In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews serial entrepreneur and Bitcoin evangelist Paul McNeal. Paul shares a vivid sky‑diving story that illustrates his belief that confronting fear leads to peace, and he cites a book that advises "feel the fear and do it anyway." He emphasizes the importance of daily news consumption as a lagging indicator that, when aggregated, reveals future trends. Paul offers his core business mantra, RWA – be Ready, Willing, and Able – and advises his younger self to stop fearing fear itself. He defines happiness as contentment derived from pursuing what truly matters to you. The conversation turns to his favorite books: Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, where he highlights the habit of proactivity and the concept of being "response‑able," and Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, from which he shares his favorite quote, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, he will achieve." Paul also mentions his heavy use of Twitter (handle @tesmods) as his primary online presence. The episode includes a sponsor plug for Authors Unite and a production note that it was recorded with Anchor.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I am very excited for this episode. This is one of my very good friends. His name is Paul McNeill. He is a serial entrepreneur, Bitcoin evangelist, public speaker, and a mentor. So welcome to the show, Paul.
Hey, thanks Tyler Wagner Wagner Wagner. I appreciate it, man.
Of course, thanks for joining us, man. We also appreciate it very much. And we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Paul, is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
You know, I thought about this question, and the thing that came to mind and that probably stays in my mind is the time I went skydiving. I had a good friend of mine, met him through another friend, and he was a skydiver. And the first moment he said it, I completely, you know, hand to the face, I'm like, whatever, don't talk to me. And then slowly he convinced me to go do it. So the thing is, is that I was, of course, terrified. But as I, you know, we suit up, we strap up, we get into this plane and we're making our ascent up to 14,000 feet. Of course, I am completely terrified. I get into the doorway of the plane and that was probably the most terrifying moment of my life. And of course, as they always tell you, you know, we're gonna jump on 3, 1, and on 2, you go, so that you don't put your arms out and break your arms. And it was at that moment of cresting the door of that plane that I realized that in life, we fear so many things. But on the other side of that fear is complete and utter peace. And so that's what I found in life. Anytime I feel like I'm afraid, I just— it's a book by, and I'm gonna forget the doctor's name, she wrote a book. She says feel the fear and you do it anyway.
Yes, man, I love that. I've been skydiving as well, so I can relate. And next question is, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
You know, I would say it's a little bit cliché to say this, but it is so true and it's so valuable, and that's reading is fundamental, and I know we've heard it, probably heard it growing up on some TV kids show, whatever, trying to encourage kids to read. But because I carry the news information daily, I found that while you look at the news and it's a lagging indicator for sure, because by the time it hits the media it's old, um, when you put all that old information together, it actually paints a picture. And In that picture, you begin to see the future, so you can see trends. And so I tell everyone, it's so important to read the news of any particular topic because by doing so, you're educating yourself well.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, not necessarily industry-specific?
Yeah, you know, thanks to you, Tyler, this came easy. You had gave me the opportunity to write a chapter in the Better Business book. It was the actual first set of the Better Business books that you published. And in that, one of my key takeaways about life in general, overall business in general, is RWA: be ready, be willing, and be able.
Yes. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
That piece of advice I'll give goes sort of back to that first question you asked me, is don't be afraid. You know, it was Will Smith who said, I hate being scared. To do something. And I, you know, I feel the same way. I hate being afraid of being afraid. So get over that. And if I would have gotten over this a lot earlier in life, I can't imagine where I'd be now.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
You know, happiness is one of those things that I think eludes a lot of people. Happiness doesn't mean that you're smiling every day. Happiness to me means that you're content. And that to me is the key to happiness. Finding what matters most to you and doing it. You know, many times in life we're told what we should do, where we should go, those types of things. But it's at that moment where you really tap into your innermost being and say, you know, this is what I really love. This is what I'm about. And you do it. I believe that's when you're the most happy.
And what's the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
The best book is Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I had the unique opportunity to actually shake the hand of the late Dr. Stephen Covey. And in that book, he talked about the very first habit actually is to be proactive. And a lot of people take that word, making it, thinking it means to do a lot of stuff and it doesn't. It means to realize that you have a choice in life and you can make that choice. You are what he calls response-able. You're responsible, but that just means you have the ability to respond to any situation.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Ah, favorite quote is, whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, He will achieve. And that's by Napoleon Hill out of the book Think and Grow Rich. I've used it my whole life and it's worked well for me.
Thank you so much for coming on, Paul. I am actually jealous that you got to meet Covey. That is awesome. And last question before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
You can find me on Twitter. I live on it night and day. Most people probably think I'm crazy because they'll ask, do I sleep? And the answer would probably be no. But on Twitter you can follow me at tesmods.
Awesome. Thanks again for coming on, Paul. We really appreciate it.
You're welcome. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.
