Business

Going through Holistic Life Context with Javan is like learning to rewire your brain.

Thinking in terms of your own Holistic Life Context (HLC) is akin to training your brain like a muscle. The more your brain thinks in holistic terms, the more you’re able to deal with complexity, to make more difficult decisions, instead of automatically agreeing to something and hoping for the best.

It’s a new skill.  A highly useful skill, but a new one.

Making my own context was a challenge at first, but one worthy of doing because the benefits are so lifelong and incredible. Holistic Life Context offers you a way to check your decisions, to find directions in the fog of uncertainty.  If you’re like me and sometimes feel lost in opportunities, possibilities, and directionless in the entrepreneurial journey,

Javan’s personal holistic context work is a powerful tool to set yourself on the right track.

I’m still learning to use it like a muscle, but I’m intrenching it like a habit in my head, so every decision that comes my way can be run through context so I can make good decisions for my life, vs. decisions making my life for me.

Life’s a long journey, and often a lonely one, but his methods allow me to adjust and achieve lifelong goals that always seemed out of reach.  Little by little though, with my context, I am seeing results.  The more you use it, the better it gets, and the more it helps you.

You have to commit though, and I’m glad I did.

My name is Joshua Wagler and I am a co-owner of Edible Landscapes Design Ltd. This spring, we were going into our third season of business and ready for a level up. We had had some great successes, but systems and consistency had been an ongoing challenge. As a team of very strong-willed and independent individuals, we had plenty of opinions about how to best move forward, but we needed a common language, and even more so, qualified guidance from people who knew about our field, and really understood our challenges.

When I saw that Javan and Rob were leading this Regenerative Business Mentorship program, I knew that there was a lot we could learn from them. Both have been great leaders in a very similar industry to our own, and despite their success, I had a feeling they were still very “in-touch” with what it is like to be in the 3^rd year of business. They weren’t TOO far ahead of us to forget what it’s like to be in our position.

Upon enrolling, we were not disappointed. In fact, I would consider the money that we invested to be one of the most important investments I have ever made. More than just creating a common language between everyone within the business, we got a behind the scenes look at what really makes a business successful. Rob and Javan genuinely cared about each and every person’s success, and at times I was actually amazed at how deeply they considered our questions, and how openly they answered them. Before we enrolled, we wondered if perhaps Javan and Rob shared TOO MUCH similarity with our own business, and even wondered if they would be holding back because of how similar our businesses are. Instead, they encouraged us to look deeply at ourselves and discover how unique we are, and to differentiate ourselves by being “more of ourselves”. They also armed us with an abundance of tools, resources, principles, and shared their direct personal experience in a way that has likely shaved many years off of our learning curve.

It was great to meet on a weekly basis, and to have this consistent timeslot carved out for working “on our business”, rather than always working “in our business”.  Having audio recordings of podcasts and Q&A has been great… Everyone within our business listened to the podcasts many times before the Q&A. Once again, I can’t express enough how valuable the Q&A sessions were. It’s rare to be able to ask such detailed questions and have them considered and answered by people who really know what they are talking about.

 One major takeaway was the rule of thirds, and how we had been investing almost 100% of our time “grinding it out”, rather than also building our reputation and sales process. Most strikingly, was realizing that our sales process and reputation has real value, must be invested in, and that money needs to come from somewhere. Our sales process has had a complete makeover, and beyond being SO much smoother and clear for our customers, it now requires a fraction of the mental/emotional energy that we were inputting before. The course has also encouraged us to put our money where our mouth is, and guarantee our work. Using systems developed during this course, we feel ready to offer a money-back guarantee for the first time. We’ve also learned to fire clients that don’t work for us, and be highly discerning about who we work for.

Since taking the course, we now have a smooth sales process that can be seamlessly implemented, even while answering an unknown number half-asleep in bed. In this particular instance, I was able to close a sale on a design job while charging 5x our previous design rate. The client is happy to pay this amount, and we are confident offering our money back guarantee because we are adequately charging for our diagnosis process. By valuing our time and skills, the quality of work we can offer has increased dramatically. We have turned away jobs in the $7k-$10k range because we could sense that the clients weren’t a great fit. Never before have we been in a position to do this, but now we understand that good fit is far more important than the financial rewards of a given job. We’ve also come up with systems will keep us going during the slow months, and ease the pressure during the busy times. The list of tiny shifts and resources are far too numerous to list, but they are all leading towards major long-term changes.

There is still lots of work to go, but we have a clarity, purpose, and foundation that feels great. What Javan and Rob are doing is absolutely excellent, and I am looking forward to part 2 of this Regenerative Mentorship Program. Once again, excellent program, run by two excellent people. I’m very grateful to have these individuals in my life, and even better, have them working together as a team. Bravo Gents. Thank you!

P.S. There were lots of great laughs during this course as well. I looked forward to the good vibes every week.  Highly recommended.

Javan’s contribution to our Permaculture Design Courses in Cuba has been critical for our Cuban and Canadian participants alike. His offering of a ‘Life Design’ workshop as part of the course provides students the unique and very valuable opportunity to consider how they might systemically integrate all they are learning more fully into their lives and their livelihoods – a wonderful innovation and addition to the usual PDC.”

Javan’s impact on my professional life has been critical to my success. He has a unique ability to perceive opportunities and to provide sound feedback. It’s a pleasure working with such a down-to-earth mentor and friend.

When I need someone to make sense out of chaos and despair and give me purpose and a roadmap for how to move forward, Javan is the guy. We all know what being in a funk does to productivity levels and as a small business owner, those hours, days, and even weeks spent spinning my wheels means a lot of money, which for me translates to missed leisure time and freedom. When I look at my books and see what a good day of work can bring financially, I am thankful I have a mentor like Javan to make those difficult times short, manageable, and most importantly understandable, so I can get back to doing what I love!”

Javan’s innate ability to help others cut through the mystery and confusion of their life’s purpose is incredible. His process helps others generate a business plan that integrates their individual passions and skills, then directs that focused energy towards problems in the world that they were literally born to solve. For me, Javan has been a much needed voice of reason in my life. His insights around marketing, in particular, have given me the clarity I needed to create a marketing strategy that has me spending less time herding people, and more time herding cows.

Javan helped prevent me from potentially making a $50,000 business mistake in a mere 15 minute phone conversation – not from sharing his own opinion on the situation but from asking the right questions, that illuminated my own needs and weak links, making the decision obvious. I am so very thankful to have access to his guiding influence when needed.