Julka

Stage Green, Yellow-Emerging

Yellow in Green clothing. What America needs more of.

Green Architecture in Africa - Using earth as a building material Youtube wouldn't allow the video to be embedded. Great example of yellow integration of traditional and modern building technologies. "In developing countries we have to go back to our traditions to learn from, but in the same time keeping up with the immense scientific progress so that a person in the 21st century can enjoy modern life commodities." - Architect, Dr. Adel Fahmy In developed countries such as the US the whole "back to the land" movement sounds idyllic, but in reality humans are going to give up modern comforts at scale. What's really sustainable is a healthy integration of old and new.

Hi all, new to the forum so thought I'd introduce myself by sharing a project I'm working on: a re-invention of my carpentry contracting business. For public accountability and hopefully inspire others to step outside their comfort zone and design soul-aligned work. I've been a carpenter for almost 10 years and a contractor for 6. My career timeline can be beautifully illustrated using Spiral Dynamics... Blue - order and structure working for the man, following the rules and doing it to code Orange - tired of corporate bureaucratic and political bullshit not wanting to invest 15 years just to make $35 an hour, starting a business, "franchise model" scalable, sellable business mindset, hustle to make $$$, repeating burnout cycles Green - materialist illusion shattered, existential crisis (who am I if not part of the mainstream personal development culture?), emphasis on work-life balance, meaningful relationships with clients, smoking lots of weed and transmitting beauty and art through the medium of wood (www.tylerjulka.com) Learning about SD from Leo's videos - like many, I'm sure - changed the way I see not just business, but the entire world. I have a particular interest in developmental psychology, regenerative/ecological design, mythopoetic storytelling, sacred economics, and meta-awareness. Yellow/Turquoise emerging - entrepreneurship as a vehicle for self-actualization and helping to advance consciousness of others, approaching business using systems thinking to serve as a model that influences the industry in a healthy way, balancing Purpose, People, Planet, and Profit - being profitable because it's so damn ethical, meeting potential clients where they're at (do-it-yourself products, done-with-you services, and The paradox: What if the best way to run a successful business isn’t to maximize profits, but to maximize purpose, relationships, and craftsmanship? So how can it be applied in the real world? I specialize in fences, decks, and outdoor structures/furniture. I've been open to using all materials in the past, narrowing in on just wood and composite. I live in Los Angeles, California. Redwood is abundant in this state so there's no good reason (other than aesthetic preference) to truck in lumber from the rest of the U.S. or Canada, let alone shipments of shitty fake cedar lumber from Asia or exotic hardwoods (as beautiful and durable as they are) from South America. Sustainably-sourced materials - check. My vision for soul-aligned sales and marketing: leveraging storytelling, authenticity, and community. Style catalog with upgrades - freedom within a framework. Clear and transparent tiered pricing publicly available in marketing materials. Slowly over time I will experiment with integrating post-capitalist pricing models such as Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) and sliding scale pricing, time-based barter/labor exchange, community crowdfunding/sponsorship, gifting builds to community. The aim is to exercise trust in the innate desire within people to have a human experience. Redwood Standard (the company name) will practice and advocate for good stewardship of these natural resources by developing certifications for builders, ensuring they are building exceptional projects using redwood - maximizing it's lifespan. Also getting involved politically to encourage change in forestry practices. Letting the tree itself fully self-actualize for 100+ years doing its oxygen producing, carbon sequestration thing and contributing to the mycelium network of the forest, before transcending into a beautiful, living structure. Anyway, long read I know. Thanks for staying with me if you've made it this far. I'm really looking forward to participating here and growing with you all. I hope this thread can start some intelligent discourse on conscious business practices - so let me leave you with a question. Have you thought about how your career or business model aligns (or misaligns) with your deeper purpose? Cheers

Great interview with Timothy Leary's son Zach. Not about marijuana specifically, but touches on a lot of points made here.

Agreed. This is healthy framing. I would also add to that framing of viewing your life purpose as not an end goal, but a process. Thinking about it in this way, if you have 20, 30, maybe even 50+ years left in your life - barring something unforeseen that cuts life short - its a lot easier to see this as a stepping stone toward actualizing (not achieving) your LP. You achieve goals, not purpose and meaning.

My perspective of our conversation was that it wasn't an argument. I hope you weren't trying to convince me, that wasn't my intention. Just opening up space for something more constructive.

For sure. Most Americans don't even have a wide enough perspective to see this, let alone others from around the world. My hometown in the Midwest was only 1000 people. I've lived in LA (15 mil+) for 7 years now. I've seen both sides you might say. Not just population density, but culture, geography, status, wealth. I should mention I've never been outside of the US and Mexico - so I can't speak to the quality of life in other countries other than what I can see on the net. I think Northern Europe would be my first choice, but what many people also don't understand is that moving to a different country isn't as easy as it sounds. Tons of hoops to jump through depending on where you're moving to and from.

That's an interesting site, however it would be foolish to make a decision on where to live based solely on economic and social metrics.

You've said this a handful of times. Where do you suggest Americans to move to?

Here's my take. Ethical Sales integrates Purpose, People, Planet, and Profit. It's fundamentally relational, conscious, transparent, and regenerative. Unethical Sales is devilry fueled by blind selfishness (in Leo's language) and are transactional, manipulative, extractive, and exploitative. Classic example: Used car salesman (stereotype) vs. CarMax, Carvana, etc One uses scarcity tactics, lies of omission, and is worried about making money at the expense of others well-being. The other revolutionized an industry most regarded as gross and distrustful with easy and transparent no-haggle pricing made possible by giving the salesman a fixed commission amount per car sold rather than commission driven by upsell culture bullshit. One is sustainable, the other is not.