I was in my office the other day and picked up an old book I hadn’t touched in years, a dog-eared copy of To Kill a Mockingbird (my all-time favorite), with notes in the margins from a previous version of me.
Later that night, I wandered into my daughter’s room and caught myself admiring her vinyl record collection. Album after album… all these stories and soundtracks sitting there like they mattered (because they do).
Here’s why that matters, and why I’m even talking about authors, musicians, and poets in a world that loves a good business book.
I see these creators as the ultimate case studies in the human experience. They took messy, complicated life, loss, hope, rejection, courage, joy, and turned it into something we can actually use. Not just for personal growth, but for leadership, resilience, and how we show up for people when things get real.
Because business manuals are great at giving us the how.
But these great creators? They give us the why, and the heart behind it.
Back to my daughters room; In my mind, I could see the needle drop and hear a few bars of Born to Run, and it took me back.
And when I came back to reality, I had this thought: we spend so much of our time looking for "the answer" in productivity apps, five-year plans, and corporate seminars. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good strategy session as much as the next person. But the real "how-to" manual for living?
It isn’t found in a spreadsheet.
It’s hidden in the bridge of a song that makes your chest ache. It’s tucked between the lines of a poem written fifty years ago.
The authors and musicians who have shaped our culture weren't just entertainers. They were observers. They were the ones brave enough to look at the messy, beautiful, confusing parts of being human and say, "Yeah, I feel that too. Here’s how I’m dealing with it."
If we want to live a life that feels as good as it looks, we need to start listening to the greats. Not just for their art, but for their wisdom.
And for me, that includes Harper Lee. One of the simplest, most practical lessons in To Kill a Mockingbird is also one of the most needed right now: you don’t really understand someone until you consider things from their point of view… until you walk around in their shoes.
That’s not just a nice idea.
It’s a life skill. It’s a leadership skill. It’s a relationship skill.
Empathy changes everything.
The Hemingway Hustle: Resilience is a Quiet Choice
When we think of Ernest Hemingway, we often think of the hyper-masculine "man’s man", the fishing, the bulls, the wars. But if you look closer at his writing, especially The Old Man and the Sea, there is a deeper truth about resilience that has nothing to do with muscle.
Hemingway famously wrote, "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
That’s a heavy line. But what does it actually mean for us on a Monday morning when everything is going wrong?
It means that life is going to throw some big fish at you. It’s going to exhaust you. It might even take away the very thing you worked so hard to catch. But your spirit, that internal pilot light, only goes out if you let it.
Resilience isn't about being bulletproof. It’s about being "broken in the right places" and choosing to get back in the boat anyway. I've realized that the most resilient people I know aren't the ones who never fail; they’re the ones who have a very short memory for their failures and a very long memory for their purpose.
Resilience is not the absence of struggle, but the persistence of soul.
The Angelou Effect: Your Legacy is a Feeling
Maya Angelou had a way of cutting through the noise like a hot knife through butter. You’ve likely heard her most famous insight: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
In our quest to be successful, we often focus on the "what." What did I accomplish? What did I build? What did I buy?
But Angelou’s wisdom shifts the focus to the "how." How did you enter the room? How did you listen? Did you make the person in front of you feel like the only person in the world, or were you checking your watch?
This isn't just a nice sentiment for a greeting card. It’s a literal blueprint for a better life. When you prioritize the way you treat people over the things you achieve, your world starts to change. Doors open. Relationships deepen. The "vibe" you leave behind becomes your most valuable currency.
I've walked into rooms where the smartest person was also the coldest, and I’ve walked into rooms where the least "important" person made everyone feel like a hero. Guess which one left a lasting impact?
Your presence is your message; make sure it’s one worth receiving.
The Dolly Doctrine: Authenticity is Your Superpower
If there is a patron saint of joy and hard work, it’s Dolly Parton.
Dolly has a quote that I think should be tattooed on everyone’s brain: "Find out who you are and do it on purpose."
It sounds simple, right? But it’s actually one of the hardest things in the world to do. We are constantly being told who to be, by social media, by our families, by our neighbors. We spend so much energy trying to fit into a mold that wasn't made for us.
Dolly took the opposite approach. She leaned into exactly who she was, big hair, rhinestones, and all, and she did it with zero apologies. Because she was so rooted in her own truth, she became a universal icon.
Authenticity isn't about being "weird" for the sake of it. It’s about being honest. When you stop trying to be a second-rate version of someone else, you finally have the energy to be a first-rate version of yourself. That’s where the joy comes from. That’s where the mindset shifts from "surviving" to "thriving."
The world doesn't need more copies; it needs your original signature.
McCartney and the Magic of "Letting It Be"
There’s a reason "Let It Be" is one of the most covered songs in history. Paul McCartney wrote it after a dream about his mother during a time of immense stress and transition for the Beatles.
The lesson here isn't about being passive. It’s about knowing when to stop pushing against a closed door.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in trying to control every outcome that we actually choke the life out of our creativity and our happiness. We want to force the solution. We want to hurry the healing.
But as the song suggests, there is wisdom in the "whisper." Sometimes the best thing you can do for your life, or your work, is to step back, take a breath, and let the answer find you. It’s about trust. Trusting that you’ve done the work, you’ve put in the effort, and now it’s time to let the universe (or the music) do its part.
I’ve found that my best ideas never come when I’m staring intensely at a blank screen. They come when I’m walking the dog or doing the dishes. They come when I finally "let it be."
Control is an illusion; peace is found in the release.
Mary Oliver and the Art of Paying Attention
While not a musician, the poet Mary Oliver lived her life like a song. Her instructions for living a life were simple: "Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it."
We live in a world designed to distract us. We are constantly being pulled away from the present moment by notifications and "what-ifs."
But Oliver reminds us that the "greats" didn't find wisdom in the extraordinary; they found it in the ordinary. They noticed the way the light hit a leaf. They noticed the rhythm of a conversation.
When you start paying attention to the small joys, the perfect cup of coffee, the way a friend laughs, the feeling of the sun on your face, you realize that life is already pretty "Next Level." You don't need a promotion to feel wonder. You just need to look up.
This sense of positivity isn't about ignoring the bad stuff. It’s about choosing to give your attention to the good stuff.
Wonder is a choice you make with your eyes wide open.
Building Your Own Soundtrack
So, what does this look like in practice? How do we take the grit of Hemingway, the heart of Angelou, the sparkle of Dolly, and the peace of McCartney and turn it into a life?
It starts by acknowledging that your life is a story you are currently writing and a soundtrack you are currently composing. You get to choose the themes. You get to choose the tempo.
Here are five ways to start living like the greats:
- Prioritize the "Feel": Before you leave a conversation or a meeting, ask yourself: How did I make them feel? That is your real performance review.
- Stay in the Boat: When things get tough, don't focus on the whole ocean. Just focus on the next stroke of the oar. Resilience is built in the small moments.
- Find Your Rhinestones: Whatever it is that makes you you, even if it seems "too much" for some people, lean into it. Authenticity is the only path to true legacy.
- Practice the Pause: If you’re hitting a wall, stop hitting it. Take five minutes to just "be." The solution usually appears when you stop looking for it so hard.
- Be Astonished: Find one thing every day that makes you go "Wow." It keeps your perspective fresh and your heart light.
At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to make sense of the story. We’re all trying to find the right notes to play. By looking to the artists who have walked the path before us, we realize that while life can be complicated, the truths are often quite simple.
Be kind. Work hard. Stay true. Pay attention.
That’s a soundtrack worth playing on repeat.
At Next Level Us LLC, we’re all about helping you find that rhythm. Whether it’s through coaching or team training, we believe that bringing these "human" elements back into our daily lives is what truly drives performance.
Want to bring a little more of "The Soundtrack" into your team's culture? Let’s chat. We’d love to help you compose your next big chapter.
Because when you change the story you're telling yourself, you change the world you're living in. And that, my friend, is a total slamdunk. 🎸📖✨
