In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle

Available here: https://wideawakewellness.com.au/

Over the past 15 months I have written a book. The title is “In it for The Long Haul” and the subtitle, “Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle”.

We are almost there. Such a good feeling to see that word document I have grown to know so intimately turned into a physical book. 40 promotional copies arrived Saturday and will be sent out today, building to our release date of December 1. Get in now and grab your copy or pick one up for a friend. Perhaps it could be a Christmas present for someone you love. Just go to our website and click on the link.

As you may be aware, there are a lot of mental health challenges associated with working remotely in Australia. Currently, we have over 2000,000 people working in a Fly In Fly Out role.

Even more concerning is the number of suicides out there. It is quite gob smacking.

It was after a conversation with John Annear that I decided to write the book. John treats Andrew Forrest in his Physiotherapy Clinic, and he shared that he had spoken about the situation and he shared that Andrew was deeply distressed about the situation and was struggling to come up with answers.

I have a long and extensive experience in working in Wellbeing Education. Further, having studied Human Consciousness in great depth for 15 years, I have some clear and fairly unique insights. I knew I had a lot to offer.

Book Summary

Introduction

Chapter 1 – This is Life

This is a snapshot of life as I see it. I use a story and some analogy to paint a picture of life as a journey or learning, discovery and finding out who you really are and what you bring to the world.

Chapter 2 – This Incredible Thing Called Life

In this chapter I explore the nature of challenges and how they can be used for growth and evolvement. I talk about the history of civilizations and what seems to happen when people begin focusing on their comfort and forget to grow.

Chapter 3 – What is the Plan

My pre-writing survey revealed that nearly 60% of FIFO workers go out there with no plan. Many get themselves deep into trouble, either financially or in their relationships.

Chapter 4 – Something to Consider

This chapter looks at the history of people living away from home, from soldiers, to aid workers and even kids going to boarding school. It also explores how decades ago, some workers would be away all year. The chapter offers perspective.

Chapter 5 – The First Few Months

This chapter is designed to help the worker approach the  first few months in the role, how to navigate the change and how to build successful routines, at work and at home.

Chapter 6 – Good Cashflow Versus Wealth

This is a financial wake up call. Many of these workers are =referred to CUBs, Cashed Up Bogans. They have little financial intelligence. When they get a pocket full of money they start spending. This is an attempt to educate them somewhat, and guide them in the direction of getting good advice and support with their money.

Chapter 7 – What is Your Inspiration for Your Life?

This chapter looks at FIFO as part of their life but perhaps not the end gal. Helping a person find greater inspiration for their life delivers a deeper sense of purpose to day-to-day life. I hope to connect them more to what is in their hearts.

Chapter 8 – Boredom, Loneliness and Using Time

This chapter looks at the pitfalls of unhealthy habits, like drinking and gambling and how to use the downtime for productive ends.

Chapter 9 – An Interesting Thing About People

This chapter further expands on what happens to people when they are uninspired and begin to collapse into the comfort trap.

Chapter 10 – Learning to Care for Others

This chapter aims to help the reader get their attention off themselves and re-learn the joy that comes from being in service to the needs of others. Giving for the sake of giving, and at the same time, making the workplace safer and helping to ensure that workmates are not making bad choices.

Chapter 11 – Creating a Safe Spaces for Others

This chapter is about taking this newly learned guardianship back into the community at home, stepping up when things are needed, helping out local sports clubs, being mindful of issues like bored youth, domestic violence and other community based issues.

Chapter 12 – Taking Care of Home Base

This chapter is about creating clear, acceptable agreements at home and learning to manage the home situation to ensure problems do not arise in the relationship. This section is written for both partners.

Chapter 13 – Getting Better at Self Care

This section explores a number of areas of self-care, in particular, getting adequate and good quality sleep. It also defines good health, explores the confusion with mixed messages in the media and social media, and covers exercise, over eating etc.

Chapter 14 – Who is The Person You Would Like to Be?

We return to a chapter on finding personal inspiration for life. We explore how happiness comes from the way you live your life and not from what you might acquire. We explore valuable service, contributions to community and liking who you are.

Chapter 15 – Learning to Meditate

This is a basic chapter discussing meditation, what it is, how it can help a person and how it can contribute to wellbeing, mental clarity and inner calm.

Chapter 16 – Taking a Bigger Picture View of Life

This chapter goes further into inspiration. It explores the concept of what a person wants to hope their legacy on the rest of humanity may be, no matter how big or small. It aims to connect the spirit of the past, particularly the ANZAC tradition, with the attitudes of the present and how they effect wellbeing, happiness and personal success.

Chapter 17 – Revisiting Your Goals

We re-visit our discussion on goals from earlier in the book Following all that has been covered in the book, there may be some changes.

Chapter 18 – Becoming a Helper

This is about pathways to higher learning and how skills can be acquired to help more people.

Thank you,

John

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John Toomey

Trainer and Coach at The Fatigue Professor

Latest posts by John Toomey (see all)

• Who Are Your People? - June 28, 2023
• In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle - October 18, 2021
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• Another Viewpoint on Fatigue - June 16, 2015

I am a Queenslander who lives in Victoria. Born on a Cattle Station out near Roma, we moved around a bit first to a dairy farm, a country pub and finally, at the age of 10, we left the bush and my Dad took over a pub in the heart of Collingwood. I suppose after that change, nothing really shocks me, so I am a pretty relaxed customer. As a kid, I loved Football and Cricket and loved being fit. I had a crack at every sport. Underneath all of that was a deep sense of wonder. My religious education didn’t give me the answers so I developed a ‘yearning for learning’; to find out; to know. Whether it was the pub upbringing, or something in my genes, I developed a capacity to use words to help others to understand. With a passion for story-telling and a deep desire to explore, I went down many roads. Since completing my Phys. Ed. degree in 1981, I have served 7 AFL teams as either a conditioning coach and/or nutritionist, partially completed a Masters, I’ve written books, e-books, 100’s of articles, lectured in Universities, studied with people who live on the edge of discovery and have presented over 2000 seminars in workplaces across Australia and across the World. I currently serve on the RMIT School of Health Sciences Program Advisory Committee. I have been married twice, have a wonderful son and two incredible step daughters, and work closely with my amazing wife Denise as we seek to inspire people to reach for more rewarding and positively challenging lives. I deliver a range of Powerful Seminars and Workshops backed up by substantial post session e-books and a fortnightly newsletter, “Fatigue Fortnightly”, and my bi-monthly publication, “Living Wise”, all designed to continually educate, inspire and empower individuals to stay on their path.