Physical health, diet and nutrition is something that has always been a big part of my life in one form or another. I haven’t always followed a good diet by any means, as I’ve used and abused my good genes pretty hard instead.

An athlete dad raising me on bodybuilding and nutrition helped get me jobs for fitness equipment companies and gyms. I didn’t work out during those jobs even though it was free for me then, but it’s just what I knew, so I got into jobs easily.

As I’ve gotten older, I can tell you how much that not taking care of yourself stuff can catch up to you, and quickly! I used to be able to eat, drink, and be merry in just about every way, but that hasn’t been the case the past few years, and it has affected my business as well as my personal life.

Much of the past five years has been spent actively pursuing my own good health on a more regular basis. Last year, I stepped it up even further, with all kinds of experiments to see what worked and didn’t work for me.

I’ve seen and watched others try every diet that you’ve ever heard of, and even tried a few in recent years. I did my best to live vegetarian for almost two years (technically pescatarian because I still ate fish, but fish meat is practically a vegetable).

There were many reasons why that just didn’t work for me.

After hearing Andrew over at Evolvify mention Paleo several times, I started looking into it a bit more. It goes by several names and detail changes, depending on who is talking about it. Some call it the Hunter-Gatherer diet, Robb Wolf and Dr. Cordain call it Paleo, whereas Mark Sisson‘s style differs slightly and he calls it Primal. The media likes to mockingly call it the caveman diet.

All I know is that it works well.

The first serious reading I did about it came when Tim Ferriss posted an excerpt from Robb Wolf’s book on his blog. I picked up Tim’s 4-Hour Body book when it came out, and decided to try his “Slow-Carb Diet” experiment.

I had done a bit of research on the ideas he talked about in there, mostly through Wolf and Sission. Tim’s book laid it out pretty basic, despite not being fully paleo. It was easy to follow and never left me feeling hungry. I lost weight without really trying and noticed immediate improvement in several areas I hadn’t even thought about being diet-related.

Things like skin issues and respiratory problems I’d developed. My blood pressure went down to lower than it had ever been, and my super-high cholesterol dropped down to well withing the “normal” range despite eating as many as 9 eggs a day (nine was an unusual day, but I eat at least 2 a day).

Remember when I said I abused my body for a long time? I smoked for 25 years. I quit years ago when I started having respiratory issues. Quitting didn’t seem to change them at all. A year or so later I started gaining weight, and the breathing problems got worse, which I attributed to getting fatter.

Partially right. When I took grains and sugars out of my diet, my breathing cleared up like I’d never had an issue on about the third day. Just gone. Even before the weight started dropping off.

After a short time, I tried removing other foods, and really began experimenting with different food effects. I have it pretty well dialed in now, so that I know when I eat any particular food, how my body is going to react to it.

I’ve still got a ways to go, and am not going to turn this into a fitness blog, but I’ve been doing this for a year now, and wanted to put the information out there in case others are struggling with weight, fitness, physical vibrance, or other health issues. There is a lot of good information out there, and you can get started with some of the links included in this post.

Do you have any experience with a Paleo diet or Primal lifestyle? Let me know if you have any questions below.

Healthy Body, Healthy Business is a post from: Live Collar Free

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“I want to help people.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Not really sure.”

This was a conversation that took place with a friend about five years ago. If you go read it again, you’ll know the conversation I recently had with that same friend.

Nothing had changed.

There were a few slight differences in specific things they were doing, but overall a vague, directionless life is still going on, with no closer realization of this vacuous goal.

No progress was made in any particular area of life, and no further clarification on what they wanted to do with their life. Just five years older and we were having the same conversation.

There is no shortage of people making resolutions, doing annual reviews and other forms of goal-setting here near the beginning of the year. Most of us talk about some things we know we need to do that we’ve slagged off since the previous year, and most of us won’t do any different than we did last year.

Maybe that’s good enough for your life. Maybe you won’t wake up one day and realize you’ve wasted 50 years of your life wandering around aimlessly. It scares me to think how many people do that very thing.

Are you working toward something?

Are you just hanging around?

Are you staying on track (or shifting course, as appropriate)?

I hope you have this conversation with yourself more than once a year, and certainly more than every five years.

I’m going to keep asking you…

5-Years Later: Making Life Better or Just Getting Older is a post from: Live Collar Free

There is plenty of talk among this community about the term Lifestyle Design. Popularized by Tim Ferriss in his book The Four-Hour Work Week, he talks of a “New Rich” who set up muse businesses and are able to travel for extended lengths of time in what Tim calls mini-retirements. The premise being that you can use the power of the internet, virtual assistants, and various tools to work from anywhere.

Tim’s approach is very specific to how he designed his life, but it is not even remotely the only way to design your life. So I am going to officially jack the term from him.

I have always preferred the term to be more tailored to an individual. My situation is not very similar to Tim’s. It doesn’t mean I can’t do everything he did and does. It means that I am not looking for the same things. Tim’s system is very viable. If it works for you, use it. There are many tips and bits of valuable information than can help you do things more differently than you may have imagined. But you don’t have to copy it exactly.

To me the term means literally to design your own life. It is whatever works best for me. My life is what I want and need to do for me. It is not your life. If what I do works for you, use it. If not, you won’t hurt my feelings. Absorb what is useful, discard the rest.

Designing Work Life

We hear so many people complaining about life in the 9-5 cubicle. They write songs about it, make movies mocking it, and have countless websites complaining about our daily lives. Yet most people strive to have this life they complain about. They hang onto it and defend it with everything in their being, mostly too afraid to dare the great things they know they have in them. They don’t like the rules we’ve all been taught, but rarely question them. Of course we’re specifically taught this dream-squelching way in our education system, but that’s another post altogether.

Though I talk of Lifestyle Designers and Digital Nomads working from anywhere from their laptops on this site, that is not the only way to do things. I’m not going to tell you to quit your job, sell all your stuff, and wander the Earth with nothing but a backpack and a smile. There are plenty of people who do just that, but it may not be for you.

No matter what you want to do, no matter what you think may stand in your way, and especially no matter who tells you that you can’t: You can.

Question the Rules

I’m not a believer in rebelling just to be able to call yourself a rebel. Some rules are good (“don’t play on the freeway” is probably a good one). But do question the rules.

Why are you living the way you live now? What are you afraid of? What is the worst that can happen if you try it? What is the worst that can happen if you don’t? Ask yourself hard questions to get to what you really want.

No matter what you want to do with your life, there is a way to make it happen. People make excuses their whole lives and stay stuck in lives they don’t enjoy. Will it be hard work to make a big change or build the life you want? Probably. If you’re looking for a magic pill or plan to fix all your troubles, make you a brazillion dollars, and make you look like a movie star all while you sit on the couch watching Oprah, then good luck with that.

There is no magic pill. There is no winning the lottery. There are no secret shortcuts. There are no overnight successes. It all takes work. Usually lots of it.

I am not some guru. I can’t do the work for you. Life can be hard. But rarely is it as hard as we make it out to be in our heads. You are going to die someday. Don’t spend your life living in fear. You’re the only one who has to live it, you may as well enjoy it.

The main idea I want you to at least open yourself up to is that though you may not see the entire path laid out beginning to end before you, there are other ways to live. Some may not appeal to you, and that’s okay. I hope you at least look at the ones who grab your attention and you see that there really are no valid excuses for anything.

My upcoming Lifestyle Profiles Series will show you more people doing whatever they want. Some will be living their own Ferrissian Utopia, while others will be living with far more modest means. Some will be travelers going places most people will only ever see in National Geographic, while some will be living happily in their hometown. Some will be working for other companies, but most for their own businesses. People on the road solo, and people with large families doing the same.

The Middle Finger Project

I don’t know if it’s just the holiday season, or circumstantial, but I have got a lot of good books and products lately to review. I have followed Ashley since she started writing, and met up with her this summer when she drove through town.

I mentioned this one back when she did her pre-order sale last month of her new book, and you may have noticed the ad space I put up for it on the right.

I have read and enjoyed the book. It is “designed specifically for beginners interested in learning how, exactly, to become a digital entrepreneur, do soul-shakingly good work that you love, make money, and do it all from a laptop.” She takes someone new to blogging, and walks you step-by-step to setting up your own place to reach people and get your entrepreneurial freak on. The why, the how and the must.

If you’ve been around for a while, you could say she takes a more Gary Vaynerchuk approach to her successful business as opposed to Tim’s muse-and VA style, though I’d bet she drinks far more wine than Gary. Ash is currently in Chile, and I highly recommend you follow her writing over on her blog, whether you buy her book or not!

What the Hell is Lifestyle Design and Why Do I Care? is a post from: Live Collar Free

Sitting in traffic one Sunday afternoon, I tweeted a message about the heavy traffic and how I couldn’t imagine doing that every day just to get to work and back (I was sitting in the back seat and not driving). A response I got from a friend was interesting, and probably “normal” by traditional standards.

“Some of us don’t have a choice!” was the angry response.

The anger was directed at me, but the hated rush-hour commute this person made every weekday. The response is typical of the majority of people in corporate America. Coming from this person shocked me a little bit, because they are a somewhat public figure whom most people think has a dream job and life. They do for the most part, but obviously not everything was ideal.

There are aspects of everyone’s life or work that we don’t like, but the part that bothered me the most was the sentiment that they had no choice. The idea that we just have to endure a bunch of miserable crap in life, and suffer through problems like the dreaded traffic every morning and night.

This is bullshit.

There is always a choice. It may not be the set of options you would choose in your own perfect world, but there is always a choice what we do. This person wanted that job and life. It just comes with the consequence of having an hour drive to cover 15 miles every morning. They don’t have to continue that work, or that exact pattern of work. I know the feeling well, the only difference for me was that I didn’t think it was worth it. So I changed it.

Not everyone can continue their current career path or use Four-Hour Work Week tactics at their current job. You may not be able to easily live without a car, or live in a van. Not all industries are suited to every available life option. You may have to choose another path. It depends on your overall goals and desires.

There are plenty of people who change career paths long before their student loans are ever paid off, because the thought of living in a soul-raping work environment for the next 40 years is worse than working for a third of the money. You can change your life if you want to change it bad enough. If it’s not worth it to change your circumstances over, then it is your choice to stay where you are. Learn to enjoy it, and don’t let the less pleasant parts of the path get to you.

Life is short, you will die when it’s over, and in most cases, we don’t get a choice when that happens. You may as well make the best of it until then.

Starting next week, I’ll be posting a series on people who have made gradual or even drastic changes to live unconventional lifestyles. I’ll even be meeting up with Chris Guillebeau from the Art of Non-Conformity on Sunday, during a stop on his Unconventional Book Tour. Hopefully I’ll have good stuff from that to bring you. If your city is on the remaining list of stops, you should go check it out.

I know that feeling of being “stuck” in a situation. The way may not come easy, but for every reason you have for why you can’t do it, I’ll show you many people who have done it.

Quit Whining or Choose Your Own Path is a post from: Live Collar Free

photo credit: Richo.Fan

It was August 20, 2009. Kristi Coyne was told she would be out of a job as of September 30. Her department of 130 employees would be let go: the county was farming out their mental health services to a private company. It’s a common story these days, but not one that everyone handles the same way.

Kristi had always done everything right. She got good grades in high school, went to college for her Bachelor’s degree, and then went on to get her Master’s in Psychology. She was working for a government-run mental health facility helping the local mental health community instead of pursuing a more lucrative career in private practice. Now she was left with her remaining student loan debt, some letters after her name, and a couple of weeks to figure out what to do — much more than a lot of people get.

The Crossroads

She had an idea that had always been in the back of her mind, but it was not that “right” thing to do. Certainly in this economic downturn going on in America in 2009, it was preposterous. Her work with the mentally ill was rewarding, and she would still be able to practice on the side. But her true passion had always been something else. Like most of us, she was raised being told that such frivolity wasn’t a practical way to make a living. She had always wanted to do something involving fashion. A fan of fabulous clothes of eras past, she had gathered enough of her own to open a store out of her bedroom closet.

Her options were to look for another job, to wait to hear what small percentage of her previous salary this new private company was going to offer to re-hire her, or to make up something else entirely. Messages from her Facebook friends were all encouraging. Her response to it after things had begun to sink in later that day was, “Thanks, guys! Your support has always uplifted me! I’d like to work on creating my own destiny now…”

The Road Unmapped

Two days after she learned that her job was getting outsourced, she looked at retail spaces and found one in an indoor mall in an old train station that she felt would be perfect for a vintage clothing store. The following week, the new company had offered its proposals to some of the laid-off staff. Kristi decided that she could not take the offer, and began a walk down another path.

The sign design was created for Nine Lives Vintage Wears before she even finished her tenure at her old position. She planned to open the doors in the first week of October. This retail store selling vintage clothes, handmade jewelry, and other items made by local artists and craftspeople was opening in a recession. Some people wondered if she was as mentally ill as her prior patients doing something that “crazy” in times like these. Once she convinced them that she was doing it, and at full speed ahead, they got behind her and watched the place take shape quickly. She had been dreaming about this for years, so she had a vision for it already that those people just couldn’t see as clearly.

A New Life

So far the store has done even better than she had hoped, and the people who thought she was doing something frivolous are starting to rethink their own lives. We are often put in situations that test us. Some people choose safety and perceived security, while others feel that would be a form of lifelong torture. The same week she held the grand opening of her store back in October, one of her former co-workers chose a much different path — jumping off of a high bridge to their death.

Kristi chose her path toward happiness and designing the lifestyle she wants. It doesn’t have to be a retail store that makes you happy, but I hope you can find your happy path.

Many people have dealt with layoffs like this. We have mentioned the Lemonade movie before. There are a lot of people out there questioning their worlds right now. Let us know in the comments below if you’ve ever been faced with a decision like this, and how it turned out for you. We’d love to hear your thoughts and story.

Full Disclosure: I don’t get anything if you were to go to Freighthouse Square in Tacoma and shop at Nine Lives Vintage Wears, or become a fan on Facebook, but Kristi’s story is relevant to this blog and my vision for it. It is just a happy coincidence that Kristi is my sister and I am proud of her for being awesome.

Career Outsourcing: Replaced by the Lowest Bidder is a post from: Live Collar Free

If you aren’t yet familiar with Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind, now is a good time to start. Jonathan is a Life Coach and popular Personal Development Blogger who quit his “regular job” to live on his own terms.

I originally became aware of him about a year ago after seeing his contributing posts over on Leo Babauta’s popular blog, Zen Habits. I immediately subscribed to his blog Illuminated Mind, and have since talked a bit with Jonathan on his blog, Twitter, and over on the Black Sheep Project forums that he started. He asked me if I wanted to read his book one day and I was happy to get a copy to give a quick read through.

I realized when he sent it over that this was no sloppy ebook thrown together as a quick collection of past blog posts or regurgitated self-help platitudes.

“Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide To Living On Your Own Terms” is written in Mead’s typically eloquent yet blunt style. It only starts by laying out a step-by-step process for accomplishing the goals set out for the reader. But part two leads us through the process of stripping away any limiting beliefs about what we can or should do with the short life we are given, then it gives us the tools to figure out how get to what we want out of life.

“If you’re not enjoying life, you’re failing. It doesn’t matter if you have a yacht, a BMW, or a six-figure income. If you don’t wake up happy on a daily basis, you’re losing at the game of life.”

As I said, it does not just give you a smattering of tips and hints to change your life. It is no easy task to overcome years of the programming we get from the mainstream. Mead doesn’t snap his magic author fingers and heal your woes or tell you how you need to live your life. That’s for you to figure out. You’re the only one living your life, so make sure you are living your best way.

As Jonathan says, the main purpose of the book is to align your heart and mind. Too often we are in conflict. We don’t do what our heart wants for the sake of practicality or safety, leaving us in a constant state of conflict with ourselves.

There are plenty of exercises and tasks to help guide you to work through each section of the process. You aren’t getting through this one by just a quick browse in your dentist’s waiting room. You could just breeze right through it, but you’d only be short-changing yourself. For it to truly be of any benefit to you, you really need to take some action and complete the exercises.

If you are looking for a quick read or are just going to buy it and leave it sitting unread on your hard drive, then save the few bucks. I am a voracious reader and am always looking for quality information to learn. This is one you need to study.

If you are unhappy with the way your life is heading, even if you’ve always done what you were told was the right thing (quite often it really isn’t, you may be figuring out by now), this book will  open your eyes to the possibilities.

Disclosure: Jonathan did give me a copy of the book to read and review. If you buy it, I don’t make affiliate commissions or anything else. He gave it to me a couple of months before this blog was even online. Jonathan gave me a copy for free because he knows I’m awesome. He knows that if I thought his book sucked, I would say so.  So don’t buy it for me, go buy it for yourself here.

Book Review: Reclaim Your Dreams is a post from: Live Collar Free

Want to travel around the world by motorcycle? Wander the Americas living in an RV? Move to a foreign country? Sail around the world? Love your current life, but want more free time with your kids? Think you can’t? People do these things and more every day.

We’re taught to get a good job working 9 to 5 for 5 days a week. In return, we’ll get money to buy stuff, free weekends and a short annual vacation to rest from our busy work life.

Following this model, after 30-40 years of this, we are rewarded with retirement in our 60’s (now 70′s) so we can do what we really want with what’s left of our lives. So long as we’re careful not to spend all the money we saved up in our labor years.

Society defines us by what we do for a living.  White collar jobs. Blue collar jobs. Even green collar jobs. Who really wants to wear a collar? I don’t want to wear a shirt most days, let alone a collar.

There is nothing “wrong” with that norm, if you’re fulfilled by that lifestyle. I believe we should all live a life that is important to us. That deferred living concept just doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to spend 80% of my waking hours doing something I despise, only to hopefully later be able to enjoy life in retirement.

Life is far too short and the clock is ticking.

There Cannot be Only One

Fortunately, I am not the only one bothered by this concept. There are a multitude of ways people are out living their dreams or doing things they actually enjoy, instead of a 9 to 5 “regular job” or even a job at all.

They are out there living and working from wherever they want, for themselves, freelancing for various clients, or even having corporate jobs they work remotely.  They don’t define themselves by the color of their “collar”, but by many other names, such as Digital Nomads, Location Independent Professionals (LIP), Technomads and many others.

They are usually outside the mainstream or otherwise considered unconventional lifestyles. We’ll cover them for you. We’ll introduce you to them. We will bring you the stories, interviews and reviews of these unusual lifestyles, so you can find the life you want to live.

Lifestyle Design Your Way

We are not going to tell you how you must live your life. We can’t tell you what is important to you. There are many ways to create your own ideal lifestyle, and it doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. You don’t need piles of cash to be successful or happy.

We will show you the ways, and there are many. There are no excuses. There are no limits. You don’t have to live like we’ve been told all these years. You can live however you want. So often people say they’ll do what they dream to do “someday” and they never take another step. That clock just keeps ticking.

Find your passion. Figure out what you want to do and DO IT.

Not “someday”. Not after decades of soul-sapping labor for a company you don’t even like, and that may not even still exist by then.

NOW.

Tick-tock…

Your Invitation to Live Collar Free is a post from: Live Collar Free