An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Remembering to Play! It doesn’t always have to be so serious! Oftentimes, when one is dedicating themselves to their mental health they may use the phrase “doing the work”. Doing the work implies that you are committed to working on yourself to improve and be a more compassionate human being through a vast array of modalities.
As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sam Kabert.
Sam Kabert is a successful serial entrepreneur turned spiritual seeker. Despite all of Sam’s ventures and business success and being recognized as one of Silicon Valley’s “40 Under 40” at just age 31 years old he soon recognized that something was missing. Sam realized that despite his success, he was unhappy. This understanding catapulted him on his most recent exploration of his life’s purpose. He is on a mission to bridge the gap between the way we conduct ourselves in business, mindful practices, and how we communicate with everyone, especially ourselves, all through prioritizing psychological safety and mental health first.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I started my first business in college back in 2011 and by 2017 my business was scaling. I had designed it so that it ran itself without needing me to be involved in the day-to-day projects and tasks. As a result, I found myself getting into content creation. First, through podcasting, and second through writing. In 2018 I wrote my first 3 books in less than 12 months and my original podcast and transformed into a media agency known as “WhatUp! Silicon Valley”. The short version is that all of these creative outlets culminated in me being named to Silicon Valley’s 40 Under 40 List at just 31 years old.
I had achieved so much that I had set out to accomplish, yet I found myself empty inside. How could this be?
Through a series of synchronistic events, I found myself being called to a plant medicine known as Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is said to be like 10+ years of therapy jam-packed into a single night … and I wholeheartedly agree with this opinion! That said after that experience in April of 2019; I shifted my focus from obtaining Work/Life Balance to practicing what I call SOUL/Life Balance. Ever since that experience, I’ve been on a mission to go within and learn what I’ve experienced firsthand and take the practical nuggets to help bridge the gap between mindfulness and workplace culture. My most book, SOUL/Life Balance, became a #1 bestseller and my passion is to bring this message to the masses through keynote speaking.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The most interesting that that happened to me since the start of my career is my spiritual evolution. I had always felt a spiritual connection to this human experience, yet I grew up Jewish and didn’t realize “Spirituality” was a choice. I was naïve, I knew of the various religions out there and the one of my culture, and I had thought there’s got to be more to this, but I never put conscious awareness into questioning the nature of existence.
My business success led me to intentionally find out for myself “why are we here?”. I don’t claim to know the answers to questions like these, but I can tell you that I have 100% more alignment in the way I’m living my life as a result of going down the path of “inner work” — spirituality if you will.
Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?
I started my first podcast, with my good friend Sergio Oliveri, and when we finally decided to just jump in and do it; it felt like a scene out of the hit movie “Zoolander”. Now, for those of you that have seen the movie you may remember the classic scene towards the end when two of the characters were trying to retrieve files from a computer. Now, these specific characters in the film weren’t familiar with how computers work (to say it lightly). So, as they tried to get the files out of the computer, they started to bang the computer as if they physically needed to break the computer to get the files …
Well, my co-host Sergio, and I weren’t much different when recording our first podcast back in 2017. We had no idea what we were doing, we didn’t even have microphones and we looked at each other as if confused about how to do it and were like “I guess we just hit record”. We started laughing because immediately we both were reminded of this scene from Zoolander.
Well, fast forward just a couple of months later and I had become a student of how to podcast and we got out sh* together. Within this same timeframe, we were partners with 3 legit corporations in Silicon Valley and we interviewed a Super Bowl Champion inside the San Francisco 49ers studio at the stadium where they play football. Within 2 years of launching that first podcast I was named to Silicon Valley’s 40 Under 40 and I can ensure you that I was not even on their radar before launching the pod.
Morale of the story? Just get started, and don’t let paralysis by analysis delay you from living your dreams.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Wow, there are so many people! First and foremost, my parents. My Mother & Father own a business together and even to this day they are going 42 years strong in that business called Value Business Products! I never thought of myself as a kid as one day being an Entrepreneur. But in truth, I was constantly learning the lifestyle, trials, and tribulations of being a business owner by watching my parents ever since I was a kid.
My parents also provided me with the framework to launch my first business and have been there as mentors every step of the way. I wouldn’t be here without them!
I remember when I was about 24 years old and having a conversation with my Dad about trying a different career path other than Entrepreneurship. I was still so green to the business world and Entrepreneurship, and I thought I would be better off working at a big corporation, learning some things then coming back to Entrepreneurship. One day my Dad took me out to lunch, which wasn’t something we did often, and we had a real raw and honest conversation about what I wanted and how my life would be if I chose to work for someone else. Thank you, Dad, for not pushing me and being able to guide me to come to my own decision to continue the path of being a business owner!
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
I speak on the practice of SOUL/Life Balance rather than Work/Life Balance for several reasons. First and foremost, we must understand the archetypal energies of Yin and Yang. Yang represents how we show up in the world, obligations, structure, and doing. Whereas Yin energy is about softening, listening, being fluid, and going within. The pressures of work from projects, deadlines, and meetings are Yang’s energy. Well, most of our life requires that we have Yang energy as well (responsibilities, obligations, etc).
Where is the time for Yin? To soften … to listen to what your Soul is asking for…
Yin energy is connected to your Soul and in the practice of SOUL/Life Balance, you are allowing yourself to put yourself first and give your Soul what it is craving while simultaneously reframing work as a part of the living experience.
By practicing SOUL/Life Balance you are doing just that … it’s a practice. It’s not something to chase or achieve. It’s about coming back to yourself throughout the day to ask yourself “How can I feed my Soul”?
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
Creating a fantastic work culture isn’t about snacks and games; it’s about listening. We need conscious and compassionate leaders who can communicate openly and honestly. People, especially in these times, want to be fully seen and recognized.
69% of employees say they’d work harder if they were better appreciated, as recorded in a recent Forbes study. Furthermore, 37% of employees consider recognition most important to be successful, and 91% of employees think that their leaders lack communication skills.
Creating a fantastic work culture starts with effective communication. The only question is, how will leaders invest in their personal development to communicate in a more open-hearted type of way?
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are “mentally healthy” can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each.
The five steps to improve your mental health are as follows…
#1 SOUL/Life Balance: As discussed earlier this is the mindset shift from chasing Work/Life Balance to bringing yourself to presence by practicing SOUL/Life Balance moment to moment. The most effective (and simple) way to practice SOUL/Life Balance is to ask yourself “How can I feed my Soul”? Then wait … listen … and act on the answer.
#2 Connecting With Your Breath: Our breath is the gateway to feeling more energized, connecting to one’s own heart, and ultimately to more fulfillment and joy in life.
One simple tactic to connect with your breath is “Box Breathing”. Box breathing is an easy-to-use tactic that you can come back to throughout the day.
BOX BREATHING SIMPLIFIED
- INHALE for 4 seconds, from the bottom of your belly letting the belly expand like a balloon to the top of your chest.
- HOLD your breath for 4 seconds.
- EXHALE slowly to the count of 4 seconds while bringing your belly inward toward your spine while dropping your shoulders.
- HOLD your breath for 4 seconds and repeat steps 1–3 a couple of times until you feel “complete”.
WARNING: Please use this practice at your discretion and be mindful of when and how you deploy this tactic. For a visual demonstration of Box Breathing, click this video.
#3 Tracing Your Thoughts: Tracing thoughts is simply getting to the root of a certain belief, story, emotion, or really anything that comes through your conscious awareness. Neuroscience teaches us that 96% of our thoughts are unconscious and that our conscious mind (awareness) is just 4% of what makes up who we are. The practice of tracing thoughts is to access the subconscious for my awareness of how we are truly feeling at any given moment.
TRACING THOUGHTS SIMPLIFIED
- PAUSE: Notice a Thought, Story, Emotion, or Belief entering your awareness.
- SILENCE: Sit with what comes up. Hear it, allow it, and listen to it without judgment.
- NAMING: Give what arises a name. I know this may sound a bit odd, but stay with me here…
- LISTEN: Once again, listen. Hear what this voice in your head is asking for (oftentimes it’s simply to be heard/seen/recognized/witnessed).
- OWN YOUR QUEENDOM/KINGDOM: You have an inner world within you and by listening to the voices arise; you now become the Leader of your “inner landscape”.
This practice may sound a bit odd if you haven’t done it before, but trust me it works!
This is a useful tactic to employ in your everyday life to help bring more conscious awareness to what’s going on within you. This is similar to the practice of IFS (Internal Family Systems) AKA Parts Work. IFS is a fantastic tool leveraged in the field of psychology.
As a practice, tracing your thoughts is about being aware of the present moment’s inner world/landscape.
By bringing awareness to the present moment through connecting with what’s rising to the surface within you; you will be guided to not only “feeding your soul” daily.
#4 Conscious & Compassionate Communication: I wasn’t always a conscious and compassionate leader and the result of my downfalls was due to not being connected with how I felt within. I was letting my distorted worldly view be an influence on others and it’s for this reason, it’s imperative we do steps 1–3 before making it to conscious and compassionate communication.
We must have practices and tools to go within and know what is going on within us and how we are feeling from moment to moment. Arguments or any sort of “negative” communication always stems from at least one person involved not being clear on how they feel within. If we are clear on how we are feeling within, we can show up more with more compassion in our relationships through conscious communication. The book, Non-Violent Communication, is a great place to start to explore how you can be conscious of communication in as a part of your toolbelt.
#5 Remembering to Play! It doesn’t always have to be so serious! Oftentimes, when one is dedicating themselves to their mental health they may use the phrase “doing the work”. Doing the work implies that you are committed to working on yourself to improve and be a more compassionate human being through a vast array of modalities.
However, what I’ve seen time and time again in folks “doing the work” (including myself), is that we take it too seriously and forget about play!
Play can be as simple as viewing a child and watching the world through their eyes. How can you bring back the awe and wonder into your life?
Creative expression is typically the ticket to more play. Whether it’s through music, movement, art, or anything else that is calling to you … the invitation is to listen to how you want to play, and then go do that thing (safely of course).
How about teens and pre teens. Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre teens to optimize their mental wellness?
The breath. For me, it always comes back to the breath. Connecting with your breath through meditation can be a good practice for teens. I’m a proponent of teaching our youth mindful tactics if you can’t tell already! ☺
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
The book, Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss is one of my favorite books. The book is about how as Souls we chose the other souls we incarnated with and these are known as Soul Contracts. I’ve found that understanding the concept of Soul Contracts helps to make sense of some of the tougher relationships in life. I highly recommend listening to this book on Audible!
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
SOUL/Life Balance ☺
The practice of putting yourself first and foremost, always … while simultaneously reframing your view of work as part of the living experience.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
“The symbol of infinity is a representation of the human experience. It has its highs and its lows, yet it always comes back to meet itself exactly where it’s at”. This was something that came through during my 200 yoga teacher training. Since this “download” came through, I’ve used this concept as a core philosophy in my book, SOUL/Life Balance, and my classes when teaching yoga.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
You can find me on Instagram @SamKabert.com (https://www.instagram.com/samkabert/), searching Sam Kabert on LinkedIn (,https://www.linkedin.com/in/kabert/) or my website SamKabert.com. You can get more similar resources on my blog https://samkabert.com/blog/☺
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Thank You for the opportunity to share the teachings of SOUL/Life Balance! I wholeheartedly believe this is a practice to optimize mental wellness.
Sam Kabert of Soul Seekr: 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.