From an early age, we all learn the general rules of what you need to do in your life in order to be successful. Study hard, work even harder, and devote yourself completely to the idea of achieving a goal (more often than not that goal is a monetary one). It’s a pretty cut and dry formula and doesn’t leave all that much room for creativity, individuality, or really any form of self-expression. Really it’s no wonder that so many people grinding to achieve the standard ideas of success simply burn out or wake up one day and have a quasi-life crisis. This whole idea of hard work equals money equals success is, flatly, broken, and if you ask Julie Piatt, the problem with our definition of success is we’re all focused on the wrong part of it.

Julie is an author, podcast host, plant-based chef, meditation guide, yoga teacher, and musician. She has co-authored a number of Cookbooks with her husband, Rich Roll, including The Plantpower Way and The Plantpower Way: Italia, as well as authored a cookbook on vegan cheese called “This Cheese is Nuts” – she is currently working on developing a commercial cheese line under the same brand. On top of all this, Julie is a mother and an all-out spiritual wellness warrior. 

So how is it that she manages to do all that she does and still maintain an incredibly balanced and successful life? As she explains in a recent episode of #EatForThePlanet with Nil Zacharias, her focus starts with figuring out what you love and brings you joy and delighting in the process. It might sound cliché but this concept is much for complex than simply following your heart and doing what you love. To get where she is today, Julie went through a deep process of self-discovery and learned to trust herself and her innermost truth above all else. As you might imagine, it takes an incredible amount of training to be able to achieve this but in the end, you learn to actually enjoy and feel fulfilled in your daily work and life.

In this conversation, Julie shares a number of other lessons she has learned along her path that we can all stand to benefit from. She discusses how she and Rich managed to pull themselves out of financial collapse and develop a meaningful business that is centered around providing healing services to others. She also talks about how we can create a more sustainable food system and gets into the ultimate question everyone needs to answer in order to expand their consciousness and build a more compassionate world.

While Julie’s business strategies may differ from those you’d find in a textbook, she has certainly tapped into a more sustainable and enduring definition of success that, frankly, if everyone followed, would make the world a better place.

If you’re looking to take your approach to business or life to a whole new level, listen in.

You can listen to the full episode below or on the following platforms: iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher.

If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to the #EatForThePlanet with Nil Zacharias podcast for new episodes with food industry leaders, health, and sustainability experts, as well as entrepreneurs and creative minds who are redefining the future of food – and order your copy of the #EatForThePlanet book!