For many, many years, since I was a kid, I’ve been a very positive and grateful individual. I was brought up in a very positive environment with my parents and my brother. They taught me gratitude, positivity and to be kind to others. Thankfully it rubbed off on me and I carried it on through my entire life.
Many years ago my positivity and health awareness reached new heights when my music career really started to take off. All the things I had learned throughout my life, like living a life of purpose, succeeding, being positive and being healthy/fit, made me realize how effective all these attributes could be for ‘anyone’. I decided to start sharing my own personal tips on succeeding, positivity and health with family, friends, then fans and anyone in general who took interest. I’ve seen it help so many people over the years. To give back, coach and see people get results from the same attributes that worked for me, is something I’m grateful for every day.
I wanted to take my desire to help others to the next step. That next step became live motivational speaking and starting my RVP Health, Body and Mind page. It’s a Facebook Page dedicated to the many principles I’ve used to become a happy, positive, healthy and successful individual. I essentially provide tips on Well Being, Health and Fitness to help motivate and inspire others on a daily basis. The majority of my posts are based off of my own experiences in life and what has and hasn’t worked for me over the years. I’m there daily answering questions, giving tips and even exercises to help make YOU a more positive, healthy, fit and most of all, HAPPY person.
My wish is that you can take the advice given on this page and incorporate it into your life, to live a life full of purpose. Whether it’s motivating you or inspiring you to become more positive, more successful, to get in shape, eat healthier or if it’s the push you need to simply take action and go for your dreams…. RVP Health, Body and Mind is my offering to you to help you become the best and happiest you can be.
In closing, we’re ALL 100% accountable for our lives…. We’re the creators of what our lives will be. So, let’s make the most of it!
Wishing you all the best always,
RVP
Precision and Consistency is everything!
You all know by now that I love using analogies to help explain certain points I Ike to get across. Here's another big life lesson...
Pictured below is one of my past snare heads used on tour before I changed it out. This snare head was used for about 4 weeks straight. If you notice, the middle of the snare head has a dot in the middle of it. That dot is there from being consistent and most of all, from being PRECISE with my drumming! In life, it's just as important to be consistent and precise with how we think and do things. Be precise with what you want out of life and be consistent getting there.
This ties into being positive, working out, driving a car... EVERYTHING we do! The bottom line is being precise and being consistent will give you a big chance at having a successful end result in whatever you choose to do in life.
Never do anything less than 100%. Even the smallest things.... Especially the smallest things!!!! If you practice being consistent and precise in whatever you do, you'll find life becomes so much easier in so many ways.
The problem is a lot of times we are precise with what we want (our goals) but not consistent with our actions. Even in failure, we learn from our mistakes faster if we're precise with wanting to learn what went wrong and consistent with our actions in figuring out what actually went wrong, once a mistake is made. There is no second guessing whatsoever when we fail. You simply fail, it’s done. Therefore, we know not to repeat the same actions if we immediately learn from our mistakes. Be precise and consistent. See how this works ?
An Exercise:
If you all want to make the most out of life. Be consistent in your actions and precise with your intentions (small and big) EVERY SINGLE DAY! Be this way with everything you do. Make it a daily challenge to do so. Practice it. You WILL see a difference in how things will consistently work out for you. Focus on something you’re currently working on, make it a priority to plan your goal out for a certain time of each day. This way you’re being precise with your planning. Set an alarm on your mobile phone if you have to remind yourself. When that time comes each and every day, commit and start. This is where being consistent kicks in. Being precise with your planning and consistent with your actions will help create a good habit... all from following this exercise. Yes, this is goal planning but it’s also habit forming for those of you that have problems with committing or for those who want to become more consistent with their actions. It can be applicable anywhere in your life. Start today.
Drumming was a start for me in this train of thought at a young age. It then transferred into everything I did as a young adult, right up until now. It never stopped and helped me in achieving many things in my life, Big and
small 😉 I practice it to this day and highly recommend it to ALL of you as well.
Wishing you all the best always,
RVP
““With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.” – Dr. Wayne W Dyer
This is a quote I can relate to on EVERY level! 100% responsibility will always be in your life whether you like it or not. You decide your future with the decisions you make in life. Circumstances will happen to you but how you deal with them and the actions YOU decide to take with them will become your end result.
When things go wrong, so many people look at it as a negative thing all together. That’s where they make their biggest mistake. Yes, when negative things happen, it sucks… BUT, there is always a positive gem hidden within EVERY negative. That positive gem is that you get to learn from the mistake or the negative situation that happened to you, so you’re better prepared for it NOT to happen the next time a similar situation comes around. Again, it’s a choice. If you decide to not learn from the negative incident, that’s your choice. If you choose to learn from the negative, you will then take a positive from a negative situation.
Life is all about living it your way. You make every choice when positive and negative events are presented to you. What you choose, shapes your life and tomorrow. It can be hard to face that reality but that is the way it is. So try to look at events that come your way as an opportunity every time. Doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative. There is always an opportunity if you look hard enough. That is something I personally know for sure and why I continue to succeed and live a happy life. I’m wishing you all the same!
Wishing you all the very best always,
RVP
Never forget the basics of life!
“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.”
- Amelia Barr
This quote speaks so much truth. The simplicity of life, after time, always evolves to the amazing miracles in life. Everything has to start somewhere and build. This is one of the most important lessons we HAVE to learn in life in order to achieve a happy and successful life.
Example: I always use teaching my beginner drum students as an example of the importance of simplicity coming first. My latest student, Logan, pictured below with me went through this process in his very first lesson with me. When a beginner comes into their first drum lesson, they don’t know how to hold their drumsticks, play a drumbeat, never mind hit a drum! I always start out SIMPLE. When it’s time for them to learn their first drum beat, I break things down into a method that they can easily understand. I will show them the Hi-Hat part with their right hand, then add the snare part with their left hand and finally, I’ll teach them the bass drum part with their right foot. Before you know it they’re playing their first drum beat and to the student, this is an amazing accomplishment. Each and every time, the student walks out of that lesson inspired, motivated and encouraged due to the marvellous event that just happened with them. Logan has become quite the awesome little drummer as a result 🙂 This is the power of starting out simple put into action. It SIMPLY works, and yes, this easily fits right in with ‘The 4 Fives’ goal exercise I created, if you want to take it even further.
Never forget the basics in all aspects of your life. Everything has to start somewhere and build. When you start a new job that is difficult or start learning a new sport or perhaps pick up the drumsticks for the first time… remember that it’s all possible. You just need to start simple, build and keep going until your actions become a marvellous and memorable event in your life!
#BecomeThePossible
RVP Health, Body and Mind added 2 new photos.
Meaning....
Here's a couple pictures of my favourite tattoo work done by the amazing Jeremy Glen back in 2012. Just getting the stencil lined up took a couple hours. We had to stencil both arms so they would match up correctly. Then we did the tattoo outline on both arms in one session. It was a good 8-9 hour session in total with the stencil work.
It was important to me, for every tattoo I had done to have meaning.
One of the big reasons these pieces are my favourites is not only for the amazing art, but for the meaning of this tattoo. The Japanese Kenji signs merged into the design of the tattoo stand for Happiness, Health and Belief... cornerstones of my life.
Happiness: I've always believed that the ultimate success is Happiness. It's not about abundance, a career, relationships.... it's about ALL of those things and more combined.
Health: Without our health, we are nothing. Too many people take health for granted. Not this guy!!! I'm beyond grateful for my health and every day I live.
Belief: As you know, the first step in 'The 9' principles that I teach in my motivational seminars, is Believe. Everything starts with believing we can do something. Without belief, you're more destined to fail than succeed. That is why this Kenji sign was just as important as the other two to have merged into this tattoo design.
We put a lot of thought and meaning into this combined tattoo piece. I'm very proud of the artwork and especially the meaning behind it. Thanks again to Jeremy for the amazing work and for making it my most favourite piece of tattoo art I have..... and I got a lot of killer pieces 🙂
#grateful
Sunday Motivation
“Life’s journey has many forks in the road. These forks always break down into a couple of choices, the positive path or the negative path. I’ve never had success or happiness evolve from the negative path. The choice is easy and it’s always yours.”
- Ryan Van Poederooyen
I took this picture when I was on tour in 2017 with the DTP traveling through the Colorado Rockies. It was a beautiful drive early in the morning. It was just the Tour Bus Driver and I listening to some Bob Marley when this pic was taken. I remember thinking about all the different paths in my life that led me up to that point. All I can say was there was a lot of appreciation and gratitude being felt at that moment, and there still is 🙂
Life is what YOU make it, make sure to choose your paths wisely. After all, we ALL are 100% responsible for our decisions and where they take us!
The importance of Forgiveness
One of the most difficult things some people face in life is letting go of grudges and the bitterness that ensues. I learned over time to forgive and move on. It has helped me filter out the negative in my life and attract more of the good. Every one of us has dealt with bitterness, jealousy, and anger.
Where does it get you in the end ?
When someone insults or hurts you, you can hold on to anger, resentment and thoughts of revenge, or you can simply forgive them and move forward. What’s the point in ruining your own happiness due to someone else’s unhappiness ? It’s always better to forgive and move on with your life. If you don't practice forgiveness, you could be the one suffering with unhappiness in the end. By embracing forgiveness, you can also embrace gratitude, peace and ultimately, more happiness.
You have to consider how bitterness and grudges can drag you down. It’s not healthy in any way. It’s more important to see how forgiveness can lead you down a path of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Things like:
Improved mental health, Less anxiety, stress and anger, Better self-esteem, Healthier Relationships, Better overall physical well-being.
Plain and simple, forgiveness is for our own growth and happiness. When we hold on to resentment, pain, hurt and anger it harms us far more than it harms the person dishing out the negative. Forgiveness lets us regain our personal power. It frees us to live in the present. Reliving the wrong that was done to us keeps us living in the past and forfeits us from enjoying today. Don’t succumb to this way of life. It’s never worth it!!
How do I approach forgiveness ?
First of all, I take my time to process the hurt and anger. Once I have calmed down, I will honestly approach the person who hurt me and tell him or her how I feel. I’ll ask questions that I need answered. I have a right to know whatever it is I want to know due to the circumstances that have arose. When my questions are answered, I’ll set new guidelines for the relationship with him or her, and then forgive. This process allows me to move forward on my terms, and move on in a positive way. In the process the person who hurt you may learn a lesson or two along the way 😉
Plain and simple, practice forgiveness for your own overall health and happiness.
“ Every day may not turn out to be a home run, but it can be a single hit that will make your quality of life just a little better, and memorable. Remember that all those small hits add up to one big thing called ‘Happiness’, which truly is a home run.” - Ryan Van Poederooyen
Dealing with Self Doubt
I had a close friend of mine approach me about all the self doubt he has in his life at the moment. He came to me because he’s having a tough time with a new career he just started. He’s been paying attention to my musical career and all the crazy changes that have been happening to it the past few months. He asked me how I’ve maintained my happiness and my never die attitude. He also wanted to know if I was dealing with any self doubt with my musical future. My answer quite simply was, ‘’Of course not’’! I wasn’t being cocky, as nothing is a given BUT, I told him that I have to give myself every chance and every belief of succeeding. You can’t let self doubt creep into your life. I went on to tell him some key pointers that keep self doubt at bay for myself, whenever self doubt appears in my life... and trust me, it has many, many times! It’s been a part of all of our lives at one point or another... so here’s how I deal with it:
First of all, and most importantly, as soon as Self Doubt appears, you need to recognize it and tell yourself it’s happening. You need to stop dead in your tracks and regress any doubt that has entered your mind. Doubt is a goal killer. The first step is dealing with it head on!!!
Secondly, think about this....How many times when you’ve doubted yourself or feared something bad would happen, did that negative thing come true after you still took action ? Not all the time and more than likely it happened less than you think. Self-doubts are most often just negative thoughts in your head that your mind may use to keep you from making changes and to keep you within your comfort zone. Don’t do this to yourself. Change is positive, it can lead to so many great things. Don’t be scared to leave your comfort zone!
Next, talk to people! People you trust. When you keep your thoughts to yourself they can become unrealistic, exaggerated and not very much in line with reality or reasonable expectations. Talking to people you trust will help you realize how crazy self doubting yourself can get. Your perspective can positively change in an instant! Another thing you need to do is to not compare yourself to other people, to their successes and especially to their high-light reels that they share on social media. Self-doubt can quickly creep up as a result. Be yourself and compare yourself to who you were yesterday. That should be your only competition. Yourself!
It’s also important to ignore what other people say or think of you, whether you know them or not. When you care about what everyone else is thinking of you, you inhibit yourself. You’d rather do nothing and not get judged than do something and risk criticism. Worrying about what other
people think of you will continue to hold you back from doing something potentially big for yourself. Don’t fall into this trap. Go with your gut, move forward and believe! Other peoples thoughts are none of your business in the end 😉
Lastly, set small goals to help reach your massive goal. When you knock off small goals one after another to achieve your main dream, you build confidence. You build a positive belief system in yourself. Self doubt has a hard time appearing if your too busy being successful or working towards being successful, no matter how big or small your goals are. Another thing I like to do is to look at my past BIG successes and remind myself that if I’ve done amazing things before, I can do them again and perhaps even bigger and better 😉 This way you’re not giving self doubt much of a chance to start tampering with your life.
We’re all born to succeed and live a life we love. Back it up with positive affirmations, or mantra’s. Read positive articles or books that will boost your positivity and outlook on life. As always, we’re in control of our thoughts in the end. Follow these steps every time self doubt starts to appear and you’ll see self doubt disappear just as fast!
Wishing you all the best always,
RVP
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
- Hellen Keller
Everyone lives a different life from the next person. We are touched and moved in many different ways.
For example, I love traveling. I also love my career as a drummer. To combine the two together and experience all that I’ve experienced, is an amazing feeling that brings a smile to my face every time. I have over 60 Starbucks Mugs from traveling the world as a professional musician. Every time I drink out of one of those mugs, those same feelings come back from where I bought that mug, as does the smile on my face. Or, remembering my favourite day off on any tour I've done. It was at Lake Como, Italy during the summer of 2015. It was an amazing day, such a beautiful place and the feeling that whole day was of happiness and gratitude. I'll never forget it. Brian Waddell (DTP Bassist) and I went everywhere and ended up getting an awesome pic together, of us at the cities highest peak and the city of Lake Como in the background (pic below). It's memories like these that inspire me to have many more of them. Those good vibes I feel from these experiences are irreplaceable.
To have feelings that make you happy on a consistent basis is a big part of happiness. I think it’s important to be in touch with your feelings more than anything. Materialistic things come and go, as does money, but your feelings will stay with you forever. They truly remain in your heart. I remember being a kid and staying up until 9pm during the summertime and it was still light out. The smell in the air, the view of the sun about to go down over the mountains and me BMX'ing with my friends until bed time. It's a feeling that I’ll never forget. It makes me happy that it happened and has had a positive impact on my life.
Build your positive feeling bank. Visit it often. It’s not an escape but a visit back to your roots that continue to grow and what truly makes you happy. Your positive feelings can’t be touched or seen but they will provide you with immeasurable happiness. Build your positive feeling bank…. and experience as much as you can in your lifetime.
RVP Food Tip: Add this healthy food to start your days off on the right foot....
Grapefruit!
One of my favourite things to eat in the
morning when I get up is a large Grapefruit. Not only do I love the taste of it, but I love the healthy qualities that come along with it...�
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Grapefruit is great for strengthening your immune system. Everyone knows it packs a punch with lots of vitamin C, but did you know that half a large grapefruit provides 78% of your daily Vitamin C intake ? Yup! It does! This makes it good for controlling allergies, since it reduces histamine levels. Grapefruit also boosts your metabolism. People looking to lose weight should eat grapefruit often, as eating it will not only boost your metabolism... it can burn fat in your body even when resting! It’s also very low in calories and a good source of fibre. Grapefruit is also known for fighting gum disease. It helps protect against certain cancers like, stomach, colon, bladder, breast and esophagus cancer, due to the high content of antioxidants along with Vitamin C. Lastly, it is linked to reducing stress. Many science studies have shown that even just the smell of Grapefruit can make a difference in getting rid of stress, anxiety levels and depression.
Eating grapefruit is a great addition to your diet for many reasons, as you can see. I eat it daily. I love the taste of it and the benefits that come along with it. You can eat it, or drink it. Juicing it in a juicer is best if you want to drink it versus the store bought stuff. Add grapefruit to your diet for an added option to keep your body healthy in many ways!
Life is what YOU make it!
What a great Sunday morning I had yesterday playing Tennis with my Dad, Jos Van Poederooyen. We played every summer when I was growing up in Port Alberni and when I first moved to Vancouver. My back accident back in 1999 didn’t allow me to play tennis for over 15 years. It was nice to rekindle our love for the sport again. Beautiful day, perfect company, and a fun way of getting some added exercise outside of the gym! My Opa was very active right up until he passed last year at 91 years old. He always said, "Life is what YOU make it." My father and I carry out our dutch roots and my Opa's favourite phrase with honour. Making the best life we can each and every day.
The thing to take away from this post is that I had a blank canvas of life to create that Sunday morning. No plans. I took the things I LOVE to do and made another life memory. I love playing Tennis, I love being outside in the sun, I love hanging with my father, I love the exercise that Tennis provides and most of all, I love creating a life I love.
Do what you LOVE and LOVE what you do, as much as possible every day!
We will all run into negative experiences in our lives that should never be ignored. They should be dealt with immediately, learned from and hopefully turned into a positive. The bottom line is that YOU make it what it is in the end. It could just be a negative experience or it could be a new lesson or, best case scenario; a negative turned into a positive.
Never forget this simple yet very important message. Don't waste a single day. Every day may not be a home run, but it can be a single hit that will make your quality of life just a little better and memorable. All those small hits add up to one big thing called Happiness, which truly is a home run
😉
Wishing you all the best always,
RVP
Use your attitude to your advantage!
Attitude is everything when it coms to our lives. This goes beyond being positive or negative. Once you figure out being positive is beneficial in many ways, it's your attitude that will get you where you want to go in life. Applying a 'Positive Attitude' to as much as you can each day, has more benefits than we can count!
Your attitude can make or break almost ANY situation!!!
Anything that is thrown at us in our lives, is not as important as our attitude towards it. Our attitude towards any fact determines our success or failure. Plain and simple. Our attitudes affect our emotions, our emotions help dictate how we handle certain situations or people. It all goes hand in hand. If you have an attitude that looks for the pleasure in even the simplest things in life, you'll see yourself consistently in better moods and better situations as a result. Having an attitude that looks for the good in any situation is a big key to the many parts that make up happiness. You will never know until you use an attitude, beneficial to yourself and continue to use it.
Adopt an attitude of Gratitude: I'm sure you have heard this term many times before. Be grateful, look for things to be grateful for every day. Acknowledge the things in your life that are making positive changes or have made you happy. This is ALL attitude. All these things put you in a state of being happy. Acknowledging your successes is easy. How could you not be happy acknowledging the roof over your head, the food you put in your mouth or the water you have access to out of your tap ? Again, it’s the little things that add up to the big thing - Happiness. When I did my drum clinics in Australia in November 2015, I asked everyone at every clinic to be grateful for 5 things, every day when they wake up. This is an example of 'Attitude of Gratitude' at work. It doesn't have to stop in the morning, it can go all day! This is not a chore!!!! It's up to you.... it's your ATTITUDE that will determine how grateful you really are. So appreciate life and all it's given you. Have an Attitude of Gratitude.
In closing, I think Abraham Lincoln nailed it with this quote about how our attitudes mean so much to our lives’:
"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Brilliant. Use your attitude of gratitude daily and simply have a ‘positive attitude’ towards anything you do in your life as much as you possibly can!
“Life is a chess game of choices. You MUST be 100% accountable for the choices you make. The decisions we make create the world around us. Choose your actions wisely, to win YOUR chess game of life.”
- Ryan Van Poederooyen
How do YOU define success ?
Today I want to share my views on Success and what it means to me. The end of this post will hit you the most and deliver the most important message about defining success. The points explained before hand are VERY important to read
Success can be interpreted many different ways by many different people. I find that a lot of people think that financial abundance is the #1 thing that defines success, especially younger people starting their 9-5 jobs when they first get out of school. In many cases we are brought up to believe that, which is a shame. Financial abundance is indeed a part of success, there is no question. But does that mean you truly succeeded in life ?
I personally define success with many things. To start, here's just a few important examples…
- Truly loving who you are as a person and believing in yourself.
- Having strong, positive and meaningful relationships with good people.
- Working a job you love.
- Being grateful for what you ALREADY HAVE, a healthy body, abundance (not just financially), a job you love doing!
- Donating personal time to helping others and having a positive impact on their lives.
One of the biggest attributes is living and enjoying EVERY single day of your life with purpose, positivity and confidence. If you can wake up with a smile on your face every day and be grateful for the life your living, while working towards your goals and truly loving your life in as many ways as possible.... you are winning!
Successful people never reach one goal and say, "Cool I did it! I'm done!" They keep going, they set new goals and keep the journey alive. Which leads me to the very important point I'm trying to make today with this post….
Success is attributed to one major word that sums up all the points I listed.
That word is: HAPPINESS.
Happiness is made up of everything that truly makes your life amazing and successful. For me, I haven't worked a day in my life since I became a professional musician but I was happy before that dream came true too I still enjoyed the journey to my biggest dream to date. Being a professional musician was my biggest goal and dream since I was a 10 year old boy. I LOVE what I do. I'm grateful for what I do for a living. I am healthy, I have an amazing wife, son, grand-daughter, friends and family and have so many great relationships with people globally in the business world. I get paid to see the world and perform in front of thousands and thousands of people a year, I'm endorsed with the biggest drum companies globally, I'm in the biggest drum magazines in the world, teach drums and personal development to people around the world and so on... I could list much more. Am I a millionaire ? Nope. Not yet 😉 But, I do vacation to tropical places I desire, I own a home and car I love. I go away on weekend excursions often. I'm abundant in many ways. Most of all I'm successful or more importantly, VERY HAPPY with my life in many ways. I love my life. I love all that is in it. Sure there are always things we can improve on or correct or make better. That's all part of the journey, those are the intangibles of life, that make us stronger. I still have major goals I want to accomplish and will continue to enjoy the journey in accomplishing those goals, no matter my age. I will strive to succeed in as many ways possible and be happy!
In closing:
If happiness is abundant in your life, if you are grateful and smiling every day and accomplishing what YOU want out of life (Big and Small), you are successful. Don't let anyone else tell you different! We define our own unique definition of happiness and success. We all want a different life from the next person. That's great!! Do what you love, do what makes you happy, take action towards all of it. Accomplish it step by step and watch your success/happiness continue to grow!
That is what defines success to me!
Create good habits and replace the bad habits
Do you want something to improve your life consistently every year ?
This is something I talked about in my '4 Fives' blog recently... then work on creating a few good habits every year. We all have good and bad habits. A way to improve our way of life is to purposely create good habits and work on getting rid of our bad habits.
As we all know, habits take form over time. So, if you want to create a new habit that is beneficial to your life, you will need to give it time. Same goes for overcoming a bad habit. Patience and persistence are key when doing this. Look at your life and what you think could add to it. Perhaps it's adding exercise to your life first thing in the morning, maybe it's eating more vegetables or it could be reading a new book that inspires you each month of every year ? There are tonnes of examples you can use, it's all a matter of following through with your actions, being disciplined and adding habits you feel would be beneficial to YOU.
Imagine if you created a new habit, 4 times (every 3 months) a year that benefits you ? It could increase believing in yourself, your confidence, your positivity, your health and many other things. It's all a matter of sitting down looking at your life and what you want it to look like in the near future. Take a bad habit you have and turn it into a good habit!!!! I've done this several times in my life.
An example:
One of my biggest examples of creating a good habit was to do with debt! I was one of those people in my twenties who had 3-4 credit cards and racked up the limit on every one of them. I got into more debt than I could handle..... BUT, I changed that. I decided to overcome a bad habit and replace it with a good habit. How I did it was getting a consolidation loan from the bank, paying off all my cards and getting out of debt at the age of 29. From that day forward I created a new habit.... that habit was to always have my credit cards paid down to $0.00 at the end of every month. I was disciplined and followed that rule every month. I have stuck with it ever since. A good habit was born. The positives that came from it were way less stress, more happiness, an amazing credit score and of course, no debt!!!!
We all lead different lives' and different habits will benefit us all differently. The one thing I know for sure is if you want to have a positive impact on your life, on a consistent basis, then you need to start deliberately creating good habits every year to help live the dream life you want to live. Take action, write a list of good habits you want in your life and start today!!!!!
Teaching others to be the best version of themselves!
Teaching others to be the best versions of themselves!
I'm grateful for my music career and all that I've experienced and achieved to date. One of the coolest things I've been able to do is teach drum students in Vancouver and all over the world over the past 10 years while on tour with the DTP. Performing in the video below is Grant, my 10 year old drum student from Squamish, BC. His parents drive him up from Squamish to get drum lessons with me at Long & McQuade (Vancouver) Music Educational Centre.
Grant is awesome and a perfect example of what practicing can do for you at any age. He learned the first 3 beats in the DTP song, 'Failure' in one lesson. Grant listens and goes home to practice everything I teach him. He's dedicated and excited to come back even better for the next weeks lesson. That's key 😉
Grant makes me proud as a teacher. It puts a smile on my face to see a 10 year old kid learning drums with purpose. I may show him things but HE is the reason he is as good as he is. HE put in the work, the dedication and HE never quits. The most important thing, I teach him to be a first rate version of himself, not a second rate version of somebody else. ALWAYS be yourself. Learn and take from your influences and then do it your way. This little dude gets it! Way to go Grant! I believe that this drummer has a bright future ahead of him 🙂 It's such a gratifying feeling for a teacher and also awesome to help others along their way to achieving their dreams!
Proud and Grateful - RVP