Raising Pulses

When I use my treadmill, I’m a responsible guy and use a cardiac monitor at the same time. Can’t have the old guys over-doing it!  I also have a theory about not doing anything sans appropriate music.  With that in mind, I put on the CD from two other old guys – Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton. The toured together a while ago and have a live CD from the Madison Square Garden show – it’s really good.

So there I am cruising along at my usual pace and listening to the music.  All of a sudden, the treadmill starts slowing down and telling me “reducing speed to lower heart rate.”  I was doing my usual workout at a speed I hit all the time and yet for some reason, my heartbeat had elevated itself out of the acceptable range.  Not by much, but it was higher.  The culprit?

Eric Clapton.  He was doing an amazing solo (on a blues jam called Double Trouble, since you’re asking) and I’m convinced that my pulse went a bit higher because of how it resonated with me.  I’ve worshiped Clapton’s playing since I first heard the amazing solo on Cream’s version of Crossroads in 1968 and 40 years later, his work still hits home.

Which of course made me ask how many of us are doing the same thing?  Are we making hearts beat faster among clients, customers, partners, coworkers or are we just background noise?  What’s great about music is that it can communicate so much without words.  Can you?  Can you think of a business encounter where it wasn’t anger that raised pulses but the strength of the ideas you presented?  Does your work have that kind of impact?

Enjoy the music and let me hear what you think.