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8 Lessons I Learned From Quincy Jones On Life and Creativity
Life is like music notes, how you play them matters.
Quincy Jones is one of the great musical figures of the 20th century. In his book, 12 Notes on Life and Creativity, he breaks down his principles, approach to life, and philosophies. These are lessons he learned, the advice he received, and the conclusions that he came to about life and creativity that allowed him to reach his potential, achieve his dream, and live a fulfilled life.
If you can see it, then you can be it
Most successful people today didn’t grow up in the best of circumstances, but they relentlessly held on to their dreams and hoped for a better life. It wasn’t different for Quincy Jones.
But over the course of his life and career, spanning 70 years in the entertainment industry, Quincy had 80 Grammy Award nominations and won 28 of them.
What determines what happens to us in life is what we can imagine. It doesn’t matter what circumstances you’re born into, if you believe you’re stuck where you are and that nothing will ever change, you’ll never outgrow your circumstances.
Quincy describes growth as “a journey from mind pollution to mind solution.” That is, being able to sift through the…
