On my constant quest for self-improvement, I headed to the Catskills this weekend for a retreat, as part of a program I’m doing: Level Up. Level Up is a 3 month continuation of a weekend program I did last year called Camera Ready run by the TRL famed Quddus and his fiancé Carmina. I met Quddus 7 years ago (this weekend actually, realized that thanks to Timehop) at the first ever Summit at Sea. I’ve got to thank my former client Mike Posner for originally putting me on to Summit Series… it definitely changed the dynamics of my life over and over again throughout the years. Quddus and I stayed in touch over the years and when he told me about Camera Ready, I thought it would be a good fit for some of the work I was doing for my show with Hot 97, namely, Hot In Tech. But it opened up so much more inside of me.
This weekend activated even more of an internal awakening. Our group dove deep into what is in our hearts, our missions and our passions. We traded insights and books to nourish us. We shared different parts of ourselves from our deepest fears to our greatest joys. I led a session I created in real time called SoundClash. Basically, each of us chose a song we wanted to share, from there we provide an intro as to why we chose that particular song and then the group listens to the song together. Then one by one, each person talks about their experience with another’s song followed by the person who originally picked the track sharing gave their thoughts on how the feedback of others made them feel. That’s the first iteration of Soundclash ya’ll. Feel free to try it at home.
The exercise, and more importantly the weekend, profoundly reminded me of the true power of music. Beyond the industry and the amazing content, music is the most unifying connector. Music is the universal language. I feel very blessed to be working in such a creative, dynamic and impactful medium and I know that individuals as well companies can benefit from figuring out how to more incorporate music into their ecosystem.
P.s.: Speaking of self help… If you want to optimize your daily routines, go pre-order my cousin Aubrey Marcus’s (CEO of ONNIT) new book, Own Your Day, Own Your Life. It surely will inspire you and is packed with so much wisdom and practical life-hacks in it.
Also published on Medium.