“… the scoring always happens in the First 2 or the Last 2 …”
… do you know the scene in Forrest Gump where he just stopped running… and didn’t really offer an explanation? Thankfully, a few of you noticed that I “stopped writing” – which meant a few were actually paying attention and reading these daily muses. To be honest, like Forrest there was not a lot of thought given to it: once I realized I was going to make it for 365 in a row, that was an easy target.
…the best hours of your week, given away…
Your best 2 hours of the day are probably the first 2 or last 2. Look at who has them. The work you love gets whatever Time is left over, and by then there is nothing left. The Time goes to the inbox first because it is loudest, not because it matters most.
You tell yourself it will get its turn on the weekend, or on vacation, or when this project ships. Then the weekend fills too. The writing, the instrument, the class you wanted to teach, all of it waits for a calendar that was never going to make room on its own. Spoiler alert – no matter when you read this, today is Saturday…
…the bass player who executed on the second act…
Dave Hope played bass in Kansas from 1970 until the last show of 1983. As a fellow bass player, I loved hearing all of the different sounds Dave can get out of his classic Fender Precision Bass. It can sound like a Beatle Bass, a Rickenbacker, or simply provide the low end without calling attention to itself…
On Leftoverture, the long closing piece has him playing a lead melody on bass, cranked through Rich Williams’s Marshall amp for distortion. Also exhausted, and feeling a different call, he left with Kerry Livgren to form a Christian band, AD, and later became an Anglican priest. In 2021, at 71, he was playing with The Mulligans, in his words a group of old coots who play 60s and 70s hits. In September 2025 he was back on stage with Kansas for the encore.
Put your best hours where your love is, and guard them like a meeting.
…what it takes to execute on what you love…
To execute is to make your actions match the priorities you say out loud. The calendar is where that shows up first. If the work you love has no block on it, it is a hobby you talk about, not a priority you execute. The trap is waiting until the urgent work is done. It is never done.
…the leftover that named the album…
Magnum Opus closes Leftoverture, and it is the only song on the album credited to all 6 members. It began as music worked up at soundchecks and parts left over from the album before, and its working title was “Leftoverture”. Producer Jeff Glixman said they fell in love with the name and gave it to the album instead. The leftovers became the masterpiece, 8 and a half minutes of it.
…how I execute on the writing now…
I would update it… Time is now being used better. I am leveraging AI to help me get back to what I love – storytelling with music. So it is more a future commitment. I am not doing this just to get more work – I do it because it is who I am and what I love.
Your “Simple… Not Easy” move: Block the first or last 30 minutes of 5 days this week for the work you love, and guard them like a meeting with your CEO.
If you cannot find 30 minutes on any of the 5 mornings, and you want help working out where they went, let’s execute on it together. Schedule Time with me here.
Guard the mornings, and let the leftovers become your… Magnum Opus
