A month ago I listened to 12 Notes on Life and Creativity, written by Quincy Jones. It is introduced by the man himself and narrated by award-winning narrator, JD Jackson.
I chose this audiobook because I am a musician (not yet professionally) and I have a creative mind. Who else to learn from than one of the masters of the music industry, Quincy Jones?
This book can be categorised into both biographical and self-development. It discusses his tough upbringing in Chicago and his limited relationship with his mother who struggled with mental health issues and discovering music at a young age. It is a story of a man who was obsessed with music and that was the driving force in his career. He talks about the importance of his mentors in life. He states that the reason why people feel lost in life is because they don’t have a mentor figure and how lucky he was to have found the ones he had.
Obsession and working hard on your craft is a key lesson I got from Quincy. His willingness to learn and to not give up is truly inspiring. He talks about when he formed a band that toured the United States and then Europe, that his band were broke and that they had to work out a plan to get back to the USA. That experience might have made people give up, but as we all know he did not.
He knew his worth. He talks about turning down contracts for large sums of money because he knew that he was worth more than what was offered. To him, money was not everything. What seemed important to him was his purpose and his drive.
He knew other’s worth. He was a champion of new and upcoming artists and would help them in the music industry too, just like he had been mentored by some of the greats such as Frank Sinatra.
In his later life, he realised that his health was something that he needed to take more seriously after some close calls. He mentions that after he quit drinking he started to remember things he’d previously forgotten and that his mind had sharpened.
I will most likely listen to this audiobook again because it is an inspiring and intriguing listen. If you are a musician or a creative, then this is a must-own.
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