Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson agreed to be interviewed via e-mail by Nicola Warwick.
NW: Last September I published a charity book called life's little luxuries. What would your "LLL" be? (It should be "inexpensive, accessible to the masses and, in some way, life enhancing.")
PW: Quiet. I devote most of my spare energies to finding it.
NW: How did you start writing about calm? Did you have any idea, in the beginning, that it would grow the way it has?
PW: When I was 25, I became the creative director of a large and successful advertising agency. I had a staff of 40 or so people, the creative output of whom I was responsible for. I was also responsible for the public reputation of the business (a listed public company).As I was way out of my depth trying to manage these responsibilities at that age, I eventually succumbed to the stresses of the job.
Looking for a constructive way of overcoming a destructive problem, I resurrected an old meditation technique I had learned years earlier. Then, researched exhaustively in the east for better ways. Finally, I refined all of what I learned into a simple, western-style (i.e. lazy) style of meditation.
It worked so well for me that I was asked to give a talk on what I had done to transform myself from a highly-stressed, erratic individual into a relatively calm steady one. That talk was called The Calm Technique.
A publisher heard about it, it was published, sold well in Australia and the US, and the rest is history.
NW: I notice that The Calm Technique was first published in 1985. Can you track its progress to becoming a Number 1 bestseller for us?
PW: The Calm Technique sold about 500,000 but, at no stage was on the best-seller lists. Its success has been cumulative.My subsequent book, many years later, was Instant Calm. It was huge in Australia, where it was originally published, as well as in several foreign (i.e. non-english) languages. At the same time as I was writing Instant Calm, I was collecting little calm suggestions, intended to work on the intuitive level only. My original intention was to include them in the bigger book.
When it was completed, I felt that these suggestions worked in a
different way to the rest of the book, so produced The Little Book of
Calm instead. You are no doubt aware of the success of this book
(biggest selling book in the UK 1997; on the bestseller lists for 80
weeks, I think; translated into 24 languages). It has spawned more
imitators and parodies than
Life's Little Instruction Book.
Recently, I brought out Calm at Work. Even though it has been a bestseller, no one notices when compared with LBC. Hey, who's complaining?
NW: Did you have a vision of what you wanted to achieve, when you set out?
PW: No. I do it for the fun. Spreading calm is my hobby.
NW: I'm interested in motivation and success. If you were asked to put together a list of top tips (such as "Never Give Up"), what would you say?
PW: I am often engaged to give motivational speeches. I believe most people seek something other than motivation.Success comes from knowing, specifically, what you want--not from being motivated. In my experience, people seldom know what they really want from life. Make this decision, in a specific rather than a general sense, and things start to fall into place.
NW: Are you a lateral thinker? If so, how does this manifest itself?
PW: I am a creative thinker. I do not believe lateral thinking is creative thinking. Lateral thinking is linear thinking with a kink or two in it, but linear nevertheless.As well as this I have good commercial instincts--I recognize human needs, trends, etc. very easily. I continually see gaps in the marketplace which (if my motivations were purely commercial, which they are not) I could take advantage of.
NW: Do you have a favourite or inspirational film? What do you like about it? Do your favourite films generally have a similar theme to them, or are they all different?
PW: Can't remember.
NW: I like a book called Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron. She talks about finding your own personal "vein of gold," finding your niche. Have you found yours? What is it?
PW: Depends how you look at it. I have many niches. I will have many more. Once you know how to succeed in one niche, it's easy to succeed in others. I think it's a confidence thing.
NW: What are your strengths?
PW: Professionally, they are:- Perseverance.
The ability to work 80 hour weeks when required, without stress.
- Reliability. I never let people down.
NW: How would you describe yourself?
PW: The blind man's Richard Gere.
NW: Can you tell me what you're doing in London?
PW: I have been commissioned to deliver a speech on creativity, along with de Bono et al.
NW: What did you want to be as a child?
PW: Psychiatrist. Artist.
NW: How do you use the Internet? Do you subscribe to any interesting lists?
PW: None. I (i.e. my Web site) am a source, rather than a "sourcer."
NW: How do you write? What gets you started? How do you get your ideas, your inspiration?
PW: I'm writing all the time. I have computers in my car, offices, hotel rooms. I carry a portable. I carry 20 notebooks.
NW: What's the most outrageous thing you've ever done? And/or what's the biggest gamble you've ever taken that paid off?
PW: I don't believe in gambling. I take risks in my novels, with The Little Book of Calm (all publishers said little books don't sell), my music projects, and most personally, in my speaking engagements.
NW: What's your credo?
PW: The words I live by are: "You did that really well."
NW: Do you have a hero/role model. If so, who?
PW: None whatsoever.
NW: Who or what do you read? Do you have any recommended creativity titles?
PW: Mostly non-fiction research-oriented stuff. Most of my recent work has been into the human thinking process, so that's what my reading has been about.There is only one book on creativity worth reading. Arthur Koestler's Act of Creation. As far as I can see, it's the only book written by a creative person. The rest (at least the ones I have read) seem to have been written by accountants.
NW: Have you ever had a mystic experience?
PW: Only about 24 hours a day. Am I attracted to mysticism? Not at all. I can explain most of it in physiological terms. I endeavour not to do this too often, since it's a bit like telling your kids there's no Santa Claus. I believe that whatever people get help and satisfaction from believing in, is worth believing in.
NW: What music do you especially enjoy listening to?
PW: My son is a jazz pianist. I enjoy jazz, the Romantics, and my team of musicians.
NW: Do you get lots of e-mails as a result of putting your e-mail address in your books?
PW: About 70-80 a day.
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Copyright © by Nicola Warwick, 2001. Nicola Warwick is the author of life's little luxuries. She lives in Manchester in the North West of the UK. Nicola's articles have been published in various writing, computing, and electronics magazines. She currently works as Product Marketing Manager at World Online. Read more about her here. |
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