This week’s blog was inspired by a good friend who recommended a service called “Freddie’s Flowers” to me.

I love fresh flowers, and usually buy some with each trip to the supermarket – for the home, and also to dress the room when I run workshops.

An entrepreneur called Freddie Garland delivers fresh flowers once a week to your home for £22 a week.  The quality of the flowers is excellent – and he includes tips on arranging them, both in written form and via YouTube videos each week.  It’s a great business idea, and you can find out more at www.freddiesflowers.com

It got me thinking about how we humans calculate the cost-benefit of things; how  we choose to spend our hard-earned cash.  What we prioritise.

So, I did some digging…

Britons spend an average of £2,210 a year in coffee shops. This figure rather shocked me!  Sounds a lot doesn’t it?

Nearly £150 a year on chocolate bars per household.

Each year, British women spend an average of £851 on their hair, and about £500 getting their nails done.

A UK family of four taking a two-week break, the average holiday cost is £4792. On top of this, while on holiday Britons tend to spend an average of £227 per person for each week they are away in holiday spending.

Let’s not even get started on how much the average adult spends on alcohol!

None of this expenditure is “necessary”.  Nice, perhaps, but not necessary.

None of this expenditure is lasting either – in the sense that the flowers die, the coffee is consumed, the hair and nails need doing again next month.  And the holiday?  Some nice memories, perhaps (I hope), and some photos to put on social media.

I’m not being judgy here – honestly.  I do all these things too, and enjoy them.

But they’re all outside-in.

We spend our lives (and our money) looking for thngs outside of us that we believe will make us feel happy, energised, successful, confident, worthy, fun.

Except that’s not where our experience is coming from.  Never.  Ever.

I’m promoting a couple of new workshops at the moment that explore the fundamentals of the human operating system, and what it takes to truly thrive.

One is £950.  One is £590.  One is £300.

I’ve been having several conversations recently with people who tell me they’d LOVE to come along to my workshops.

Often, they’re not that happy with their lot in life.  Sometimes, they’re downright depressed, stressed, overwhelmed, confused or lost.

Sometimes they feel like they’re only hanging on by their (manicured) fingernails.

Sometimes they’re doing OK, or pretty well – but just don’t seem to be truly thriving, living a life that makes them go “Wow!” (which is always on offer).

Just not fully relishing the whole experience of being alive!

They seem to believe my testimonials about how these events routinely and sustainably change lives.

They seem to be impressed at the 100’s of case studies I share with them about how – when people grasp the Heart of Thriving understanding – their experience of life transforms.

Check out this video for just a few examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rn4mQhlmHk&t=723s

How our experience of life gets lighter, easier, more joyful and love-filled, more connected, more creative, more resilient, funnier, more peaceful and less stressful.

Just all-round better.

It’s not the workshop that does this really, of course – it’s the insights that people have when they look inside for the source of their well-being.

And then, at some point, some of them tell me that, whilst they’d truly love to come – they can’t afford it.

Sometimes this is true, of course.

But it’s not true if you’re spending £2,210 a year buying coffee!  Coffee!  Something that literally goes down the toilet an hour or so later!

It’s a question of priorities – what you believe really does give you the most bang for your buck.

You certainly have the right to spend your money however you choose.  But it’s easy to kid ourselves.

Are you really investing in the things that give you the best return?

Just sayin’