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August 17, 2025 9 mins

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We are drowning in noise with the average person receiving over 120 notifications daily and our attention spans dropping to just 8 seconds, less than a goldfish. Finding your signal, your authentic voice, requires creating space amidst the constant barrage of distractions.

• Signal represents your truth while noise is everything that distracts you from it
• When noise is high, your signal gets buried, making it impossible to hear even when it's screaming at you
• Clarity often appears in unexpected "weird" moments when you're not performing but simply being
• The "Delay the Binge" concept encourages pausing before reacting to hear your signal clearly
• "Plus One Theory" helps you build momentum once you've identified your signal
• Harvard research shows our minds wander 47% of the time, half our lives on autopilot
• Even celebrities like Oprah, Matthew McConaughey and Taylor Swift prioritize quiet time
• Five practical ways to improve your signal-to-noise ratio: create signal time, reduce input, question commitments, track unusual moments, and apply the pause
• You don't need to eliminate all noise, just turn down the volume enough to hear yourself

Sign up for a free discovery call for Delay the Binge at PamDwyerSpeaker.com. We'll turn down the noise, dial in your signal, and help you live with high-definition clarity.


Visit Pam Dwyer online and sign up on her email list to receive the latest updates and join her short stories that are published every Tuesday!

Go to PamDwyerSpeaker.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome back to the Plus One Theory podcast.
I'm your host, pam Dwyer, andtoday we're going to talk about
something very interesting.
It's about signals versus noiseratios how to cut the static
and find your true self andbuild momentum.
So have you ever felt likeyou're living in the middle of

(00:32):
Times Square but in your brainflashing lights, buzzers going
off, somebody's yelling aboutthe end of the world and
meanwhile you're just trying toremember where you put your
coffee cup?
That's life in 2025.
We are drowning in noise.
Emails, texts, news alerts,social media feeds all screaming

(00:58):
for our attention.
Get this.
The average person now receivesover 120 notifications a day.
That's not even counting themental notifications from your
own thoughts.
You know those, don't forget toreminders.
Your brain keeps firing at youat 2 am.
And here's the kicker Accordingto a Microsoft study, our

(01:21):
attention span has dropped from12 seconds in the year 2000 to
just 8 seconds today 8.
That's less than a goldfish.
Goldfish are out here making uslook bad.
So if you've been feeling likeyou can't think straight, it's
not you, it's the noise.

(01:41):
And today I want to help youturn down that static, just so
you can hear your own signal,that quiet, steady voice telling
you who you are, what mattersmost and what your next step
should be.
We're also going to talk abouthow that ties into two of my

(02:01):
favorite concepts the plus onetheory and now delay the binge.
One will help you finishstronger.
The other will help you pausebefore you hit that
self-destruct button, andtogether they can change your
life.
Here's the thing.
In the engineering worldthere's something called the

(02:24):
signal to noise ratio.
It's a fancy way of saying howmuch of what you're hearing is
actually useful.
Your signal is what matters.
That's your truth.
Noise is well, everything else.
Think about your phone rightnow.
Your signal might be the onetext from your best friend

(02:44):
saying hey, I'm proud of you.
Your noise is the 17 group chatmessages debating whether Chris
Evans or Ryan Reynolds is thebest.
Captain America I mean, ryanReynolds wasn't Captain America,
but that's how little the noisematters.
And here's the dangerous partwhen the noise is high, the

(03:09):
signal gets buried.
You can't hear it, even if it'sscreaming at you.
For me, my signal came throughat one of the noisiest times of
my life.
I was getting a divorce,raising a child on my own,
working three jobs to surviveand carrying decades of guilt,

(03:29):
shame and brokenness.
From my childhood, noise was mydefault setting.
Then my therapist suggestedjournaling and I thought "'Lady,
I barely have time to breathe.
You want me to write'.
But I did it anyway".
And it was like someone turneddown the volume on my life.
Writing helped me sort throughwhat was important and what

(03:54):
wasn't.
And here's the wild part.
One day my therapist told mePam, you write beautifully.
I love reading your journalnotes.
That tiny comment, it was likea flare in the night.
It reminded me I had somethingto say.
Fast forward.

(04:14):
And that signal writing becamemy book from the piney woods.
It's now an Amazon bestsellerand it led me to speaking.
It even planted the seeds forDelay, the Binge.
And here's the truth.
The brokenness, that noise,it's what pointed me towards my
signal.

(04:34):
Here's the thing about findingyour signal.
It's usually weird, like let megive you some examples.
It shows up in like the mostunexpected places, like talking
to a stranger in the groceryline who says exactly what you
needed to hear.
Talking to a stranger in thegrocery line who says exactly
what you needed to hear.
Or folding laundry and suddenlyremembering you loved painting

(04:55):
as a kid.
Or I don't know, staying up waytoo late watching a random
YouTube video and realizing ohmy gosh, they just described me.
Weird is not where we usuallylook for clarity, but weird is
where clarity hangs out, becauseit's in those moments.
You're not trying to be on,you're not performing, you're

(05:18):
just being.
Here's the problem.
Most of us are so busy reactingto noise that we never make
space for our signal.
We overwork, we overeat, weover-scroll.
We avoid asking the hardquestions like who am I without
the roles that I play, or whatactually matters to me?

(05:40):
And for people hitting lifetransitions like retirement,
empty nesters or career changes,the noise drops off and you're
left with silence and no ideawhat to do with it.
That's when it feels empty.
Here's why this ties to delaythe binge.

(06:00):
When you can't hear your signal, you'll grab for noise that
feels good in the moment, likefood or alcohol, shopping,
perfectionism, control.
But delay the binge says pausejust long enough to hear
yourself.
And when you hear your signal,that's when you can make choices

(06:22):
that actually serve you.
It's the same with the plus onetheory Once you find your
signal, you can give it just alittle extra each day.
That's how you finish strongerthan you started.
Here's something I foundfascinating.
A Harvard study found that 47%of the time our minds are
wandering Half our life.

(06:43):
Y'all on autopilot.
And in the world where TikToktrends change daily and viral
video can be old news in 48hours, no wonder we struggle to
stay focused on our own path.
Even celebrities are talkingabout this now.
Oprah, she says her morningwalk without her phone is

(07:05):
non-negotiable.
That's where she hears hersignal.
Matthew McConaughey he talksabout clearing the windshield
before making decisions.
Less noise, more clarity.
And yes, even Taylor Swift, inbetween sold out stadiums, says
she schedules quiet days just tolisten to her own thoughts.

(07:27):
Here's where you start.
There's five things you can do.
One is create signal time, even10 minutes a day, with no
screens.
And number two, reduce yourinput, unfollow accounts that
make you feel I don't know lessthan.
Number three is ask questionsignal or noise before you

(07:52):
commit.
Number four is track the weird,note unusual moments that spark
something in you.
And finally, number five, applythe pause, that's delay the
binge in action.
So here's your challenge forthis week Pay attention to your
noise-to-signal ratio.

(08:14):
What's drowning you out, what'scalling you forward?
And don't ignore the weird.
It's probably your signaltrying to get through, and
here's the thing.
You don't have to eliminateevery ounce of noise in your
life to find your signal.
You just have to notice it,turn the volume down a little

(08:36):
and give your signal enough roomto be heard.
Sometimes that means saying nowhen you've been conditioned to
say yes.
Sometimes it's walking awayfrom a conversation that drains
you, or closing the laptop evenwhen there's still work you
could do the laptop, even whenthere's still work you could do.

(08:59):
And sometimes it's pausing longenough to realize the noise has
been drowning out the verything that could save you.
That's what delay the binge isall about.
It's not about shame and it'snot about willpower.
It's about pausing the staticlong enough to choose your own
station.
So this week, pay attention toyour noise, to signal ratios.
Ask yourself am I feeding thenoise or am I tuning into my own

(09:23):
frequency?
If you're tired of static andyou're ready to hear your own
voice loud and clear, sign upfor a free discovery.
Call for Delay the Binge atPamDwyerSpeakercom.
We'll turn down the noise dialin your signal and help you live
in a high-definition clarity,because the world doesn't need

(09:45):
more noise, it needs your signal.
Thanks for listening.
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