TRIBEathlon Podcast

There is no new podcast episode this week as we are reducing our releases to fortnightly over the summer due to various commitments. I’ll let you know when the next one is live, but in the meantime, take the opportunity to listen to an older one here.

If you could review, rate and even share the podcast on the Apple Store here, I will be eternally grateful!

What I’ve Been Reading

Wim Hoff is a crazy Dutchman who runs near naked marathons in the arctic, swims and bathes in ice-cold water and climbs mountains in record times; I have been meaning to read The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Potential, Transcend Your Limits for a little while, and it didn’t disappoint. Essentially it can be boiled down to the incredible benefits to the body and mind from 3 things: cold, breathing and mindset. His approach is well documented, but it is certainly worth reading the book to understand the man and benefits behind what are, essentially, simple methods.

App I’ve Found Useful

Another way to understand more about what Wim Hoff is doing is through his Wim Hoff Method App. With video guides on breathing techniques, dealing with the cold and much more, there is loads worth checking out here if his concepts interest you.

TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, West Virginia -- and a shocking image of the sugar we eat -- TED Prize winner and ‘Naked Chef’, Jamie Oliver, makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food in his TED talk Teach every child about food. Love him or loathe him, I have to say, I couldn’t agree with him more in this impactful talk on a big health crisis that gets a lot less coverage than it should.

Quote of the Week

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything”.

Finance Theme I’ve been Considering

Whilst watching TED talks, I also found a video entitled 6 ways to improve your relationship with money. It may seem like a simple video, but there is a lot of great advice in there. Definitely one that young adults should watch…and probably most older adults too!

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 45: Aly Dixon is a marathon runner from Sunderland that has done good; from humble beginnings in the local running club to running for Team GB in the Rio Olympics! Aly has been British and English marathon champion twice, broken the women’s 50km world record on her first attempt and held the world record for the fastest 1/2 marathon dressed as a superhero, but she still holds winning the local Bladen Races as one of her best achievements.

Sid and I got the chance to chat to her about the importance of the running club scene, how to make self-coaching deliver more and her favourite running books.

What I’ve Been Reading

Being a slow reader, it takes a lot for me to read a physical book, but one of the most enjoyable reads I have found is Man vs Ocean - One Man's Journey to Swim The World's Toughest Oceans by Adam Walker.

Walker is not your everyday record-breaking sportsman; he took on arguably the toughest extreme sport on the planet – to swim non-stop across seven of the world’s deadliest oceans wearing only swim trunks, cap and goggles. It is not a test for the faint-hearted as he endured lions-mane jelly fish stings, sharks and storms. Always intriguing, sometimes terrifying, and occasionally very funny, Adam’s story is about sport in its truest form: rather than competitions between teams and individuals, it is about man against nature. If you like swimming, you’ll love it.

Podcast I’ve Been Listening To

I’ve mentioned The High Performance Podcast before, and another interview I really enjoyed was one featuring Susie Ma. Susie Ma is the founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare, one of the UK’s fastest-growing skincare brands. A young lady in business, she is wise beyond her years, becoming the first runner up in the Apprentice to end up in business with Sir Lord Sugar. I took some great insights and learning points from listening to her talk.

TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting

Got an idea to make your workplace better? Labour organizer and TED Fellow, Jess Kutch, can show you how to put it into action in her talk What productive conflict can offer a workplace. In this quick talk, she explains how "productive conflict" -- when people organize to challenge and change their work lives for the better -- can be beneficial for employees and employers alike.

Quote of the Week

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

• George Eliot

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

I was chatting to a client earlier on this week about his bucket list. He still has a few years of his children’s education left, and he made a really interesting point; a bucket list is not necessarily about what you want to do in your lifetime, but also what you want to do in the next few years. He has broken his down into a bucket list to do as a family in the next few years, and then another to do beyond that, just him and his wife. It is good to break things down when planning anything, and a bucket list should be no different. Take some time to consider what you need to do in the next 5 years, that you might not get the chance to do thereafter.

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 46: Phoebe Liebling is a Harley Street nutritional therapist, runs the business 'Natural Nourishment' and is a self-confessed data geek when it comes to anything to do with health.

In this interview you’ll hear how to improve your performance and health through diet, which are the right supplements and which ones are a waste of your time and money.

What I’ve Been Thinking About

This week I should have been at an annual global conference in New Orleans. Making the effort to travel and changing your perspective combined with hearing speakers from both inside and out of our industry has always helped me think up new ideas for my future, and for the future of the business.

Last year, attending the conference virtually from home just didn’t cut the mustard, so I decided to take inspiration from Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and create my very own ‘Think Week’ in The Lake District during this year’s virtual sessions. I’ve cycled and ran whilst listening to books, consumed the conference content and also caught up on some books and exercises I’ve been meaning to revisit. It is a marked difference to sitting in my home office just watching the guest speakers.

How can you change your perspective, change your working environment or create a more conducive opportunity to think plan your future?

What I’ve Been Reading

One of the books I’ve read this week is Think Again; The power of knowing what you don’t know by Adam Grant. It was the perfect start to my Think Week and really made me question some long-standing beliefs as well as helped me learn more about the art of conversation. A really good read, particularly if you are embarking, or wanting to embark, on a new project.

Podcast I’ve Been Listening To

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago a new podcast a friend of mine has launched called Honey I blew up the business. Last weeks’ episode featured none other than my good self, so if you want to listen to Dan and I chew the cud over what makes Entrepreneurial Happiness, the secret to achieving goals or achieving a better work life balance, give it a go here.

Quote of the Week

“Before you marry a person you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet to see who they really are.”

• Will Ferrell

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

One of the things I watched in addition to the MDRT content was the Raise Your Edge podcast interview of Bill Perkins, the author of Die with Zero. I haven’t read this book yet, but Perkins essentially encapsulates 2 key principals we shout from the rooftops at Efficient Portfolio.

Firstly, the key to a financially successful, fulfilled and happy life is to model your finances, using Lifetime Cashflow Forecasting. There is no point becoming the richest person in the graveyard, dying having worked too long and not being able to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Model your finances, so you can aim to die with zero!

Secondly, don’t wait until you die to leave a legacy, but instead give with a warm hand so that you can see the impact your gifts make, and to ensure they are received at the time of greatest need.

Definitely worth watching, and I suspect the book will be a future Friday Footnotes recommendation.

Welcome to another edition of the Friday Footnotes - Cycling Sweat and the power of thinking. There is a cycling undertone to this week’s edition but, as always, there are plenty of other topics covered too. Enjoy your weekend!

TRIBEathlon Podcast

For the first week in a long time, we’ve had a week off doing a TRIBEathlon podcast. Dates and diaries conspired against us, however don’t be alarmed, it will be back next week. In the meantime, I suggest you take a listen to one of our favourite episodes if you have missed them. Whilst it’s difficult to narrow it down, the ones that really stand out for me are:

• Jeff Galloway on run/walk/run strategies
• John McAvoy’s story from armed robber to Ironman pro
• Nikki Spinks on fell running
• Matt Bottrill on improving cycling performance
• Tim Don, the ironman with the halo
• Dr Emma Ross on women’s health in sport
• Shane Benzie on running technique
• Dr Charlotte Edelston on sleep
• Mark Beaumont on cycling around the world in 80 days
• Crista Cullen on winning hockey gold.

Whilst every episode has been amazing, I really encourage you to go back and take a listen to these in particular, they really are fascinating. 

What I’ve Been Reading

One of my favourite books is Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, so I decided to go back and read one of his older books, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. It presents research from psychology and behavioural economics on the adaptive unconscious: mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information. It considers both the strengths of the adaptive unconscious (expert judgment for example), and its pitfalls, such as prejudice and stereotypes. As with his other books, there are brilliant learning points woven into brilliant story telling.

Cycling Performance

One of the podcast episodes I mentioned above was improving cycling performance with Matt Bottrill, and last week I finally got to visit him to help me. I spent an afternoon with him reshaping my position on the bike. Not only was it totally fascinating, but I am hoping it will significantly improve my performance. Well worth looking at here if you are into your cycling.

What I’ve Been Drinking

When I first started cycling someone told me that, on longer rides, electrolytes are as important, if not more so, than nutrition (food). I’d now say this even more the case with running. What I learned from interviewing Andy Blow is that we all sweat at different levels, and our salt loss also varies widely, so if you want to perform at your best, you need to be slightly more scientific than just adding a tablet to each bottle.

If you want to learn more, you can do a free online sweat test at www.precisionhydration.com  and if you want to buy any of their products use the code TRIBEATHLON15 at the checkout for 15% off your first order.

Quote of the Week

”I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” - Jimmy Dean

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

Last week, Wayne Searle from ESP Business Solutions and I did a webinar about Building a Better Business. Wayne’s advice comes from an accounting background and mine a financial planning one, but both of us were discussing topics more diverse than just these core subjects. If you would like to watch the recording, it is available to view here.

Friday Footnotes

This week’s FFN (Paving the way body language and breathing) will be a bit shorter than usual, as I seem to have ended up with a 2-day working week, but a fast game’s a good game!

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 42: Stacey Copeland has represented her country in both football and boxing and in 2018 she made history when she became the first ever British woman to win the Commonwealth title. As a footballer she represented England U18s, played in an FA cup final and has also played abroad in America and Sweden. As an amateur boxer Stacey won a European silver medal and National Championship and as a professional, she won the Commonwealth title.

Sid and I wanted to chat to her about breaking through in women’s sport, perceptions of the game and her drive to help others through Pave the Way.

Where I’ve Been Eating

It was Caryl’s birthday on Wednesday, so lunch at Hambleton Hall was the order of the day. I love that place, and as we’ve eaten out so little in the last 14 months, a dining outside experience as we emerge from Lockdown was truly amazing. The food, service and view are as good as it gets for miles around so if you get the chance to check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. In her talk Your body language may shape who you are social psychologist, Amy Cuddy, argues that "power posing" - standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident - can boost feelings of confidence, and might have an impact on our chances for success. It seems that, physically speaking, we can fake it before we make it!

What I’ve Been Reading

One of the most interesting books I’ve read this year is Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. Given that breathing is such a fundamental part of our life, it is amazing we’ve got this far without any real thought to how we are doing it, or how we can do it better. It seems breathing through our mouths has a detrimental impact so many parts of our bodies, and is we can learn to breath more effectively, we can improve our physical and mental wellbeing in many different ways. Definitely worth a read.

Quote of the Week

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

• Albert Einstein

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

Over the last 12 months we have seen examples of the importance of good financial planning in so many ways. If your investments were well diversified, they actually grew in 2020 despite the worst stock market crash in our lifetime. If you got sick but had the right protection in place then your plan wasn’t derailed, and if you’ve organised your estate plan, you could sleep more easily at night. As we return to more normal living, don’t forget to get a plan in place, if you haven’t already. If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail.

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 41: Kat Matthews is serving in the British Army as a Physiotherapist Officer whilst she's supported to pursue performance as an elite long-distance triathlete. Having only started triathlon in 2015, it wasn't long before she was winning races, including Ironman Florida in 2020, only her second attempt at full distance.

Clearly there is a lot to come from Kat, so I wanted to chat to her about being a full-time athlete in the Army, myths around heavy training weeks and the mental tactics she uses to achieve these incredible results.

What I’ve Been Eating

It’s not often I find a food product that not only tastes amazing, but also makes a noticeable difference to my health, however Bio&Me is one such product.

I’ve had digestive issues for several years; I’ve seen GP’s, specialist consultants and nutritionists, none of which have been able to make a noticeable difference. I recently started adding Bio&Me to my breakfast of choice (a mixture of gluten free cornflakes, homemade muesli and coconut milk), and I can honestly say I have seen a genuine improvement in both the taste of my breakfast and in my digestive health. I am working my way through the flavours but have yet to find one I don’t like. If you want to try it for yourself, you can use discount code Bio&25 for 25% off.

Podcast I’ve Been Listening To

Recently, I have been listening to a number of episodes of The High Performance podcast. In some ways it is similar to the TRIBEathlon podcast, however they have wider mix of guests, ranging from sports people to business owners. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Jo Malone CBE, for her honesty, insights and story. By coincidence, Kat Matthews also recommended it in the TRIBEathlon podcast this week. The subject is Finding your Superpower, and if you are interested in business, or perfume, I suggest you give it a listen.

Health Matters I’ve Been Thinking About

I was lucky enough to get the first dose of my vaccine this week. From what I have been told, the younger and stronger your immune system, the worse the reaction seems to be. My triathlon coach made sure to mention this to his other athletes and I had 3 days of feeling tired, aching and having brain fog.

All of this is, of course, more than worthwhile if it can help us all get back to a more normal life; not only so we don’t get the virus, but also so that we don’t spread it. Just be aware of the side effects and be aware you may need to take it easy for a few days afterwards. Probably best not to go for a long run the morning after the jab!

Quote of the Week

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

• Zig Ziglar.

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

I spoke to a potential a new client earlier on this week. By his own admission, he is not interested in his finances but is currently getting advice from a financial advisory firm and was starting to question their independence.

When you are car shopping, if you go see and BMW salesman, guess what he sells you, a BMW not an Audi. As a result, you are left trawling the web for reviews of different cars to try and make the right decision for you. Buying a car is a significant purchase, but your financial future and your children’s inheritance, well that is a different game altogether.

In the same way a BMW salesman sells you a BMW, from a non-independent adviser you only get their solutions. What this means is that, unless you are going to spend time every year trawling the web to determine whether that firm is right for you, you are leaving them to mark their own homework - unsurprisingly, they are unlikely to tell you their only option is not for you!

Our job, as truly independent financial planners, is to find the best solution on the market for our clients, and continually revisit those solutions. If at some point in the future we find a better or cheaper option, it’s our job to bring that to the client’s attention. So, unless you either want to be researching the finance market every year or want an adviser marking their own homework, independent advice is always best in my opinion, as it’s the only one you can genuinely trust.

This week I have been thinking more about travelling and trying to get my fix of seeing amazing parts of the world. In this edition, I’ll show you some of the ways I done just that.

TED Talk I’ve Been Inspired By

In ‘How to Live to 100+’  Dan Buettner studies the world's "Blue Zones," (communities whose elders live with vim and vigour to a record-breaking age) and looks to find the path to a long, healthy life. In his talk, Buettner shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep thee Blue Zone communities spry past age 100, whether they live in Sardinia, Japan or Loma Linda California. You can watch it here.

What I’ve Been Watching

One of the things I love about travelling is exploring our underwater world. This was taken to a whole new level when we took the girls diving in Thailand last October, something I’d been waiting to do as a family since Ffion was born over 13 years ago. Fortunately, the girls loved it as much as I did, so we have started watching  Monty Halls' ‘Dive Mysteries’ together. Having dived ‘The Blue Hole’ in Dahab many years ago, apparently the most dangerous dive site in the world, the first episode in particular was fascinating for me. You can watch it on Amazon here.

What I’ve Been Reading

One of the things I loved about doing Ironman Italy last year was the excuse to explore a part of Italy I probably would never have otherwise visited. For me, the travel element of that experience was just as memorable as the physical challenge.

I recently read ‘Against the Odds’ by John Pendergrass. What I loved about it was, whilst it is a book about a guy trying to complete 6 Ironman’s on 6 different continents in his 60’s, and about the lure of the Ironman challenge, it is also a book on travelling to remote places like Taupo, New Zealand and Florianopolis in Brazil, which for me is part of the magic. You can read this funny and fascinating book here.

App I’ve Found Useful

Whilst we can’t go and travel the globe at present, with a cheap Virtual Reality headset you can still take a step into another world. The App ‘VR Showcase’ allows you to travel the world to see places and events. Personally, I resisted seeing places I hadn’t visited yet like Machu Pichu, so as not to spoil it when I do, but it did allow me to revisit flying above NYC in a helicopter and wandering around Vatican City and Rome. You can try it here or here.

Quote

“The journey not the arrival matters.” –T.S. Eliot

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

When the markets are at a low, you are presented with an opportunity to do certain things that you might not otherwise have been able to achieve. Other than the obvious opportunity to invest at a low point of the market, there are a couple of ways of making the most of your investments being (hopefully temporarily) worth less than they once were.

The first is to move money that ideally you would have moved previously, but because it was pregnant with gains, you didn’t want to due to the tax consequences. Now is the opportune moment to make that move.

The second is for those people who have exceeded the pension Lifetime Allowance. If you are over 55, crystallising the pension at a market low allows you to minimise the tax bill. If either situation applies to you, and you’d like advice on making the most of this opportunity, just ask. We’re here to help.

Stay happy and healthy and enjoy the sunshine if you can safely.

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 35: Claire Fudge works with athletes to optimise their nutrition for performance and is a competitive Ironman athlete herself; she describes nutrition as the '4th Discipline' and works with a wide range of athletes including pro's, age groupers, dancers, triathletes, ultra-runners and cyclists, as well as helping athletes with eating disorders.

I wanted to chat to Claire to understand how we can use our approach to nutrition to improve our performance, how we can all improve our health through our diet as well as debunk some of the food myths that are out there.

Recent Health Matters

Last week was the end of an era for me; I’ve been wearing glasses for 15 years, until I let a cycling mad South African fire a laser into my eyes last week.

Life without glasses is taking a little getting used to but the reason I am sharing this with you is that I can’t recommend London Vision Clinic highly enough. They were amazing, and I have taken a number of lessons away from the experience to use for our business.

Laser eye surgery is quite a scary thing (it was for me anyway) so the way they approach it is so important, and they do an incredible job. They aren’t the cheapest, but if someone is going to laser my eyes, I want it to be done by the best in the business, and they certainly gave me that impression.

If you want to learn more about it, they have a guide to the different treatments and a guide to the procedure. Alternatively, if you want to take over where I left off, you can still buy the iconic ‘Charlie Reading Glasses’ on Amazon here!

TED Talk I’ve found Interesting

When you look at sporting achievements over the last decades, it seems like humans have gotten faster, better and stronger in nearly every way. Yet as David Epstein points out in his delightfully counter-intuitive talk Are athletes really getting faster, better and stronger?, we might want to lay off the self-congratulation. Many factors are at play in shattering athletic records, and the development of our natural talents is just one of them. A really interesting watch.

Podcast I’ve Been Listening To

Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett are two legends of the swimming world, so when paired together and interviewed by Tim Ferriss it makes for a brilliant podcast.

They talk about competing, overcoming adversity, must-read books, dealing with depression and much more. It is fascinating to hear 2 athletes at the very top of their game; Phelps being probably the greatest swimmer of all time with an astonishing 28 Olympic medals, and Hackett with 26 gold at Olympic, Commonwealth, and World Championships levels, talk about the mental lows they went through and their approach to success.

What I’ve Been Watching

I don’t watch many TV series but having travelled South East Asia myself, I was compelled to watch The Serpent on iPlayer. It tells the true story of the crimes of serial killer, Charles Sobhraj, who murdered young tourists between 1975–1976 in Thailand and other areas popular with the hippie backpacking culture at the time. It would be a great story if it were fiction, but he fact that it is true just makes it even more enthralling.

Quote of the Week

‘A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought – they must be earned.’

- Naval Ravikant

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

One element of the culture we have built at Efficient Portfolio is ‘constant and never-ending improvement’. On 2nd March 2021 we were officially awarded our BS 8577 certification, making us one of a small but growing group of financial planning firms in the UK to have achieved this prestigious award. British Standards, in this case the BS 8577, are designed to assess and award financial planning firms who can demonstrate that they have the operational framework in place to deliver a first-class service to their clients.

We are incredibly proud to have been awarded this accolade, especially to have achieved it during the global pandemic, as it demonstrates that the business we have built operates at the highest possible level. It really is testament to the efforts of the EP team that have allowed us to achieve this, so a huge thanks and congratulations goes out to them.

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 34: Having achieved the goal of first Age Grouper overall in the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii 2019, Ruth Astle is now starting to embark on a new journey; having juggled triathlon alongside a very intense job in the city, she is now pursing the sport professionally while working 2 days a week.

As someone who trains for Ironman whilst running my own business, I wanted to know how she managed to hold down an intense job and reach the top of the sport, why she has kept working after turning pro, as well as chat about training in the countryside vs the city and English wine.

My Bucket List

A new addition to my bucket list is the Space Hotel. You can read more about the plans for it here. I reckon it will be out of this world!

What I’ve Been Reading

Matthew Syed is one of my favourite authors and his latest book ‘Rebel Ideas’ did not disappoint. What I love about it are the insights around the power of team thinking, the increasing danger of echo chambers online and how bringing cognitive diversity can improve the outcomes. A brilliant book for business owners, teachers or really any leader, I love the opening chapter in particular, where he concludes that the 9/11 attack was not anticipated by the CIA because of a lack of cognitive diversity.

If you want to get a feel for the book, it is well worth listening to his interview on the podcast Don’t Tell me the Score.

What I’ve Been Watching

The talk of echo chambers in Rebel Ideas got me thinking about a couple of things I had watched lately.

Firstly, the Panorama episode ‘Vaccines: The Disinformation War’ is really worth watching if you haven’t already. The pandemic has been an opportunity for online echo chambers to thrive, and it has amazed me how people have reacted very differently to it and I have little doubt that echo chambers are the cause.

The second was ‘The Social Dilemma’, as it again highlights how these echo chambers are polarising peoples beliefs. This was a previous Footnotes recommendation, but worth watching if you missed it.

Quote of the Week

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

• Matthew Syed

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

At Efficient Portfolio we have always prided ourselves on being truly independent. In the world of finance, independence means that we are able to place our clients’ needs at the heart of everything we do. However, like any private company, our independence has also provided some challenges for us; we shaped the business ourselves without a large corporate’s framework, and have had to adapt, innovate and refine everything we do over the years.

We wanted to test our processes against the best and see if they were as good as we believed, so decided to apply for British Standards certification. Last week we were officially awarded our BS 8577 certification, making us one of a small but growing group of financial planning firms in the UK to have achieved this prestigious award. It really is testament to the efforts of the EP team that have allowed us to achieve this, so a huge thanks and congratulations goes out to them.

On Monday next week it’s International Women’s Day, so I wanted to have a feminine theme to this week’s email.

TRIBEathlon Podcast

Episode 33: In a world where a normal Ironman isn't tough enough, Flora Colledge excels; she regularly wins or podiums in the X-tri races, which include iconic events in spectacular parts of the world like The Norseman, The Swissman and Patagonman - but what does it take to do that?

I wanted to know how the logistics of these epic point to point races work, how she deals with the cold and what it takes to win an Extreme Triathlon event.

Podcast I’ve Been Listening To

Her Spirit is a fantastic podcast; hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter, Louise Minchin, and BBC Triathlon presenter, Annie Emmerson. I’m never sure I should be listening to it as a man, but I really enjoy it. The episode I really enjoyed recently is the interview of professional boxer and England footballer, Stacey Copeland. A great story to inspire young women that have a passion for something, regardless of whether it’s sport or not.

TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting

I saw Laura Vanderkam talk at a conference in the US a couple of years ago, and she was brilliant. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but I did watch her TED Talk this week, ‘How to gain control of your free time’, where she points out that there are 168 hours in each week and asks how do we find time for what matters most?

Time management expert, Vanderkam, studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got.” So good I made the girls watch it too.

What I’ve Been Reading

I actually read this book a couple of years ago, but never got around to recommending it. Thinking of inspiring women brought it back to mind. Chrissie Wellington’s story is a brilliantly inspiring one. In case you don’t know, she is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman World Champion. Her first book A Life Without Limits is one of my favourites, and I did recommend that in The Efficient Wealth Update, but her second, ‘To the Finish Line’ is nearly as good. It is an entertaining and informative guide to training for triathlon with more practical advice than the first book. You can hear Chrissie's voice as she guides you with a human touch and humour. If you are thinking of exploring the world of triathlon, these are great books to read.

Quote of the Week

“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”

– Michelle Obama.

If you want another book by an inspiring woman, definitely read her book Becoming.

“Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of success.”

• Arianna Huffington.

Again, her book Thrive is also amazing.

Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering

We often get asked, why don’t we have any female advisers at Efficient Portfolio, which is a great question. My usual answer is that it’s their choice not ours! We have always wanted to be able to offer a female adviser as an option to clients, but none of our team have progressed fast enough, far enough or at the right time for them to take that opportunity; however, we aren’t far away. Katie Burgess will be an authorised adviser later on this year, so we are really excited to be able to finally enhance our advice team with a female perspective.