Alex E Lamber is the Founder of UNLOCKT, a platform which creates personal growth and self-awareness programs that work, combining the best activities with the best content.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I graduated from a prestigious business school in France called HEC Paris.
After a year in finance, I figured out it wasn’t for me and went to Australia to work for 5 years in startups as a Growth Hacker. One was called HelloFresh that I helped grow from 9 employees to 140 when I left 4 years later. I then quit and did a bit of consulting for other startups.
In October 2017, I became passionate about personal development and launched the personal growth brand UNLOCKT. We believe in working on ourselves to become better persons, designing a life we absolutely love and making a living out of our passions.
More concretely, here is what we offer with my company UNLOCKT:
- Personal growth online coaching programs
- Online mastermind
- Physical events like Masterminds in Sydney, Bali & Paris and weekly yoga events in Sydney
- Digital marketing training for conscious entrepreneurs
- Free podcast called Dreamers & Doers
- Book called The New Wave: Escape 9-5, Do What You Love and Make an Impact
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I wake up early, like 6am. Then my morning routine is on average 2 hours. With 40 minutes of movement, 30 minutes of meditation, a bit of gratitude and visualisations, a cold shower, sometimes also breathwork or singing or dancing, then a very nutritious breakfast.
Then I organise my day. Then spend some time on social media and rearrange my calendar if necessary.
I usually start working at around 9am. I work from home or from a café. Every hour I take a break to do some movement or focus on my breath.
I usually work well until 12pm then take my 2-hour lunch break. I do a bit of movement before lunch, sometimes I cook. Then I eat and then go for a 30-min walk with a podcast or audiobook.
Then I usually work from 2pm to 4pm. And that’s it. The rest of the day depends on how I feel. Either social time with friends or going for some activity like surfing, to the gym or Muay Thai.
I also often take naps if i feel tired and meditate another 30 min during the afternoon or evening. I like to go to bed early, like 10pm, and stretch, journal and read before going to bed.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes, I’m my own boss and plan my day as I want. It’s important for me because I like moving a lot during the day, and meditating or dancing or singing or taking a nap if I feel I need to is important for my productivity. It would be hard to do this in a traditional company.
To balance this extreme freedom, I believe it’s very important to be super organised. So I plan everything in my calendar. I’m flexible, meaning I move things around, but I need some good idea of what i’ll do and when.
4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you manage your workload and schedule?
Yes. Be organised. Every Monday, create a list of the things that really matter. It forces you to:
- Prioritise. What’s the most important
- Have clarity. During the week, you can go back to your list if you got dragged away by side projects
- Be accountable. At the end of the week, you’ll know if you’ve done what you inteded to.
I do the same every morning for my day. What do I want to do Today. It takes effort and discipline but it’s key.
5) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
To me, work is a big part of my life so I blurred the line between the two of them. When I listen to a podcast or go to the gym, somehow it’s work because being my best self is what attracts clients and followers.
I’d say the most important is to craft an environment that nudges you to be more healthy, physically and mentally. For example, being in a company with spots to meditate and have naps. Some companies have kettle bells and pull up bars so you can do a few sets in between work sprints.
6) What do you think are some of the best habits you’ve developed over the years to help you strive for success and balance?
I would say to start with the basics. The 20% of effort that yields the 80% of results:
- Sleep well, don’t feel tired. For me it’s 8 hours
- Meditate every day
- Move a lot through the day
- Eat healthy
7) Are there any books that have helped you improve over the years?
In general, I would recommend Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss because it combines tips from the most successful people. About mindfulness, I would recommend The Power of Now. It motivated me to start meditation.
And for millennials (24-40 years old roughly), I would recommend the book I wrote with 35 other authors called The New Wave: Escape 9-5, Do What You Love and Make an Impact about ways to live life on your terms in a fast-changing world.
8) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?
When my alarm rings, I don’t snooze. I smile and be grateful to be alive and breathe. It sets my mindset for the day.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Just realised that the days of hustling are over. With good work-life balance, you have a clear mind and everything you do becomes better. So even if you don’t care about your health and want to be productive and successful, actually taking good care of your mental and physical health is critical.
If you’d like to have a conversation with us about how you balance the grind, get in touch with us!
