Caitlin Vliet
Painter (In Transition)Business, Holistic Life Context, Life Design, One-on-One CoachingI sought help from Javan because I was feeling so sick of my job, and unsure where to begin in making a change.
He ended up helping me in many areas of my life with his solid guidance.
I went from feeling overwhelmed in many areas, to having tools to take things on at the right speed to see results without burning out.
I feel more in control of my life, I can see the next few steps ahead of me, and I feel like I’m headed in the right direction.Thanks a lot!
Raleigh Latham
Educator and PromoterBusiness, Holistic Life Context, Life Design, Limiting BeliefsGoing 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.
Kellan Mackay and Tyler Stowers
Herbalist and Design Consultant; FarmerHolistic Life Context, Life DesignWe wanted to work with Javan specifically because we knew we could trust him with the tender, fragile aspects of our relationship. We were looking to turn the murky depths of communicating about difficult things into a resilient framework for uncovering the real pitfalls between us. Working with Javan, we steadily developed an amazing arsenal of strength and commonality for our partnership—something we knew was there, but could only fully access and appreciate through the exercise of developing a holistic context. The swamp of communication hasn’t disappeared, But we spend far less time trying to navigate it, and far more time directing ourselves toward the life we want to live as a result of this work. If you have your eyes open and are ready to dig deep, we can’t recommend his role as self-development sherpa with the process of life design highly enough.
Ryan Blosser
Farmer - Dancing Star FarmLife Design, PodcastI’m a small intensive mixed vegetable farmer (dancing star farm) and permaculture instructor (Shenandoah Permaculture Institute) on the east coast. prior to finding my way to the farming world I worked as a child and family therapist for a decade. I’ve worked to integrate mental health hygiene and tools to navigate the human sector into the courses we do at SPI. I heard you on a podcast recently and value how you’ve articulated “tools of sovereignty” You were clear and inspiring. Thank you for adding this value to the permaculture conversation!
Jordan MacPhee and Catherine Bailey
Farmers Maple Bloom Farm, Prince Edward Island, CanadaBusiness, Education, Holistic Life Context, Life Design, Life Design for Permaculture, One-on-One CoachingUPDATE 2020/02/20Catherine’s doing well. Through our work with you, we decided it was best for us to have our separate professional lives so we could enjoy our personal time together more easily, since tensions seemed to rise more easily when we spent day and night together. We’ve been getting along really well since then, she enjoys her work now, and we’re getting married in September.
Before we did this work with Javan, it seemed too daunting to include everything in our life that we wanted to move forward. We were both aware of things that needed improvement, but they were stuck up in our brains. Having it down on paper makes the conversation about us and the farm possible.Javan provided a framework for us to have an organized conversation with each other on a disorganized situation and it’s been fantastic. We wish it was something we had done years ago, but we just didn’t have the tools at the time. This holistic framework gives you a sense of the entire picture of your life, from work to finances to personal relationships and everything in between in our case, and it allowed us to juggle all this in a calm and collected, but thorough and methodical way that made it easy to approach and discuss one issue at a time until we were both on the same page.
Jamie Wallace
JAAN Designs - Permaculture and Landscape DesignerHolistic Life Context, Life Design, Life Design for PermacultureA few weeks ago I had convinced myself that I needed to spend $25,000 on a new/used truck for my company which is looking to expand it’s permaculture installations this year.
I’ve been in the landscape industry for over 30 years and was not looking forward to more time in the field as I would deep down prefer design or education work. I looked at this decision as a means to an end…I’ll be happy when.
During day one of Javan’s Holistic Life Context group course it became obvious that I was headed down the wrong path, or at least one that I hadn’t fully explored, craft the holistic goals first then test them against the decision.
These are currently under development but I can feel that this truck purchase is not going to make the cut. Javan thanks for saving me $25,000.
Ben B
Podcast ListenerLife Design, Life Design for Permaculture, PodcastHello from South Africa,
I just wanted to express my gratitude to both of you and the work you do. I’m hoping that this gratitude will soon be monetary either in contribution or utilization of your services.
I’ve recently been through a journey of personal discovery spurred on by a bought of circumstantial depression (or so I thought) and the realization that my actions, or lack thereof, are shaping my children’s future (3 and 1). The search for a fulfilling career, or happiness, or joy, or contentedness has led me through a lot of personal reflection, learning what my ‘points or skills of brilliance’ are, farming, permaculture, to sustainable business. From the 1000’s of hours of research I’ve done, the conversations between you two have stood out as the most pertinent to my… dilemma. Thank you for putting yourselves out there and encouraging others to do the same. I’ve come to a spot where I can take action knowing nothing is certain, failure is almost guaranteed and is a good thing if you see it for what it is….. experience, learning, growth.
I’m again excited for what the future holds and looking forward to sharing this world with people such as yourselves.
Again many thanks from this side of heaven
Tyler Stowers
Farm ManagerClient, Holistic Life Context, Life Design, One-on-One CoachingWhen I reflect on my life, few experiences mark a definitive division of before and after. Completing Javan’s life design modules is the most recent example of such a phenomenon.
I’m writing today to provide a ringing endorsement.
Having rarely asked myself questions relating to motivation and introspection to the depth required, this work was foreign and at times extremely difficult. Javan’s abilities in such moments to motivate and articulate significance was central to my success. Further, his sequencing was brilliant. Fleeting attempts at establishing a context had left me stagnant and disgruntled. Javan’s modules exhibited a fluidity that, unbeknownst to me, were establishing the very foundation for a life design that had previously eluded me.
His guidance, council, and cutting inquisition throughout the modules left me proud, lighter, empowered, inspired, and determined.
Looking for catharsis? Javan helped me identify restrictive limiting beliefs operating deep in the programming of my intentionality. Looking for a quick return on investment?
In week 2 of the modules, I saw a financial improvement of $4000 on a decision stemming from this work. To say I recommend working with Javan is an understatement.
I was extremely impressed with his presence, demeanour, and facilitation throughout this process. I can’t say enough good things. If you have ever noticed a hint of interest in establishing a context for yourself, call this man today.
Kimberly Gray and Jason Bell
Communications Consultant and EngineerHolistic Life Context, Life Design, Limiting Beliefs, One-on-One Coaching
James Richardson
Permaculture Design Certificate Educator Ph.D. Landscape Architecture and Design Education, Victoria University of Wellington. M.A.S.L.A. Sustainable Food System Design, University of British Columbia. B.Ed. Outdoor & Experiential Education, Queen's University. B.Sc. (Hon) Biology, Geography and Mathematics, McMaster University.Life Design for PermacultureMy students and I felt your talk really helped to ground the practice of Permaculture into our everyday lives. Your presentation on finding what students are a) gifted at, b) love to do, c) makes a positive difference (to themselves and/or the world) askes the question of how will they incorporate Permaculture in their lives, they need to distill their gift, their joy and their change. This question and exploration is fundamental and, as far as I can see, is often missed in PDC courses, leaving folks who are say stock traders or engineers or pizza delivery people feeling left out of the Permaculture movement … or worse, invested in a farm that they don’t really like running … it is always interesting to see the number of business folks who want to buy property but don’t really like planting, weeding, or otherwise working the land.I was nervous about the technology side of the presentation, but your pace, depth of knowledge, active ppt style, simplicity and iconic approach to the imagery, clear and concise answers to questions, rapport with the students, and bite-sized approach to key learning outcomes was AWESOME. I look forward to working/building/growing/teaching/designing with you again.