#775: Jon Batiste — The Quest for Originality, How to Get Unstuck, His Favorite Mantras, and Strategies for Living a Creative Life

Jon Batiste (@jonbatiste) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and composer. His eighth studio album, Beethoven Blues, is set for a November 15th release.

Sponsors:

Ramp easy-to-use corporate cards, bill payments, accounting, and more: https://ramp.com/tim (Get $250 when you join Ramp)

AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://drinkag1.com/tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase.)

Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra)

Timestamps:

[00:00] Introduction

[06:46] Is the secret to long life embracing the mundane?

[09:28] The gift of mistakes.

[10:21] Why did Jon wait until he was 10 to speak?

[12:51] How music and performance entered the picture.

[13:36] An early exercise in winning over the room.

[15:08] Choosing the personal facets that art expresses.

[16:57] From a disappointing grade school performance to the Grammys.

[21:44] Cultivating suspense and shifting modes of creative expression.

[27:24] When perspective drives motivation more than stakes.

[32:14] Spiritual practice and grounding mantras.

[40:29] Surrender, acceptance, and growth through health challenges.

[43:37] The fuzzy line between blessing and curse.

[46:40] Growing up bullied as the "least talented" in a musical family.

[52:50] Jon's visionary mother guided him toward piano.

[55:23] Parental support for Jon's relocation to New York City.

[56:15] Serious setbacks that almost made Jon quit Juilliard and music altogether.

[01:00:37] Jon's advice to a younger musician enduring a similar path of hardships.

[01:03:11] How Jon owns what comes his way rather than allowing it to overwhelm him.

[01:07:30] Cultivating generosity without being drained.

[01:09:32] Jon's billboard is invisible — but with deep posts.

[01:11:47] My rough draft of five deep handfuls.

[01:18:21] Jon's answer in musical improv.

[01:25:42] Jon's upcoming album: Beethoven Blues (with bonus blues tutorial).

[01:39:09] Taking the hypotenuse to catharsis and other Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss

Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss

YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss

Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.