The Part of the Music You're Not Hearing

What do you focus on when you listen to music? The melody? The lyrics? The guitar? Most of us don't even know — it just happens automatically, without us thinking about it.

Before I went to see Rush in concert recently, I went down a research rabbit hole about the band and their legendary drummer. And I walked into that concert listening for something I had never really paid attention to before. It changed the way I hear music completely. And it reminded me of the single most important thing I know about why people struggle to lose weight.

Here's what I want you to think about:

• The drums are the foundation of music — the heartbeat, the engine, the thing that drives the tempo and holds everything else together. The melody is what you hear. The drums are what make you feel it in your body.
• Most people never focus on the drums. They're drawn to the front of the music — the voices, the lyrics, the guitar. The drums are always there, running the show, and most of us don't notice.
• Your thoughts work exactly the same way. They are running underneath everything — every decision, every behavior, every choice you make about food — whether you're paying attention to them or not.
• The thoughts you're not noticing are often the most powerful ones. I already blew it. I'll start Monday. What's the point. They don't announce themselves. They just drive.

You can't change what you don't notice. But here's what I love about this: Neil Peart, widely considered one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, reinvented his entire drumming style when he was already extraordinary. He didn't stop at good enough. He rebuilt his technique, incorporated jazz, became more fluid and dynamic — because he believed it was never too late to evolve.

It's never too late to reinvent how you think either. Start by just noticing. That's where everything changes.