Neil Martin · Beats, Business & Life

Life

Neil Martin in a purple suit standing at the front of an empty conference room, with tables and rows of chairs set out behind him

Sit down and shut up: the chatterbox who found the stage

Told to sit down and shut up from my first day at school. Now the stage feels like home. Here’s what happened in between.

Illustration of a cosy window seat on a rainy day with a folded knitted blanket, a hot water bottle and a steaming mug of tea, raindrops on the glass and a small golden light outside

And then I got sick

In the summer of 2018 I ended up in hospital having tests. Why I shared it, and what getting sick taught a man who wrote about healthy living.

Illustration of two old windows side by side, a small fly pressed against the closed pane on the left while the window on the right stands wide open onto a sunny garden

Stop flying into the window

A fly will hit the same window all day. Persistence on the wrong plan only keeps you stuck. Get honest about what you’re doing, then try another way.

Illustration of a tall indoor climbing wall seen from below, handholds climbing up into golden light, with a coiled rope and a small chalk bag waiting on the floor

How to achieve the impossible

A short list I wrote in 2018 about doing something that hasn’t been done before. Be yourself, do more, then do it again. And remember, done beats perfect.

Illustration of a block of flats at dusk seen across a quiet street, its windows lit in warm gold and cool blue, some dark, with plants on the balconies

Always think of the other person

Behind every lit window, someone has something going on. Why it pays to think of the other person before you decide why they’re acting the way they are.

Illustration of an old upright piano in a quiet room with the lid open, worn keys, a metronome on top, blank sheet music on the stand and a well-used stool in golden evening light

Do the verb

If you want to be the noun, you have to do the verb first. Want to be a runner? Run. Want to be a DJ? Play records. There’s no shortcut.

Illustration of a straw sun hat and a closed paperback resting on a wooden lounger on a sunny whitewashed Spanish terrace with terracotta pots, a lemon tree and the sea in the distance

Switching off

Twelve days in Spain with no work and no social media. Why I don’t buy always be hustling, and what switching off properly gave me back.

Illustration of a tipped-over paint tin with a puddle of sky blue paint on a wooden workshop floor, a mop, bucket and cloth already set beside it ready to clean up

Stop looking for someone to blame

I forgot something I’d promised a friend. What I did next is the bit that matters. Why fixing it beats finding out whose fault it was.

Illustration of an empty martial arts dojo at dawn, a heavy leather kick bag hanging from a chain with a worn patch, a polished wooden floor and screen windows glowing with early gold light

Master the skills that don’t go out of date

Headphones on, door shut, the same two records over and over. Why practising one thing ten thousand times beats chasing the next hack.

Illustration of six small plant pots on a sunny kitchen windowsill, each plant taller than the last from a tiny shoot to a tall leafy plant, with a small watering can beside them

Some things just take time

Our results come from our rituals. Change what you do every day and your results follow, just not as quickly as you’d like.

Illustration of a spade pushed into freshly dug soil in a small community garden, with gardening gloves and a watering can beside rows of young vegetable plants in golden morning light

Show up or shut up

Complaining on its own doesn’t change anything. Why I think we’ve got two choices when something bugs us: show up and do something, or let it go.

Illustration of a camera on a tripod pointed at a wooden chair with a running vest draped over it and a race medal hanging from the chair back, muddy trail shoes on the floor and a softbox light glowing gold

It’s all about angles

My team kept moving the camera to find the right angle. It got me thinking about how we judge our bodies, and how we look back at things.

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Done Beats Perfect by Neil Martin

The bookDone Beats PerfectThe secrets to overcoming procrastination and getting things doneSee the book →

Neil Martin

About

Hi, I’m Neil

DJing since 1987, three decades in business, and the author of Done Beats Perfect. This is where I write it all down.

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