When I met my wife, she was a massage therapist and I was practicing Chinese Medicine. I thought we were pretty similar people on pretty similar tracks. She’s six years younger than I am, so, naturally, I figured I’d be ahead of her in most ways. Boy, was I kidding myself.
At age 23, she opened a large spa in Portland. I helped. At 24, she and I bought our first house. At 27, she had a baby, opened a café, bought a second house and turned the first one into a rental. I helped. At 28, she opened a second spa. I helped. At 30, she pushed us to buy the commercial building our first spa and two restaurants occupy. I helped. At 32, she founded her own brand, launched a program to help people achieve their dreams, bought a third house and turned the second one into a rental. I helped. At 33, she opened a third spa. I helped. At 34, she opened a fourth spa, started a new magazine, had a second baby, and created and Launched a Kickstarter for a Dreambook+Planner . I helped.
She plans to retire at age 40. I plan to help.
While all this might not sound so impossible for an obsessed workaholic who thinks about nothing but money and power, she’s actually a playful, happy, and balanced mom who only works four days a week and fiercely prioritizes family, pajama time, and vacations.
She would say I’m downplaying my role in these many endeavors. It’s true that I’ve done a lot to support our projects, but I’ve always focused mainly on being a good doctor and father, learning as much about health as I can, and educating people. Frankly, if it weren’t for Briana, I just wouldn’t get that much accomplished.
It’s not that she’s got superhuman drive and energy, but she does have a gift when it comes to defining goals, planning, strategizing, and following through. And, as it happens, I have a knack for sorting through all the many diet plans, exercises, and health practices out there and discerning which ones deliver the best return on the energy invested in them.
I’ve taught thousands of patients and readers how to achieve a healthy body and mind, and Briana has taught countless clients how to reach their goals. We’ve seen that these things work best hand in hand. Poor health can thwart achievement, or at least make it less enjoyable. A healthy life can feel wasted without purposeful accomplishments. And neither is worthwhile if it causes us to sacrifice family, play, creative expression or whatever else makes life sweet for us.
But these practices need context and significance – ritual – in order to feel meaningful and inspired. We decided it was time to team up and present an integrated system that included Briana’s processes for accomplishing goals, my coaching for whole health, and an emphasis on forging rituals that align these practices with our core desires.
We created a workbook to help people identify their priorities, set goals, and start living a more magical life. We call it the Rituals for Living Dreambook, and we just launched a crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter to raise the money to make it a reality. You can check it out HERE. We ask for your help in spreading the word. We want to see more people happily, healthily reaching their goals while maintaining a sustainable balance of work and play. For people like me, who haven’t gotten used to digital calendars and still schedule everything on paper, we also made a version that includes a weekly planner for 2016.
Thanks so much for your support.
With love,
Dr. Peter Borten
PS. Did you just skip to the bottom? If so, the bottom line is that we would love your support for our Rituals for Living Dreambook+Planner Kickstarter.