In the early 1990s, Johnny Cash was a living legend that no one wanted to hear.

The industry had moved on. Nashville had shelved him. Columbia Records had dropped him. Radio wouldn’t play his new music.

To those in the industry, he seemed like a relic.

But Rick Rubin got curious.

Rubin wasn’t a country producer. He had built his reputation on hip-hop and hard rock.

But something in Cash’s voice—a weathered truth—caught his ear. While everyone else asked, “Why bother?” Rubin asked a different question:

Why isn’t anyone listening to Johnny Cash anymore?

Creative ProcessMark SamplesMay 27, 2025Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash, First Principles CreativityComment

Rick Rubin on Creative Habits

If you want more creative inspiration, develop your creative habits.

Here are three insights from music producer Rick Rubin for setting up habits and routines that consistently support your creative work. These are all from his book, The Creative Act.

Organize your life to allow for creative space.

Space in your schedule to create doesn’t just happen. To guard consistent, extended time for creating takes disciplined effort. “Discipline and freedom seem like opposites. Discipline is not a lack of freedom, it is a harmonious relationship with time. Managing your schedule and daily habits well is a necessary component to free up the practical and creative capacity to make great art.” (135)

Rubin even says that organizing your life is more important than being efficient in your work. Your focused efficiency in life can open the space to be creatively messy.

Creative ProcessMark SamplesJune 10, 2024creative habits, Rick RubinComment

Don't Box-In Your Creative Process

The creative process is anything but obvious—a truth that the outside world can never truly understand. The daily struggle. The adrenaline. The second-guessing. The blood, sweat, and joy.

The myth of the genius artist and the flash of insight is just that, a myth.

It’s only part of the story.

As a creator, you know that the creative process is never just one thing. It’s never just insight, or just hard work. The creative process is made up of intervals, like breathing in and out.

The Creative Process