Episode: #37028th February 2022Paul Dermody on Aggressive vs Sustainable Weight Loss, Holding Dietary Judgment, Self-Imposed Anxiety or Expectations, Inner Child Work, Sex and Marriage! 

Today on the podcast:

A long overdue fly on the wall conversation with one my best friends Pauly D. Similar to our previous random episodes, this covers a very wide range of topics.

Episode Outline

• 05:29 Improving as a podcast interviewer
• 09:00 Joe Rogan and the difficulty of podcasting in 2022
• 20:26 SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and mental health
• 32:27 Self-imposed anxiety and expectations
• 38:27 The value of inner child work
• 46:23 Overcoming doubt, and aggressive vs sustainable weight loss
• 56:07 Holding dietary judgment and thinking traps
• 1:17:57 The problem of rigid thinking
• 1:25:19 Marriage, sex, and why we have a bad relationship with time
• 1:42:44 Being willing to be misunderstood as a public figure

Key Points

• Anxiety often comes about because you’re judging yourself too harshly. Perhaps you feel as if you need to please other people or that you need to get a certain task or goal done perfectly. The truth is, doing things in order to gain other people’s approval will never make you happy in the long run, and perfection simply doesn’t exist. Be content with moving the goalpost, and allow yourself to feel down when those feelings inevitably come. You’re only human, and you will bounce back if you choose to.
• Make a conscious effort to practice critical thinking when setting any goal for yourself, or even in the everyday decisions you make. Absolutes are dangerous, and no idea is complete in and of itself. Always find ways to falsify or test your own beliefs. Become aware of your triggers and biases, and keep your ego in check. All of these principles will help you make better decisions, lead to personal and professional growth, and boost mental health.
• Becoming deliberate about everything you do doesn’t equate to rigid thinking. The former can be incredibly helpful, and the latter is restrictive. For instance, blindly adhering to a diet like a religious zealot can do more harm than good, whereas being willing to pivot and pick and choose the best from various approaches, then committing to your new approach is the only way to grow.

Powerful Quotes by Paul

• When you’re forming your own podcast, you have to be comfortable to be imperfect. You have to become comfortable about being misunderstood and very comfortable about the fact that people will misinterpret you, often intentionally to try to frame you in a certain way. That kind of acceptance is a very important part in any kind of progress.
• Rigid thinking leads to more bad outcomes than critical thinking.
• You have to find ways to falsify or test your own beliefs.
• Don’t focus on being right; just get it right.

Guest Info

Paul Dermody

Personal trainer

Paul Dermody, originally from Ireland, now living in Vietnam is a personal trainer, though he feels much more than that. His passion is getting people to develop a healthy relationship with food. He feels strongly about getting his clients “off the diet” once and for all and to set goals from that mindset.

He works mostly online with clients all over the world and also does a small amount of in-person coaching and has now done so in Ireland, Spain and Vietnam.