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Reflecting deeply on life is an antidote to living life on autopilot. The Noblest Pursuit Podcast is a forum to think about the big questions we all need to wrestle with to live our best life possible.
Paul: All right, well, welcome brother.
This is, uh, Tim Baker, my
younger brother, uh, on the
noblest pursuit podcast.
Uh, my name is Paul Baker and,
uh, we are just going through the.
What would be like the pilot pitch
for what is the noblest pursuit?
So,
Tim: yeah, finally.
We're finally doing this.
I feel like we started talking
about this, like over the summer.
Paul: yeah, yeah.
I mean, I've been wanting to do some kind
of podcast like this for years, probably
six, eight years, something like that.
Um, and it just never really coalesced.
But for some reason, this phase of
my life, like the entrepreneurial,
the entrepreneurial force is
feeling strong with me right now.
And I'm feeling like really aligned.
Maybe that's what it is.
It's like I'm just feeling really
aligned and I have all these different
like projects that I've talked to you
about, you know, so Noble Squad and Stark
Intelligent and the Foundry, this kind of
like umbrella called the Noblest Pursuit.
With the podcast.
Um, I want to do a children's book with
the kids based on the good night things.
But like, these are things that
I've been talking about, thinking
about for like a decade, basically.
Like the good night things
that's as old as Michaela is.
Tim: Yeah, well, I think, uh, I think
the forum, like a podcast is a great
forum to, I think, tell a story.
And, and I think sometimes
in order to tell a story, you
have to like center yourself.
And I think the podcast
allows you to do that.
Like as an entrepreneur, I know we'll
get into this as an entrepreneur.
One of the hardest things to do
is to hire your first person.
And part of that is, part of that
is, is because you have all these
ideas and the things that you do to
operate your business in your head.
And for you to like, hand
that off to somebody else.
You're going to have to like write it
down or whatever, whatever, record it,
whatever that, and the podcast is almost
a forum that allows you to do this.
And obviously you just threw out a bunch
of things, the foundry and the, you
know, the kids, the kid's book and then
things like that, the podcast almost
like forces you to create those or
to create a structure in which you're
pulling down these thoughts and ideas.
And then.
You know, presenting that to the world.
Um, so kudos to you to, you know, get
this off the ground and get this going.
I'm excited to chat more about what
it, what it's going to look like.
Paul: Yeah.
Thank you.
And I've been looking forward to this
moment talking to you in episode zero.
Um, I actually recorded my first, the
first episode of the podcast, like over
a month ago with One of my proteges,
uh, Gray, and, and mentioned in that
episode that you and I are going to
be recording episode one or zero,
whatever I called it in that one.
And then, you know, life got in the way,
Thanksgiving, all that kind of stuff.
And I was like, Oh, I
got to get this done.
I want to, I want to
launch, uh, January 1st.
Um, but it was really important to
me that it was you, um, not to get
too emotional, uh, but like you
and I have been on entrepreneurial
journeys together for years now.
Um, you know, I've done my own
venture, you know, like remember
when I did pyrotechnics out of
Delaware, my first business?
It's.
Tim: Yeah, yeah, I do.
I remember you had some pretty
sweet, sweet, you had some sweet
business cards that I think.
Paul: I did.
Nobody knew what they were.
They were so, they looked like
something that belonged in a club.
Yeah,
Tim: I do remember at least, at
least they were memorable though.
Right.
Paul: they were memorable.
Yeah.
Nobody knew what they meant,
but they were memorable.
There's, there's still probably
lawyers in Delaware that were
like, what the fuck was that?
Tim: Yeah.
That's like marking their
book somewhere, you know.
Paul: Yeah, exactly.
Um, but then, Yeah, I've had that.
And obviously you have your business.
And I remember, I remember the
conversation where I was when,
when I got the call from you,
when you're like, I need to figure
out something else in my life.
Like, what do I do?
I remember I was in Malaysia.
Tim: Yeah.
I do, I kind of had um, I kind of had,
well, I think when I pivoted my career,
I had, I've had very few epiphany
moments in my life, and I feel like
both of them involved you in some way.
The first one was, When I decided
to go to West point, it was actually
like, I think it was on your, our day.
And I think as you were, as you were
applying or had interest, I think first
in the air force Academy and then to
the U S military Academy, I was kind of
that, you know, Henri younger brother
would be like, why the heck would you
want to go to a college that would tell
you like when to get up, what to wear,
like, you know, all of that stuff.
I
Paul: also hated the fact that I
just talked about it constantly.
Tim: Yeah, it's like,
Paul: I don't want to hear this anymore.
Tim: yeah, it's like people like
their fantasy football team or,
um, you know, it's like the only
person that cares about it is you.
Um, so like, but then, you
know, when we were up there, you
know, I just saw how impressive.
The institution was and I saw how
much it centered you, you know, just.
Trying to figure out the
Rubik's cube to get in.
And that was an epiphany moment for me.
I'm like, I think, I think
I kind of want this too.
Like, I, like, I think I see the benefits.
The second one was my decision
to kind of pivot my career and to
go into like financial services.
So I'm a, I'm a certified
financial planner.
So, you know, I own a fee only
financial planning firm and we do
financial planning and investment
management, investment management.
And I had a conversation with you and this
is probably the one that you're citing and
actually a conversation with our younger
sister Kathleen, um, that were oddly
identical in, in the kind of the message.
And I.
Paul: Yeah.
Tim: And, you know, I, I, I
don't think at the time, I mean,
obviously we're, we're siblings.
I don't think that you guys were
like talking and saying, Hey, like,
we should tell, like, we should have
a united front and say this to Tim.
Um, but it was, it was oddly, it was
oddly similar in the, in the takeaway.
And I kind of, I, I came away
from those conversations saying,
this is where, this is how I want
to, I want to pivot my career.
Um, at the time I was in logistics,
you know, after my military career I
was in, I, I became a logistician, so
moving basically stuff from A to B.
And then, you know, I kind of had my
quarter life crisis and I'm like, well,
I don't know what I really wanna do.
And I, you know, I sought counsel
from both you and or sister and, and
kind of had that same like, you know,
epiphany of this is what I should do.
And then I think that then parlayed into.
working for someone else, but then believe
in like, I think I can do this by myself.
And I think I can kind of build
a, build a better mousetrap.
So yeah, it's been, it's been a while, but
I would say that, you know, to kind of go
back to your original point of like, you
know, excited to have this conversation.
I think in my journey, you've
been pivotable, pivotable,
pivotal, pivot, pivoted.
that pivot pivotal.
Thank you.
Um, in and I do podcasts.
So this, you know, so, um, but
you've been important in that, in
that journey and, and, and for me.
So I appreciate it.
And thanks for her, you know,
inviting me to have this conversation.
Paul: Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, like I said, no one I would
rather have this conversation with.
Um, definitely top 10 people
in my life, somewhere near
the bottom of that 10 stack.
Tim: Yes.
Paul: Yeah.
Um, but yeah, I mean like, like what
you were talking about as far as, uh,
engaging, kind of like
finding meaning, right.
In your work.
You know, going from logistician to.
Financial planner to entrepreneur.
Right.
And that's kind of, that kind of
segues really nicely into like, what
is the point of the noblest pursuit?
Like what is, what is the noblest pursuit?
And the name of it actually
is an homage to St.
Thomas Aquinas.
He says something, the quote is
basically that the pursuit of wisdom
is the noblest pursuit of them all.
And I've always been one of these guys
that's just been like super captured by.
And not just learn facts, but to
learn like applied knowledge, which
some people might call wisdom.
And so I really liked that.
Um, you know, the logo is a
side profile of Athena, which
she's really special to you.
And I, um, she's the goddess
of wise, wise warfare.
And she, her crest.
features prominently
on the West Point logo.
Um, you know, we wore her
helmet every, every day, um,
on our, on our emblem, right?
On our, on our rank.
Um, and, and it's, it's that wisdom
that I'm, I'm really seeking.
And, and as a, as a Stoic, you know,
the Stoics have this, have this concept
of what we call erite or excellence.
Right, so everything in life,
whether it's animate or inanimate,
has a, has a, a mode of erite.
So a dull knife is not, a sharp knife is.
A sharp knife is excellent, right?
Um, a pen that writes.
Someone that engages with life and,
and is the kind of person that other
people would want to remember well.
So, for me, the Noblest
Pursuit, go ahead, go ahead.
Tim: one of the things that you, one of
the terms, I haven't heard you say it.
Lately, but it's one of my favorite things
that you would say, um, and maybe this
is kind of like, you know, tech related.
Um, again, I'm not a, I'm not a tech
person, but like, one of the things
that you would say, you know, when we
would talk about somebody, you would
say like, oh, like they're switched on.
Paul: Yes.
Yeah.
Tim: I think that's what you, I think
that's what kind of what you're,
what you're talking about here.
And I think, uh, I had this conversation.
With my, with my daughter, Olivia, it's
like she's, she's 10 now and she's such
in a race to like, Like get technology
and get a phone and like, you know,
she had her, I don't know if I told
you this, but she had a her 10 for her
birthday party or 10th birthday party.
She had a sleepover and like
all these girls came over.
And, you know, we would walk downstairs
and, you know, Shea had, my wife Shea
had it like, they were all set up and
you'd walk downstairs and each girl would
be on, on her, on her bunk, like on her
iPad, like just looking at their screen.
I'm like, that didn't happen when
we were, and like, out of the eight
girls that were supposed to sleep
over, like two actually did, like the
other, the other ones like went home.
Paul: Went home.
Yeah.
Tim: and I'm
Paul: so common right now.
Tim: And I'm like, what that,
so like not switched on.
Right.
But I think I also think about like,
like you're, you're kind of a zombie,
but I, I, I tell the story to not to
get too tangential with this, but like,
when I was working in logistics, I
was, I was working in like a warehouse.
So I got out of the army.
I was working in a
warehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
I get, I would get to the
warehouse at five 30 in the dark.
And then, especially this time of
year, I would come home at eight.
6 30 in the dark and those drives
to and from the warehouse, which
were about 30 minutes long, like I
would get in my car, drive home and
I wouldn't remember any of the drive.
It was like I was on autopilot and
I feel like that became my life.
Like my life was on autopilot and
I think like this type of podcast
or this like thinking is a direct.
Um, counter to that, I think it's so
easily to switch off and be distracted
by life and the noise of life and
just screens and things like this.
And I like you definitely more
so, but like, I've always kind
of been like self reflective and
have thought deeply about things.
And I think this is like
an homage to that, right.
It's just a not to accept
things on like face value.
But actually like reflect deeply about
and I think like a podcast is a perfect
forum to do so so I love like the
direction that you're taking but I just
You know, it kind of you know Intertwined
some of my own personal experience
with I think where you're taking this.
Um, I think it's it's a
great It's a great platform
Paul: Yeah.
I mean, for me, selfishly, it's a
platform for me to think because like,
I think out loud in a lot of ways,
um, I mind map a lot too, you know,
uh, I sent you that mind map that you,
that you prompted yesterday, we were
talking about the fastest path to cash
for the Stark intelligent business.
And, um, you know, I took that to heart
and I was like, okay, like, like build it.
Right.
And sat down and mind mapped it out
and it felt really good to do that,
but that wouldn't have happened.
Hadn't been for the conversation.
We talked for an hour and a
half yesterday, just chopping
it up as, you know, as brothers
and as fellow entrepreneurs and
then getting this scheduled.
But, um, you know, having a
forum to wrestle with big ideas.
And little ideas, um, on a regular
basis is like really valuable to me
personally, because it allows me to,
to, you know, kind of sharpen that
sword a little bit and, and craft
a new blade every once in a while.
Tim: Yeah, it's like another form
of journalism like journaling
Paul: Yeah.
Tim: Um, which is another
thing that you kind of turned
me on to in, in, in past life.
Like, I think it's a healthy, you know,
again, this will probably be a little
bit more structured, but it's a healthy
download of information as you know, you
kind of talk through and work through
and, you know, we talk about being
an entrepreneur, especially early on.
It can be a lonely, lonely beast
Paul: Yup.
Tim: because
Paul: I think that that's
Tim: you in a room.
Right.
Yeah.
Paul: I think that's good.
And that's like, you know, I told you
what I felt like the, the elevator pitch
for the noblest pursuit, and I'm sure
it's going to evolve as I go through.
And I think, and I, reflect.
But right now, after having thought
and reflected for the last couple of
months, basically since the summer,
where I'm at is that it's, you
know, the pursuit of self discovery
by wrestling, really engaging with
your great adventure, whatever your
great adventure is at that moment.
Right.
And I want to have recurring
segments that speak to that great
adventure for another person, right?
Whoever my guest is in that moment.
Right.
So, you know, one of my favorite,
the first segment that I thought
of was What I call WTF, love dad.
So it's actually not what the fuck
it's what that's fair, which is
something I will tell my kids, right?
I'll drop some, some, uh, consequence on
them and they'll be like that WTF dad.
And I'm like, no, what that's fair, right?
Like that's fair in this moment.
And then I'll explain
to them why it's fair.
The lot, the, the.
the love and logic as to,
you know, how they grow.
Right.
But it's them wrestling with their,
their, their next great adventure,
which their next great adventure
right now is to grow into adults.
They're teenagers.
Well, Kayla's a teenager and
Timothy is soon to be a teenager.
Right.
So.
having a segment to
basically talk about that.
Um, you know, and I'm going to use
AI to, to mask their identities
because I, I don't feel good
about putting a kid on a pot.
Like that's too Jackson five, right?
Like I'm not, I'm not all about that.
Um, but if they want to be, if they want
to be, you know, into entrepreneurial
business and they want to start to
build a platform and whatnot, when
they turn 18, if I can give them a
little bit of a headstart, And they
can see the, see how this works.
That's great too.
But for now, they'll, they'll appear
as AI generated voices and I'm not
exactly sure how the visage will
appear, but AI is a wonderful thing.
We'll, we'll use it.
Um,
Tim: Yeah.
Well, so, so that was, so the first, so to
get to kind of unpack the podcast, that's,
that's the first segment WTF dad talked
to me about the other five segments.
So what's the next one
that you're thinking about?
Paul: Yeah.
So, um, I'm going to go, I'll just
go right down the list in the,
in, in the order in which I like,
brain dumped them onto my mind map.
Um, the next one was what
I call ethos enrichment.
And this is again, this is something
that like, I'm already doing these.
I re I've been recording conversations
like the WTF love dad conversations.
I've been recording those
for like a decade now.
Um, and then the ethos enrichment.
Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of stuff out
there like it's really cute too because
like like I have one where it's probably
like Four years old and we're talking
about World War two as as it compares to
exo squad Um, and Kayla's like, Kayla's
like eight or something like that, so,
and Timothy, Timothy like always has like
a rant, like, my son's name is Timothy
as an homage to my brother, right?
And my daughter's middle name is
Bean as an homage to my sister.
Um, who's, who's nickname has been,
uh, for those of you that are not
aware, but, um, my son Timothy in
those recordings always has some like
really funny, just a random thing.
Like he'll say something like, you
know, I don't even know what it is, but
I'll have to figure out a way to like
interject that, like, maybe that's the
one place where like, he's being funny.
It's like.
You take an actual voice sample and
it's like past the beans or something
like that when he's like completely
just non sequitur in the recording.
Tim: I'm already, I'm already
like, uh, envisioning the noblest
pursuit podcast, like merch store.
Paul: Yeah, exactly.
Tim: can like drop Timmy's
or Timothy's, uh, one liners.
I like
Paul: Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but ethos enrichment is also
something I've been doing for
a long, long, long, long time.
Recently, I actually started calling it
ethos enrichment where we'll do it as.
as a form of like church on Sundays.
Um, but when I have my kids every
other weekend, I put together before
the weekend, I, I will have what is
like a buffer playlist in YouTube.
And I'll just put things that are
philosophy or religious tradition,
or even science, um, psychology,
I'll put them into a playlist.
And then on Sunday, I will craft a
new playlist out of those buffered
videos that'll usually follow a theme.
And then we sit down and we watch
YouTube together for about 45 minutes
to an hour and then we discuss.
Um, so what I'll, what I'll do is
probably create a commentary, not
on the actual like minute by minute.
But on the playlist itself, so this
one, this one, this one, this is what
they talk about kind of a summary and,
and then obviously post the playlist.
And the idea is that if you're
interested in this kind of stuff, I
might have something of interest that
you might want to, like, check out.
Right?
So it's kind of like, what's
your kit kind of thing?
And it's, what's your, what's your,
your kit for a meaningful life
and, and, and raising good kids.
Right?
Um,
Tim: So with this segment, are you, or
is it, this is going to be you kind of
solo on a mic or is this, is this a guest
Paul: that one that one will be either me
solo on a mic or if I can find people like
you or like other People that are like
like wisdom seeking type people that want
to talk so like like Jeff Picasso, right?
I love the fact that
his nickname is Picasso.
He wore a braid as soccer
practice one time And 30 years
later, it's stuck with him.
Tim: Yeah.
Paul: But, uh, you know, Jeff and
I, I send him the daily, the daily
snow work on a regular basis.
I was doing it daily.
Um.
You know, he's getting into stoicism.
I've got, you know, other friends that
are really into other, you know, uh,
traditions, um, that would be interesting.
So, but I would love to have like
a discussion group of like people's
like throwing in like what they
think about, even if we were to do
it somewhat like asynchronous, right?
Like everybody takes a read of
a, of a playlist and then just
drops like a comment, right.
Or like a short, a short blurb.
And then I just kind of like.
You know, munch it together somehow.
Um, but again, like the idea
is not for me to be on a mic.
This is how you should think.
It's to say like, Hey, this
is something interesting.
Are you struggling with addiction?
Are you struggling with fixed mindset?
That was a recent one that we did.
Um, and then we watched Rudy afterwards.
Tim: Is fixed the same as like a
scarcity mindset or is there a difference
Paul: No, there's a difference there.
Yeah.
There's a difference there.
Scarcity mindset is when you
act as if there is not enough.
Fixed mindset is when you believe that
your abilities are fixed as compared to
your abilities are malleable and growable.
Growth mindset.
So, Scarcity and fixed mindset often
go together because they're both like,
you know, they both come from a lizard
brain, you know, centric mindset.
Um, but there's a slight difference.
Yeah.
So, and it would be interesting to
Tim: watched Rudy?
Paul: yeah, we watched Rudy after
watch, after watching a, an ethos
enrichment about growth mindset.
So, and it was cool because I hadn't
really watched that movie with that
frame of mind, but you really see it.
Right.
You really see his, after his buddy's
passing, you know, you see him kind
of like finally take the first step.
And then, and then from there, it's
just pain, pain, pain, pain, pain.
Right.
Tim: Pain and rejection, iterate all that.
And that, those are also good lessons,
I think for an entrepreneur as well.
Paul: And for anybody,
Tim: Cause a lot of, yeah.
Well, but I think specifically if
we're talking about entrepreneur,
like, you know, most of the time
when you, when people say, Hey,
I'm going to start my own business.
What's the first reaction you get?
A lot of the time.
It's like, yeah, like,
why would you do that?
Too much risk.
It's too dangerous.
And if you look at, if you
Paul: Or no belief whatsoever.
Tim: yeah, like it's funny.
You mentioned Rudy because Olivia
has been brought it up and I think
she kind of was talking about it.
I don't know if it came up in her school
in fourth grade was about, you know,
like limited mindset or, you know,
She's like, she's wanting to watch it.
She saw a clip and I'm
like, yeah, we need to.
But like, if you know that movie,
it's like the second he brought
that up, it's like, you're a
Ruediger, you're five foot, nothing.
You, you know, you can't
play division one football.
And, and I, I talked to, and I know
you do the same thing, but I, you
know, I talk about the conversations
that you have with yourself.
Sometimes Olivia will say like,
Oh, I'll never be able to do this.
Or I'm not good enough.
And I'm like, if you, if you start
to say that you start to believe it.
So like we need to not, you
know, we need to avoid that.
And I know it can be, sometimes it's
how people voice their frustration,
but you know, that, that does
seep into your, your conscious.
And I think
Paul: And you're
Tim: know, I try to police that.
Yeah.
I try to police that as much
as I can because you know,
Paul: And I think the way that you
Tim: go down that
Paul: it is, the way you police it,
in my experience, is you, you do
less, less clean up more planting.
Right?
So plant more trees, worry
less about cleaning up trash.
If the place looks nice,
people will dump less trash.
Kind of like that approach, right?
Tim: Yeah.
Or like, yeah, just, yeah, like
note, like notice in the trash, like
sometimes like when she says that,
I'm like, like, I just point it out.
Right?
Because if you get to a place
where you, if you get to a place
where you don't even notice you're
saying it, like, that's a bad
Paul: That, that is you.
Tim: part of the fabric.
Yeah, exactly.
So,
Paul: the next segment and segue into
the next segment would be what I, what I
call the, the atypical suspects, right?
Which is an homage to
the typical suspects.
Right.
And this is going to be me and a couple of
my, my colleagues that are neuro atypical.
So I'm bipolar.
Tim: that because a lot of, a
lot of people neuroatypical, I
actually know what it is because.
My daughter was diagnosed with
ADHD and they talk about, you
know, what that, what that means.
Um, so walk through like, what is it?
What, what is that?
Paul: yeah.
So neurotypical is basically anybody
that has some form of, I don't want
to say disorder, but some form of
condition where their brain doesn't
work the way that normal brains work.
So that's going to include ADHD being
on the spectrum of some kind Asperger's.
Um, uh, what's the other,
what's not Asperger's it's, um,
Tim: Just autism.
Paul: autism.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Um, bipolar disorder, depression, uh, OCD.
Right, so like there's a handful
of things, um, that would kind of
put you in the atypical bucket.
I don't really care about that, but what I
am interested in in having like a segment
that's really specific to discussions
and conversations around being atypical
is that I believe that Like someone
like me or someone who has, has pretty
significant ADHD, we're actually kind of
canaries in the coal mine when it comes
to the general population, as far as how
we engage with men, with mental health.
Um, you know, if you have ADHD and
you are put into an environment with
social media, like that creates a
problem really fast, but does it not
create a problem for normal people?
No, it creates a problem
for normal people too.
They just don't notice it as quickly.
Right.
So, you know, for me, I, because
I'm bipolar, I can go from
high to low super quickly.
And there's a lot of aspects of that,
that, uh, power curve, the slopes on that
power curve are accentuating things that,
that a normal person still struggles with.
They just don't move that fast.
In the struggle, right?
So, but because my slips on my power
curve are so, uh, you know, so, uh,
high when I'm dealing with depression
or I'm dealing with euphoria or whatever
it is, you can really see it, right?
It's, it's kind of like putting a tracer
in a, in a biological system, right?
Like that system was always that way.
It's just the tracer allows you to see it.
And people like me, I
believe are a tracer.
There's other aspects of it too,
that I would love to get to if this
podcast becomes some kind of platform,
I would love to be able to like big
grand vision, 20 years down the road.
I would love to talk to Congress or
the Senate about like, why is it that
people like me were drummed out of
the military when I got diagnosed?
Right.
Like if, if creativity is power.
And you want a powerful military.
Do you not want creative people
contributing to the planning
and strategic thinking?
Like, can I, should I be downrange
leading troops as a second LT?
Probably not.
Right.
But could I be in a, could I
be behind a drone watching?
And being in the ear of that second
LT as an augmented, you know, voice.
Yeah.
I I'm super creative and that
comes from being bipolar.
Tim: Yeah.
And I think, you know, we've had this
conversations of like, if you see
some of the people over the course
of human history that are geniuses,
Um, and have contributed, you know,
there, a lot of them are atypical,
you know, they're, they're bipolar.
Um, I just think it's, you know, church.
Yeah.
I, I just think it's, it's one of
those things that a lot of people
don't understand, even, even if
you're, even if you have, you know,
Family members that have it, you know,
it's just it's hard to understand.
Then, you know, something else that,
you know, you can point and say,
okay, here's a test for cancer or, you
know, and there's spectrums, right?
Like, there's a spectrum
for bipolar for depression.
Um, I think the more that we
talk about it, the better.
I agree with you.
Like, There are other ways that
you can contribute that might not
necessarily be, um, orthodox, right?
But, you know, that, um, being
able to unlock that brainpower,
that creativity is huge.
And, and again, bringing this back
to entrepreneur, you know, a lot of
people become entrepreneurs because of
their brains work differently, right?
People that are dyslexic that did, yeah,
that, that, you know, that, that had
trouble reading or had trouble sitting
in a, in a chair and kind of that.
That schoolhouse, you know,
environment was hard for them.
You know, they, they
found a path differently.
And a lot of that is, you
know, building a business.
And I think that, you know, there's.
I think, I think a forum to talk about
this, you know, for people, one, to
understand it, if, if, if they have it
themselves and know that they're not
alone, but also for people that don't.
And to hear the perspectives of
people that do, you know, and, and
I said this and, you know, she, my,
my daughter has dealt with this.
You know, we've, we, you know,
we've, we've gone through lots
of different ways to kind of, but
ways to, to, to, um, treat her.
But like, ultimately what we've discovered
is like, she can be very productive
and, and do what she needs to do.
Like, it's not a, it's not
a, it's not a inhibitor.
And in, in, in some,
and in some cases, like.
And I think you would agree this.
It's almost like it can be a
mutant power, you know, as well.
Cause it just, it's a different,
you, you see the world differently.
Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm excited by,
by this segment and where, where you take
it, walk me through the next, what's, um,
the one that you mentioned, um, before
we turn on the mic, that's good tech.
Walk me through that one.
Paul: Yeah.
So, so that's good tech.
And then also baby Skynet are
kind of like sibling segments.
So that's good tech is going to be
talking about like, like new and
upcoming or tried and true technology.
Um, you do this all the time.
You always ask me like about my kit.
Right?
Like, what do you, what are you using
for charging and what are you using for,
you know, webcams and stuff like that.
And I do the same thing with you.
Right?
Like, but there is, there are people that
we know that, that seem to have a read
on like tools and I'm a tool kind of guy.
Right?
So, uh, I've got a
Tim: are a tool kind of guy.
Yeah, that should actually
be your tagline of
Paul: That should be the tag.
Yeah.
Tim: Yeah.
Paul: Um, but I've got a couple
of colleagues that, uh, are
really into technology in general.
Um, one of them, Gray,
he's into 3d printing.
He's a big D and D nerd.
So he uses his 3d printer to churn
out orcs and then paint them at
great, great painstaking detail.
Tim: Oh man, that's next level.
Paul: That's next level nerd right there.
He's a, he's a great guy.
He's, he's one of the, he's one of
my favorite people in the world.
Um, he's probably, he's probably
top five actually, to be honest.
So,
Tim: How come you didn't
name your kid off after?
How come?
How come you don't have
a son named Gray then?
Paul: Well, because I've only known
Tim: riddle me
Paul: five, Yeah, for five years.
I've only known him for
five years and Timothy's 10.
So you got lucky.
You really, you squeaked,
you squeaked in there.
So, um,
Tim: those, slid down the,
the, the chart pretty,
Paul: yeah, yeah.
Well, I mean, really what it was, it was a
lot less, it was a lot less like you lost.
It was a lot more like he won
and, you know, And you just
got forgotten, really, so,
Tim: 3d print or paint D and
Paul: no, you can't
Tim: I cannot, I can't do that.
I have, I don't have
Paul: you're just justifying my decision.
So,
Tim: Yep.
Yep.
Paul: no,
Tim: Timothy, we're going
to change your name to gray.
So, uh,
Paul: yeah, exactly.
Who is this uncle gray?
He's your new, he's your new uncle.
Like
Tim: it look like his face?
Like, why does it look like his face
is pasted on top of another body?
What's going on there?
Paul: Talladega nights
Tim: yeah.
Paul: man.
And there's going to be a lot of that too.
Uh.
As, as you and I do, and I don't know
if it's going to be annoying to the
people listening, but I love references.
I love movie references.
Um, uh, but yeah, baby Skynet to
circle that square, baby Skynet is
going to be a conversation with me and
an AI that, um, my team is building.
So, uh, I have another business,
another venture called Noble Squad.
We do software development
and we, uh, augment teams to
help them learn how to do.
Effective software development.
And in our free cycles, we're going
to be building AI for the other main
venture that I I'm leading, which
is, uh, Stark intelligent, which
is a smart home automation system.
So, you know, uh, basically coalescing
your smart things and putting them
under a single umbrella that, uh,
makes all of it work together in
a smooth and efficient manner.
Think chat GPT meets
Alexa without the spyware.
So,
Tim: I like it.
Yeah, I'm excited, uh, to see, to
see obviously that the evolution
of the conversation with baby
Skynet and obviously, you know,
Paul: yeah, it's gonna be weird.
It's gonna be really
Tim: your, yeah, but your businesses,
you know, like Stark and Noble
Squad, like how those tie in and,
um, I think it's going to be great.
Yeah.
I, I, when you, when you talk
to me about the smart home,
whatever you want to call it, home
automation, I'm like, I need that.
Like, as my daughter gets older, um,
as you know, I'm, I'm the dad that
walks upstairs and like every light is
on, um, which makes me really angry.
And, you know, nothing is
nothing talks to each other.
Like the word that we're
like on separate systems.
Um, I think the, where you, where you
take Stark is going to be really cool.
Paul: I'm really looking forward to it.
Like we would say in the army, you know,
you want those overlapping fields of fire.
And I feel like I've
Tim: right.
Paul: I feel like I've got
a gorgeous field of fire.
The high ground.
Tim: High ground.
Paul: Yeah,
Tim: can, we can, we can hold
them off all the live long day.
Paul: to live long day.
Yeah, that's a great movie.
Gettysburg, for those of you that
can't place it, Gettysburg, uh,
and then finally the final, the
final segment is let me introduce.
So, and what let me introduce will be is
let me introduce, you know, Sam Harris
or let me introduce Joe Rogan, right?
Those are big names, but, you
know, I'll fill in some other ones.
Those are the ones that I reached
Tim: Hey man.
I looked at like my, my podcast.
We, I was looking at, uh, some of the
people we've had on that, you know,
like Susie Orman or Rachel Cruz, like
Paul: Wow.
Tim: big people.
And yeah, that, you know, so,
um, got to, got to shoot big.
And I think, uh, yeah.
Yeah, you'll, you'll get
those guests for sure.
Um, you know, you're, you're, you'll
take this, uh, podcast places.
So walk me through, what are
the hardest things about,
uh, a podcast is consistency.
Um, so walk me through kind of what
your, what can listeners expect from
a, a cadence, um, you know, how you're
going to release it, you know, is
it going to be like full seasons?
Is it going to be as you get it?
Like walk me through kind
of the schedule of things.
Paul: So, for this first one, I'm
going to release the first five
episodes, um, on January, probably 3rd.
Uh, 2nd or 3rd.
I have to look at the calendar
and see, like, when business
starts back up after the holiday.
And I'm going to release
the first five episodes.
But, typically what I want to do
is release episode by episode.
Um, up and like through a season.
So I'm going to do quarter long seasons.
So that's 13 weeks and I'm going
to do three episodes per week.
Uh, so I'm actually going to round it
out to just go 40 episodes for a season.
Cause I like round numbers.
Um, and what will happen is the
mix will be determined based off
of what I have in the pipeline.
So if I have a lot of people that I can
talk to, let me introduce, we'll, we'll
feature more prominently that season.
Uh, but what I wanted to do was
to create some redundancy and
resilience in my podcast schedule.
Cause I have done this before where
I've attempted to create a podcast.
And one of the things that's
really challenging is.
Making sure that you have
consistently, um, you have constant
that you can release consistently.
So by having the different segments, if
one of those is pop in or not pop in,
I have, you know, many to pull from.
So, you know, typical cadence, what
I'm thinking right now is going
to be Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday,
and Tuesday, Thursday will be more
business focused, more self development
focused Sunday will be more introvert.
Like, uh, uh, I don't
wanna say introverted, but
what's a good, what's
a good term for that?
Uh, introspective.
Yeah, there we go.
Introspective.
So it'd be more introspective.
So that's going to be ethos enrichment.
WTF Dad, um, you know, maybe a little
bit of the atypical suspects, right?
And then the other, the other segments
will be let me introduce during
the week, good tech, baby Skynet,
and then atypical suspects as well.
So,
Tim: And do you see like, you
know, can listeners expect kind of
more of like long form of like you
Paul: yeah, it's going to be,
Tim: the road or is it more
like, Hey, it's a, it's a commute
30 minutes and you're right.
You're in, you're out.
Paul: So I'm going to try and keep it
somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour.
Um, so.
So it's probably your whole
commute there and back, right?
So if you've got a, you know, 25 minute
commute one way, you should be able
to listen to a whole episode in a day.
So, um, and the reason
I like 45 minutes is.
I think 30 minutes is
probably not long enough.
Like we just hit 40 and I think we're,
we're getting right to the crest.
Um, same thing, the first episode that
I recorded with Gray, we hit about 50.
I think we wound up going 110
because we just couldn't wrap up.
Um, but.
I remember hitting like
the climax at about 50.
Um, and I think that's really typical.
You have to kind of like build a rhythm.
I don't want to do any kind of cutting.
I might use AI to reduce things like
pops, ums, and things of that nature.
But other than that, I'm
not going to do any editing.
Uh, it's just going to be.
A pot, like it's going to be a podcast.
It's basically a
conversation over zoom, like.
Just the way I would like, and
I really want it to be that way.
I want to keep the whole like, Oh,
link in the description down below.
Like, I want to keep all that stuff
to a very, very, very, very minimum.
Maybe at the very end, have like
a little like recorded segment.
Um, that basically says like, Hey, if
you really appreciate this, everything
that you heard, anything that is
pertinent will be in the description.
That kind of deal.
But I don't want to be like plugging
and whatnot, like in it the way that
you wouldn't plug if you were on a
zoom call, just me and you, you know?
Right.
We can talk about stuff.
I'm cool with that.
And you can mention the fact that there
are people that are listening and then
that, that context has to be brought in.
But like, I wanna keep it
as conversational as like,
like Rogan does, right?
The way that Rogan does the
conversation across the table
is very natural and organic.
And he will mention, oh, you got a book
that's really cool, but they're not
like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
Tim: but there's not
like a formal caught up.
There's not a formal like CTA
Paul: no CTA.
Yeah.
Tim: Yep
Paul: And I, and I think all that
stuff kind of breaks the fourth
wall and it's not the fourth wall.
It's kind of like it breaks the
fifth wall of emotion, right?
Like of, of, of genuine,
genuine connection, right?
Where you just.
Okay, what are you doing here?
Like, are you, are you
selling me right now?
Or are we having a conversation?
Because the two are not the same.
So, you know, and I want to be
really intentional about that.
Will I try to sell things at some point?
Yeah, but not on my podcast, right?
You know, it'll be off product, off,
you know, that's a different thing.
Off
Tim: Yeah, so I guess my question
one of my questions for you
You know that like so if you
describe the Noblest pursuit podcast
like who's it for like is it for?
like Someone like you that's in tech.
Is it for someone like me?
That's not in tech.
Is it for entrepreneurs?
Non entrepreneurs, you know, like if
you, if you were, if you bumped into
me in the elevator and you're like,
Hey, I, you know, what do you do?
And you say, Hey, I just
launched this podcast.
Like who would it be for?
Paul: so I, I think really the
podcast is for people that are
interested in, like, In a general
term, it would be self improvement.
So I think like parents that are looking
to develop their, their teenagers would
be really well served by the podcast.
I think people that are, it's not
necessarily entrepreneurs, but
like people that are interested
in a side hustle, right?
So like entrepreneurs, business leaders,
but like, Hey, are you a college student
that like is interested in a side
hustle that needs to do a side hustle?
You know, the thing that I said, Is
it like I, you know, I want you to
understand what your current limitations
are, and then I want you to be able to
engage with bumping up against those
limitations to grow yourself, right?
Like that, that's the conversation
should be based around that, right?
So, like, what is it that you're doing
to kind of, like, move to the next to the
next phase of your great adventure, right?
Like, I want to stay on that.
It's like, what is your great adventure?
First thing you have to do
is like, know what that is.
And then how do you continue the,
to, how do you get it so that you're
not just killing rats, right, to
use a D& D, uh, analogy, right?
Like, you should be moving
towards killing dragons.
Tim: Got it.
Okay.
I'm I'm I, I know what you're saying.
Yep.
Paul: Right.
So like, like, but I think a lot to,
to go back to the switched on thing.
Right.
You have to at least know
that you're in the game.
Right.
So I guess maybe that's the
answer is those it's for people
that know they're in the game and
want to know where to go next.
And it's for people that want
the people that love that
they love to get in the game.
I think it's
Tim: and I, I think this is a, I, and
I think this is a great time of year
to think about this, like, you know,
right now we're going, kind of going
through like our goal setting and,
and review of what happened in 2024
and what we want, like, it's kind of
a good time to kind of, so like, you
know, self discovery through your great
adventure, if you ask, People on the
street, like what's your great adventure?
Or like, what are you working towards?
I think a lot of people be
like, I don't really know.
I'm just trying to like
Paul: Make it survive.
Tim: whatever.
Yeah.
I'm just trying to keep
my head above water.
I'm surviving.
I'm not thriving so to speak.
Um, and
Paul: And that's Yeah, that's,
it's a really, that's a really good
distinction, a really good point,
and, and unfortunately, I'm not
really making content for them.
I'm making content for
their future self, right?
For the moment, for the moment
that they decide that they don't
want to just be surviving, right?
But like, one of the things that
I've done in my career is, I'm
really big on like epic adventure
as a coalescing force, right?
So like all of my teams
always have a cool name.
We always have cool lore, right?
Um, you know, like I have a, I
have like a private LinkedIn right
now that I call the X mansion.
And the email that I sent out was like,
Hey, I think you're extraordinary.
Someone, you know, like
some might say an X man.
Right.
And then like, I had a bunch of
people that were colleagues of
mine over different companies and
like, They're just part of a slack.
We just chill out and hang
out and talk about stuff.
Right.
Um, maybe we'll do some business together.
I don't know.
Like, but the idea is like, I think
it's more fun and more interesting.
I think it's easier to have.
Drive when you feel like you are
engaged in a great adventure, kind
of like, like Teddy Roosevelt style.
Right?
Like, like that zest for life.
I think that comes with having like
a vision, kind of like to, to bring
it back to the beginning of the, of
the conversation where, where, like,
I couldn't stop talking about West
Point and then eventually you caught
that vision and that drove you for
your last two years in high school,
Tim: Yeah.
Paul: you know.
Tim: It can be really annoying, but
Paul: It can be really, yes, yes,
Tim: Can be.
Yeah.
But yeah, I, I, I was gonna, oh, I was
gonna make a joke about, you know, Marvel
is gonna come after you for like, ip,
Paul: they might.
I'm actually going to change.
I'm actually going to
rebrand the X mansion.
I think.
Um, I think I'm probably going to
do some kind of like stoic, like
Acropolis or something like that,
but it was a good way to like,
Tim: from
Paul: yeah.
Tim: cease and desist from the mouse
Paul: Yeah, exactly.
That's a good South Park episode.
If you've ever seen that one,
Tim: I have, yeah.
. I, I need to, I need, I
need to watch that again.
Paul: get up.
Yeah.
Tim: man.
Paul: Anyway, um, yeah, so that's
basically it that's That's the podcast.
Um, and a lot of the other things.
So I really appreciate every
chance that we get to chop it
up when it comes to business.
Every single
Tim: Yeah, man.
Paul: I, I, I get something from you.
Um, yeah,
Tim: Yeah.
Yeah.
Paul: I love this.
It's so fun.
Tim: Yeah.
I love it too.
And, uh, you know, I just want to say,
you know, best of luck with the podcast.
If there's anything I can do to support,
support you and its efforts, let me know.
Um, you're going to,
you're going to do great.
And, um, I'm proud of you.
I'm, I'm, I'm looking forward
to, uh, to listening, hearing the
content here, the, the inside jokes.
Hopefully I get them.
Um, but, um, yeah, I think it's
going to be, it's going to be good.
And I'll be, uh, yeah,
I'll be tuning in weekly.
Paul: Alright, well thanks, brother.
Um, I will talk to you soon and, uh, we
gotta get that game, we gotta get that
weekly game night, or game lunch, uh,
Tim: we do.
Paul: So,
Tim: Yeah.
It's, it's out, it's
out there for the world.
So, um, hold us accountable.
Paul: hold us accountable, yeah.
Alright, well, I love you, dude,
and I will talk to you soon, man.
Tim: Yep.
Love you, man.
Paul: Alright, bye.