In an earlier life – before I became obsessed with health, fitness, social media and making money – I was a musician. Ever since I was 6 years I had a strong talent for music. Back then it was piano and when I turned 16 I learned guitar. I was also a prolific songwriter, having written over 100 songs in my life time. I fronted 3 bands from age 18-28 living in Oregon and lived the classic life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I was obsessed with music, constructing songs, recordings, arrangements – and spent countless hours studying the greats like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Velvet Underground, Elliott Smith.
Through studying these musicians, something I fathomed as a young kid and amateur was the idea of controlled chaos in music. This was particularly applicable to Jimi Hendrix. He was famous for wild shows where he would do tons of acid. There were even rumors that he put acid on his headband so that while he was sweating he would get even higher throughout the show.
So this is the chaotic element. The controlled element is the countless hours he worked to play guitar and perfect his technical skills. Jimi Hendrix was no doubt obsessed with the guitar since he was young. And he drilled the mechanics, precision and skill of playing so deep in his brain that it became like talking or walking to him.
Then, when he introduced the element of chaos – the acid, the live shows, the adrenaline – it was like shooting lightning out of a sniper rifle. Chaos without control is formless, messy and not very effective. It’s like a toddler throwing paint at a wall. Control without chaos is boring, it’s predictable, lacks inspiration from something higher and deeper in the human condition.
Controlled chaos is the peak level of human performance. All performers tap into this, where they have honed their technical skills so much that their mind is free to let go of its rigid structure. This applies not only to musicians, but also athletes, fighters, politicians, entrepreneurs.
This can only be achieved by mastering the mechanism of the game – whatever game you are playing – and then introducing an element of chaos. The chaos does not to come from drugs or alcohol, but it must be something outside of your control. Many people have lost this element of chaos, but it’s something that can be relearned.
And if you train your control for long enough then when you introduce the chaos, that’s when you have lightning, fire, elemental power. That’s when you can truly make legends.
