“I don’t want to work so much.”

Daily life is changing. Priorities are changing. What, in the past, was deemed important may no longer be so. What previously garnered most of your attention may no longer seem relevant. Worldwide, perspectives are shifting as people experience a glimpse of a different way of being, amidst a global crisis. This very phenomenon has sparked a new kind of inspiration for this week’s Unconventional Life guest.

Magic Giant’s lead singer, Austin Bisnow, usually spends a lot of time on the road, sometimes playing up to 150 shows per year. 2020 has looked drastically different. Worms, dirt and decay kind of different.

With no time on the road and all the time in the world to be at home in silence and stillness, Bisnow has discovered his mad obsession with composting. That’s right, composting. No, but seriously, this guy is pumped. With glee and a child-like giddiness he describes how passionate he’s become spending his days composting, going for hikes, sweeping the floor and spending time with his wife. He even jokes about his love of composting eclipsing his love of producing music. His enthusiasm and excitement is palpable. This man has hit gold.

“I don’t want to return to the old way. Obviously, it goes without saying that there’s a lot of suffering going on, but there’s obviously a lot of beauty and there are lessons we can learn. Everyone has a different story, but we’re all connected more than we have been before. Because we have this shared empathy of how quickly things can travel around the world.”

If Bisnow and the rest of the world can manage to embody the “live more, work less” practice our world would be a very different place.

It is by way of working less and experiencing the phenomena of free time that Bisnow describes the emergence of presence and fulfillment in doing simple daily chores. When he’s got a never-ending list of to do’s, the sweeping and laundry looks like a burden, not a pleasure. But he removes the never-ending list of to do’s the sweeping and laundry becomes the single focus of his attention-and maybe even joy. Now that, that is a revelation.

Could it be that humanity sees value in simply being without the need for a product or something to show for it?

The best part of his epiphone? He admits that being busy is his self-made monster. And, that he and he alone is responsible for changing that pattern. It comes down to the simple fact that he doesn’t want to work so much.

“I want to make more time for myself.”

He’s found something precious. Silence and stillness.

Let us all take a page from Austin Bisnow’s book and take our foot off of the productivity, “accomplishments” and busyness pedal and stop to be present with where we are. Get your hands in the dirt, go for a walk, and enjoy the miracle of your existence–please.

“Social media is such bullshit”, says Amilya Antonetti frankly when speaking about the facades people are posting. This fierce and fiery human behaviorist, turn-around expert, and entrepreneur gives it to us straight with no lace and frills. Founder of the company now known as “Greenworks”, Amylia has built and sold 19 companies. Amilya states that being an entrepreneur requires people to make sacrifices, fail and change what you’re doing, get back up and try again, and again, and again. She is a businesswoman on a mission.

Direct and to the point, Amilya shares with Unconventional Life her suggestions for people during this co-vid time. She hopes that each person takes the time to re-evaluate their lives and offers a simple exercise that will help listeners to identify their purpose.

Amylia’s success was built from the ground up. She started with something as simple as homemade household products. When she launched in the ’80s no major companies were producing products under the eco-friendly model. The result: her child was reacting to the chemical products in her home.

Amylia’s business success story started with homemade soap. It was the allergic reactions of her young son that inspired her beginnings into business. With no idea what she was doing, she accidentally entered into the 190 billion dollar household products industry, revolutionizing it with the introduction of green solutions. She describes this shift as looking at business differently from the old model.

According to her most current business building resources and schools teach a stockholder focused, hierarchical down structure that excludes customers. In her words, “people cannot be expendable”. The old way of business doesn’t work. The old way of working 20-30 years for a pension and then choosing to live your dream isn’t working. She’s been learning from the millennials and generation alpha with whom she works and mentors. Amilya is determined to bring people into the understanding of who they are, what their “why” is and help them to develop their business around that.

Amylia isn’t afraid to tell entrepreneurs one simple fact. When developing your business and it doesn’t work, you learn and grow and pivot and learn and grow and pivot until you find your fit. It’s okay to change, and try another change, and change one more thing and change again. Making mistakes is an inherent part of the process. Her approach to success requires breaking the old conventional mold of business and requires people to re-evaluate their personal operating systems.

“What have you learned about your reflection? Look at who you were just a moment ago and what about you doesn’t work for you any longer?”

In this time of global change, Amylia is asking entrepreneurs to rethink their current life. Maybe you’re giving your talents away to a job that doesn’t appreciate them, maybe you want to be homeschooling but aren’t, maybe you want to cut down on your daily commute. The increased time at home in social isolation has given each individual a chance to do things they enjoy doing. She urges each person to grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconfigure priorities and change the parts of their lives that aren’t working.

Think. Plan. Execute.

Successful people don’t just walk aimlessly into their next idea, they’re pre-meditative. They spend some time thinking about it before they take their first step. Amilya beckons each person to take some time to ask: Who am I? Do I like who I see when I look in the mirror?

The entire world is ready for a new conversation and you’re invited to the table.

Stop Putting Into The World What Isn’t Important – An Exercise

List the 10 people who have the most influence in your life. These are those you rely on for information (ex. Mother, Father, teacher, friend, colleague)
Name the #1 reason you think these people are friends with you
Send an email to those 10 people and ask them, “why do you have me in your life?”

This exercise helps people to discover their “why” and identify the one thing others rely on you for. What purpose you serve and what you bring to others’ lives. This, according to Amylia, will help you to stop putting into the world what isn’t important. Now, let go of what you think you “should” be doing and start living your purpose.

“The more clear you get on what key you’re giving to others that they’re relying on you for, what are you unlocking for them…there’s your business.”

Know what service you provide to those around you. Offer that gift to the world more widely and most importantly, be okay with being different.

Giveaway
Amilya Antonetti & Lisa Thomas (last week’s UL podcast guest) have developed a 5-week program to help individuals release trauma, patterns, and habits that no longer serve them. One lucky listener will win a spot in this 5 week program. You can apply to win here, a winner will be announced next week.

Connect with Amylia
Visit her website here 
Twitter handle : @amilya
Instagram handle: @amilya_antonetti

This article was written by Olenka Toroshenko

The revolution starts with eating real food. What do you mean, real food? In this week’s episode of The Unconventional Life, we spoke with the myth-busting, unconventional Natural Nutritionist, Steph Lowe who shares her approach to the radical food revolution. Not the advice of your average government-funded nutritionist, Steph brings her wisdom of how to rehabilitate your relationship with food straight to the table.

The nutrition dogma of the past decade was no-fat/low-fat. The nutrition dogma of this decade is no-carb/low carb. For over 10 years, Steph has been trailblazing and myth-busting her way through the nutritional scene, deviating from the rhetoric of the mainstream with her unconventional teachings of a different way of relating to food.

With clarity and simple steps, Steph explains her approach to JERF (just eat real food), the LCHF (low carb high fat), and how the emotional state of mind you approach your food with changes everything about your health.

“JERF” Just Eat Real Food

 Real food is whole food. The definition of whole foods put simply means they

• Comes out of the ground
• Off a tree
• From an animal (this being your ethical/dietary choice)

Essentially, the lower the degree of human interference with the food that we eat, the higher the nutrient density. This is real food. When humans interfere with the process of food, we create a product, not a food. 

“…a  lot of our health issues could have been avoided had we stuck with the diets of our great grandparents”. 

By ensuring that what you eat is whole, real food, foods that are anti-inflammatory in nature, and by switching your body over into the natural fat-burning space we move away from the societal normalization of gas, bloating and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). 

These symptoms are so common and so normalized within our culture. Steph knows from experience that it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Where to start? Breakfast.

You’ve heard it all your life for a reason! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

The first meal you eat in the day sets the precedent for your metabolism and digestion. Steph warns that eating refined carbohydrates and sugar (toast, cereal, etc.) for breakfast sets up your blood sugar to the relentless wheel of craving sugar all day long. It also guarantees you’ll experience the 3:00 PM slump and encourages bad habits like drinking coffee to “get you through the slump”, a midday nap, or feeding the sugar craving with unhealthy snacks. Starting your day with real food ensures you continue making better choices throughout the day.

Breakfast should be rich in plants, proteins, and healthy fats. This helps to control your blood sugar first thing.

“Almost everyone can’t quite understand how to eat vegetables for breakfast. That’s quite a shock, quite a process to change a lifelong habit of what you’ve been fed as a child.”

The greatest unspoken aspect to the digestive struggle: how we relate to our food.

As Steph phrased it, “one of the oldest sayings in the nutrition space is you are what you eat, but we have to reframe that because you are what you digest and absorb. You might be eating all of the most incredible produce in the world, but if you’re not eating properly and if you’re not able to digest and absorb that food, then you can have any host of symptoms, including long-term nutrient deficiencies”. Food habits and food behaviors can change if we can actually make it a priority”.

Step 1: Acknowledge how we eat

The majority of people are “sympathetic dominant” meaning we are busy, stressed, and juggling a lot. This is likely the emotional state we are in when we eat. In 2020, most people have lost the ability to make food a priority. It is vital that we enter a parasympathetic state when we’re eating known as “rest and digest”. 

Step 2: Schedule preparing and eating food into a daily routine as you would a meeting

Literally make space and allocate time to making food a priority in your life. Consider in advance the time it will take to be present with your food. Before eating, take some deep breaths (this will help signal a parasympathetic nervous system response), say a few words with your food in front of you rather than inhaling it, smell your food and give your digestive enzymes time to activate. Eating mindfully! This means no devices, TV, phone calls, or distractions. Be present with your food. Chew 20 times. 20 times?! Yes, 20 times. Your digestive system needs time to function properly, give it that time. Did we already mention no distractions? 

Step 3: Cook once, eat twice

When you prepare dinner, cook twice as much so you have a packed lunch for tomorrow. It’s a simple step that saves you from making those bad choices when you’re on the go. 

Immunity, your gut & coronavirus

80% of your immune system is located in your gut. Start by eating real food. Ensure you’re incorporating foods that are high in vitamin C (bell peppers, broccoli, citrus fruits, berries) and zinc (grass-fed lamb or beef, pumpkin seeds, dark leafy greens) into your diet. These are immune boosters. Keep your gut healthy with regular consumption of natural probiotics (ferments like sauerkraut or fermented beets, etc.). Get your vitamin D from being in the sun. Smaller quantities of vitamin D can be derived from eating eggs, fish, and fatty cod. The key to good immunity is nervous system support with lifestyle choices like yoga and breathwork as well as dietary aids like medicinal mushrooms (reishi) and ashwagandha.

Giveaway!

Steph is generously offering one listener a free copy of her low carb reset pack. Learn about how to eat whole foods, feel great doing it, and get rid of sugar cravings once and for all. This is a 2-week program designed to teach you how to move into a long-term strategy by shifting your metabolism into an anti-inflammatory, fat-burning phase. The program will give you insight into week 3, 4, and beyond. 

Connect with Steph

By heading over to her website or Instagram. Steph is also offering a free complimentary 15 min consultation.

This article was written by Olenka Toroshenko