11 Jun Message from New York
This week I received an email from Stella Carter in New York: ‘Hi Paul, I have been immersing myself in your world this week. I’ve Got Time. The Seven Instructions of Time Surfing. Your author biography caught my particular attention. You have been a Zen monk since 1984. That is forty-one years. And at the same time, you were a mime artist and did physical theater. I have never seen that combination before. Mime is about presence. About being fully in your body, communicating without words. You didn’t leave that behind when you became a monk. You took it with you. That body awareness, that silence, that attention to the moment—it all found its way into your practice and now it is in your book. Oliver Burkeman called your book one of the most thought-provoking books on time he has read in a long time…’
Wow, I thought to myself, what an effort she has made to understand me well. She has not only read my book, but has also delved into my biography. She probably started reading my book through Oliver Burkeman, who quotes me extensively in his new book Meditation for Mortals.
Detailed advice
The effort Stella made went much further. In her message, she writes that the attention the book is receiving could be much better. I should mention the connection to my past as a mime more often. A few more detailed pieces of advice follow. The message is so long that I just keep scrolling. ‘Shall I elaborate on these three pieces of advice for you?’ Stella finally offers. ‘Nothing formal. Just a few pages we can discuss and refine together. No agency. No fixed fees. Just someone who has seen what you have built and feels that more people should experience your approach. In any case, thank you for the 41 years you sat still and paid attention.’
This is exactly what I need, I think to myself: in the English-speaking world, someone who is not only enthusiastic about my work but also provides me with valuable marketing advice. Perhaps she would even be willing to help with the execution.
Getting acquainted
I ask if she is open to getting acquainted over a video call. In the reply email, she explains in detail that she only communicates via email, because then everything exchanged can always be reviewed. Oh, I think to myself, odd. But anyway, let me respect it. ‘May I ask, what is your profession,’ I write, ‘do you have a LinkedIn account or a website?’ Now I receive a link to a website. Apart from that, there is nothing to be found about Stella on the internet. There is a photo of her on the website, though. Perhaps this photo is somewhere else as well, I think. I use Google Lens to see if I can find anything further. And indeed, I come across the photo elsewhere too, but with a different name and a vague profile.
I show our email exchange to my business coach. He sends me a message just as long as this American fan sent me, including a 12-week action plan, just as good and precise as with Stella. This took me 2 minutes with Claude, my AI program, he says.
Artificial Intelligence
I lean back and have to laugh. Artificial Intelligence has perhaps been on the market for commercial applications for two years. And already, a person with nefarious plans can produce this quality. When I read back the earlier posts from this ‘Stella’, I notice more inconsistencies. Blinded by the sweet-sounding words, I overlooked them the first time!
It is a lesson for me: how attention can be manipulated. What also stands out is that AI can do much more, and actually does much more, than a human would. I also notice that the advice from AI is quite valuable in itself.
However, what is most valuable is the sincerity of the Time Surfing method itself.
Time Surfing
The method restores calm at work and throughout the day. The reason is that the starting point of the method itself is calm. To achieve this, Time Surfing provides 7 timeless instructions and applies them to today’s hectic times. The instructions are simple and clear. They are based on natural behavior. They are formulated very precisely, like the breathers between activities that truly brings you peace. Once you get to know and apply the 7 instructions, you will notice that integration comes easily. You don’t even need extra discipline. What you do need is information about how you learn, get good ideas, and further develop plans—invisible to your consciousness.
Online training Time Surfing
- The online training ‘Stress-Free working with Time Surfing’ teaches you the instructions in the optimal order: 12 video lessons of 10 minutes
- Every week, you complete a 10-minute lesson
- You receive a handout for answering questions in the videos
- After every lesson, you will receive a supporting email with practical tips and instructions
- You can ask questions during every lesson, which will be answered quickly
- The training is fun to do; you will always look forward to the next video
- You will find that Time Surfing also makes you more productive
*This post has been automatically translated from Dutch
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