Johnny Cash is one of the best selling musicians of all time. But by the 1990s, his career was in a freefall. After 26 years, Columbia Records dropped him in 1986. His songs were just not selling. On top of that, Cash had relapsed on painkillers. His voice became weaker, his energy was shot, his creativity dimmed. 

Cash had 4 more flop records over the next 5 years with a smaller label.

He was at a point where his fan base was dwindling and no one wanted to work with him anymore. Until Rick Rubin heard him sing a song at Bob Dylan’s anniversary concert. Rubin realized that Cash had lost his artistic core. But there was still a lot of talent there.

Rubin was a music producer for hip hop artists like Jay Z and Kanye West. Would he be able to help a country musician? But Rubin was confident that if he could help Johnny Cash clear the clouds and gain clarity, he would shine through again.

Rubin invited Cash to record songs in his living room.

No studio. No equipment. Just a guitar and a microphone. He got rid of all the distractions. He just let Cash sing. 

But before the music sessions, Rubin did something he had never done before with any other artist. He prayed with Cash. Not just once but every session. Communion and stillness became part of the process. Instead of overthinking, Cash surrendered to the moment. The more he prayed, the more the clutter in his mind faded away. He stopped overthinking, stopped chasing perfection and started feeling the music again.

Calm before clarity.

Rubin knew that he had to help Cash clear his mind to reinvigorate creativity. To help him focus, to let him feel energized, to sing like he used to. Addiction and failures had screwed with his head. No one can have clarity when their cortisol levels are high. No one can think well.

So the first thing Rubin had to do was help with a mental reset. When your mind is overwhelmed with stress, it’s like a stormy sea. Murky water blocks clarity. You feel like you are drowning. When the waves are crashing, you waste energy just trying to stay afloat.

Creativity doesn’t need you to work harder. You just need to let the water settle. Calm creates clarity, and clarity boosts creativity.

So how can one engineer calm?

1. You start with reducing clutter. 

Clutter – both physical and mental – creates noise and distraction. You cannot try and add calm to your life. You can only remove what creates chaos. Declutter. Subtract everything except the essential.

i. Physically, declutter your space. Like how Rubin took Johnny Cash to a bare living room instead of a music studio for the recording sessions.

ii. Mentally, take a mind dump. Write down everything swirling in your head. And then create empty pockets of time. Where you can meet silence and boredom. No music, no scrolling, no minor distractions, no small decisions to make.

Take a walk if sitting in silence is too difficult. But give yourself a mental reset.

2. You add a repetitive element.

The first key is subtraction. The second key is anchoring. With the aid of prayers or mantra or something repetitive.

Prayers and meditation helped Johnny Cash. His mind stopped jumping around when there was something steady to hold on to. He stopped over thinking. Prayers and mantra – or any kind of ritual actually – act like an anchor in stormy waters. 

Repeating a mantra or breathwork helps in creating patterned stillness. Reduces the mental load and creates order inside the mind. Calm is not the absence of thoughts. It’s the ability to not get carried away by them.

That is how Rick Rubin got the best out of Johnny Cash. By transporting him to a decluttered setting. And then helping him anchor his mind with prayers. The results speak for themselves. The songs recorded in the living room became the “American Recordings” album. It earned multiple Grammy wins. And cemented Johnny Cash – not as a country star, but a timeless artist.

Action Summary:

• Calm precedes clarity. To gain clarity, focus on calming your mind down.

• Start with subtraction. Don’t force creativity. Instead remove what drains you, what distracts you.

• Then anchor your mind with rituals. Mantra and prayers and meditation. Focus + repetition + breathe = calm.