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Nick Pags: Escaping Digital Shadows: Rediscovering Self in a Social Media World - Is True Fulfillment Offline?

• Nick Pags • Episode 107

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In this invigorating episode, join me as I welcome Nick Pags, a renowned Growth Mindset Expert, Certified Behavioral Change Specialist, and Inspirational Speaker, whose insights into personal transformation are reshaping the way we approach success and fulfillment. Nick's unique blend of high-energy coaching and empathetic understanding has empowered countless individuals, from aspiring entrepreneurs to C-Suite executives, to unlock their potential and redefine their paths in life.

Our conversation dives deep into the challenges and pitfalls of our modern digital landscape, particularly the overwhelming influence of social media. Nick eloquently dissects how our online habits can obscure our self-awareness and hinder personal growth. His perspective offers a refreshing counter-narrative to the prevalent digital culture, encouraging listeners to rediscover their authentic selves away from the glare of screens. This discussion is not just an exploration but a call to action – to break free from the digital shadows that cloud our true selves and to find fulfillment in the real, tactile world.

What sets this episode apart is Nick's captivating approach to personal development, blending his expertise in behavioral change with real-world applications. He offers actionable insights on how we can honor ourselves by stepping back from social media's grasp, finding balance, and nurturing our true passions and interests. This episode is a beacon for anyone seeking to navigate the complexities of living in a digitally dominated era while striving to maintain a genuine sense of self. Tune in for an enlightening journey with Nick Pags, as we explore the path to self-discovery and the art of living a truly fulfilled life.

Key Points From This Episode:

 Empowerment and Personal Agency [00:00:00]
The Importance of Magnesium [00:00:28]
 Introducing Guest Nick Pags [00:03:59]
 Discovering Personal Purpose [00:05:15]
The Impact of Personal Growth on Others [00:06:41]
Pursuing Passion in Professional Life [00:08:38]
The Role of Individual Purpose [00:09:06]
The Uniqueness of Every Individual [00:12:10]
Overcoming Fear and Taking Action [00:15:29]
The Risks of Playing It Safe [00:19:21]
Clearing Intuition Channels [00:21:17]
The Trap of Social Media Consumption [00:24:39]
 Creating Experiences from Within [00:33:27]
Intentional Use of Social Media [00:35:10]
The OneSec App for Mindful Social Media Use [00:37:01]
The Power of Awareness and Intentionality [00:41:23]
Breathwork as a Consciousness Practice [00:45:11]
The Analogy of Racing and Consciousness [00:49:41]
The Ferrari Mind and the Importance of Brakes [00:51:48]
The Art of Saying No [00:54:20]
Wrapping Up and Thoughts on Conscious Living [00:57:19]
The Power of Self-Knowledge [00:58:08]

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Books and References

"Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz: This book discusses self-image and its impact on one's life.

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Nick Pags: People don't give themselves permission to try. Somebody else has the power over your life and you become the victim to that person, that device, that place, that drug, that drink, whatever it is. If you give away your power, you are now dependent on that thing to feel the way you want to feel. You're providing energy for people that they have within. It's just they don't spend a lot of time in it. So when they see it in you, they give themselves permission they never needed to bring it out of themselves.
Andres Preschel: Wow. There is only one supplement that I think almost everyone on this planet should be taking and that's a full-spectrum and highly bioavailable magnesium supplement because, well, let's face it, ever since the industrial revolution, our soil has been depleted. of magnesium and therefore our food is depleted of magnesium and on top of that our modern environments which are inherently overstimulating and stressful are constantly depleting our body of magnesium and unlike other nutrients this is not something that your body can produce on its own it literally needs to get it from the diet to And one individual kind of magnesium alone is not enough. You actually need seven different kinds to support over 300 biochemical reactions that help regulate your nervous system, red blood cell production, energy production, managing stress and emotions, etc. And so the folks at Bioptimizers have made it very easy and convenient to add back in what the modern world leaves out. They've created Magnesium Breakthrough. Now, I've been taking this for the past two years and the biggest benefits that I've seen are related to my evening wind down sessions and my sleep. I tend to be pretty overactive in the evenings, just totally overthinking everything that I do. And this has helped me wind down and get more restorative, more efficient to sleep. So I wake up feeling way more refreshed, more energized, more clear, more ready for the day. And the way that I see it, sleep is upstream of essentially every other health and wellness related habit and decision. Because if you're sleeping better, automatically you're going to have more regular cravings, you're going to have higher insulin sensitivity, you can derive more of all these inputs like fitness, right? You make more gains, you gain more muscle, you burn more calories, and you wake up feeling refreshed so that you can do it again and again and again, and then beyond the fitness you have more energy to go for a walk, to do fun activities with friends, you are less stressed so you can socialize anxiety-free, and you're also going to be retaining, refreshing, and refining your skills and information much, much better so you won't forget any names. And, yeah, I mean, like I said, over 300 chemical processes that you're supporting with magnesium. And sleep, I mean, wow, better sleep is just a better life in general. So, I found that extremely helpful on a personal level, and I'm sure that you guys will find it helpful too. Your mind and body, and maybe even your spirit will thank you. So anyway, if you want to get a sweet little discount off of this amazing, amazing magnesium supplement from Bioptimizers, all you have to do is visit the show notes. So you scroll down right now, takes just a couple seconds and boom, you'll have access to all seven different kinds of magnesium that your body needs. All you have to do is hit the link and use code KYP from Know Your Physio. KYP. That's all. Enjoy 10 to 22% off depending on the package you choose, whether or not you subscribe. I'm obviously subscribed because I don't even want to think about whether or not I'm going to get this essential supplement in the mail. And yeah, hope you guys enjoy that awesome stuff. And that's all for now. I'll see you guys on the show. Nick Pags. How you doing, man?

Nick Pags: I'm great, brother. How are you doing?

Andres Preschel: It was awesome to meet you at the Jim Quick event over at the Sentinels, Palm Island, to connect with you and see that we're like-minded guys helping to take people on a journey to discover themselves and be the best version of themselves. And while that is something that I think almost every human being aspires to do someday, that It's an art and it's a lifelong mission that you continue to refine that art refine that craft And that at the end of the day, we're not even we're not we're not meant to serve everybody right, but I think it's a matter of Being able to show up as the best version of yourself aligning with the right people and Helping them pursue a similar Avenue so they can be the best version of themselves and the domino effect that I think you would agree is just One of the most rewarding things. Anyway, I want to welcome you on the show, man. And, uh, appreciate taking the time.

Nick Pags: Thank you, brother. I'm honored to be here and excited to, to drop in and jam and, and, uh, have some good conversation today.

Andres Preschel: Awesome. Well, before we dig in, um, I've got a question for you, bro. Why do you do what you do?

Nick Pags: At this point, it's been a really interesting last two years of exploring that concept of purpose, that concept of what am I supposed to be doing? What am I meant to do? And the last two years has been a big release conversation. Surrender, let go, see what comes up. And because of that, it has led me to a place where I feel like the The things that are designed for me, meant for me, that I'm supposed to be stepping into just keep popping up. So I think why I'm doing what I'm doing is because of A, the upbringing I've had. Like I think the things that I choose to do in my life are in a culmination of all that. As well as just what's inspiring me in this moment, what's going on in the world, where I feel like I can support best. And it's keeping my spirits high and my energy high when I do get up and say, all right, let's get after it. Because I know that I can play a significant role in serving not only myself and creating the life that I want, and my family and my friends, but the people that I'm working with and connecting with as well.

Andres Preschel: And how do you think that this constant effort that you're making to keep yourself on that edge, how do you think that bleeds into the work that you do with other people?

Nick Pags: I think one of the things I've always been told is that people can experience, they can feel the passion in how I show up in my work, specifically. I think in all areas of my life, but definitely when it comes to work, because I've been one of those people, I don't know if everybody should be doing their passion for work. I don't know what my opinion is on that, but I know for myself, that's where I gotta be in terms of my day to day. I need to be doing what I'm passionate about, and I'm passionate about watching people step up and get out of their own way and push aside the BS stories that they're holding on to so that they can step into a beautiful life that's waiting for them on the other side of getting out of their head and into their bodies, into their hearts. But yeah, I think it's, I think just, I love bringing the energy that people have in them. I love being a mirror for them, stepping in and just bringing that fun and that energy, right? Because when you, it's kind of this, what's the word? You're providing energy for people that they have within, it's just they don't spend a lot of time in it. So when they see it in you, they give themselves permission, they never need it to bring it out of themselves. And that's a big, purpose of mine is just be that light that people don't even recognize they have within because we're everything's a mirror, right? It's just people are mirrors to who we are and how we're showing up. So if I step in and I bring that energy, I bring that light, it subconsciously gives somebody else permission to do the same. And I love that more light in the world is a beautiful place.

Andres Preschel: Do you think, so going back to the point you made earlier, you said you're not sure if everyone should be pursuing their passion, at least in a professional setting, right? Should be pursuing their passion for work. Can you expand on this? And part two of this question is, do you believe that the folks that aren't here to pursue their passion for work, that they can still find light in other ways?

Nick Pags: Yeah. Great question. I don't know the answer fully to should people be pursuing their passion or not. I think when I look at it from the lens of my life, I know that that's what I want to do. is follow my passion, but I also know that I grew up with a lot of privilege that allowed me to make that decision. Some people don't grow up with the ability to sit there and go, huh, what do I feel like doing with my life? Some people step into a situation from the day they're born of survival. So I recognize that that's a privilege in and of itself, just being able to choose what you want to do. Some people have to survive and that's the situation they walk into. So I acknowledge that and I think when I look at almost on a spiritual level or a divine level, I do have a belief that we all are here to do something. We are here for a reason, meaning My reason might be to learn this thing or that thing. And is it from lifetimes before? Is it like, you know, karma or whatever people will call it? I don't know. I don't know the spiritual answers. But what I can trust is that we're all here for a reason. We all play a role in this collective energy of this world, man. And the more people that I meet, like you, by the way, the more I get excited about what the world has to offer. There's just incredible people everywhere and so many gifts in each person. And it blows my mind when I think about The fact that I've met, I mean, what is the number? Hundreds of thousands of people, I'm sure, at this point. I'm a guy who likes to go meet people. So I've met so many people in my life. And the craziest thing is, never once have I ever met the same person twice. Never have I ever seen the same person twice or talked to the same person twice, right? I'm not saying anything y'all don't know, but that is still shocking to me. that every single person is unique to themselves. There's never been and never will be another you. And that right in and of itself, that gives us authority to live out our best life, to explore, to try to create the life of our dreams just because there's never been someone like you, as you are in this moment, with the gifts, the skills, the abilities, the experiences that you've been through. So it inspires me every time I talk to somebody, because I'm like, man, you might be that guy. You might be that person that the world's waiting for. And that just fires me up, man. So yeah, I think that when it comes to people doing what they love with their life, I think that if that's your work, or if it's not your work, it's totally your prerogative. but it is ultimately up to us to keep doing the work on ourselves and check in with ourselves to find out. What is it that I actually want to create? Who do I want to be on this planet? What role do I want to play? How do I want to serve?

Andres Preschel: Everybody knows something you don't. Every single person knows something that you don't know. If I can just go on a riff real quick, I do have a number of follow-up questions for you. Last night my girlfriend and I decided we wanted to watch this documentary about Charles Darwin. I think it's called The Tree of Life and it's narrated by David Attenborough. My dog's name is Darwin. That's how much I'm obsessed. That's my obsession with with with science a lot of it just comes from Darwin his His theories natural selection, you know, etc. And one thing that Never ceases to amaze me is This idea of niche, you know, how like it's super trendy now, right? Everyone goes Oh, well, you got a niche down, you know You've got to look at your business and your personal brand. You've got to niche down, niche down. You've got to be a specialist or at least a specialized generalist and you've got to provide a specific solution to a problem and then you can gain leverage and whatever, right? Niche derives from ecological niche. In nature, we're designed to fulfill specific roles. And Darwin studied this very closely. He knew that those roles over time, you know, there were certain, let's say, populations of a species that had offspring and some offspring, there's a small amount of difference. And I guess you can say it's certain genes that are selected for and against. And over time, as generations proceeded in an environment, if one specific variant had an advantage, let's say they had a slightly stronger beak and they could crack I don't know a few more nuts and therefore they had better odds of reproducing Then that was passed down over time and then over over a period of time All of a sudden those genes are selected for that stronger beak All of a sudden, you know, boom you've got that niche down and you're more successful And now you have a better odd of you know surviving passing on your dna Eventually, it can become a whole nother species The point is that having a niche, being a niche, playing a niche role is a great way to ensure success and survival in your environment. I think where most people get it wrong nowadays is that they don't have the curiosity to get to know themselves and the courage to be themselves because if you look at our DNA, it's our DNA and it's in our environment. They don't have the curiosity to get to know themselves or the courage to be themselves and so they never get to see what their physiology is capable of and what niche they are technically meant to play or that they can at least do a pretty freaking good job. you know, doing. And so what would you have to say to the folks that might be afraid to get to know themselves or that might be afraid to be authentic so that they can be as successful and as fulfilled as they can be?

Nick Pags: When people are making choices out of fear, they're going to get more fear-based responses, fear-based results. So when people are scared to take whatever step, one of the things I invite, I'll start with a question. And that's my jam in the work that I do, is just ask the right question, you get the right answer. Ask bigger questions, you get bigger answers. Better questions, you get better answers. So the quality of the question is going to create the quality of the response. And when people are scared to take certain actions or scared to be themselves, I'll ask the question, what are you getting from that? Right. And they got a list of things. Well, I get to kind of make X amount of dollars. I get to play it safe. I get to make sure that, you know, my mortgage paid off. I get to keep things in order. I know what's coming. So, like, I get the knowingness piece of it because I've been doing it this way. So I hear that. And then once we work through that, the next question is, what are you missing out on? What are you missing out on by choosing the path that's more comfortable, that you know what you're going to get? Because when people start to explore that, the answer is, holy moly, I don't know, infinite possibilities. I mean, I'm keeping it safe and getting the things that I know, which is nice. It's a certain level of protection and safety and comfort. But who knows what I'm missing out on? I could be missing out on infinite amount of success, crazy money. I could be missing out on impacting hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people. And I think when we start to really explore that idea, that what I'm missing out on might be bigger than what I'm getting. then it gives us permission to go for it. Because the fear isn't a reason to stop taking the action we say we want to take. I like to say feelings are flashlights. They illuminate a response that's within us. They give us a piece of information, and that piece of information, what it can do is it can help us understand what's going on, but it doesn't mean it needs to be the decision maker. So just because I'm scared, it might give me information that, okay, this is an area where if it's like taking that new job or stepping up into this new space and if I'm scared, I can start to explore, well, what am I scared about? Well, I'm scared that people are gonna start to judge me if I don't make the money I was making before or if I look silly while I'm doing it or whatever. Right now I can dig into, all right, we got something here about you needing to look a certain way for other people and that's an ego conversation. So what I'm hearing then is that your ego and protecting your ego is more important to you than living the life that you say you want to live, right? Because we're committed to something at any given moment. And the survival strategies of the ego, man, they are constantly playing. It's the need to be right, the need to look good for others, the need to be in control, the need to play it safe. These are the ways that our egos survive in our day to day. And we're doing it all the time. So when people are saying, oh, I'm scared to take that move, My question is, are you scared to keep like, maybe we need to be scared about staying exactly where we're at, because staying right here is getting you what you always got. And you might be missing out on the opportunity of the lifetime, and you only got the lifetime of the opportunity to jump on it. So you need to be getting moving and the energy of the world is going to keep going without you, whether you take that move or you don't. So the question really becomes, it's like, who do I want to be? What do I want to create? And am I willing to take the action in lieu of the, in light of the fear or the insecurities or the worries, still be committed to creating that life I say I want.

Andres Preschel: And how does playing it safe make you unsafe?

Nick Pags: Wow. The power of that question. There's like, because there's so many layers to this, right? The unsafe piece. What it does is it gives us what we know, right? And there's a certain level of safety in our knowingness. but our knowingness keeps us blocked and keeps us protected from what's possible. By definition. The sad part about this, by definition, right? And the sad part about this is that people will never actually explore because of the stories or the conditioning or whatever, right? There's so many people who will just say like, yo, you can't do that because of X, Y, and Z. because your mom never did that, because your dad never did that, because people at your age don't do that, because men don't do that, because women don't do that, because whatever the story is, people don't give themselves permission to try. And when we let go of the stories, or the conditioning, or the patterns, and we just check in, right? A lot of people don't know how to get inside of their intuitive connection. That's your body, that's your heart, that's that like, ooh, gut feeling, I know what's going on. A lot of people don't even know how to access that. So when we give ourselves permission to get into there and get out of our head, then all the logic kind of steps out of the way and we can start to feel into things. And that intuitive energy, that's the stuff that, and I'm not talking like woo woo, you know, floating on a cloud, talking to some spirit. I'm talking about just feeling what your body is telling you energetically. You feel a pull to certain things that are right for you and you feel resistance to certain things that aren't aligned for you. And if you could start to get an understanding of when you're just being pulled to something for the egoic need of safety, then you could start to kind of decipher, okay, this is more of my play, this is not my play, and start to make decisions that are better aligned with the life you say you want.

Andres Preschel: And do you think that there are certain conditions, whether it's in our DNA or in our environment, that pollutes our intuition? And if so, how can we sort of clear the channel so that we know when we're being intuitive and we feel aligned, that we're pursuing the right thing at the right time?

Nick Pags: When I think about our intuitive gifts that we all have, I'm just, man, that's a strong belief of mine, is that we're all built with the intuitive abilities, the ability to connect with self, the ability to connect with whatever it is you believe in. That's inherently built in there somewhere. And we live in a society where a lot of the big dogs, the people who are winning, thrive when we don't listen to that inner voice. When we get in line, when we shut up, when we follow the rules, and I'm not advocating for everybody going crazy and just like free world. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm challenging people to do is spend more time with themselves to start to understand what that intuitive voice feeling sounds like and feels like. So, whether that's meditation, whether that's going for a walk and not bringing your headphones with you, not talking to somebody, not going with a friend, whether it's getting in nature, nature has an incredible ability to get us connected with ourselves because we are one with nature and nature is one with us. The more time we spend in it, the more we can really feel ourselves. Whether it's just having time in your morning, even when you're sipping your coffee, just doing your thing where it's just you, where the social media isn't getting in the way, the projection of your mom, your dad, your friend, your partner, your boss. It's not that they don't love you and they're trying to attack you. It's just that what people do is they give you their perspective and their opinion. And what it does is it soils our ability to just be with our own feelings and expressions and thoughts. So I know myself, man, and I'm sure you've felt this before too. The amount of times I've stopped myself from doing something in my life because of the thought of what mom or dad might say, because of the thought of what friends might say about me to me, what people on social would say, I've stopped myself a lot in life to the point where I really noticed that certain areas, certain pockets of my life had this really intense hold on me. So I took, it's been, it'll be two years in January that I haven't been on social media. And my whole business was run through social media. But the thought was, okay, if I can step away from that, and the difference, what I found was that the difference was pretty intense. Watching the decisions I was able to make because I wasn't thinking about the judgment of others rather I was checking in with myself and learning how to listen to that gut instinct. It's very difficult bro to to learn how to listen to that thing when you spend six hours a day on a on a An app that's teaching you to look outside of you all the time to judge yourself based off of them or what they're doing So I think it's fascinating when people give themselves that detox. Totally reinforces it, 100%.

Andres Preschel: Let's explore that real quick, the reinforcing nature of what you just said, which is looking at other people, of anything outside of yourself. If you think about it, like the algorithm caters to our individual interests and What's viral content, you know, typically viral content mean it's I guess a lot of people are really enjoying it or they're You know, they get this big dopamine spike from it and then they share it and I think it's valuable. I think it's entertaining or whatever But the stuff that I think satisfies us the most is that viral content within our specific niche online, you know our algorithm niche and so it's like all of a sudden you're reinforcing something fun, entertaining, or interesting that someone else is doing that's aligned with your interests so it seems like it's productive and it really fires up an area of your brain that is They're there to reward you, but that doesn't know the difference between rewarding you for your personal effort to do something that you enjoy and you're, you know, just observing someone else kind of doing it for you and you're getting off on it. You know what I mean? And so our brain is like, yeah, we know you love this. We know you like it. The algorithm is like, here it is on a silver platter. It's funny because our phones actually do contain silver and gold and other, you know, precious metals. But literally and then and then what happens is as we desensitize ourselves over time. So now we need something that's more viral that hasn't even, you know, like, for example, like I get so fed up with social media, like I know what it takes to have hundreds of thousands of followers to make viral videos. Dude, I resist that I don't like to do that because I think it's I don't know my background in psychology and physiology like it's almost like With great power comes great responsibility, dude I know exactly what it takes to hook somebody and I know within the first two seconds of a video you got to have like a hook and then you actually have to you know towards the end of the videos when you should provide the most value set they loop people loop into it again and they and you get more views and you get more shares like I know what it fucking takes I honestly don't really care to get stuck in that. People have gone so deep in dissecting the algorithm to get every little bit of our attention, every little bit of our dopamine sucked out of us to the point where it's like, again, you think it's productive, but it's like, once you finally detach yourself from the phone, what sense of productivity do you have left? How many times have you seen someone you care about like doom scrolling, right? And then you finally get their attention, they're just like, oh, what, what, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I'm here. Yeah, for sure. You know, such bullshit. It's like, I think most people, they never get to really fulfill that intention or that passion because their brain is under the impression that they're already doing it. All they have to do is sit down and open up their feed. And now they think they're being productive. You know what I mean? How do you think I know that, you know, you're you're very aware of this. You've obviously detached yourself. You've been successful at it. You've been getting in touch with your intuition. What do you think is a let's say a bare minimum baseline that most people should do, like a practice or some kind of way to organize themselves? And then what do you think is optimal so that people can maybe get the best of both worlds? Use social media for its incredible value that it can provide, but also keeping themselves grounded so that they can actually do the things they want to do.

Nick Pags: So the, I was told this story many, many years ago, the, the elephant story, and I don't know if it's like a story or I know it, it is real. And, um, the way it was told to me was that they, they take baby elephants and they put them on a leash when they're super, super young and they try and rip out of it and get out of the leash. And, and, uh, the first few, whatever months, years, I don't remember of their lives, they try and resist that leash. And then at one point, they kind of stop fighting because they know the leash isn't going anywhere. And the second they stop fighting, the trainers know that they're good. The elephant will no longer fight the leash. So what they can do is they can actually pull out what the leash was attached to and the elephant won't go anywhere. It won't even try because it's already taught itself. It can't go beyond certain boundaries.

Andres Preschel: learned helplessness.

Nick Pags: So, when I heard this story, yeah, yeah, exactly. And I heard the story and I got so fascinated about how I thought that was relating to me and the people I was working with in my life with this social media thing. That it's constantly this, let me teach you what you can and what you can't have. And when it comes to the idea of dopamine and giving you the algorithm, giving you what you need, the concept is, at least the way that I watch people on a day-to-day, is that if we can just give them the feeling that they're looking for, Right? Whatever their interests are, if it's sparking their brain, giving them that dopamine, which is the feeling they're all looking for, then they associate Instagram with the feeling of dopamine. Right? So the elephant associated, the place it can go with that leash. Right? So now anywhere it wants to go, it almost asks permission from the leash. Can I go over there? Right? And for a lot of us, what we're doing when we're looking at Instagram is we are associating any type of whatever, joy, energy, dopamine kick, feel good with this platform. And then we become not only addicted to it, we become victim to it. Like we almost have lost the art for a lot of us of feeling the way we want to feel within ourselves, because we're always reaching for that thing to give us that immediate dopamine kick, which is just a crazy concept. Right? I'm not saying anything people don't know. It's just shocking that we're all doing it and we're all kind of cool with it. We're all just like rocking with it. Yep. I need to go on this thing in order for me to feel like I can be present or I can, I can like just chill. I mean, I know people that will sit at a dinner table and open up Instagram at a dinner table just to get by for the two minutes before the waiter gets there. That to me is crazy. And what's happening is that we're constantly teaching ourselves that the only way we're going to be okay is through something outside of ourselves. That's the ultimate danger I think I'm learning. Is that when people start to create a story that the only way they'll be okay is with something outside of them. Whether it's another person, your partner, your family, your friends, right? It's the romantic story of you complete me. We have to look at these concepts of life that we've been leaning into for so long and romanticizing. It's like, oh God, I can't be without my phone for a second. How many times I've heard people say that? My phone is my life. Oh my God, my partner completes me. All these stories of I am not enough as I am. I am not whole as I am. The only way I see myself as whole and complete is when I add these other people, these other things. Now, I'm not asking people to be the lone wolf and just totally rely on themselves. What my intention with this is, is to bring up the awareness that we often don't know how to create the experience we want for our lives from within, so we're going without, right? We're always kind of reaching for something, and then somebody other than us is winning from that. somebody else has the power over your life, and you become the victim to that person, that device, that thing, that place, that drug, that drink, whatever it is. If you give away your power, you are now dependent on that thing to feel the way you want to feel. And what I love to do is watch people realize that they are the ones who decide that they feel the way they want to feel. They are the ones who create that experience. And if you want to bring in a partner, if you want to bring in time with your phone, if you want to bring in whatever outside of you in order to make that experience even more enjoyable, enhance that experience, beautiful. But it's up to us to create the experience we want from our lives from within, not from something outside of us.

Andres Preschel: You know a very powerful message that worked for me that kind of helped me bring awareness to the amount of time that I was spending consuming media online. At the time I was still a creator, I was still creating value online on my platforms but I had a period of time where I was very addicted to my phone for the wrong reasons. Well, I think any addiction has a negative connotation to it. So it was just an addiction. And I had to keep like reminding myself, like, dude, like I'm here on social media to create not to consume. So I basically took a screenshot of my wallpaper. And I edited it so that it said on the wallpaper, because like my logo, I just put creation greater than symbol consumption. Very subtle message, but kind of showed me that it's okay to consume, but you should focus most of your efforts on creating. And I think I kind of got into the habit of creating and then rewarding myself with the consumption, meaning I would, let's say, put up a post or put up a story or, I don't know, do something like that that I thought was valuable and then interact with people as they were engaging with that value. And then, you know, et cetera, like actually doing it the right way. It was it wasn't easy at all, but that helped me a lot. And today, something that helps me quite a bit is there's this app. I've mentioned it a couple of times in my podcast now. It's called one sec. And what it does is it helps you build shortcuts into your phone for any app so that you're more intentional about using it. So I'll just show you real quick. I don't know how you heard of this app before.

Nick Pags: I have it loaded on for Instagram, my man. It's the best.

Andres Preschel: You have it? Yep. No way. Well, let me just show the people tuning in right now with it. That's amazing, man. Let me show people what it's like. So, look, I'm going to tap Instagram. And then it has me look into your eyes. It has all these different like, you know, um, interventions. So then 21 times in the past 24 hours, I don't want to open Instagram or continue. If I click continue, what's your intention going on? Are you bored, stressed, tired, procrastinating, anxious, sad, can't sleep on the toilet? I'm in my own, I put work slash productivity. Boom, and then finally I can go on. And then in the app itself, you can track the number of interventions that it's helped you accomplish, the amount of time that you've saved each week as a result. It's great. That's helped me a lot. And then with this barrier of entry, all of a sudden your brain will kind of Be like less provoked to engage in that like default mode Automatic like I need some dopamine, you know when you go on your phone like you need to do it Like I don't know send an email the second you open your phone There's just so much so many apps when he colors so many notifications you go on you like we why the fuck did I go my phone in the first place and Then you just naturally maybe go to Instagram you go to your messages you go to you spend 30 minutes on your phone You want to send one email? So anyway, I think that barrier of entry has been helpful for me. The idea that creation should be disproportionately greater than consumption I think is helpful as well. And then kind of building in a reward mechanism after you've put in the work to sort of like earn it. And obviously these are things that won't work for everybody, but they certainly helped me out because I do a lot of work online.

Nick Pags: Yeah, I mean, let's talk about the importance of why we're talking about this. Because ultimately, and that one sec is actually so powerful. What it is, it's about awareness. It's on maybe a deeper scale, it's raising your consciousness. Right? And nothing on the planet feels better than awakening your consciousness. We access such a small percentage of our human abilities, of what our brain is capable of, we aren't even like scratching the surface. as humankind. So it's amazing to me that we do things and continue to do things that make us mindless. They take our mind out of it. So something like the OneSec app, it's so beautiful, right? Because there's so many different ways. I think the way that I have it set up is that it takes 20 seconds, right? And I have to breathe. So it says inhale. And you have to inhale, and it goes up to the top of the screen, and that's 10 seconds. And then you have to exhale, and it takes 10 seconds to come down. And then it shows you the last time you signed in, whatever. And it says, do you want to go? Now, what I found, I was testing it for my clients. I was off of social already. But I was like, let me see what it feels like to kind of integrate this thing. You can do it with any app, which I think is cool. So I click in and I start using this thing, and I noticed myself going like, ah, come on, because I would have social still to go on and answer DMs, right? So my brain is like, I just got to get in there. I got to go and do the damn thing. And it would force me to take this breath, and I played the game. And what I found was that every time I went and did that slow breath, and it sent me kind of inside of my body and slowed me down, took me out of the automatic response, It made me become intentional and aware and conscious of my decision-making. That is so massive in our day-to-day because most people that say they want something in their lives that's missing, the reason they don't have it is not because of some incredibly massive task they have to figure out, do, huge thing they got to create. It's because there's lack of awareness in multiple small areas of their lives. And I would ask, you know, if you're listening to this, really check in. Are there areas of your life where you just do something and like go through your day and say, I'm just going to be aware today and notice all the things that I do on automatic. The first thing you do, you wake up, you probably get out of bed kind of the same way. And then what do you do? Everybody's got the next step. It's either brush your teeth or it's pee, right? It's like, you know, the next step, you don't have to think about it. And then how do you brush your teeth? Do you switch hands every day when you brush your teeth? No, you brush your teeth with the same hand, you put the toothpaste on the same way, right? You set the coffee. You don't even know what the buttons say anymore. People just go boop, boop, boop. They just know where the buttons are, they know what they like, they know how to do it, right? People are ordering at Starbucks, they don't even know what they're saying anymore. They're just like, can I have a caramel frappe, auto macchiato, babada, and they're just on automatic. Yeah. Life becomes vibrant when we get out of our automatic responses and into intentionality. The simple pleasures start to show themselves. We start to fall in love with life again, even with the things that we say we don't like, when we start to bring intentionality to them. When we become aware of how we're showing up and we're no longer living in automatic. We feel as though we've lost control or purpose when we're living in the automatic realm of our lives rather than the consciousness. So it's about stepping up and creating this boundary of, I will not live accidentally anymore. And I'm not trying to be inspiring or motivational. I'm just asking you to notice how many parts of your life, what's the percentage of your life that you're living in automatic, that you're just doing the things you do because you always do it. It is shocking when you start to pay attention to it, how many things are automatic.

Andres Preschel: You know, it's, it's interesting. I'm going to play with the word automatic for a second because there's a quote, it's actually by Bill Gates. So I know it's a controversial figure nowadays, but whatever. He's a brilliant man, whether you want to see that or not. And, uh, he has this quote about automation and this is about operations, but I think it applies here because I mean, this is basically you're describing how we operate on a daily basis. So he goes, automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. operation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. And here's the thing, I think most people are probably assuming that I'm going to say that they're inefficient. I think actually most of the automatic behavior that you described were actually so efficient at it that there's zero Consciousness, we're so fucking good. Think about I think about this think about how quickly efficiently and mindlessly it is for you to find the best Mediterranean restaurant in some outer city and I don't know fucking Kentucky right now and Like random BS you've never done before, to actually do that on your phone, go on safari, look it up, read through, it's so automatic. So if you think about it, we are so efficient at that. It's so automatic. We have removed the conscious element of it. Obviously, we know what we're doing, there's some degree of consciousness, but instead, have some space to wander, to get bored. And then on the other end of the spectrum, if you look at these inefficiencies and how we automate the inefficiencies, well, they magnify inefficiency. That can also work against you in a certain capacity, right? The point is that while we think, while we're under the impression that automation makes us more productive, I think in the grand scheme of things, the most productive thing that we can do is regain and increase our consciousness. Because if you look at our fulfillment, our deep sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness in our life, that is something that takes time. Anything meaningful takes time. And if you're living your life on automatic, you're not going to be able to attack anything meaningful. You're going to be too distracted by the quick hits of dopamine that satisfy you in the moment but don't give you that fulfillment in the big picture. You're gonna be working, you know, working against yourself. Anyway, I have a follow-up question for you, man, which is, oh, by the way, real quick, you know what my favorite shortcut, my favorite intervention is on the OneSec app? I love the Breathwork one. I have like a few of them. I have the one where you have to turn your phone three times as well, or like a few different times. One of my favorite ones is the one where the screen just goes black. And all you see is like your reflection, how dumb you look when you're in that default mode and all you want is a quick hit of dopamine. That's probably my favorite one because it's like, in a way, it's kind of depressing. And you're just like, wow, like this is what I look like. Then you kind of like fix your posture. You're like kind of shake it off. You know, I love that one. Anyway, I have a question for you, man. What do you think is an accessible consciousness practice that everyone can tap into on a daily basis to help them get the ball rolling in the direction of being more conscious, more aware, and more aligned with this deep sense of fulfillment throughout our lives?

Nick Pags: I think the number one always is our breath. Our breath, like, it's the thing that's always there. It never leaves. While you're still here on this planet, you always got your breath. And I'll give my wife's business a quick shout out. She has her own, created her own modality of breathwork called Theta Breathwork. And it's a combination of hypnosis, theta healing, breathwork, mindset coaching, amongst other things. And she's curated this experience over the last few years that is, man, I've been able to watch so many people transform from it. She has these free breathwork sessions every Thursday with the intention of just getting people to come in and experience it. And the reason I bring this up is because I was never a breathwork dude. I wasn't into that stuff, honestly, before. her and I met and the more, I don't drop into a deep breath work session on a regular basis. I notice it on my day to day, like in moments. You could call it box breathing, right? There's forms of box breathing where it's a four second inhale, a four second pause, a four second exhale and a four second pause. These things seem so small, but if you're a high performer, If you're somebody who's trying to get things done, if you're trying to make moves in your life, if you are getting stuck in the energy of go, go, go, go, go, and losing control of the car, then you're not actually generating the direction that your life is going. You're kind of just hoping, hoping things will go left, hoping things will go right. When we can drop into our breath, there's a sense of authority that we take over our life. There's a sense of groundedness where we can really presence ourselves to what's going on within. And I think that's a massive tool to be able to close your eyes, even if it's one slow breath in, one slow breath out, it can completely adjust the experience of how your nervous system is showing up and what's going on in your body so that your mind can cool down and make better decisions.

Andres Preschel: I like the analogy that you gave of the race car. I'll add to that by saying that I actually work with world champion racing drivers, you know, Le Mans champions and such. And I think most people would think, oh yeah, the car is going fast. Or if you just go, go, go, how do you lose control? Well, the reason you're not going 120 miles per hour on the highway is because you're What are you going to do when you have to take an exit or when there's a car nearby? You're going to lose control. You're always go, go, go. You're going to spend all your gas real quick. You're going to have terrible mileage. The odds of an accident are extremely high. You're probably going to miss your exit and you're going to get pulled over by the police. And these race car drivers that I work with, they are the fastest, not because they're the ones hitting the gas pedal the hardest. They're the fastest because they're the most aware and they can make moves that are so strategic within milliseconds, trusting their gut and their intuition, and they float between the cars. They float. They end up taking less pit stops. They have less issues with their engines. They end up getting to the finish line because they avoided the accidents and they avoided exhausting themselves early. They avoided making impulsive decisions. That's why they won the race. They're not hitting the gas pedal the hardest. they're probably hitting the gas pedal the least, I would say. Because then they have to hit the brakes the lightest. And that's where you slow down, right? If you're not Anyway, I'm sure a lot of race car drivers tuning is because they do. They're probably school me and make it a little more specific to what actually happened. But the point is that if you want to cross the finish line first, if you want to accomplish anything meaningful, I think you would agree. You have to be present. You have to be aware. A lot of these racing drivers, by the way, they do a lot of breathwork stuff with me. And I'm sure a lot of the CEOs and other ambitious executives that work with you, they have to learn something similar because otherwise their nervous system is going to be so taxed. Maybe they get to the finish line. Maybe they get where they want to be. But now what? Now they're exhausted. Now they're depleted. Now they're burnt out. Now they don't want to do anything, you know, that's beyond their comfort zone.

Nick Pags: Yeah. And I think a lot of people truthfully have Ferrari minds. Fast. passionate, driven, like intensity in the way their brains work. I think a lot more people than not have a Ferrari mind. I think very few people have the brakes appropriate for that car. Right? It's like they're driving a Ferrari with bicycle brakes and they go to slow that thing down and nothing works because the brakes aren't the quality that they need to be in order to control that vehicle. So I really believe that a lot of people have it in there, but they won't even access it because they're nervous that they won't be able to control themselves if they let themselves go. And at this point, I think that's probably true for a lot of people. They need to do work on how to slow it down, how to ground, how to create some sense of groundedness in their day to day. And if they can get better and more efficient at that, they can take agency over their life again. And that incredible, powerful brain. There's a book called ADHD 2.0. It's actually right behind me. I think about it. And that book talks a lot about it. That's where I actually got that example, the Ferrari mind with bicycle brakes. Because a lot of people, there's so many people who claim to have ADD, and they're struggling with that. And I, myself, I went through years of being on medication, I no longer am. And a lot of it was understanding that my mind is hyperactive. And that's not a bad thing, which is what I was taught, like your brain is too hyperactive. No, people are drinking coffee so that their brain can be like mine. People are taking drugs so that their brain can be like mine. I got the gift. I have that hyperactive. I have that explosively energetic brain. The ability to pump the brakes, that's a practice. And a lot of that comes from dropping into your body and learning how to manage that nervous system and manage the speed in which that brain goes so that I can get it under control when the time is right to do so.

Andres Preschel: That's very lovely said, man. And, uh, I think one of the last few things I want to add here on this racing analogy, which is fascinating is that these guys, when they have to, when they have to pump the brakes, it's hundreds of pounds of force, like three to 500 or even 700 pounds, if not more. Right. And they have to do this for over 50, maybe even a hundred laps over and over and over and over again. Right. So it's like, you know how they say, Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Any ambitious person tuning into this right now, you need to learn to pump those brakes. Breathwork is the most accessible way, right?

Nick Pags: Yeah, I'd say so. And I think that our ability There's, I think, as somebody who works with people on development and creating the life they want, seeing big groups of people, speaking to big groups of people, I personally feel like I'm noticing a shift in kind of the energy of the collective and that the shift is going from this very Wolf of Wall Street, go, go, go. Who can grind harder? Who can push harder energy? That's been happening for since like my grandparents era, man. It was all about who could work the hardest, then you win. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it. That's no longer the truth. I don't know if it ever was. Because I know a lot of people who work damn hard and no matter how hard they work, they're still where they are. Right? They're in the same spot. They're not getting different results. I'm not saying hard work doesn't matter. I'm certainly not saying that. I'm certainly not saying hard work doesn't make a difference. But it is not the only piece of the equation. And I'm watching this awakening happening where people are coming to the realization that it's not just hard work that gets me the life I say I want. There's so many other things that get integrated into that. Can I control myself? Am I giving myself what I need to be able to slow down, to be patient, to create peace in my life, right? There's more than just grind, grind, grind to get to the result people say they want. So I think there is an awakening happening, a level of noticing that it's not just about that push, push, push, that there is a need and a necessity to learn how to pump those brakes.

Andres Preschel: I think there's beauty in Knowing that oftentimes we can delegate or outsource certain tasks so that we don't spread ourselves thin. Because a lot of us do have that energy and that drive, but we say yes so often that we spread ourselves thin. We take indiscriminate action, which is a form of lazy thinking. And when we take that indiscriminate action, maybe we are aligned and we have so many incredible opportunities that are so fulfilling to us, but we take on so much that now our productivity and our impact and our value in each one of those opportunities dwindles. Now we're not showing up as the expert or as the, um, Yeah, as the conscious person that we intend to show up as. So I think that's another curse is saying yes too often. What do you have to say about people that say yes too much and how can we get better at saying no so we can stay focused on what matters and we can preserve our energy for the things that matter most?

Nick Pags: Yeah, I think the first thing I'd ask is, what's the intention of saying yes? Is it from an abundant conversation, from a look at what I can create, or is it from the I'm scared of missing out conversation? I think that's a really important thing to notice, number one. And number two, know that even when you're saying yes, a lot of people say yes because they're scared of saying no. Just notice that every time you say yes, you are saying no. So if I'm saying yes to going out, I'm saying no to staying in. Right? So you're saying no to something. So if the conversation is, oh, I'm nervous to say no. Well, you're saying no to something. Just notice that. You have the capacity to say no. You're always saying no. It's are we saying no to the things that are best serving us? right, that are more aligned with where we say we want to go. So, my invitation to people is get out of your need to look good for other people, right? I listed those survival strategies of the ego. If the reason you're saying yes to something is because of the need to look good for others, the need to be right, the need to be safe or comfortable or the need to be in control, if one of those reasons is why you're saying yes to something, check in and say, is this really a no for me? Elon Musk's ex-wife did a TED Talk and she said, I used to be married to a very successful man. And there were two things that stood out to me as I watched him build from nothing to everything. And number one, he was incredibly hardworking, harder worker than anybody else in the room, which is super important. And number two, he said no more than anybody else and continues to, to this day. And I think there's a lot to be said for that.

Andres Preschel: I know that we're running out of time here man, but I think it's a powerful way to part ways for now I'd love to keep going with you, bro. I feel like we just we just got started.

Nick Pags: You know what I mean?

Andres Preschel: I think we should do a part two as soon as possible.

Nick Pags: I mean, we should just do a part two, just get rolling. One of my favorite things about podcasts is like so many times what happens is in the last 10 minutes, we're like, whoa, all right, I want to keep jamming. I want to keep jamming. So maybe we just set two hours next time we get after.

Andres Preschel: Let's do it for sure. I'll send you a three hour link just in case. Let's go. Awesome. Any, any final, final thoughts? You know what? Let me ask you this. If you had to, I typically ask all my guests, just two questions. Why do you do what you do? And then this last question, which is if you could put a word phrase sentence on a billboard somewhere in the world, what would it say? And where would you put it? Know thyself.

Nick Pags: Where would I put that?

Andres Preschel: That's great, man. It's very on brand with know your physio, huh?

Nick Pags: Yeah, there you go. Know thyself. Yeah, where would I put that? I mean, I would put it wherever people could see it. More and more and more and more and more. It's like the most looks it could get. And this concept of knowing thyself, it's like there's a certain level of accountability that comes when we make a decision to learn about us. And a lot of us are living in a, it's a super abused term, so I'm careful when I say it. But when I say victim mindset, I'm not talking about somebody who's gone through something as a victim, and that's a real thing. I'm talking about people who hold a mindset. with a victim mentality. So choosing that the world is working against me, choosing that I can't control these things. If you can't control them, focus on who you are and what you can control. If you struggle with that concept, read the book, A Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. You will realize real quick that the experience you're having has nothing to do with your external circumstances and everything to do with what's going on within you. So when we do the work to know ourselves. We can start to take accountability for the life we say we want. And imagine a world, bro, where people stop pointing fingers, expecting everybody else to figure it out for them. And we started looking in the mirror and deciding, move, I'll handle it. I'll take on what I need to take on. I'll make the things change that need to change. I'll handle it. If we had a world of people who decided to take charge and accountability for the life they say they want, the world would be a much more beautiful, better place with a lot less war, a lot less hatred, and a lot less negativity rolling around.

Andres Preschel: And I think we'd fulfill our individual niche and do something that no one else can do, provide an incredible amount of value that is unique to us, but that is selfless for others. selfless on behalf of others and valuable for everybody else. So it's valuable for you because you get to fulfill your wants, needs, desires, skills, values, DNA, and you get to do everybody else a favor because you're the best at what you're doing. Maybe they'll need you or they'll want you. So Nick Paggs, what an honor and pleasure, man. Love it. Thank you so much.

Nick Pags: Thank you. Right back at you, brother. Thank you for having me on and keep doing the beautiful work you're doing, man. Likewise, my brother.

Andres Preschel: Much love. So that's all for today's show. Thank you so much for tuning in today. For all of the show notes, including clickable links to anything and everything that we discussed today, everything from discount codes to videos, to research articles, books, tips, tricks, techniques, and of course, to learn more about the guest on today's episode, all you have to do is head to my website on dresspershell.com. That's A-N-D-R-S-H-E-L-L. E-S-P-R-E-S-C-H-E-L.com and go to podcasts. You can also leave your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future episodes, future guests, so on and so forth. Thanks again for tuning in and I'll see you on the next one. Have a lovely rest of your day.