The Best You January 2015

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AFFLECK

The highs and lows of a Hollywood career – why success is sweeter second time round

PERSONAL THE X FACTOR POWER HOW TO BE YOUR BEST IN 2015

WHY SCIENCE IS KEY TO A GOOD TUNE

CALL WAITING

MOBILE OR MATE – WHICH COMES FIRST? THE BEST YOU REPORTS

LOSE WEIGHT ’I WANT AND GET FIT TO COACH’ MAKE THIS THE YEAR YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

YOUR GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BUSINESS ON TRACK

ALSO: HOW TO EAT WELL AND SAVE CASH

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Contents

January 2015 / Issue No.27

REGULARS 5

EDITOR’S LETTER

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WE SUPPORT...

Bernardo Moya welcomes you to this month’s issue of The Best You

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Cancer Research UK’s January Dryathlon – a fantastic way to clear your head, feel fitter, save money and raise funds

BOOK REVIEWS

A few of our favourite recently published books – fantastic reads to inspire you for the year ahead

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THE BEST YOU DIRECTORY

Where to find the best coaches, trainers and practitioners

FEATURES 22

IT’S REIGNING BEN

Ben Affleck talks about reclaiming Hollywood success, and how tenacity was key to his comeback

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THE MUSIC MAN

John Robinson on why music’s finest turn to him to understand the science of music

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THE BEST YOU INVESTIGATES

16 TOP 6 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS Quitting, starting, getting focused – make 2015 the year you achieve your goals

Mobile addiction? You’re not alone, but is the lure of your smartphone greater than that of your loved one?

INNER YOU 10

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RECONNECT WITH YOUR PERSONAL POWER Are you making the most of your personal power?

Here’s all you need to know to max your potential

NOTES ON CONSCIOUSNESS

How paying attention can be the difference between life and death. Paula Goode reports

ENJOY LIFE 16

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TOP 6 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS We look at the promises we plan to keep

IT’S THE GOOD NEWS

With so much of what we read in the papers being negative, The Best You brings you some good news

THE NEW WORKOUT

French designer Benoit Malta’s two-legged chair is the perfect way to stay fit and healthy while you work

22 IT’S REIGNING BEN Ben Affleck on the highs and lows of box office success, and why hard work and talent shine through

EDITOR / PUBLISHER Bernardo Moya · DEPUTY EDITOR Daska Davis · ASSOCIATE EDITORS Cynthia Phillips and Gail Kingsbury COMMERCIAL CONSULTANT Peter Moore MEDIA DIRECTOR Allan Banford · TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Martin Carter · ADVERTISING advertising@thebestyou.co w w w . t he b e s t yo uma ga z i ne . c o

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LIVE LOVE LEGACY 40

LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS

Relationships can be complex enough, but inter-faith couples often face additional challenges

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ENOUGH ALREADY

Constantly craving the next, biggest, newest everything?

We all strive for more, but contentment is just as satisfying

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THE REAL YOU

Jim Aitkins explains why being true to yourself is the first step to happiness in 2015 and beyond

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WHAT DOES IT TAKE…

…to be a chef? We chat with celebrity chef Dipna Anand about evolving her family’s successful Indian restaurant

FEEL & LOOK GOOD 50

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SUPERHERO SUPPLEMENTS

Can supplements make a difference to your health?

Nermin Ali investigates the benefits

HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS

How a simple common sense approach is key to achieving a successful and sustained healthy body weight

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EAT HEALTHILY ON A BUDGET

46 WHAT DOES IT TAKE… …to be a chef? Meet Dipna Anand who is innovating with her pop-up Indian restaurants

Watching the pennies in January? Here’s how to eat well for less, all year round

WEALTH & RICHES 58

SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES

Lynn Kitchen, one of the Four Dames, explains how she and her friends are helping women to achieve success

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TOP TIPS FOR BUYING A RETIREMENT HOME

Looking to invest for a parent or grandparent? Deborah Stone explains what to look for in a retirement property 62

BECOMING A COACH

Is it your life’s dream to coach others? Jamelle Sanders provides practical advice on achieving your goal

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THE ROCKY ROAD TO SUCCESS

The Best You looks at people, past and present, who worked hard for their moment in the spotlight

21ST CENTURY LIVING 70

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THE INSTAGRAM MOMENT

Lon Safko ponders the success of Instagram and the impact it continues to make to lives, famous and everyday

NEW YEAR, NEW GADGETS

Associate editor Bryan Szabo looks at the tech to tempt us in 2015

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70 THE INSTAGRAM MOMENT How a single app has transformed the way we share our news and life moments

THE BEST YOU

EDITORIAL

WHAT CHANGE WILL YOU MAKE?

This issue, we have plenty of fantastic experts to offer advice and insight to help us succeed in 2015. From weight loss and eating more healthily to business success, there are inspiring stories and practical tips to help us stick to our New Year’s resolutions. We talk with Ben Affleck, whose tenacious attitude to life overcame difficult times, and producer John Robinson who switched career to follow his passion for music.

Out with the old, in with the new? I’m not sure how is it is for you, but for me the years seem to go by faster and faster. New Year is a great time for reflection, and I would encourage you to consider how much your life has changed during the last year. Are you in control of how your life changes, or are external circumstances or other people planning your life for you? The fact is that we are often resistant to change, and we fail to realise that change itself is constant, necessary and altogether good! Life, like water, needs to flow.

Next time things change and you are either frustrated or apprehensive; consider that this could be the start of a great opportunity. Embrace change and be proactive. Don’t let change creep up on you, invite him in.

BERNARDO MOYA,

Someone once said: “If you do not create change, change will create you.” It’s a great statement that reminds us that we are in charge of our own destiny and if we fail to take the helm, we are easily thrown around by life’s forces.

While we must be proactive in seeking our goals, we also need to be flexible and adapt as circumstances unfold.

Sometimes we gain insight when the plan unravels, and tough times certainly make us stronger. Stephen Covey encapsulated this thought when he remarked: “Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition – such as lifting weights – we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.”

Regardless of how straight or tangled our path becomes, change brings progress and new beginnings. Eric Hoffer said: “In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”

Editor-in-chief Follow me: @Bernardo_Moya

SHARE YOUR SUCCESS The Best You is all about inspiring people.

If you have a tale to tell that you think will help someone become the best they can be, get in touch.

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3600 gallery Hotspot

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THE BEST YOU CONTRIBUTORS

ANDREW PARSONS

PAULA GOODE

@reciprocalminds

@goodeinsight

is a pharmacologist, neuroscientist, Master NLP practitioner and executive coach.

He supports individuals in their wellbeing and is a member of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, specialising in the potential of collaboration. He has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications.

is a life and business coach. She has 25 years’ experience in the health sector as a nurse, senior manager and leader.

With a career working at the forefront of healthcare delivery, Paula has worked with organisations that are committed to delivering high performance and innovation. She specialises in transformational change.

JIM AITKINS

RHIANNON LAMBERT

has worked as a nutritionist at a number of London’s most renowned eateries, health boutiques and NHS hospitals.

Much of her work centres on eating disorders and weight management. She has a keen interest in sports science and childhood nutrition.

Rhiannon currently works in Harley Street at The Food Doctor clinic.

@rhiannonlambert

is an American author. He speaks and trains for corporations and organisations on the topics that he also writes about.

He believes that personal growth is not only easier than most people think, but is fun as well. Visit Jim’s blog, Obstacle Blaster at obstacleblaster.com

BRYAN SZABO

is a Canadian-born freelance editor and writer who specialises in helping authors realise their full potential as writers. He believes that everybody has a story that should be told. His appearance on the acknowledgement page of dozens of titles proves that the voice he is helping budding authors to find is a precious thing indeed.

JUSTIN STONEMAN

is a journalist, filmmaker, producer and composer.

Specialising in news investigations, he has written for every national UK newspaper title. Music and production credits include the BBC, Channel 5, QVC and Sky.

@eidolonink

LYNN KITCHEN

is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer and certified life mastery coach, whose mission is to support others to reignite their inner passion and design a legendary life.

She is board chair of Spirit Awakening Foundation, a nonprofit agency that mentors teenage girls released from prison. Lynn lives with her husband in Longboat Key, Florida and Pasadena, CA.

@fourdames

DIPNA ANAND

is on a mission to prove that Indian food can be both tasty and good for you. As the third generation of a family of chefs, Dipna has cooking in her blood. Her family’s restaurant, the Brilliant, has been praised by Prince Charles and Gordon Ramsay.

She is extending the business’s reach with pop up restaurants across the UK.

@dipnaanand

JAMELLE SANDERS

is a business coach who helps people improve their lives and profit from their passions. He tells his life story in his book, Soul journey: empowering the soul for exceptional success, and says that resilience has been his secret weapon in achieving his goal to become a successful coach.

Jamelle is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

LON SAFKO

is a best-selling author, speaker, trainer and consultant. He was the creator of the ‘First Computer To Save A Human Life,’ a term coined by Steve Jobs, Apple, Inc. That computer, along with 18 other inventions and more than 30,000 of Lon‘s papers, are in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

@lonsafko

@jamellesanders

The Best You is published by The Best You Corporation Ltd, 5 Percy Street, W1T 1DG. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect The Best You Corporation Ltd, policy.

The Best You Corporation Ltd accepts no responsibility for views expressed by its contributors.

Advertisements and reader offers are not endorsed by The Best You or The Best You Corporation Ltd.

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INNER YOU

THE BEST

YOU

Connect with the wonderful, special and powerful inside. Learn ways to get your mind and body in balance, bringing out the rich core of your being.

Discover the secrets that will enable you to take charge of your inner life and become the best you.

Life Without Limits

TM

MASTER OF YOUR OWN DESTINY

Andrew Parsons and Ann Craig examine why your success depends on you!

UNDER OBSERVATION

After a career in medicine, author Paula Goode believes awareness is all-powerful

Put your company in this space! To sponsor this page and be part of The Best You, email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

INNER YOU ANDREW PARSONS & ANN CRAIG

RECONNECT WITH YOUR PERSONAL POWER

Andrew Parsons and Ann Craig discuss how to reconnect with your personal power. Doing so can bring drive and momentum to find and maintain the ‘best you’ at work and home

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ow do you make the most of your power to be the best you can be? It’s an interesting concept and one that can have life-changing results. There are simple and highly effective ways to make the most of your own personal power. Here are a set of approaches to help you to focus on unleashing your inner power:

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Develop a mindful practice like meditation, yoga, qigong or a martial art

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Keep a journal of times where you give or take power and identify how you work with people to achieve goals

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Develop your own emotional intelligence and build in a pause to choose your response

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Adopt a learning mindset – especially when things go wrong. Be creative and commit to learning about yourself

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Use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to release your emotions. Balance your energy with meditation or massage

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Find and articulate your purpose, one day at a time

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Power has many meanings. It can be a noun, ‘the capability to do something or act’; or a verb, giving power to the team or to make something powerful. In physics, power is the rate of energy per unit time, and in psychology it is the probability of achieving your own intent or will, despite resistance.

We often link power with control.

To have power is often thought of as hierarchical. We give power to people in positions of authority or who have access to knowledge that is useful to us. Power can be coercive or directive but can be gained by influence.

To reconnect your own personal power, notice how you give power away to others. There may be good reason to do this; you would always give power to a pilot who knew how to fly a plane. Start to notice how you give and take power – what are the patterns that emerge?

Power is linked to your ‘will’, that mindset which results in deliberate actions. So how do you get your way?

Do you try and force an issue, do you recognise the value in others or try and find that elusive win-win position on every occasion?

Your personal power can often disconnect in times of a clash of

wills. For example, two people using force will be quite draining for both individuals, so reconnect by adapting your approach. To achieve this you need to have a sound awareness of what is going on in your world.

Awareness is a central element in being able to reconnect and maintain your personal power. It is also an important part of Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI has become widely recognised in the last few years as a key life skill. It involves awareness of some key areas, such as your own emotions, so that you can manage them, as well as consider the emotions of others to handle the ups and downs of relationships.

Think of ways to harness your own emotions to motivate yourself, and reconnect with your power to keep learning even when things are not going to plan.

Within Eastern traditions, there are insights that can be useful. One of these is embracing creative art to learn about yourself and what is important to you in your life. There is also a core belief in the balance of being both firm yet flexible, and

using internal and external power for training your mind and body.

In Chinese tradition, Qi is the concept of life force that fills the universe and flows within us and has been studied for thousands of years.

Traditional Chinese medicine suggests that ill health occurs when the flow of energy is blocked or unbalanced. Reconnect with your personal power by finding ways to re-establish the flow of energy.

EFT is one self-help way to achieve this. Within this approach, there is a process of tapping on key meridian points within the body, usually associated with stating affirmations.

The technique has been used for working with people suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is actively researched in these areas. Use EFT to release your emotion and reconnect with your power can be hugely beneficial.

Other traditions in the Indian subcontinent suggest that bodily energy centres are found in seven chakras.

These are the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, between the eyes and crown (top of the head).

Each is associated with various areas of our lives and has a corresponding sound, colour and energy. It is possible to balance your chakra energy and reconnect with colour through both meditation and massage.

It is also interesting to learn from others’ experiences and to marvel at how others maintain their power in the face of adversity. One story that has great resonance and exemplifies this is that of psychologist Viktor Frankl. He was a Holocaust camp survivor and wrote in detail about his experiences in Man’s Search for Meaning.

His work was developed into a psychotherapeutic approach to help others. Within the book and in the subsequent study, he examined how he had maintained his power throughout those terrible conditions.

The technique focused on the need to find a purpose that helps us to feel positive and enables us to im-

merse ourselves in that world.

Reconnecting with our individual personal power is both a simple and complex thing, but the results can be hugely rewarding and can help us to be the best that we can be. A little like painting the Forth Road Bridge, you can only do it one bit at a time but starting is the greatest step.

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‘There is a core belief in the balance of being both firm yet flexible, and using internal and external power for training your mind and body’

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INNER YOU

NOTES ON CONSCIOUSNESS The power of observation or lack of it fascinates Paula Goode, particularly the ability of nurses to notice changes in their patients

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here is a plethora of research into the subject of taking accurate observations. In the case of assessing children displaying various levels of consciousness, nurses did not seem to reliably agree with each other, at least not independently. To short a long story, irrespective of the training, overall, nurses did not agree with each other in the assessments of these complex patients. What was clear in observing this phenomenon at play in clinical practice was that they liked a reference point, the opinion of another nurse. The downside of this, is that without the ability to make independent judgements and assessments of situations, we are heavily reliant on those around us to give us our opinions at any moment in time and this can relate to just about anything. We are also heavily reliant on our reference point being right.

SIXTH SENSE Nurses use observation tools, but the wisdom of the nurse tells them more.

They develop a sense of knowing, what feels right and what doesn’t. Some people call this intuition or sixth sense.

This applies to just about anything, not just to observing sick patients.

A wise nurse can feel there is something wrong before it can be measured, named or seen in a fully articulated way. They instinctively know and can be

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so confident about this that they don’t need an experienced doctor to tell them whether there is or isn’t a problem with a patient.

Patricia Benner wrote about this in 1984 in From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice. The reason for sharing this experience stems from the continued observation that humans are extremely externally referenced.

We take our previous experiences of life and use them as a reference point for future decisions. If we have people we trust in our life we can sometimes use their reference points too, but in general we hang out with like-minded people.

This means that we can develop a limited consciousness about why things aren’t quite how we want them – it’s our blind spot.

Much of the sphere of personal self-development recognises this, yet the phenomenon is difficult to measure as it’s so subjective. We just seem to know it’s true. The reality is that it feels safer being externally

validated by others and having our opinions affirmed by people who share the same beliefs as us.

Interestingly, when we are stuck we seek out coaches and experts who can help us shake up lifelong beliefs. It’s why people don’t always reach their full potential or live the life they daydream about.

Transformation can be uncomfortable, it doesn’t always mean hanging out with people who share your views and map of the world. Who wants to know they’ve been carrying the wrong map and that they may have been travelling in the wrong direction? Who wants to know that the thoughts that keep them in their comfort zone also keep them from success? Keep on doing what you’ve always done and you’ll keep getting the same result.

There’s huge mileage in the view that hanging out with or modelling yourself against people who have achieved more success in an aspect of their life than you have, whether business or personal, we can learn more about how to get there. There’s

something about being conscious about whom we learn from and whom we seek advice from.

In summary, if you are going to be externally referenced, be sure to seek out those people who have demonstrated mastery in the field that is specific to your needs.

To return to the medical world, in the case of a nurse, don’t ask a junior doctor about the care of a critically ill patient. If you need advice on how to write a book, ask an author who has written a bestseller. Or, if you want to run a prosperous business, take counsel from someone who has done precisely that themselves.

If you want a loving relationship, don’t take counsel from an unhappily married friend. The method applies to all aspects of life. The question is, how will you live yours?

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Has someone supported your path to success? Tell us about your life experience – email info@thebestyou.co

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ENJOY LIFE

THE BEST

YOU

Laughter, humour, travel, love – these are the things that add the sparkle that makes life worth living. Climb a mountain, give to others, start a family, embrace life. What are the things you wish you had done but haven’t yet? Life is no rehearsal – enjoy life every day.

Life Without Limits

TM

TOP 6 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

We look at the most popular things we resolve to do

IT’S THE GOOD NEWS

The Best You brings you positive stories

DESIGN TO BOOST YOUR HEALTH

An innovative furniture design could be a health boost

Put your company in this space! To sponsor this page and be part of The Best You, email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

ENJOY LIFE

TOP SIX

TOP 6

New Year’s resolutions 1. LOSE WEIGHT

After Christmas’ excesses, for many of us the #1 goal at the start of the year is to shed a few pounds. Improved health can be a life-changer and the psychological boost to feeling good about ourselves is significant. Better food choices, watching portion sizes and boosting activity levels are key to success.

Stick with it Visit www.nhs.uk/livewell for practical advice on losing weight, and read our article by nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert on page 52.

2. GET FIT

It’s 1 January, time to pull on those trainers and hit the gym. If membership fees worry you, there are tons of ways to be active for free. Walking, skipping, even window shopping at speed are easy ways to get some exercise.

Stick with it Visit www.nhs.uk/livewell for ideas to get active – download free podcasts that provide a virtual coach to keep you motivated.

3. QUIT SMOKING

A life without addiction to cigarettes is most definitely within your power, no matter how long you’ve been smoking for. There are a number of successful strategies to break the habit without the need to revert to e-cigarettes.

Stick with it Visit www.nhs.uk/livewell to find out details of your nearest NHS Stop Smoking service, or call 0300 1231044 to talk with a trained adviser.

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TOP SIX

ENJOY LIFE

For many of us, New Year is the perfect time to make big life changes – The Best You discovers the resolutions that we are most likely to make

4. DRINK LESS

With recent changes to drink driving levels north of the border, plus an industry shift towards encouraging responsible drinking, there are both social and health reasons to review your alcohol intake. Swapping to nonalcoholic beverages means you don’t have to miss out on the good times.

Stick with it Visit www.nhs.uk/change4life for practical tips and advice on cutting back.

5. SORT YOUR FINANCES

If Christmas bills have left you in a financial mess, take action now to ensure that you get things back on track. From practical advice to understanding and managing debt, there’s lots of ways to save cash.

Stick with it Visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk for free advice on your rights, and moneysavingexpert.com has daily tips to manage your finances.

6. SEE THE WORLD

If you’ve always longed to travel, make this the year that you do it. Why not go off the tourist track and enjoy a life-changing journey – visit online forums and read about other’s adventures before planning your own.

Stick with it There are tons of online travel guides, but two of our favourites to try are lonelyplanet.com and wanderlust.co.uk for global inspiration.

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ENJOY LIFE WE SUPPORT

WE SUPPORT CANCER RESEARCH UK Cancer Research UK is the world’s largest independent cancer research charity, covering prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This month it is encouraging us to join in its Dryathlon event

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fter you’ve finished singing, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and toasting in the New Year, chances are you’ll be ready to take a break from the excesses of the season. If you are thinking about banishing the booze for a few weeks, why not combine this with an opportunity to raise cash for a charity that is helping to save lives from cancer?

Cancer Research UK is celebrating January with a month-long initiative that encourages people to quit drinking alcohol, as part of a fundraising drive. Last year, Emma was inspired to get involved in its Dryathlon, and switched to nonalcoholic drinks to help the charity.

Emma was diagnosed with cancer when she was just five. When her mum realised that her stomach was swollen, even though she wasn’t eating anything, she had tests and it was discovered that she had a tumour on her right kidney.

Emma had chemotherapy, then surgery to remove her kidney, followed by more chemotherapy and finally radiotherapy to mop up

any stray cancer cells. “I don’t really remember much about my cancer treatment, but I do remember being given blood transfusions, which we called ‘my lively juice’ because they gave me so much energy!”

Apart from a few minor health problems, Emma is now fine and is studying fashion at the Arts University Bournemouth. When she heard about Cancer Research UK’s Dryathlon, she told her best friend Ella about it. At first it seemed a tough challenge, especially being students surrounded by people drinking! But over Christmas they decided to give it a go. “It was hard but we still went out and had a good time with our friends.”

All of their friends were supportive, and Emma and Ella raised £500 – an achievement they were particularly proud of since most of their sponsors were hard-up students.

Taking on the challenge could have lots of potential perks. Just imagine what you could achieve in an ironwilled month without hangovers.

Along with raising cash for Cancer Research UK, the charity believes

there are plenty of benefits to banishing the booze. You will: • Feel more energetic • Sleep better and even snore less • Cut the calories and lose weight • Eat more healthily and increase your activity levels • Boost your bank balance • Feel a sense of achievement • Adopt a fresh approach to alcohol consumption • Have time to do the things you keep putting off. Use the time to take a yoga class or write a novel Last but not least, every pound you raise will go towards Cancer Research UK’s life-saving research.

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To get involved in Dryathlon, visit www.dryathlon.org.uk

‘Give up alcohol for January and join the fight to help beat cancer sooner’

OTHER WORTHY CAUSES THE BEST YOU SUPPORTS Teenage Cancer Trust www.teenagecancertrust.org

SMA Trust www.smatrust.org

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Katie Piper Foundation

Children Of The Night

War Child

The Children’s Trust

www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk

www.warchild.org.uk

www.childrenofthenight.org

www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk

THE GOOD NEWS

THE GOOD NEWS

ENJOY LIFE

Newspaper and television reports tend to focus on the negative aspects of life.

That’s why The Best You brings you snippets of good news from around the world

UN HIGHLIGHTS AWARENESS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING The United Nations is the latest world organisation to lead discussion and lend its support to global awareness of human trafficking and sexual slavery.

A campaign to focus attention on the estimated 30m people in slavery worldwide was initiated by the US Senate in 2007. On 11 January, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day will encourage action to tackle the problem of modern slavery.

According to UNICEF, 2m children are estimated to be trafficking victims of the sex trade each year. The average age of a girl being forced into the US domestic sex slavery market is 13 and the average cost of a slave around the world is shockingly just $90.

To find our more and join the fight against modern slavery, visit www.polarisproject.org, www.freetheslaves.net and www.unicef.org/protection

100% WASTE-POWERED STORE One of the UK’s leading supermarkets has teamed up with waste recycling company Biffa to create the world’s first-ever waste-powered supermarket.

The Sainsbury’s store in Cannock produces energy through anaerobic digestion of leftover

food which enables it to safely disconnect from the national power grid.

Once food and poverty charities utilise safe and edible leftover products, food waste is transported to Biffa’s nearby plant where it is converted into biogas and

energy generation.

The electricity that is created is then sent back to power the store via a 1.5km transmission line.

The supermarket claims that none of its food waste goes to landfill and is the UK’s largest user of this type of technology.

MALARIA DEATHS HALVED

Since 2000, the number of people dying from malaria across the world has halved, according to The World Health Organisation. Increased funding, global and regional efforts have contributed to the fall which has saved up to 4.3m deaths – 3.9m of which are African children.

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ENJOY LIFE BENOIT MALTA

THE NEW WORKOUT We are often encouraged to get up out of our chair and move around more often. Designer Benoit Malta has created furniture that does precisely that

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ow many times each week do you think to yourself, ‘I must exercise more’. It’s a tricky challenge that most of us face, particularly if our working lives are largely sedentary. Glued to the office chair, we rarely get up except to grab a coffee, some lunch or papers from the printer.

Conscious of modern lifestyles, a French designer, Benoit Malta, has come up with a radical piece of furniture which encourages us to use our muscles as we sit, and to get up and move about more frequently.

While it’s neither the answer to inactivity, nor will replace the need to exercise any time soon, the design, named Inactivité, is both purposeful and aesthetically pleasing.

Born in 1990, Malta trained in mechanical product conception and engineering, and subsequently in

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product design. “Through my design process, I try to ask myself about our ways of living,” he explains. “I like to look for a way to give meaning to all kinds of objects.

“Nowadays, we are not moving a lot because of our way of living. Domestic activities are less and less physical, they could even disappear with the evolution of technologies. My ideas aim to imagine new domestic activities in order to encourage movement.

Conceiving spaces with this idea could create new perceptions of our domestic space.”

Malta’s two-legged chair aims to result in better wellbeing for the user.

Much like an exercise ball, Inactivité forces users to have better posture to maintain balance through other muscles. “The aim of the chair was to avoid stationary postures as much as possible and encourage mobility,” continues Malta.

“I aimed to create a ‘bearable discomfort’ that encourages wellbeing.

The chair proposes another way to sit. Its structure, built on only two feet, allows the stimulation of different parts of the body through a passive situation. This enables people to adopt the best posture on the chair.”

Malta has already attracted the attention of the design industry and his work was exhibited at Paris’ prestigious Pompidou Centre at the end of 2014. His innovative design ideas have also included a tidy zone, inspired by climbing holds, that is comprised of several storage surfaces at different heights that encourage us to stretch to reach the things that we regularly use and touch.

By challenging the status quo of design, we have the potential to make a difference to our lives, wellbeing and happiness. Something as simple as a chair could just be a life-saver.

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BENOIT MALTA

ENJOY LIFE

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IT’S REIGNING

BEN

It may seem that Ben Affleck leads a charmed life, but things weren’t always easy for the actor, director and philanthropist. He’s had his fair share of ups and downs, but he demonstrates that tenacity and talent count

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nd so, there came a day when Ben Affleck turned to his best buddy Matt Damon and said, “I am in the absolute worst place you can be. I can sell magazines, but I can’t sell movie tickets.” The early 2000s were a bad time to be Ben Affleck. His career had taken a nose-dive after critically lacklustre roles in Daredevil, Surviving Christmas, Jersey Girl and, the biggest turkey of them all, Gigli, with then-fiancée Jennifer Lopez. His personal life was tabloid fodder and he was widely dismissed as an untalented pretty-boy hack.

It seemed everybody derided Ben Affleck, which was strange, as he is recognised by friends and industry insiders as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, and is rightly lauded for his philanthropic pursuits. Yet, Affleck has clawed his way back to credibility and success, currently riding high in his very own Cinderella story.

Affleck has achieved widespread critical acclaim as the director of films such as The Town, Gone Baby Gone and Argo. He’s also enjoying a renaissance as an actor with a celebrated role in Gone Girl and an enormous amount of hype surrounding his upcoming appearance as Batman in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. And he has a fairy-tale family with fellow actor Jennifer Garner. It’s been a hell of a ride: the rise and fall and rise of Ben Affleck.

THE EARLY YEARS Born Ben Geza Affleck in 1972 in Berkley, California, his family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts when he was two. The household was politically active and Affleck grew up surrounded by activists and artists.

Both he and his brother, Casey, were interested in acting from an early age and auditioned for television advertisements and film roles through their mother’s friendship with a casting director.

At eight, he met ten-year-old Matt Damon and the two quickly became inseparable. Although in different grades, they spent lunch breaks discussing their plans to become actors. As teenagers, Affleck and Damon travelled to New York for auditions, saving money for train and airline tickets in a joint bank account.

Affleck enjoyed a few small roles in film and television while he was growing up, but his first big break was as a high school bully in Richard Linklater’s movie, Dazed and Confused. He also starred in a couple of films directed by his good friend Kevin Smith including Mall Rats and the lead role in Chasing Amy. The real breakthrough came with Good Will Hunting, the award-winning film that he co-wrote and co-starred in with Damon.

“That period in my life was dreamlike”, he says.

“It was like one of those scenes in an old movie when a newspaper comes spinning out of the black on to the screen. You know, ‘Hundred million box office! Awards!’”

He and Damon enjoyed enormous success afterwards, with Affleck courting Hollywood blockbuster stardom in films such as action extravaganza Armageddon, rom-com Forces of Nature, and war epic Pearl Harbor.

He took the role of Matt Murdock in superhero movie, Daredevil. It was a character he had loved as a child, and

George Clooney and Ben Affleck celebrate success at the 85th Academy Awards

he was excited about the role. It was while making the film that he met his future wife, Jennifer Garner, who co-starred with him. The film was a commercial and critical failure, a fact that haunts him to this day.

“Daredevil was the only movie I actually regret”, he says.

“It just kills me. I love that story, that character, and the fact that it got f****d up the way it did stays with me.”

A string of poorly-received roles followed, with the nadir being crime-caper Gigli. Part of the reason that the film was so gleefully derided was that he was starring with his then-fiancée Jennifer Lopez. Their relationship at the time was on the front page of every tabloid. ‘Bennifer’, as their romance was dubbed, brought an enormous amount of pressure onto Affleck and his career.

The Los Angeles Times published an article on the downfall of Affleck’s career, commenting: ‘While the critics see Affleck as a big piñata and the tabloids see him as a reader magnet, few industry professionals seem to be gloating over Affleck’s travails.’

RETURN TO STARDOM It took a while, but Affleck managed to pull out of the tailspin. He took a two-year break from acting, lamenting the fact that he was being sent only terrible scripts.

Despite the difficulties that he encountered, Affleck is reluctant to complain. “I was a little bit exhausted of both myself and my life, so I wanted to try to control or manage it”, he says. “I definitely reject the narrative

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COVER STORY THE BEST YOU that says, you know, ‘Bad guy turns it around’. I wasn’t a criminal.”

He eventually returned to acting with a well-received performance as George Reeves in Hollywood. But his true comeback started when he took up directing. His first film, Gone Baby Gone, was a crime drama starring his brother, Casey, and set in his old stomping ground of Boston. It received rave reviews and paved the way for his second feature, The Town. This got the world thinking that possibly it was wrong about writing Affleck off. This was confirmed when he won the Best Picture Oscar for the third film he directed, Argo.

“I was thrilled for him”, Matt Damon says of his best friend. “He deserved everything he was getting. Just for going through what he went through, he deserves it. It was tough watching him get kicked in the teeth for all those years because the perception of him was so not who he actually was. I always felt a knee-jerk need to defend him. It was upsetting for a lot of his friends because he’s the smartest, funniest, nicest, kindest, incredibly talented guy. And the perception of him was the opposite. That was tough.”

Things are continuing to look good for Affleck, with Gone Girl receiving critical acclaim. “Once I knew David Fincher was doing it, I was in. Absolutely. I would have done the phone book with him.” The film tells the story of a kidnapped woman (Rosumand Pike) and her husband’s (Affleck) quest to find her. A media circus springs up around the case, with incredible pressure being brought to bear on Affleck’s character – something he knows quite a bit about in real life.

“It’s a little different”, he says. “I mean, I’ve definitely had a lot of experience with the press and I’ve been doing this

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COVER STORY

as an actor now for a while, so I’ve sort of seen a lot of different sides of it. This particular satire is about the cable media, the way that it finds sensationalism and it uses that sanctimoniously. Part of our culture has become kind of addicted to that. We’re always turning on the TV and it’s like the same 20 seconds of the same story, over and over again.”

BEN AFFLECK AT A GLANCE

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS Affleck chooses to focus his efforts on other worthwhile causes. He was drawn to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s coverage of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has made numerous trips to the region to educate himself through meetings with academics, philanthropists, people at NGOs and those who work on the ground.

During two 2008 trips, Affleck reported on the region’s crisis for ABC News Nightline and directed a short film, Gimme Shelter, for the UN Refugee Agency.

During the Kony 2012 campaign, Affleck also wrote an essay for The Huffington Post. While welcoming increased awareness of the issue of child soldiers, he warned that Western ‘saviours’ are “ineffectual at best and deadly at worst” and stressed the importance of funding “remarkable local organisations.”

Affleck also supports a number of other causes including the A-T Children’s Project, cancer project Jimmy’s Fund, war veteran support initiative Operation Gratitude, and feeding scheme Feeding America.

Throughout all of this – the hardships and the success – he has remained humble, hardworking and unfailingly nice. With that level of good karma, it seems likely that the good times will continue to roll on.

Yes, it seems like Ben Affleck is finally in the absolute best place to be.

• Began his career as a child actor, starring in the PBS educational series, The Voyage of the Mimi

• Born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt on 15 August 1972 • Received two Academy Awards for writing and producing, and three Golden Globe Awards for his work as a director, writer and producer

• Later appeared in Dazed and Confused and various Kevin Smith films including Chasing Amy and Dogma • Gained fame when he and childhood friend Matt Damon won the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting in 1997 • Subsequently starred in high-profile films including Armageddon, Shakespeare in Love, Pearl Harbor, Changing Lanes and The Sum of All Fears • In 2016, Affleck will portray Batman in the upcoming Batman v Superman • Affleck is the co-founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, a grant-making and advocacy-based non-profit organisation • Married Jennifer Garner in 2005. The couple have three children

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FEATURE THE BEST YOU

THE MUSIC MAN From the cutting edge of science to making music for pop stars – Justin Stoneman joins John Robinson in his studio to discover an extraordinary tale of risk-taking, dream-chasing and success

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THE BEST YOU

FEATURE

H

ow does a maths genius break into the entertainment world? “It’s simple really,” John Robinson says. “Music is maths, so get the sums right and the listener is happy.” The producer’s North London complex, home to his Clique Productions entertainment company, is a 24-hour hive of activity. Artists from every musical genre flock for the attention of the man known affectionately as the ‘vocal doctor’. His sanctuary provides creative space for acts from across the globe.

“Music is a conveyor belt and the best writers shape patterns, they are older, they learn their skills over many years,” he reveals. “Writing modern pop music is inherently mathematically – and producing it is a science.”

From modern production secrets to a revelation on Simon Cowell’s recent huge industry miscalculation, Robinson has insights into what makes an elite talent in the creative industry. “The overlap between science and music has always been my obsession so I decided to stretch and examine that relationship,” he tells us. “I have not been disappointed.”

Those at the very top of their field know that true dominance demands a multi-disciplined approach. The world’s top football managers are master psychologists.

The finest lawyers are tacticians. Internet gurus combine a technical prowess with creative flair.

The marriage of numbers and music has long been established. Musical greats from Stravinsky to James Taylor have noted how their finest compositions were shaped by numbers. As far back as 338 B.C. classical mathematicians such as Plato were observing the link.

Robinson is now putting a clever modern twist on how numbers can make us dance. Plato would shake his butt in approval.

CREATIVE JOURNEY Robinson’s typical working day starts at 7am and finishes sometime after midnight. “I love it,” he says. “I don’t regard doing what I love as work. I nip home, grab a couple of hours sleep, then wake up excited to return to my mixing day for another day of surreal magic.”

With his reputation on the rise – BBC Radio One’s cameras are vacating the studio as I arrive – interviews are something the softly-spoken gent is getting used to – it is a timely point to spotlight Robinson’s highly unusual path to success.

“Science was my first love, but music was in my blood,” he recalls. “I remember always reaching up to play the piano as a kid. My parents eventually paid for an expensive music teacher, but she was incredibly boring, so I left. I was mortified that I’d wasted my parents’ money, yet I still yearned to play. Anytime they would leave the house I’d secretly run to the piano and play for hours. It fascinated me. As a kid, I always played in secret shame.”

His early achievements were dominated with science and maths. “I did my honours degree in physics and electronics, became a systems design engineer, and

I soon got involved in a few rather interesting things.”

Robinson’s humility is camouflage. In truth, his brilliance led him to being head hunted for a whole host of highlevel projects, from designing countermeasures against underwater mines to maintaining elite computer systems.

“I signed the Official Secrets Act,” he says. “I can’t talk in detail about certain things but I enjoyed diverse projects.

If I knew then that I’d end up making my living from creating drum and bass beats at 4am I’d probably be gobsmacked. Life has a funny way of throwing us curve balls that we can’t anticipate.”

To his credit, Robinson has very much chosen to throw the balls himself. Just over ten years ago, at an age when most enjoy slipstream into the finest parts of their careers, Robinson followed his heart. “I just decided to leap into a different world,” he says. “I have always loved and lived music so it felt like a natural and life-affirming decision to take.

“I had worked in a music shop when I was younger, fixing the electronics on instruments, so I knew I had the

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FEATURE THE BEST YOU skills required to put together a studio.

The overlap between science and music has always been a personal obsession, so I decided to stretch and examine that relationship. Thankfully, I have not been disappointed.”

CHART STARS While the music stars we read about in the media seem to be cool kids with effortless creative talent, the truth is that the analytical minds of Robinson are those who really create most of the modern music we listen to.

“The biggest hit songwriters and producers are not names most people recognise,” he explains. “The largest industry cheques are rarely cashed by the prettiest faces. Music is a conveyor belt and the best writers shape the patterns. They are older and have learned their skills over many years.

They don’t get chased down the street by photographers and that is exactly the way they like it. Writing modern pop music is inherently mathematical and producing it is a science.”

I’m eager to discover Robinson’s views on what reality television has done to the music industry. He has worked with various artists from BBC’s The Voice, ITV’s X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, alongside upcoming stars from BBC Introducing.

“These shows produce packages and market them,” he says. “Simon Cowell is clever and uses strategies and spreadsheets to make decisions. He rolls the dice. I was intrigued by his masterplan to have an eight-piece boyband on the latest series. It was no surprise when Stereo Kicks fell before the final.” I’m intrigued – why not just add some extra faces to attract more fans? Science could tell us it would not work.

What did Robinson know that the rest of us did not? “Well, firstly, our shortterm recall is set at seven items max, closer to five on average,” he explains, “George Miller and others have proved that. It is no coincidence that boybands have always been carefully pruned up to a limit of five members.

“Secondly, you cannot really hear more than seven things at once – so both psychology and science dictate that Cowell got it wrong that time. Too many voices. It’s a rare miss, maybe he

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needs to turn the radio down and listen to what the numbers are telling him.” It’s knowledge that means that Robinson will be leading the music chart’s stars, long after the current crop of household names are long gone.

THE SCIENCE OF SOUND

Intrigued why some tunes are earworms while others fade from memory almost as soon as you hear them? Here’s John Robinson’s scientific explanation of music.

MP3 MANIPULATION

Years of research produced the MP3 compression technique that best reduces information without affecting its perceived quality, but I know where the shortcuts were made. When a loud percussive sound reaches the ear, a strange ‘memory loss’ moment occurs.

The mind ignores the last few milliseconds of sound just before the hit. In MP3 encoding, this small section of audio is removed as it’s not perceived by the listener, they just hear the ‘bang!’ So, I simply try to avoid placing any important lyric or musical hook line immediately before a loud percussive sound.

PITCH PERFECT

If a vocalist is struggling, brain knowledge is useful. I play a note on the piano then tell them to listen to it as it fades and to raise their hand when they can no longer hear it.

Then I ask them to repeat the process, but this time rather than raise their hand they should sing the first note that comes naturally.

On every occasion, the singer is able to sing the correct note.

The science? As the note fades to silence, the singer’s brain tries to maintain its level. The stimulus from the nerves in the ear are effectively amplified by the act of listening to keep the note at the same loudness in their mind. Just before the point where the singer has lost the connection with the sound totally and it has died to silence, it has been almost completely reproduced and

replaced by the version in their brain.

In the process of creating this note the vocal chords involuntarily move and tense ready to reproduce the sound.

STEREO MANIPULATION

The auditory processing part of the brain quickly calculates the time difference from ear to ear – the result gives us immediate knowledge of where the sound originated from. The invention of ‘stereo’ sent an instrument sound to either the left or right speaker, but it is really just faking the true spatial location effect. For a truer feeling, I split the sound in two, feed half of it to one speaker directly, then also add a very short delay to the other side. I use this effect in a mix when I want to make an instrument grab attention. The sound will appear to be moving with you in a space just behind the speakers as you walk around the room.

RESETTING EARS

Producers’ ears become less sensitive to higher frequency sounds. Tired ears add too much brightness to mixes and can sound shrill. Noise is the cure I use.

Described by its colour – white is startling, pink is warmer – ‘noise’ contains all the frequencies of sound, randomly mixed together. Sound is turned into electrical impulses by the nerves linking to the audio pathway to the brain.

It is spread evenly across all the nerves which respond to different frequencies allowing them all to stimulate the brain by a similar amount. I use noise to act like a reset button to my ears, the effect lasts about three hours for my ears, but your mileage may vary. Now you know the science, think about what’s happening the next time you hear your favourite tune.

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KEEP IN TOUCH

The Best You’s recent survey shows that some of us are more likely to choose our mobile phones over our loved ones. We ask if gadgets are hampering our relationships

I

f you had to spend the next 24 hours without a romantic partner or your mobile phone, which would you pick? The Best You’s recent survey has revealed that 26 per cent of Britons – more than a quarter of us – would rather spend 24 hours without their romantic partner than their mobile phone.

The question wouldn’t exist 15 years ago, and wouldn’t be plausible more than a decade ago. In recent times, we appear to have become bonded to our mobile phones.

Indeed, as you read this, it is likely that your phone is within reach of your hands. When you walk down the street, you’ll see most people with their heads bowed, faces lit up by the ghostly glow of an LCD screen, plugged into the ubiquitous web of

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connectivity.

Technology is empowering, but we need to be careful though, as research indicates that our relationships with mobile devices are becoming unhealthy. Our interactions with those admittedly nifty little gizmos have fundamentally changed those with loved ones.

Think back to any of your recent interactions and ask yourself whether you recall the people around you at any point picking up their mobile phone, however briefly, to check messages, reply to a quick email, post social media updates or take a picture. Bet the answer is yes, and that in all probability you were similarly distracted by the bleeps and flashes of the screen.

It’s hard to blame you, as our

phones have become indispensable appendages to our daily lives.

They are our calendars, personal assistants, archival memories and lifelines to the world around us.

There is no doubting the benefits of the mobile phone.

Ease of communication, the ‘anywhere, anytime’ contact with friends, relations, colleagues and – in theory at least – the efficiency brought to busy lives. The benefits have been sold to us worldwide by the mobile phone industry, and in the main we have made the judgment that, yes, the mobile phone is an exceptionally useful tool that advances personal communication beyond all our expectations of only a few years ago.

Undoubtedly future developments

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just around the corner will equally amaze. We do, however, need to be mindful of the extent to which we are enslaved to our devices.

PAY ATTENTION Studies by Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein of the University of Essex have shown that our phones can actually have damaging effects on our personal relationships.

Indeed, the mere proximity of a mobile phone was shown to have a negative impact on meaningful interaction. During the study, pairs of strangers were seated in private booths and asked to relay personal details of each other’s lives for ten minutes. They were seated very closely together, facing each other, with a desk positioned just out of their direct line of sight. On the desk was either a pocket notebook or a mobile phone.

After ten minutes elapsed, they answered questions about the level of attention and degree of intimacy that they experienced with their conversation partner. The results

showed that those pairs who chatted in the presence of the phone reported lower levels of engagement than those with the book. Having a phone close by, even turned off, distracted the participants enough to detract from their ability to empathise and engage in meaningful conversation with another person.

Conversely, interacting in a neutral environment, without a mobile phone nearby, seemed to help foster closeness, connectedness, interpersonal trust, and perceptions of empathy.

We have been trained to expect phone alerts and respond to them immediately, leaving us only ever partially engaged with our present company. By virtue of their many features and powerful capabilities, they present a hugely irresistible assortment of social, instrumental and entertainment distractions.

If you’re old enough, you’ll be able to remember a time before mobile phones dominated our lives. Young people, however, have been reared on constant connectivity and virtual

relationships. This is concerning for a number of reasons. A recent set of studies indicates that young people use their mobile devices differently than older adults.

Young people rely on text messages to communicate while older people send and receive substantially fewer texts. In the over 50 group, more than 80 per cent send and receive fewer than ten texts daily, while young adults text much more every day.

The latter use this as their primary method of contacting friends – over 80 per cent report texting as their preferred method. Older groups prefer calling or emailing.

Part of this means that young people expect faster responses to texts and are more likely to be impatient with delays in someone getting back to them.

This can cause both anxiety and disappointment on a near chronic level. Today’s younger generation are the first to have an ‘any time, any place, anywhere’ mobile communications culture and excessive and

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THE BEST YOU INVESTIGATES TECHNOLOGY more proficient use of it is part of a defining generational difference.

IN CHARGE Dr. Lisabeth Saunders Medlock, PhD, CLC is the owner of Life By Design Coaching and believes that mobile phones have an adverse effect on young people’s social development.

“The use of texting, Facebook, Twitter and other sites as a form of communication is eroding people’s ability to write sentences that communicate real meaning, and inhibit the art of dialogue,” she says.

“It also enables people to communicate without ever seeing each other or hearing a voice, and this has a huge impact in that much communication is done non-verbally or in inflection and tone of voice.

“We will have a generation that has no clue how to read any of these cues.” Saunders advises parents to set time aside, where no mobile phones or other devices are present, just to spend quality time together as a family. “Playing old-school interactive games is a way to have family fun,” she says. “And of course any outdoor family activity is important. It is hard to use a mobile phone and go on a hike or a bike ride.”

She recommends that parents limit their children’s access to certain websites, and the downloading of specific mobile apps. She believes that children should have prepaid phones to limit talk, texting and data usage. Parents should check their children’s mobile phones at least once per week, to keep a close watch on what they’re up to.

OUT OF CONTROL The picture isn’t much better for grown-ups. Roughly one in five mobile owners say their phone has made it at least somewhat harder to forget about work at home or on the weekends; to give people their undivided attention; or focus on a task without being distracted. Repeated ringing, vibrations and reminders put us constantly on edge.

In an University of Gothenburg study, researchers investigated the

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direct link between the psychosocial aspects of mobile phone use and mental health levels. They found that high mobile phone use coincided with stress and sleep disturbance for women, while the same level of use was associated with sleep disturbance and the symptoms of depression for men. The prospect of constant connectivity is the common factor here.

This is one of the prime causes of poor quality social engagement.

With the plethora of social media platforms now available to us, it is easier than ever to be in contact with people anywhere in the world. At any given point, you could be having a three-way WhatsApp conversation with your aunt in Australia and a cousin in Greenland, while Facebookfollowing your friend’s weekend

exploits. This promise of connectivity pulls us away from actual, live interactions with our friends and family by the lure of immediately accessible social networks. We shortchange our loved ones on our time and attention because of tantalising but ultimately intangible, nebulous online relationships.

Our phones have become the security blankets of the technoinfantalised masses. We feel naked without our gadgets, cut off from the rest of society. They are often the first things we look at in the morning and the last things we see at night.

They have become both the means and subjects of constant distraction from the real world. We have all experienced the anxiety caused by leaving your phone at home for a day. *Shudder*. No wonder then that we chose our phone over our romantic partner.

BOOK REVIEWS

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Great reading, viewing and listening to empower, entertain, enrich, delight and enhance. The Best You rounds up classics, new books and media products that will make a positive difference in your life.

Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood� – John Green

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NOTES ON NURSING A THOUGHT

BY PAULA GOODE Notes on Nursing a Thought is a book about being human, thriving and making a difference. The author, who is a highly skilled coach with 25 years’ experience in the health sector, shares her observations and point the reader toward a life of personal and organisational transformation. Goode has left a series of signposts that guide the reader in an exploration of what is possible when the impossible is all that we can see. She is also founder and director of Goodeinsight Coaching Hub, a leading UK coaching organisation working with businesses to make a difference in the world.

The hub delivers creative leadership programmes in partnership with the most reputable personal development specialists.

“This book has some fantastic insights, which can be great for people who are still learning about themselves”

– Natasja Nordstrom

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BEN AFFLECK 187 SUCCESS

BY JAMES VALENZUELA Ben Affleck is an American performer, feature manager, maker and scriptwriter. He became a recognisable star thank to his executions in the Kevin Smith features Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. In 1997, Affleck gained acknowledgment as a screenwriter when he won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, which he cowrote and co-starred in with Matt Damon. The book reveals the latest facts and information about the star in easy-to-read chapters, alongside all there is to know about Affleck’s early life, career and personal life.

”Ben Affleck is so much more than a pretty face, and this book does a great job of highlighting his many achievements”

– Harrison Gredola

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BEYOND BRILLIANT

BY DIPNA ANAND

As the third generation of a family of chefs, Dipna Anand has cooking in her blood. For almost 40 years, her family’s restaurant, the Brilliant, has served traditional Punjabi cuisine of the highest order – praised by everyone from Prince Charles to Gordon Ramsay, who named the Brilliant one of his ‘Best Restaurants’ for his Channel 4 TV show.

Now Dipna is taking the restaurant to new heights, building on those authentic recipes with ones of her own, with healthy ingredients and low-fat cooking techniques. It’s a pioneering approach set to shake up the world of Indian food. In this book, Dipna reveals the secrets behind her success. Follow her simple advice, and you too will be producing Brilliant food in no time.

“Wow! What a delightful insight to the world of healthy Indian cuisine”

– Jade Foxx

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START WITH WHY

BY SIMON SINEK

Why are some people and organisations more inventive, pioneering and successful than others? And why are they able to repeat their success again and again? In business, it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters WHY you do it. Sinek explains the framework needed for businesses to move past knowing what they do to how they do it, and then to ask the important question, why? Why do we do what we do? Why do we exist? Learning to ask these questions can unlock the secret to inspirational business. Sinek explains what it truly takes to lead and inspire and how anyone can learn how to do it.

” One of the most useful and powerful books I have read in years. Simple and elegant, it shows us how leaders should lead”

– William Ury, co-author of Getting to Yes

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THE FUSION MARKETING BIBLE

BY LON SAFKO Turbocharge your marketing efforts with the powerful FUSE! strategy.

The Fusion Media Marketing Bible explains how to pinpoint the most effective elements of your traditional marketing efforts and combine them with social media and digital marketing to reach more customers than ever, while spending less money.

Packed with case studies from LinkedIn, New Zealand World Cup Rugby, Sheetz Convenience Store Restaurants and other companies that have made fusion marketing work for them, it provides everything you need to drive dramatic increases in traffic and revenues.

“Lon shows us how to make traditional, digital, and social marketing work in concert. He gets us thinking about marketing in 3D”

– Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics and Digital Leader

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Enrich your life with the passion you feel and the connections you make.

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FAITH-FULL RELATIONSHIPS

Margarita Tartakovsky’s offers seven top tips to make inter-faith relationships work

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LIVE LOVE LEGACY MARGARITA TARTAKOVSKY

LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS World Religion Day on 18 January aims to promote inter-faith understanding. Margarita Tartakovsky offers tips for making mixed faith relationships work

P

eople try to minimise the differences when they’re in love,” says Joel Crohn, PhD, author of Mixed matches: How to create successful interracial, interethnic and interfaith relationships. But dismissing the differences can be detrimental to a couple in the future. If you’re part of an inter-faith relationship, there’s an extra layer of diversity to deal with.

Crohn offers seven ways to understand these differences and to help inter-faith relationships to increase their chances of long-term success.

1. TALK, TALK The biggest problem facing interfaith couples is denying that differences actually exist. Even if you’re not that religious, differences can creep up in the future, Crohn warns. Also, in avoiding having the ‘differences’ dialogue, couples might make inaccurate assumptions about their partner’s religious preferences.

Interestingly, “people tend to become more religious with age,” says Crohn.

He urges couples to face their issues head-on. The best time to talk? Now, Crohn says, is typically the best time. Avoidance won’t help

conflict go away either today or in the future.

2. CULTURAL PURSUITS “People have trouble separating religion and culture,” Crohn says.

Even if religion isn’t a factor in your life or your relationship, you still have a different cultural code than your partner. And these differences, he says, don’t simply disappear.

When thinking about your culture, consider: What’s normal in my family? What are my expectations for the relationship and a prospective family? How do we express our emotions? Then, talk about these cultural differences as a couple. By laying the groundwork in the early stages of a relationship there is a clear understanding of expectations as life evolves and the family grows.

3. WHO ARE YOU? Many inter-faith couples will start negotiating what religion they want their children to be raised in, for instance, without having a clear idea of their own identity in the first place. Crohn tells the story of an Italian Protestant woman who converted to Judaism. Her Jewish husband came home from work one night and was surprised to see her reading the Torah. He accused her

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MARGARITA TARTAKOVSKY

of getting, “carried away.” In reality, the man wasn’t clear on what being Jewish meant to him.

Other clients have said to Crohn that, “Being Jewish is important to me.” But when he asks them what this means exactly, they respond, “It just is.”

The problem? Individuals who have a vague sense of their religious identity “may push their partners to be something they can’t be.” For instance, a non-Jewish partner can’t become “culturally Jewish.”

To clarify your identity, Crohn suggests the following exercise: think about your religious identity and your cultural identity when you were five years old, 12, 18 and, now, today. Crohn suggests writing down your responses.

It’s typical for people to experience big changes at these time points. In fact, throughout your life, with both culture and religion, “there are usually big ups and downs, experimentation and rebellion,” he says, “before settling

on a stable sense of identity.”

After thinking about your identity, it still might be hazy. Crohn says that this is OK. It’s “problematic when you’re negotiating for something you aren’t clear about.”

4. FIND OUT MORE It’s also not productive to negotiate “until you’ve exposed yourself to your partner’s religious practices,” Crohn continues. Doing so allows even greater understanding of your partner. For instance, you might attend church or synagogue with your partner. This doesn’t mean that you’re making any promises, such as converting. But it does show that you take your relationship seriously, and also that you are willing to learn more about what’s important to your partner to be closer to them and their identity.

5. SHARE YOUR HISTORY Instead of forcing a decision, Crohn encourages couples to discuss their

LIVE LOVE LEGACY

religious and cultural experiences with each other.

Not only does this take the pressure off, but it gives couples an early opportunity to get to know each other.

Like all communication, an honest approach is best.

6. TAKE ADVICE Today, there are many courses for relationships, which can help couples resolve a variety of issues. Crohn cautions readers to be discerning consumers and to look for courses that are skills-based, time-limited and inexpensive. Working together can create insight into each other’s faith and ensure greater understanding.

7. THINK POSITIVELY Couples typically wait until their relationship has suffered to seek help.

Crohn encourages readers to consider counselling and to work with a therapist, before getting to this place. Be proactive and your relationship has greater chances of succeeding.

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LIVE LOVE LEGACY THE BEST YOU

ENOUGH ALREADY New job, new car, new outfit...

It seems we’re never satisfied with what we have right now.

Contentment is an elusive emotion, but here’s how to be happy with your life today

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ow many times have you caught yourself envying a friend’s new car or spent an hour eyeing beautiful, if out of our budget, properties online?

It’s only natural for us to have aspirations, but finding a balance between desire and satisfaction is the secret to happiness. Wanting too much is likely to lead to disappointment and an empty wallet. Even if we were able to buy all that our hearts desired, that brief moment of satisfaction would be unlikely to create a lifetime of pleasure.

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW Part of the problem lies in the fact that we tend to live in the future, rather than the present. Living in the moment is important in many aspects of life, but by convincing ourselves that we want what we already have we can save ourselves much heartache about the unattainable.

At the beginning and end of each day, take a moment to think about something you are thankful for, whether it’s having time to sit with your child, or catching up with a friend over coffee. Dwelling on the good stuff is far more satisfying than pining after what’s just out of reach.

WORK THE A-LIST We are constantly bombarded with messages to tempt us to buy more,

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succeed professionally and grasp the next rung of the social ladder.

But what if we choose not to do these things?

Thinking about what we really want out of life and then creating a strategy to pursue the things that matter most to us can hugely improve our chances of success. Instead of chasing every dream, we have a clear focus on the goal that we really want to achieve, and a greater ability to take positive steps to reach this.

Try this simple technique to clarify what it is you want to achieve. Write a list of the things that you hope to make happen in your life. Then write a second list for the month ahead – what small steps can you take in the next 30 days to work towards hitting that goal?

Maybe it’s writing the first chapter of a book, making improvements to your home or paying off a credit card? Breaking the task down into bite-sized chunks means you have a greater chance of success.

FREE YOURSELF Strange as it may sound, one of the tactics to achieving what you really want could be to give up what you already possess.

A common technique suggested for people who tend to hoard things is to adopt the one in, one out rule.

For every item bought, another must be relinquished. If you hanker after

something, take a look at your possessions and get rid of anything you haven’t touched, used or enjoyed in the last year. Sell or donate these and create space for the things you really do desire.

Experts also suggest forcing yourself to wait for the things that you think you want – as you go to buy the latest tech product, tell yourself to wait a week. If you still have the same level of desire in a week’s time, you know this isn’t an impulse buy and will be truly useful to you.

Similarly, ask yourself if you’re buying something as it’s what you desire, rather than because it will impress others. After all, no-one else will be paying for it, only you.

SURPLUS STORE We all love a bargain – who hasn’t been drawn in by a BOGOF offer in a supermarket, or tempted to take home those ‘free’ toiletries when staying in a hotel?

But it’s our survival instinct telling us that excess creates security. In actual fact, so long as we have enough for today and tomorrow, we will be fine. Try to discourage yourself from the surplus mentality, and celebrate what you have in your cupboards and drawers before you buy more.

GIVE IT UP It might sound counter-intuitive,

THE BEST YOU

but giving to others can help you to achieve inner contentment. Particularly when times are tough, we have a tendency to hunker down, protect our stores and close ourselves off from the world.

Going out of our way to help others, maybe with a donation to a charity, cooking a meal for friends or helping a neighbour with some repairs makes us feel good about ourselves. That sense of wellbeing can keep us in a far more positive state of mind than worrying about what we don’t have in life. Try it next time you’re feeling low, you could be surprised at the positive feeling it leaves you with.

THINK BIG The journey to contentment could be easier than you think. One of the techniques that can help us to enjoy the moment, feel alive and believe we have everything we need is to self-reward in small doses.

We’re not talking buying that new car that we’ll be painfully paying for over the next three years. Treating yourself to a bag of cherries because they are in season, smell and taste delicious isn’t going to break the bank but will help you to enjoy the summer season.

What’s more, sitting in a park on a sunny afternoon, with a book as you enjoy them must be one of the simplest yet glorious ways to feel that the good life is within our reach.

So, before you embark on a year of material pursuit, think about what you have. Next time you find yourself hankering after the next ‘must-have’ item, remind yourself just how fortunate you already are.

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LIVE LOVE LEGACY

Perhaps it's time to find a new way to look at life... or 123 ways. This new book

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JIM AITKINS

LIVE LOVE LEGACY

THE REAL YOU Jim Aitkins is an American writer and speaker whose observations about everyday life provide powerful lessons for personal growth. A chance encounter at Halloween has shaped his outlook for 2015

O

f all the holidays that Americans and our friends in the UK have in common, I must say that Halloween is one of the more peculiar. We tell our young ones all year long that we ought not to talk to, or take candy from, strangers. Yet one night each year we have our children don costumes to go about the neighbourhood, knocking on doors and asking for treats.

A couple of months ago, my fiancée and I were guests at the home of some friends who live in a favourite part of town for trick-ortreaters. It just so happened that 31 October was the night we were enjoying dinner, wine and happy stories at the home of our hosts.

Every few minutes the doorbell would ring and one or more of us would go to greet the little visitors disguised as heroes, princesses or some kind of monster.

They would each be given a small rubber glove, the palm and fingers of which were stuffed with candy and as a result the treat was made up to look like a severed hand.

Getting past how awful it would be, on any other occasion, to present children with such a grotesque, it was really quite humorous. One of the treat-seeking guests, however, really made me think.

He was taller than the other two or three youngsters standing next to him, and I would say he was dressed normally, except for a mask covering his entire face.

The mask was unique in that it was not recognisable as anything in particular. It was not the likeness of a famous politician or super hero.

It was just a smiling human face.

It was so unusual that I felt compelled to ask about it, but I struggled to form the appropriate question. What I said to the young man came out something like, “What are you… I mean, what is your… I mean, who are you supposed to be?”

As I stumbled around, awkwardly trying to inquire about the disguise in a gentle and inoffensive way, the young fellow responded to my questions by simply removing his mask and announcing his name. At that, the woman standing behind him and the other children sort of

chuckled and explained that he was a 14-year-old exchange student from China and unfamiliar with Halloween, which explains why he had taken my questions literally.

It was a refreshing lesson for us all as we contemplate the challenges and opportunities of the New Year.

If painful experiences of the past have compelled you to hide behind proverbial masks of superficiality, you are not alone.

We all are tempted to go about like trick-or-treaters, disguising ourselves under layers of triviality. We are too often so afraid of being rejected that we fall for the lie that transparency is weakness, when in fact the opposite is the truth.

Make this the year that you resolve to be as true to the real you as you have ever been.

Be brave. When you meet someone who indicates that they are as tired as you are of pettiness, trifling over small things, and people not being ‘real’ in daily life, make the bold choice to be transparent.

If you do this, I believe that you will be treated to an awesome 2015 with far greater happiness.

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LIVE LOVE LEGACY DIPNA ANAND

TO BE A CHEF? Part of becoming the best you can entail focusing on what it takes to get there. In a regular column, The Best You examines this aspect of personal development. This month we chat with celebrity chef Dipna Anand HOW DID YOU BECOME A CHEF?

Having been born and brought up in a family of restaurateurs and chefs, it’s fair to say I have cooking in my blood. Our restaurant in Southall, called the Brilliant, has been open for 40 years. The restaurant is in its third generation, and there is a story behind the Brilliant legacy. I guess it was in my destiny to become a chef.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THE JOB?

Every day brings something different. I carry out pop up chef events at different locations, I do cookery courses, I lecture in hospitality and catering, and I manage my father’s Indian restaurant business. I absolutely love what I do and the many roles that I have.

The other thing I value most about being a chef is that when people eat my food, they enjoy it and when I see smiles on their faces it inspires and motivates me to cook more and more. I truly value the way people appreciate my work.

Lastly, being a chef, you are continually learning fresh skills and experimenting with new recipes, there is never enough to learn, so this is something else I love about my profession.

AND THE MOST CHALLENGING?

There are many challenges with the food industry, like any other. For example, at the moment there is a shortage of skilled chefs and it’s extremely difficult to get the chefs we need to help run our kitchens.

Time also poses a great challenge. For example, when I carry out pop up events, I usually have about two and

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DIPNA ANAND

a half hours to prepare all the food, which is two main courses, raita, pilau rice and naan bread. It’s a lot of pressure because you have to ensure you keep to time and are organised so that lunch service is not delayed even by a minute.

My father assists me at pop up events and it’s a challenge at times for us. We love it though, as Dad and I both work better under pressure.

DESCRIBE YOUR AVERAGE DAY

Extremely busy, I am normally rushed off my feet and every day brings a different challenge, which is what keeps me going. It gives me a buzz when I accomplish all my goals.

Typically I wake up at 7am, get ready and head to a pop up event somewhere in London, arriving at 9am and cooking for 300+ people to have lunch ready for 12 noon. After serving lunch, signing books and meeting customers I get back at about 3pm. I have a late lunch, spend time with my mum and our dog and take a nap.

Then I’ll head to the restaurant in the evening around 8pm for a few hours and back home to prepare for the next time and do my exercise routine while I watch a bit of television. I go to sleep at about 1am. I just can’t ever sleep early.

IS THIS SOMETHING YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? Yes. I was made for the food industry, and it’s where I belong. I don’t see myself ever changing career paths because food is where my passion lies, and the reason I am so good at what I do is because I enjoy every second of it. I would have it no other way but to be around and work with food forever.

LIVE LOVE LEGACY

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE A CHEF?

From a young age, I took a keen interest in cooking and was continually watching mum in the kitchen. Then, when I went to the restaurant, I was intrigued to watch dad cooking and tell me stories about granddad, and how he used to cook for the Maharajas back in Kenya in the 1950s.

As I grew up, I became even more interested and developed a deep passion for the industry. I knew that cooking was what I wanted to pursue as a career. I saw my dad as my inspiration and I still feel my success is due to him. Even now, I tell people, “I want to be just like my dad.”

WHICH ATTRIBUTES ARE MOST USEFUL IN YOUR CAREER?

Time-keeping and organisation is crucial because you never want to be late for service, because you don’t want to upset your customers. If you are organised, others around you will be too.

Patience is important because sometimes you have to wait for suppliers or the right ingredients to arrive. Teamwork is crucial to the success of working in the catering and hospitality sectors because if you work together with the staff you produce a better-quality result and can work more efficiently.

Creativity is another important aspect of working in the food field. If you can come up with unique innovative ideas, you will always be ahead of the competition and that one step ahead which makes all the difference.

WHICH DISH DO YOU MOST WISH THAT YOU HAD CREATED?

Chicken tikka masala is now known as the British national dish, and is also famous worldwide. It’s definitely the dish I wish I invented, although I must say I do make one of the world’s best recipes.

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FEEL AND LOOK GOOD

THE BEST

YOU

Feeling good about yourself makes the joy shine from your eyes and your skin. It makes others respond to you in new ways and it gives you a fresh outlook on life. Looking good draws others to you and enhances your life in ways you haven’t yet imagined. It’s great to find new ways to feel and look good now!

Life Without Limits

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JUST ADD WATER

Are supplements worth taking and which ones do we really need? Nermin Ali reports

LIGHTEN UP!

Weight loss can be a hard goal to conquer, but Rhinannon Lambert has all the advice you need

HOW TO UPCYCLE YOUR SHOPPING LIST Top tips for stretching your food budget further

Put your company in this space! To sponsor this page and be part of The Best You, email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

NERMIN ALI

SUPERHERO SUPPLEMENTS Confused by the rows of supplements on offer? Nermin Ali of Supplicity offers a guide to what to take When it comes to diet, most of us have to be realistic: we live in modern times, which means much of the food that we consume doesn’t necessarily contain the nutrients that our body requires to ensure it’s working to its potential.

Plus, most people in the UK do not get those all important sun rays in the winter. So what’s the answer? Should we leave our jobs to bask in the sun?

In an ideal world, the optimal way to receive the right level of nutrients is through a balanced and varied diet, but who lives in an ideal world? Most of us work too hard, stress out on a regular basis, drink too much and stay up far too late – sound familiar?

This is when supplements can step in, ensuring you get all the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients that are required for a healthy lifestyle.

Health professionals agree that each of us is an individual with different needs. Therefore it’s crucial to listen to your body every day to ensure you are giving it the right level of attention. This is when supplements can really help.

When you are looking for the perfect supplement, decide what your health goals are. Read how each supports your body and remember that you get what you pay for – this is definitely an occasion when quality over quantity matters.

Jonny Taylor, founder of nutritional supplement brand Supplicity, advises: “There are so many dietary supplements

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NERMIN ALI

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

ranges out there and the best way to be sure of quality is to look for Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) accredited brands, as they have been tested to ensure they offer high quality ingredients.”

The MHRA accreditation is a scheme involving a wide consultation process with representatives from organisations such as the National Health Service, Department of Health and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. During this time, the committee looks for quality in the product that surpasses the basic regulatory requirements.

A clear understanding of the origins and levels of vitamins and minerals is key to a successful supplement plan. Even if you are following a healthy diet, because of previous bad eating habits, stress, exercise, disease or even allergies, you may still be lacking in certain micronutrients.

Good quality supplement brands should offer clear information.

For example, does your supplement’s packaging give you a clear breakdown of what ingredients are inside, how much of your recommended daily allowance this equates to, where these ingredients were sourced and, most importantly, what they actually do for you?

No-one is claiming that supplements will make you more beautiful, give you an extra hour a day or offer the secret to life – and if anyone does, it’s advisable to walk away. In summary, all of the basic essentials can, and should, be found in a proper diet. But we’ve found that getting into the habit of taking a daily supplement actually forms part of a wider set of healthy habits.

When we take small steps such as taking good quality food supplements, we tend also to get into the mindset of making small changes elsewhere too.

So supplements end up being part of, rather than a replacement for, a better way of eating.

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For more information visit supplicity.co.uk

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HEALTHY WEIGHT New Year, new you? But hang on, is January the right time to be losing weight? RHIANNON LAMBERT advises Fear not, you don’t need to set yourself up for the relentless failure of the New Year’s diet plans that we are ‘supposed’ to follow. The answer is simple; change our lifestyle for the better and follow easy dietary changes to help us achieve our goals.

As a nutritionist, excess weight gain is without a doubt the most common complaint among the men and women that I meet. Here are a few rules to ensure that you lose the excess pounds, gain more energy and feel both healthier and happier. Weight loss is within your reach if you follow these basic tenets and stick with them consistently. Follow our plan and empower yourself to achieve your weight loss goal in 2015. Come on, we’re in it with you for the long-term.

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N E W Y E A R

Nutrients, not numbers.

Stop counting calories.

Eat the Mediterranean way of life. Fresh fish and vegetables.

Wean off sugar. It’s your own worst enemy.

Yes to cooking fresh. By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.

Exercise. Stay active and keep fit.

And don’t forget to… rest – always try to get a good night’s sleep.

RHIANNON LAMBERT

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

SWEET ENOUGH

Sugar is not classified as a nutrient that we need as part of a balanced diet, yet it is in approximately 80 per cent of the food we find on shop shelves. Tomato sauces, low-fat yoghurts, children’s drinks, cereals, breads, the list goes on. This is largely due to the fact that sugar is addictive and can make foods taste good while enabling manufacturers to lower the calorie and fat content.

This, however, is more detrimental to our health and will sabotage any weight loss goals you have in mind.

Our bodies do not know how to process sugar.

Sucrose is a disaccharide comprised of two simple monosaccharaides, known as fructose and glucose.

Glucose is used for energy but fructose remains in our liver and can turn into fat.

The bottom line is that the more sugar you eat, the more circulating fructose you have which you are unlikely to burn off. This is quickly stored as fat and even those with a slight frame may have fatty organs as a result of excess sugar. If you want to lose the pounds, cut it out of your diet completely.

BALANCING ACT

NUTRIENTS NOT NUMBERS

Reviewing every new report on the science behind calories, I am a firm believer that a calorie is not simply defined as a calorie. If you want to watch your weight then counting calories will not help. For example, consuming 100 calories of chocolate cannot possibly have the same effect on our body as 100 calories of broccoli.

Metabolism is an extremely complex process and cannot be simplified, especially when numbers do not take into account our individual differences. Studies have shown that to burn fat you need to eat fat, the good kind found in avocados, almonds, seeds and oily fish.

THE MEDITERRANEAN WAY

Eating as Mediterranean people do can help you pay attention to your lifestyle. This includes the type of foods you eat, the portion sizes you consume, your physical activities and your overall way of life. You can incorporate such changes into your daily life and create long-term habits for sustained weight loss.

A traditional Mediterranean diet consisting of large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish and olive oil. The diet is rich in fibre, slowing down digestion and preventing huge swings in blood sugar that leave you craving the wrong types of foods. With extremely low levels of refined breads, processed foods, and red meat, accompanied by moderate levels of red wine, which contains antioxidants called polyphenols (in particular resveratrol). These help increase levels of good cholesterol known as our high-density lipoproteins (HDL), protecting against artery damage and increasing our overall health.

In order to reduce cravings, feel full after your meal and prevent any unhealthy binges,balancing your blood glucose (often referred to as blood sugar levels) is the answer. Every time we eat carbohydrates, our bodies release insulin to allow the glucose to be used for energy.

The more carbohydrates one consumes, particularly the refined variety (white pasta, rice and bread), the more insulin is released. Glucose is then taken up so quickly it causes a spike in our blood glucose levels.

This spike is followed by an immediate low which tells our bodies we need more glucose and before we know it we are always hungry and craving the wrong types of sugary, fast energy-releasing foods.

To resolve this, eat complex carbohydrates with protein to avoid spikes and limit this to just breakfast and lunch.

This will aid weight loss and prevent bad habits creeping in, additionally giving you heaps more energy.

MOVE IT...

Finally, weight loss is of course enhanced by increased physical activity levels. The more you can get out and about, the more endorphins you are likely to produce.

Keep moving and you will reap the benefits of weight loss and a healthy body and mind. This doesn’t have to mean going to the gym, just try an hour’s walk a day, cycle to and from work, or use a fun workout DVD.

...AND REST

We aren’t superheroes although we often feel like we have to be. Our bodies need sleep to repair and recover from the day. The more you get, the better you will be at sticking to a clean eating regime.

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Start your New Year with an ‘Eat Clean’ meal plan – visit rhitrition.com or contact Rhiannon Lambert at the Food Doctor Clinic, Harley Street on 0800 093 5877 w w w . t he b e s t yo uma ga z i ne . c o

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EAT HEALTHILY ON A BUDGET New Year, and with Christmas bills biting it can be tricky to eat well if you’re watching the pennies. Mel Wakeman has some tips to keep both you and your budget healthy

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ith the worry of rising interest rates, travel costs and household bills, many of us don’t have a lot leftover to live on each month. Somewhere in there you need to find enough money to eat.

How will you get your 5 a day? My tips will help you to ensure that you eat properly at least some of the time without breaking the bank.

PLAN YOUR MEALS

It may sound dull but it can make a real difference. Create a menu plan for the week and then write a shopping list.

That way you are less tempted to throw whatever looks good into your trolley and will only buy what you need for the week ahead. Impulse shopping is expensive and it’s easier to balance your diet when you have a list in hand.

DON’T BE A FOOD SNOB

LEAVE YOUR COOKIE MONSTER BEHIND

HAPPY HOUR SHOPPING

GET CREATIVE

Low-cost supermarkets are your friend. Aldi and Lidl offer great quality food at very cheap prices. Their fruit and vegetables are particularly good value and quality.

Saving a little money each week on food adds up over the months and may mean you can do more of the things that you want to do, without busting your overdraft.

Pick your moment to shop. Swallow your pride and get the pick of the reduced section. Cut price perishables usually include meat, fish, fruit and veg, so try to limit how many ready meals you buy. Shop an hour or so before stores close, especially before a bank holiday. Pride yourself on becoming a great bargain hunter but eat food before the ‘use-by’ date or freeze it to avoid wastage.

Don’t ever shop when you are hungry. You’ll end up adding things you neither need nor are good for you, or eating half of it on the way round. If you’ve ever done this, chances are you found that when you got back home you still had nothing to eat for the week ahead – nibbles don’t make a meal!

Give yourself rules when the cupboards get low at the end of the week. See it as challenge to rustle up something edible for dinner with just a few ingredients – imagine that you’re in an episode of Ready Steady Cook.

I’ve done this at home with my husband. It suits our competitive natures and we have had a lot of fun. Only once was it inedible, so don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

MEL WAKEMAN

BULK IT UP

Protein, especially meat, is expensive, so bulk out meals with nutritious vegetables that will make your dinner tasty, satisfying and your meals go further. Try adding beans (chickpeas, kidney, cannelini, borlotti or haricot – tins are fine) or lentils as they are high in protein and a great alternative to meat, even if you aren’t vegetarian.

SEE DOUBLE

When you are making a meal, particularly if it’s a one pot wonder (a great way to cook cheaply), double the quantities for cooking, portion it up and stick it in the freezer. That way you’ll always have a fall back plan when you need to eat and you’re less likely to pick up the phone and order a take-away.

GO SLOW

Slow cooking is a great way to use cheap cuts of meat and make them into a mouth-watering meal. Stewing, braising steak or oxtail are cheap cuts and if you add plenty of vegetables you will find a little goes a long way. Better still, you can set your dinner to cook before you head off to work and come home to a delicious dish.

FEEL & LOOK GOOD

REINVENT LEFTOVERS

We throw away too much food – this is simply money down the drain. Think how you can reuse leftovers and make a new dinner. Soup is always a winner.

Pop ingredients into a pot and play soup roulette.

Keep an eye on use by dates both before buying and once it’s in the fridge to avoid wastage.

PACK A LUNCH

I know this can be a tricky one. Who has time to make their lunch in the morning? Well I don’t either so I do it the night before. If you work in an office with a microwave, why not take last night’s leftovers? If not, sandwiches are fine. You can even save money by taking your own cold drinks or a flask of coffee.

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Do you have a favourite way of saving money?

Email your tips to info@thebestyou.co

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THE BEST YOU

WEALTH & RICHES

THE BEST

YOU

Wealth and happiness, also ‘prosperity in abundance of possessions or riches from Middle English wele, meaning wellbeing. Riches and valued possessions, money, property.

Make money and bring greater wealth to EVERY area of your life.

Life Without Limits

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FEMALE INTUITION

Lynn Kitchen of the Four Dames explains why success lies within every woman

SAFE AS HOUSES

Rhiannon Lambert advises on investing in a retirement home

COACH RULES

Jamelle Sanders’ journey to becoming a professional coach

Put your company in this space! To sponsor this page and be part of The Best You, email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

WEALTH & RICHES LYNN KITCHEN

SISTERS DO IT FOR THEMSELVES

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The world of business for women isn’t a fair one.

Lynn Kitchen, one of the Four Dames, is creating a space for women to thrive in business

t was a lovely summer’s day on the deck of the Queen Mary in Los Angeles harbour where the Four Dames were hosting a day-long seminar for businesswomen in the ballroom below. Our programme, Inside Every Woman Is a Queen, highlighted the four domains of life on which we speak: health, wealth, love, and purpose.

As one of the Four Dames, I was approached by a guest who asked what it is like to be a part of a team of four beautiful, successful, dynamic women working together. “It’s so rare!” I answered quickly. “It’s awesome!”

But I was struck by her comment and so I brought her question to the Four Dames’ weekly business conference call.

HOW RARE?

That question brought laughter, and quick-witted replies spiraling upward even as we each were listening for a higher collective possible answer.

The answer came, ”Rareness is a matter of perspective, and diamonds are everywhere.” One of the tenets on abundance that the Four Dames teach is that opportunities, disguised as diamonds in the rough, are available everywhere, and not rare at all. It may be rare for a combination of intelligent, successful, beautiful women to collaborate to help other women, but the opportunity exists everywhere. We are here to set a trend for it to become the norm.

WHO ARE WE?

The Four Dames are dynamic speakers and results experts, each with more than 30 years’ experience in business success and personal development.

Living in four different states across America, we work together as one

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LYNN KITCHEN

voice to empower women in a new way. Yet, as our name reveals, we delight in playfulness and fun as a priority. For businesswomen wanting results, the Four Dames bring a powerhouse of experience in a world where experience counts.

As a collaborative coaching company, we speak and teach women how to break through limitations, real or imagined, and to awaken to their higher calling, personally and professionally.

WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? Freedom! Our purpose is to help women master autonomy and authentic choice. We believe there is ‘a queen within’ every woman, a sovereign state of beauty, intelligence, grace and wisdom. We are meant to live from that state of being, giving our gifts to the world, not struggling with endless to-do lists and demeaning self-talk.

Expansion of awareness leads to expanded horizons of new possibilities. Through the power of inquiry, a step-by-step method, our clients find their voice, vision, purpose and power, and expand their capacity to earn and love more, live better and have fun.

HOW DOES THE POWER OF INQUIRY WORK?

The best results come when we pose highly calibrated questions to our genius minds. We then tap into the unlimited reservoir of knowledge and wisdom beyond our conscious mind simply by shaping the right question.

A prominent woman, the founder of an international network of entrepreneurial women, lacked financial funding and turned to the Four Dames for help.

We invited her to our weekly mastermind call guiding her through a series of inquiries including the powerful question, ‘What would you love?’

Unravelling to find a hidden truth, she began to clarify the path she would love. In a few short months, she connected with not one, but two investor groups who were interested in her network.

She used the Four Dames’ process of inquiry to expand her business.

WHAT CAN YOU DO, WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE?

Any question can take an unexpected turn. The four of us asked our

WEALTH & RICHES

friend questions in a round-table fashion until one question seemed to open a larger field of awareness.

We asked her to think about the women she serves internationally, posing this key question: ‘What can you do, with what you have, right where you are?’

As she pondered, something opened like a flash of light. What she could do is ask for help. Within seconds, she asked the Four Dames to help her write a book to empower the women of the world in the area of wealth creation.

We immediately said yes.

The culmination of that series of inquiries produced a six-month writing collaboration and a forthcoming book, The 12 Absolute Laws of Creating Wealth, Starting Today.

Anything is possible when women support each other, proving that, like diamonds, new possibilities are everywhere.

When women live from the centre of their being, their ‘queen within,’ truly everything is possible.

At the end of each of our weekly calls, it is not uncommon for the Four Dames to exclaim in unison, ‘I love being a Dame!’ It is a joyful and liberating moment.

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WEALTH & RICHES DEBORAH STONE

TIPS FOR

BUYING A RETIREMENT HOME FOR YOURSELF

A parent or grandparent is a specific type of investment. Deborah Stone highlights the things to look out for WHAT IS RETIREMENT HOUSING?

Most retirement housing is available to people over the age of 60 and is sold on a leasehold basis. This means there should be a long lease on the property with a small ground rent payable to the freeholder. Most retirement homes are managed by a management organisation, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the housing, including relevant services, setting and collecting corresponding charges.

WHAT SHOULD A SERVICE CHARGE COVER? Upkeep, cleaning, repairs and maintenance of communal areas, such as corridors, lifts, lounge areas and external grounds. It will also include building insurance.

You or your older relative have certain rights regarding service charges – including access to a summary from the managing agents

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of the income and expenditure for the previous accounting year – but you may have to request this in writing. Under the codes of good practice a tenant also has the right to be consulted on how the service charge has been calculated, prior to the accounting year.

WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES DOES THE TENANT HAVE?

In addition to the service charge, tenants are responsible for: • Maintenance and repairs to the inside of the property • Ground rent • Council tax • Water • Contents insurance • TV licence (for under 75s) • Telephone and fuel bills Some charges for water and fuel bills may be part of the service charge if they are for communal areas, e.g. for laundry, lighting and heating.

Some retirement housing may give a

concession on a TV licence.

HOW CAN YOU CHECK IF A MANAGEMENT COMPANY IS ANY GOOD?

It is critical to check who the management is, what experience they have at managing such properties and what their communication channels with residents are. Check whether they are members of a recognised trade body, such as the Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM), which promotes and maintains standards of management in privately owned retirement housing. All management organisations registered with the association are bound by the ARHM Code of Practice. Also check if there is a residents’ association that works with the management organisation to ensure residents’ views and needs are considered and addressed accordingly.

DEBORAH STONE

IS A WARDEN SERVICE IMPORTANT?

Many retirement housing schemes have a warden or manager. The duties of the manager vary between schemes.

Information about the manager’s duties, hours of service and details of any relief or emergency cover during the manager’s absence should be outlined in a leaseholder’s handbook.

The manager’s salary and related overheads can account for a substantial percentage of the service charge.

Properties without a warden will probably charge a lower service charge.

CAN I GET FINANCIAL HELP WITH RETIREMENT HOUSING? A funding system called Supporting People can assist with paying towards housing-related support services, such as warden services and an emergency alarm service. If your elderly relative is on a low income, they might be able to get help from their local authority, who will need to assess your relative’s financial situation.

It is always worth enquiring about what’s available in your area before committing to a retirement property.

WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS AS A RESIDENT OF A RETIREMENT COMMUNITY?

There are two main codes of practice that exist to protect residents’ rights in retirement housing: The National House Building Council (NHBC) Sheltered Housing Code of Practice applies to all retirement housing built after 1 April 1990.

When buying a new property check if a developer is registered with NHBC. Buildings with NHBC’s Buildmark warranty will give extra protection.

The code instructs the developer to ensure that residents’ rights are fully protected by a legally binding management agreement between the developer or freeholder and the management organisation.

All purchasers must receive a purchaser’s information pack.

The ARHM’s Code of Practice regulates managing agents including private companies and housing associations who manage private retirement housing. Its code covers issues such as good practice in providing services, including the scheme manager service and setting and collecting service charges.

It also states that a management organisation should consult residents on all significant issues, hold annual meetings, visit schemes at least quarterly and encourage the setting up of residents’ associations.

WHAT SHOULD A LEASEHOLDER’S HANDBOOK INCLUDE?

• The name and address of both the freeholder and the management, details of the relationship between them, and information on whether the management organisation is a party to the lease • A summary of your older parent’s contractual rights and responsibilities as a leaseholder, including service

WEALTH & RICHES

charges, insurance, warden responsibilities, alarm systems, consultation, repairs and other rights that are specific to that scheme • A full explanation of services and facilities provided by the management organisation • Details of all payments, fees or charges due • Details of rights on resale, including details of any restrictions; for example, that you can only sell to someone over 55 or 60 years of age, and details of any deduction such as fees for administering re-sales, premiums to the landlords or managers etc.

• Details of any transfer or exit fees, which the leaseholder is required to pay to their freeholder if they sell or rent their property, dispose of it in some other way or otherwise make changes to the occupants of the property

WHAT ARE SHARED OWNERSHIP SCHEMES?

Some schemes are available for older people who cannot afford the full market price of a retirement property.

These can involve buying part of the equity of the property and paying rent on the remainder, or buying the right to live in a retirement property for the rest of your elderly parent’s life. You should seek independent legal and financial advice if you are considering one of these schemes.

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JAMELLE SANDERS

BECOMING A COACH

WEALTH & RICHES

Many of us dream of giving up our day job to pursue the dream of becoming a personal development coach. Jamelle Sanders shares his experience of doing so

As I look back on my personal journey as a life coach and entrepreneur, I learned many lessons that I wish I could have anticipated when I started out. So many people have a desire to become a coach; however, I don’t think many of them have a clue what goes into being one. Yes, many get certified through a training programme, but it takes more than that to succeed as a coach. Here are a few things to consider if you have a desire to go into the coaching profession.

1

Figure out who you are and what you do. When I started out, many people would ask me what I did. Sadly I did not have a clue how to answer them. I would stumble and I noticed quickly that this was costing me clients. You have to clearly define what type of coaching you offer. Now I have a clear message and can easily communicate that I am a life and business strategist that helps people improve their lives and grow their businesses. Clarity is very important when you are starting out.

2

Figure out what you will charge. Honestly, in the early days I did not have a clue how to price my products and services.

I was afraid to charge too much because I did not feel like I had the reputation to command high prices.

However, people used this and took advantage of me. I learned quickly that I must know my worth and never discount my value. I started researching the industry and talking with mentors. I was able to set my prices accordingly and this was a major turning point in my business.

Now I am able to command a greater fee because of my experience and reputation in the industry.

3

Count up the cost of entrepreneurship. So many people jump into a business without clear financial goals. I started my company with some initial investors and savings. However, as time progressed, my savings dwindled and I found myself struggling to keep the business afloat. I know now that I should have done a better job of calculating how much money I would need to run my organisation. You need to have enough money to cover the first 18 months of your business.

After this point, you should start to see profits. If you cannot secure six months to a year of savings, I would advise you to only pursue your coaching business part-time. You must have funding to keep your plan afloat.

4

Know who your clients are. I cannot tell you how much time I wasted trying to serve everybody. Cash will only flow into your business when you concentrate on a specific market. You need to establish quickly who you are aiming at and how you plan to reach them.

Without this key piece you really don’t have a business at all.

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THE ROCKY ROAD TO SUCCESS

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON START UP AND STAY THERE

You have to do what you dream of doing even while you’re afraid” From culture to politics, Arianna Huffington’s ambition would lead her into the global zeitgeist. Born in Athens, her parents instilled an inquisitive nature and fierce curiosity. Huffington studied at the University of Cambridge, heading the debate union as its president.

Huffington began her career as a writer, covering music festivals for the BBC. After a heart-wrenching breakup with a former lover, she moved to New York and began writing articles for National Review and biographies of famous personalities.

She got her first taste of politics after her husband ran for Senate in the early 90s. Political life suited her, as it ran in tandem with her publishing career and the kinds of articles and books she was already writing.

Subsequent to her participation in the California 2003 gubernatorial recall election, Huffington’s name recognition was at an all-time high.

She began to dabble in the online community, culminating in the release of The Huffington Post in 2005. The website began with a political slant, marked by its liberal leanings. Over the years however, it has garnered massive popularity for covering a wide range of topics, prompting AOL to purchase it for more than $300m. A good writer always follows her instincts; Arianna Huffington’s have always taken her in one direction – up.

“IT’S NO SECRET THAT THE TEAM AT THE BEST YOU ADMIRES WHAT ARIANNA HUFFINGTON HAS DONE. SHE HAS TRULY MADE HER MARK AND, AS A WOMAN IN A MAN’S WORLD, THAT’S HUGELY ADMIRABLE”

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ARTHUR BLANK

THE BLUEPRINT TO SUCCESS

Passion and standing up for things can help create a sense of unity” Arthur Blank was born into a modest household in Queens, New York in 1942. After graduating high school, he stepped on the life accelerator and finished college in three years. His father’s pharmaceutical business was bought out in the late 1960s. Blank stayed on at the company, with an eye toward rising through the ranks and making the most of himself. It would lead him to success well beyond what he ever envisioned. Blank made his way to another area of the company, Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers.

It was here that he learned the blueprint for what it took to run a successful hardware company. From there, he used his expertise to co-found the Home Depot, showcasing an innovative warehouse model for its stores that spoke to the heart of what building was all about.

By 2004, the company’s sales stood at $73bn.

Always one to stay ahead of the game, Blank thought it best to get in the game. In 2002, he purchased the Atlanta Falcons and truly entered another league of competition. And Blank hasn’t stopped there; he has expressed interest over the years in purchasing other sports teams. Arthur Blank has created and maintained a unique ability to see the value in wherever life has taken him, and he has used this keen sense to build empires.

“IT TAKES A REAL TALENT TO TURN SOMETHING ORDINARY, LIKE SELLING HARDWARE, INTO AN EXTRAORDINARY EMPIRE. HE HAS CREATED A BUSINESS MODEL THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL USE”

– BERNARDO MOYA

THE ROCKY ROAD TO SUCCESS

BLAKE MYCOSKIE

A GOAL OF GIVING BACK

We are all human beings and I believe that we all should have equal rights” Early life for Blake Mycoskie included much of that of any other kid: school and sports. But Mycoskie, born in Texas in 1976, quickly developed an intuitive business sense that set him apart.

He attended Southern Methodist University in Texas on a tennis scholarship. But it was a devastating sports injury that ended his tennis career and really got his mind working. Recognising that there wasn’t a readily accessible dry cleaning business on his college campus, he launched his first venture in EZ Laundry. It took off like a rocket, eventually servicing multiple universities.

After a second venture was acquired by Clear Channel Media, Mycoskie devised a plan to give back to those less fortunate. A chance encounter with a charitable organisation in Argentina led him to launch TOMS shoes. A revolutionary idea of creating a for-profit charitable organisation was based on the notion that for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, a pair would be donated to a child in need.

The company has since expanded its offerings to include sight-saving services and a coffee company that donates water to communities in need. Blake Mycoskie was born to build businesses, he lives to build social awareness.

“WHEN PEOPLE MANAGE TO COMBINE SUCCESS IN BUSINESS WITH GIVING BACK TO PEOPLE IN NEED, IT REALLY WARMS OUR HEARTS. IT IS OUR HOPE THAT EVERYONE WHO FINDS FINANCIAL SUCCESS DOES THIS”

– BERNARDO MOYA

WEALTH & RICHES

RACHAEL RAY

FOOD, LIFE AND HAPPINESS

“I like feeling like an ox at the end of the day. I like working hard” Rachael Ray’s early life was defined by two constants: moving and food. Growing up around New England in the United States, Ray’s family owned and managed several restaurants in New York and Massachusetts in the 1970s.

Throughout high school, Ray mixed cheerleading with cooking. Along with her siblings, she helped in the restaurant kitchens her parents ran. It was here that she became a self-proclaimed ‘food snob’.

Transitioning to more fast-paced environs in her twenties, Ray logged time at the candy counter in New York City at Macy’s. After the harrowing experience of being mugged in an alley, Ray moved back to upstate New York and quickly found a niche as a buyer for a gourmet food market. It was here that she developed her 30 Minute Meals concept that she would ultimately ride to fame and fortune.

After an appearance on NBC’s Today show, the Food Network came calling. Ray’s penchant for making complex cooking seem not-so-complex translated to a mass audience that quickly embraced her.

In the mid-2000s she used her new daytime cooking show and appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to cement her status in the burgeoning global ‘foodie’ scene. Smart, sassy, simple; all traits that have defined Rachael Ray’s success.

“RACHEL RAY HAS THE RARE INGREDIENTS OF PERSONALITY, MAGNETISM AND TALENT THAT CREATE THE MAKINGS OF A SUPERSTAR. THIS HAS ALLOWED HER TO BECOME A HOUSEHOLD NAME ALL OVER THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD”

– BERNARDO MOYA

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THE BEST YOU DIRECTORY The best professionals in personal development

UNITED KINGDOM

SPORTS THERAPISTS AND NUTRITIONISTS

Dr Stephen Simpson NLP, hypnotherapy and havening Email: doc@drstephensimpson.com Website: www.drstephensimpson.com Clients include leading names from the world of sport, business and the entertainment industries

Shayna Schulman Attitude adjuster and flexibility enhancer Email: Shayna.s@virgin.net Phone: +44 (0) 208 960 7715 Licensed trainer, coaching, consulting, yoga, nutrition

NLP TRAINERS Tina Taylor: Licensed master trainer and practitioner Email: kay@the-me-group.com Phone: +44 (0) 7946 351640 Website: tina@tina-taylor.com Tina’s experience allows her to create and provide some unique coaching services, from stopping addictions to pregnancy and pain control

Ulrika Shaw: Thrive consultant and hypnotherapist Email: enquiry@shawmind.co.uk Phone: +44 (0)7810 556029 Website: www.shawmind.co.uk Are you suffering from anxieties or depression? Maybe you’re struggling with bad habits such as overeating or smoking?

I help people overcome anything that holds them back!

Geoff Rolls: Corporate coach and kinesiologist Email: geoff@geoffrolls.co.uk Phone: +44 (0)7905 056 513 Website: www.geoffrolls.co.uk Learning and development, NLP trainer, TFH kinesiology instructor

June O’Driscoll: Exec coach, business coach, trainer Email: june@thoughtitude.co.uk Phone: +44 (0)7876 657 8055 Website: www.thoughtitude.co.uk NLP, coaching and hypnotherapy training school and consultancy

LIFE COACHES Dr Andrew A Parsons Mindfulness, resilience and finding clear purpose Email: aaparsons@reciprocalminds.com Phone: +44 (0)7854 029 268 Support people, build awareness and make changes for success

Dustin Vice Personal and business development coaching Email: dustin@alliancecoachingsystem.com Website: www.alliancecoachingsystem.com Professional coaching, coaching business system for professional coaches

Gail Cherry: Torchlight coaching Email: gail@torchlightcoaching.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1143 489 161 Website: www.torchlightcoaching.co.uk Helping people with their personal and professional development. We work together to be the best you

Ruth Hepworth: Life coach Email: ruth.hepworth@ntlworld.com Phone: +44 (0)1252 655 849

Those Life Consultant Guys: Coaching, seminars, business, goal setting and more Website: www.thoselifeconsultantguys.com A coaching company which prides itself on helping you to live your best life; every day, through one-on-one sessions and seminar programmes

Nick Nanton Career and life coaching, consultancy and public speaking Website: www.nicknanton.com Phone: (407) 215-7737 Recognised as one of the top thought-leaders in the business world

Edson Williams: Life coaching Email: edson@leadbyexample.com Phone: +44(0)7867517777 Website: www.leadbyexample.com Specialising in leadership development and sport coaching

David Owen: Life coach & NLP trainer Email: bestyou@excel-yourself.com Phone: 07900 243494 Website: www.excel-yourself.com Stop smoking, slimming, phobias, relationships, stress, confidence, self-esteem

THE BEST YOU DIRECTORY The best professionals in personal development

PHOBIA SPECIALISTS John Vincent Public speaking without fear Email: John@JohnVincent.tv Phone: +44 (0)7808 545 421 Website: www.johnvincent.tv

Paul Wright Phobias, anxieties, panic attacks Email: paul@phobiagone.com Phone: +44 (0)203 086 8444 Website: www.phobiagone.com

NLP THERAPISTS / HYPNOTHERAPISTS Linda Cameron and Gail Walshe Inspire for impact Email: say-hello@inspireforimpact.com Phone: +44 (0)845 601 7567 Website: www.inspireforimpact.com NLP trainers, NLP master practitioners, NLP life coaches, hypnotherapists

Debbie Williams Birmingham NLP Practice Group Website: www.debbiewilliams.co.uk Phone: +44 (0)121 241 0728 Life coaching, public speaking, sports coaching, all eating disorders, emotional mastery, OCD, stopping blushing, cocaine addiction, binge drinking

Edson Williams Coaching, NLP, personal development Email: say-hello@inspireforimpact.com Phone: +44 (0) 7867517777 Website: www.leadbyexample.com With an holistic approach, Edson specialises in performance coaching

Laura Spicer: Public speaking skills and confidence Email: laura.spicer@gmail.com Phone: 01752 361 576 Website: www.laura-spicer.com The only accredited sound practice trainer for the Society of NLP

EATING DISORDERS John Arroyo Coaching, personal development Email: john@johnarroyo.co.uk I have been a therapist and personal development trainer for 20 years, specialising in eating disorders for the last 10 years

EUROPE

NLP TRAINERS

Pasquale Acampora (Italy) Master trainer and mental coach, NLP, team building Website: www.blackship.it Phone: +39 (0)335 70 99 000 Pasquale’s key areas are sport and business; he has worked with top athletes and multinational companies

Alessandro Mora (Italy) Sport coaching Email: a.mora@ekis.it Phone: +39 (0)522 337 611 Website: www.pnlekis.com NLP, coaching and team building applied to sport and business all over Italy

Xavier Pirla (Spain): NLP master trainer and NLP coach Email: kay@the-me-group.com Phone: 91 002 84 44 (Madrid) 93 193 6449 (Barcelona) Website: www.the-me-group.com NLP, NLP business applications, coaching workshops and consultancy

Aleksander Sinigoj (Slovenia) Mastermind academy Email: info@itnlp.com Website: www.aleksandersinigoj.com Leadership, motivation, sales, business NLP

To include your details in The Best You directory, call 0203 011 0866 or email advertising@thebestyou.co Visit www.thebestyoudirectory.co for more personal development professionals

21ST CENTURY LIVING

THE BEST

YOU

The pace of change can sometimes bewilder, but it can also give amazing opportunities to meet new people, discover innovative ideas and thrive. Bring out the best in you by discovering the technology that will put you ahead of the pack

Life Without Limits

TM

PICTURE THIS

Instagram is changing the way we show off our lives

THE SEASON’S MUST-HAVE TOYS

Bryan Szabo looks at must-have gadgets for 2015

Put your company in this space! To sponsor this page and be part of The Best You, email us at advertising@thebestyou.co

21ST CENTURY LIVING THE BEST YOU

THE INSTAGRAM MOMENT Instagram is the free, quicksend mobile photo- and video-sharing application that has taken millennials and Hollywood by storm.

It’s a fast and fun way to share moments of your life with friends and family, says Lon Safko

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I

nstagram opened its network in October 2010 and now boasts more than 200m users, who have shared over 20bn photos, posting 60m photos a day, by a nearly 50/50 male/female split, with more than 1.2bn likes per day. Facebook paid $715m for the app in April 2012. If that sounds like a lot of big numbers, it’s because this clever app has transformed the way that we share some of the most intimate moments in our lives.

Instagram first became popular among students, quickly spreading to Hollywood where celebrities started to use it as a way to stay in front of fans with family photographs, behind the scenes and red carpet shots, and selfies with famous friends.

Kim Kardashian shook up her Instagram following after sharing provocative photographs of herself, and holds the record for ‘most liked’ photo ever posted with 1.96m ‘likes’ in three days, after uploading a shot of herself and then new husband, Kanye West kissing at their wedding in Italy.

LON SAFKO

Not to be outdone, James Franco created headlines when he allegedly tried to set-up a hotel hook-up with Lucy Clode, a 17-year-old Scottish student, using the image-based social media app. Franco met Clode at his Broadway production, Of Mice and Men. Vanity Fair also ran an article about an Instagram photo that Madonna posted of her son Rocco Ritchie (then aged 13) and two of his young friends. The shot showed the boys holding gin and vodka bottles with a caption, “The party has just begun! Bring it! 2014.”

As you would expect, Instagram tabloid type websites sprung up overnight, such as Popsugar and others, which exploits the good, bad and ugly of Instagram-posted photos. Now, television shows have jumped on the bandwagon too, using their own Instagram posts.

One example is US channel, ABC Television’s hit drama series, Scandal. Its photos show behind the scenes, in front of the camera and candid images of your favorite Scandal stars. Instagram seems to allow for a more playful, less retaliatory environment for posting images, unlike

21ST CENTURY LIVING

Twitter or Facebook, which seem to garner more vitriolic reactions. In one case, singer Joe Jonas used Photoshop to position his brother Nick’s face on Kardashian’s naked body, with the caption, ‘What a tease’. Ellen DeGeneres and significant other, Portia de Rossi used a little Photoshop magic to create a pretend Christmas card, which garnered more than 255,000 likes.

If this was Twitter, a battle royale would have broken out featuring name-calling and lawsuits, but on Instagram, it’s perceived to be all in good fun. On the Instagram platform, photos cannot be re-posted. This is why we don’t see flame wars like we see on Twitter.

Some celebrities on Instagram use the social platform to have fun with their fans through planned stunts and humor. Each year Hitflix picks the best pics of the year and publishes a list.

With the rules of engagement of Instagram providing a slightly more lighthearted social media channel, more fans are turning to it to share both their lives and those of the stars they are entertained by.

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21ST CENTURY LIVING

BRYAN SZABO

NEW YEAR, NEW GADGETS No matter how good Christmas was, there are always a few items on our tech wish-list – here’s our round-up of 2015 must-haves

SEIKO ASTRON GPS

For any frequent traveller who has woken up and wondered what time zone they’re in, the Astron GPS is an (admittedly expensive) way to ease your mind. Go to sleep in London and wake up in Tokyo, and the Astron has made all the adjustments for you. It’s an electronic watch synced – via GPS – with the absolute precise time in each time zone. While retaining the classic and elegant styling of an analog watch, the Astron’s digital functionality (and solar power) means that you’ll never have to adjust your clock when you change time zones again. Since it has two dials, you can always keep one eye on the time back home.

Suggested retail price: £799

GOPRO HERO4

As you might expect, GoPro is claiming that the latest iteration of its revolutionary camera, the HERO4, is the most advanced and user-friendly version of the device yet. Video frame rate has doubled, and so has the processing power packed into the palm-sized device. It now boasts ultra high definition capabilities, so you’ll be able to playback in crystal clear, liquid images that won’t lose an ounce of quality, even when they’re slowed down to super slow motion. GoPro has cornered the market for lifestyle cameras, and with this new device it doesn’t like it’s going to have its supremacy challenged anytime soon.

Suggested retail price: £370

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BRYAN SZABO 21ST

CENTURY LIVING

SPHERO 2.0

The robotic ball that connects to and is controlled by your smartphone (iOS or Android) is faster than the original Sphero.

It turns on a dime and it can move in a straight line as fast as 2m/sec. There are a number of mobile games to play with the device, and it’s undeniably appealing to make the little ball twist and turn (especially outside, where you can really stretch the Sphero’s capabilities and test its 20-metre range). This is definitely a productivity killer, so it’s probably best not to take it to the office.

Suggested retail price: £99

ROLI SEABOARD GRAND

If you’ve ever played a piano – or maybe you’re one of the millions of people who always wanted to learn but never got round to it – the Seaboard’s layout is going to look familiar.

It looks like a space-age keyboard, something that beings with four finger joints would play to call home. Actually, it’s an highly intuitive keyboard with a first-of-its-kind playing surface that allows the player to create sounds beyond their wildest imaginings. What makes it most special is the fact that the playing surface, though it still retains distinctive key markings, is continuous. As one’s fingers move from one key to the next, they can slide or even vibrate between notes. A massive leap forward for keyboards.

Suggested retail price: £1,999

ALIENWARE ALPHA

Gamers have long been asking for a sophisticated PC/console hybrid, and their call, it appears, has finally been answered by Alienware. It brings all the fun multi-player action of PC games to your big screen television and at a cost substantially less than a dedicated gaming PC. It also turns your big screen into a fully functional home computer, so browsing the web from your favourite spot on the couch is also a possibility. Best of all, the image quality and processing power are top notch, so you won’t be staring longingly into the corner at your lightning-fast PC. In fact, you may find yourself in that corner less and less.

Suggested retail price: £449

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