Hi! I’m Sabian
I’m obsessed with intelligence & consciousness, human experiences, and storytelling.
I’m always finding ways to use these to turn conflict into understanding, level up people’s capabilities, and bring people together in ways that create value and maximize happiness
But who am I?
I’m from Vancouver, BC, Canada, and believe it or not, I’m half-Filipino, but I’m actually tall (6’4”/194cm).
Since I was a 6-year-old kid, TV shows & videogames were my thing, especially ones like The Elder Scrolls that focus on immersive storytelling, exploration, and ability development.
Even in real life, I’ve always been obsessed with knowing what things are, how things work, and what can be achieved when things are put together in different ways, because I like to understand everything.
Many things I like fall under two categories:
- Cognitive science, a superfield that includes social & behavioural psychology, neuropsychology, linguistics, anthropology, AI, and other fields related to intelligence and consciousness
- STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), everything from astrophysics to quantum mechanics, microbiology to the Gaia Hypothesis, to analog, digital, and quantum computing
I love seeing how all of these come together and can be applied to use cases like
- Turning disagreements and conflict into understanding and connection
- Improving the capabilities of people to learn and perform better for themselves, work together, and lead others
- Creating stories (and different ways to express stories) that attract, connect, excite, and inspire helpful action
- Inventing new approaches to seemingly impossible or infeasible problems, making them possible and feasible
And, I learn more about these every day, especially with insights of people I’ve been meeting along the way
What do I do?
I do a lot, so here are just 3 of the things I love doing:
HPC (High-Performance Coaching)
The neuroscience & art of knowing ways to ask questions and use the mechanics of the mind to perceive more, unlock higher potential, and create more confidence, motivation, and progress around
- Critical thinking, decision making, goal planning
- Task & time management, habit building, flow state
- Learning & memory, emotional control, speed of thought
XD (Experience Design)
The psychology of the cognitive and emotional journeys people go through, which I enjoy crafting and refining to maximize people’s
- Comfort, happiness, excitement
- Learning, education, discovery
- Skill development, growth, mastery
- In business, getting into people’s awareness, creating excitement to use your offerings, and creating so much comfort and happiness while purchasing and using your offerings that people want to come back to you for more, and bring friends
- In leadership and teams, helping each person understand the purpose and value of why they’re here, the goal they’re accomplishing, how they can work together more productively to reach it, and have the psychological safety and trust to constantly enjoy being & doing their best
- In training or education, showing people the value they get from understanding and knowing certain concepts and skills, using teaching methods that maximize learning speed and retention, and having everyone continue applying their knowledge & skills in real world situations
Storywriting & Worldbuilding
The exploration and inspiration of envisioning characters people can relate to, journeys they experience, and worlds they can discover, using
- Persona & storyline design and development
- World & universe architecture and engineering
- Visual, musical, & textual storytelling and flow
Here are a few stories I wrote
- Short story: Jasmine, Mark, Sean
- Short story with music: The Boy in the Blizzard
- Screenplay with music: Darkness and Wonder
This is just the tip of the iceberg
The more we get to know each other, the more we’ll discover is possible
How do I operate?
What is it like to work with and around me, and what does this mean for you?
I focus on outcomes
I don’t like charging for time. I like producing results as soon as possible, by
- Fully understanding the outcome you want
- Being specific about how we’re measuring progress
- Focusing only on making this progress to achieve your outcome
I create value-based results
I don’t want to make paperweights. I want to create a real difference, by
- Understanding the value your outcome creates for you
- Knowing how much of this value you want to share with me
- Getting this value once it’s created, so we both gain even more every time
I build systems
I don’t waste time on redundant tasks. I invest my time into
- Analyzing, simplifying, and automating workflows and processes
- Building effective, efficient, self-sustaining, resilient, and growing teams
- Designing flows & guides teams can use for training new members themselves
What this all means
In short, with me there is
- No wasting time with fake resumes, portfolios, or empty words.
Only defining your outcome, measuring it, and achieving it - No wasting money, resources, and mental energy on nonessentials.
Only confidence knowing what we’re doing matters - No stressing or jaw-clenching because of deception, politics, or agendas.
Only getting value, sharing it, and repeating
If there’s ever anything clouding your confidence with me about these, tell me right away, so we can figure it out, clear it up, and get it done
What are our first steps?
1. Getting to know each other as people
We’ll share and learn about each other’s lives, values, and visions, to know if we’re aligned and would be happy and excited to work together
2. Understanding your situation and goals
We’ll talk about the current state of your business and/or life, and your S.M.A.R.T. goal within it right now, to know exactly where you are, and where you want to be
3. Creating a path to your goal
We’ll brainstorm together to identify an optimal route to your goal, by breaking down your goal into incremental, value-generative stages, where each stage is achievable quickly, and creates real, usable value for you, your business, and/or your relationships
4. Deciding how to work together
Depending on the optimal approach, you might want to do some parts yourself, work together in some areas, and even have some things done completely for you, because at the end of the day, what matters is having your goal accomplished
5. Getting started
What people are getting
One story I'll share
In my first job, I got promoted before I was even hired, then promoted 2 more times within 1 year to dept. lead. From there, I worked with a dependent team of 17 people, and helped them become ~50% more efficient & productive, completely self-sufficient, self-teaching, and resilient to unexpected situations by
- Listening to them when they shared concerns, and doing what I could for them (no matter how little)
- Rewarding exceptional performance by setting performance goals, and when they reached them, buying them pizzas
- Taking the time to teach them methods I invented that would both improve their efficiency and be easier for them to do
- Establishing communication between new and experienced staff, so they could cross-train their skillsets and grow mentor-mentee relationships
- Creating team leads who could run entire shifts effectively on their own
Within ~2 months of me becoming dept. lead, the team was finishing whole shifts of work 1-2 hours earlier, getting along with each other better, and my favourite part, they no longer needed my supervision.
Some stories others have shared
Miah
“Sabian is an interesting person to talk with. He's spent a great deal of time and energy intentionally developing skills to facilitate connection and he's generous in sharing that knowledge with others.
In our time together, he established and maintained a calm, thoughtful demeanour using his application of nonviolent communication techniques. I learned new interpretations of old vocabulary and felt refreshed after spending time with him. I believe others who are interested in cultivating non-judgemental skills will find his abilities to hold space for nuance and authenticity inspirational too.”
— Miah, after we met on PMB (Pick My Brain)
Pietro
“From my first contact with Sabian onwards, he demonstrated constantly the qualities of a great communicator, strategist and leader. His proven skills in project management, organization and time management reflect not only his clear and methodical way of thinking but also his strong sense of mission and purpose towards improving himself, the people around him, and the world.
Getting to work with him was one of the first times I’ve witnessed a stakeholder wanting to have such a deep level of understanding of the technical aspects of a project and of how I work and think. Certainly different from the usual “I want to see the result and that is all that matters”.
Sabian understands the value different people bring to the team and motivates them to use their creativity, transparent communication and problem-solving from their own perspectives, differing from traditional top-to-bottom leadership styles.
Furthermore, he has the ability to translate complex subjective concepts with clarity and make that also resonate with the team's objectives. It is a pleasure to work with Sabian, and I'd recommend him to anyone looking to plan or organize existing or new businesses”
— Pietro (past Full Stack Developer at Ugeddit), on LinkedIn
“Sabian ... I have changed my mind a little, I just wanna thank you. In a time my world falls apart, you were here. I hated Christmas because I have no family to go to, well that’s what I thought. I have a family, what does no DNA match mean for that; nothing. They are my family, just not my blood. I always felt apart from them but now I see, these people care for me and so do I for them. Currently writing this at 10PM, unsure what to do. I’m depressed but I smile, I’m starting to see beautiful things again; seeing my life also has good parts. I’m just finding my way to reach these things, I might be a little insane but it’s from now on my power. Just, thank you so so so much for being here; talking to me when I feel down and let my head hang down and I ask you: don’t leave me now.”
— A member of Ugeddit’s community
These were then. Every day, the more I learn, the more I understand. And the more I imagine, the more excited I get