The '70s & '80s: Romanticized Past or Truly the Best Times?

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Read time — 11 minutes.

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Whenever I'm not writing for you folks, I'm usually listening to music and curating playlists.

Amongst other things.

But the playlist curation gig I have is one I can undertake while writing these letters. However, every week, I spend a couple of hours in the studio with my business partner going through our playlists re-organizing, filtering, and discovering new tunes. Mainly — this is done to keep both of us up-to-date when working on playlists for our clients.

Our agency specializes in advising restaurants, bars, hotels, and retail stores on establishing their unique brand identities. Think of us as the architects but for your auditory experience.

That music you love and vibe to at your favourite restaurant?

Selected by organizations like ours.

(If you or anybody you know needs assistance with music selection for your/their brand, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me here)

Our latest client is a restaurant in a rather poppin' area of the city, where lots of tourists and locals tend to party & go for drinks. The restaurant itself is very rustic and gives off a rather farmer/"macho-man" vibe. There are 2 huge beer barrels at the entrance if that's of any indication.

Regardless — we always aim to satisfy our clients and match their needs. The restaurant's owner claimed to have a preference for 70s & 80s rock. That means anything ranging from Aerosmith to The Doobie Brothers & Talking Heads.

Quite a big range indeed — (our "hold" playlist has over 600 songs).

Just FYI — the "hold" playlist is our initial canvas. Our preliminary, extensive collection of songs. This is where we just throw all our ingredients pre-filtering and then decide which ones fit the vibe we're going for and which don't.

Therefore, over the last month or so, I've been listening to more rock from the '70s & '80s than ever before. And I've been absolutely loving it! Many of the tunes are familiar, but the majority are unknown to me and my ears. There is no better feeling than discovering new music — especially when it's this good.

But, as I continue to listen to music from nearly 4 to 5 decades ago, I continue to ask myself the question that many others have asked before — was music really better in the 70s & 80s?

As I've been working through the musical selection for this client, I've been replaying this question in my mind. And what I can conclude so far is — perhaps its implication isn't purely as musical as it may seem at first glance.

In other words — there may be a deeper and more nuanced significance to this question. It's more than just a harmless and conversation-starter-type question.

Many people (including yourself) love to compare things to how they "used to be".

Be it:

• Foods

• Movies

• Culture

• TV shows

• Your problems

• Your happiness

• Religious beliefs

• Your life in general

Everything has a comparison. Besides the fact that this is normal because everything in life is relative; people love to make comparisons between all things (even if they inherently cannot be compared). In most cases, you're comparing apples to oranges.

But, I believe there is a deeper meaning behind why you spend time engaging in this comparison game. And I think it's fair to say that it lies in the power and inherent nature of nostalgia.

That's right — nostalgia. That bittersweet feeling that arises when we reminisce about ancient days, people, or experiences that, though no longer a part of our present, continue to hold a special place in our hearts and minds.

With that, let's dive right in.

The Powerful Nature of Nostalgia & Why You May Not Be Using Correctly

Nostalgia is only a wish to return to innocent ignorance.

To unlearn those atrocities and cruelties that have been committed by human beings.

But if you really think about it — it's that profit, and subsequent wealth and power at the expense of human dignity that keeps the world as we know it, turning.

It is certainly true that denial of the present would make it easier for you and me to live. But it would also make it quite impossible for us to live with ourselves in the first place.

As much as thinking about the past can be debilitating, completely ignoring it is not helpful either.

Like everything else in life — the issue lies in not having nor finding the right balance. That is, not spending too much thinking, dwelling, or fixating on the past. You don't want to be too taken aback by what things happened (or didn't).

Instead, your goal should be to use those past experiences (& nostalgia at large) as a motivating force and useful reminder of what to do as you move forward.

Ask yourself — do you tend to associate good with the past and the way things were?

If so, you're engaging in what's known as Rosy Retrospection:

• A cognitive bias where you remember the past as being better than what it was.

This is different from nostalgia in that nostalgia usually comes back to you including any potential drawbacks. Rosy retrospection, on the other hand, will not bring those drawbacks back to your memory, hence why it's only the good that is associated.

Whether you answered "yes" or "no" to the previous question, ask yourself this — do you tend to be too worried about the present & future and thus view the past in an overly positive light?

If so, you're now falling under the spell of Declinism:

• A cognitive bias where the past is remembered in a relatively more positive way, negatively impacting the way you view the present & future.

Not sure if you qualify as a declinist?

Do you believe the world is in a state of accelerated & irreversible decline?

If so — consider yourself qualified.

Both of these biases are distinct from nostalgia but can definitely interact and work alongside it (as well as acting independently).

The point here isn't whether you engage in these biases or not. It's how you go about your life after engaging in them.

Either you let it stress you out and affect your day-to-day life, or you can learn to accept, use it wisely, and continue to move forward with a clear & calm mind.

Let's explore this further.

Overwhelming Desires

In our current society, many of us tend to have one too many desires.

One of my favourite pieces of wisdom spoken by the mighty Naval revolves around this concept of "desires".

That is why you keep this in the front of your mind. 

You remember that when you're unhappy about something — you look for that one underlying desire that isn't being fulfilled. 

And that's fine. It's okay for you to have desires. You've been put on this earth to do something. 

You need to have desires. 

Just don't have too many. 

Stop picking up desires unconsciously or randomly. That is how you end up with too many of them. 

You tend to make remarks such as:

• "My coffee is too cold"

• "I'm uncomfortable in this chair"

• "Ugh it's so cold, I wish it were warmer"

• "My dog pooped on our expensive home carpet"

And that, my friends, is how you end up with thousands of desires.

And when you're unhappy like this — you can't possibly have a clear or calm mind. 

Instead — you are too busy in your mind.

• Your sense of self is too strong. 

• You are always opening new doors.

• Your mind is constantly working, working, and working. 

You're thinking too much. And when one thinks too much, they can't be high-performing at anything. 

Instead — learn to pick 1 overwhelming desire. It's okay for you to suffer over that one. But when it comes to all the others, you need to let go so that you can be calm, peaceful, and relaxed.

That's when you'll be able to perform a better job.

If you wanna be effective in business, you need a mind that's: 

• Cool

• Calm

• Clear

• Collected 

Take Warren Buffer — he plays cards all day long and goes for walks in the sun. He isn't sitting around constantly loading his brain with non-stop information and getting worked up over every little thing.

Well, the same applies to you. Especially in this world of rapid information we currently live in. In such a world, you, too, have infinite leverage. 

Your actions can be multiplied by 1000x, through:

• Writing code

• Investing in capital

• Hiring people to work for you

• Broadcasting them on a podcast

Due to this — the impacts of your decision-making are much higher than they ever used to be. Today, you can influence thousands, if not millions, of people through your decisions, or your code.

This is why you need to have a clear mind. 

It's a clear mind that leads to better judgment. 

And it's better judgment that then leads to better outcomes.

So my advice to you is:

• Learn to disengage. 

• Go for walks in the sun. 

• Take one day off a week (off social media, off caffeine).

The best thing you can do is pause. Distract yourself. 

Distraction is one of the best tools — when used skillfully. 

And in some cases, it's the only way to get you to where you're trying to go. 

A happy, calm, and peaceful person will make all the better decisions, resulting in better outcomes. 

Learn to tame your mind, just like you have to learn to tame your body. 

Now, that's how you operate at peak performance!

But, this isn't something that happens overnight. This, folks, is where patience comes into the equation.

The True Underlining Beauty of Patience

Patience is the true answer to all your problems.

But — most folks want to take shortcuts.

Ask yourself:

• Does a home built quickly survive the first storm?

• Does a lottery winner remain infinitely happy after their sudden change of fortune?

• Does the single-sentence summary of a book become an actual & fulfilling substitute for the full story?

The problem perhaps doesn't lie in taking the shortcuts themselves, but more so in not realizing that you're even taking them to begin with. The same logic can be applied to listening in a conversation:

You tend to skip forward and generalize the speaker's overall message.

The result?

You miss out on the subtleties of the point, if not the entire premise.

That's a faulty and flawed assumption, my friend. This shortcut does not save you time. Especially when you think about its long-term impact.

In essence — when you do this, you are avoiding the discomfort that comes with being challenged on your own pre-established stories and notions. And the result of that?

Your worldview continually shrinking.

Sometimes, it's okay for you to pause. It's okay for you to go back. It's okay for you to re-ask a question, or re-read a page (or two) that you may not have understood or properly listened to.

It's okay.

If anything — re-reading a well-understood page or paragraph can be very revealing.

You may find:

• Nuances

• Inspirations

• New meanings

• Deeper understandings

All of these can suddenly arise and come into focus.

But they won't if you continue to sleepwalk through your lives.

In the same way that driving, eating, or reading, can be performed almost on autopilot or with focused intention — so can listening.

Every phase of our work and our lives benefits from cultivating this achievable habit of patience.

And that's where you're lucky. In the same way that shyness is not genetic, neither is patience. It is a learned behavior.

Patience develops much like awareness.

Through an acceptance of what is.

Impatience is an argument with reality. Much like when listening to '80s music and wishing it were the same today — you're desiring for something to be different from what you're experiencing in the here and in the now.

And this impatience is felt across the other facets of your life as well. You desire for time to speed up, for tomorrow to come sooner, or to relive yesterday.

Or to simply close your eyes, and wish to open them and find yourself in another place.

All those desires mean nothing when you remember that time is something you and I both have no control over.

Patience begins with the acceptance of natural rhythms. You begin to exude impatience when your desire is for time to speed up and skip ahead of those rhythms. Paradoxically — doing that is what ends up taking more time, and using much more energy.

It's a wasted effort.

Tying It Back To Music

The question remains — were the '70s & '80s better decades for music?

And the answer is simple — it depends.

It depends on your tastes, preferences, memories, experiences, and many many other factors.

Music is art. It's subjective.

You claiming you prefer one decade over another is inherently flawed because they are different. Once again — apples vs. oranges. It's all different. And it's the numerous factors during that current moment that affect your perception towards liking one over another.

Perhaps the more important question here lies in determining during which period you would've rather lived when that music was originally released.

And I know my answer to that one.

And it's now. Today.

As much as I love the tunes from the '70s & '80s, living in today's world grants me this limitless and never-ending access to music. Both from the '70s and today. And every other decade before and since then.

That's where the beauty lies, folks. Take a second to realize how we, today, have access to the best of both worlds. Back then, at my age, my parents didn't. They were solely in the presence of the kind of music of that time. They didn't have the means to compare and decide what was "better" as effortlessly as we do today. They just enjoyed it.

More importantly — they just danced.

And us? Instead of just dancing to the fact that we have access to it all, we're here falling into nostalgia's trap.

Everything is uncertain. Our whole life is. So instead of falling under the spell of nostalgia, rory retrospection, or even declinism, we should focus on using our memories of such times to our advantage. Using them as a means to serve us instead of damaging our present and perhaps future moments.

Just like social media, music at large, and technology & innovation, everything has its relative counterpart — being used either for good or for bad. So, learn to use it for the good. This means allowing it to be a powerful motivator moving forward and aspiring for things to be as good as they used to be. And if it's the case that you have terrible memories of the past — then, with that, too, keep looking forward. It's only up from here.

Whatever way it is you're looking at it, my biggest piece of advice is to let it serve you.

Remember:

1. Focus on having 1 overwhelming desire and strive to always have a clear and calm mind.

2. Keep yourself busy. Work hard. The result will be a healthy and occupied mind with no time (nor mental energy) to think about the other "little" things.

3. Learn to step back when needed. Disengaging is the best way to engage at times. Use distractions skilfully, and let them take you where you're aiming to go.

And please, my friends, do realize that you're currently living in a time where you get to enjoy (and dance) to music from 5 different decades all in the same 15 minutes. Imagine that — something my mother could only dream of in her time. Now, I witness the delight in her eyes as she seamlessly transitions from swaying to George Michael to grooving with Harry Styles, all while cooking her delicious meals.

You, too, have this remarkable privilege.

You have the present and the past right here, in the palm of your hands.

Use it wisely.

Thank you for reading!

Much love,

Julian

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