Peace

Man Of The Week – Giovanni Marsico

Our newest Man Of The Week is a Giovanni Marsico, a man of many talents, from a connector of driven entrepreneurs, to an author of his upcoming book titled ‘The Gifted Entrepreneur’. Today, Giovanni is the founder and president of Archangel Academy, a coaching and mastermind organization that shares marketing, innovation and revenue-generating strategies with entrepreneurs that aim to give back to the world. By using the concept of “gifting it forward” Giovanni has created a culture of sharing his gifts with people, and for them to “gift it forward” with the aim of becoming the best version of ourselves, and to positively impact those around us every single day. Giovanni believes each and every one of us has the power to change the world, and he helps make this a reality by instilling the same belief in other Gifted Entrepreneurs. To make this dream a reality, Giovanni sets aside half the profits from Archangel to provide micro loans for entrepreneurs around the world.
If you’re in the Greater Toronto Area on April 18th, you won’t want to miss Giovanni speak live at our first ever ManTalks Toronto event, Pursuit of Purpose. For more details, click here.

Age – 39

What do you do? (Work)
I am a talent scout, curator, and connector of superheroes – mission-driven entrepreneurs and leaders that are creating a positive impact for humanity – through my Archangel community and live events.

Why do you do it?
The work I do is the full expression of my gifts completely aligned with my path, my dreams, and my heart. I have the privilege of serving people I love by doing what I love.

How do you make a difference in the world? (Work, business, life, family, self)
It starts with striving to become a better version of myself every day, and positively impacting the people around me every day. I use the phrase ‘gift it forward’ – I try my best to share my gifts with people in my tribe so that they can share their gifts with people in theirs. The impact becomes exponential.

What are 3 defining moments in your life?
1 – March 4, 1994 – The day I hosted my first ever large-scale event and discovered you could make money doing what you love. We had 1000 people attend.  I was 17 at the time.
2 – March 27, 2008 – I call this the darkest day of my life. My marriage had just failed. A few weeks earlier I had a panic attack so extreme I thought I was having a heart attack and had an ambulance rush me to the hospital. A business venture failed because I couldn’t handle the emotional state I was in. I was in complete depression and contemplated suicide. My son (who was 3 at the time) was my angel. I knew I had to fight for him and since then my life has been on an amazing upswing.
3 – February 1, 2015 – It was a few days after my annual Archangel event and I had an experience that I describe as a ‘bliss attack’ – the emotional opposite of a panic attack. It felt as if I was experiencing every positive emotion at the same time coming through me like a bolt of lightning. It was so powerful I had to pull over my car and burst out with tears of joy. I learned that day that our emotions are like tuning forks. When we’re aligned and on the right path, we experience positive emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more aligned. The same occurs with negative emotions

What is your life purpose?
My life’s mission is something I call ’10 billion smiles’ – by the time there are 10 billion people alive at the same time, I want to have positively impacted all of their lives indirectly by up-leveling the people I impact directly through my work, my message, and my tribe.

How did you tap into it?
I focus each day on making it the best day ever – by sharing my gifts with people I love to bring me closer to my dream and bring them closer to theirs.

Who is your Role-Model or Mentor?
My Role-Model is a fictional character – Charles Xavier/Professor X from the X-Men. Xavier is the leader of the X-Men team of superheroes. His role is to seek out ‘mutants’ – humans with extraordinary abilities – and show them how to use their powers to serve mankind.
In my world the superheroes are entrepreneurs with big hearts who want to create impact.

Do you have any daily habits? If so, what are they?
I have a highly structure daily ritual – it has been one of the biggest keys to my success and growth. I wake up at 5am and start my day with a 20-minute workout that is a blend of high intensity interval training mixed in with dancing in between sets. Immediately after I set intentions and goals for the day, followed by reading time. I use my friend UJ Ramdas’ 5 Minute Journal and my mornings are based on my friend Hal Elrod’s book The Miracle Morning.

I have another ritual that works wonders for me since ideation and dreaming are 2 of my gifts – I call it ‘shower meditations’. I spend 30 minutes in the shower where I actively download ideas in complete flow. Right after the shower I spend time writing down 8-10 ideas in my journal.
For a more high-level view of my rituals, the ‘structure’ is the same on every week day. Mondays and Saturdays are for planning, clean ups, and prep work.  Tuesdays through Thursdays are revenue generating work and relationship building. I take Friday’s off as ‘my day’ for fun, play, and rest. For the past 8 years, I’ve had a ritual to watch a matinee movie on my own every Friday as my form of escape and to fuel my dreaming. And Sunday’s are adventure days with my son.

When do you know your work/life balance is off?
I think it’s always ‘off’ to some degree. My friend Billy Anderson makes me laugh with this topic because no one ever says they need to add more ‘work’ to be balanced.
I’ve structured my days so that I’m highly productive during work time and have plenty of space for play time, connection, and fun.

Vulnerability is a challenge for most men – share a vulnerable moment from your life with us. 
Last summer I attended a retreat in Ireland called BraveSoul run by my friend Philip McKernan. I told Philip that my goal for the experience, using an analogy from The Matrix movie, was to take the ‘red pill’ on my life – to see the subconscious programming that’s been invisible to me up to that point.
There was a point during one of our group discussions that the emotions I’ve been holding onto for decades just all released at once and I cried harder than I ever have before in front of the group. It was cathartic and beautiful.

What did you learn from it?
I learned so much from that trip – including how to tap into my intuition, how to be aligned with my heart and my path, and how to remove all the masks I’ve been wearing to be my true self.
I also discovered that being selfless all my life was the most selfish thing I could do.

If you are or were going to be a mentor for another man, what is one piece of advice you would give him?
Happiness, gratitude, confidence, courage, peace, power, serendipity, luck and love are all skills to master and practice every single day. Seek complete alignment in your work and relationships – your intuition and emotions will always guide you.

How do you be the best partner (Boyfriend/Husband- past or present)
The only way to be the best partner is to be your best self and to love yourself first completely. Become your own soulmate. Find someone who is completely aligned with you in terms of path, dreams, values, beliefs, bliss, and growth trajectory – someone who is their own soulmate. Sharing a common future is more important than sharing a common past.

Do you support any Charities or Not-for-profits? (Which one(s) and why?)
I’ve supported countless charities in the past, and I’ve been the president of a Rotary Club. My view has changed lately. I believe that mission-driven entrepreneurs are the key to social change. I’m working on creating a fund that provides micro-loans, grants, and angel investment to entrepreneurs looking to change the world so that together we can literally make a dent in the universe.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
Either Beautiful Day by U2 or Best Day Of My Life by American Authors

Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
In 3 years I am in the best shape of my life. I am in a blissful relationship with the woman of my dreams. I’ve built an incredible team around me that allows me to spend 100% of my time sharing my gifts with the world.

What legacy do you want to leave for future generations?
I want to disrupt the current models of education, business, and philanthropy. I want to help everyone discover alignment in their lives. My dream is to find a way to connect every human on the planet through the common language of love.

What One book would you recommend for any Man?
The Four Agreements By Don Miguel Ruiz

If you know a Man that is making a positive impact on the world, we would love to hear from you! Contact us at [email protected]

Man Of The Week – Jeremy Hendon

This week, we have the honour of highlighting Jeremy Hendon, an entrepreneur, coach and speaker. Ironically, Jeremy has found a way to balance doing ‘so much’ and ‘so little’ at the same time! Jeremy has a very intriguing perspective on life and how to live it, one very different from many of the men we have featured in the past. That’s not to say he’s wrong though, Jeremy’s logic does make sense and in fact allows you to notice many of life’s subtle little ‘traps’ we fall into, traps that influence our intentions, thoughts and actions. A man who epitomizes living in the present moment, Jeremy believes purpose is not something we pre-define, but a moment we experience. Read on to uncover more of Jeremy’s fresh take on life.

Age: 37

What do you do? (Work)
I do whatever I feel like, and it seems to work out.
My wife and I are entrepreneurs.  We have brands on Amazon, I recently built a plugin, we have websites that sell our books and courses, I do a little consulting/coaching and speaking, and I’m starting to host events.
But most of my time, I travel a lot, I eat a lot, and I talk to a lot of people.  I do some writing, some speaking, some podcasting, and I play a lot of board games.

Why do you do it?
Most often, because it’s what I think will make me happiest.
In my moments of clarity, I do what I do for no reason at all.

How do you make a difference in the world? (Work, business, life, family, self)
By “doing” as little as possible.
I believe we get caught up in “making a difference” only by viewing the world as imperfect.  This is a trap I’ve fallen into for most of my life – trying to make various differences from environmental reform to political change.
I’ve tried to change the world and to improve myself, but neither is necessary. Change will come and it won’t, and both are fine.
In the words of Ramana Maharshi, “The power that created you has created the world as well. If it can take care of you, it can similarly take care of the world also. If God has created the world it is his business to look after it, not yours.”

What are 3 defining moments in your life?
I honestly don’t know how to answer this question.
If it’s 3 moments that define who I want to be, then those three moments are “now”, “now”, and “now.”  If it’s 3 moments that define my perceived shortcomings, I’d probably choose three instances when I flipped out and yelled at customer service representatives.
I don’t know that any moments actually define my life or even give someone a good idea of what it’s like to be me, which is generally how I interpret the question.

What is your life purpose?
Haha…I don’t know.
I like to think my purpose is to be at peace and to play as much as possible.
But I’m excited to find out what the universe actually has in store for me. I don’t believe it’s possible to know in advance what my “purpose” is. I try to let go as much as I can.

How did you tap into it?
I believe that we create – rather than tap into – meaning and purpose. And so long as I can remain aware that all purpose and meaning is created, I can be at peace with whatever I create.

Who is your Role-Model or Mentor?
This changes all the time for me, but one person whom I have admired for a long time is Oprah. She has a lot of compassion and peace in her life for someone so busy and successful.
I have many informal mentors in my life, including some of my friends like Theresa Laurico, Arda Ozdemir, and Philip McKernan.
I also greatly value the contributions of historical figures such as Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) and Lao Tze.

Do you have any daily habits? If so, what are they?
Habits have become the new currency of dissatisfaction with the present.
Too often in my life (and I see it in many others), I’ve tried to implement habits in order to change something about my life or to “get somewhere.”
So I do have habits, but I don’t think of them as habits at all.  I meditate every day, write most mornings, and even work with some affirmations almost every day (mostly around peace, bliss, and serendipity).  The difference is that I don’t do these things for any reason other than doing them, and I just happen to do them almost every day.

When do you know your work/life balance is off?
I know when I feel like I should do something rather than just doing it. I don’t really have a distinction between work and life, so that’s the metric I use. Procrastination is usually a pretty good sign.

Vulnerability is a challenge for most men – share a vulnerable moment from your life with us.
My vulnerability is very dependent on circumstances. It might be vulnerable for me to admit how much money I make when I’m around billionaires but not when I’m around people earning minimum wage.
With that in mind, one thing I’ve felt vulnerable about admitting over the last few months is that I often feel unhappiness and despair. These feelings are something I still view as imperfect about myself, particularly in the company of friends who seem to be very happy with and excited about their lives and their businesses.
Like many vulnerabilities, it might not sound like much, since everybody deals with unhappiness and despair to some degree. But admitting as much to many of my friends has been extremely difficult, uncomfortable, and vulnerable.

What did you learn from it?
To welcome and even embrace those emotions.  (I have not fully learned this lesson…lol).

If you are or were going to be a mentor for another man, what is one piece of advice you would give him?
Be as you are.
Ironically and paradoxically, that might take a lot of work (therapy, personal development, meditation, time, etc.). Or it might take none at all. You are not your thoughts, emotions, or body. You can choose to identify with them or not, but you have no control over them.
Always ask yourself, “Who am I?” and keep asking it, until you realize that there is no “I”.

How do you be the best partner (Boyfriend/Husband- past or present)
The indirect answer is this… when I’m present and clear, I don’t try to be the best husband at all.
I attempt to act intuitively, without trying to please or make my wife happier. I find it both empirically incorrect and also egotistical to think that I could make my wife happy.  My actions might trigger mental or emotional patterns in her (as in anyone else), but her happiness is her own.
The caveat to all of this is that I definitely don’t always act or not act from that intuitive place. Also, you’d have to check with my wife about whether any of this makes me a better husband or not.  ☺

Do you support any Charities or Not-for-profits? (Which one(s) and why?)
I really like DonorsChoose.org. I love teaching, I love kids, and I love the platform of being able to choose projects to support.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
Let it Go (theme song from Frozen).

Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
In the Present.

What legacy do you want to leave for future generations?
An awareness that we don’t need to grow, change, or improve.  That peace and bliss are possible, but only through complete acceptance of ourselves and our world as it is.
But then again, maybe future generations will have technology that makes peace and bliss automatic.

What One book would you recommend for any Man?
Two books I recommend right now…
– The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
– Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

If you know a Man that is making a positive impact on the world, we would love to hear from you! Contact us at [email protected]

Man Of The Week – Graham Young

Our Man Of The Week is an inspired young man who had to endure a series of health issues and the passing of his mother to uncover his true purpose, and to his surprise, once he discovered this, his passion in living out his purpose gave him the strength to overcome the hurdles. Graham Young was sick and tired of receiving the same impractical advise of the self-help industry, so he decided to be the change the industry needed by creating ‘Disruptive Performance Coaching’, a practical and science-based approach to helping people discover their purpose and breaking limiting thoughts and beliefs. Using this approach, Graham hopes to enable people to live a life where they are at peace, have control over the direction of their lives, and are able to create the change one would like to see in their life. Graham is able to give people the confidence, tools and comfort of knowing that they can handle any challenge life throws at them.
Age: 31
What do you do? (Work)
I am a Disruptive Performance Strategist and Founder of Graham Young Strategies, an innovative coaching consultancy.
I identify and disrupt the underlying, often unknown thought patterns that hold people back in their lives and careers. When coaching an individual, I use a practical, science based approach to help them discover their purpose and bring them to new levels of confidence and self-reliance. When working with organizations I elevate the engagement, happiness and performance of their employees.
Why do you do it?
I do this to give people full control over their lives. So they have the power to change any aspect of their life immediately. I think feeling stuck is one of the most frustrating things we experience as humans. Knowing that we need to change something about ourselves, our career or in our life; but having no idea how to make it happen. It can cause us to feel like we have little control over our thoughts, feelings and the actions they produce.
I do this to give people the confidence, tools and peace of mind knowing they can handle any challenge they face. So they never have to feel hopeless or lost when difficulties arise and so they can accomplish any goal they want to achieve in life.
I also do this to bridge the gaps between science, self-help and business. To provide a simple, practical and science based approach to personal and career development. So that people do not have to get confused by the overabundance of opinions on how to better their life. To cut through the noise and provide a framework that produces quick and long-lasting results.
In the end I hope each person I work with is able to positively influence other people in their life and in the world.
How do you make a difference in the world? (Work, business, life, family, self)
The source of making a difference in the world, I believe is in the mind of each person. So I’m fortunate to work with people on a very personal level to help them live a happier, fulfilled and more contributing life.
What are 3 defining moments in your life?

  • My Mother passing away from cancer
  • My business mentor passing away
  • When I found my purpose in life

What is your life purpose?
Much of what I answered in answer 3 describes my purpose. In a nutshell it is to simplify the human mind so people can be at peace with themselves, control their lives and create the change they need to achieve what they desire.
How did you tap into it?
It’s been something that has evolved over my life, but was accelerated after the passing of my Mom. Throughout her illness, I was able to use the knowledge that I had been learning from reading psychology and personal development books. It made such a positive impact on me and the people in my life, that I wanted to share it to help others. I began writing my blog on the anniversary of her passing and by putting my thoughts together, I slowly realized that this is what I loved to do.
Who is your Role-Model or Mentor?
My Dad has always been my biggest role model. I’ve been fortunate to have a Father who always put his family first, who defines integrity and who was successful in business. He always supported my career decisions even if they were a bit unorthodox and always believed in me with all of my ventures.
Do you have any daily habits? If so, what are they?
I have a warm cup of lemon water first thing in the morning as it provides energy and aids in digestion. I also have a morning routine that I use to get me focused and motivated to take on the day.
When do you know your work/life balance is off?
When I’m going to bed late and getting up early. When I don’t leave enough time to read before bed.
Vulnerability is a challenge for most men – share a vulnerable moment from your life with us.
Not long ago I had a number of health issues affect me all at once. They caused me to feel very tired, groggy and dizzy everyday. I also was unable to exercise for over a year and had to take some time off work. It felt like things were falling apart around me and made me feel vulnerable to circumstance.
What did you learn from it?
That if you have a passion or purpose in life, you can literally get through anything. This passion to share my knowledge and help people, was like a light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the difficulties in my life at the time, I still have this clarity and direction in where I was going. It motivated and inspired me everyday.
If you are or were going to be a mentor for another man, what is one piece of advice you would give him?
To focus on feeling content, happy, successful and confident now, as opposed to later. We often get stuck telling ourselves that something needs to happen or be accomplished in order for us to feel successful or happy. A common saying is ‘life will be great when …X… happens’. But we often go through life in this lacking state, never letting ourselves appreciate the things we’ve done.
How do you be the best partner (Boyfriend/Husband- past or present)
I think empathy is key. The better you can get at putting yourself in your partners shoes, the more you understand them and their opinions and it helps you approach conflict focused on creating a solution.
Do you support any Charities or Not-for-profits? (Which one(s) and why?)
Two years ago I created the Vancouver Basket Brigade which is based off of Tony Robbin’s International Basket Brigade. My friends and I find families in need, and deliver baskets full of clothes, food and household items.
I sit on the board of CLICK (Contributing to Lives of Inner City Kids) and support the BC Children’s Hospital. I focus a lot of my giving on kids because I love children and it kills me to think of them suffering. If we can get them through a tough time, they have their whole life ahead of them.
If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
That’s tough, it’d be cool if it were Eminem – Lose Yourself.
Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
More of my business being on the road and speaking across North America.
What legacy do you want to leave for future generations?
I’d like to refine my methodology and make it accessible to everyone in the world regardless of your location, age or income. I’m not sure if it would be delivered via software or online classes, but somehow deliver personal coaching to people who can’t afford it.
What One book would you recommend for any Man?
How to win friends and influence people. – Dale Carnegie
 
If you know a Man that is making a positive impact on the world, we would love to hear from you! Contact us at [email protected]

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