My conversation with Julian Giacomelli dips into the spiritual and the practical realities of doing business and getting things done, exploring how the two can co-exist and support each other.
Here’s some of what we explored:
- How to save time by taking advantage of the rhythms and seasons of life
- The power of cycles, rests and seasons
- The four phases of spiritual growth and where effortless doing is experienced on that spectrum
- Dealing with commitments and schedules that you can’t change
- Why you feel in flow some days and not others
Listen on the podcast here:
The Path to Sustainable Growth and Through Rest and a Quiet Mind
“In bringing our natural selves to the world we do well by honoring and tapping into those natural cycles we’re a part of, as opposed to denying them.” – Julian Giacomelli
Winter is an invitation to slow down, go inside and begin a new cycle. There can be a calm in the shortening days and the coming of snow that covers up the messiness of autumn.
When you’re scaling a business to a team of 30-50 people and growing quickly, it’s important to find moments for reflection and rest. While humans aren’t built for non-stop continuous effort, a growing business often seems to demand it. Slow, thoughtful moments, rest and presence allow us to move forward with higher quality output.
You can be more productive with less effort by honoring your natural cycle. Contrary to the cultural belief that more is better, more input doesn’t always equal more output. The quality of your input is what counts, and you can increase that with more presence and less stressful thinking.
The Four Phases of Spiritual Growth which are non-lineary, as shared by Michael Beckwith of AGAPE
- The world happens to me (victim, no agency, reaction)
- The world happens by me (empowered by doing, but if I stop doing nothing happens)
- The world happens through me (co-creation, less effortING)
- The world happens as me (non–dual
“When we’re in a flow state, there’s a heightened state of presence and time disappears.” – Julian Giacomelli
What we’re doing with our mind is the difference between whether we have an experience of flow or not. A busy, distracted mind is not in flow. Julian sees flow as the “middle state” between over-engagement and passivity. If you impose too much structure, it cuts off the flow.
“Fundamentally, you’re free.” – Julian Giacomelli
Sometimes we stay in crisis mode as a strategy to avoid facing ourselves. This is why a quiet mind can create unease; people hear the noise of their thoughts that they have been avoiding with distractions and busyness.
In meditating with the intention of quieting the mind, a few tips:
- Don’t give up on trying to sit! Even if it’s uncomfortable at first.
- Recognize that thoughts come and go, and it’s okay to get caught in them.
- You’ll recognize your thinking more quickly and eventually find longer periods of a quiet mind, without being attached to it.
Meet Julian Giacomelli, Coach & Mentor
Julian is a developmental coach for mission-driven entrepreneurs seeking next level leadership tools and connectivity.
He has spent over two decades at the heart and nerve center of building conscious, progressive businesses, while supporting their communities. He co-founded Montreal-based Rise Kombucha and Crudessence, leading in the groundswell of clean and healthy food business.
Julian has mentored founders and stakeholders in over a hundred high-impact startups, and taught entrepreneurship through the structure of MBA programs and in grass-roots settings. He has also invested in a number of other progressive food and beverage companies.
He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s of Engineering (Civil) from McGill University. For over 20 years Julian has been an avid student of yoga, meditation and life-philosophy. Over the past three years, he has become an accredited coach through a number of integral coaching programs.
Two years ago, he pivoted his work to focus exclusively on human development. He founded Heart of Impact Leadership, through which he coaches leaders and does group facilitation, training and leads events, all in service of integral organizational health. In addition to running his own coaching practice, Julian works with some of Canada’s leading impact accelerators as a mentor and leadership development guide.
He is based in the beautiful pastoral town of Frelighsburg, southeast of his home town of Montreal, when not exploring other outer worlds near and far.
Connect with Julia
Website: www.heartofimpact.com
LinkedIn (personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliangiacomelli
LinkedIn (company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/heart-of-impact-leadership
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