Transcript of “Passion and Purpose with Peter

Sage”

Bulletproof Radio podcast #123

© The Bulletproof Executive 2013

 Bulletproof Toolbox
Podcast #123, Peter Sage

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Dave:   Today's  cool  fact  of  the  day,  is  that  a  recent  study  found  that  your  chances  
of  remembering  something  is  far  greater  if  you  see  it  or  touch  it  versus  only  
hear  it.  In  this  study,  research  participants  had  a  difficult  time  remembering  
something  they  heard  only  4  to  8  seconds  after  hearing  it,  but  if  they  could  
connect  the  sound  with  a  visual  or  tactile  kind  of  stimulation,  their  recall  
increased.  Now  this  is  why  some  spiritual  traditions  request  that  when  
people  study  their  texts,  the  people  move  back  and  forth  like  this.  It's  
actually  because  you're  getting  the  nervous  system  activated  while  you're  
studying,  so  it  sticks  in  your  brain  better.  

  Since  our  guest  today  is  so  fascinating  and  amazing,  you  might  actually  
want  to  consider  watching  him  live  and  listening  to  this  episode.  Check  it  
out  on  our  YouTube  channel.  Today's  guest  is  Peter  Sage.  He's  an  
international  serial  entrepreneur,  a  world  class  speaker,  an  executive  
coach,  who  wrote  his  book  at  18  years  old  about  physique.  He  wrote  
Lessons  Learned  From  the  Recession  and  Five  Keys  to  Master  Your  Life.  Not  
only  that,  he's  the  founder  of  Space  Energy,  which  is  a  multi-­‐billion  dollar  
project  to  generate  and  transmit  clean  energy  from  space,  a  competition  
level  body  builder,  an  ultra-­‐marathoner,  and  a  member  of  the  Dangerous  
Sports  Club.  

  Basically,  this  is  a  guy  who  knows  how  to  kick  ass,  in  fact,  knows  how  to  
teach  people  how  to  kick  because  he's  also  a  Tony  Robbin's  certified  
trainer.  

  Peter  Sage,  I  hope  that  introduction  did  you  justice.  Welcome  to  the  show.  

Peter:   Hi  Dave.  It's  always  interesting  to  hear  how  different  facts  of  your  life  can  
be  presented  in  certain  combinations  that  make  you  sound  better  than  you  
probably  are,  but  yeah,  thank  you  for  that.  

Dave:   You're  so  welcome.  In  all  seriousness  though,  you  are  a  guy  who  has  a  track  
record  of  outperforming  at  multiple  things  at  the  same  time,  which  is  one  
the  reasons  that  I  reached  to  Brian  Rose  for  an  introduction  to  have  you  on  

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the  show.  What  do  you  do  every  day  to  perform  so  well?  I  mean  you're  one  
of  the  upper  echelon  performers.  What's  your  trick?  

Peter:   I  appreciate  that  question  actually.  There's  no  trick  to  it.  That's  one  of  the  
challenges.  If  people  think  that  there's  a  trick,  and  they  don't  see  
themselves  as  a  magician,  then  it  kind  of  puts  themselves  out  of  the  realm,  
and  there's  this  separation  that  occurs  whereby  you  have  this  sort  of  guru-­‐
itis  or  you  have  this,  "Well  it's  okay  for  you  because  ..."  fill  in  the  blank,  but  
not  for  me  because  I  don't  fill  in  that  blank.  

  One  of  the  first  things  I'd  invite  people,  either  looking  or  listening  to  this  to  
understand,  is  the  fact  that  there's  nothing  special  about  me.  I'm  you  
probably  out  of  the  chair,  and  maybe  I've  had  the  opportunity  to  do  a  few  
things  or  had  a  few  levels  of  insights  that  some  people  may  not  yet  have  
the  opportunity  to  have  access  to.  Hopefully  we  can  address  some  of  that  
here  on  this  show.  

  There's  no  trick  to  what  I  do.  There's  no  magic  that  is  outside  of  the  scope  
of  anybody  else  can  do.  We  all  have  natural  predispositions,  but  if  I  was  to  
put  down  the  fact  that  or  highlight  some  of  the  attributes  that  have  allowed  
me  the  illusion  of  being  a  magician,  I  would  have  to  put  it  down  to  self-­‐
discipline  when  it  comes  to  taking  charge  of  my  inner  world.  As  a  result  of  
that,  my  outer  world  appears  to  others  to  fall  into  place,  probably  a  little  
more  than  theirs.  That  would  be  the  only  thing.  

  Now,  so  there  is  a  ...  How  do  I  put  it?  There  is  a  discipline  required,  and  I  
spend  most  of  my  time  in  the  morning  doing  my  morning  practice  whereby  
I  stay  centered.  I  do  meditate.  I  do  read  positive,  inspirational  personal  
developments,  self-­‐improvement  texts.  I  do  visualize  what  it  is  that  I  want.  
Nothing  that  anybody  else  that  has  the  same  basic  nervous  system,  
biochemistry,  and  somewhat  probably  matching  limited  intelligence  that  I  
have,  couldn't  do.  

  It's  consistency.  If  I'm  able  to  do  that  on  a  consistent  basis,  there's  no  magic  
to  that.  It's  just  a  decision  to  be  able  to  do  it.  

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Dave:   Well,  there's  a  decision  to  do  it,  and  then  there's  the  selection  of  what  to  
do,  which  is  a  big  problem.  There  are  guys  like  Tim  Ferriss  who  have  
mastered  all  these  different  techniques  ...  And  you  clearly  have  a  morning  
routine  that's  helped  you  to  elevate  your  inner  world  so  that  your  outer  
world  matches;  very  elegant  way  of  saying  that.  What  does  the  routine  look  
like?  I  mean  do  you  wake  up  at  5am  and  go  for  a  run?  Do  you  wake  up  at  
like  10am  and  have  a  latte  at  the  corner  Starbucks?  How  does  the  whole  
thing  work,  right?  

Peter:   I  know  how  those  two  choices  …  There’s  a  lot  of  people  that  would  like  it  to  
be  the  second  one.  

Dave:   I  know.  

Peter:   Nature  operates  on  2  laws:  growth  and  con  [inaudible  00:05:09]  -­‐bution,  
and  so  growth  is  inherent  to  challenge.  The  unchallenged  remains  juvenile,  
and  unfortunately  in  today's  world  of  instant  gratification  that  is  being  
pushed  to  us  by  so  many  different  agendas,  commercial  and  otherwise,  it's  
very  hard  for  people  to  get  onto  the  positive  side  of  the  habit  curve  when  it  
comes  to  willingly  challenging  themselves.  Yes,  that  includes  getting  up  
earlier  and  making  time,  not  that  you  can  manufacture  time,  but  utilizing  
time  more  effectively  than  most  people  who  would  rather  stay  in  bed  
because  they  went  to  bed  watching  movies  or  don’t  have  a  self-­‐discipline  
on  diet  that  supports  a  high  level  or  energy.  

  Now  saying  that,  some  people  are  naturally  more  morning  focus  people,  
and  some  are  a  naturally  more  night  focused  people.  I  am  a  morning  guy,  
so  for  me,  my  start  is  6am  at  the  latest.  I'm  usually  in  my  meditation  room  
by  6am.  My  routine  is  that  I  will  review  my  morning  prayer,  my  goals.  I  will  
sit  and  meditate.  I  will  visualize.  I  will  read,  and  then  I  will  likely  journal.  I  
will  journal  for  anywhere  between  5  and  20  minutes  depending  on  any  
insights  or  inspirations  that  came  through  for  me  to  self-­‐reflect.  

  That's  it.  I'll  then  go  hit  the  gym  for  half  an  hour,  and  that's  my  morning  
routine.  By  9am,  I've  invested  in  my  mind  and  my  body,  my  spirit,  and  I'm  
ready  for  the  day.  That's  all  there  is  to  it.  

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Dave:   What  kind  of  meditation  do  you  do?  6am  is  kind  of  early.  A  lot  of  people  fall  
asleep  when  they  try  and  do  meditation.  So  is  this  the  jumping  jack  
meditation?  What  do  you  do?  

Peter:   I  actually  have  a  rebounder  in  my  meditation  room,  would  you  believe?  I  
tend  to  get  [inaudible  00:06:56]  for  ...  I  have  my  goals  on  the  wall,  and  my  
incantations  not  ...  I'll  rebound  what  to  start  with.  That  kind  of  gets  the  
blood  flowing  a  little  bit,  especially  if  you  do  have  a  little  bit  of  morning  
mode  creeping  in.  For  me,  by  the  time  I'm  meditating,  I'm  sitting  down;  I'm  
already  vibrating.  I'm  already  buzzing.  I'm  already  in  a  state  of  positive  
energy  on  that  level.  

  For  meditation,  it  will  vary.  Predominantly,  it's  about  breathing  and  focus  
and  being  presence.  I  don't  have  a  fancy  technique.  I've  spent  time  with  
some  of  the  Zen  masters,  living  on  mountaintops  and  spending  time  with  
people  that  do  that  for  20  years,  but  that's  not  my  deal,  where  as  long  I  can  
quiet  my  mind.  If  my  mind  doesn't  want  to  be  quiet,  then  as  long  as  I  can  
observe  my  mind  from  a  deeper  place,  of  witnessing  it  rather  than  getting  
caught  up  in  the  merry-­‐go-­‐round  of  thoughts  that  most  people  try  and  
control.  

  You're  not  going  to  control  your  mind.  As  long  as  you  can  disidentify  with  
the  fact  that  you  are  not  your  thoughts,  it  allows  you  a  deeper  place  to  
witness  them  from.  I  think  that's  the  challenge  with  most  people  that  try  
and  meditate.  They're  trying  to  control  their  thoughts,  yet  your  mind  is  an  
unruly  child.  For  most  people,  the  constant  stimulation  though  the  day,  
especially  in  today's  multi-­‐connective  social  media  world,  your  mind  is  
constantly  being  trained  to  be  unruly.  For  you  to  then  think  that  in  20  
minutes  a  morning  you're  going  to  master  that  is  like  trying  to  go  to  the  
jungle  and  tame  a  lion.  You're  not  going  to  do  it.  

  It's  not  going  to  happen,  so  if  you  can  disidentify  and  come  to  the  place,  the  
fact  that  I  am  not  my  thoughts.  My  thoughts  are  a  very  small  part  of  who  I  
am.  If  my  conscious  is  a  fishbowl  full  of  water,  the  thoughts  are  the  fish.  If  I  
can  come  at  it  from  understanding  that  I'm  more  than  that.  I'm  the  water.  
The  fish  have  to  swim  through  that  from  time  to  time,  but  that  isn't  me.  I'm  

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deeper  than  that.  It's  easier  to  I  think  calm  yourself  and  not  caught  up  by  
being  hooked  on  all  the  usual  stuff  that  hooks  the  mind.  

Dave:   Now,  I  share  your  view  there  exactly,  "You  are  not  your  thoughts."  Yet,  
there's  a  huge  number  ...  There  are  huge  number  of  listeners  who  are  going  
to  say  "But  wait,  I'm  a  rational  being.  It's  all  about  the  rationality  of  my  
thought."  How  do  you  draw  the  line  between  sort  of  the  soft  world  of  
meditation  where  "You  are  not  your  thoughts"  and  the  hard  world  which  is  
"Well,  if  I  think  about  it,  A  leads  to  B,  B  leads  to  C,  therefore  A  leads  to  C,"  
that  kind  of  rationalist  view  of  the  world  versus  something  where  "Ah,  the  
thoughts  happened,  I  acknowledge  the  thoughts.  I  use  the  thoughts,  but  I  
am  not  the  thoughts"?  

  A  lot  of  my  clients,  a  lot  of  the  people  who  read  my  blog,  struggle  with  that.  
They  don't  want  to  be  too  airy-­‐fairy,  and  they  don't  want  to  be  hard  ass  
robots.  How  do  you  walk  that  line  down  the  middle?  

Peter:   You  have  to  chunk  up  a  little  bit  to  a  high  level  of  awareness  and  open  up  to  
the  fact  that  if  you  can't  come  to  a  place  where  you  recognize  that  there  is  
a  physical  and  a  metaphysical,  you're  always  going  to  be  [stumped  
00:10:03].  Yes,  we  know  that  there  is  metaphysical,  and  metaphysical  
simply  means  outside  of  the  realm  of  the  5  physical  senses.  When  was  the  
last  time  you  rationalized  being  in  love?  That's  not  something  that  operates  
though  causality  and  Newtonian  physics.  If  you  walk  up  to  your  wife  to  be  
and  go  through  a  checklist,  yeah,  I  don't  put  a  lot  of  hope  on  lasting  
marriage  of  unconditional  love.  

  There's  the  part  of  us  that  makes  us  human.  There  is  a  spiritual  aspect  to  us  
or  a  metaphysical  aspect  or  an  intangible  aspect  because  if  you  were  to  say  
somebody  "Who  are  you?",  if  you  want  to  live  in  the  physical  world,  you  are  
not  your  body.  I  know  that  because  you've  got  a  very  different  body  now  
than  you  had  when  you  were  5  years  old.  You're  going  to  have  a  different  
body  now  than  when  you're  80  years  old.  That's  non-­‐negotiable,  but  it's  still  
the  same  essence  of  you.  The  real  essence  of  you  has  to  be  non-­‐physical.  
It's  the  non-­‐physical.  It's  your  sense  of  humor.  It's  your  personality,  your  
charisma,  your  beliefs,  your  values,  your  dreams,  your  hopes,  your  wishes.  

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  If  I  was  to  take  that  out  of  you  and  put  it  into  somebody  else,  then  it  would  
be  you  in  a  different  body.  If  you  can  understand  that  "No.  Okay,  I'm  not  
my  thoughts,  but  how  does  that  translate  day-­‐to-­‐day  when  I've  got  a  
mortgage  to  pay?"  Well,  understand  the  possibility  to  be  open  to  that  fact  
first  because  it  will  allow  you  a  different  perspective.  You  have  control,  
limited  control  a  lot  of  the  time,  over  your  thoughts,  but  if  you  start  
identifying  with  them,  you  fall  into  a  trap.  As  much  as  if  you  identify  
yourself  with  your  body,  you  fall  into  a  trap.  You're  not  your  body.  Jesus  
didn't  know  himself  as  his  body.  Muhammad  didn't  know  himself  as  his  
body.  

  You  have  to  have  a  level  of  appreciation  by  chunking  up  to  a  higher  level  of  
awareness.  Now,  if  that's  not  your  journey  right  now,  then  fair  enough.  
Biological  maturity  is  not  something  we  get  to  vote  on.  Emotional  maturity  
and  spiritual  maturity  is  a  choice.  For  some  people  that  get  too  caught  up  in  
the  day-­‐to-­‐day,  maybe  about  right  now,  that's  not  their  time.  The  challenge  
is  that  ...  Or  the  paradox  is  the  more  you  tend  to  sit  with  a  level  of  personal  
inquiry  of  that  level,  the  more  things  start  to  allow  the  mind  to  relax  
because  it  will  start  to  see  things  that  operate  outside  of  causality,  and  
when  it  has  amassed  enough  evidence  to  do  that,  it  tends  to  release  its  
death  grip  on  circumstance.  

Dave:   Amazingly  just  literate  and  well  worded,  well  phrased  description  of  that,  
and  thank  you  for  sharing  that.  I  actually  haven't  found  a  very  good  way  to  
try  and  explain  that  concept.  I've  make  a  part  of  my  own  practice  to  not  say  
"I  have  a  cold."  It's  more  like  "My  body  has  this"  because  I'm  trying  to  just  
build  into  my  view  of  the  world  that  as  you  know,  "I'm  not  my  body,  and  
I'm  not  my  thoughts"  because  I  think  about  all  kinds  of  weird  stuff,  or  at  
least  my  mind  does.  It's  like  "Whatever"  but  ...  

Peter:   That  isn't  me!  

Dave:   Yeah.  I  don't  have  to  feel  guilty  about  that.  "Ah,  it  was  just  a  thought."  Like,  
"Yeah,  maybe  I  would  like  to  do  that,  but  I'm  not  going  to,  so  I'm  just  going  
to  set  that  aside,  that  thought  aside  right  now."  That  can  be  really  
liberating,  but  when  you  switch  gears,  and  you  look  at  say,  what  an  
entrepreneur  does,  and  you  look  at  what  they  do  in  business,  how  does  

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that  emotional  response  in  the  body,  even  that  metaphysical  side  of  things,  
as  well  as  the  physical  side  of  things  come  into  play?  Your  emotions  can  be  
the  boss.  Your  rational  thinking  can  be  the  boss,  but  when  you're  the  
business  boss,  not  just  the  boss  of  your  own  biology,  how  do  you  lean  one  
way  or  the  other  just  as  an  entrepreneur,  not  just  as  a  fully  functioning  
human  being?  

Peter:   For  me,  it  has  again  to  do  with  recognizing  the  ....  The  physical  world  tends  
to  have  its  basis  in  the  mind.  Your  thoughts  react  to  the  outside  world.  Your  
logic,  your  reasoning,  your  associations,  your  conclusions,  inductions,  all  
stem  from  the  mind;  all  of  which  is  busy  doing  whatever  it  does  when  a  
business  decision  has  to  be  made,  when  a  functional  decision  has  to  be  
made.  But,  we  have  a  thinking  center,  granted  and  it's  exceptionally  useful  
if  we  tend  to  take  charge  of  it  more  of  the  time  rather  than  have  it  run  us,  
but  we  also  have  a  feeling  center.  The  feeling  center  is  where  a  lot  of  
people  tend  to  have  this  misnomer.  

  It's  not  the  airy-­‐fairy  emotional  world  of  reacting  to  circumstances.  You  
know,  "I'm  frustrated.  I'm  angry.  I'm  horny"  I'm  whatever  it  is.  There's  a  lot  
of  emotions  and  biochemicals  that  interact  in  the  physical  body  and  that's  
drive  the  thoughts  based  on  reaction  to  emotion.  There's  also  a  deeper  
sense  of  self  that  comes  from  ...  I  call  it  a  heart  level  of  intelligence.  We  
now  understand  in  science  that  the  heart  has  its  own  brain,  40,000  neurons  
as  a  minimum,  and  the  impetus  of  the  intelligence  of  the  decisions  that  the  
heart  brain  makes  is  the  basis  for  what  the  head  brain  should  actually  listen  
to  first.  Most  of  the  time  we  have  it  the  opposite  way  around.  

  We'll  make  a  logical  decision  and  then  try  to  rationalize  it  the  way  we  do,  or  
we  try  and  justify  our  emotional  reaction  with  logic.  We  don't  go  deeper  
than  that  and  say,  ultimately,  get  rid  of  the  emotional  reaction  caused  by  
either  frustration  or  joy  or  reaction  to  whatever  biochemical  endorphins  or  
serotonin  or  cortisone  reactions  going  on  in  my  body.  What's  beneath  that?  

  People  ask  me  about  leadership  ...  Okay.  Very  quick  example.  There's  a  
billion  books  on  leadership.  There's  a  thousand  different  courses.  There's  
many  different  models  and  this  that  and  the  other.  Leadership  comes  down  
to  one  predominant  principle:  Do  what's  right.  

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Dave:   Yes.  

Peter:   If  you're  willing  to  be  unpopular  in  the  moment  for  what  you  believe  to  be  
right,  you've  got  the  genesis  of  true  leadership  right  there.  Now,  we  can  go  
through  all  sorts  of  fancy  different  terms  and  stages  and  labels  and  
translations,  but  ultimately,  you'll  get  more  out  of  becoming  a  personal  
leader  by  doing  what's  right,  independent  of  the  good  opinion  of  others  
and  the  need  for  approval  and  significance.  Yeah.  Not  what  you  feel  you  
need  to  impose  on  somebody  else  to  prove  your  point,  that's  a  different  
game.  That's  emotional  immaturity  trying  to  masquerade  through  a  level  of  
ego  and  significance  and  being  a  bully.  

  Do  what's  right.  We  know  what's  right.  Underneath,  strip  everything  away,  
listen  to  your  fricking  heart.  Understand  that  when  push  comes  to  shove,  
and  you  reflect  after  the  fact,  you  knew  what  you  needed  to  do.  We  either  
didn't  have  the  courage  to  make  that  decision  because  there  was  other  
patterns  running,  or  we  justified  because  the  mind  was  in  charge.  Coming  
back  to  your  original  question,  the  thinking  center  is  useful,  but  if  it  leads  to  
show  ...  You're  on  a  hamster  wheel  to  frustration  most  of  the  time.  If  your  
reaction  is  geared  based  on  emotions,  then  you  never  have  a  sense  of  
groundedness.  

  But  if  you  can  go  deeper  than  that  and  come  from  a  deeper  part  of  your  
feeling  center  where,  call  it  your  soul  without  getting  too  esoteric,  call  it  
[the  partly  0017:37]  essence  of  you.  Someone  ...  Hawkins  would  call  it  "The  
eye  of  the  eye,"  the  center  of  you.  Then,  you  have  a  very  different  level  of  
presence.  You  realize  there's  no  better  tomorrows.  There's  no  worse  
yesterdays.  There's  only  a  present  moment  where  you  can  make  an  
intelligent  informed  and  congruent  decision  that  aligns  your  heart,  your  
motions,  and  your  mind.  From  there,  you're  free  to  do  what  you  want.  

Dave:   I  did  not  know  that  you  were  a  fan  of  Hawkins.  That's  awesome  and  very  
esoteric.  One  of  the  things  that  I  struggle  with  when  I  work  with  clients  is  
that  a  lot  of  the  concepts  that  you're  talking  about  are  ineffable,  and  that  
there  aren't  really  great  words  to  describe  whatever  that  thing  is.  One  of  
the  techniques  that  I  use  is,  I'm  a  certified  HeartMath  trainer  using  heart  
rate  variability  training.  Is  that  something  that  you  use  as  well  in  your  own  

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practice  to  help  connect  with  that  part  of  you?  I  found  for  me  it  was  one  of  
the  first  ways  I  got  ...  

Peter:   If  you  go  into  my  meditation  room  right  now,  alongside  the  incense,  you'll  
find  a  HeartMath  sensor.  

Dave:   There  you  go.  These  techniques  are  so  powerful  and  it's  surprising  how  
many  people  will  say  "Yeah,  I  do  that,"  people  who  are  at  your  level  of  
performance.  It's  in  my  mind,  it's  almost  like  cheating  because  I  can  
meditate.  I've  been  to  Tibet  and  Nepal  and  Peru  and  all  that,  but  I  find  ...  
When  I  have  sensor,  sometimes  I  just  get  more  meditation  per  minute,  and  
that's  also  a  variable.  It  would  be  very  luxurious  to  spend  8  hours  a  day  
meditating  to  be  perfectly  aligned  with  that  little  ineffable  thing  that  we're  
both  talking  about  there.  

  That's  one  of  the  things  I  use,  but  what  are  the  faster  ways  to  happiness  
that  you  might  use  aside  from  HeartMath.  Are  there  things  that  make  you  
happy  or  that  you’ve  found  make  people  who  work  for  you  or  with  you  
happier  more  quickly  because  a  lot  of  people  just  aren't  happy?  

Peter:   Absolutely.  

Dave:   What  are  they?  

Peter:   Two  aspects.  One,  first  of  all,  one  of  the  things  I'll  do  to  start  with  this,  give  
people  the  fastest  way  to  unhappiness  because  usually,  it's  normally  what  
stops  people  from  being  happy  rather  than  allowing  them  to  be  happy,  if  
you  know  what  I  mean.  One  of  the  fastest  ways  to  unhappiness  that  I  see  
predominantly  as  the  major  obstacle  in  most  people's  level  of  fulfillment  is  
trying  to  get  somebody  else  to  be,  do,  handle  behavior  in  a  way  that  you  
want  them  to  actual  behave.  We  tend  to  forget  that  we  perceive  our  world  
through  our  5  sense,  and  they  can  be  different  for  every  single  other  
person.  We  all  have  5  senses  [bit  00:20:12]  processing  coming  information  
into  the  body,  and  it  is  only  through  those  5  senses  that  we  can  perceive  
the  physical  world.  

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  Anybody  listening  or  watching  this  right  now,  whether  they're  using  sight  or  
sound  or  feeling  the  air  conditioning  or  the  seat  that  they're  sitting  or  the  
bus  they're  riding  on  or  whatever  it  is,  yet  everything  in  that  outer  world  is  
coming  to  them  through  this  podcast,  is  being  filtered  first  through  one  of  
those  5  senses.  The  obvious  question  to  ask  to  flag  up  or  to  remind  people  
that  we  create  our  own  reality  moment  by  moment,  is  how  many  of  us  all  
like  the  same  food?  We've  got  a  variable  instantly.  How  many  of  us  all  like  
the  same  music?  How  of  us  have  the  same  favorite  color?  How  many  of  all  
like  the  same  smell?  That's  why  so  many  different  levels  and  aftershave  ...  
We've  all  different  sense  of  what  we  like  to  smell.  

  From  that  sense,  you  come  to  a  conclusion,  an  unavoidable  and  inescapable  
conclusion  that  2  people  could  be  standing  side-­‐by-­‐side,  inhabiting  pretty  
much  the  same  space  in  the  same  moment  in  time,  experience  the  same  
event  or  experience  in  the  outer  world,  use  the  same  equipment  to  process  
that,  and  then  [inaudible  00:21:22]  the  5  senses  and  come  up  with  an  
entirely  different  conclusion  as  to  what  that  means  or  what  that  experience  
...  effect  is  for  them.  

  Now  the  clear  question  is:  Who's  right?  Most  of  that  time,  we  spend  
justifying  why  our  interpretation  is  right,  and  unfortunately  most  people  
have  to  get  buy-­‐in  from  others  to  validate  why  their  sense  is  right,  by  
getting  external  agreement;  the  more  people  agree  with  me,  the  more  I  
feel  good  about  being  right  because  I'm  justified  because  obviously  I've  
experienced  it.  Well,  wake  up!  No!  You  experienced  what's  right  for  you  
and  somebody  else  could  experience  what's  right  for  them,  and  that's  
besides  the  other  filters  that  are  going  on,  your  experience,  your  beliefs,  
your  cultural  upbringing,  your  sense  of  values,  your  sense  of  ...  Your  
emotional  mood  at  the  time,  all  of  those  different  co-­‐factors.  

  If  you  can  give  up  the  game  of  trying  to  have  other  people  act  in  a  way  that  
fits  your  pictures,  you'll  start  avoiding  the  fastest  routes  to  unhappiness.  
You  could  also  [throw  it  in  at  down  00:22:25]  at  a  higher  level:  reality.  Now,  
I  gave  up  fighting  reality  quite  a  while  ago  for  one  simple  reason:  It  kept  
winning.  To  allow  yourself  the  permission  to  let  go  of  a  lot  of  the  stuff  that's  

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out  there,  that  disagrees  with  what  you  think  reality  should  look  like,  is  
another  way  to  get  off  that.  

  Now,  if  you  want  the  key  to  happiness,  there's  kind  of  a  complicated  way  
and  an  uncomplicated  way.  The  complicated  way  is  what  most  people  vote  
on.  That's  how  they  set  up  the  game.  The  complicated  way  to  happiness  is,  
"When  I  get  ..."  Yeah,  fill  in  the  blank,  the  right  relationship,  more  money,  a  
better  car,  the  house  of  my  dreams,  the  girl  of  my  dr-­‐,  whatever  it  is,  fill  in  
the  blank.  When  the  outer  world  fits  the  picture  of  what  I  think  my  inner  
world  is  saying  it  should  look  like  in  order  to  be  happy,  then  I  will  give  
myself  permission  to  be  happy.  That's  very  complicated  and  unfortunately,  
it's  a  house,  a  wheel  to  nowhere  for  most  people.  

  The  energy  field  of  desire  will  never  be  complete.  You'll  get  temporary  level  
of  satisfaction,  but  desire  is  like  a  drug.  It's  not  a  state  that  you  conquer.  
Desire  is  an  ongoing  process,  therefore,  whatever  you  desire,  you  think  
you're  going  to  get  to  be  happy.  Once  you  get  it,  you  may  get  a  temporary  
sense  of  achievement,  but  the  desire  is  an  energy  field;  it's  self-­‐
perpetuating,  so  it  has  to  replace  itself  with  something  else,  but  that's  a  
trap  most  people  don't  recognize.  That's  the  complicated  way,  and  I've  
spent  many,  many  years  doing  that  and  somewhat  fruitlessly  chasing  my  
tail  as  I  think  a  lot  of  people  appreciate.  

  The  simple  way  to  happiness  is  a  little  easier.  Think  happy  thoughts.  And  
you  suddenly  come  to  the  mind-­‐blowing  awareness  that  all  happiness  ever  
can  be  is  a  real  time  present  condition  of  thinking  happy  thoughts.  Now,  if  
you  set  up  again  to  say  that  you'll  only  allow  yourself  to  do  that  once  the  
outer  world  fits  certain  pictures  that  aren't  currently  fulfilled,  then  good  
luck,  keep  chasing.  But  all  you  ever  going  to  do  is  give  yourself  permission  
to  do  what  you  can  give  yourself  permission  to  do  right  now.  If  you  want  to  
be  happy,  or  if  you  look  back  in  your  past  and  the  times  you  were  happy,  I  
guarantee  you  that's  all  that's  going  on.  You  are  thinking  happy  thoughts.  

Dave:   On  the  flip  side,  it  is  easier  to  be  happy  when  your  basic  needs  are  met,  
right?  

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Peter:   Most  people's  basic  needs  are  a  moving  target.  Most  people  don't  
understand  what  their  basic  needs  are.  I  go  to  Guguletu  in  Cape  Town;  
basic  needs  are  "Can  I  have  an  extra  spoon  of  rice?"  I  walk  down  the  street  
and  listen  to  some  of  the  conversations  in  the  Dubai  Mall,  and  you'd  think  
most  6  year  olds  basic  needs  are  "Can  I  have  an  extra  iPad?"  

Dave:   You're  exactly  right.  One  of  the  happiest  groups  of  people  I  ever  say,  that  
was  really  touching,  was  in  Cambodia,  not  more  than  a  decade  or  2  after  
the  country  was  just  horribly  traumatized.  Very  poor  people,  a  dollar  a  day,  
that's  the  average  income,  not  enough  food,  walking  around  happier  than  
the  average  person  you  would  see  in  a  mall  anywhere  in  a  America.  Just  
completely  amazing  because  they  were  thinking  happy  thoughts,  walking  
around  singing  songs  and  ...  There  was  suffering,  but  there  was  still  
happiness  at  the  same  time  which  was  an  eye  opener  to  me  at  the  time.  It's  
similar  to  what  you're  saying.  The  word  "Need"  there  may  be  is  part  of  the  
problem  because  it's  not  actually  what  you  needed;  it's  what  you  thought  
you  needed.  

Peter:   As  human  beings  ...  You  got  to  understand  that  we  don’t  get  to  vote  on  
whether  we  are  going  to  be  programmed  or  not.  We  are  programmable  
people.  We  don't  do  things  out  of  rational  thinking  most  of  the  times,  
unfortunately.  We  do  quite  a  bit  out  of  passion,  but  most  of  what  we  do,  
we  do  out  of  consistently  ingrained  habit,  and  those  habits  are  based  upon  
programming,  majority  of  which  is  unconscious.  

  Now,  people  in  Cambodia  at  that  particular  time  didn't  really  have  access  to  
30,000  commercial  messages  a  day,  programming  them  to  as  why  they're  
unhappy  without  certain  products.  They  weren't  plugged  into  good  things  
like  constant  negative  news  or  CNN  as  most  people  call  it.  They  weren't  
exposed  to  a  level  or  outside  programming  that  they  feel  they  still  have  free  
will  to  make  decisions  on,  which  is  the  furthest  thing  from  the  truth  
because  whether  or  not  you're  going  to  be  programmed,  it  isn't  a  choice.  
How  you  want  to  be  programmed  is  a  choice,  but  most  people  on  default  
leave  that  completely  open  and  therefore  susceptible  to  the  agendas  of  
others.  

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  It's  like  sailing  on  an  ocean.  You  don't  get  to  control  the  wind.  You're  going  
to  be  blown.  You're  going  to  be  blown.  How  you  utilize  that  based  upon  
way  you  handled  your  sail,  you  do  get  to  choose.  But  if  you  sort  st-­‐  
[inaudible  00:27:30]  back  and  think  "Wow.  I'm  sailing.  I'm  just  going  [bibble  
around  00:27:33]  you're  going  to  wake  up  next  morning  somewhere  off  
course,  or  at  the  mercy  of  whatever  the  wind  is.  

  Now  the  challenge  to  their  society  is  that  the  wind  has  an  agenda.  The  
media  has  agendas.  Commercial  bias  has  agendas.  They  spend  a  lot  of  
money  and  hire  a  lot  of  smart  people  to  figure  out  how  you  can  be  
unconsciously  programmed,  the  most  effective,  efficient,  and  clinical  way  
possible  that  if  you  were  walking  around  without  a  specific  focus  or  
intention  to  take  charge  of  your  own  programming,  I  guarantee  you,  you're  
going  to  be  picked  up  and  put  on  a  fast  track  of  how  somebody  else  wants  
that  to  happen.  That's  just  the  way  it  is.  

Dave:   I've  used  a  lot  of  technology  as  well  as  meditation  to  become  aware  of  the  
automated  responses  my  body  has  and  to  learn  how  to  reprogram  them  so  
that  they  serve  me  much  better  than  serving  some  other  uses.  What  are  
the  techniques  that  you  used  that  make  the  most  difference  for  becoming  
aware  of  your  internal  messages,  including  the  ones  that  you  got  
programmed  from  media  or  just  from  the  way  you  were  raised  becoming  
aware  of  them,  and  then  changing  them  so  that  you  don't  have  to  go  
through  that  rational  loop  of  recognizing,  thinking,  and  then  doing,  whereas  
you  can  just  change  the  actual  response  in  the  first  place?  Do  you  have  a  
way  to  do  that?  

Peter:   Ask  other  questions.  Be  present  enough  to  ask  intelligent  and  smart  
questions.  "What's  really  going  on  here?"  is  a  great  question.  "What  is  the  
agenda  that's  happening  right  now?"  "What  does  this  really  mean?"  
Because  most  people,  again,  are  walking  around  offering  themselves  to  be  
emotionally  manipulated  and  have  no  clue.  Trust  me,  there's  a  lot  of  smart  
people  out  there  right  now  that  get  hired  by  a  lot  of  corporations  that  pay  
very  handsomely  to  figure  out  how  to  press  your  buttons.  

  If  you're  allowing  your  buttons  to  be  pressed  without  saying,  "Whoa,  hang  
on  a  minute."  ...  When  you  come  to  the  awareness  that  nobody  can  do  

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anything  to  you  emotionally  without  your  permission  you  start  to  
understand  levels  of  freedom  of  thought  and  freedom  of  response.  The  
challenge  is  most  people  don’t  like  responsibility  to  be  able  to  do  that  
because  they  hold  responsibility  as  a  way  to  feel  good.  It's  kind  of  extra  
burden.  “I  have  more  ...  [enough  responsibility  at  work  00:29:47]  I  have  
enough  responsibility  for  my  family,”  but  stop  and  have  a  look  at  the  word  
for  a  second,  "Responsibility."  The  ability  to  respond.  

  If  you  want  to  take  responsibility  for  your  own  emotional  reactions,  if  you  
want  to  take  responsibility  for  you  own  quality  of  life,  your  own  quality  of  
experience,  it's  got  nothing  to  do  with  whether  you're  driving  the  car  you  
want.  Everything  to  do  with  a  moment-­‐by-­‐moment  appreciation  of  the  fact  
that  nobody  can  do  anything  to  you  emotional  without  your  permission.  
When  you  start  taking  charge  of  your  response  and  your  reaction  rather  
than  just  [run  off  a  pattern  00:30:27]  ...  It's  kind  of  like  people  have  a  whole  
series  of  movies  pre-­‐recorded,  and  it's  like  being  a  human  jukebox  or  a  
human  sort  of  movie  jukebox.  

  As  soon  as  somebody  says  or  does  or  anything  that  presses  a  certain  
sequence  of  buttons,  you  go  into  a  part  of  the  brain  that  has  a  preset  
response  on  a  preset  recorded  DVD.  It  goes  in  the  slot,  presses  play,  and  
you  act  out  something  that  is  unconscious,  that  you  didn't  even  get  to  vote  
on.  Now,  so  somebody  turns  around  and  says  "Hey.  You're  an  asshole."  And  
you're  like  "How  dare  you  call  me  a  ..."  whatever  it  is.  Yeah,  so  they  just  
pressed  a  button,  and  you  went  to  the  pre-­‐recorded...  

  Let's  say  if  somebody  does  this,  I  play  this  movie  and  this  is  what  happens.  
Wake  up!  You're  better  than  that.  If  somebody  calls  you  that  ...  And  how  
about  compassion?  How  about  saying...  

  You're  driving  down  the  road  and  somebody  cuts  you  off  in  traffic,  classic  
one.  Now  you  want  to  make  it  real?  Especially  on  the  roads  in  Dubai.  Yeah?  
You're  driving  and  somebody  cuts  you  off.  Apart  from  the  fact  it's  
predictable,  all  right,  you  know,  "Son  of  a  b  ..."  You  start  reacting  off  a  
pattern.  You  want  to  get  ahead  of  them,  or  you  want  to  give  them  a  piece  
of  your  mind.  You  want  to  ...  You  chase  them  down  the  road.  

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  Now,  can  you  just  imagine  that,  and  you've  got  your  son  or  daughter  in  the  
car,  what's  daddy  or  mummy  teaching  them  about  mastery  of  emotional  
response?  No.  Nothing.  That  could  probably  lead  to  some  pretty  bad  
scenarios  at  the  next  set  of  traffic  lights  if  that  got  out  of  control.  As  
opposed  to  you  suddenly  see  this  guy,  who's  all  mean  looking  and  
overtakes  you  and  cuts  you  off  and  you're  like,  "I'll  tell  you  what.  He  
obviously  needs  the  road  more  than  I  do.  I'm  so  grateful  I'm  not  having  a  
day  like  he's  had."  

Dave:   Yeah,  and  probably  he's  got  someone  dying  in  the  backseat.  You  just  don't  
know,  right?  

Peter:   [7  to  1.  00:32:21]  

Dave:   Yeah.  

Peter:   If  he  needs  the  road  so  much  that  he's  going  to  do  that  then,  yeah,  I'm  
grateful  that  that's  not  me  sitting  in  the  car.  

Dave:   That  was  one  of  the  more  difficult  things  I  ever  learned.  The  way  I  finally  did  
that,  Peter,  was  with  the  HeartMath  sensor.  I  learned  to  drive  in  traffic  and  
keep  the  light  green.  Every  time  someone  cuts  you  off,  it  will  turn  red.  It  
took  me  2  weeks  of  doing  that  every  day  before  I  could  finally  keep  it  green  
when  someone  cut  me  off  because  ...  I  mean  it  just  makes  you  want  to  kill.  
It  really  does.  That's  your  body,  your  fight  or  flight.  It  somehow  thinks  the  
guy's  a  tiger  or  whatever  else,  but  to  reverse  that  programming  in  myself  
took  a  long  time  because  I  used  to  be  kind  of  a  jerk  on  the  road,  and  I'm  
glad  to  say  I'm  not  anymore.  

Peter:   Well  done  on  being  an  example  there.  But  one  thing  I'd  invite  my  listeners  
or  viewers  to  look  at  is  our  self-­‐language,  our  self-­‐vocalization  because  if  
we  turn  around  and  say  "That  son  of  a  bitch  made  me  mad,"  guess  what?  
Complete  untruth.  Absolutely  lie.  At  least  ...  Even  if  you  can't  unhook  
emotionally,  allow  yourself  the  gift  of  being  truthful  even  if  nobody  else  
hears  it.  You  know  what  I'm  saying?  I  chose  to  make  myself  mad  based  
upon  what  they  did.  Now,  it  doesn't  mean  say  you're  going  to  agree  with  

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them,  but  here's  another  level  of  mastery  that  would  allow  people  to  raise  
their  level  consciousness.  

  When  I  look  at  behavior  in  others  that  I  would  let's  say,  disagree  with  or  
falls  outside  of  my  values  or  at  best  would  illicit  a  negative  response  and  at  
worst  would  drive  me  mad  and  whatever  it  is,  one  of  the  things  that  would  
teach  people  very  quickly  how  to  raise  that  level  of  consciousness  to  a  point  
where  they  can  become  self-­‐masters  ...  And  this  is  really  what  we're  talking  
about.  It's  about  becoming  master  of  our  own  emotional  response  rather  
than  allow  us  to  be  hooked  and  pulled  and  pushed  and  like  everybody  else  
has  got  the  puppet  strings,  because  that's  not  a  life  that  [had  at  least  
00:34:32]  any  level  of  fulfillment.  

  If  you  somebody  acting  out  of  accordance  with  how  you  feel  they  should  be  
acting,  then  one  of  the  first  things  that  I  do  is  I  put  myself  in  their  shoes.  I  
have  to  come  to  the  place  of  understanding  that  look,  people  do  things  for  
reasons,  right?  Cased  closed.  That's  the  psychological  fact.  People  do  things  
for  reasons.  Now,  they  may  not  be  your  reasons,  and  they  may  not  be  my  
reasons,  but  I  know  they  do  things  for  reasons.  

  Unless  I  can  put  myself  in  somebody  else's  shoes  to  the  extent  that  I  can  
understanding  that  if  I  was  them  with  their  history,  their  story,  their  current  
emotional  frame  of  mind,  their  belief  system,  their  screwed  up  call  it  model  
of  the  world,  whatever  label,  what  judgment  you  want  to  do,  whatever  it  is,  
if  I  cannot  put  myself  in  their  shoes  and  fully  associate  to  the  fact  that  if  I  
was  them,  I  would  also  hope  done  what  they  did,  then  I  have  no  right  to  
judge.  

  Now,  it  doesn’t  mean  to  say  that  once  I  step  out  of  that  shoes,  I  don't  have  
to  agree  with  them,  of  course.  But  unless  I  can  put  myself  in  their  shoes  and  
[comes  00:35:43]  the  place  of  awareness  and  understandable  [authentically  
00:35:46]  say  that  “Yeah.  I  would  do  that,  and  I  can  be  that  person  because  
we've  all  been  idiots,  assholes,  impatient,  end  up  short  tempered,  bad  ass  
son  of  bitch,  unloving,  unlovable  ...”  There  isn't  a  word  in  the  English  
language  that  can  describe  human  behavior  that  we've  not  encountered,  
embodied  and  being  at  some  point  in  our  life.  Case  closed.  

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  If  we  can't  come  to  the  awareness  ...  If  I  can't  step  inside  that  person's  
shoes  and  appreciate  why  they've  done  it,  it  doesn't  mean  say  I  need  to  
agree  with  it  once  I  step  out  of  their  shoes,  if  I  can't  appreciate  the  fact  or  
come  to  the  awareness  that  if  I  was  them  in  that  state  with  their  mindset,  
their  history,  their  story,  "I  wouldn't  have  done  the  same  thing",  then  I  have  
absolutely  no  right  to  impose  my  judgment  or  model  of  the  world  onto  that  
person.  But  most  of  us  do.  We're  too  quick  to  click,  "Oh  look  at  that  idiot  
doing  what  he's  doing."  Well,  guess  what?  You  were  that  idiot  at  one  point,  
or  you  certainly  could  be.  

  So  unhook,  come  from  a  place  of  non-­‐judgments  to  the  extent  that  ...  It  
doesn't  say  you're  trying  to  put  the  world  to  rights,  no.  You  got  no  right  to  
put  the  world  to  rights.  Wake  up.  The  only  right  that  we  have  in  this  world  
from  my  perspective  is  to  try  and  be  the  best  us  we  can  be.  If  you  ...  I  have  
this  bee  in  our  bonnet  about  "We've  got  to  fix  the  education  system.  We've  
got  to  fix  the  economy.  The  government  sucks.  Blah,  blah,  blah,"  all  of  this,  
and  we're  on  a  mission  to  try  and  fix  everybody  else  as  well,  then  I've  seen  
that  lead  to  a  lot  of  frustration.  

  You  take  Nelson  Mandela.  Nelson  Mandela  didn't  build  schools.  Nelson  
Mandela  didn't  go  and  fix  other  people's  problems.  He  didn't  try  and  
address  what  was  on.  He  became  the  example  for  others  to  follow  by  being  
the  best  him  he  could  be,  irrespective  of  his  past,  right  or  wrong,  and  he  
had  level  of  27  years  of  time  to  mature  emotionally  to  lead  a  country  
through  one  of  the  traumatic  and  difficult  times  that  could  have  so  
descended  into  violence  like  that.  And  he  didn't,  but  he  didn't  do  it  by  
running  around  trying  to  fix  everybody  else's  issues  and  telling  why  they  
were  wrong,  no.  He  became  the  example.  As  a  result  of  that,  he  changed  
millions  more  lives  than  anybody  building  schools  in  Africa.  

Dave:   Yeah.  The  idea  that  "if  you  want  to  change  the  world,  change  yourself,"  it's  
true  and  it's  so  hard  to  imagine.  To  choose  to  act  with  compassion  when  
people  are  doing  things  that  make  the  world  a  worse  place  is  a  definitely  
difficult  choice,  but  it's  one  that  you  see  people  make,  and  when  they  do,  
they  create  really  big  change.  What  is-­‐  

Peter:   It's  not  about-­‐  

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Dave:   Go  ahead.  

Peter:   It's  not  about  levels  of  understanding  because  insight  plays  very  little  part  
of  that.  It's  all  about  levels  of  awareness.  For  example,  when  I  was  16,  as  
I'm  sure  many  other  people  listening  here  that,  yeah,  can  probably  
remember  that  far  back,  I  thought  I  got  the  world  pretty  sussed  out.    At  16,  
we  got  our  stuff  together,  right?  Yeah.  We  know  how  everything  is.  Now,  
when  we're  25,  and  we  look  back  at  the  16  year  old  us,  how  much  of  the  
world  did  we  actually  really  had  sussed  out  at  16?  Right?  Nothing.  Right?  
But  could  a  25  year  old  explain  to  a  16  year  old  what  the  world  is  like  at  25?    

  Well,  they  can  explain  it,  and  they  can  intellectually  probably  understand  
some  of  it,  but  there's  no  way  they  can  experience  it  because  the  base  isn't  
big  enough.  The  question  of  wanting  to  have  self-­‐inquiry  to  the  point  of  
maturing  emotionally  or  spiritually  is  about  recognizing  that  wherever  we  
are  right  now,  our  base  isn't  big  enough  to  understand  what's  next  and  
being  okay  with  that.    

  When  you're  40,  you  look  at  back  at  25  when  you  thought  you  really  had  
the  world  sussed  and  realized  how  little  we  have  the  world  sussed.  At  25,  
you  can't  experience  life  as  a  40  year  old,  not  because  you're  not  
intelligent,  not  because  your  IQ,  or  you're  going  to  learn  some  new  
technique  on  meditating  at  40,  no.  Your  base  isn't  big  enough.  

  To  turn  around  at  somebody  at  16  and  say,  "Look.  You  should  react  with  
compassion  rather  than  making  an  obscene  gesture  through  the  window,"  
you  can't  judge  somebody  for  that  because  we're  on  a  path,  and  that  path  
unfolds.  Now,  the  path  that  unfolds  probably  fester  when  you  have  the  
intention  to  move  forward,  but  nobody  was  born  enlightened.  Buddha  
wasn't  born  enlightened.  It  was  a  journey,  a  progression,  and  that  is  the  
journey  for  most  people.  

  At  41  years  old  now  myself,  I  know  the  ...  Yes.  I  look  back  at  when  I  was  30  
or  25  and  the  ego  driven  that  I  was  at  the  time,  and  I  see  how  much  of  the  
world  that  I  didn't  know.  I  wouldn't  have  reacted  with  compassion.  You'd  
call  me  an  asshole  and  I  would’ve  probably  head-­‐butted  you.  Now  I  ...  It  
doesn't  mean  to  say  that  the  person  I  was  then  is  any  less  significant  or  

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worse  now;  it's  just  levels  of  awareness.  I  can't  go  back  and  tell  myself  that  
because  I  wouldn't  understand  it  at  that  age.    

  For  people  that  have  had  the  humility  and  the  grace  to  have  allowed  
themselves  to  progress  ...  One  of  the  temptations  sometimes  is  to  judge  
others  that  haven't  had  that  level  of  awareness  yet.  You  can't  do  that.  You  
can  only  be  the  example  for  them  to  follow  and  unhook  from  the  whether  
they  should  or  shouldn't.    

Dave:   Not  a  lot  of  people  know  this,  but  Bulletproof  is  a  pretty  small  company  
right  now,  but  3  of  my  key  employees  are  more  than  20  years  older  than  I  
am  because  I  figured  they  must  have  a  bigger  base  than  I  do,  and  they  
certainly  have  more  experience  than  I  do,  and  I  rely  heavily  on  their  advice  
because  I  figure  whoever  I'm  going  to  be  when  I'm  50,  by  the  way  I'm  41  
also,  about  to  turn  42  at  some  point  coming  up  here  ...  It's  really  interesting  
just  to  see  the  world  through  their  eyes  and  through  mine,  and  I  know  that  
I  don’t  have  that  kind  of  experience,  and  I  think  that's  one  of  the  things  that  
helped  me  to  do  what  I'm  doing  just  because  I  ...  Recognizing  that  there  
must  be  a  lot  more  I  don't  know  because  my  base  now  is  a  lot  better  than  
like  you  said  at  25  or  16  because  I  was  definitely  a  jerk  back  then  ...  I  work  
on  being  much  less  of  one  these  days.    

  There's  something  that  comes  into  play  here  though,  and  that's  wealth.  
You've  been  a  very  successful  serial  entrepreneur.  I  had  the  fortunate  and  
unfortunate  lesson  of  making  6  million  dollars  and  then  losing  it  in  my  mid-­‐
20s  which-­‐  

Peter:   [inaudible  00:42:21]  

Dave:   That's  not  so  fun.  Company  went  bankrupt,  et  cetera,  et  cetera.  Most  
people  only  hear  the  "Dave  made  6  million  dollars.  He's  a  rich  A-­‐hole."  I'm  
like  "It  didn't  quite  go  down  like  that.  I've  been  working  for  the  past  20  
years  for  a  reason."  What  is  the  role  of  wealth  and  people's  emotional  and  
spiritual  like  inner  awareness  and  their  connection  to  wealth?  What's  your  
take  on  that?  

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Peter:   Great  question  and  one  that  is  probably  one  of  the  biggest  areas  that  
prevents  people  from  climbing  through  levels  of  awareness;  is  they  get  
[stuck  of  00:42:55]  money.  I  don't  know  how  much  longer  we  have,  but  ...  
From  my  side,  for  money  ...  How  can  I  put  it  ...  Once  you  understand  what  
money  is,  a  higher  level  of  awareness,  you  can  stop  chasing  the  damn  thing  
because  money  is  simply  and  always  will  be,  a  reflection  of  what  value  you  
add.  Case  closed.  It's  an  arbitrary  medium  of  exchange.  Money  means  
nothing.  If  the  economy  went  FUBAR  tomorrow,  and  we're  left  with  a  
million  dollars,  and  it  was  cold,  you'd  burn  it  to  stay  warm.  Money  has  no  
intrinsic  value  in  the  way  that  we  represent  it  right  now.  

  All  it  is,  is  a  byproduct  [or  00:43:35]  consequence  of  how  much  value  you  
add.  Now,  the  reason  most  don't  like  that  awareness  is  because  if  you  don't  
have  enough,  that  means  you  have  to  look  in  front  of  the  mirror  and  say  
"Well  that  means  I  haven't  given  enough."  Most  people  sense  of  what  they  
think  they're  giving  is  enough,  but  they  just  don't  feel  as  if  they  have  
enough  money.  The  other  aspect  to  this  is  that  most  people  unfortunately  
don’t  recognize  that  there  are  2  bank  accounts.    

  There  is  a  financial  bank  account,  which  everybody  focuses  on,  but  there's  
an  emotional  bank  account.  Most  people's  emotional  bank  account,  
unfortunately,  follows  their  financial  bank  account.  If  your  financial  bank  
account  is  lower  than  what  you'd  like  it  to  be,  then  usually  your  emotional  
bank  account  is  too  far  behind.  People  who  think  that  money  will  solve  all  
of  their  problems  are  living  in  Disneyland.  The  challenge  with  that  prevalent  
belief  system  for  most  people,  is  that  money  solves  problems,  is  because  
those  that  don’t  have  access  to  a  lot  of  money,  most  of  their  immediate  
problems,  [since  or  are  caused  00:44:39]  by  lack  of  money.  

  Therefore,  the  illusion  is  that  the  more  money  I  have,  then  the  less  
problems  I'll  get.  Well,  that's  just  not  true.  You'll  have  bigger  problems  and  
better  quality  problems,  but  that's  a  different  conversation.    

You  ask  somebody  who's  worth  10,  20  million  dollars  if  problems  go  away,  
and  they'll  laugh  at  you.  But,  if  you  have  the  situation  where  your  
psychology  is  wired  that  your  financial  bank  account  follows  ...  Your  
emotional  bank  account  rather  follows  your  financial  bank  account,  you'll  

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always  be  poor  financially.  That  is  because,  what  we  weren't  taught  in  
school,  is  that  the  financial  bank  account  is  a  lacking  indicator,  not  a  leading  
indicator.  In  other  words,  if  we  want  a  financial  bank  account  to  go  up,  our  
emotional  bank  account  has  to  go  up  first,  otherwise  we're  tied  into  a  
negative  feedback  loop.  

  Now,  there's  a  time  delay  because  we  live  and  operate  in  a  paradigm,  
what's  known  as  Newtonian  physics  and  causality,  which  means  that  the  
circumstantial  reality  that  we  need  to  create  to  increase  money  doesn't  
happen  instantaneously.  It  happens  instantaneously  in  the  metaphysical  
world.  You  start  vibrating  at  the  level  of  positive  attraction;  you  start  
appreciating  things.  You  start  getting  onto  a  level  of  raising  of  emotional  
account  to  a  high  level,  the  financial  bank  account  has  to  follow,  but  it  
doesn't  follow  at  3:00  on  Tuesday  when  we  want  it  to  because  in  the  
metaphysical  world,  things  happen  instantaneously,  so  that,  what  Hawkins  
would  call  an  attractive  pattern,  it's  already  set.    

  You  send  the  message  out,  but  people  don’t  give  it  long  enough  because  
they  want  to  see  immediate  results,  or  they're  hooked  into  their  emotional  
bank  account  gets  tied  back  to  their  financial  bank  account,  so  then  all  of  a  
sudden  you're  back  on  the  negative  loop.  

  To  give  an  example,  if  you  are  in  a  dream,  if  you  want  something  to  happen,  
it  happens  instantly.  You  want  to  fly,  you  fly.  In  the  metaphysical  world,  
things  happen  straight  away.  It's  almost  like  a  little  boat,  a  remote  control  
boat  on  a  pond.  You  turn  left  on  the  controller  and  voom,  voom,  instantly  
turns  left,  but  in  the  physical  world,  the  time  it  takes  for  that  attractive  
pattern  to  translate  into  circumstantial  reality  of  the  universe  to  rearrange  
itself,  to  allow  that  financial  bank  account  to  follow  the  emotional  bank  
account,  it's  like  an  oil  tanker  on  the  ocean.  You  turn  the  wheel  left  and  
nothing  happens  to  2  kilometers.    

  You  have  to  give  it  time.  The  signal  has  been  set.  The  boat  has  to  turn,  but  if  
halfway  after  a  kilometer  you  spin  the  wheel  back  and  say  "This  ship  
doesn't  work"  and  I'm  sorry,  but  nobody  vote  on  the  fact  that  you  get  to  
control  when  that  happens,  but  the  speed  that  the  boat  turns  at  is  totally  
linked  to  the  congruency  and  the  alignment  between  your  thinking  center  

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and  your  feeling  center  and  the  consistency  of  that  frequency  that  you're  
broadcasting.    

  Talk  about  money  ...  Money's  a  reflection  of  the  value  you  add,  and  that  
value  you  add  isn't  just  about  giving  40  hours  a  week,  an  employer  or  a  
product  to  a  service  into  the  marketplace,    what  value  you  adding  to  the  
world  that  you're  inhabiting.  We're  all  guests  on  this  planet,  but  if  you're  
kicking  and  complaining  ...  Here's  why  most  people's  financial  bank  
accounts  stays  low.  Because  what  they  do  is  ...  I'll  give  another  metaphor.  

  Imagine  walking  into  an  art  gallery  or  museum.  You  go  into  a  museum.  
You've  been  invited  in  as  a  [sederal  guest  on  this  planet.  00:48:21]  You  walk  
into  the  room,  and  the  exhibit  is  called  "Your  Wife."  You  walk  into  this  
room,  and  you  look  around,  and  you  don't  actually  like  the  exhibit.  In  fact,  
they're  disgusting.  They  don't  please  you.  Now,  you’ve  got  a  couple  of  
different  things  you  do.  Here's  what  most  people  do.  Having  bought  the  
ticket  and  walked  into  that  exhibit,  they  stop  stamping  their  feet,  shouting  
and  demanding  the  curator  comes  and  changes  all  the  exhibits  around  to  
something  they  like.  Now  if  you  did  that  in  the  museum,  what  would  
actually  happen?  

Dave:   You'd  leave.    

Peter:   Security  would  come,  and  you'd  be  thrown  out  [of  the  museum.  00:48:57]    

Dave:   Yes.    

Peter:   Right?  Would  you  have  any  chance  of  demanding  having  bought  your  
ticket,  that  the  curator  comes  and  changes  that?  Is  anything  in  that  room  
going  to  change?  

Dave:   Not  at  all.  

Peter:   Not  at  all,  so  you  have  absolutely  no  right  to  complain  at  the  exhibits  in  the  
room  called  "Your  Wife".  However,  you  have  every  right  to  choose  to  walk  
into  a  different  room.  If  you're  bitching  and  complaining  about  the  exhibits  
and  your  wife  right  now,  guess  what?  That  is  the  glue  that  keeps  you  tied  to  

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them.  Quit  that  because  it  will  keep  your  emotional  bank  account  at  zero  
and  your  financial  bank  account  will  have  no  chance  to  change.  You  have  
every  right  ...  You've  got  some  ...    

  If  I  recognized  that  my  financial  bank  account  is  simply  a  reflection  of  what  
my  emotional  bank  account  has  been  doing  for  the  last  couple  of  months,  
then  it's  no  wonder  most  of  it  is  in  the  shape  that  it's  in.  Hey!  That's  positive  
confirmation  that  the  system  works.  I'm  going  to  make  a  commitment  to  go  
out  and  walk  into  a  different  room  and  maintain  and  hold  that  course.  
Nobody  can  come  back  to  me  in  2  months  that  authentically  does  that  and  
tells  me  that  that  hasn't  shifted.  It  may  not  shift  exactly  how  they  want,  but  
the  only  people  that  complain  are  there  ones  that  go  in  for  3  days,  see  that  
it  hasn't  changed,  and  then  complain  about  it  and  spin  the  wheel  back  on  
the  tanker.  

Dave:   Peter,  the  part  about  your  emotional  bank  account  leading  your  financial  
bank  account,  is  that  based  on  ...  Is  that  something  you  invented,  or  is  that  
based  on  some  particular  teaching  or  work  that  you've  come  across?  
Because  it's  brilliant,  and  I've  never  heard  it  before.  What's  the  source  of  
that?  

Peter:   The  analogy  of  the  personal  financial  bank  account  is  something  that  I  
overlay  because  I  think  people  can  understand  that.    

Dave:   It's  really  well  said,  and  it  makes  great  sense,  so  that's  brilliant,  thank  you.  

Peter:   I  appreciate  that,  thank  you.  I  mean  I  could  go  into  many  different  levels  of  
tangible,  intangible,  physical,  metaphysical,  Newtonian  causality,  non-­‐linear  
dynamics,  but  most  people  get  the  analogy  of  financial  bank  account,  
emotional  bank-­‐,  It  just  makes  it  easy  for  those  that  aren't  in  the  [know-­‐tery  
00:50:56]  like  sometimes  we  are  learning  advanced  theoretical  physics  and  
metaphysics.  

  To  be  fair,  when  you  get  through  [all  to  translating,  00:51:03]  that's  pretty  
much  what's  going  on.  

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Dave:   It's  the  simplest  way  I've  ever  heard  it  explained,  and  it  jives  with  my  reality  
a  hundred  percent.  I  want  to  be  very  respectful  of  your  time  but  we  have  
one  more-­‐  

Peter:   I'm  here  as  long  you  want  me.    

Dave:   Oh,  you've  got  some  time.  Great.    

Peter:   Actually,  before  we  jump  off  the  subject  of  money,  I  just  wanted  to  throw  
in  one  other  level  of  awareness  that  I  think  is  very  valuable  for  a  lot  of  
people.  That  is  having  ...  Obviously  having  work  with  Tony  for  the  last  
probably,  I  don't  know,  14  or  so  years  now,  Tony  Robbins  ...  I  was  actually  
Tony's  youngest  ever  trainer  in  2002  which  I  was  very  proud  of  at  the  time.  
Looking  back  right  now  I  realize  how  little  I  knew  as  a  trainer  back  then.  
That  said,  again,  we're  all  on  our  own  journey.    

  One  thing  I  certainly  credit  and  attribute  Tony  for  raising  my  level  or  
awareness  is  what  he  calls  the  "Primary  fear".  The  primary  fear  is  the  fear  
that  we're  not  enough.  We're  born  with  2  natural  fears:  The  fear  of  falling  
and  the  fear  of  loud  noises.  Everything  else  is  learned.  But  the  fear  that  
we're  not  enough  is  usually  the  root  cause  of  most  of  the  issues  that  I'd  
spend  a  lot  time  working  in  psychotherapeutic  intervention  around  the  
world.  That's  usually  where  it  has  its  [genesis.  00:52:11]    

  The  fear  that  we're  not  enough,  not  good  enough  predominantly  for  a  lot  of  
people,  not  rich  enough,  not  certain  enough,  not  loved  enough,  not  happy  
enough,  not  tall  enough,  short  enough,  fill  in  the  blank.  We've  all  got  a  
blank  to  fill  in  at  that  level  predominantly  unless  you  start  transcending  into  
much  higher  levels  of  awareness.    

  For  the  fear  that  we're  not  enough,  let's  just  overlay  money  on  this.  One  of  
the  major  challenges,  and  I  started  seeing  this  when  I  looked  into  the  issue  
around  money  that  people  have,  and  the  psychology  that  prevents  them  
from  raising  their  financial  and  their  emotional  bank  account.  That  is  that  ...  
Most  people  make  the  fundamental,  critical,  and  devastating  mistake  ...  I  
can't  understate  this.  Devastating  mistake,  that  they  combine  and  
intertwine  their  self-­‐worth  with  their  net-­‐worth.  That  again  is  down  to  a  lot  

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of  the  conditionality  and  the  programming  that  21st  century  reality  has  put  
on  most  people.  "You're  good  enough  if  ..."    you  drive  the  right  car,  have  
the  right  business  card,  the  right  job  description,  yeah  blah,  blah,  blah,  fill  in  
the  blank.    

  If  you  have  your  self-­‐worth  and  your  net-­‐worth  tied,  most  of  the  time  if  
your  net-­‐worth  is  threatened,  it  triggers  the  fear  that  you  are  not  enough  
because  your  self-­‐worth  is  automatically  linked.  That's  one  of  the  reasons  
why  I  see  most  people  compromise  their  values  around  money  faster  than  
anything  else.  It's  not  because  they're  bad  people.  It's  just  that  their  
association  to  their  self-­‐worth  and  net-­‐worth  is  so  strong  that  if  their  ...  
They  will  decisions  that  will  compromise  their  values  around  money  so  that  
the  trigger,  the  fear  that  they're  not  enough,  is  not  set  off  because  most  
people  would  do  almost  anything  to  avoid  that.    

  If  people  want  to  take  a  step  forward  in  creating  financial  abundance,  
unhook  your  self-­‐worth  from  your  self-­‐worth  from  your  net-­‐worth.  
Understand  that  you  were  born  good,  nothing  ...  You  don't  need  a  bank  
account  to  prove  that.  Understand  that  regardless  of  what  happens,  you're  
not  going  to  take  it  with  you.  You  don't  want  to  be  the  richest  man  in  the  
graveyard.  The  only  people  that  try  to  take  wealth  with  them  were  the  
Egyptians,  and  the  only  thing  that  happened  is  we  dug  it  up  and  stole  it.  
That  doesn't  work.  That's  why  there's  a  big  difference  between  wealth  and  
fulfillment.  Most  people  are  so  poor,  all  they  have  is  money.    

  If  you're  chasing  that,  and  most  people  do  to  validate  their  self-­‐worth,  then  
again,  you're  on  a  hamster  wheel  to  unfulfillment  that  unfortunately,  that's  
a  tunnel  with  no  cheese.  Most  people  wake  up  at  the  end  and  ...  It  begs  the  
question,  what  is  the  grand  prize?  Is  it  a  fleet  of  Bentleys?  Because  here's  
what  I  know,  I've  never  been  around  people,  and  I  have,  been  around  
people  who  are  at  the  end  of  their  life;  people  that  have  finally  succumbed  
to  the  realization  of  their  mortality  and  that  could  be  the  fact  that  they've  
got  hours,  days,  or  weeks  to  live  and  have  actually  resigned  or  surrendered  
to  that  level  of  awareness.  

  Every  single  one  of  those,  not  those  that  are  still  fighting  the  inevitable,  but  
those  that  have  surrendered  to  that  level  of  awareness  and  have  a  little  

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more  level  of  serenity  around  that  rather  than  in  trepidation.  Obviously,  
there's  always  fear  for  a  lot  of  people,  but  those  that  have  come  to  the  
awareness  and  accepted  it,  not  one  person,  and  you  can  talk  to  nurses  in  
hospices  that  spend  their  life  around  these  people,  not  one  person  have  I  
ever  come  across  that  has  lied  there  and  said  "You  know  something?  Please  
go  and  fetch  me  my  mahogany  framed  MBA  certificate.  Please  go  fetch  me  
the  keys  to  my  Ferrari."  No.  What  do  they  say?  What  is  the  grand  prize?  

  The  grand  prize  is  "Please  go  and  fetch  me  the  people  that  I  care  about"  
and  "I  wish  I  told  that  I  loved  more  than  I  did."  Or  "Please  go  fetch  me  the  
people  I  love,  and  I  want  to  just  want  to  be  around  even  if  nothing  is  said,  I  
can  just  be  with  them."  That's  the  grand  prize.  Most  people  avoid  that;  
missed  again  completely  because  they're  so  busy  chasing  validation  that  
they're  good  enough  because  they  need  a  financial  bank  account  to  prove  it  
in  the  eyes  of  others.  You  were  born  good  enough.  Get  off  that  game.  Once  
you're  free  of  that  game,  and  you  can  start  recognizing  that  true  
fulfillments  comes  from  love,  joy  ,  happiness,  thinking  happy  thought,  not  
getting  caught  up  and  stressed  out  because  your  Wi-­‐Fi  signal  isn't  strong  
enough.  Not  getting  caught  up  because  McDonald's  ran  out  of  barbecue  
sauce.  

  When  you  come  from  a  place  of  surrender  to  the  fact  that  what  is  the  grand  
prize,  guess  what?  You're  then  free  to  go  and  make  money,  but  it  doesn't  
have  a  hold  of  you.  The  paradox  is  you'll  probably  make  more  of  it  because  
it  won't  mean  as  much.    

Dave:   That  is  incredibly  deep  and  well  said.  It  makes  me  wonder.  You  get  some  
pretty  heavy  criticism  from  your  latest  space  energy  project.  Criticism  
triggers  those  things  right?  You're  managing  to  do  something  that  is  very  
much  world  changing.  At  the  same  time,  how  do  you  handle  it  internally  
when  you  get  the  critics.  We  can  all  see  what  you  say  to  the  critics,  and  that  
you're  sticking  with  your  science,  but  how  do  you  handle  that  internally?  
How  do  you  keep  them  from  taking  you  out  of  the  zone,  so  you  get  out  of  
the  flow-­‐state;  you  get  basically  bummed  because  they  are  saying  
effectively  you  are  not  good  enough,  as  a  part  of  the  criticism?  You've  
never  been  called  a  crazy  person  have  you,  Peter?  

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Peter:   Well,  I  hope  so.    

Dave:   Exactly.  Tell  me  what  goes  on  inside  your  mind  or  inside  your  heart  when  
some  says  "Oh  my  God,  I  have  a  PhD  from  X,  Y,  and  Z,  and  Peter  is  a  nutter,  
and  it's  never  going  to  work,  and  it's  going  to  kill  the  planet"  whatever  the  
worst  things  that  they  say.  What  does  that  do  to  you,  and  do  you  turn  that  
around?  

Peter:   Here's  a  lesson  in  psychology  that  I  think  would  offer  some  value  and  
benefit  to  many  of  the  [inaudible  00:58:48]  [abuse.  00:58:48]  People  say  to  
me,  "What  is  one  of  the  biggest  gifts  you  can  give  to  children?"  I  would  say  
that  the  first  thing  is  understand  the  difference  between  being  internally  
and  externally  validated.  If  you  want  externally  validated,  it's  kind  of  what  I  
was  saying  earlier,  you  will  need  other  people  to  agree  with  your  model  of  
the  world  in  order  to  feel  good  about  it.  The  second  somebody  disagrees  
with  that,  you  are  on  a  defensive  path  to  try  and  revalidate  your  model  of  
the  world  to  them.  

  That's  an  exhausting  game.  I've  already  said,  you  want  the  key  to  
unhappiness,  try  and  get  somebody  else  to  agree  with  what  it  is  you  want  
them  to  agree  with.  That's  a  fool's  game.  That's  Disneyland  thinking.  That's  
never  going  to  happen.  7  billion  people  on  the  planet,  and  7  different  ways  
of  looking  at  it  ...  7  billion  different  ways  of  looking  at  it.  It's  like  ...    

  No  one  would  get  anyone  with  that.  If  I  hear  somebody  else's  [poignant  
00:59:44]  point  of  view,  then  ...  don't  get  me  wrong,  I'm  not  myopically  
glued  to  something  because  it's  my  idea  and  therefore  it's  right.  No.  If  
somebody  presents  a  level  of  insight  that  I  think  is  valid,  that  is  [an  area  of  
00:59:56]  [inaudible  00:59:56]  time-­‐-­‐I'm  not  the  smartest  guy  in  the  world,  
far,  far,  far  from  it.-­‐-­‐then,  and  I  think  it's  valid,  I'll  of  course  I'll  have  a  look  
at  that.      

  But  for  somebody  to  say  that  my  model  of  the  world  challenges  theirs  and  
therefore  mine  is  wrong  ...  I  mean  if  you  hear  it  from  that  perspective,  you  
see  the  lunacy  of  it  right?  I'm  very  and  exceptionally  internally  validated.  I  
don’t  need  6,999,999,999  other  people  to  agree  with  me  at  any  level  for  
me  to  feel  good  about  what  it  is  I  want  to  feel  good  about.  Why  would  I?  If  

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I'm  not  hurting  anybody  else,  and  as  long  as  nobody  is  less  than  because  
they  crossed  my  path,  why  would  I  subject  myself  to  the  good  opinion  of  
others,  when  I  know  that's  a  game  no  one  can  ever  win?  

  Now,  I  don't  swim  in  GOOP.  G-­‐O-­‐O-­‐P,  good  opinion  of  other  people.  Most  
people  spend  their  lives  swimming  in  GOOP  because  they're  externally  
validating.  You  want  to  give  a  gift  to  your  kid,  get  them  to  be  internally  
validated,  not  to  the  point  where  they're  arrogant.  Arrogance  is  the  same  
pattern,  just  the  flip  side  of  the  coin.  "I'm  indifferent  to  your  stupid  model  
of  the  world  because  mine  is  better."  I'm  almost  validating  mine  by  proving  
yours  is  wrong.  It's  the  same  deal.    

  There's  no  humility  in  that.  If  someone's  got  a  PhD,  then  for  a  start  I  already  
that  they'd  been  programmed  to  be  a  mismatcher.  Their  entire  thesis  is  
based  upon  proving  something  that  hasn't  been  proved  yet.  They're  
conditioned  to  it.  It's  predictable.    

I  remember  when  I  was  22,  I  said,  "You  know  what  I  get?  As  many  hate  
websites  as  Bill  Gates.  I  know  I'll  be  doing  well."  It's  just  perspective.  If  you  
are  internally  validated,  not  opinionated,  not  egotistical,  again  like  I  said,  
that's  just  the  flip  side  of  the  coin  to  being  externally  validated;  that's  a  case  
of  not  giving  a  crap.  Of  course  I  care  about  other  people's  ...  If  there's  
something  valid  there,  then  I'll  assess  it  on  my  own  terms,  and  if  it's  valid,  
I'll  thank  them  for  their  perspective.  

  But  for  someone  to  come  out  of  left  field  and  try  to  justify  ...  I  see  the  
pattern  they're  wanting.  It's  the  pattern  I've  just  explained.  If  it  contradicts  
them,  their  model  of  the  world,  and  they're  externally  validated,  they  have  
to  contradict  where  I  am  and  try  and  get  me  ...  Try  and  attack  mine  and  
anyone  else's  point  of  view.  It's  how  they  get  their  validation.  It's  how  they  
get  their  significance.    

Dave:   It's  because  they  feel  not  good  enough  like  you  were  saying  earlier.    

Peter:   It's  always  there.  It's  always  there.  I  can  think  of  almost,  to  be  fair,  
amusement  rather  than  anger.  That's  not  looking  down  on  them.  That's  
looking  at  the  pattern,  not  them.  I  make  the  distinction  between  somebody  

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and  somebody's  behavior.  That's  an  important  distinction  to  make;  that  
only  usually  comes  through  a  higher  level  of  awareness.  Certainly,  you  can  
come  in  anywhere  lower  levels  of  awareness.  I  can  you  tell  you  that.    

  I'm  very  fortunate  and  blessed  that  having  had  the  level  of  discipline  and  
self-­‐inquiry  on  the  journey  that  [I’ve  gone,  and  I’m  only  01:02:57]  a  couple  
of  steps  ahead  of  people  that  haven't  taken  that  based  on-­‐experience  that,  
again,  I  said  earlier,  some  people  haven't  had  the  fortune  to  have  access  to  
the  level  of  insights  I  have.  It's  not  some  clever  or  special…  

  To  understand  the  distinction  between  somebody  and  their  behavior  is  a  

very  powerful  level  of  insight  to  bring  to  the  table.  If  somebody  wants  to  
attack  me,  if  I'm  at  the  same  level  of  awareness,  I'm  going  to  push  back.  But  
if  I  recognize  that  this  person  is  having  a  bad  day;  this  person  is  frustrated.  
This  person  is  obviously  on  their  own  journey  and  thank  God  I'm  not  them  
because  if  I  was  to  live  my  life  with  that  level  of  stress,  holy  crap  I'm  ...  I  
mean  all  of  their  ability  to  still  function  ...  And  come  from  a  place  of  
admiration  from  where  they're  at  rather  than  judgment  and  trying  to  
defend  my  position.  That's  a  fool's  game.  Give  me  a  break.  

  Yeah.  Am  I  going  to  get  attacked?  I  hope  so.  Does  it  contradict  everybody  
else's  model  of  the  world?  Well,  it  wouldn't  be  doing  much  good  if  it  didn't.  

Dave:   I  love  it.  

Peter:   You're  not  going  to  save  world  thinking  whatever  everybody  else  thinks.    

Dave:   That's  awesome.  Well,  this  is  the  only  interview  I've  had  so  far,  Peter,  
where  I  feel  like  the  interview  is  already  maybe  answered  the  final  
question,  but  I'm  going  to  ask  the  final  question  so  you  can  just  wrap  it  up  
succinctly.  This  is  something  I've  asked  all  hundred  and  about  twenty  
people  I've  interviewed  over  the  past  few  years.  Given  your  entire  life  
experience,  your  top  3  recommendations  for  people  who  want  to  perform  
better  at  whatever  it  is  they're  here  to  do,  just  most  3  important  nuggets.  

Peter:   Everybody  always  wants  the  top  this,  the  top  that,  the  golden  this,  the  
golden...    

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One  of  the  first  things  I  would  suggest  is  give  up  the  need  to  look  for  the  
top  3.  But  inherent  in  that  is  to  learn  to  live  in  the  space  of  a  question.  Most  
people's  minds  are  so  conditioned  to  absolutes,  and  part  of  the  reason  for  
that  is  historically  we're  programmed  to  have  a  thirst  for  answers.  Now,  we  
grew  up  outside  of  the  sciences  as  a  species,  in  a  way  that  for  generations  
and  tens  of  thousands  of  years,  we  were  intrigued  by  natural  phenomena.  
When  it  rained,  we  wondered  why.  Where  did  the  ocean  go  every  night?  
Why  did  it  come  back?  Why  did  the  moon  change  shape?  We  have  an  
intrinsic,  built  into  our  DNA  thirst  for  absolute  answers.    

  The  flip  side  to  that  on  a  positive,  it  makes  known  the  consummate  
explorer  to  reach  out  beyond  that  comfortable  grasp  and  create  magic  that  
no  other  species  or  no  other  part  of  history  man  has  had  the  ability  to  do.  
The  other  side  to  that  is  that  the  mind  wants,  "Give  me  the  top  3."  If  you  
are  able  to  ...  If  I  was  to  put  the  top  1,  having  contradicted  what  I've  just  
said,  I  would  say  one  of  the  most  powerful  things  that  somebody  can  do  is  
to  increase  their  ability  to  handle  uncertainty.    

Dave:   Ooh,  great  answer.  All  right.  Yes.  

Peter:   Inherent  in  that,  is  learn  to  live  in  the  space  of  a  question.  The  second  thing  
I  would  encourage  people  to  look  at  is  to  recognize  that  we  all  come  at  life  
through  a  different  looking  glasses.  You  create  your  model  of  the  world;  I  
create  my  model  of  the  world.  It's  going  to  be  different  for  you  because  you  
have  a  different  way  of  interpreting  through  the  5  senses,  on  top  of  a  
different  belief  system,  a  different  upbringing,  a  different  cultural  
paradigm,  and,  and,  and,  and.    

  Therefore,  if  you  agree  with  me,  then  there's  something  wrong.  It's  like  the  
...  If  2  people  in  business  always  agree,  one  of  them  is  unnecessary.  Learn  
to  understand  that  we  all  have  a  different  viewpoint  and  be  okay  with  that.  
I  don't  need  you  to  agree  with  me  to  me  feel  good  about  agreeing  with  
myself.  Make  a  distinction  there  because  if  you  can  do  that,  everything  
shifts.    

  The  third  one,  if  I  was  to  sum  that  up  ...  Let  me  have  a  think.  ...  Again,  don't  
get  hooked  by  your  immediate  circumstances.  If  you're  bitching  and  

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complaining  about  the  artifacts  in  the  room,  in  the  museum  right  now,  
you're  either  going  to  get  thrown  out,  or  you're  going  to  be  more  annoyed  
that  you're  never  going  to  change  them.  Make  a  conscious  choice  to  walk  
into  a  different  room.  Choose  a  different  vector.  You  know  something?  I  
can  either  complain  about  my  circumstances,  or  I  can  choose  the  ones  that  
I  want.  Get  inspired.  Tap  into  the  ...    

  Make  sense  of  who  you  are  that  was  born  a  miracle.  400  million  to  1  and  
you  show  up.  That  was  no  accident.  You  chose  to  be  here  for  a  better  
reason  than  working  9  to  5  in  a  job  you  don't  like  for  somebody  you'd  never  
probably  understood  for  a  wage  that  is  less  than  what  you're  worth,  to  
retire  at  65  on  something  that  you've  thought  might  be  happiness  to  find  
out  it  isn't.  Give  it  up.  Follow  your  passion.  Follow  your  bliss  and  don't  let  
anybody  tell  you  that  you  can't  do  it.    

Dave:   Peter,  amazing  interview.  Thank  you  for  taking  the  time  to  be  on  
Bulletproof  Executive  Radio.  Where  should  people  go  to  learn  more  about  
what  you're  doing,  your  books,  give  me  your  URL,  Twitter,  wherever  else  
you  would  like  people  to  know  more  about  what  you're  doing?  

Peter:   Thank  you.  They  want  my  website  obviously,  petersage.com  

  It's  hard  to  hide  a  public  profile  these  days,  so  if  you  Google  "Peter  Sage",  
I'm  pretty  much  everywhere  for  the  right  or  wrong  reason  I'm  sure,  
depending  on  if  you’ve  got  a  PhD  or  not.  Twitter,  PeterSage007.  Please  
don't  tweet  away  or  retweet  this  or  ...  My  passion  here  is  to  get  the  
message  out  that  can  hopefully  raise  ...  Even  if  it's  one  thing  people  can  
take  out  of  this  interview  that  they  can  make  a  difference  with.  Knowing  
and  not  doing  is  the  same  as  not  knowing.  Most  people  are  well  read  and  
know  nothing,  or  they're  inspired  in  the  moment,  but  then  get  caught  up  in  
trying  to  do  too  much.  The  reason  is  that  the  emotional  root  is  usually  
overwhelmed;  leads  to  confusion  which  leads  to  inaction,  which  means  
they’ve  learned  so  much,  they  do  nothing.    

  Take  one  thing  out  of  this  interview  and  go  and  help  somebody  else  with  it.  
Go  be  the  example.  Go  share  it.  If  you  want  access  to  more  of  my  work,  
then  I'm  obviously  on  YouTube.  PeterSage.com  is  my  main  resource.  It's  

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been  a  pleasure  to  spend  this  time  with  you  and  have  this  chat  and  
hopefully,  add  some  value  to  some  people  that  are  watching  or  listening.    

Dave:   You  absolutely  did.  Thanks  Peter.  

 
 
 
Featured  

PeterSage.com  

Peter  Sage  on  Facebook  

@petersage007  

Peter  Sage  on  YouTube  

Space  Energy  

Resources  

Institute  of  HeartMath  

Bulletproof  

HeartMath  Inner  Balance™  Sensor  for  iOS  

HeartMath  EmWave  2  

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