A former British Royal Navy Aircrew Officer and former Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, Paul Taylor is a Neuroscientist, Exercise Physiologist and Nutritionist who is currently completing a PhD in Applied Psychology, where he is developing and
testing resilience strategies with the Australian Defence Science Technology Group & The University of Newcastle.
He is the Director of Paul Taylor Consulting, where he delivers stress fitness (resilience 2.0), leadership and performance workshops to companies such as Oracle, SAP, PWC, NAB, CBA, BUPA & the Australian Military.
In 2010 Paul created and co-hosted the TV series Body and Brain Overhaul and he appeared regularly on The Biggest Loser TV series as a subject matter expert. He was voted Australian Fitness Industry presenter of the year twice and in 2022, he published the book Death By Comfort.
Paul is the host of The Paul Taylor Podcast, and his latest venture is The Mental Fitness Project, an online program and App that is currently used by a number of Corporations and has proven benefits for resilience, mental wellbeing and levels of burnout of participants.
Paul has a proven track record in Leadership and dealing in high-pressure situations, through his former roles as an Airborne Anti-submarine Warfare Officer and a Helicopter Search-And-Rescue Crew Member with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.
He has undergone rigorous Military Combat Survival and Resistance-to-Interrogation Training and in 2012, he became a professional boxer. In 2019, he took up Karate to create memories with his kids and in 2021, both Paul and his 10-year-old Oscar became Australian Karate Kumite (combat) Champions.
Talking Points
Stress-Fit
Why would you aspire to be ‘resilient’ when human beings are capable of so much more? In this thought-provoking talk, Paul will explore the human stress response and how developing high levels of Stress Fitness enables you to adapt positively to the inevitable challenges that life throws at you and ultimately emerge stronger and better, with a higher level of performance. The talk will then go through a range of evidence-based rituals from neuroscience, psychology and physiology, that integrate and optimise the mind, body and brain to move you up the Stress Fitness Continuum.
Stress-Fit
The Science of Happiness
Our obsession with happiness has fuelled a never-ending quest to achieve a state that is unrealistic, ill-defined, and prone to hijack by clever marketing campaigns to sell almost anything - and we’re now the most depressed we’ve ever been. This talk looks at the history and recent scientific advancements in the study of happiness and human flourishing and combines it with important neurophysiology research. Participants will walk away with a greater understanding of the subject, as well as a number of clinically evaluated tools for helping us to attain the desirable state of human flourishing.
The Science of Happiness
7 Rituals of Mental Fitness
Mental Health is typically positioned as a lack of mental illness, but this old medical model lacks aspiration. A stimulating blend of neuroscience, physiology and psychology, this talk will cover 7 key daily practices that will move you up the mental fitness continuum, including techniques used by Special Forces soldiers and elite athletes. These rituals are guaranteed to increase your energy and resilience to stress, as well as help you to feel, perform and sleep better.
7 Rituals of Mental Fitness
The Big 4 of Mental Toughness
In this session, Paul will use his unique combination of research and practical experience in stressful situations to explain both our stress response systems and the concepts of resilience and stress adaptation. He will then present the ‘Big 4’ practical tools used by US Special Forces that will help us not only survive - but thrive - in the face of modern stressors, and move beyond resilience to being stress adapted, where we grow because of stress exposure.
The Big 4 of Mental Toughness
The Secrets of Longevity
The concept of aging is a hot topic right now, but there is a lot of misleading information in the public domain about how to improve your longevity and health-span. In this workshop Paul will separate fact from the fiction, explore the leading theories of ageing and uncover the most impactful evidence-based strategies to enhance both your lifespan and, more importantly, your health-span.
The Secrets of Longevity
Stress-Fit Workshop
Why would you aspire to be ‘resilient’ when human beings are capable of so much more? In this thought-provoking workshop, Paul will explore the human stress response and how developing high levels of Stress Fitness enables you to adapt positively to the inevitable challenges that life throws at you and ultimately emerge stronger and better, with a higher level of performance. The workshop will then go through a range of evidence-based rituals from neuroscience, psychology and physiology, that integrate and optimise the mind, body and brain to move you up the Stress Fitness Continuum.Stress-Fit Workshop
Learning Outcomes:
• A comprehensive understanding the human stress response
• The physical and psychological effects of high cortisol
• Lessons from elite athletes and Special Forces soldiers
• How to effectively measure your stress load
• The role of exercise in stress fitness
• Strategies to maximise recovery
• How to move up the Stress Fitness continuum
High Performance Teams Workshop
UNLOCK THE DNA OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMSHigh Performance Teams Workshop
Paul decodes and distils wisdom learned from working closely with senior executive teams in large organisations such as Medibank, Goodman Fielder, Iselect, SAP and CISCO, as well as local governments. This workshop is a unique blend of personal experiences and cutting-edge research into both team dynamics and social neuroscience. Paul blends his insights from completing a Postgraduate Diploma in the Neuroscience of Leadership and the practical applications of high-performance teams. Participants complete a pre-workshop questionnaire to identify which areas to focus on in the workshop and additional coaching is provided if required.
The Forged Mind Workshop
As businesses transform and adapt it increases the stress and tiredness of staff. When physiological, psychological, and emotional resources are insufficient to meet demand, fatigue, impairment and burnout can result. Forging ahead as an organisation without forging the resilience of your people is futile.The Forged Mind Workshop
Build rituals that allow your workforce to:
• thrive under pressure
• use stress to their advantage - move away from managing stress toward ‘mastering’ stress
• induce long-term productive adaptation
• improve performance.
This workshop is designed to enable employees to thrive under pressure in a sustainable way. We explore the science of resilience and teach peak performance tips from the military and elite athletes to provide participants with new insights and daily practices that will move them beyond risk mitigation to performance improvement.
The Neuroscience of Leadership Workshop
OPTIMISE ADOPTION OF PEAK PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLESThe Neuroscience of Leadership Workshop
Outcome-based blend of information and facilitated group and individual tasks that is designed to optimise adoption of peak performance principles.
The program combines military research on leadership and resilience with cutting-edge social neuroscience, physiology, and psychology.
There is also a strong emphasis on behaviour change, with a number of proven tools used to foster self-determination and long-term success of the participants.
There are 5 complementary parts that comprise the Neuroscience of Leadership and these are explored over 2 days:
• Know Thyself
• Optimise Energy and Decision-Making
• Thrive Under Pressure
• Engage/Influence Others
• Driving Change
A number of optional tests are available to assess mind, body and brain performance, including BioAge testing and functional brain assessments.
Video
Paul Taylor | Speaker Reel
I had the pleasure of listening to your presentation on Thursday at the Quest conference - so motivational, so well presented and well backed up with the scientific evidence. One of the best ... keep reading AOT Hotels
