Who are you listening to?

As a leader, who are you listening to?

What noise are you allowing to guide your decisions?

For Rick Rubin, the answer is removing distractions and attuning to beauty.

His singular focus: Revealing the purity of the project within.

Rick Rubin is widely regarded as one of the most influential music producers of all time. Over his 40-year career, he's produced over 220 albums and has worked with artists like Adele, Johnny Cash, and Jay-Z.

Over his illustrious career, he has been nominated for 18 Grammys and won nine.

Here’s the kicker: He’s never attended an awards event.

Why? Distraction.

For Rubin, awards like the Grammy distract from the purity of the process. They emphasize what the rest of the world thinks, versus attuning to Source and sharing the most essential and inspired vibrations. 
 
Here’s a recent excerpt from an interview with Anderson Cooper:

RR: “The audience comes last.”

AC: “How can that be?”

RR: “Well the audience doesn’t know what they want. The audience only knows what’s come before.”

AC: “Isn’t the whole music business built around trying to figure out what somebody likes?”

RR: “Maybe for somebody else that is, but it’s not for me.”

The next time you are making a critical life choice, stop and tune in.

Who are you allowing to influence your decision?

What are you using to inform the quality of your life - your greatest creative act?

If it’s too externally focused, perhaps it’s time to reassess who is informing your choices.