About This Website

WELCOME to Your Primal Life!

Before we get into the details, let me briefly tell you what Your Primal Life is all about.  This website is dedicated to getting YOU the information you need to live a deeply fulfilling life – one that’s based around your own unique gifts and talents, and that’s built on a solid foundation of good mental, physical, and spiritual health.  Sound like a tall order?  Well, my personal experience and my engagement with an ever-growing number of clients and readers tells me that such an outcome is absolutely possible for all of us – as long as we apply the simple, intuitive processes that allow us to explore the areas necessary to build such a life.  My mission is to help you to explore the 7 Primal Pathways that can lead you – simply and practically – to a life you’ll love.  Read on for more about me, this site, and what’s on offer…

Who is Brian Cormack Carr?

Let me introduce myself.  I’m Brian Cormack Carr - a professionally certified life and career coach, charity chief executive, and freelance writer.

I started this blog in 2009 to share my experiences of building my own primal life by following my dream of setting up a coaching practice and developing my writing career.  In my work over the past four years, I’ve helped many people – including business executives, charity trustees, social entrepreneurs, public servants, creative artists and individuals from all walks of life – to perform better, improve their health and to work and live with purpose.  People just like you!

I’m a regular contributor to the Expert Advice column at Careershifters, which publishes articles from the UK’s top career coaches, and to the Coaching Academy blog, and Paleo Diet News.  I’ve also written for the Guardian newspaper’s Voluntary Sector Network blog.

Since 2005, I’ve been Chief Executive of BVSC, The Centre for Voluntary Action.  Based in Birmingham UK, BVSC works to help individuals and charities to make a positive difference to the lives of local people.

What is Your Primal Life?

Your Primal Life is my blog and website, through which I share information and resources which can help anyone to live their own “primal life”.  By “primal life”, I mean a life that focuses on fulfilling first principles – the most important things you can do to be happy and healthy during your time on earth.  Thankfully, these are also often the simplest things, although it doesn’t always feel that way at first.

By studying the experiences of my clients and readers (and carefully observing my own experiences) I’ve noticed that success and fulfilment tend to come when we make progress along what I call the 7 Primal Pathways – seven areas of life which together make for a holistic, well-rounded experience of life.  Making progress in any one or more of these areas can dramatically increase our sense of fulfilment.  Since identifying the 7 Primal Pathways, my observations have been backed up by significant national research by the New Economics Foundation and the Young Foundation (see here and here for more information).

The 7 Primal Pathways

A primal life is one which explores and progresses along each of these pathways.  There’s no set order in which to explore them.  We each start from a different place, and we’ll each make progress along them at different rates and at different times, depending on our circumstances and priorities.  Also, everyone’s exploration of the pathways will lead them somewhere utterly unique.  That’s one of the most exciting aspects of the process.  It never ceases to delight me when I see where my clients and readers get to when they begin their explorations. The only important thing to know is that progress along any one of the pathways can make a positive difference in your life.  And of course, progress in one can lead to progress in another, and then another, and another…

So – what are the 7 Primal Pathways?

1: The Pathway of PURPOSE & PROSPERITY.

The key imperative of this pathway is “find your dream and do it”.  If any one pathway is “most important”, it’s probably this one, since it’s about becoming more of who you are. We each have a unique set of gifts – a set of talents and abilities that we seem specifically designed to use, and which make us feel good when we do.  I help my clients and readers to identify these gifts and talents and to explore using them, because it’s in doing so that we make our dreams come true.  Some people will base their careers on the gifts they find; others will simply explore them as a hobby.  Either approach is fine, and very satisfying.  I also help clients to get past the internal and external barriers that can stop them using these gifts (or even believing they have them in the first place).  Making progress along Pathway 1 can feel like finally finding your purpose after years of looking. You’re also likely to experience a renewed sense of personal prosperity, whether following your dream makes you lots of money at first or not!

2: The Pathway of PERSONAL CONNECTION.

The key imperative of this pathway is “build strong links with the people around you”.  We’ve all heard the saying “no man is an island”.  This pathway is about recognizing that progress in life is dependent on the support of other people – friends, family, co-workers, and the million unseen people who connect with us in unexpected ways througout our lives.  Personal connection is important in living a primal life, whether you’re an introvert, an extrovert or somewhere in-between.  I help my clients and readers to build confidence in their own ability to connect with others, and to practice the interpersonal skills which allow them to forge the kind of personally-tailored connections that can lead them into healthy and fulfilling relationships for a lifetime.

3: The Pathway of NATURAL NUTRITION.

The key imperative of this pathway is “eat real, whole, nourishing foods”.  I want you to be around for as long as possible, so that we can all benefit from the gifts you have to share (see Pathway 1, above, and Pathway 6, below).  Consequently, I want you to be as healthy as possible.  Whether you’re an omnivore or a vegetarian, a hearty eater or a nibbler, a gourmet cook or kitchen-phobic – good nutrition means moving away from processed, factory-produced fodder, and towards the delicious real foods we evolved to eat as human beings. By eating real, whole, nourishing foods, you’ll quickly achieve radiant health, optimal weight, and culinary satisfaction.  You won’t find it at all hard – because you’ll be eating a wide variety of tasty minimally-processed vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, nuts, seeds, fruits, herbs, spices and natural fats (selected by your own tastes and preferences).

4: The Pathway of FUNCTIONAL FITNESS.

The key imperative of this pathway is “build the four elements of fitness”.  Again, this is about being as healthy as possible so that you can share your gifts with a world that needs them.  My interest isn’t in turning you into a bodybuilder or a superhuman athlete (unless that’s your goal) – it’s in helping you to build functional fitness; fitness that helps you to live your life comfortably on a daily basis.  What are the four elements of fitness?  Strength: having the muscle tone and bone density necessary to hold yourself up and to carry out your daily tasks.  Stamina: having the cardiovascular endurance and energy your need to keep yourself going through busy, active days when the pressure is on.  Flexibility: having the joint mobility and muscular suppleness necessary to protect you from injury, and to help you bend and flow with life’s challenges.  Relaxation: being able to take time out for well-deserved rest and recuperation so that you can recharge your batteries on regular basis.

5: The Pathway of LEARNING & CREATIVITY.

The key imperative of this pathway is “be curious and keep growing”.  It’s well known that mental health and brain plasticity are enhanced when we remain open to new learning experiences.  This pathway is about ensuring you protect and stimulate your mental faculties and nurture your enthusiasm for life – whatever your age.  We can always learn and create something new – but we have to build in the time and discipline to do so.  The happiest people are those who maintain a sense of openness to and curiosity for what’s happening around them. This pathways gives us the chance to explore new areas, to set our inner artist to work, and to challenge ourselves to keep growing.

6: The Pathway of SERVICE.

The key imperative of this pathway is “give something back”.  If Pathway 1 is about using the gift or gifts life has given you, Pathway 6 is about giving something back to life in return.  Research shows that the happiest people tend to be those who feel they are able to offer something meaningful to others; something that’s about giving rather than getting.  There are many ways to be of service; but in our busy lives, it’s easy to lose sight of them.  This pathway is about creating the time and space to give – through volunteering; caring; charitable work; and simply providing unconditional support to family and friends.

7:  The Pathway of SPIRIT.

The key imperative of this pathway is “tune in to the transcendent”.  The word “spirit” means different things to different people. This pathway is about you finding out what it means to you.  Whichever approach you take, the most important thing is to give yourself the liberating experience of realizing that you are part of a greater whole; and that you’re a facet of an ultimately unfathomable mystery.  Whether you make the connection through great art, great literature, cutting-edge science, time in nature, meditation, prayer, spiritual practice or religious observation – tuning into the transcendent will give you the opportunity to renew and refresh yourself at a very deep level anytime you need to.

How Can I Help You?

If you’re interested in living your own primal life, there are a number of ways in which I can help.

FREE STUFF: The simplest way is for you to explore the articles on my blog.  You’ll find several articles covering different aspects of living a primal life and exploring the 7 Primal Pathways.  You can also sign up for my Lifecrafting Newsletter, which is free.  Every subscriber receives a copy of my e-book ‘How To Find Your Purpose In Life’ – a primer for exploring Primal Pathway 1.  You may also enjoy my free video series The Top 10 Best & Worst Ways To Find A New Job.

MY INFORMATION PRODUCTS: I’m focusing on developing a range of information products designed to help you explore the 7 Primal Pathways.  The first of these is my popular self-directed career-coaching programme, Vital Vocation.  This will help you find or create your ideal work – so you can engage fully with your own sense of purpose and prosperity.

RECOMMENDED ITEMS: By visiting my Amazon stores - there’s a US Store and also a UK Store – you can see the wide range of products I recommend to help you live a primal life.  I’ve arranged these by the 7 Primal Pathways so you can easily find what you need.  There really is something here for everyone!  Remember, by purchasing any of these products (or by doing your general Amazon shopping via my stores) you’re supporting the advert-free upkeep of Your Primal Life.

MY SERVICES: When time permits, I can offer one-to-one and group coaching appointments, as well as copywriting services.  Please see here for details.

I hope this has given you a sense of what Your Primal Life is all about.  To stay in touch with developments, connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.  Until we meet again – here’s to YOUR primal life!