All of the following have played a daily part in my journey to a more sustainable life. I list them here not to try and sell you anything (nothing on my site is sponsored or designed to make me a profit), but to share what I have found worked for me. Hopefully they may inspire you to find your own blueprint for your life outside of work.
Fitness:
Whatever physical activity you can find that you enjoy; it’s important to start making installments into your “physical pension”, for a long and active life.
CrossFit
CrossFit is “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. Workouts are a mix of Olympic weighlifting, Calisthenics, Cardio and Gymnastics. It keeps me on my toes, gives me benchmarks to measure myself by and provides me with the social interaction I need to really get my day going. Joining a CrossFit box was the best thing I did to start shaping a healthier life; centered around fitness and community, rather than around work. It’s scaleable to any fitness level, age and physical impediment. Have a look for a gym near you and give it a go!
Calisthenics
Before I started CrossFit, Calisthenics workouts were my jam. Challenging, inspiring and free! They are bodyweight-based and require minimal equipment. Easy to do at any outdoor gym, or if you have your own pull up bars, parellets or rings.
Chris Heria’s ThenX videos and workouts are a good place to start from! His home workouts were super useful during the Corona Lockdowns.
Make sure to throw in some weightlifting and mobility routines to keep your body and bones in the best shape.
Waking Up
I’ve tried others, but for me, this is the app to learn and explore meditation with. It doesn’t frame mindfulness as a method for increasing productivity at work (like some other well know apps do😤), but as a deep, thoughtful and varied life practice that can enrich your life. Amazingly, they provide free scholarship subscriptions to anyone who truly can’t afford a membership.
Food:
BOSH!
I always want freshly cooked, wholefood based meals to form the majority of my diet. Bosh! provide fantastic, easy to cook, recipes for nutritious Plant-based meals with ingredients that are easy to find in the supermarket. There are great tasting free online recipes and printed books. I always turn to them when looking for inspiration. Especially during Christmas or for a home cooked dinner with friends.
Huel
Nutritionally complete, Vegan-friendly meal replacements, they are currently working on making their bags fully recyclable. I drink Huel Black every morning before CrossFit. It starts my day with a boost of 40g of complete protein.
When camping in remote locations, that may not have the best range of healthy Vegan food and proteins available, I stock up on their Hot and Savoury. So far Mexican Chilli, Cajun Pasta, Thai Green Curry and Chick’n and Mushroom Pasta have all hit the spot!
Form Nutrition
A B-Corp that produces the most delicious plant-based protein powders. Their Performance Protein has 30g complete protein per shake, as well as BCAAs, digestive enzymes and curcumin to aid recovery after a workout. They also do a meal replacement, that I may consider switching to since the bags are more environmentally friendly. On top of that they come in plastic free fully compostable packaging. No wasteful plastic scoops are included, just use your tablespoon!
Finance:
This stuff gave me the tools I needed to escape a bad work situation in 2022. I’m so grateful for the inspiration provided by the following documentaries and blogs 🙏.
Playing With FIRE
JLcollins
Often referred to as “The Godfather of FI“. His books, posts and talks are always a bastion of reason and calm that you can turn to when your financial journey feels uncertain or a little lonely.
Mr Money Moustache
Millenial Revolution
I owe Kristy and Bryce a huge thank you. Theirs was the first FIRE blog that I discovered and it set me off down my own road to Financial Independence. They regularly share their experiences as they travel the world. As well as giving great advice on building and protecting your investment portfolio.
Monevator
This is my weekly go-to for a roundup of financial news, blogs and interesting off-beat stories about climate and tech. It has played a big part in my passive investing education so far!
Fashion:
Of course repairing your own clothes or finding what you can at your local/online thrift shop will always be better than buying new, but when those aren’t an option:
PureWaste
Their prices are very close to those you find in a high-street fashion store (e.g a Tshirt for 25€), except all their items are produced using 100% recycled raw materials 🏅.
Books:
Laziness Does Not Exist
This book helped me learn to relax and enjoy being “lazy”. A rare ability in this day of always-be-hustlin.
Four Thousand Weeks
That’s probably how many weeks you have on this earth. The synopsis says it best: “Rejecting the futile modern obsession with ‘getting everything done,’ Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.”
Simple Path to Wealth
Written by the personal finance hero JLColins, this book grew out of a series of letters he wrote for his daughter to explain money and investing. One of the most readable, warm and educational books you can read to start on the subject.
Optionality
This book by Richard Meadows concisely expresses why all this stuff is important.
Focusing on fitness, food and your finances is not about greed, or conspicuous consumption. But about providing you with Options.
By keeping fit and maintaining good health you can travel, work or play sports with your kids and grandchildren well into your old age.
With Financial Independence, you can choose family and relationships over a soul crushing job, start that dream business or focus on the change you want to make in the world.
By making sustainable choices in your consumption, you can choose a much brighter future for you, your kids and every single person on the planet.
Featured Image Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
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