Below is a Q&A with the authors of Oola for Women, Dave Braun and Troy Amdahl.
What is Oola?
Oola-la … that’s what life feels like when you’re in the sweet spot, when your life is balanced, and growing in the 7 key areas of health and well-being (the 7 F’s of Oola): fitness, finance, family, field (career), faith, friends and fun. It’s more than a best-selling book series, it’s a lifestyle.
Why is Oola taking the US by storm?
We seemed to have hit upon just the right message at just the right time. People are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and completely disconnected from their purpose. We are so busy in the day-to-day that we’ve lost any sense of balance in life and our unique goals and purpose. In this fast-food, fast-paced culture that is deep into debt and relationally disconnected, we have lost touch with who we are, and more importantly who we are intended to be.
Why did you write this book only for women?
After our first book launched, we realized many of our readers and followers on social media are women. When we recognized this trend, it made perfect sense. While a circus performer might spin seven plates in a single show, women spin seven plates (figuratively) every day. They juggle work, kids, family, and home life – hoping there’s room left in there somewhere for “me time.” And if she is a small business owner or a career woman (as many of our readers are), she also juggle customers, clients, sales, marketing, professional events, and so many related activities that it’s truly mind-boggling how much she packs into a 24-hour day. We saw value in using the inspirational stories and experiences of everyday women who share these same challenges as they pursue a more OolaLife.
What is the message you are trying to convey?
That each and every one of us are designed for greatness. The problem is, we often can’t see it because it is buried by the weight of a life out of balance. This may be debt, a struggling marriage, health issues, challenges with kids, lack of purpose, toxic relationships, or you simply have lost touch for what provides you joy in life. By revealing how to remove the stress related to a life out of balance, we are able to guide our readers on a path of unlocking the greatness that is inside of them.
What are the 7 F’s of Oola
These are the key areas of health and well-being that we are all balancing every day whether we realize it or not: fitness, finance, family, field (career), faith, friends, and fun.
How can the 7 F’s of Oola improve my life?
We are all uniquely drawn to 1-3 of the 7 key areas of life. For some it is money (finance) and business (field). For others, it may be faith and family. The key is to realize that all 7 areas are important components to a life that is rich and full…an OolaLife.
How can Oola help me change my lifestyle
Oola helps reveal your unique purpose on this planet. It provides a simple 3-step plan and inspires the courage to go get it. Discovering your Oola is a very individualized experience. We are each uniquely designed with our own different skills and abilities. Although society, and even our family and friends, want to push us down the path of what success looks like to them, your OolaLife is unique to you.
How can Oola help me balance my life?
Oola helps identify where your life can use more balance. Step 1 to the OolaLife is known as the OolaWheel. By getting real with where you are in each of the 7 key areas you can quickly and easily identify where you are in this moment. Much like when you open your map app on your phone, you cannot get to where you are going, if you do not take a look at the blue pin to see where you are at that precise moment. The back of the book has a simple exercise to reveal this. There is also a free interactive tool online at OolaLife.com/step1
What are OolaBlockers and how can they help me de-stress?
In meeting people at live events and across the country as we collect dreams in our vintage VW surf bus, we realize that when people fail to achieve a goal they have set for themselves, many times it is because they have run into an OolaBlocker. The 7 most common are: fear, guilt, anger, self-sabotage, laziness, envy, focus issues (lack of/misdirected). The key to living fully, and achieving the life you dream of and deserve, often lies in your ability to push through what is blocking you. The Oola books provide a plan to help you overcome what is holding you back.
What are OolaAccelerators and how can they bring balance into my life?
These are the wind in your sail. By embracing and inviting these into your life, you can achieve your OolaLife faster. The 7 most common are: love, gratitude, discipline, integrity, passion, humility, and wisdom.
What are the 3 simple steps to living the OolaLife?
They are more than the principles of Oola, they are the action steps to get the life you dream of and deserve. They are simply where you are today (Step 1: OolaWheel), where do you want to go (Step 2: OolaPlan), and how are you going to get there (Step 3: OolaPath) for each of the 7 key areas of life.
What is OolaPalooza?
It started with a group of guys in 1997 at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. We sat on the floor with seven stacks of 3 x 5 notecards in front of us. Each stack represented a key area of life. On these cards we committed to goals in each of the 7 key areas that we would accomplish in the next year. This simple process lead to success, not just in money and business, but in life. We shared this simple process in our first book. After its success, readers asked more about the process, so we brought the process to them. OolaPalooza is a live event where attendees take two days outside their lives to be honest with where they are, reconnect with their dreams and decide where they want to go.
What is an OolaSeeker; What is an OolaGuru?
Dave is the OolaSeeker and Troy is the OolaGuru. In the first book, Dave had his Oola, lost it, and by reconnecting with the simple Oola principles, and with the guidance of the OolaGuru, he got his Oola back! The reality is we are all OolaSeekers. We are designed to be unique and awesome and we need to take steps forward each and every day to tap into the greatness within.
What is the Oola Dream Tour?
This is our mission: 1 bus, 2 guys, 50 states, and 1,000,000 dreams. We want to change the world with a word (#Oola) and we do this by re-connecting people to their dreams. After the first book was released and our early events, we realized there is great power in reflecting upon your life, thinking about where you want to go, and taking the time to declare positive change in your life by putting pen to paper. Better yet, putting a sharpie to a sticker that we can carry on the side of our vintage VW surf bus. The collective energy of people from across the country and in different walks of life is infectious. We have committed to going to all 50 states and collecting 1,000,000 dreams. The cool thing is, even those who can’t see the bus directly can get their dream on our bus. They can submit it for free at OolaLife.com. We know that each dream we collect, when that commitment to positive change happens, that individual’s life is better. A better individual makes a better family, a better community, and ultimately a better world. And THAT is how we can collectively, change the world with this one word and our simple, yet life-changing message.
What’s next?
We’ll continue to write and collect dreams on the side of our VW surf bus until we get to all 50 states (yes, Alaska and Hawaii) and collect 1 million dreams. After self-publishing our first book, we have signed a 3-book deal with HCI Publishing (the original publishers of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series). Since it is our big dream to change the WORLD with a word, and not just the U.S. … who knows. Instead of a VW, we may wrap a jet and start collecting dreams worldwide.
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Oola is also giving you a chance to nominate your own local OOLAWOMAN. Details are below:
NOMINATE AN OOLAWOMAN In the 17 primary stops, and many of the small communities in between, they are asking folks to nominate an Oola Woman in their community. What is an Oola Woman? An ordinary woman doing extraordinary things! Maybe she overcame adversity? Maybe she’s given selflessly to her community? Maybe she is mentor to many? Maybe she is simply awesome and needs to be recognized? Nominate her at http://www.oolalife.com/nominate-oolawoman , and who knows, the OolaGuys may swing by bearing gifts and letting her know how amazing she is!
OOLA FOR WOMEN – BOOK TOUR SARASOTA FL (APRIL 27-28) NASHVILLE TN (APRIL 30 – MAY 4) ATLANTA GA (MAY 8-9) BIRMINGHAM AL (MAY 10) NEW ORLEANS LA (MAY 11and MAY15) HOUSTON TX (MAY 16) SAN ANTONIO TX (MAY 17) AUSTIN TX (MAY 18) DALLAS TX (MAY 19) OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA (May 20) PHOENIX AZ (MAY 24-26) ALBUQUERQUE NM (JUNE 5) DENVER CO (JUNE 7) SALT LAKE CITY (JUNE 14-17) LAS VEGAS NV (JUNE 19) LOS ANGELES CA (JUNE 20-22) SAN DIEGO CA (JUNE 23)
Website: https://www.oolalife.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oolalife (345,132 likes; 336,412 followers)
Twitter: @OolaLife (173,000)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oolalife/ (35,500)
Blog: http://www.oolalife.com/blog
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