The Secret to Paul's Energy
What this covers
How does Paul do it? Author of 16 books, inventor, CEO, and recording engineer with over 2,600 videos and 4,600 daily blog posts, yet still has time to hike, travel, cook, enjoy life, and be with family. What's the secret? You'll likely be either surprised, delighted, horrified, or shocked, but at least you'll know.
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The speaker argues that perceived time scarcity is a self-imposed illusion created by fear and the amygdala's evolved protection mechanisms, and that overcoming this fear through deliberate action is the secret to accomplishing extraordinary amounts of work.
- Everyone has the same 4,500 weeks in a lifetime; accomplishment differences stem from how time is allocated, not availability
- The amygdala/lizard brain generates false scarcity narratives (impostor syndrome, fear of failure) to conserve energy, a vestigial evolutionary protection
- Overriding this fear through repeated action rewires the brain's resistance and makes expanded productivity feel natural
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All humans have approximately 4,500 weeks in their lifetime (roughly 85 years), and the fundamental difference between people who accomplish more and those who accomplish less is not time availability but how that identical time is allocated.
“we all have the same amount of time I just finished a great book called 4500 weeks I think that's the name of it 4,000 weeks something like that and this person writes about your entire lifetime consists of about 44500 weeks and the question is what are you doing with your time we all have the same amount of time if we all live to the same age right I'm 76 years old what have I done with my time well I've done a lot with my time and I intend to continue doing it I intend to never retire I might retire from this but I want to keep going because I love doing stuff right where did we find the time if we all have the same amount of time you have the same ability and the same time that I do what's the difference the difference is you haven't figured out yet that you're lying to yourself”
The speaker asserts that to overcome the amygdala's resistance and expand one's capacity, one must 'battle' the small voice of fear and self-doubt, which requires deliberately ignoring the narrative it generates about being an impostor or likely to fail.
“you have to battle the little guy back here that's telling you you can't that's telling you be afraid if you do it you're going to fail all that stuff that makes you afraid that makes you think you're an impostor a failure that's all total that you tell yourself right and I know that people watching this are just going to shake their head and go wow that's either completely wrong or I wish I could do that and you can any one of us can”
The amygdala (the 'lizard brain') generates false narratives of scarcity, inadequacy, and fear as an evolutionary protection mechanism originally designed to conserve energy when food was scarce, and this same mechanism now creates artificial resistance to pursuing new goals and creative work.
“that little lizard brain is the one that is always telling you you're not good enough you're an impostor you can't do this you don't have the time why why is it doing that why is it telling us this story well because that's its job its job is to make you into a sloth right it's your protection from years ago when we had to conserve energy when we had because it wasn't enough food we didn't know if there were enough berries to pick if there were enough uh uh rabbits to kill right so that amydala protected us that lizard brain said don't do that you might get hurt don't do that you might starve to death when there's food eat eat eat eat eat eat and all of a sudden quickly before we had time to evolve out of this our little lizard Brain still is there”
Overriding the amygdala's protective resistance through repeated deliberate action causes the brain to lose interest and stop generating fear, making expanded productivity progressively feel less difficult and more natural.
“when you tell it to go f*** itself and you just walk over it it says Ah CU it's basically lazy it just goes all right I'll go to the next thing which is what it does you jump into it and you just do it because you can do it absolutely you can do it you just can't listen to this you have to override him and it's scary and it's hard and but once you do it all of a sudden it's like well that wasn't so bad and then you add another thing that's the secret that's all it is”
Seth Godin recommended the speaker read Stephen Pressfield's 'The War of Art' to understand that perceived life fullness is a cognitive illusion created by the mind's need to feel its schedule is complete and therefore justified in not adding more to it.
“my friend Seth Goden got me on this course he said you have the time you just don't know it okay and he said you want to read a good book that'll change your life I said sure he goes step pressfield and the war of Art and in that book Stephen pressfield says you know what every one of us has the same problem and that problem is pretty simple when we look at our life we think it's full I right I wake up in the morning I have my breakfast I do my thing I go to work I come home I'm tired I watch TV I do whatever my life is full”
The speaker claims that watching television and completing other routine daily activities contributes to the feeling of a 'full' schedule that people use to justify not pursuing additional creative goals.
“I wake up in the morning I have my breakfast I do my thing I go to work I come home I'm tired I watch TV I do whatever my life is full how could I squeeze in making a daily video how could I squeeze in writing a novel how could I you know whatever it is you want to do how in the heck am I going to squeeze that in I don't have enough time for what I want to do and the truth is that's a lie”
The speaker asserts that the feeling of impostor syndrome ('you're not good enough', 'you're an impostor') is a universal human condition that everyone experiences and can overcome by refusing to listen to it.
“and I hope this resonates with some of you because because um we all try to work on we all think we're failures we all think we're just imposters and we all are get over it and then go do something go do something okay”
The speaker describes making a video (presumably the one being watched) by putting an iPhone on a tripod in a quiet room and recording a story, suggesting this as a trivially easy way to redirect time toward creative work.
“take for example this video I don't know how long it's going to be 8 minutes 9 minutes 10 minutes I have 10 minutes I'm spending it with you could you not do that could you not take your stupid iPhone like I'm doing with my stupid iPhone putting it on a tripod and just go in a quiet room and tell a little story could you not do that of course you could could you have 10 minutes you turn around and you have an hour you have two hours”
The speaker's breakthrough practice involved attempting to list 30 subjects for a daily blog and running out of ideas after approximately 20, initially interpreting this as evidence of inadequacy, but later recognizing it as the amygdala's resistance preventing him from believing he had sufficient material.
“so this all started when Seth told me you need to write a daily blog and I said every day what am I going to write about he goes you'll figure it out and I thought okay you know what I think he's full of it because he has talent and I don't and he's smarter than I am and you know and that was all my little lizard going you're not good enough you're an impostor how could you possibly do that right that's what it's telling me so I said all right I'm going to try and write down 30 subjects and I got to about 20 and I ran out I thought oh my God I can't even come up with a month worth of posts what am I going to say I can't do this and I went back to Seth and he goes you're lying to yourself you're listening to that little lizard brain”
The speaker has produced 2,600 videos over approximately 8 years while simultaneously writing four novels, a memoir, working on 10 more books, writing a daily blog, producing daily videos, working on circuits, managing 40 people, traveling internationally, and sleeping 8 hours per night.
“I have 2,600 something videos that I've done over the last 8 years or so I have written four novels a memoir I'm working on 10 more books in the audio files Guide Service I write a Daily Post I do these daily videos I work on circuits I've got 40 people that between Terry and I uh we have to manage I also have a life I get 8 hours of sleep a night”
The speaker describes an intimate feeling of connection to his audience through his blogging and believes this connection is valuable enough to warrant the time investment.
“I feel an intimate connection and I I like coming to PS audio and I enjoy working with the people here and and I I want to and I travel and and our son lives in in in France”
The speaker predicts that 99.9% of viewers will find his message intellectually interesting but will not act on it, treating it as inapplicable to themselves rather than as a call to behavior change.
“I know that 99.9% of the people that listen to this are never going to go past this they're going to go that's interesting and it's not for me and that's fine that's great but a few of you are going to be like me okay afraid and but you want to do it”
The speaker states he intends never to retire and will continue creating and working because he loves doing the work, even though he might retire from PS Audio specifically.
“I intend to never retire I might retire from this but I want to keep going because I love doing stuff right”
The speaker claims that Seth Godin told him to write a daily blog despite his protests, and Godin's advice was to 'figure it out' without explaining the method, relying on the speaker to overcome his own resistance.
“this all started when Seth told me you need to write a daily blog and I said every day what am I going to write about he goes you'll figure it out and I thought okay you know what I think he's full of it because he has talent and I don't and he's smarter than I am”
The speaker claims he comes to PS Audio on Saturdays, spends two or three hours every couple of weeks answering submitted questions, and then produces videos from those recorded answers.
“so I just finished my 20th question as many of you probably know I come down to PS audio for on a Saturday I spend two or three hours every couple of weeks and then I go home and I produce the videos I answer these questions that people submit to me”
The speaker has a son who lives in France, and the speaker has recently traveled to France, demonstrating that international travel does not interfere with his ability to maintain his productivity.
“our son lives in in in France and so we just went over there and and I still did all this stuff and still went to France and had a great time”
The speaker notes that he is 76 years old and uses his age as evidence that he has already lived a significant portion of his ~4,500-week lifespan and has used it productively.
“I'm 76 years old what have I done with my time well I've done a lot with my time”