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PODCAST

Self-Defined Human Podcast

Self-Defined Human

Transmissions from the edge of thought, ritual, and reality. Piano, philosophy, the internet, gods and glitches. Not every voice echoes beyond the walls—but those that do carry weight. But...what is happening to the old episodes??? nomichaelhere.substack.com

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

1:27

New piano lesson program

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/13

I want to tell you about a new 1-1 piano program called Removing the Mask.It’s 2 months long and costs $1000.In the program, you’ll learn to:* stop hesitating* add emotion to your playing* ensure you’ve accomplished something before quitting a piece, and* understand which notes are OK to leave out.Here’s how we’re going to do it:Over the two months, you’ll practice 4 exercises, one for each of the above outcomes:* Remove the mask* Accept your feelings* Do the minimum work* Take some f*****g

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2:47

Mom should be a role model

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/12

Habit trackers are b******t. I know people who have been sober for months and months and then suddenly died from an overdose. So, streaks don’t impress me.And, by the way, God isn’t impressed by streaks either. He only cares about your actions one at a time.So, when your kids see you use a habit tracker, this is what they’ll say:* “Mom taught me never to abandon a sinking ship.”* “Mom taught me that as long as you clock in, it’s okay to check out.”When your kids watch you practice piano, they should

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0:44

I need help tonight

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/11

Here’s the deal: I need money tonight. I don’t need a lot, and I’m embarrassed to tell you what it’s for, but I need it right now.So, if you can give me money, that would be awesome.I’m not trying to sell you anything. No product or service. Right now, I just need money. Even a total of $100 (from everyone) would be super-helpful.If you give me money, I’ll put you in the Hall of Fame. True, we don’t have a Hall of Fame yet, but you’ll go in it when we do. I’ll also draw a picture for you.Seriously,

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3:38

A dissertation about your psyche

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/10

Yesterday, on Instagram, I was chatting with a former client and she expressed some doubts about my ability to relate to beginners:“You have a masters in music. You’re an expert. Somewhere along your road, someone drilled into you ‘do not hesitate’. All the things you say to your students.But when a novice is playing and learning about this terminology, you do not have to extrapolate their hesitation into a dissertation about their psyche.”On the contrary, this is entirely about your psyche.Your

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3:58

Musicians do, not talk

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/09

I’ve been diagnosing a lot of disorders lately, and I’ve got another one to add to the list. It’s called ADV (action-deficient verbosity).Here’s an example of ADV I received in response to an offer I made to a former client:“Hey, thank you I enjoyed working with you as well and hope things are going well. At the moment with recent career changes I am not having a lot of disposable income, in the future when I scrape some together I would be happy to reach out to you as music is a worthy investment

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3:20

Piano's a stupid game, anyway

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/08

I got this email from a former piano player:“I’ve given up on piano. I’m just not good enough to play the pieces I love. I took lessons from a teacher once, but he had a short temper and made me feel stupid for not knowing exactly what he wanted me to do. I’m 70 years old. I told him I just wish could play Bach like the 9-year-olds I see on YouTube, but he laughed and told me to ignore them. Finally, I leaned back and said ‘I give up.’ But, it’s OK. We weren’t even playing pieces I wanted to play

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1:14

The world doesn't revolve around you

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/08

Let these words sink in:fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckshitshitshitshitshitshitfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckNow, let this sink in:Your piano playing sounds like f*****g s**t because you can’t even read these words without obsessing over the moral decay of society.Stop being so entitled.Do some f*****g work.—MichaelP.S. I may have a few ideas for you, but first, I’ve got to check something. I need to know that we’re on the same page with all this theoretical s**t. What you need to do is reflect it back to me, so

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3:33

My business ideas keep failing because I get bored

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/06

A fellow trendsetter posed the following problem to me:“I’ve got all these great creative ideas, but when I go to do them, I get bored and quit and do something else. As a result, I never make any money because I’m not sticking around long enough to build whatever I’m trying to build.”Here’s what I think: you’re wrong about what’s causing this.It’s NOT because:* You’re stressed out* You’re anxious* You can’t focus* You don’t have creative inspiration* You don’t have follow-through* You have too much

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2:06

The real way to avoid being a loser

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/04

I got this Instagram DM from a future superstar:“I’m not moving my body freely when I play piano, because I’d rather play well first. I’ve always struggled with hand positioning, you brought up a weird way I put my hand that I hadn’t noticed, accepted and now try not to.”That’s not good enough.Remember what Yoda said: “Do or do not. There is no try.”So, let’s make this practical. Otherwise, it’s just philosophy, and that won’t make you any better at piano.Yoda tells you to “do”. Do what? What, Yoda

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3:53

To make piano easy, sell your soul

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/02

In this video, you can see a familiar riff from the song “Bohemian Rhapsody”.The video shows the wrong way to play it and the right way. I’m emphasizing the word “see” rather than “hear” because this is obvious when you’re looking but not so obvious when you’re listening.I can see, just by watching, that there’s all this extra effort. Maybe you don’t know what you’re looking at, but I know you can feel it.I can feel it too because I’ve been there.I’ve got an explanation for why it’s hard: you’re

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2:36

Actually, it's not about clarity

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/04/01

Let me give a quick recap about why you suck at piano, because I don't think this is a matter of lacking clarity. I think there's something else going on, so I want to throw it out here as a way of starting a conversation.Here’s how you look at the problemFrom your perspective, you have no time for piano because you need to spend all your time making money. But, you have ADHD, so no matter what happens, you're not capable anyway.Now (according to you), the way to fix this is to:* Get your life in

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3:42

My free offer for clarity

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/30

Here's the thing: maybe we're not ready for clarity. Maybe we should sit with the confusion for a bit longer.Why rush through this? Why rush to a point where you know what to do next? Would that be based on anything, on what’s happening NOW? No, it would be based on idealizations about the future.See, I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet. There’s an order to things, and I’m expecting that before we find clarity, we first hit rock bottom.With your permission, I'd like to drive us further down

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3:39

You're too busy for piano

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/29

Lately, I’ve been asking a bunch of people, “how’s it going with piano?”, and by far, the most common answer is “It’s not, sadly! Been insanely busy lately but it’s all good!”Since I’m a piano teacher, you may think I’ve some particular reaction to that answer. I don’t know, but I’m not judging it. I don’t think it’s a bad answer, but I do want to know where it’s coming from.I want to know what this conversation even is.So, let me if I’m following this.Piano used to be important to you but now it’s

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2:48

The truth about your piano playing

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/28

You suck at piano. It sounds like s**t when you play. I hate listening to it.You mess up even the most basic things. But, you care more about not messing up than what it sounds like.You don't care what it sounds like. You don't care about keeping a steady beat.You care so much about doing it right that you're not willing to leave out notes, to make a decision, to have an opinion.It's horrible and sounds worse because you care so much about doing it right, being a good student, getting a pat on the

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2:04

To all lazy procrastinators who love starting projects

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/28

You get that piano's hard, right? You're not going to master it overnight.I know you've got other stuff going on, but I don't see how that's relevant. You're always going to have other stuff going on. It's been that way your whole life and it'll always be that. One project after the next.Hold on. You’re hypnotizing me. Again.Damn it. We need to back up.Can we get more specific about where we're going here?Like, let's take "piano" off the table. It's too big of a project. It's more of a lifetime

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2:47

Is piano a "lifetime journey"?

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/27

The other day, I was chatting on Instagram with someone who didn't seem all that enthusiastic about piano (this is someone who’s been a client of mine).I remarked that this lack of enthusiasm was why I didn't want to waste my time chatting about piano. In response, they sent the following message:"In one of our early conversations about piano, you said something like piano is a lifetime journey. I don’t have the specifics, but I agree, piano is a similar to a vocation vs a job or hobby. It is a

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2:09

I heard you quit piano

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/25

I got this reply to one of my emails a few weeks ago:"As I indicated in one email, I have given up on playing piano for over 2 years except for playing it on CDs. It is far more enjoyable."Let me give my reaction to that.On the one hand, this sounds like a perfectly reasonable position, and based on conversations I've had, I'm guessing it applies to most people reading this email.But, it puts me in a weird spot because...if you’ve given up on piano, what do we talk about then?I want to ask some

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4:49

I'm waiting for YOU

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/03/25

I haven't written for a couple of weeks because I've felt like I have "nothing to say". Now, however, I'm forcing myself to write, and that’s risky.I mean, what if you don’t care what I have to say?But, here's the thing: I'm interested in what you’re doing.Now, admittedly, you’re not on my mind all the time. It’s a once-in-a-while kind of thing. But, the fact is, your life is one of the things I'm interested in.That said, I don't know you very well. I can only fill in so many blanks with my

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0:00

#51 – Mindful Donkey Kong Country 3

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2024/02/01

This is a strange episode but I kinda like it, so I’m putting it up here. It’s audio that was recorded on February 6, 2021. It was a livestream I did on Instagram where I was playing Donkey Kong Country 3 and talking about some stuff that had happened to me in the first year of the pandemic related to:1. The music school I’d been playing at before the pandemic, and 2. A marketing group I’d joined that year. The whole thing is a rant, but I hope it could be of interest to you

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0:00

#50 – Start Setting Boundaries

Self-Defined Human Podcast ·

2023/06/04

Lately, I’ve been a cheerleader for boundaries. That’s funny because the second episode of this podcast was called “Stop Setting Boundaries”. In this episode, I explain how my thinking has changed by reacting to Episode 2. Timeline: 0:00:00 – Introduction 0:03:09 – Reacting to Episode 2: “Stop Setting Boundaries” 0:04:37 – Drama Triangle & The Empowerment Dynamic 0:08:00 – Boundaries let you have conversations 0:10:37 – How I

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