and historical stuff. And I can’t read something like this without immediately thinking about how it applies to us drummers too. Well, not just drummers, but musicians and creatives in general.
It’s just how my brain works!
So, what I’ve done today is pull out a handful of my favourites and shift the context onto the kit, to make them a little more relevant to us right now.
The goal? To help us all stay locked in and focused that little bit more, each and every day. As you know, we need all the help we can get, and it all adds up!
Let’s get stuck in…
1. The value of time.
This one’s first for a reason.
You will never have more time than you do right now. That’s just a fact. And every day you tell yourself you’ll start tomorrow, is a day you never get back.
I’m not saying this to stress you out. I’m saying it because once this clicks with you, it’s actually quite liberating. When you really start to understand that time is finite, and this is it, you tend to stop wasting it on rubbish.
It becomes much easier to make the switch from doing nothing, to doing something productive. To not just think about it, but actually sit down and start doing the work. Not tomorrow. Not when things ‘calm down’. Today. Do it now!
Learn to value your time, because it’s the one thing you can never get back.
2. The success of perseverance.
Perseverance, or ‘pushing through’, isn’t glamorous. It’s the reps. It’s the work.
It’s showing up on the days you don’t feel like it, not just the ones you do. It’s the 400th rep of a pattern or idea that still isn’t quite sitting right. An idea that’s not yet at the world-class standard we’re aiming for. So? Well keep going!
It’s that consistent and relentless standard of daily work we put in when nobody’s watching.
That’s where all the magic happens. That’s the good stuff. The player you want to become is just on the other side of the many boring reps that most people just aren’t willing to do.
So here’s my advice. Don’t be like ‘most people’. Show up, especially when it’s boring, because that’s usually the stuff that really moves the needle. The stuff that truly counts.
3. The worth of character.
Here’s something to think about… Who you are in the practice room is actually who you are everywhere. It’s all connected. It ALL relates.
Look, the drums don’t care about your excuses. Nobody does. They don’t care that you’re tired, that you’re busy, or that you had a rough day, that your laptop died, that your car broke down, or that your kid has hives… We’ve all been there, and trust me, there’s plenty more to come. It’s simple. You either choose to put the work in or you don’t, and the kit shows the truth every time you sit down.
I say this to all my students, but your playing immediately tells me everything I need to know about how you chose to show up and apply yourself.
It’s a tough pill, I know. But it’s actually a gift! Because every rep you push through when you’d rather be doing anything else, you’re not just building a skill on the kit, you’re actually building a strong character in general, too. Character that carries over into everything we do.
4. The pleasure of working.
This is the big one. If you can crack this, everything else pretty much takes care of itself. But, it’s a practiced skill.
Somewhere along the way, we got taught that the work is the annoying part that we have to get through to reach the reward. The session. The gig. The new BPM on double pedal. That’s not true!
In fact, it’s actually backwards. The work IS the reward. The daily process of sitting down and getting a tiny bit better, that’s the whole thing. That’s the good life, right there.
If you only love the destination, you’ll mostly be miserable, because the destination is about 1% of the journey. Learn to love the work itself, and you’ve already won.
5. The virtue of patience.
We live in a dopamine-ridden world where everyone wants everything now! Instantaniously. Right this second.
This has not done humanity any favours.
Like most skill-based endeavors in life, drumming does not work like that, and it never will. You can’t rush this process. You cannot hack your way to a great pocket, or suddenly have world-class facility. It takes gradual steps, and necessary building blocks – whether consciously or not.
It takes as long as it takes, and the sooner you make peace with that, the better.
So chill out. Trust the process. Do the reps. And stop checking to see if you’ve arrived yet. You haven’t. And just a heads-up… you never will! There is no ‘arrived’.
6. The improvement of talent.
I want to be really clear on this one, because it might be the most important thing I will ever tell you.
Talent is not a real thing. It’s not something you’re just handed at birth. It’s built. Every skill you admire in your favourite player was made, through thousands of hours of exactly the kind of work we’ve been talking about.
So stop using the ‘I’m not talented’ excuse. It’s a lazy cop-out, and deep down, you know it.
The so-called ‘talent’ comes AFTER the work, not before it. It’s just a result.
7. The joy of originating.
And this is where it all leads.
There is nothing quite like sitting down and coming up with a pattern or idea that you have not done before. A groove, a fill, a new feel that came out of you! That’s the payoff for all those reps, all the patience, and all those boring days.
This is your voice starting to come through. It only shows up once you’ve done enough of the work that your hands stop getting in the way, and you can finally just… say something.
So do the work, put the time in, and then create. That’s the whole point of any of this. To not just have something to say, but the ability to actually say it.
So, to recap:
- Use your time wisely
- Persevere with the work
- Do everything to a high standard
- Enjoy the path
- Trust the process
- Talent is built
- Find your voice
I really love this old list, because it’s a reminder that none of these ideas are new. It was true a hundred years ago when it was written, and it’s just as true now, in 2026.
The tools are better, the distractions are worse, but the game is exactly the same as it’s always been.
Alright, that’s it for this week. Now, get to work!
As always, thanks for taking the time. And please, hit reply and share your thoughts with me. I enjoy reading them all.
Have a great week.
Stay hungry and healthy 
Stan
PS. Want to work with me? I have just one more spot remaining for the August MMD 30-Day Coaching Program. Reply ‘Keen as’ and I’ll send the info through. 🙂
PPS. My $17 offer for ‘The Key To Tuning A Modern Drumkit’ is back! Just use the code ‘TUNING’ at checkout.