I am a very lucky girl because I know some really scrummy and inspiring people. One of these is the gorgeous Corrina Gordon-Barnes from You Inspire Me who helps many, many people turn their passion into a profitable business.

Corrina recently interviewed me about the lack of energy that business owners frequently feel, and what we can do about it. She captured this interview on video, and I am very happy to share this with you today. So I invite you to take a peek…this is actually my first video appearance, and is a great opportunity for those of you who I have not yet had the pleasure to meet to get to know me a little better!

If you would like to join us on the 27th November in London to help burst through that energy block and get things moving again then scoot on over to this page and secure your place!

Interesting fact: Do you know how Corrina and I met? A few years ago, I was working on a project and wanted the domain name youinspireme.co.uk. When I discovered it was taken, I had to go see which clever person had already bagged it. It was love at first sight, and the rest is history! And it’s thanks to Corrina that I met the lovely Rosanna and Blanka, who are co-hosting the workshop! See…amazing what curiosity can bring!

Share on Facebook

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have been going through some pretty exciting major life changes recently. Naturally, the need to create a new path didn’t just happen over night, but in my case, it certainly made itself heard overnight. Or rather, I suddenly heard it overnight…and boy by the time I did hear it, it was SHOUTING!!

It actually happened one weekend in March on a visit to the UK. That weekend I had met up with my lovely friend Rosanna and met, for the first time, another delicious girlie, called Blanka. The lovely Rosanna is a fab and funky yoga teacher and the beautiful Blanka is a goddess of the raw kitchen.

I had no idea that this highly delicious weekend would so dramatically crank up the volume of my inner voice and launch me into a dynamic period of change (as well as the amazing energy of the girls, I swear Blanka’s raw chocolate cake had something to do with this…seriously!). But I easily sensed that the seed of an exciting project was about to germinate. You know that feeling, when something just clicks so nicely that it’s impossible to not turn ideas into action?

Since us three girls have a similar love of funky, healthy, energetic things, we decided to pool our knowledge and skills together to put on a rather delicious workshop to help and inspire other self-employed women to boost their energy, re-ignite their passion for their business, meet like-minded ladies and generally show them a good time.

And so our workshop ‘High Energy for Entrepreneurial Women’ was born. We are holding our first one in London on 27th November 2011 and would love, love, just love you to join us for a day of energizing yoga, delicious vibrant food (all raw!), inspiration for goal setting, a talk on energizing (raw) food plus tips on how to boost your energy.

We are ridiculously excited about this event. During my recent trip to the UK, I had a reminder of how fab these girls are by attending a couple of Rosanna’s yoga classes and sampling more of Blanka’s amazing food (raw vegan cheese and crackers, and raw banoffee pie lingers seductively in my taste bud memory).

Indeed, we are so excited about the possibility of you joining us, we are offering an early bird discount on the price of a ticket, so that you can save a yummy £40 to spend on other things. So scoot on over to this page and check out this event. Make sure you secure your place before Sunday 14th August 2011 to slurp up the special price!

In the meantime I shall do my very best to sample as many of Blanka’s desserts as possible, just to make sure that the perfect selection is made for you. Perhaps some more of that life-changing chocolate cake would be just the rocket fuel you need…

Share on Facebook

I have been a bit quiet recently. But just on the blogging and newsletter front. You see there are huge, huge changes going on in my life right now, so there have been other priorities in my head. I would really like to share these exciting experiences just because I am learning so so much from them and my developments are just a living proof that with the right knowledge and support we can emerge from something potentially crushing simply shining, empowered and hugely excited about life.

Before I start, I would like give myself a little high-five for being so publicly open about my personal life in this post. A few years ago, I was too shy to even register on a forum let alone leave a comment, or write a blog post or anything like that. I’ve not always been this brave, but boy, is life fun when you start pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone!

Basically my whole life has gone upside down, inside out, side-step, tango, waltz, fox-trot and jitterbug.

Since April I have done the following:

- amicably ended a very lovely 8.5 year relationship

- changed my ‘day job’ (I quit an unfulfilling job in finance and now work part-time in Business Development for an inspiring company that works with personal development and leadership training and I will soon go on to facilitate workshops and coach individuals)

- finished renovating my house in order to put it on the market

- thought long, long, long and hard about where I want to live in this world (I’ll keep you posted on my decision!)

- re-homed my beautiful dog (heart-break city!) as I wont be able to give her the attention and time she needs to thrive after my house is sold

- started doing fun but brave things such as Dj:ing

- expanded my social life in Sweden and UK by about a million % (which takes quite a bit of coordinating actually!)

And at the same time making exciting progress with my company:

- qualified as a Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition Consultant

- launched my coaching services and seen some amazing results with a fabulous client!

- joined up with 2 lovely girls to plan a fab High Energy workshop in London in November 2011 (read all about it here)

When writing this it just feels like a list of things, but it when you are actually in it and living it, it really is incredibly intense and challenging. And I am sure that if you have ever done any of these things you will appreciate just how much they can impact your life…let alone when all happening at the same time in the space of a few months!

The most amazing thing I have experienced is that by applying all the things I learned over the years, I have not only managed to survive this incredibly turbulent time, but I feel that I am leaping from it full of love and life and zest for new exciting things.

Here is what has been the key to keeping me sane, happy and healthy:

1. Raw Food
I have been really motivated to keep as high-raw as possible simply because I immediately notice the positive effects. Cooked food does not give me the clear mind and the super high energy that I have needed for this period. Having a clear mind means that I am able to analyse my feelings much better and make sensible decisions. It has also prevented me from comfort eating and numbing any pain with things like refined sugar or heavy comfort food like toast! Working through these feelings is far more progressive and healing I find!

2. Avoiding stimulants
Staying clear of coffee, refined sugar and alcohol has also reduced the risk of feeling any extra anxiety and keeps my blood sugar stable. If I feel I need pepping up then I will either go for a run, or have a little nibble on some raw chocolate instead, which does not shock my body like coffee does. If I need the relaxing effects that alcohol can give, I do some yoga or exercise and make sure I take a few deep deep breaths. I have also been very kind to myself and when I do really feel I need time out, I will take it. Sometimes that means saying no to some people and commitments, but in the long run this ’selfish act’ is a great investment and actually makes me a nicer person to be around!

3. Exercise
This has really been a saviour. Exercise relieves stress tremendously and there is nothing like a good work out to release mood-elevating endorphins. I am also finding it really fun to set myself physical goals and challenges which offers a great respite from the emotional ones I have been experiencing!

I have also found that I have stayed away from comfort eating rubbish food or binging on booze (like I have done in previous years when facing a challenging time) because moderate exercise makes me feel a lot better. And since I know how good working-out makes me feel, it means that I don’t want to feel hungover or sluggish from comfort eating and therefore refrain from eating and drinking naughtiness.

4. Positive supportive and inspiring people
I am so in love with the people that I have in my life these days! I find I tend to stay away from people who deal with their unhappiness by trying to bring others down with negative remarks and energy. At a time when you need to be really brave, you need people who support you. Even if you don’t personally know people like this, reading inspiring books and blogs, or connecting with others on the internet or by attending inspiring events is a true gift!

5. Coaching
I draw on the wisdom I get from my coach and from my own knowledge of coaching. This is such a powerful tool for personal growth and bursting through challenging times. Becoming aware of why we think and act in certain ways is hugely empowering, and mastering the skills of breaking things down into small achievable steps is so useful . Oh, I could go on and on about this, but I wont. But it really has made the difference between crumbling into a heap of despair and rising out the ashes like a glorious, sassy phoenix!

So, dear friend, that is what my life has been the past few months. There are lots of exciting and challenging times ahead, but I am learning so much and am actually feeling pretty bloomin’ spectacular.

I really hope this post inspires you to see any challenging period you experience as an opportunity to grow and do brave things. It really is quite amazing!

Did you enjoy this article and recipe? Sign up here >> to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2011 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

As you may have heard, at the end of October Kate Magic held a talk and workshop here in Stockholm. It was a true pleasure for me to host Miss Magic, and a real honour to get to spend a few days with her.

We had a really good turn out with very high quality guests, and I really look forward to getting to know my new raw friends from the events.

I would love to share with you what I learned from the talk and the workshop, but I could probably fill a whole book with the inspiration and information I gained, and seeing as though Kate has already done so, I recommend instead that you read Kate’s book Raw Magic and/or go to one of these events if she comes to a venue near you. Check out her events page here >>

There are, however, three things that I can summarise:

1. Going to events like Raw Magic will bring you more than you can imagine. It’s not just about information, you come away with a new spark of passion, a perky boost of inspiration and a pocket full of phone numbers and email addresses for like-minded people in your area
2. Sneaking superfoods into your food is actually pretty easy when you get the inspiration. Maca, for example (a powder made from maca root that is a great energy booster and helps balance the body and hormones) is not very tasty on its own, but a little spoonful in a raw mayonnaise for example will bring some potent power without the taste.

   And I am sure that not many would disagree when I say that eating a little superfood-laced raw chocolate cake is a rather heavenly way to increase your nutrient intake! I believe it’s just about getting into the habit of pimping up the nutrient content of your food with potent superfoods. The Raw Magic events and book really help you get into the habit!

3. When you need to boost your body and mind into overdrive without burning yourself out, raw food is really the premium choice. The week of Kate’s visit was pretty intense (especially as I had been organizing everything while working full time on other projects) with late nights and early mornings, but I felt really focused, and each morning I woke up thanking the power of raw and superfoods that my energy levels were sustained despite missing meals and being on the go all the time.

   It can be easy to get used to the benefits of eating a high raw diet, and sometimes I take it for granted. When I compare how I felt during that week with previous times before I discovered raw food, when I used to work with organizing conferences, for example, having enough energy to actually enjoy the event rather than being burned out just from the organization is a true gift. My recovery after this intense period was also a lot quicker!

It’s been three weeks since the Raw Magic events and I am happy to say that the magic remains, and my witchy intuition tells me that it’s going to lead to some great things for many people.

I have another exciting event in mind, so watch this space for some more inspiring events and raw cake! (If you don’t want to miss out on future announcements, make sure you sign up for my e-zine!)

Thanks to Hedvig for the great venue for the workshop and the lovely images!
http://www.pudlarpelargoner.blogspot.com/

Share on Facebook

I have just finished re-reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert. God, I love that book. And I know the film is going to be gorgeous. I get excited shivers just watching the trailer.

It’s a beautiful sunny day today, and I want to turn my deceased window boxes into a herby heaven rather that sit at my desk for too long by explaining just what turns me on about this book. Before I go and get all soily, I just wanted to share with you this passage, which I adore. It’s about happiness. Since life is a complex inter-woven state, I feel I cannot separate happiness, contentment, (indeed emotions in general), success and fulfillment from the food we eat, and the way we treat our bodies and minds. Our bodies, minds, lives can either be as lifeless and somber as a deceased window box, or they can be as lush, fragrant, life-giving and tasty as a healthy herby heaven. I aim for the latter. It’s far more fun!

Enough about me, this is what Gilbert writes:

“I keep remembering one of my Guru’s teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel round the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don’t, you leak away your innate contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.”

Of course, praying does not have to mean praying to a specific God in the traditional sense, if that does not suit your beliefs. And happiness is not a selfish thing to pursue. As Gilbert continues:

“ The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.”

So, please, on this beautiful day, allow yourself some happiness. Eat well, and enjoy other people!

Thinking of you

xx

Extract taken from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert © 2006

Did you enjoy this article and recipe? Sign up to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2010 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

If you read my last newsletter then you will know that we have been redecorating our living room. Hardly front page news, I know, but the reason why I am sharing this with you is twofold. One reason is that the gorgeous colour of our walls reminded me so much of a recipe that I wanted to share it with you (see below), and number two is that doing something so ‘mundane’ as redecorating has triggered such huge changes in other areas of my life.

Even before we came to look at the house in December 2008 I took in instant disliking to the living room. The walls were an orange-salmon colour, and the wooden floor and ceiling had an orange tint to them from age, so that the overall effect was, well, rather orange!

However, since we had more urgent projects to take care of when we bought the house, changing this livable, but hideous, room wasn’t a major priority. I realize now that it should have been. Even though we used the room (mostly in the evenings) neither of us actually enjoyed being there, and if Christoffer wasn’t in there, then I would prefer to sit at my desk in my studio than sit in a boring orange room!

So one weekend, a few weeks ago, we could stand it no more, and by the following weekend we had already made a start on ‘project de-orange’. Even though we didn’t finished the project in one day, merely making a start sparked something in our lives. On a practical level, the little furniture that was in the living room (we hadn’t really made ourselves at home there, so there wasn’t much) was relocated during the renovations. But their new homes suited them so well, that suddenly our other rooms had a whole new feeling and function, and our house is consequently feeling more of a home.

But on a more subtle level, we noticed several changes. Firstly, we both felt that we had finally honoured ourselves and that we felt that we ‘deserved’ a nice room. This recognition of our self-worth has trickled into other areas of lives, and I know for sure that my tolerance towards things that don’t serve me well has reduced considerably, and I am making changes to ensure that I treat myself as well as I should.

Secondly, within the following few days opportunities somehow presented themselves to allow me to tick off several big things that had been on my ‘to-do list’ for months. It was really weird. I didn’t have to initiate anything all I had to do was accept the opportunities that we presented to me. And I am not going to even start on how good it feels, for example, to get my accounts in order, or get the car finally fixed and how clearing that mental clutter is allowing new things to grow.

And all these small things are in turn triggering other things inside me, so I feel that there are more exciting changes ahead, both at home and within my business!

The living room is nearly finished, but is still looking like a bit of a building site, so I can’t share any photo’s with you today. I admit that it is a bit trying living around a half-decorated room, but I have been using my techniques for making effective changes that I shared in April’s newsletter to keep me focused, and stop me loosing my enthusiasm.

What I can share with you, however, is that two of our walls are now such a beautiful colour that I just wanted to grab a straw and stick it into the paint bucket and slurp it all up. I haven’t become a paint junkie or anything, it’s just that it looks just like a gorgeous blueberry smoothie. Such a sexy, rich purple colour!

Blueberries are such brilliant a source of anti-oxidants and are just so tasty. I am very lucky because when they are in season, I can pick them from our neighbouring woods. I often munch on them during my walks with Pixie the dog, and she loves them too!

So, dear Reader, here is a recipe for a super quick, yummy and nutritious smoothie for you. Just remember to drink it and not smear it on your walls!

Blueberry Smoothie
Serves 2

2 cups nut milk (you can find a recipe for this in March’s newsletter)
1.5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 large bananas (you can use frozen ones for a super thick and creamy drink)
A pinch of vanilla powder, or a few drops of vanilla extract
Ice (if not using frozen fruit and berries)
Half an avocado (if not using frozen bananas and you want a richer smoothie)

Blend it all up and enjoy!

Did you enjoy this article and recipe? Sign up to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2010 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

I have been absolutely delighted to see both the number of my newsletter-subscribers and my blog readers grow in the past couple of months. I often think about you, even thought I may not know you, and I am very conscious about ensuring that I bring you as much value as possible. After all, if you have honoured me with your time by reading my blog, then I want to make sure that you get as much out of it as possible.

With this mind, I would be super grateful if you could complete a short survey of just 10 quick questions, so that I can see where you are now, where you want to go, and how I can best tailor my free recipes and information and my products/courses to suit you.

As a little thank you, you have the option of being entered into a draw to win a copy of my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts‘. Just make sure you have responded before Monday 12th April for a chance to win.

Take the survey here to let me know how I can help you, and to have the chance to win a copy of my yummy e-book.

One way that I know I have been able to help people is by sharing my recipes for delicious desserts to make it easier for them to eat healthy food without having to compromise on taste. With this in mind, I also wanted to let you know that my Easter discount on my e-book runs until tomorrow, so if you would like to get access to 43 heavenly healthy dessert recipes for 15% less, do make sure you use the following instructions:

To get your discount scoot on over to this page, select your preferred currency, and add the discount code eat15 at the check out. Discount valid until, and including, Friday 9th April 2010. Enjoy!

I will be posting a tasty blog post as usual tomorrow, so until then, stay healthy and yummy!

Share on Facebook

As you may recall from a previous post, Christoffer and I had the pleasure of spending a day and night at a lovely spa the other weekend. It was a really lovely thing to do, and what I found interesting about the experience is that while the actual physical part of being at a spa is, of course, simply heaven, the simple act of being treated to something is equally as wonderful.

This is very exciting, because I don’t feel that the feeling of self-worth carries a price tag. The fact that the spa cost quite a bit of money wasn’t particularly relevant (lucky for us, our stay there was a gift from someone!). Of course, it was divine to use the luxurious facilities, but the fact that we had taken time off work, time away from our daily routines, in order to ‘treat’ ourselves was the most significant thing.

We may not have someone who will treat us to a stay at a spa. In fact, we may not always have someone who’s thoughtful enough to make us a cup of tea, to offer to make dinner, or give us a foot rub, so we need to be even more aware of gifting small things to ourselves.

It’s so easy for us to get swept up in the tidal-wave of life, whooshing along between work, household duties, family responsibilities, studies, growth…everything, that we can forget to just take time out and thank ourselves for all that we put into our existence.

For me, once I tasted this sense of the extra-ordinary, it left within me a glow of knowledge that for others to love and respect us, and value us even, we need to love, respect and value ourselves.

Yesterday, for probably the first time since I started work on my Miss Best projects last Autumn, I actually took a proper tea break. I made some tea, (and some raw treats, of course!), sat on the sofa (well away from my computer) and just took some time out. Apart from the minimal cost of the tea and chocolate treats, it didn’t cost me a penny. But damn! Did I feel like I had wrapped up an hour’s spa session and presented it to myself!

And I returned to my desk, relaxed, invigorated, productive, and feeling just a little silly that I don’t do this more regularly.

Inspired by this, I decided that it would be a lovely gift this morning to treat myself to some yoga before I did anything else. And so, when it was time for me to make my morning smoothie, and sit down at the computer I felt really rather special. Like it was my birthday! Or a ‘Me’ day! Every day should be a ‘Me’ day! I think we are cable of giving more to others when we nurture ourselves with rest, relaxation, Life-Loving food, exercise and self -appreciation.

As Tinu Su once wrote: “I must prioritize my day to do things that nurture my soul before anything else.”

And so, fueled by all these inexpensive, easy-to-do little gifts of self love, my lovely Christoffer and I have decided to spend this weekend in our home version of a luxurious spa.

OK, so we don’t have a swimming pool, hot tub, or private chef, but we are going to treat ourselves to a liquid feast of fresh juices, smoothies, shakes and raw soups to energise our bodies. We are – or at least I am – also going to enjoy doing more yoga, soaking my feet in my lovely foot bath that Christoffer’s sister gave me for Christmas, massaging our feet, walking in the forest with our dog.

I am also planning on trying out some natural, home made beauty treats such as hair masks, facial scrubs etc. This is where I would LOVE your input. If you have any that you can recommend, please post them below.

I am really excited about this weekend. I am very interested in what this experience will trigger, and to see if I can continue with my little gifts of self-love.

l will let you know how this weekend of relaxing self-love goes in a future blog post. In the meantime, have a fantastic weekend, full of little treats. And do let me know your favorite home-made natural body treatments, below!

Oh, and I would love to take this opportunity to let you know about a yummy, introduction to raw food class that I am holding near Stockholm on 24th April. Perhaps this is a prefect opportunity to give yourself a gift of self-love? Please visit this page to find out more!

Did you enjoy this article? Sign up to receive email notifications of new articles that I publish!

Feel free to share this article with others. Please just remember to include the following credit: © 2010 Johanna Best www.miss-best.com

Share on Facebook

I didn’t intend to write again about desserts this week. I don’t want you to think that I am force-feeding you yummy desserts and plugging my e-book at any occasion. However, this weekend, Christoffer and I managed to achieve something that has been bugging me for a long time, and I just wanted to share it with you, as I know I am not alone on this!

It bothers me that on special occasions – times when we celebrate ourselves, such as birthdays, or other events such as Christmas, or family get-togethers – we often ‘treat’ ourselves to unhealthy food and drink. Many people – me included – find it manageable to make wise and yummy eating choices all throughout the year, but on the days that should be extra special, we indulge in sugar, refined flour, alcohol, etc etc. The result is that we get (probably) a great tasting meal, or cake, but end up feeling pretty crappy from it. Not just physically, but mentally too, from the guilt and disappointment that we ’slipped up’ and ate the foods we made a commitment to avoid.

There can be many reasons for this. Maybe, on just that one day you don’t want to have to bother about what you should, and shouldn’t, be eating. Perhaps you go out for a meal, and just want a nice time and don’t want to have to worry about eating healthy food. Or perhaps someone has been kind enough to bake, or buy, you a birthday cake, and you don’t want to offend them by refusing their sweet gift.

On one hand, I believe that on the odd occasion, it’s better to just accept the situation, and promise yourself to get back to the good, healthy food straight away, rather than getting yourself into a state about it. But, on the other hand, I believe that on occasions, such as birthdays, we should be extra careful about celebrating life. Why on our one extra special day of the year, should we aggravate a physical condition we may have by eating ‘naughty’ food, or come away from the celebrations feeling ‘blurgh’ and devoid of energy?

One of the reasons I have, in the past, not stuck to Life-Loving Food on birthdays, is a lack of a good replacement for a yummy, easy, cake. I will always eat 100% vegan food, but I have eaten refined flour, refined sugar and rather sickly cakes on my birthday. And although they tasted good, they left me rather less Life-Loving than normal!

Until Now! Friday was Christoffer’s birthday, and I made him the Chocolate Torte from my e-book. I knew that he loves this dessert, and that it was even better than the cooked, refined versions that I have made for his special day in the past, so was confident he wouldn’t feel at all under celebrated on his special day.

We actually took some cake with us to eat at the Japanese Spa Hotel we stayed at for his birthday, and enjoyed it with some Sencha Tea, overlooking a snowy view of the archipelago. I served it with the Raspberry Sauce from the e-book, fresh fruit and some soya cream. Raw nut cream would have also worked, but I was really pushed for time, even though nut cream is super quick to make.

These collection of recipes that I have created, have meant so much to our lives. Desserts and cakes were a real weak spot in our healthy eating lifestyle, and I now really feel completely capable of coming up with the sweet goods on any occasion. And to have Christoffer on board and preferring these desserts to cooked, refined versions is fantastic! One small step for (a) man…one giant leap for mankind. Perhaps this e-book really is ‘life changing’, as one person described it!

To find out more about this collection of recipes visit:
www.miss-best.com/LLLD.html

Share on Facebook

As you know I love to share my recipes with you, and I usually blog about food that I have recently been eating. Since my last blog, however, I have been eating – or rather drinking and slurping – mostly green smoothies and green raw soups. I am not going to share those with you today as I have done so on a few occasions and I do rather believe there is more to life than smoothies and soups, even if they do make me feel satisfied, energetic, zingy and balanced.

I would like to share, however, a little of what I have been feeding my mind the past week or so. Christoffer has recently bought and devoured the book ‘The 4-hour work week’ by Timothy Ferriss. On his recommendation, I too gobbled it up as quickly as I could and found it most helpful and inspiring.

As the title suggests, the book provides helpful, and often humorous, tips and case studies of how to make your work days more efficient to advance towards the ultimate goal of working just four hours a week, but with at least the same – if not higher- relative income and preferably from remote locations, to enable you to travel the world (if you so wish), or do other fun things while still either working as an employee or as an entrepreneur.

What struck me while reading the book are the similarities between this approach to working-life and Life-Loving food. The initial similarity is the goal. For the 4-hour work week (4HWW) it is to free your self from spending most of your days having to earn money to have instead the time, energy and love to do things that bring you and others joy, such as traveling, learning languages or a new sport, helping others, spending time with your family, or spending your days doing what you are really passionate about e.g making music, art or gardening. To love life.

I have had the pleasure of briefly enjoying the life Ferriss describes while we were in Costa Rica. For a few weeks, Chris and I worked remotely/freelance. We spent a few hours a week working from the hammock in the above photo and the rest of the time learning Spanish, snorkeling, chilling, drinking from fresh coconuts, and planning our lives. I can certainly recommend this as a life-goal!

(If you want a great place to stay in Costa Rica, go to Cashew Hill Jungle Cottages in Puerto Viejo. This is where we stayed for 5 weeks, and had the best time thanks to great owners of this establishment.)

The goal of bringing more Life-Loving Food into your life – apart from the obvious fact that it tastes amazing – is to bring you health, energy and joy. If you spend less time (or preferably, no time) feeling tired, ill, depressed, moody, bloated and blurgh, then you will have time, energy and love to do the things that are actually fun, like the examples in the above paragraph.

Ferriss introduces/reminds us of Pareto’s law. Vilfredo Pareto (1843-1923), a ‘wily and controversial economist-cum-sociologist’, demonstrated the highly uneven distribution of wealth in society where 80% of the wealth and income was possessed by 20% of the population. This 80/20 principle, as it is also known, can be found almost everywhere and in business and even our lives the ratio of output to input is (roughly) 80/20.

Therefore, Ferriss encourages us to look at our businesses to see where the majority of the income comes from. Some may find, for example, that 80% of revenue comes from 20% of their customers. The remaining 80% of customers can be high maintenance and un-profitable and so Ferriss encourages us to spend as little time as possible on these customers, and to certainly not spend money and effort marketing towards them.

It would be interesting to analyse our lives and our health with the same principle in mind. What foods bring me the most energy? (And by this I dont mean calories. I mean energy left over after digestion that can be expended doing other things.) I believe our health (and indeed our lives) reflect not just what we do or eat but what we don’t do or eat.

For example when it comes to physical ill-health (a negative output), someone may find that they are mostly eating healthy food e.g 80% but if they are still filling up on steak and chips, bread (gluten), booze, coffee and dairy products for the remaining 20% they may find that 80% of their discomfort stems from the 20% of the unhealthy foods they are eating. The solution? To cut out those 20% of foods that you may feel you ‘need’ but which don’t actually serve you. It’s amazing that even though we feel that ‘it’s only one cup of coffee, or one bacon sandwich’ how much of an effect it can have on our health; even it is just for one day. I know myself, I have done the same. One cup of coffee out of a whole day’s intake of food and drink (5%) can make me feel 95 % crap! Which is I why I will never drink more than the very occasional sip of coffee.

Similarly we may find that 20% of the people we spend time with (family, friends, partners, customers, bosses or colleagues) bring us 80% of our joy and well-being, while the remaining 80% may be high maintenance people who don’t bring anything positive to your relationship. Surely it is better then to avoid those 80% life-suckers and invest our time and love in the life-enrichening 20% and have time left over for other pursuits!

Something else that struck me as similar is other people’s reactions to both goals. Many people are suspicious of both the 4HWW and Life-Loving (vegan/raw) Foods. ‘Surely if it were that simple everyone would do it!’ I have come across more than my fair share of skeptics who refuse to consider the link between diet and life style with ill health. And not just that, many don’t believe that we can feel fantastic in our body and minds if we give ourselves the chance.

And I myself have been victim to the conditioning that the only option in our work lives it to trudge away putting in all your waking hours in a job you don’t much care for, with retirement as the final goal to bring joy and free time.

Both Life-Loving Foods and the 4HWW are long-term investments in your life, but both can produce immediate results which is both encouraging and motivating. By adding healthy foods to your life and cutting out unhealthy ones (even in small amounts to begin with) will bring some immediate positive results. Likewise, if you go on one of Ferriss’ proposed email diets and ensure you only check your mail twice a day, for example, you will immediately free up both time and mental energy.

In addition, even if you don’t feel you can incorporate 100% Life-Loving Foods in your life, or structure your business or working life as an employee according to the 4HWW, you can still benefit by adopting just a few healthy foods or tips from Ferriss.

So today, I encourage you to look at your life and see what brings you 80% of productivity, good health, love joy and laughter. Focus your energy and time on these things and see if you can make a start to cut out the offending 80% dead weight.

I for one will be dissecting my life to see how I can make it more efficient so that I can do more pleasurable things like writing e-books, and developing other fun things to help others love their lives. Speaking of which my e-book ‘Loving Life – Loving Desserts’ will be available for sale in the next few weeks’ I am super excited and will let you know when I have a little preview for you! In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Check out ‘The 4-hour work week’ by Timothy Ferriss here >> and here:

Share on Facebook