Hi Luke, please tell me about yourself

My many passions and experiences have made me an entrepreneur, thought leader and philosopher. My personal journey has granted me the ability to recognise uncommon insights about people in complex & challenging positions, the true nature of leadership and how it ultimately impacts communities and corporations. I feel blessed that I am trusted to share these insights with others who seek support and guidance with their own personal and professional journeys. 

Simultaneously, my partners and I have successfully launched a tech start-up, bringing MMA to the metaverse. Recently we were selected to join the IBC accelerator and we will be launching our POC in September supported by many of the world leading tech companies solving the challenge of bringing Real-time XR sports to an immersive environment. This combines my 3 loves, animation & VFXs, combat sport and epic storytelling. It's’ basically a real life ‘Mortal Kombat’.. Or WWE on steroids, but not limited to as it encompasses the future of sports entertainment as a whole.

And then there is a whole different side of you as well, isn’t it?

Spiritual Experiences and the study of jewish mysticism have profoundly changed who I am. My daily spiritual practice and journey of self discovery is rooted in the study of Kabbalah. I run workshops, events and retreats together with my partner under the name Soulingua.

You have often been a great friend and sparring partner to me as you bring some spirituality into my life and, likewise, a healthy lifestyle. You live in Portugal, swim in the ocean in the morning, eat healthily, live in the countryside, and do sport. How did you manage to get there? 

Just as you said, Robin, I too love sharing and exploring ideas with you. I love to challenge my world view. Having you as a mirror is powerful as you bring some deep introspection. 

I have always desired this lifestyle, but I was for many years reluctant to embrace it. The process of confronting my fears and blockages internally has allowed for this kind of balanced lifestyle to unfold quite naturally. 

However this wasn’t always the case and the journey wasn't a clear and easy departure from my old world. Some of the limiting beliefs and values brought about by my upbringing were deeply lodged into my subconscious mind. Like many of us, I harbored many unconscious biases about happiness, success, self value, a life worth living, and achievement along with many other things.

I had to overcome the fear of leaving the comfort of my old life and risk leaning into the unknown with total trust and faith that it was safe and aligned with my highest aspirations.

How much was coincidence versus conscious decision-making on wanting this life?

For me there’s no coincidences; the foundation of my life is rooted in my spiritual practice. The process of doing my internal work, brings inner alignment and that in turn affects the outer alignment that is perceived. It can appear as blessings or chaos to others, what truly matters is our experience of our reality, the enlightened understanding of our relationship to the totality of creation itself. 

This is what one means when we speak of ‘Grace’, and very much what you would describe as following the path of the soul. Walking with the sense of being guided by an inner compass. 

There's a term ‘Sintropy’ which describes the guidance of a force pulling us forwards, corverging on some unknown place in time. It is not identifiable in the realms of the senses but acts as an invisible thread pulling us in the right direction.

The methods I utilize and teach to my clients serve as a vantage point of seeing, observing, reflecting and responding to life.  For example, where in our lives are we self sabotaging and how do we correct it? From this place we can make the incremental changes necessary to improve our professional and personal lives over time. This involves daily small conscious shifts over a period of many days, weeks, months and years. 

This is a constant process. Remembering the top of one mountain is the foot of the next. There is no place to arrive, only to strive. It is never ever about the destination however much we focus on that end goal. Ultimately if you have a strong connection with your deepest truth, then it acts as a guiding principle from which we can build and shape a life beyond our wildest imaginings. What appears to be luck and coincidence is the essential force of life itself acting on our behalf. 

To pursue this life, you left things behind. A more prestigious life than you were living in London back then. In retrospect, was it the right decision, and what would you do differently? What did you sacrifice?

Previously in London I was living a very comfortable lifestyle materially. However, once I fully embarked on the spiritual path, I quickly realised that I’d never experienced such a profound level of fulfillment. That shifted my attention to what I most valued and desired.

I don’t feel I sacrificed anything or left things behind. The fulfillment experienced from having a grounded spiritual practice is unlike anything else. It nourishes all aspects of one's life.

How does your day look? 

I mostly wake up at 6.30am, follow a kabbalistic meditation and study until 8am. Then run to the beach for a cold swim and cleanse in the sea, some yoga and workout. Followed by a healthy breakfast. 10am start taking calls for clients, and/or planning and organising our upcoming retreats. Afternoons I usually speak with my team in the US whilst we build the tech for the IBC accelerator, managing our consortium of partners.  Evenings are dedicated to study and spiritual connection. Finishing in the evening with a movie, reading, or vocalising through music with my partner, who is a singer/songwriter.

I feel you have success because you create routines. 

Routine offers a framework to life. When I hear routine I hear, to ‘Root In’, life, like a tree, has roots through which it grounds and elevates. Through routine, be it at work, with family, health, community, etc, achieve the same results, to ensure that life can flow more harmoniously . What one chooses to ‘root in’ in order to create a routine is a key factor to success. How do we therefore measure success? A life fully lived to the highest potential is a life fully aligned with the calling of our deepest truth and purpose. 

How important are routines and discipline? 

What is the ultimate purpose of a routine? The purpose of a routine is to ultimately be ROOTED IN the natural flow of life, to cleave ourselves to the force of creation itself. The great sages and masters would identify this enlightened experience as the awakened state. 

When we are in alignment with life and in flow with this force there is no sense of doing as we are in the being state, so things unfold quite naturally. What is needed is experienced effortlessly and manifests tirelessly. This is called the awakened state, ‘sitting in the lap of the divine’. When we remove ourselves from the process of ‘doing’, through our daily practice, we lean into life more to be guided by what IS. This is the governing force of creation and of our lives. 

This is the key factor to creating happiness, fulfillment and blessings in one's life. Everything carries a metaphysical blueprint that we can connect with to access the root cause of life . 

How do you manage to pursue them? 

With a daily focus on my inner world and my inner work. 

How would you help others to manage this discipline? 

This is the focus of our retreats: www.soulingua.net, I also want to offer executive coaching to support others, making sure that all of their needs are met, materially; personally and professionally. 

Belonging and community are deeply anchored in human nature. You make retreats, you have groups, and you have several ways to create belonging and community. How do you do it? How can everyone do it? 

Again, community is an extension of self, there is a system inherent in life from which all energy flows and follows a direction, when we share we receive and visa-versa. When our own needs are met we extend to support the needs of others, this is really the field of conscious awareness that extends out beyond the self and attracts more of what you are to you. Human nature is to thrive in community but we want to create the healthiest expressions of community. 

You work in sales. I often pitch when fundraising. One way or another, we often need to go out there and make sales. How do you manage rejection? When pitching to investors daily, you are receiving hundreds of “NOs” and potentially start feeling not “being enough.” How do you navigate?

Rejection is unavoidable, and has been a huge topic in my life as well as the feeling of ‘not being enough’. When we learn to shift the focus from the ‘outside to inside' we begin to understand that the only aspect of life we have control over is how we react to or respond to an experience or situation. The ‘I am not enough’ story is often deeply ‘ROOTED IN’, the psyche of the individual and is being triggered by the external events that arise, in this case, ‘REJECTION’. One is really just a trigger mechanism for the other because from a certain vantage point, life is really just here to teach us, guide us and support us in transcending the illusory nature of the material reality, to rediscover the divine play of life unfolding in each moment. When we understand this each, rejection becomes a gift to teach us the truth about who or what we truly are. 

I know you work with Kaballah. It is a vast topic, so I like to skip this and ask around pragmatic daily workarounds on a spiritual level. Some people talk about the universe and positive spirits. If I just imagine it, it will happen - some call it optimistic thinking, others manifesting.  When making sales, how do you attract? How do you adjust? How not to expose? Receiving, mirroring, exposing - how to get better over time?

The mind is a tool that we use to sharpen like a blade and effectively tune into what we want and make it a reality. We can imagine it like a radio, tuning into the frequencies of what we want to attract, without interference or static. The clearer the channel, the more easily we can attract what we want, need into our existence. Focus, execution and action is connected to this. 

Everything in life begins as inspiration, the unfiltered potential of what we want, then the potential of the mind is to draw that  energy into our existence and into physical reality. This can be broken down into a system, first there’s the energy, eureka moment of inspiration, then it becomes a thought form where it takes shape, then worded or expressed into a blueprint, and then the action of bringing into life. Imagine it similarly to constructing a house. We have the desire to build something, then we visualise it internally, then we design it externally (blueprint and designs etc), then we build it. For whatever we want to bring into this world there is also a force that resists this that we need to overcome, now that force is experienced as external but in truth in deeper contemplation it is recognised as internal, our own resistance, limiting belief, unconscious blockage, either psychological or physiological etc.  

How not to expose? Receiving, mirroring, exposing - how to get better over time?

There is a kabbalistic principle of ‘concealing and revealing’, it's profoundly important. This is a beautiful and powerful concept to do with the nature of how energy moves in the universe. We can conceal blessings and reveal the energy of blessings in different moments, depending on how we want life to unfold in our favour and how we want to move the energy or influence of others to support the positive manifestation of our various projects, be it relational, business or otherwise. To conceal something, be it an opportunity or good news can be an important step in allowing something to manifest in the right way. What we consider the right way for something to manifest is in relation to how much the energy of ‘judgement’ or ‘mercy’, is attached to the desired manifestation. Judgement usually implies challenges and hardship. Mercy usually implies a softer, more supported process or outcome. Both Judgement and mercy are energies that are fundamental in our life’s journey to enable us to grow into the best versions of ourselves.  

Sales are part of a journey we are on, something we become, and a mission in moments. Life is moving, sales is often a moving target, and often it is about transformation and being able to adapt. How do I judge where to go, when to expose, and when to conceal? 

Robin, firstly from where I stand you are a naturally gifted sales-person, one of the best I know. You have a talent and any company or organisation would be lucky to have you onboard as a team member. We cannot avoid the ebs and flows of life, every great entrepreneur knows this and has more often than not experienced more failure than success for his/her successes are ultimately sculpted by the knife that is forged from the fires of his failures, all of which are a matter of perspective and perception. Ultimately, it’s about who you become in the process. My intuition tells me that you will be remembered as a huge success, a pioneer and an inspiration in your chosen field. With that journey comes often some challenging lessons that feel like we are getting a pounding from the Universe. 

How do I avoid looping patterns? How to grow over time? 

The looping patterns are often ‘ROOTED IN’ the self sabotaging nature of our ‘egos’. Until we learn what we are here to learn, we will repeat our experiences. In order to grow we have to break old learnt patterns of behaviour that are destructive, to do this we must first identify the root cause of the behaviour otherwise we will never access the cause of our problems, it’s a bit like putting a plaster on a festering wound hoping it will heal.

I can be sad when not closing. Sales can be exhausting. Is this about “breaking the ego” because I have an ego? What does ego mean? The only person judging, beating, and competing is yourself, right? When to accept reality, and what is just perspective? 

It can be devastating when we don’t achieve the results we set out too. the pain of failure, again and again, how this defines our sense of self, our value in the world. This naturally has an impact on us. Our sense of self and our self image. ‘Ego’ is the construct of our identities. However everything is a matter of perspective as is the way we experience reality. So what appears initially to be a failure can also be reframed as a success and can be the springboard to our greatest happiness and personal achievement in life. 

I always told myself to “embrace the pain” to enjoy the hustle. How do you feel about this? How much of this is believed, and how much can there be external support? Often you can hunt as a team, but as a CEO, you are alone. What do you think?

When you embrace the pain or even ask for more pain. What you are asking for is more growth and with more growth comes more opportunities. When you chase the discomfort, you expand your capacity to handle challenges, this is the gift of our deepest transformation and the wellspring of our greatest power and it is exactly where opportunities exist. The more challenges we can handle, the more growth we experience and the more we expand our capacity to receive blessings in our lives. Blessings are packaged in the form of what we receive, deals, sales, more business, more investments, more of what we want in all areas of our lives. It is really a response to what we can hold in a balanced way. How to create a balanced outcome. 

When making sales, we also create a brand - we are not selling only the product but also bonding and selling ourselves. It is about trust. How important is the image we put out there, and how about authenticity versus interference? Does someone who creates a lie about him or herself on social media ultimately sell better? To me, integrity and principles are everything, but I look left and right, and it seems oversellers creating a brand behind a beautiful mask outperform me. I try to outperform by doing the best job over time, but it is not immediately rewarding. How to stick to the game? What is the right approach? 

Karma, authenticity and integrity are everything to me and key to a fulfilled blessed life in alignment with the universal laws and principles. Trust is a matter of aligning with a person's intentions, their thoughts, words and actions. What we put out will come back to us and we cannot escape the universal laws of nature, cause and effect; how we can transcend them is another conversation entirely. 

Do not worry about what someone else appears to be doing, promoting and selling for when we scratch the surface we cannot compare ourselves and our journeys to theirs and we should not concern ourselves with it. 

What I would add though is to be authentically of service, when we remove the idea of who I am, that is truly the only reason to show up and put ourselves out in the world. If we stick to our truth, focus on our own goals, share your message, speak from the gut, heart and soul. True fulfillment is found in following your deepest truth no matter what, regardless of the noise around you and what direction the rest of the world is going. If you walk your truth no matter what, how can you fail!

To overcome fear and what was described in my previous question, I try to manifest, see the truth and delete obstacles. How do I measure thought processes? How do I manage this “step-by-step” daily grind? How do we measure our senses? 

The nature of fear, like all our sense perceptions , again,is an internal experience. It is also a survival mechanism. There’s healthy fear and unhealthy fear. Spiritually speaking the only true fear we should have is the one that disconnects us from our own truth and its guiding principles to make sure it gets us where we need to go. Like an internal GPS, our inner compass knows exactly where we should be and by tuning into that, we will always be in an energy of trust and certainty, knowing that whatever we are experiencing in life, we are exactly where we need to be. 

I know you called it being “Unfuckwithable”. Being authentic, being connected, with all your heart and integrity. What does this mean? Can everyone make his or her product “Unfuckwithable”? How to show up in this way? How not to feed egos? How to find sources, and how do I empower myself?

Being “Unfuckwithable” means that you have removed your ego and are purely of service. 

When you are purely of service, the only goal you have is to be of service and therefore any judgements, criticism, rejections don’t matter because you fundamentally understand it isn’t about you but purely being on service and your focus is entirely in the state of sharing and nowhere else, when your goal is to share with someone else you’re automatically being authentic, then the focus isn’t on me but the outside world and this opens the heart and naturally you move with integrity and alignment. 

 In this state this means that you are fundamentally rooted to an unshakable foundation. This can never be limited to the material, because nothing that exists in the physical world is eternal and unshakable. All the greatest men, companies, kingdoms and civilisations, have learnt this lesson over time. So therefore what remains foundational cannot be fixed in materiality however secure it may be perceived to be. We see this with the collapse of some of the largest financial institutions which were deemed indestructible. 

Therefore to truly be “Unfuckwithable '', we must be anchored in something eternal, timeless and ultimately unaffected by the passing of time and effects of entropy. Similarly the ego is not rooted in timelessness for it is also a construct of mind and as is your identity. It is tied to our physiological, psychological and emotional state and therefore is transient and limiting by its own design. The ego is also focused on survival because at its core it doesn’t feel safe in its essence, so we must look to move beyond this construct and find the aspect of Self that cannot be touched, moved, or effected by the external ebs and flows of life. We feed the ego by giving it ownership of our experiences and not realising that there are greater forces at play beyond the limitations of the perceived self and identity. 

Connecting to a ‘Source’ energy, a universal expression of life, provides the foundation that will offer the experience of total certainty in life and is a daily discipline and practice. This also demands the utmost integrity with our thoughts, words and actions to ensure there is a constant connection and alignment with this unwavering presence. 

“This, too, shall pass.” We all occasionally have a bad day. Things don't work out. What if this is constant? How to work with negative patterns. And making changes? What we are is what we attract. How to change this. How to even know and understand this? How to know your worth? Know your value.

If our constant experience of life is predominantly negative then it is a direct reflection of our relationship with the self and also how we are relating to our own life and reality. That which appears negative in an instant can transform into what can be experienced as positive. 

Negative patterns, such as addictive behaviours, reactive tendencies, compulsions, etc

are symptomatic of unhealed or unmet parts of ourselves. Deep wounds, traumas, emotional and physcological blockage, leave imprints or scars in the mind-body and play out in our daily lives unconsciously triggering self sabotaging mechanistic behaviours that cause unnecessary chaos and disruptions. If left unresolved, this can affect our lives in a multitude of ways, bringing about; inner conflict and uprooting our sense of peace and wellbeing, our health, family, professional lives, community, relationships and ultimately our sense of self worth, self esteem and personal self-image.

Inner transformation and change with regards, to how we perceive/experience ourselves and subsequently the world around us, is very possible and can happen very quickly through a process of radical surrendering of the lower dimensions of self, and/or over longer periods of time through incremental daily changes to our habit, which in turn will affect our energy body, attracting new thought patterns, affecting our perception and how we engage with the world around us and respond accordingly. 

Our sense of self-worth is linked to our level of self love, this is deeply connected to the inner-child wounding experienced in our formative years. If we see ourselves as unlovable we ultimately see ourselves as worthless regardless of our material standing and this directly impacts what value we perceive ourselves to bring to those around us. Often we operate with an inflated sense of self importance, and sometimes quite the opposite, the masks that one carries very often conceals the deeper felt inadequacies festering beneath the surface.  

The moment we use external parameters to measure our self worth we are vulnerable to falling into despair and disappointment. One minute you're riding the waves of success and then that deal, that opportunity, that relationship, that health scare, that foundation or needed validation that was so important to maintaining our fragile psyches collapses and with it our perceived value within and to the world around us. When we anchor into the lifeforce of creation itself, there is no denying that we are made of the same substance as the stars, galaxies and cosmos, nothing less than the eternal Self. 

With this knowing, we understand we are both everything and nothing and that seeming contradiction merges into ONE. To embody this understanding is regarded as the most advanced state of being.

What makes the best UFC fighter and the best entrepreneur? What do you see they are facing the same? What is the core pattern they have in common? 

The greatest fighters and the greatest entrepreneurs are those that go beyond grit and determination, beyond trophies, awards and accolades, beyond wealth and prestige. They are those that leave a legacy far beyond their chosen fields and profession. They become immortalized for their abilities to uplift and inspire generations to come, more than their mindset and talent, skills, abilities, charismas and genius it is not their superhuman qualities but their raw humanity that shines through, overcoming the limitations and trappings of the ego to embody the highest virtues of man. 

Thank you for taking the time to support us here, Luke!