Example stories

Marko is not feeling that great.

• THE BODY FEELINGS DO NOT FORCE ACTION: Marko is a “averagely healthy knowledge worker”, which means that the constant shoulder pain, back aches and tiredness seem mundane. His stomach is slowly softening: “It’s coming with age”, he laughs, with underlying worry.
• THE LIMITED SENSE OF CONNECTION BOTHERS HIM: Marko rarely takes the trouble to initiate a friends’ gatherings weeks away. Marko hopes to find a wife, but online dating is painful.
• SELF-ACTUALIZATION IN THE FORM OF CONSUMER CHOICES: Marko thinks he expresses his preferences by eating his favorite restaurant food, watching his favorite TV shows, and following the world through chosen channels. Information, contact, and entertainment rotate alternately or simultaneously on the screen of TV, computer and phone. When he was younger, Marko had creative projects and read books. In a relationship, they went on dates and trips.
• MARKO IS A FLEXIBLE EMPLOYER: Marko believes that small tasks in the evening are not a problem. Colleagues are used to Marko’s flexibility in asking for help late. When working remotely, Marko’s work and leisure time do not have a clear beginning and end. Marko feels compensated for his efforts. However, Marko is not aware of the cost of his flexibility.
• NUTRION INTAKE IS PARTIAL AND HE COOKS WITH MINIMUM EFFORT: Marko orders food deliveries to his home, eats in restaurants and buys microwave meals. Sometimes he cooks quick meals. The spacious kitchen is filled with kitchen utensils from the previous relationship. Starting to cook feels like a big chore in a chaotic kitchen.

Marko’s life becomes small and shadowed:

• BODY WEAKENS: Pain, weight gain, and inertia bothers him more often.
• BURDENED BY LOSS OF HIS FATHER: Marko’s father dies of a long-standing heart condition. Marko feels burdened knowing his body is going down the same path as his father’s without sense of agency that he could change that.
• SELF-ESTEEM LOWERS: Marko does not feel accomplished or seen.
• NO CONTROL: His sense of safety has decreased because he feels that he is deteriorating on all fronts. Any setback can lead another life aspect to decline below deprivation.
• NO LOVE: Dating has been mostly profile swiping and chatting. Marko is ready to give up, overwhelmed by dating disappointments.
• FRUSTRATION INCREASES: Marko is passively angry at the world, and even more at himself. He holds grudges and finds life joyless.

Marko reads the Leaner Hunter-Gatherers‘ website and is inspired to become a better version of himself. Marko hopes to find a life partner to support his transformation.

• PLANNING AT THE COST OF DOING: Marko believes that “Well planned is half done”, so he searches, plans and overthinks. In addition to making changes, he spends the rest of his time figuring out and comparing habit changes instead of recovering.
• UNCERTAIN BEGINNING AT THE GYM: Uncertainty about movements, self-consciousness about potentially embarrassing noises and discomfort with the weights lead Marko to be wary of testing his limits.
  Exercising over time becomes a bit more comfortable, but not great. Marko finds the gym an unfamiliar place, and experiences a high threshold to even ask if the equipment is free.
• NUTRITION IMPROVEMENT IS EASILY PAUSED: Marko starts to cook more varied meals in larger quantities more often. He orders healthier meals delivered and reduces his intake of snacks. However, dietary improvements are easily put on pause by illness or disappointments.
• ACTIVATING WITH DATING IS CONSUMING: Marko creates profiles for several platforms to fish in the big sea. In between work and self-development, he swipes and chats. One disappointment after another, and over time he’s tired of opening applications.
• MARKO HAS NOT LIMITED HIS WORKING HOURS: Marko feels he is a trustworthy asset at work, which he believes is largely due to his flexibility. He answers work emails in the evenings, sometimes from the gym.
• OVERALL LOAD IS TOO MUCH: Marko has either been working, planning or implementing his change process. The positive effects of the change are not yet visible, but the workload has been heavy.
• VACATION AS A BREAK FROM SELF-DEVELOPMENT: After all efforts, Marko feels he needs a break. The inactivity during the holiday period, unhealthy eating and excessive alcohol consumption make it difficult to continue his efforts after the vacation.
• FATHER’S DEATH IS THE LAST STRAW: Marko’s father dies of a long-standing heart condition. Marko’s capacity has been at its limits, and his father’s death comes as a shock. Facing death is a reminder of the finite nature of life, but the thought is rather burdensome, and Marko withdraws to his home.
• AFTER 10 YEARS: Marko has found a woman who is mourning the loss of her mother, which connects them. The relationship is not passionate, but understanding.
  Marko’s health is slightly better than his father’s at the same age, but not significantly so.
  Life isn’t great, but it’s not bad either.

Marko wants to ensure sustainable lifestyle changes. This can be his most significant life quality enhancing expense, he thinks. At least it’s better than his previous spending on a big TV and a sofa, which mostly passivate him.

• LIMITING WORK TO OFFICE HOURS: We point out that Marko has decided to volunteer as an on-call knowledge worker. We come up with practical solutions to limit work hours to office hours. To Marko’s surprise, his colleagues appreciate his proactive and clear boundary-setting approach more than his flexibility.
• ALEX GETS A STRONG START TO GYM WORKOUTS: Soon Marko knows the gym program Alex has created and performs movements confidently. He learns to test his limits to progress. Marko finds the gym environment comfortable and visits regularly. In addition to gym training, we encourage walks outside while listening to something engaging.
• HEIDI GUIDES THE DECLUTTERING PROCESS: With Heidi’s guidance, Marko gets his kitchen in order over the weekend to streamline cooking. We create a clear plan to organize the rest of the apartment, which Marko will implement over time. A better functioning home increases Marko’s motivation to take better care of his surroundings.
• ENCOURAGING JOY AND PLANNING TO COOKING: Through our discussions, Marko overcomes his previous negative attitudes towards cooking, freeing up new energy for it. Marko starts to prepare most of the meals he eats at home himself. He learns to enjoy cooking while listening to audio books.
• ENCOURAGING HIM TO DIVERSIFY LIFE BEYOND SCREENS: Based on our discussions, we encourage Marko to take up literature that interests him. At first, he learns to relax with books, but soon catches up with an old hobby. Marko becomes inspired to make wooden furniture, which we encourage him to try.
• WITH SOME CONFIDENCE MARKO CHATS WITH A FREQUENT GYM-GOER: Marko begins to chat with the frequent gym-goer between sessions, initially about training. Soon the conversation expands to the literature Marko has read. At some point they exchange phone numbers to arrange joint training sessions.
• FATHER’S PASSING IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: Marko’s gym friend supports Marko as he faces the death of his father and encourages him to rely on his family. Marko is relieved by the habit changes that has separated him from his father’s heartsick path. It is easier to face death with better mental and physical capacity and by relying on others.
• 10 YEARS LATER: Marko is married to a woman who likes similar literature. They go on walks having long conversations and on holidays they head for hikes. Marko works out regularly with his gym friend. Marko has been making wooden furniture in a public workshop for years and runs woodwork workshops for those interested. Marko is planning a career change towards a more interesting business.

Life is pretty good. Most importantly, Marko experiences agency and belonging in his life.

• LIFE DOESN’T ROCK: Sofia has found interesting activities and work, but something is always snagging. Sofia has many nice friends whom she supports whenever they need. She exercises and eats relatively healthy, but gets sick often and her body aches.
• NO ROUTINES: Too rigid routines seem dreadful, and a very ordinary everyday life feels daunting.
• WORKED-UP: ‘Live hard and die young’ type partying and ‘Sex and the City’ type dating have always seemed appealing. If you keep falling forward, isn’t that running?
• TOO LITTLE RECOVERY: Sometimes she is so exhausted that she can’t get out of bed at the weekends.

Sofia’s life is not improving. On the contrary:

• LESS ENDURANCE: Infrequent sleeping and eating start to take a harder toll than when she was younger, and she is not able to live as wildly as she used to.
• BODY WEAKENS: Irregular exercise and diet will gradually lead to weight gain and more restless sleep. Her body is weaker than it looks and Sofia often falls ill.
• HUSTLING FOR LOVE: Sofia uses most of her cognitive-socio-emotional capacity to search for love. She meets new acquaintances and disappointments in a consuming way.
• RETAIL THERAPY: She does not build anything lasting for herself while living her “Sex and the City” saga. Instead, she online shops clothes to momentarily enjoy the retail therapy rush of “new me” (like Carrie).
• PRONE TO BURNOUT: Given that her life is so consuming, an intense period at work and a bad break-up is enough to burn Sofia out.
• LOST WITH HERSELF: Experiences start to seem repetitive and the vast quantity of relationships begin to look like an empty shell. Who am I outside my relationships? What does life have to offer me?

Sofia wants a stronger sense of agency in her life. She hires the Leaner Hunter-Gatherers team to ensure a better direction.

• BETTER PLANNING FOR WORKOUTS: With Alex’s coaching in the gym, Sofia’s workouts gain certainty, structure and, above all, regularity. She starts calendaring her training times to invite friends to join in. Her physical fitness starts to improve.
• FUELING HERSELF WITH MEAL PREPPING: It’s easier to enjoy life when nourished. Preparing food at convenient times gives her flexibility to come home and heat food straight from the fridge. We agreed that Sofia will start meeting her friends more often over home-cooked meals or talking on the phone while cooking.
• MORE INTENTIONAL DATING: We suggest that Sofia focuses on just one dating app instead of many. With a profile that more clearly presents her values and personality, the quality of the matches will be more appropriate for her. Sofia consciously opens the app at moments of her choosing, instead of reacting to alerts.
• FROM CYCLE TRACKING TO PREDICTION: With Heidi’s guided menstrual cycle tracking, Sofia learns to anticipate more energetic and tired times of her cycle. This reduces surprises in sudden tiredness. She can now anticipate previously uncontrollable feeling of wanting to hit the town. She feels great for gaining agency over her own cycle.
• GETTING TO KNOW HERSELF BETTER: Our discussions have brought insights. Clarity has brought peace of mind and understanding of herself. She has started to write down her worries, creating clarity on the issues that weigh on her.
• FEELING CONTROL: Stronger agency over her well-being and life has made Sofia calmer. Instead of being reactive, she makes weekend and holiday plans in advance. When dating, she expresses herself more clearly and knows when to say “no thanks”. Finding love is a more manageable process when people encounter Sofia who takes care of herself instead of seeing her in chaos.