Paul Clukey is an expert level SEO specialist who has helped local and international companies succeed online and offline. He has 20 years of experience in global sales and marketing, speaks 3 languages fluently and has lived aboard extensively.
He holds a degree in international affairs from Rollins College and has worked in the capacity of Director of Sales & Marketing for a global medical firm. He has been mentored by some of the best minds in the industry and is committed to personal growth.
He is deeply grateful for the individuals who have contributed to him throughout his life and career; without whom, he feels he would have had no chance at success.
He is married to his best friend and is a father of three children. He also enjoys traveling, fitness, kiteboarding and spending time with other creative individuals
Note: This is what is on the back cover of the book I self-published in 2017.
and now A Personal Note
Let’s get real.
15+ years ago, I sat in a small lunch café with 2 other guys. As we sat on aluminum chairs, with our fresh prepped food and a table barely large enough to fit a laptop on, we decided to form an accountability group. We were desperate to achieve our goals. We went around the table, and each of us said what we wanted to be held accountable for.
I don’t really want to mention their names, but let’s put it this way.
There was the overly handsome dude who all the chicks druled over, the insanely rich guy that happened on a business idea that catapulted him into a major stockpile of cash, and me, the (neither of the above guy, with at a pretentious self-esteem at best) – faking my best life yet.
The job of our group was to hold each other accountable at the risk of a penalty fee for failure to keep our promise.
Rich guy – $10k
Handsome guy – $1000
Me – $500
We each took turns saying what we wanted to be held accountable for.
Mine was simple. I wanted to be so dedicated to writing that I’d wrote every day, and if I didn’t it’d cost me $500.
I thought that would keep me motivated, and the resulting cash, should anyone mess up, would be used to fund a trip, reasonable, right?
We met again 2 weeks later to discover that we all failed and we owed the pot $11,500.
None of us wanted to pay up. Clearly the group had died a sudden death, and we never met up again.
Years went by and I still wanted to write, but never did.
I don’t think I could have achieved a real goal even if it had been stapled to my forehead.
Be careful what you wish for.
I remember one morning publishing the following quote to my FB profile.
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
― Henry David Thoreau
I thought it sounded good, and it made me look insightful and intelligent.
ehem… what I didn’t realize at the time is that I had never stood up to live.
Freud suggested that a man doesn’t become a man until his father dies, Karl Jung argued that the death could also be symbolic.
But for me symbolism wouldn’t be enough.
For me, standing up to live came after losing my brother to suicide, my mother to cancer, my father to a failed surgery, a divorce, a collapse of my social network, a bankruptcy, failing at my own business, and realizing that I was scared of everything. I was great at faking not being scared. But there came a point when I just couldn’t hide it any more, and my inner world collapsed.
I sucked. I was great at being the nice guy, kissing up, and living a life that I pretended was sorted, orderly and perfect.
What’s worse is that my life was dedicated to looking good, being perceived as intelligent, and finding value in myself as long as others I respected liked me.
So, yes, now I write a lot. But what I write is not what I thought I’d write back then.
If you are looking for the dude with all the degrees that understands the deep dive details of psychology and sociology, I’m sorry to tell you, I’m not your guy.
If you are looking for the clear answer by someone who has an off the chart IQ, again not your guy. But if you are okay learning from someone who is still trying to figure stuff out, and you don’t mind if I change my mind in ten years when I discovered how little I know now?
Then stick around. I’m glad you are here.
I’m still trying to figure out a bunch of stuff.
I have had years of financial success and years of failure.
But one thing I have never had is years of feeling comfortable in my own skin, years of feeling solid and good about myself.
Thanks for spending time with me here. I wish you well on your journey to self-discovery and a life in which you are good with you.
