Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World by Dr. Dave Braun & Dr. Troy Amdahl

Last March, Young Living sent out a notice that they were furthering their partnership with the Oola Guys and releasing new essential oils to help their customers achieve Oola while being oily. What is Oola? you ask. Simple.

oo-la: noun. That state of awesomeness. It is when your life is balanced and growing in the seven key areas of life; the 7 F's of Oola (fitness, finance, family, field, faith, friends, and fun). (p. 31)

I am always a person who looks into things before doing something, and I don't just jump in, I wade in. So I looked into Dr. Dave Braun (the Oola Seeker) and Dr. Troy Amdahl (the Oola Guru). The lucky thing for me is that they are both very active on Twitter. I searched their profiles to learn about this Oola thing. They post lots of things like this.

They make you feel really good about  yourself while also being very honest about what you need to do to get your stuff together.

On the left is Dr. Dave Braun and on the right, Dr. Troy Amdahl.

So, yeah, last March. I was beginning to enter into a stage in my life when I needed to change a lot of stuff because I wasn't happy with where I was at. I was severely overweight, I had quite a few toxic friendships, I did nothing to make myself happy, and I was very depressed; pretty much I was just existing, and that is not what I wanted out of life, especially because I have big goals for my life. So I decided that I would listen to the Webinar that the Oola guys and YL were doing, which was at the beginning of April.

On the day of the Webinar, my mom and I sat on my living room couch and hooked my laptop up to the TV so we could watch it more clearly. In the Webinar, they discussed the 7 F's of Oola, Oola Blockers and Accelerators, and how to achieve Oola. For each F of Oola, Young Living has made an oil to help center you while you work on that F, along with Oola Balance and Oola Grow (these two oils had previously been released). So after listening to everything, I decided that I needed to do this; I needed this in my life. I bought the book and I carefully read it to make sure that I understood everything I was being told, and started implementing their suggestions for a life full of Oola into my life. I also bought the Oola oils in order of what I needed to work on the most.

Fast forward one year almost to the date. I've lost 81 pounds and counting; I have rid myself of toxic relationships; I have built upon the relationships that matter most to me; I am paying down my debt at an amazing rate; I wake up in the morning and actually want to get out of bed and accomplish something (once my cats stop snuggling me); I have found what I am truly passionate about and I am working towards my ultimate goal. Those are the big things, those don't include the little things I do every day to build my Oola.

When my Timehop app told me that a year ago I had started reading the book, I thought it was a good time to re-read the book and see what things I had forgotten, areas I needed improvement, and just read another good book.

So without further ado, this is what Oola is all about.

It starts out with the Oola Seeker telling you about how he hit rock bottom and that he did not want this life for himself. He was divorced, living in a horrible motel, and in extreme debt. After a shocking experience one night, he reaches out to the Oola Guru and asks for help to return his life to a life full of Oola. Being a person who has also been at rock bottom in her own life, I know how hard it is to ask for help, but I also know how grateful I am to the people who extended their hands and helped me off the ground.

After learning about how the two have worked together to get the Oola Seeker on the right path again, and learning about the amazing feats of the Oola Guru, it gets into the 7 F's of Oola: Fitness, Finance, Family, Field, Faith, Friends, and Fun.

"1. OolaFitness is everything health and wellness in your life. However, we are primarily referring to how you use your body and what you put into your body.
2. OolaFinance is is personal finance.

3. OolaFamily is all things family. Single, committed, married, divorced, kids, stepkids, extended family...all belongs here.

4. OolaField is your career, your profession. Stay-at-home parents, this includes you. We feel being a stay-at-home parent is very Oola.

5. OolaFaith is based on gratitude and humility and an understanding of our greater purpose in the world.

6. OolaFriends is everything social.

7. OolaFun explores you personal passion in life." (p. 40)

Each chapter is devoted to an F, and both the Guru and the Seeker share a story of theirs regarding the F. The personal stories for me is what really makes the book. It's one thing for a person to tell me how to improve my life, it's another for a person to tell me their own story and how they worked on overcoming something and how they work to improve it still. I know that most things in life require constant attention, there are no quick fixes, and the Oola guys know that too.

As I read though each chapter, I thought about where I stood in regard to having perfect Oola in that category. Last year, my standing was: Fitness: 1; Finance: 6; Family: 7; Field: 4; Faith: 5; Friends: 6; Fun: 2. As you can see, Fitness and Fun were dismal; so was Faith, but at the time, it wasn't that important to me, but that was more because I had no clue how to define my Faith. I was also quite okay with where my Friends rating was, but the more I practiced Oola in my every day life, the more I saw that it wasn't actually that high, it was more like a 3-4. 

This year when I read the book, I was much happier with where I stood. Again, I would read the chapters, listen to their stories and their tips for maximizing that F, and I would look at where I stood. Fitness: 6; Finance: 6; Family: 9; Field: 5; Faith: 6; Friends: 8; Fun: 6. I still have a long way to go, but I'm happy with getting everything to a 5+.

After you learn about the 7 F's, they go into the OolaBlockers and OolaAccelerators. which are things that hold you back, and things that push your forward. Although there are numerous ones in each category, they go over the most common ones.

OolaBlockers

1. Fear

2. Guilt

3. Anger

4. Self-sabotage

5. Laziness

6. Envy

7. Focus*

*"Focus is clearly an OolaAccelerator. It can, however, morph into an OolaBlocker if it takes one of two forms: 1) lack of focus, or, 2) misdirected focus. (p. 131)

OolaAccelerators

1. Gratitude

2. Love

3. Discipline

4. Integrity

5. Passion

6. Humility

7. Wisdom

As I read about the OolaBlockers, both times, I thought about each F and thought "is this the Blocker that is causing me to not fulfill my Oola for this F?" For Fitness, it was, and still is, Self-sabotage and Laziness. I will come up with any excuse to not exercise; it's raining outside, I have a headache, I worked extra hard yesterday. When it came to Friends, it was Guilt. I had a friend who I loved very dearly who helped me overcome a lot of things, but he was heading in a downward spiral. I wanted to help him like he helped me, but it was only dragging me back down. I still deal with letting go of that toxic friendship.

In regards to the Accelerators, I thought about which ones would help me improve the different F's the most. Discipline is a big one with Fitness, as well as Integrity. Passion is important to Field. I applied the different chapters to the F's as I weeded out the Blockers. 

"We're going to clean house first. Section III deals with removing the OolaBlockers. This is the junk in your life that is holding you back from a life in Oola. Although it may be a challenge to look at yourself honestly, we know that by 'cleaning your house' first, you can build from a fresh place. First, remove the crap that blocks your path. It is important to clear the way, so you don't step in the crap while you work toward the life you want. If you don't, you will step in it, it will stick to your shoes, it will slow you down, and it will smell." (pp. 103-104)

Through everything I have read, it is this paragraph that has stayed with me the most. Why? Because I feel that this is the mistake I've made every time I try to turn my life around. I only focus on adding good things to my life, I don't look at the bad things holding me back, or better yet, I ignore them. I know they're there, I just choose to not acknowledge their presence. That is the worst thing anyone can do.

In the last section of the book, the Guru and Seeker go over the steps to achieving Oola: the OolaWheel, the OolaPlan, the OolaPath, and the OolaLife.

The OolaWheel is just that, a wheel, where each section represents an F, and in the center is your hub, or your ultimate motivation (mine is my family). My OolaWheel gives me a score of 577, which I'm pretty proud of. Last year when I started, it was only 301. You can find out your Oola Score here.

The OolaPlan is your goal for each F: a one week goal, a one month goal, and a one year goal. You can set however many goals for each F. For Fitness, I did two, one for weight loss and maintaining, and the second for exercise; without either, I wasn't going to build my Fitness score, but I needed to break it down to that they weren't as scary, and worked on them concurrently. You can download pages for your OolaPlan here.

The OolaPath is how you achieve the OolaLife. You know where you stand with the OolaWheel, and you know what you want because of your OolaPlan, now to make it a reality. You do this through action steps, tracking, and accountability.  Action steps are the steps you are going to take to reach your goal. Tracking is checking off when you complete a step, be it a daily step, a weekly step, monthly step, etc. And accountability is holding yourself accountable, and having some friends or family hold you accountable. It's always easier to achieve your goals when you have someone to keep you in check. You can download pages for your OolaPath here.

These pictures are samples from the workbook section of the book, but I have made my own copies and use those to help me achieve my Oola.

And something that I love the most is pairing my goals with my Oola oils. Every month before I pay my bills, or before I make a large purchase, I place some OolaFinance and OolaGrow oils in my palms, rub them together and repeat I am financially free and living abundantly three times and meditate on that before I do anything else. Before an outing with my family, I do the same thing with OolaFamily and OolaBalance and repeat I am unconditionally loving, patient, and respectful. I use the Grow with F's I am needing to build, and Balance with F's I want to remain where they are at.

Oola Mantras

Fitness: I am fit, healthy, disciplined, and strong.

Finance: I am financially free and living abundantly.

Family: I am unconditionally loving, patient, and respectful.

Field: I am pursuing my purpose in life.

Faith: I am grateful, humble, and fully connected.

Friends: I am blessed with empowering, healthy relationships.

Fun: I am pursuing the joys of life.

What I Like

• This book breaks down the 7 key things in life and makes it possible to be balanced in all of them. 
• They are very honest with you that it takes work and discipline and that this isn't going to happen overnight. There is no sugarcoating. But they also aren't mean about it.
• Their personal stories are wonderful. They range from very moving to very funny.

What I Didn't Like

• In the book, Faith talks a lot about God. That's not me. Through both readings and their other sources of help, I had to discover how to make Faith work in my life. My Faith is more meditation and nature and less religion. I wish the book was more broad in this subject.

My Thoughts Overall

I know that all of this sounds cheesy, and honestly, it is. But it also works for me and I think it can work for you. Over the years, I have read my fair share of self-help books. Honestly, I love self-help books. I think they're amazing because they are interesting and you learn something, even if it's just one thing. But out of all of the self-help books I've ever read, this is the one that has spoken to me the most and that has improved my life and my outlook on life the most. Dr. Dave, the Oola Seeker, has the most positive outlook I have ever seen in a person. Between the book, the webinar, and their Oola videos on YouTube, his positive attitude just jumps out at you and makes you feel better and that you can accomplish anything. Dr. Troy is my motivation. Three things that are talked about the most is his beautiful marriage and family, that he is debt free by 40, and that he has traveled to more than 50 countries. Even before reading the book, these were 3 things that I knew I wanted in my life, and he is proof that you can have all of them.

Rating: 10/10

Pages: 256

Genre(s): Self-help, Non-fiction

Would I Recommend It: Yes!