💡✍️ADN #173: The 30-Second Voice Memo

To Try Today:

You just had a conversation that could change how you think about your career.

Odds are you’ll forget it before it changes anything.

Why?

Because your brain doesn’t hold onto insight until you put it somewhere.

Here’s a simple system:

After every show, session, or industry meeting — before you start the car, or crash out in the van — open your voice memos and record 30 seconds.

One observation. Whatever you want to take with you from the time just spent.

Then create a folder on your phone and drop it in. iPhone, it’s the Files app.

Android, it’s Google Files or Samsung My Files.

Label it something like “30 Second Thoughts.”

That’s it.

— -

I’ve played 2,000+ shows and taken countless meetings.

The ones that taught me the most weren’t always the biggest or most important ones.

But I couldn’t tell you what I learned from half of them, because I didn’t write anything down.

The lesson was there. I just moved on.

Tag it with a few words.

Hometown Show 2026 at _____.

Artist Development Session with _____.

Publishing Meeting with _____.

Podcast Idea from _____.

Search it six months from now.

What you’ll find is a database nobody else has.

Your patterns.

Your observations.

Your frameworks — before they were frameworks.

Three memos about the same thing is a newsletter.

Ten of them is a chapter.

A hundred true lessons is the book you didn’t know you were writing.

Do this tonight.

Whatever you walk out of next — record 30 seconds before you drive away.

One thing. One tag. Don’t edit it.

Do it ten times.

Listen back.

Then use them.

That’s it for today.

See you next Sunday -

Neil

Ps — We officially launched Done with You MGMT this week.

If you’re interested in having a conversation about it, you can schedule a call with me.

You can join our free community here.

Or take our free Artist Development Audit here.