Marc Gaudett

Founder

Helping family offices in Canada provide their high net worth investors with preservation of their capital through a closed-end value added fund that seeks to identify and take advantage of opportunities to redevelop and improve on existing real estate assets while achieving strong risk-adjusted returns for investors.

Details:
Targeted net returns 12-18%

Disrupt Real Estate Investments Inc

Maropost

Partner Channel Advisor

Maropost is the leading provider of on-demand email, digital marketing, CRM and Ecommerce solutions. Our Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies provide organizations with integrated platforms to connect with customers via email, mobile, social, automation, display on Marketing Cloud and CRM, Ecommerce, Sales Automation, Sales Management on Sales Cloud.

-Helping to improve the deliverability of high volume email senders sending up to 1 billion emails a month
-ISP and compliance strategy provided to run a world-class email and multichannel marketing strategy
-Consultation provided to highly regulated industries and those requiring HIPAA and HITRUST Compliance
-Provide Guidance on set up, strategy, implementation and how to keep on top of the best practices that your competitors are using to increase engagement rates

Some of my achievements are
- Helped scale the company from 20-50M in Revenue
- Helped scale the team from 4 employees to 35+
- Consistently add the most net new revenue to the company each year helping Maropost keep its momentum as one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada
- In partnership with other departments helped design sales, marketing, pricing, and overarching go-to-market strategy
- Helped Develop referral and partner program and brought the first partners into the program
- owned and managed implementation of Hubspot and Salesforce implementations

Senior Enterprise Account Executive

eSSENTIAL Accessibility

eSSENTIAL Accessibility is a comprehensive digital accessibility-as-a-service platform. We help organizations create inclusive web, mobile, and product experiences through digital accessibility testing, evaluation, and remediation.


Some of my achievements are:
- Brought on the largest enterprise customer that contributed more net new and expansion revenue than any other company in 2022
-Led the organization in net new business sales while maintaining the highest quota in the organization
- In partnership with other departments helped design sales, marketing, pricing, and overarching go-to-market strategy
- Helped Develop referral and partner program and brought the first partners into the program contributing to an additional 15% in revenue
- Created outbound strategy that generated more qualified meetings from my SDR/BDR team than any other territory in the company

Strategic Enterprise Consultant at eSSENTIAL Accessibility WCAG, AODA, ADA, Sec. 504, Sec. 508

Gymnut

Gymnut, 'The iTunes of Fitness', empowers trainers, athletes, and brands to connect with fitness enthusiasts in innovating ways, making it the best place to find a personalized workout, nutrition, and training plans they need.

-Created new Vertical extending our offering into Studios and Gym Franchises expanding our offering into a multi-billion dollar industry.
-Created Short and Long Term Partnerships that set the stage for Gymnut to earn 7 figures in 12 months
-Delivered our First Enterprise client

Advisor

Salesforce

-Reached out to and engaged both cold and warm prospects in the SMB market to form long term relationships and generate sales
-Consistently helped my team surpass our monthly team revenue goals by more than 20%
-Leveraged skills developed as a top-performing BDR to consistently generate the most outbound activity and new business pipeline
-Consistently negotiated commercial contracts across multiple products with C-level Executives contributing to over 30% year over year business growth.
-Coached and mentored up and coming Account Executives

Account Executive

-Reached out to and engaged with cold prospects to prompt conversations about how salesforce.com could be leveraged to manage, grow and scale their business
-Sourced and created deal sizes of 25-300k in value
-Consistently exceeded monthly quotas (155% on avg.)
-Lead the Mid Market Sector in pipeline generation of over $4 Million in annual revenue 
-Broke the record for most pipeline generated amongst a mid-market AE
-Member of the interview committee to assist in hiring selection
-Audit Committee Member- Ensure compliance and data quality before submitting opportunities and deals for approval-including accuracy of dollar amount, timelines, Decision makers involved and close dates
-Team Lead and Mentor, involved in sharing of best practices, successful on boarding strategies, training sessions, and maximizing team productivity

Sr. Business Development Representative

Physique Factory

We are a fitness company. We work with people of all ages at improving and manage their own health so they can use the improvement in energy and focus to get the most out of themselves in each other area of their lives.

We Specialize in:
-Bootcamps and group training fitness classes
-Body Transformation Coaching
-Nutritional and Workout Program Design
-1 on 1 personal training

Owner

World Trade Group (WTG)

Responsible for growing two of the companies largest events, The American Manufacturing Summit and Global Pharmaceutical Summit.

-Consistently cold-called  C-Level Executives of Fortune 500 Companies regarding investing in sponsorship packages for World Trade Group Summits
- Performed market research to identify and target key niches contributing to the growth of The American Manufacturing Summit by approximately 50% from the previous year.

Project Director

Scholars At Your Service

In charge of recruitment, hiring, training, coaching and overall franchise operations (marketing, sales and production) for the Lawrence Park and High Park regions of Toronto.

Results
-Two 6 figure businesses produced over the course of the each summer
-Recruited, Hired and Trained over 20 employees
-Mentored and Assisted in Coaching 7 Other Franchisees


Skills Developed:
-Operations Management
-Personnel Management
-Project Management
-Marketing Management
-Stakeholder Management
-Sales Management
-Market Research Forecasting and Planning
-Brand Management/Marketing
-Business Planning
-Commercial Strategy
-Customer Service

Senior Franchise Owner

Sears Canada

Provided support to the various buying teams comprising the Craftsman and Electronics  and Leisure and Sports divisions

Marketing Business Associate

We've been helping B2B SaaS Founders grow profitable businesses over the past decade

Imagine your calendar filling up with sales appointments, hiring a salesperson or team, your revenue increasing, cash accumulating in your business checking account, getting your next round of funding, or seeing a clear exit from your business.

That’s what most DREAM about, yet cease to ever accomplish…

After working with and speaking with hundreds of Software Companies and Startups,

I’ve noticed a pattern of why most SaaS founders can’t scale in their early stages and I’ve distilled it down to three key forces:

Force #1: Generalism: Not solving a specific problem for a specific person or specific business

Without this specialization, the SaaS founder can't capitalize on one of the most powerful Economic forces - Desire. This results in generic marketing and NO demand generation. 

Force #2: Systems: No systems in place to generate consistently qualified meetings that turn into REAL pipeline.

The Founder needs to do all prospecting and sales with inconsistent results each month. 

Force #3: No Sales Operating Procedures - No predictable sales process or sales team in place.

Without a high-converting sales process, it's impossible to scale, let alone remove the Founder from the sales process. Most SaaS Founders haven’t developed the necessary sales skills, or the documentation needed to effectively remove themselves from the sales process.

Now if you are facing any of these forces, I have good news! These are completely avoidable and reversible if you just follow the right process.

At MarcGaudett.com, we are client-obsessed helping SaaS Founders succeed by filling these gaps. Our “North Star” is our clients. Helping them get their first 1M in revenue and then grow to 10M+ in ARR in the fastest, most predictable, and cost-efficient way possible. Our hygiene standard is to help our Founders go from 1-10M in ARR in their first 4 years without any paid advertising.

We’ve spent the last 10+ years dialing in a process that just works!

Some of Our Results
→ Created a 6 figure + business in less than 12 months from scratch
→ Generated Over 4.5M in pipeline in less than 12 months
→ Generated over 4M in sales in a single year and 10M+ in net new business revenue in less than 5 years

If you are a SaaS Founder and want to learn more you can book a time in my calendar (located in my featured section). Alternatively, you can join my weekly newsletter (The Saturday SaaS Founder) which highlights SaaS founders who are actively growing their ARR (see my featured section).

Partner Engine energy.

I was reflecting this morning on what we’ve been building across Partnerships at Instantly.ai (my colleague Aaron. Reid did the same for VIP) — and it hit me how wild the momentum has become.

I don’t have a giant team photo like Aaron posted.

But what we do have is something just as powerful:

👉 Partners who build with us
👉 Teammates from all departments who show up every day to push the ecosystem forward
👉 Integration teams shipping fast
👉 Affiliate/Referral and Integration partners scaling and pushing fast with us
👉 Product & Dev turning the impossible…into infrastructure

And in just the last few months:

⚡ LinkedIn automation partners (Aimfox, HeyReach.io, Valley) helping redefine multi-channel outbound
⚡ CRM platform integrations lining up co-marketing + connected accounts
⚡ Data and enrichment partners expanding what’s possible inside Instantly
⚡ Internal rockstars — Eli Lubimov, @Jose, @Indrek, @Dan Lupasco — building the backbone of the ecosystem
⚡ Dozens of affiliates + agencies driving real revenue every single week

At this point, it feels less like “partnerships”…
and more like a movement.

Ideas flying.
Integrations going live faster than ever.
Co-marketing stacking up.
Everyone rowing in the same direction.
Real passion. Real ownership. Real momentum.

Proud of what we’re building — together.
And honestly? We’re just getting warmed up.

The next chapter starts here. 🚀


(If you want to partner, integrate, or co-market with Instantly — DM me. The ecosystem is wide open right now.)

PS — The image was made with A.I., so Eli Lubimov,Aaron. Reid, Augustin Rialan, Dan, Hans Dekker, Indrek Stern, Jason Kim, Marija Crnojacki, Vadim Smirnov, Yaroslava Tensina… can you guess who is who with some extras? 😂

Jose is missing — and so many others who are part of this growing engine

Leading the Partnerships Team at Instantly | Building $100M+ Partner-Sourced ARR+ Case Study

I made a mistake early in my partnerships career that almost cost me millions in pipeline.

And I still see 90% of SaaS companies making it today.

They treat partnerships like a channel.
Not a system.

Here’s what actually happened:

A few years back, I was working inside a fast-growing SaaS company. We were signing partners fast. Big logos. Big excitement.

But revenue wasn’t moving.

Why?
Because we were doing partnerships the way everyone else does them:

recruit a partner
give them a link
pray

And then blame the partner when nothing happens.

One day a partner told me bluntly:

“Marc, promoting you isn’t the problem…
there’s just nothing compelling or sticky keeping you top of mind.”

That hit hard.
Because he was right.
We weren’t setting them up to win.

So I rebuilt the entire motion from scratch.

And here’s the part nobody talks about:

You don’t get $10M+ partner-sourced ARR by signing partners.
You get it by making sure every partner sees you as a distribution channel.

That’s the shift I’m applying again right now as we work with strategic partners.

Here’s the 3-part system I use (and am still building):

1. Activation beats acquisition
If partners can’t win in 14–21 days, you lose 80% of them forever.

2. Ecosystem > channels
Affiliates, integrations, agencies, and referrals must feed each other — not live in silos.

3. Your partner program is a product
Products need onboarding, positioning, outcomes, and feedback loops.
Most partner programs don’t have any of those.

If you build these three things,
you don’t get a “partner program.”

You get a GTM engine that compounds every month.

And no — attribution won’t be perfect.
If you wait for 100% accuracy, you’ll never scale.
Act on the 80% signal that’s obvious,
and improve the last 20% as you go.

I’m building this system in public as we scale partnerships at Instantly.ai.

If you’re a SaaS company, or a top creator/affiliate and want access to the frameworks as I publish them — or want to work together — connect and DM me “PARTNERS.”

Partnerships don’t scale from one big move.

They scale from 100 small ones done consistently.

The last 60 days at Instantly.ai proved it again:

– Ship integrations fast
– Fix attribution where you can
– Activate affiliates daily
– Remove blockers for dev/marketing
– Keep standards high even when speed is the pressure

That’s the real engine behind partnerships

This quarter we focused on 3 things:

-Speed
-Systems
-Activation

And it’s working: integrations are going live faster, more affiliates are activating every week, and partners are seeing real growth from working with us.

2026 is simple: scale what’s already working

 Let’s build the next wave.

P.S. Great tools deserve distribution. if you think there is alignment - reach out to me.

Most SaaS companies underestimate how much distribution they’re already sitting on.

This week I talked to three different founders — all building great products — and every single one had the same bottleneck:

They weren’t using the distribution they already had.

Affiliates sitting idle
Integrations that weren’t activated
Communities that wanted to promote them but didn’t know how
Partners who loved the idea of collaborating… but had no playbook

What I’ve learned building partnerships is this:

Your product isn’t the growth engine.
Your ecosystem is.

And the moment you get affiliates, communities, integrations, and co-marketing running in one direction, growth becomes predictable.

Here’s the simplified version of the flywheel we’re building right now:

→ Launch integrations fast
→ Build the co-marketing motion and an additional revenue stream for both sides
→ Help each other promote (assets, workflows, playbooks, creator intros, affiliate intros)
→ Track what you can — even if the tracking isn’t perfect yet
→ Improve attribution as you add more tools and bandwidth
→ Highlight wins publicly
→ Repeat

This compounds. Every partner you activate increases the reach of the next.

The number one thing my team focuses on: momentum beats perfection.

Yes, there are things we want to do. Yes, we want cleaner tracking, better dashboards, tighter attribution. But those things take dev work, tools, time — and while you build them, the opportunity window is moving.

So we ask one question consistently:

“Is what I’m doing right now moving the flywheel forward?”

If the answer is no, it’s usually because something “feels” important but is actually an excuse — waiting for X, waiting for Y, waiting for the perfect conditions.

Growth doesn’t wait.
You create it by moving the conversation forward today.

And honestly, if we had waited for everything to be perfect, you wouldn’t be seeing the LinkedIn integrations we just shipped — Aimfox, Valley, HeyReach.io — plus the AI workflows powering it all behind the scenes.

Those came from momentum.
Not perfect conditions.
Just relentless forward motion


Instantly.ai

Resharing this because it’s a big milestone for us Instantly.ai
 — and a huge step forward for Partnerships at Instantly.

Coordinating multi-channel outreach across platforms has always been a challenge. Bringing Aimfox, HeyReach.io, and Valley together with Instantly for our first version of this is a major step toward a fully unified outbound ecosystem.

This took weeks of collaboration across Partnerships, Product, Engineering, Marketing, and each partner’s team — so thank you to everyone involved in making this happen.

Excited for what this unlocks for users, and even more excited for the next partners coming into the automation layer we’re building.

Multi-channel outreach just got way simpler 🎉

Instantly Automations are live! And so are our first integrations with LinkedIn outreach platforms: Aimfox, HeyReach.io and Valley.

These integrations let Instantly connect your email workflows with your preferred LinkedIn outreach tools, so everything stays synced without manual work.

Here’s what this means for you:
☑️ One clean workflow
Email → LinkedIn steps happen inside one system, while all LinkedIn actions are handled by your connected Aimfox/HeyReach/Valley account.
☑️ Fewer manual steps
No more exporting lists, copying profiles, or moving leads between platforms. Instantly sends the right leads to your connected LinkedIn tool automatically.
☑️ Follow up at the perfect moment
If a lead replies or shows interest, Instantly can route them into the correct LinkedIn sequence inside your connected tool, while they’re still warm.

Build your first workflow → instantly.ai

I’ve done the same “back-of-the-napkin math” a hundred times:

“If we ship 10 integrations…
 if we activate 200 affiliates…
 if each partner sends X leads…
 we’ll add $___M in ARR by December.”

The math always looks perfect on paper.
But here’s the real lesson that December is forcing me to internalize:
Momentum doesn’t come from math — it comes from action.

Partnerships only grow when:

we’re shipping integrations weekly, not quarterly
we’re activating partners today, not “after the holidays”
we’re building co-marketing loops in real time
we’re following up immediately, not “when things slow down”

P.S. A reminder of what we’re building — and why the right partners can feel the momentum from day one.
we’re creating quick wins, not waiting for the perfect plan

Everyone loves to forecast.
But many forecasts are just productive procrastination.
If you want explosive growth, it’s not just about modeling it…

It’s about earning it with action.

That’s the December mindset at Instantly.ai:

Small wins daily → compounding momentum → massive Q1.
Run the numbers if you want.
But don’t expect them to be right.

What will be right is the outcome if you take action consistently.

P.S. A reminder for myself and the type of partners we attract

The Partner Flywheel I Wish I Built 5 Years Earlier

Most partner programs die because there’s no flywheel.
Just a list of names and a prayer.

Yesterday I talked about the mistake that almost cost me millions in pipeline.

Today, here’s the system I built after fixing that mistake — the same one I’m applying right now while scaling Instantly’s ecosystem.

It’s simple, but it compounds fast when you execute it with intention:

The 3-Layer Partner Flywheel (that actually scales ARR)

1. Recruit for fit, not volume
Most SaaS companies recruit everyone.
I only recruit partners who have an audience, a distribution engine, or a workflow overlap.

If they don’t already have a “why now,” they won’t perform later.


2. Activate in the first 14 days
The biggest unlock I learned:

If a partner doesn’t win early, they likely won't win later.


My activation sequence is simple:

-a co-branded post we can both use immediately,
-a plug-and-play promo they can deploy today,
-and a clear path to their first 5–10 signups so they feel momentum fast.

Partners need to feel momentum immediately — 14 to 21 days max.


3. Turn their success into distribution
Once they get wins:

feature them
send them more exposure
co-market their workflows/do a webinar
build integration stories around them

Every win becomes a marketing asset.
Every asset attracts the next partner.
Every result can be shared with your affiliates/creators to give them something to engage with

The flywheel spins faster each month if you keep being consistent.

The truth no one tells you:

You don’t scale partner-sourced ARR by collecting partners.

You scale by engineering early wins, then using those wins to pull the next wave of high-quality partners into your ecosystem.

This is how you turn partnerships from “random channel”…
into a GTM engine that feeds itself (and guess we are still building this bigger and better).

The only way this works is when everyone rows in the same direction —
 marketing, sales, creators, affiliates, and the partners themselves. I

If you’re building a real ecosystem (not a directory), DM me “FLYWHEEL” and let’s talk.

Instantly.ai

Multi-channel isn’t a “nice to have” anymore — it’s the new baseline for modern outbound.

This is why I’m excited about the Instantly.ai × HeyReach.io integration.
We’re not just adding features… we’re connecting entire ecosystems.

LinkedIn + Email → automatically synced
Triggers → flowing both ways
Partners → combining strengths instead of competing

This is exactly the type of integration the outbound world has been waiting for — and the kind I’m committed to bringing into the Instantly partner network.

If you want to see how it all works, join the live session 👇

Getting started with multi-channel outreach doesn’t need to be complicated.

We’re hosting a session on Dec 3 to give you a clear, practical look at how the new Instantly.ai × HeyReach.io integration works, and how to use it to simplify your outbound workflow.

Register here 👇

Hans Dekker, Brandon Charleson and 189 other attendees

Your New Outreach Engine: HeyReach × Instantly Live Demo & Use Cases

Red Hat

Helping companies find the correct partners to ease their IT pains with open source solutions across Nordics.

Partner Sales Executive

Ari Kaine

Helping corporate burnouts embark on a mindfulness journey to rediscover inner peace & find a beautiful path.

On the side, I help heart-centred founders & leaders to write their LinkedIn content to stand out and make them popular online.

Founder | Poet | Mindful Writer & Coach

Huawei Suomi Finland 

Responsible for Huawei server, Cloud, and AI portfolio sales for the Finnish market.

Senior Sales Manager

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Helping public sector customers to find the right data center solutions.

Account Manager

C2W Group

Creating an online marketing strategy for an English Course in the Chinese market.

An internship position.

Online Marketer

Teleperformance Nordic

Customer Service Agent

Sales Representative

Homemap Oy

Sales Representative / Office Manager

Oy Rahmqvist Ab

Enia Oy

→ Easing your IT pain by opening the source ☁️ | DM & connect | Red Hatter

A few achievements: 

I went from 1 to 70 trillion cells.

I went from 0 pull-ups at 19 to 15 pull-ups at 39.

I went from "I'll never meditate" to daily meditation.

I went from a student to a 100,000€+ earner in two years.

I went from having to stop running after 1km to finishing a half-marathon in 1 hour and 52 minutes.

I went from trusting the establishment to challenge everything (including my own thoughts and ideas).

I went from "I'm so lucky/unlucky this health condition happened" to owning responsibility for my wellbeing.

🔆

Life is an adventure, and I'll do my best to ensure my curiosity remains on high alert.

My goal is to abandon all social media by the time I'm 45. 

Until then, I need to win this game called business. And social media is a necessary evil (with my skill set, feel free to sell your services to find another way).

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you with:

1. Mindfulness/meditation coaching for corporate slaves

- Send me a DM to share what you struggle with (stress, deadlines, horrible managers...), and I'll tell you if I have tools to overcome them:

if the answer is NO, I'll point you in the right direction
if the answer is YES, you can book a call with me, and I will teach you how

2. I'll write your LinkedIn content, you'll reap the benefits
- You don't have time to write and post on this platform, but you feel like you're missing out. That's where I step in.
- We sit down once per month to discuss your expertise, passions, worldviews, goals, and content strategy
- I'll craft 15-20 posts designed for an online audience with your tone. Watch your analytics skyrocket.

3. You're dying to read poems, buy my 52 Poems of Beauty ebook
- This one is simple. Send me a DM and I'll share a link to buy my poetry collection.

connect. follow. learn. share. love.

/ Ari

Ari Kärkkäinen

2010: I sold vacuum cleaners (2,000€ per unit) door-to-door
2013: I sold air duct cleanings through cold-calling
2014: I went to university as "old"
2018: I moved abroad for a job
2020: I got my first 6-figure salary job
2022: I left that job for a 0€ salary
2023: I got my second 6-figure salary job
2025: I'm leaving it for a 0€ salary

2026: I'm turning 40 and beginning a decade of creation & spiritual exploration.

PS. Despite working for 3 tech giants, people are most curious about my time as a vacuum cleaner sales guy. I'm proud to say I was the number one new salesman of the company in 2010! 

Beat that in the comments below ↓

🔆 sharing what I learn, love & observe | mindful writer, poet | meditation coach

I grew up with an alcoholic father.

He was an entrepreneur, and the pressure got to him.

Like so many of us, we escape the stress.

For him, the escape was the bottom of a bottle.

Interestingly, he didn't have his first drink until he was 25.

I had my first at 15 (or around).

Yet, I didn't develop an unhealthy relationship with drinking.

Not excessive.
Not zero.
Balanced.

He died when I was 16.

Injured himself walking home from a bar, and later passed in a hospital.

With what I know today, I wonder if I could've helped him.

I'd ask him to:

- Listen to your heart
- See your family
- See your achievements
- Look me in the eyes in silence
- Sit with your thoughts alone

And give him a proper grown-up slap in the face. (joking, not joking)

I'd hug him. That's what I'd do.

Who would I bring back alive to dine with?

Today, my answer is my dad.

Who's your pick?

Happy Father's Day, miss you.

Coaching tech sales teams to calm and creativity through mindfulness practices 🔆 sharing what I learn, love & observe | writer, poet | mindfulness coach

My relationship with spirituality over the years:

Age 0-3: I was in the zone, still connected to the source. Everything was wonder and beauty.

Age 4-15: No spiritual practices in the upbringing in the environment, which made it irrelevant.

16-19: "Why do some go deep into religion?" A phase of slight curiosity.

20-30: Ignorant. Don't bring that to my face. It's dark before we're born, it'll be dark after death. That's all.

30-39: Opened my mind, which opened my heart, and will open my body. Started practicing mindfulness, reading, listening, and understanding. Raised awareness.

39-50 (projection): A spiritual decade. Retreats, deeper practice, learning, writing, heart-centred living. 

I'm looking to keep my curiosity alive and burning until the physical death of my body.

PS. Despite having read the works of Krishnamurti, Deepak Chopra, Mooji, and the Dalai Lama, among others, the biggest spiritual teacher has been my son.

-----

I'm Ari,

A mindful writer. A meditator. A teacher.

If you love what I do, please connect & follow.

When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Become a daily meditator coaching call
2. Heart-centred LinkedIn ghostwriting. I'm already writing my. heart out, let me write yours too.
3. Open your heart through my poetry: link in comments.

Please send a message, and I'll provide more details.

Your top performers are quietly burning out.

The reps who consistently hit 120-150% of quota often feel it first.

The energy is slowly draining, even while the numbers look great.

Recent studies show that high performers experience burnout faster than average performers, yet they rarely raise their hands.

One conscious daily pause can completely change that trajectory.

Leaders: check in with your stars this week.

Managers: forget the ego, become a leader.

Reps: give yourself permission to recharge. The pipeline (and your health) will thank you.

When's the last time you've seen the hollow look in a top performer's eyes?

The post that made you a daily meditator.

I'm launching a new eBook: 30 Mindful Tips For Inner Peace.

Over the last 5 years, I've opened my mind, heart, and ears to multiple mindfulness practices.

Through reading.
Through listening.
Through practicing.

What I've found or refound:

- We're all one
- Love for nature
- Eternal curiosity
- Increased awareness
- Exploration of consciousness
- Tools to cope with stressful situations

If you want more presence.
If you want heart-centred content.
If you want to begin your mindful journey.

Or you want to support what I'm doing... 🔆 🙏🏻

Visit the link below and purchase the book. It would mean the world to me.

Love & gratitude.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
– The Buddha (Dhammapada)

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
– Alan Watts

“You are the unchanging witness of all that appears. Leave everything aside and simply be here, now, as pure presence.”
– Mooji

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.”
– Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
– Lao Tzu

“Be here now.”
– Ram Dass 

“The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

“When we come fully into the present moment, we drop out of the story of separation and remember we are nature itself. There is no healing that happens outside of the now.”
– Zach Bush 

“Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.”
– Osho

“The real does not die, the unreal never lived. Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment. The real you is timeless and beyond birth and death. The body will survive as long as it is needed; it is not important that it should live long. Be here now.”
– Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

°°°°

Enjoy your weekend together with the latest 2-minute read (forever thought) edition of my newsletter.

What's your way of coming to the present moment?

There is only one moment for you to be alive, and that is the present moment. - Thich Nhat Hanh Welcome to the 4th edition of the Look Inword newslett

Open article: Presence closes more deals than hustle ever did by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

Presence closes more deals than hustle ever did

You're a magnificent being of light, and you deserve to discover it.

More on that in my 2nd edition of 'Look Inword' newsletter.

If you love what you read, share what you love. 🔆

The crisis of crying in silence "Most men live a life of quiet desperation." That's a jaw-dropping sentence in a book. Kudos to Henry David Thoreau fo

Open article: How to find meaning in a meaningless job by Ari Kärkkäinen • 3 min read

My 2-year-old: Dad, what the f**k?

Me: Yes, son?

Son: You're writing a book for me? I can't even read.

Me: It's for you, yes. As much as it's for me. You don't have to read it now; you'll have it for life.

Son: What's it called?

Me: "For those who will miss me"

Son: Sounds sad. Why would you write that?

Me: Try and see it as beautiful, instead of sad. I might die today. I might die next year. I might die when I'm 93. I want my heart to be written in words for you before that. And I want you to know that I lived a great life, and will continue to live in you. And you'll be ok.

Son: Daddy, look! Blocks, let's build a tower together.

---

Use the power of words to empower your family.

Imagine living in a culture where there's no word for "I", only "we".

Or a culture where there's no past or future tense in verbs, only present. 

You'd grow up less egoistic.
You'd grow up without anxiety.
You'd grow up without depression.

That's the power of words.

In the English language, I love words like "emerge", "beauty", "divinity",

What are your favourite words?

I haven't eaten for 39 hours.

Just water and black coffee. Why?

I love to challenge myself, and this time it's fasting.

I feel lighter. (obviously)
I don't feel hungry. (not so obvious)

A 25-year-old me would've laughed at me doing this.

"Go and eat a good kebab", he would've said.

Now I can look back at him, smiling, "Now I know better."

Fasting can give you significant benefits:

- Reduce inflammation
- Better bowel function
- Growth hormone production increases
- Increased cellular repair (autophagy)

I've got 45 more hours to go.

What's the longest time you've fasted?

I've used 100s of guided meditations, so you won't have to.

You can cut through the noise by choosing one of the 2 options I propose.

Have a meditative moment reading this week's newsletter.

And do yourself a favour:

Choose a 10-minute meditation over 10-minute doom-scrolling this weekend.

You won't regret it. And if you will, let me know why.

Love and light 🧘🏼

"Meditation is the way in which we come to feel our basic inseparability from the whole universe, and what that requires is that we shut up" - Alan Wa

Open article: The day you became a daily meditator by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

The public has spoken.

No surprises, people love sleezy door-to-door sales stories.

My network consists mainly of corporate employees, which explains why no one wants to share the secrets.

I'll share one anyway: a trained monkey can do what a six-figure salary sales guy does.

Moving on to vacuum cleaners...

I had the privilege of knocking on strangers' doors back in 2010-2011.

I sold 200,000€ worth of cleaning devices during that time. 

Yes, just me.
Knocking on doors.
Ringing the doorbells.

It's a skill worth having: selling a €2,000 vacuum cleaner in one hour to a stranger who didn't wake up thinking he would buy one that day.

Here's a story of a nasty day that went unsuccessful.

I must've had over 40 rejections at the door. This would mean I'd rang a bell of over 200 doors, spent 4 hours walking and driving around just to get a demonstration.

Let me tell you, when you're rejected so hard, you stop caring about a sale, you just want to get in, have a chat, and demo your product for peace of mind.

Then I got in.
A recently retired couple welcomed me.
I checked their vacuum cleaner as I normally would. They kept it in the bathroom.

(The apartment was crazy dirty)

I went inside the bathroom, and the device was covered with dust and dead skin. LAYERS of it.

I had to hold my disgust. Probably it was evident anyway.

My mind asked if I should do the demo. I don't know what I said yes.

As soon as I got back in with the demo device, I regretted it.

I ended up staying there for a maximum of 10 minutes; I just couldn't stand it. And it was never going to be a sale.

However, I was able to mark it as 'demo completed' for my employer.

Ridiculous, I know. 

I was young. 
I was frustrated. 
I was tired.
I had perseverance.

This is a soft story from those times. I need to think carefully about what to share.

Maybe Saara Vehoniemi could share a juicy story below.

Look how I look when I think I'm smiling.

Can't take a Finn out of a Finn.

I'm calm, peaceful, happy, and grateful, but it mostly shows on the inside.

Don't be fooled by the big smiles and "I'm fine" comments from your friends and colleagues. There might always be a darker reality.

If you're "fine", but you're not, my DMs and heart are open.

In the meantime, read this week's edition of my newsletter. 

Cheers & light to your weekend

I thought I had a gentle and approachable smile on my face when taking a passport photo. Turns out, A Finn can't leave a Finn's body that easily. The 

Open article: I'm asking questions you should be asking by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

I'm asking questions you should be asking

Through spiritual practices, many people feel a connection to a greater consciousness/presence/being.

They often experience this connection as blissful or joyful.

Even one brief experience of a state of blissful connection can be enough to change the course of someone's life.

And such life-changing experiences can come spontaneously without any spiritual practices at all, as in near-death experiences and spontaneous mystical experiences.

^

That's a fragment from Rupert Sheldrake's book, "Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work."

I've found those blissful moments thanks to meditation.

One time meditating in a forest by a lake, the moment taught me to 'surrender, and witness'.

To me, that simplifies what we're here to do.

Are you able to surrender?

I work with open source,

with an open heart. How does that help me?

° Enhances emotional intelligence: I'm more tuned into colleagues, partners, and customers.

° Boosts creativity: I operate from intuition. Ego & fear step aside.

° Improves decision-making: I become strategic over long-term, heart-centred awareness aligns choices with deeper values.

Remember,

The longest journey you'll take is from head to heart.

I'm on that journey but heading heartward.

The journey began with learning and taking the first meditation.

What's stopping your team from adopting mindfulness practices?

Water is all I've had this month.

What's on your plate today?

Check my Substack for some thoughts on fasting.

PS. If you're an entrepreneur in Sant Cugat, I'd love to connect. The first cup of coffee is on me

Help me entertain and educate others.

I’d love to know what my network is interested in?

Tell me what you’d like me to post about.

PS. If you’re answer is “nothing”, comment 🤐 below 

Love you.

This morning I put on my “regular” boots for the first time in a while.

It made me think about simple and affordable hacks I've used to improve my health.

Here are 10 you can implement straight away:

1. Switch to barefoot shoes
2. Tape your mouth at night
3. Watch sunrise
4. Avoid artificial light (consider blue light blocking glasses)
5. Buy a pull-up bar
6. Maximise organic local whole foods in your diet
7. Cold shower (I can’t get it cold enough in Spain, though)
8. Meditate 
9. Be grateful
10. Read

Bonus:

This is a 3M rule: pay attention to… 

Mitochondria 
Microbiome
Melatonin

Share your simple hack below to help others ☀️

Remember, even the smartest person you know doesn’t understand the importance of breathing through your nose.

We need to get back to basics

90% of 9-5 work is pretending.

That's the reality.

I'm glad I came across this post by Tim. He shares insights into the minds of people who quit their jobs.

If you're dissatisfied with your work (the vast majority is), go and read the post, and reflect.

Aren't you tired of pretending?

Aussie writer with 1B+ content views in 10 years | I teach people to use writing online to create career opportunities | Let's connect: tim@timdenning.com

I interviewed 50 people who quit their jobs in 2024.

Here's what nobody tells you.

━━━━━

They didn't quit for more money

38 of them took pay cuts. Some massive ones

The software engineer who went from $180K to doing one-off writing gigs. The CMO who became a pottery teacher. The investment banker selling surfboards

Everyone said the same thing: "I'd do it again tomorrow"

━━━━━

The pattern that shocked me:

**The 3-month mark**
Everyone hits it. Pure terror. Bank account screaming. Partner questioning. Parents "concerned."

There's a twist: The ones who made it past month 3? They never looked back.

The ones who returned to corporate? All quit before day 90.

━━━━━

What they actually quit:

• Sunday night anxiety (47/50 mentioned this)
• Asking permission to live their lives
• Meetings about meetings about nothing
• Pretending to care about Q3 targets
• The soul-crushing commute
• Being "on" from 9-5 regardless of actual work

Not jobs. They quit the entire system.

━━━━━

The money truth nobody admits:

Month 1-3: Hemorrhaging cash
Month 4-6: Ramen profitable
Month 7-9: Matching old salary
Month 10-12: "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

But 23 of them said something that stopped me cold:

"Even if I never matched my salary, the freedom is worth more."

━━━━━

The unexpected side effects they reported:

• Marriage improved (32/50)
• Lost weight without trying (28/50)
• Stopped needing anxiety meds (19/50)
• Kids said they're "different" (better) (41/50)
• Sunday became just another day (50/50)

One guy: "I didn't quit my job. I quit dying slowly."

━━━━━

Their biggest regret?

Not the money lost
Not the security abandoned
Not the benefits forfeited

49 out of 50 said the same thing:

"I wish I'd done it sooner."

The 50th? She wished she'd been bolder

━━━━━

What made them pull the trigger:

• Health scare (12)
• Kid asking "why are you always tired?" (8)
• Passed over for promotion (7)
• Random Tuesday breakdown (11)
• Watching someone die with regrets (6)
• Just... done (6)

Not grand epiphanies. Just moments of clarity.

━━━━━

The skill they all developed:

Comfort with uncertainty.

Corporate trains you to fear the unknown. Quarterly forecasts. 5-year plans. Predictable misery.

These 50 learned something better: How to surf chaos.

━━━━━

The advice they'd give their past selves:

"Your backup plan is a prison"
"Start the side thing NOW"
"The fear never goes away, jump anyway"
"Corporate security is an illusion"
"Your kids need you present, not rich"

My favorite: "Stop asking for permission to live your own life"

━━━━━

None of them had it figured out
None of them were "ready."

All of them are more alive than when they had "secure" jobs.

━━━━━

To anyone reading this from a cubicle:

That feeling in your chest? It's not anxiety.

It's your life asking for permission to begin.

What's stopping you from escaping the rat race? 👇
♻️ Repost if you know someone who needs to read this

Join my Substack: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

If you claim sales is your passion, you're either lying or haven't looked deep inward.

That being said, you can still thrive and be good in sales.

That's all and well.

But to keep pretending that it's what you were born to do, and that it's your passion.

I'm not buying it. 

Your customers and employers do, though, so you're in the clear.

You really think homo sapiens evolved for 200,000+ years so that it can sell software? 

That's a tough sell.

Am I wrong?

Only 1% of you will get this.

If the following two sentences don't grab your attention, stop reading.

"One of the most peculiar and yet most inevitable experiences on the path of awakening is the discovery that you're changing in ways that others around you are not.

And this creates a very strange predicament.

It's rather like what happens when a caterpillar begins to transform into a butterfly,

while still surrounded by caterpillars,

who are quite content to remain caterpillars.

It can be one of the most isolating, confusing, and dangerous experiences you'll face.

Dangerous in the sense that you may lose everything that once gave you a sense of belonging, identity, and security.

You can't sit down with your family at dinner and say, "You know I've realized that the self is an illusion and that we're all manifestations of one universal consciousness."

They'll look at you as if you've lost your mind.

And in a sense, you've lost the conventional mind."

°°°°°

If you made it this far, you know what I'm talking about.

Let's connect and chat.

The quote is from Alan Watts, and you'll find the link to the video below.

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