Press "Enter" to skip to content

John Mayer’s Top 10 Rules For Success (@JohnMayer)


dinner and then going to the top of the
roof and screaming I made it so I’m
really excited about the idea of people
going oh no that’s him and then he shows
up at the Pentagon and he’s totally
clean shave and he’s like where do we
start I don’t think you could expect a
21 year old kid to stay a 21 year old
kid when he’s 31 I didn’t say like I’m
gonna quit music and you know I don’t
smoke crack you know there’s a little
bit of murder involved in in art who we
generally jammed on II for an hour this
is not a broken version of success this
is the new version of success I want to
listen to top 20 and figure out what’s
going on I don’t want to fall behind
it’s gonna be a hit it’s going to be a
hit it’s going to be a hint it goes like
this he’s an American singer-songwriter
and producer by 2014 he had sold over 20
million albums worldwide his secondary
career pursuits include television
hosting comedy and writing he’s John
Mayer and here are his top 10 rules for
success number one thing you have to do
before you set out on any other goal or
any other course is to define your
expectations number one thing on the
outset of every single project record
tour define your expectations everyone
in this room wants to make it but I
question how you would recognize making
it what is making it well what do you
want to be who you in here wants a
record deal would it be nice to ever be
nice to have a record deal right we want
to record to you okay well what does a
record deal look like how what is making
it look like do you want to sell a
million copies two million copies well
okay let’s say selling two million
copies is like selling tell me 10
million copies 10 years ago so let’s say
you say to yourself my expectation is
that I want to be an artist and I want
to put records out and I want to sell
millions of copies if that’s your
expectation great then you sort of skip
straight to another questionnaire you
know okay if you answered yes to do I
want to be a pop star do I want to make
music for as many people as possible now
you have to sort of change your game to
fit the expectation you now have to
wonder about is your song shorter than
four minutes do you get to your core is
fast enough these are these are the
things you have to add
silly do and you also have to compromise
and you also have to play the game and
by defining your expectations if you
decide that you want to be a pop star
that’s not a dirty word it just mean pop
just means popular Frank Sinatra was a
pop star Jimi Hendrix was a pop star
lots of people would pop stars
what kind of pop star lots people with
jazz musicians what kind of jazz
musician you can define the genre any
way you want so if you said you want to
be a pop star then you have to look at
your songs there’s also people here who
are little dishonest about what they
really want to be and I think if you
want to be famous
if you want to make music for as many
people as possible just come out and say
it
don’t say I want to be indie I’m just
going to be an independent artist and
really secretly wish that you wanted to
be a pop star
because from think from them from the
very beginning it’s disingenuous there’s
nothing wrong with saying I want to play
music for as many people as possible
without compromising the things that I
have to be as an artist and that’s what
I’ve done so many music doesn’t come
into the studio when I’m making a record
but I also know what’s going to be a hit
or what stands the chance of being a hit
and what just does it and it’s a level
of honesty with yourself that you have
to have before you hand your music out
to anybody else so that’s sort of what I
want to say about expectations if you
only recognize success as a record deal
and a big fat Publishers Clearing House
oversized Tiger Woods check and a dinner
and then going to the top of the roof
and screaming I made it most of you will
be stunning failures I’ve stayed pretty
true to whatever my instincts are as an
artist sometimes for worse at first
because I think when you do something
that’s out of the norm you have to keep
doing it for a little while to make it
your own norm so it’s an exciting idea
to me that I could be putting a record
out and being able to be my own person
to not have to think about what I can’t
say or can’t do
because I don’t want to lose people’s
understanding of what I do as a
convention you know so I’m really
excited about the idea of people going
oh no that’s him that’s him I think that
I’ve got to make a record that is the
ultimate sort of Here I am you know so I
think it’s time to go back and you know
it’s like in the movies where the the
ex-marine grows the long beard and long
hair and takes off to like Tibet or
something and then there’s always a
moment I don’t do that anymore and then
he shows up at the Pentagon and totally
clean shave and he’s like where do we
start
I may be shaving the beard soon I’m
getting kind of this place in my life
where if if you can man just do it you
know I went I had this moment where my
youth I was really frenetic and
everything was like button over and then
I hit this mode where it was like less
is more and now as I get into my later
30s I’m like if you can do it do it all
the time you know you do it all the time
as long as you can do it do have just
shred show people what you can do you
know so it’s a sort of this arc also of
how fancy you think you are and find
yourself to be you know people on the
message boards and web sites always talk
about he’s changing you know I don’t
think you could expect a 21 year old kid
to stay a 21 year old kid when he’s 31
so yeah
the answer is yup change a lot you know
not predict I will continue to change
you know but that’s not a that’s not a
dirty word and that’s not a dirty idea
as long as that change is reflected
positively and being on stage and
playing and continuing the story I think
I’m right in saying that was sometimes
when you’ve considered quitting music is
that true oh yeah yeah I I’ve always
thought I there was one time in
particular yeah and and so going on
studying design or something’s always
been a passion of yours yeah I like a
really loved design actually I just
finished making continuum handed it in
and my manager played it for the head of
the label and I was
what do you say what do you say and the
call I remember why was the call came in
and he said oh he doesn’t hear anything
on it he doesn’t hear a hit Watts wants
you to go back and write some more stuff
and I was just like how can you not hear
how special this record is and I just
thought if I can’t do that if I can’t do
this I’m done you know and the record
went on to be really really successful
and my most successful record date I
think and it taught me a big lesson
which is like listen to someone’s record
twice before yeah you give a point of
view on it so now if anyone ever plays
me a song I go play it again people a
lot of times assume what it is they must
be saying to you and so but that that
day I thought I’m just going to go to
Parsons and and I love design and I love
where it’s heading and I want to have
something to do with it and I’m still
amateur at it but and how long did that
feeling sort of a bit of disillusionment
well that specific feeling
disillusionment lasts for a couple days
okay but then but then you take it yeah
a couple days then you pick yourself up
off the floor but like I didn’t say like
I’m gonna quit music and you didn’t I
don’t smoke crack I said let’s quit
music and go to school which I would
have promptly dropped out of to start my
own design company because I have to do
those kind of things I can’t actually
follow the curriculum I just feel like
the process of starting over again what
you do every time you make a new record
you have to kind of it’s a kind of a
controlled demolition of what it was
that you had and maybe I’m a little I
don’t know maybe I’m covering for the
fact that I’m frightened about how do I
follow up a record with another record I
don’t I demolish it and follow up with a
new first record you know I’ve never
made a second record in my life I make
new first records you know and I’m
excited too
demolish continuum you know there’s a
little bit of murder involved in in art
you can’t have two little murderous you
know you have to kill what it was that
was so alive in order to find new life
somewhere else the only way I know how
to preserve myself is to start the
process over again
I really am frightened by the process of
making a record that people really enjoy
or react to that makes ripples in the
world and then go do it again no I’ll do
I’ll start from zero again that I can do
to start from success and get more
successful is the kind of the recipe for
disaster the recipe for unhappiness you
know I’m not going to ever make room for
squares part two your heavier things
part two or continuum part two you know
it’s some other thing part one
everything you learn is just raw
information what you should start doing
is seeing yourself as a separate being
from anyone else in this room you each
and every one of you now I want to go
home and put it incorporate it after
your name in your head you are now of
being an incorporated or incorporated
you are now going to take information
and go oh I could use that for this and
that don’t show your cards to anybody
else some guy comes along these sounds
like thinks he sounds better than maybe
you do maybe you don’t but work on your
thing and then you can figure out what
makes you you
artistically and then you can access
information when I go into the studio
when I sit in with an artist I’m
accessing information I’m not access
it’s like a library I go I’m going to
take this out and there’s sort of like
being a DJ
on this this will work this will work
but not by way of just playing
everything and that’s what I wish people
could do more I don’t know if you can do
a real-time I don’t know maybe this is
just the time you get everything and you
worry about sort of figuring it out
later but I think it’d be an interesting
idea to look at the information learn it
and then immediately start figuring out
how you use it or how you don’t use it
you know drummer is over play guitar
players over play singers what we’re
saying and songwriters over right so
it’s a matter of how you begin to shape
anybody have a jam and they Jam too much
and they run out of ideas and they get
that itchy feeling on the way home like
I just gave up too much like they just
somehow sort of empty I played
everything and I saw the end of my only
musical existence on the dirt I was just
ended up in there in the rough the golf
course I don’t know that’s that is just
a misappropriation of what you know
you’ve just all the sudden got in the
bottom of the trick bag and there was a
hole in it you just don’t know why don’t
we Chen we jammed on E for an hour I
wrote I don’t wanna bring her in the
conversation I wrote this new
up-and-coming Australian rapper I don’t
want to give her name away because
there’s so many of them so I just this
is it
I said don’t be upset that you’re
feeling like you’re just an inch away
from having your cake here this is the
new way it’s going to be you’re never
going to do it seamlessly success comes
with hatred now yeah it just comes with
yeah that’s how we learn about things
now then I write hey I’m John I just
want to let you know that this feeling
you’re having that you become successful
but the world won’t stop hating on you
this is not a broken version of success
this is the new version of success I
have a certain gene in my body that
allows me to understand what someone
else is saying when they say we want to
sell a lot of these things like I don’t
see selling a bunch of something as the
opposite of it being interesting or
important or meaningful
I’ve always had
I’ve always seen it from both sides you
know and it’s a really interesting place
that I’m in right now like I you do have
to balance you know if you saw my iTunes
playlist I could I could have a
conversation with anybody at Stereogum
or pitchfork you know but what I do with
Columbia Records as the artist
that I am with the records that I make
under the contract
that I have I’m taking all of my
influences and I’m trying to convert
them into pop music that’s my job right
now it’s not the only thing I can do and
it’s not the only thing I will do but as
long as I’m still trying to make pop
songs I want to play by pop rules you
know III want to listen to top 20 and
figure out what’s going on I don’t want
to fall behind I’m trying to take all
the elements of music that I love that
I’m well versed in and convert them into
music that a lot of people can get into
I don’t know why I do that
it’s a lot of people can’t a lot of
people find the compromise maddening I
see it as another challenge and I see it
as another talent you know like the
ultimate talent of restraint who in here
thinks that the public is mostly done
you think the public is mostly done let
me tell you something the public is
about 300 million times smarter than you
public is not done for those of you said
yes I want to be a pop star yes I would
like to have a record deal yes I’d like
to make this happen first thing you
should know is that the public is always
smarter than you if you put a song out
you go that’s it that’s it watch it go
like whew stand back everybody stand
back it’s going to be a hit it’s going
to be a hit it’s going to be a hit and
it goes like this who is smarter than
who your big smart pop song went nowhere
the public just told you they’re smarter
than you on that one because you said
you had it and they said I don’t think
so and you didn’t have it so they’re
smarter than you
that’s what you have to deal with
they’re smarter here’s where the public
is smarter than you I wanted a song
called come back to bed I thought it was
going to be huge I thought it could
change people’s minds about stuff no I’m
gonna make you like stuff you don’t like
because it’s good enough I don’t know
about that and the song didn’t work and
I was disheartened and then they said
what about daughters you put daughters
out now
I had thought again public smarter than
me I thought but that’s just this little
song that lives on the record that’s
like track eight it’s track nine it’s
come when you discovered three months
saying like oh this is here and they
said no they’ve researched it they
really want this to go I think it can be
a hit and I was like I don’t want it to
be a hit I would rather not have a hit
with this song because this song is
going to take me forever as sensitive
songwriter god I gave myself sort of a
three strikes in your out room and I
thought daughters would have been
somewhat of the third strike the worst
thing I could have ever thought it was
being the artist where they go the
record company says look you give us the
three we want and you know we want and
you can do whatever you want to do I’m
sure there’s some songs on Nickelback
records at Nickelback love’s somewhere
in the back there nine ten eleven I’m
sure we got to imagine got to imagine
there’s there’s ones on the setlist when
they get up to it they’re like I can’t
wait to play this one thank God I was
able to write those other three that I
know they needed and I don’t mind making
but okay you know so I say please I get
on the phone with Don einer at the time
was I think sort of just the head of
Allmusic
and I said how you can’t do it Donny you
realize if I do this I’m going to be
sensitive singer-songwriter guy for the
rest of my life and I’m too young too
young to be anything but a guy who can
put out whatever he wants it’s a fine
fine you know I get it I get it we won’t
put it out if you don’t want moving it
out and it made it out I don’t know how
it leaked but how upset can I be because
of one song of the year that year for
some daughters thank you so much for
watching I made this video because mini
I asked me to I hope I pronounced that
properly so if there’s a famous
entrepreneur that you want me to profile
next leave it in the comments below and
I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know which of John
Mayer’s top ten rules meant the most to
you who had the biggest impact leave it
in the comments below and I’ll join in
the discussion thank you so much for
watching
continue to believe and I’ll see you
soon
Please follow and like us: