Written by: Murray Ansell, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. As young children, many of us read fantastical stories about Aladdin, Narnia, and Harry Potter, and our imaginations were thrilled by their characters’ unlimited potentials. We were then sent to school and taught we are all limited by the laws of Newtonian physics, and to be skeptical and dismissive of what is not yet scientifically proven. However, as those who study quantum physics know, our 5 physical senses’ perceptions of reality are very limited and incomplete. By studying human energetics for the last 20 years, I’ve found that we truly are magical beings, capable of self-healing and facilitating healing in others, and that we are constantly creating with our attention and energy. This article explains a fast track to using your energy to manifest your dreams. Manifestation and energy Our conscious mind is the most potent tool in determining whether we will fulfill our potential and enjoy our life. It is a channel into which is poured ideas originating from a wide variety of sources. Some of these ideas will be more useful than others, and it is a matter of discernment as to which we will focus on and put our energy into. Indeed, it is our energy that produces our results, by attracting experiences that match the frequency of the thoughts we focus on. Another factor that influences what, and how quickly, we attract our experiences is energetic intensity, which is also emotional intensity. The more energetic/emotional intensity we put into focused attention, the faster we attract what we focus on. This can be both helpful and unhelpful. Those who use this intentionally can quickly and consistently attract desired experiences. However, those who have intense emotional patterns which express in undisciplined ways will create lives filled with unnecessary and unproductive drama. There are a variety of practices that can be used to work on reducing distracting mental chatter and sabotaging emotional patterns including various styles of meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and others that provide a combination of mental training and soothing of the nervous system. These can be very helpful but require devotion to regular practice, which can be hard to commit to in today’s busy world. Get fast and permanent results As a solution to this problem for busy people, the founders of Life Energy Coaching have co-created a new personal transformation technology of the same name. Life energy coaching uses high-frequency energy to transform its clients’ distracting mental and emotional patterns back into alignment with what is purposeful for each client. The patterns being transformed are all elements of each person’s egoic mind, and their transformation progressively reveals more of the client’s loving soul, the custodian of their unique and always magnificent purpose. The life energy coaching process takes less than an hour a week and produces fast, noticeable, and sustained results from week 1. The patterns addressed are permanently transformed. The experiences they previously attracted can never be attracted again. In Level 1, life energy coaching addresses a client’s personal and family relationship patterns first, then their relationship with money. Each program can be completed in just 6 weeks, so Level 1 takes just 12 weeks. The results are life-changing: much better relationships with those you care about, you feel great about yourself, and you eliminate self-sabotaging patterns relating to money! Other programs are available for those interested in deeper Self-awareness and spiritual connection, and for discovering their unique purpose (Level 2). Life Energy Coaching’s Level 3 programs offer those who’ve completed Levels 1 and 2, the alignment of their business consciousness with love so they can grow a thriving purpose-driven business, the embodiment of enlightened wealth, and more. If you’re interested in manifesting your deepest desires, these programs do the ‘heavy lifting’ to remove the energy systems that produce distracting thoughts and allow you to manifest consistently loving outcomes in your life. You essentially transform from being like a light bulb (radiating diffused, weak, unconcentrated energy) to a laser beam, concentrating your energy with ease and manifesting rapid, positive results. If you’d like to learn more about how these programs could help you, I invite you to book a free, no-obligation Discovery Session. We’d love to help you go from lightbulb to laser beam and start manifesting the life of your dreams! Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Murray! Murray Ansell, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Murray Ansell has a diverse business background including Big 4” accounting, investment and commercial banking, and technology licensing. In 2003, Murray noticed a self-sabotaging pattern in his consulting business, which led him to awaken to his spiritual nature and into a Soul-led journey into the world of human energy. Murray was guided from the Archangelic realm, including to form Life Energy Coaching (LEC) and Business Energy Coaching (BEC). All programs and coaching delivered through these business units use a unique quantum field that massively accelerates clients and their businesses into successfully fulfilling their unique and magnificent purpose.

Written by: Dawn Walker, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Learn how to tune in to your Intuition with these easy steps… There’s a growing number of humans discovering their innate power, Intuition. The highly sensitive, effective people you see always buzzing around with a glow of assurance on their faces and enough positivity to overflow your entire corporate team's cup have 1 commonality in maintaining their life balance and fulfilling their desires amidst ever-changing circumstances. What’s their Secret? They rely on Intuition to lead them throughout all of their conversations, thoughts, ideas, and decisions in life. The adage: “Don’t mind me, I’m having a discussion with the committee in my head” undeniably applies here. So how do you engage with your Intuition continuously? You create a new habit of asking your Intuition for its wisdom in each circumstance. With every new habit, new repetitive actions are necessary for the seed of the new habit to take form, grow roots in your subconscious mindset, and become a natural reactive habit over time. I suggest you add a few reminders to your daily alerts, called “Ask My Intuition”. If you like writing on sticky notes ‒ post reminders to “Ask My Intuition” in all of your common areas…the corner of your work computer, bathroom mirror, bedside table, and coffee bar. Time to get on with it now…Let’s get your inner ear fine-tuned to listening and identifying how your Intuition speaks to you. Step 1: Identify one question or area of life you need wisdom. Intuition doesn’t segregate. It is all-knowing. Deeply connected throughout the expanse of space, time, beings, and frequencies. There is no question too challenging or that will go unanswered. Step 2: Take a few deep breaths to center your energy. Notice the light vibration of personal energy pulsing throughout your body as you calmly breathe in and out. Visualize the expanse of your lungs as you breathe in and the freedom of release as you exhale. That’s it, now that you’re in your zone. Step 3: Internally ask yourself the question you are seeking wisdom in. Allow your internal senses to form thoughts, pictures, and ideas. Write down the ideas you sense, words you hear, and thoughts that immediately come to mind. Intuition engages with our Imagination to formulate pictures, smells, flashes of memories, and sensations, all-permeating a deep sense of truth and knowledge. This is your Intuition communicating its all-knowing wisdom through your inner senses. Step 4: Identify your answer. You know when you know. You will feel at peace with the answer. You will feel balanced with the information that came to you. *The untrained ego is used to second-guess internal information passed along. Disregard the ego’s second-guessing nature. Experiment with everything in life by leaning on your Intuition for guidance. You will be amazed at your results. Oftentimes clients come to me asking me to find their misplaced items. They are astonished when I locate them. We find our misplaced items by asking ourselves “where did I last place my item?”. Within a millisecond, Intuition reacts and takes you through a series of picturesque impressions, past actions, and feelings of knowing, to show you where you last placed your item. Intuition is so powerful and all-knowing that you can ask it anything at all and it will tell you the truth…if someone you encounter is trustworthy, is the financial decision you're making a sound one, are you in the right relationship, is now the time to move on, do you need to rethink certain commitments…you get the idea…have fun developing your relationship with Intuition. The more you interact by focusing your breath and your mind to listen and visualize internally, the quicker you will be given flashes of pictures of ALL KNOWINGS. It is in these pure moments of innocent engagement with your Intuition that you can find the truth and answers to anything you are seeking. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dawn! Dawn Walker, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dawn Walker, is quickly scaling into a global luminary with her recently released Intuition Builders Masterclass and Lifetime Mentorship. A strong Intuitive since birth, Dawn quickly recognized the lack of educational and mentorship programs available to assist herself and others in understanding their super-sensitive nature so she dedicated her life to the private study and practice of intuitively reading & shifting human personal energy into transformational abundance & healing power. With worldwide testimonies of personal breakthroughs and transformations compiled, Dawn has created a Masterclass overflowing with connectivity & aha moments. Her goal: Connecting YOU to your Superpower ‒ Intuition.

Written by: Michele Lee Occhipinti, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. During the holidays and this time of giving. Are you showing gratitude to those that support you? As a leader are you truly expressing gratitude to the staff that supports you in your vision. Are you just saying it or actually expressing it. Providing empathy and care and authenticity sharing it with them? Studies have shown when your employees and team feel appreciated and valued they will stay with you many going above and beyond and exceling in their duties. Sending gifts without expressing the words of gratitude authentically does not provide the impact and care needed. Empathy is the top trait in the greatest of leaders. The many human benefits experienced when providing gratitude include building trust, opening doors to more relationships, improving physical and psychological health, enhancing empathy, better sleep, improving self-esteem and increasing personal mental strength. Increasing productivity. Letting your team know you care and cannot get where you are in the vision without them. They are an important piece to the mission and is important for your success as a leader and the business you lead. Take a few minutes to show your appreciation to your family, friends but also to those you lead with authentic gratitude to the people that support you. Simply saying thank you for the work you completed on a certain project can go a long way in today’s world. Simple ways you can show gratitude: Take a few minutes to speak to them directly and let them know their efforts have not been left unnoticed and are important to the mission. If you meet virtually provide your thanks in a 1:1 meeting. Acknowledge their greatness by announcing their efforts to others when others see the support, they see from the leader for the efforts they provide it can leave a wave of appreciation to all in the room. Gifts of appreciation are nice but it’s the words you use that people focus on so use the words that empower and bring out the best, representing you to connect with the individual. Write a sincere note thanking them. Volunteer your efforts together as a team providing help for those that need your support to make a difference and receive gratefulness as a group and be thankful to the group as a whole. At this years holiday celebration be sure to thank your staff for showing up to make the impossible at times be possible. Create a designated space for employees to share words of gratitude and thanks. This can be a virtual space, literal wall or whiteboard in a common area, a shared online platform that everyone can access, like a company intranet or internal newsletter. Be creative! Ask them in team meetings who would like to share a moment or a person on the team this week to be thankful for. Showing Gratitude at Work Helps Organizations Thrive in Changing Times. With workers becoming disengaged and leaving their jobs in droves during the Great Recession, now more than ever, organizations need leaders who can show authentic empathy in the workforce, communicate effectively, and create a place of safety at work. When leaders are not providing gratitude or displaying low levels of trust it makes it challenging for leaders to create a shared vision, motivate their employees to collaborate together successfully, and retain talented, engaged employees. Leaders that are naturalists and adept at showing authentic kindness in the organization can improve its culture. Organizations can boost employee engagement, motivation, productivity, and of course retention as well as their health and overall fulfillment when a leader expresses their gratitude at work. When dealing with uncertain times such as we are in today’s world. Showing gratitude in the workplace is important to initiate the change because as we all know change is constant and can’t be done alone when reaching success in a business. The greatest leaders display sensitivity to their people’s needs and is closely linked to emotional intelligence and the effectiveness of the leader. When gratitude is used effectively it can bring your team closer many working harder towards the mission being resilient and creative in uncertain times helping the business thrive. When an employee feels valued it increases their inner good emotions raising their performance at which in turn they seek to receive more recognition. Don’t just show gratitude during the holidays show it all year long. Remember it’s never the gift it’s the thought that counts show your thoughts and appreciation to others this holiday and throughout the year. Everyone wants to feel valued and appreciated; it is one of the deepest and most basic human needs, and extensive research clearly demonstrates both the business and human benefits of showing gratitude in the workplace. Leaders need to recognize and prioritize their personal efforts to consistently show sincere appreciation and gratitude toward their people, and they need to foster a culture of gratitude throughout the organization, where all employees feel responsible for and empowered to recognize each other for the good each of their team members provide. Sincere and consistent employee recognition leads to higher levels of individual employee engagement, satisfaction and productivity, which drives greater organizational innovation and performance. What are some of the ways you show your gratitude as a leader? Comment below on words you use to be thankful and show your appreciation. Opening the door to your success. Looking for more ways to develop your leadership and build your culture for success? Connect with me. Be the best leader you can be. Take the time to enjoy the holiday season being appreciative for what surrounds you. Be the best version of YOU! Michele Lee Occhipinti, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Founder of Ack Professional, Michele Lee Occhipinti is a world class peak performance leadership & life strategist, on a mission to empower individuals to preserve their integrity, raise their performance to become the best version of themselves. Michele brings decades of experience alongside executives, some at the most prestigious of Fortune 500 companies. As one of the worlds top 1% worldwide.Following her integrity, from a place that inspired her, Nantucket, passionate to empower and transform the lives and leadership to maximize full potential for ultimate success in today’s world.

Written by: Victor Mosconi, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. You have a task, project, or new life challenge coming up and your first thought is you can’t do this. You’re going to make mistakes and it’s going to go badly for you and this is why nothing goes well for you and you should just give up now because it doesn’t matter anyway since you don’t deserve good things in your life. If you haven’t experienced this, yes, that is a true sample of the run-on thoughts that are experienced by some. People you may share your experience with will point to you as having low self-confidence or say you shouldn’t doubt yourself and believe in yourself more and appreciate your own qualities. The challenge comes as it’s not just one of these aspects such as confidence, esteem, worth, or value, but all of them. The stress of doing this task increases your imposter syndrome in hopes that if you’ll get lucky others will see your own worth and you’ll be seen as successful. You place your worth and value on chance and acceptance from others. But what you need is healthy self-belief. However, your imposter syndrome won’t allow that as you’ve built up a self-perception that you aren’t good enough and never will be. So how do you break out of this negative self-perception to gain a healthy self-belief when your imposter thoughts won’t let you do so? The first is to understand what all these different terms mean so you can start to identify more about your own life. What This Means Self-confidence is your faith in your own capabilities to handle a challenge. Self-esteem is your ability to value yourself and your appreciation of yourself. Be aware though, a person with high self-esteem can experience a lack of self-confidence. Self-worth is about your value like self-esteem, but also how you see and feel about yourself as a good person and deserving of good things. Self-value is how you treat yourself and see your own personal quality. Not just in what you do, but in who you are. So, self-worth is a feeling, and self-value is a behavior. Self-belief then can be described as your personal belief in your ability to achieve your goals, trusting in your own capabilities, knowledge, values, and judgment, and being realistic about your faults and limitations while being able to accomplish a task or manage life overall. Self-belief encompasses confidence, esteem, worth, and value in your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. When you have high self-belief, you are confident in your abilities and knowledge. You have esteem in how you appreciate yourself, you know your worth and know that even when you make mistakes you are at your core a good person. You will value yourself by knowing your quality and doing things that show self-care. When you have low self-belief, you won’t have confidence in your abilities, and knowledge. You’ll have more doubt, and your esteem will be lower as you don’t appreciate not just your capabilities, but who you are. And you will perceive your worth will be low as you don’t feel you deserve good things, and in turn, won’t give yourself time for self-care or even feel you deserve it. Now add imposter syndrome into the mix. Imposter syndrome also known as impostor phenomenon can be described as a complex construct that reflects the struggle to appreciate yourself and know your self-worth. It is the inability to recognize internalized successes and achievements, and constantly fearing you’re a fraud for not being good enough in what you do and who you are. At the same time, it is the need to constantly seek outside sources and people for acceptance and approval. You compare yourself to others, and judge yourself by what others do, what they have, and how they live. All the while never seeing yourself with much value. Impact On You When you’re experiencing imposter syndrome and have low self-belief, it crushes you and stops growth and development in your life. Imposter syndrome develops due to having your own self-confidence, esteem, worth, and value reduced due to criticism, judgment, and general dismissal of who you are and what you’re capable of doing. And as your own self-belief decreases, your anxiety, stress, depression, perfectionism, fear of success, and fear of failure increase. Reducing your overall well-being in the process. Over time of continual criticism, your self-perception of who you are and what you’re capable of diminishes and eventually crumbles. You then see yourself as not being worthy of anything good. Even though deep down you want good for yourself and will strive for it, be it through new knowledge, new job positions, and opportunities, with imposter syndrome you don’t believe you truly deserve it. Even if you succeed, you don’t see it as due to your own abilities, and skills, or capabilities. When you go into a new opportunity experiencing imposter syndrome, you don’t see your own worth or value in being able to be successful. Once you have completed and achieved success, you don’t feel it was because of yourself but due to chance. You then don’t celebrate or appreciate what you have achieved. And then you’re looking over your shoulder constantly in fear, waiting for someone to tell you, “yes, you shouldn’t be here and you need to leave”. This will be your cycle of life until you begin to build up your self-belief. Your imposter syndrome thoughts weren’t there at the beginning, they were created due to the judgment, criticism, bias, stigma, and lack of faith in you from others’ you experienced for years. If you can build up this low self-belief and high imposter thoughts, then you can reduce those thoughts by building up your supportive, healthy self-belief, where you have confidence, esteem, and know your worth and value. Importance of Self-Belief Your imposter thoughts tear you down. You only see the negative about you and what you do. But you want to be seen as someone more. And you look to others for your validation and acceptance, yet never believe it because you don’t see it within you. This is why self-belief is important. Your own value, worth, confidence, and esteem can never come from someone else or something else. It has to come from you. You have to believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you can face challenges and know you’ll do your best. You’ll understand your strengths and qualities and appreciate them, but also be open to new experiences for growth and development. You don’t see your limitations as a negative but in the understanding of where you are now and what you can do to improve. But this all comes from you. Looking to others for your approval will never work. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll never believe what others say about you. Also, by having a strong self-belief, when others talk down about you and throw negativity your way, and are judgmental, you will be able to separate their words from facts and know that you are more than their words because you believe in yourself. This is why self-belief is so important. You recognize and acknowledge your own qualities and capabilities to carry you through any challenge and to help you continue moving forward in adversity. No other person’s words, actions, or behaviors will be able to get you down. No other setback from mistakes or failures will crush you, because you will know that you have value and worth and deserve good. This all sounds good and may make sense to you. But the question still remains, how do you get there when you have low or no healthy self-belief? Building up Self-Belief Building up your self-belief takes time. You didn’t get to having imposter thoughts about yourself overnight. You didn’t build up a negative mindset in a day. As the negativity grew slowly, you can grow and build your healthy self-belief too. And these steps can help set you on that path. Stop comparing When experiencing imposter syndrome, you compare your life and self to others and do so with a very biased view. You see all the great things about others but only see the negatives of yourself. Stop the comparison. Focus on your own life and self. Don’t look at others as a “how come…?”, or “Why isn’t my life…?”. Refocus on “This is what I am doing…” and “My own growth is important because...” Look to your own qualities Yes, you have them. I know your first thought is you don’t have any qualities, but you need to take a hard look at yourself and begin identifying what qualities, skills, abilities, and knowledge you have. Think about what friends and family may have said, and also think about what you do well and feel good doing. It will take time, but build on it. If you say “I’m good at communicating with others.” Then break it down as to how you are good at communicating with others. Is it because you listen to them? Is it because you give them space to be themselves? Those are two more qualities to add. Look to your own character The big challenge for some is to truly find character qualities about themselves. Are you optimistic? Trustworthy? Determined? Also, look at the physical characteristics you like about yourself. And yes, I know for some this can be a challenge. But begin to identify things you like about yourself. You like your eyes, great! Keep it there, though, don’t through in the “but, I wish they were…”. Focus just on the good about you and your character qualities. Appreciate your achievements Look back at what you have achieved in your life. Earned a degree? Were hired for a job? Earned a promotion? Bought your own car? Walked 5k, 10k, 20k steps? Whatever it is, recognize you did this. Reflect on what it took for you to create this success for yourself. Time, effort, studying, growing, learning? What did you do to achieve this success? See your growth We often will look at where we are now and see the road ahead of us. But rarely do people look back to see how far they have come. How much they have grown. Look back in the past 3 months, 6 months, or a year or more to see where you were in your life then, and where you are now. What has changed, why has it changed, and how much of this change has been because of you and your growth and development? You’ll be surprised at how far you have come and your own growth when you can see it. Celebrate You! Finally, celebrate you and all you have done and achieved! There is always the next thing to do. But here is where you will take the time to appreciate your successes and growth. At the same time, give yourself that time for self-care. It can be easy to dismiss as you may not feel it’s important. However, when you recognize your value, and appreciate your worth, you will take that time and care. Give yourself time to rest and appreciate all you’ve accomplished. Self-Belief Growth Building up your self-belief will help you to grow in confidence, esteem, worth, and value. You will recognize, appreciate and embrace your own qualities, character, and capabilities. You will know what your abilities, and knowledge are and accept your current limitations, but also be open and ready for growth and development. Always moving forward for your own life. When empowered by this healthy self-belief, you won’t need to seek out approval and acceptance from others. And when others throw negativity at you, you will be secure in the honest truth of who you are and their words will have no impact on you. Because of your self-belief, your imposter thoughts will begin to diminish and in time, be very quiet. Yes, there may be times they decide to roar back up due to a person or situation, but with your self-belief at a positive and self-supportive level, you can quickly quiet them down again, and know you are not those negative and toxic thoughts. You have your healthy self-belief and are ready for the challenges that lie ahead. Follow me on Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Victor! Victor Mosconi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Victor Mosconi, is a Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology, with a Master’s in Psychology of Leadership Development and Coaching, a Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and the founder of Imposter Solution Coach. Through his life-long experience with imposter syndrome, his psychology background, and coaching skills, Victor specializes in supporting up-and-coming women leaders and entrepreneurs in overcoming their self-doubt and imposter thoughts to develop a mindset of self-appreciation and strong self-belief. Take his quiz on his website and discover what level of impostor syndrome you experience.

Written by: Elizabeth Van Den Bergh, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. I believe everyone should be able to own any stage in full confidence. Even if you are a member of the qualified quiet, experience speaker anxiety, or consider yourself introverted, you can be a great speaker. In this article, I talk about the three pitfalls of experts who take the stage and how to prepare to show up as a caring, inspiring, and engaging expert speaker instead. Reading this article will give you a deeper understanding of how to show up with a powerful mindset. Just like the great speakers you admire. Remember that keynote that you attended but didn't land with the audience? What happened there? Let me explain and also tell you what you can do to avoid this happening to you. Every speaker has expertise to bring to his audience. The three pitfalls of experts who take the stage You are too deep into the topic. Of course, you are because you are the one with all the expertise. This means you might have a hard time connecting to the audience because they find themselves on a different level of expertise. Find a way to engage them. You focus on proving you are the expert. Of course, you can make your case. By all means, please do. But whilst proving yourself you might fall into the trap of data dumping. Also known as the trap of information overload. Believe me, nobody is waiting for that. You are on the stage, we know you know your sh*t. We want you to inspire us. Your need for control doesn't allow you to be fully present with your story and with your audience. You focus too much on getting it right and not forgetting anything. At worst you seem disconnected from your audience. Needless to say, this is not attractive to your audience. They want to feel involved. What is going on What's happening is probably a blind spot for you and ultimately an attitude problem. But please, don't blame yourself for it. Upbringing, education and, society all told us to get knowledgeable, prove ourselves and, to take control. So, no surprise that you show up with the attitude that you have to prove yourself. Which, at worst, can end up in an overbearing attitude, perceived by some as arrogant. Let's see what you can do so you show up as a caring, inspiring, and engaging expert speaker instead. What to do instead: the one technique great speakers master that will take your keynote from average to great It is all about showing up with the right mental attitude or mindset. I am curious to know what is valuable and relevant for my audience You must bridge your deep level of knowledge on the topic to the level of knowledge of your audience. Meet them where they are. Simple, but not always easy. A great talk takes the audience on a journey. If you don't manage to captivate them at the beginning (https://speaker.coach/keynote-of-missed-impact-and-how-to-make-sure-it-doesnt-happen-to-you/). It's nearly impossible to do so later in your presentation. You are deep in your topic, and you keep asking yourself ‘Do I know enough?’. This question comes from a mindset that says 'I must impress.' This is not a mindset that allows you to show up with power. Because there is always more to know. And the more you know, the more you know there is still so much you don’t know. But knowledge in itself is not inspiring. Stop looking for more knowledge. Instead, be so curious about how you can help your audience that they experience tremendous value from your words. I'd say the right mindset is 'I am curious to know what's valuable and relevant for my audience'. This is a powerful mindset. More concretely ask yourself: how does my topic appear in the lives of my audience? Let me give a simple example here: public speaking is what I help my clients with. So for me, it's daily business, I breathe and live it every day. For potential clients, public speaking is urgent and important, but not a daily business. So I will address it from the question: when and where do you speak? And take that as a starting point. ‘I am curious’ is an engaging attitude to show up with. I own myself and forget about being perfect When we feel we have to prove ourselves, we keep asking ourselves ‘Am I good enough?’. The default answer by our inner critic will be ‘No’. Clearly, this is not a helpful inner conversation to feel powerful on stage. And as a result, you might go for the data-dumping strategy. Also known as the opposite of inspiring. The opposite of proving yourself is owning yourself. By that, I mean, not trying to be perfect. Not trying to be someone you are not. Owning yourself means you accept yourself fully, both your strengths and weaknesses, and live life without regrets or apologies. Be real, not perfect. Flawsome. That’s inspiring. ‘I am good enough’ is an inspiring attitude to show up with. I let go of wanting to control Let go of the idea that you have control. You cannot control what will happen exactly when you deliver your keynote. You cannot control other people or their reactions. Yet, you have much, much more influence than you believe is possible. Think about this. By letting go of control, you gain control. Because you can be more present and connect. My advice is always 'come with a plan and go with the flow'. Your keynote will never go exactly as planned and I hope it doesn't. Because this means you were present and able to interact with the audience. Wanting to control comes from a place of fear. Instead, check in with yourself and shift to inner safety. If you feel inner safety, you can operate from a place of trust, love, connection, and full presence. Allow for playfulness, and lightness of being. ‘I am present’ is a caring mindset to show up with. Conclusion I wish for you this article helps you question and adjust your mindset. Making the right mental shifts and asking the right questions is what I help my clients with. So they can become the comfortable, relaxed, and engaging speakers every audience dreams of. Apply HERE for an opportunity to work with me. Subscribe to my newsletter for insights that will help you think differently, so you can speak differently. Subscribe to my podcast The Powerful Presence Podcast, the show that talks about all things powerful presence, public speaking and, leadership. If you are an entrepreneur, an expert or, a CEO and you have been wishing for your words to have more impact, this is your podcast. I believe a speaker is a leader and a good leader should be a good speaker. Join my tribe of courageous, leading change-makers by tuning in to the powerful presence podcast show. Get ready to be inspired and amazed. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Elizabeth! Elizabeth Van Den Bergh, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Elizabeth Van Den Bergh is an international executive Speaker Coach who coaches high performers to speak with confidence and impact. She is known for her warm, yet no-nonsense approach. She believes good speakers are made, not born. Her confidence, content, connection approach is unique and always delivers the results. Her clients range from leaders in multinational companies and directors at the European Parliament, to solo entrepreneurs and CEOs of small and medium-sized businesses. Elizabeth has been dedicating herself passionately for eight years on helping high-performers be better speakers and leaders. Taking them from good to great.

Written by: Atanas Piskachev , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Want to know how to live a longer and healthier life? Certain similarities have been revealed in locations where people live longer lives, according to studies conducted all around the world. It appears that the keys to longevity are within our grasp, and certain parts of the world appear to have solved the code. However, moving to such an area does not guarantee a long and healthy life. You can adapt their lifestyle conditions to your own and adopt the practices of those who live to a ripe old age. And, while none of them are really revolutionary or novel, they are efficient. Here's what you should do to improve your chances of living a longer, healthier life. 1. Consume healthily you are what you eat What we consume has a significant impact on our longevity. To be healthy and live as long as possible, you should do the following: Eat mostly plant-based foods. Eat a lot of whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption, but keep to moderate wine consumption. Limit your intake of sugar and saturated fat. Keep your calorie intake moderate (not excessive) and prevent overeating. The importance of food on human health is well-documented, and eating the correct type of diet (and avoiding the wrong kind of foods)will go a long way toward lowering your risk of sudden death and certain diseases. Eat healthily and live healthily. 2. Exercise If there were a fountain of youth, it would resemble a daily walk or run. Exercising is second to none when it comes to maintaining a healthy and strong body. Exercise is also one of the most effective strategies to keep your body and mind in shape as you age. Daily exercise can assist raise mood-boosting hormones in the brain and contribute to maintaining your body strong, healthy, and capable throughout your golden years, in addition to helping you prevent chronic problems like heart disease and diabetes. Exercise is also a great way to meet new people, stay involved in a community, and keep learning new things. 3. Get enough rest Sleep is essential for regulating cell activity and assisting your body in healing. Sleeping well is linked to more than just waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; it's also linked to living a long, healthy life. People who slept seven hours per night lived substantially longer than those who slept less than five hours or more than eight hours per night, according to one study conducted by the University of California ‒ San Diego. Getting enough sleep each night will help prevent early deaths and can help you avoid cognitive decline and other age-related illnesses. Getting adequate sleep on a regular basis has an impact on longevity, with both too much and too little sleep deemed hazardous. Sleeping fewer than 5-7 hours per night is associated with an increased risk of early death, as is sleeping more than 8-9 hours per night. Inflammation, obesity, and an increased risk of disease have been associated with insufficient sleep, whereas excessive sleep has been connected to depression, low levels of physical activity, and certain health disorders. Maintaining a consistent sleep habit of 7 to 8 hours every night, as well as going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, will increase your lifetime. According to a recent study, regular sleeping patterns, such as going to bed and waking up around the same time each day, are likely linked to lifespan. 4. Avoid smoking and limit your alcohol consumption Vices. A thing that others can’t live without but a thing that will also destroy their health. Tobacco use is highly connected to disease and sudden death. People who smoke may lose up to ten years of life and are three times more likely to die early than those who never smoke. Remember that it is never too late to quit. According to one study, persons who quit smoking by the age of 35 may live an additional 8.5 years. Quitting smoking can greatly extend your life, and it's never too late. Moderate intake, on the other hand, is linked to a lower risk of many diseases, as well as a 17-18% reduction in your risk of dying early. It is crucial to remember that no significant evidence demonstrates that the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption outweigh the benefits of abstaining from alcohol. In other words, if you don't generally drink, there's no reason to start. 5. Love yourself + put your happiness first = Say goodbye to stress Love yourself! You are important and you are precious. Being happy can extend your life greatly. Over a 5-year trial period, happy people had a 3.7% lower risk of dying young. Happiness is likely to improve not just your mood but also your longevity. Anxiety and stress can shorten your life dramatically. If you're stressed, laughing and optimism could be two important parts of the treatment. Finding techniques to lessen your anxiety and stress levels will help you live a longer life. Thus, maintaining a positive view on life might also be advantageous. 6. Be in a healthy social circle Surround yourself with individuals who lift you up and distance yourself from those who take advantage of you and bring you down. Be with people who let you feel safe, heard, loved, and cherished. Do not waste your time chasing toxic and unhealthy relationships. There are billions of people around the globe and there is a circle that is destined for you. Keep searching and do not settle for less. According to one study, giving assistance to others may be more useful than receiving it. In addition to getting care from friends and family, remember to reciprocate. Close relationships may lead to lower stress levels, greater immunity, and a longer lifetime. Everything is good in moderation. It is undeniably true that most of us want to live a long, healthy, and fulfilling life. We all want to witness our loved ones grow old with us, and we never want to leave them. If at all possible, we want to be with our loved ones forever, if such a thing exists. However, our time on earth is limited, and the memories we make are the ones that stay with those we leave behind, so as much as possible, we want to be making those memories for as long as we can. Thus, it is important that you take good care of yourself and prioritize your health at all costs. Your body is the only place you have to live, so treat it well so that you can live with it for as long as you want to. Do not take anything for granted, for the most painful thing is regretting things that you could have done but did not because of lame excuses you made when you were younger! Let’s all live a healthy, fulfilling life! It is never too late to start! You are what you think you are. Your longevity is entirely in your hands. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Atanas! Atanas Piskachev, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Atanas is a holistic health coach specializing in mindset performance, helping entrepreneurs and executives incorporate a healthy lifestyle into their hectic schedules. He has over 10 years of experience in the field, working with various people and organizations globally to explore many different cultures and human behaviors. By virtue of his brand AtanasFit, Atanas is committed to helping people raise the bar for their health and fitness through direct coaching, writing articles, and creating YouTube videos.

Written by: Asim Aliloski, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Founder and developer of 90.10. MedBed Oliver Schacke is convinced that everyone can transform their own bed at home into a wellness oasis. This is possible through quantum energy, which supports the body in its self-healing. The Swiss company has launched the latest version of MedBed 2.0 for home use. Does this all sound like Star Trek science fiction? Spiritual Coach Asim Aliloski, part of 90.10. research team, invites everybody for a free trial! The meditation bed, or MedBed, "beams" quantum healing energy and frequencies into the human body without time delay. The virtual bed works with quantum technology and is installed on your own bed at home. After the user has laid down on his bed, he can activate and control the MedBed through his own voice or thought. It works completely without any electricity. But how does this technology work exactly? The human body – more than just flesh and blood? In quantum physics, it is assumed that every matter (including the human body!) is composed of waves that are in constant motion. Man is also composed of energy. In other words, from the point of view of quantum physics, every human being consists of vibrations and frequencies – we are an electromagnetic marvel. External influences affect our body’s own vibration and can increase or decrease our energy level. If the energy level is high, we feel vital and balanced, but if it is low, we have little energy in everyday life, which in turn makes us sick. External influences can be places, people, sounds, smells and many other things; their vibration affects our vibration and vice versa. But we can also use these influences to restore the well-being of body and mind. The MedBed – Healing support for body & mind The MedBed was developed with the aim of supporting and strengthening self-healing in the body. It connects the user with the so-called quantum field – an energy and information field that exists independently of time and space and unites all dimensions of our reality. Through the connection, the MedBed user receives healing information with vitalizing, harmonising and regenerating effects. For legal reasons, the company may not make any promises of cure, but the effectiveness of MedBed has nevertheless been proven. The results of the study were published in December 2021 in the journal "Applied Cell Biology". Cells have been shown to regenerate better, proving that the MedBed is able to promote healing and thus support health and well-being. Moreover, the immune defence system showed a significant decrease in free radicals, which could have a positive effect on the healing process of wounds or inflammation. Test the 90.10. MedBed for free: Test the 90.10. MedBed for the duration of eight hours free of charge and without obligation! Through quantum entanglement, the MedBed is virtually installed on your bed at home. No physical item will be delivered to you. Click here for the free 8 hour trial. Follow Asim on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit his website for more info! Read more from Asim! Asim Aliloski, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Asim Aliloski is an Austrian bestselling author, transformational speaker, spiritual leader and award-winning business and life coach. Asim has been listed amongst the 101 Most Fabulous Coaches in the World 2020, Top 20 Business Coaches 2021, Top 50 Influential Leaders by Kosmo Magazine, and he is a proud winner of the European Enterprise Awards 2020. His mission is to share spiritual wisdom that uplifts the energy and consciousness of people and businesses. Asim has been working with heart-driven leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and creatives helping them to awaken their divine greatness and make their life purpose a success. Through this work, people unleash their intuitive and spiritual intelligence in order to create personal fulfillment, optimum health and ultimate abundance alongside a high-end wealthy lifestyle. Asim, CEO of Asim Aliloski International, founded his coaching and consulting business at the age of 25 and has been exploring the power of consciousness for several decades. The native Viennese with Greek-Macedonian origins combines in his work elements from ancient Greek philosophy with universal spirituality rooted in Sufism and Buddhism along with transformative coaching. Coming from a underprivileged family living on welfare, he mastered to become one of the most recognised spiritual coaches and leaders in the world.

Written by: Patricia Faust, MGS, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. A few years ago, when I talked about neuroplasticity and the power of the brain to change itself – everyone was amazed. Now the era of brain awareness has finally arrived. Even though I still get astonished looks at this revelation, there are others who believe that they are too old; or it’s too late for them. Here is the miracle about the brain and neuroplasticity: your brain does not know how old you are. It changes until the day you die – for good or bad. It is your choice as to what kind of brain you want! However, there is a new revelation: the brain is even more dynamic than we expected years ago – but we must work to get results! Commitment Seriously, our brain is constantly changing and adapting to our environment, but we need to be consistent with our thoughts and actions to bring about a lasting change. There seems to be agreement that it takes 21 days of repetition and consistency to form a new neural pathway – that is old thinking. Neuro-research has revealed that this change in neural pathways could take 20 – 254 days. Not only do we need to be consistent and repetitious with new thoughts and actions – we need to be committed. Now that begs the question – we can’t see our brain – how do we know we have created a change? How do we know that we have a fit, healthy brain? Look at your daily life. Everything you do matters to your brain – good or bad. Do you sit around worrying about your weight while you are watching TV and munching on high-fat snacks? Guess what – your brain won’t like that. You will be sluggish, unhappy, stressed out and your brain will adapt to that environment. You will lose brain volume, have memory problems, not be as productive at work, not be interesting to your spouse, kids, or friends, and probably end up going to the doctor more often. If that is how you are going to treat your brain, your brain will reciprocate. Brain Fitness What does it look like when you are ‘brain fit’? Brain fitness is that state of awareness that you are performing well cognitively and emotionally. You are running on all cylinders, maintaining a mental edge, staying sharp, aging successfully. Aging is a broad term in this context because our brain doesn’t know how old we are. Your brain ages in response to lifestyle, chronic diseases, stress, and genes. So, your chronological age may be in the forties, but your brain age may be in the sixties because you live a hard life. You must take responsibility for how you live and the impact it makes on your brain. Now, your brain is very cool! You treat it better and it will respond to that too. So, if you make a strategic plan to reclaim your brain – your brain will respond – that is the beauty of neuroplasticity. It requires concentrated effort, however. You cannot be complacent about your brain and the life that you live. You can create new neural pathways and grow new brain cells. But you must be all in – not wishy-washy about it. Repetition and consistency will create new neural pathways. And this is where a brain-healthy lifestyle (physical exercise, mental stimulation, nutrition, socialization, sleep, and stress reduction) all play an important part. When you put the effort in to build a better brain, you will experience better health overall. Again, it doesn’t make any difference what your age is. It is totally up to you and your commitment. Lifestyle How can you incorporate a brain healthy lifestyle without it seeming like such a hassle? You will have to think differently about how you do or don’t do certain things during the day. But this is a program that needs to be implemented slowly so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. An enriched environment – one that is novel and complex (like your workplace!) will put you in the right circumstances to challenge your brain. If you are not in an enriched environment each day, then you need to create that environment for yourself. This can be accomplished by volunteering, mentoring, consulting, or any other activity that challenges your brain. When you are putting your brain through its paces, it will respond. You will be more engaged, more productive, feel energized. You also might feel stress. But being aware of stressors gives you the upper hand in diffusing them. You want to keep your energy high, so you need to be more mindful of the food you eat and the exercise you get. A brain health lifestyle is very synergistic in that each piece fits together and the sum of your actions is greater than doing each piece separately. For example: you grow new brain cells in your hippocampus, center of new learning and memory, when you engage in physical exercise. If you don’t challenge yourself to learn new things, then the brain gets out its pruner and starts clipping away at the cells and pathways you haven’t used. Grow those cells and then use them. These activities will enable you to build cognitive reserve – thicker synaptic connections that keep your brain more flexible and ultimately offers some protection from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Cognitive Fitness Strategy The following is the Cognitive Fitness Strategy: An Action Plan for Brain Health based on the Dana Alliance/Conference Board’s publication ‘Your Brain at Work’. Write it down Putting your goals in writing makes them more meaningful. Adding why you want to achieve each goal is a real motivator. Take baby steps You’ll feel overwhelmed if you try to address every aspect of brain health at once. Set priorities. Give yourself a timeframe And remember: That implies giving yourself enough time to work at and master your goals. Be realistic People who try to do too much too soon often get discouraged and give up altogether. Don’t be a victim of your own ambition. If your goals seem impossible, revise them. Now determine your baseline. Think about how you measure up against the healthy brain practices below: Social Interaction: Who did I see today, and for what purposes? What did I do to reconnect with someone I care about today? Physical Activity How many minutes did I walk today, including around the office? How did I work exercise into my day? Did I “walk and talk” at work, rather than emailing or phoning? Cognitive Stimulation What did I learn today? What routine task did I approach differently today? Did I challenge my mind? Did I do anything just for fun? Stress Management How was my stress level today? What caused me the greatest stress today? What triggered it? How did I cope? How did I relax? Sleep How well did I sleep last night? How Long? Did I awaken during the night? If sleep was poor, do I know why? Did I feel drowsy during the day? Did I nap? How well you answer these questions may help you determine which areas of brain health you need to focus on as you map out your cognitive fitness plan. (Your Brain at Work, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and The Conference Board) For more info, follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and visit my website! Read more from Patricia! Patricia Faust, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Patricia Faust is a gerontologist specializing in the issues of brain aging, brain health, brain function, and dementia. She has a Master in Gerontological Studies degree from Miami University in Oxford Ohio. Patricia is certified as a brain health coach and received a certification in Neuroscience and Wellness through Dr. Sarah McKay and the Neuroscience Academy. My Boomer Brain, founded in 2015, is the vehicle that Patricia utilizes to teach, coach, and consult about brain aging, brain health, and brain function. Her newsletter, My Boomer Brain, has international readers from South Africa, Australia, throughout Europe, and Canada. Patricia’s speaking experience spans the spectrum of audiences as she addresses corporate executives on brain function, regional financial professionals on client diminished capacity, and various senior venues concerning issues around brain aging and brain health. References: 6 Surprising Things that Affect Your Brain. Retrieved from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-surprising-things-that-affect-your-brain.html Dr. Sarah McKay. (2016). The Neuroscience Academy: Change Your Brain at Work. The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and The Conference Board. Retrieved from http://www.brainline.org/content/2009/03/your-brain-work_pageall.html

Written by: Gina Lokken, ICF PCC, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. My pursuit of a perfectly balanced life consumed a lot of my time, money, and energy before I was introduced to life coaching. I reasoned that if I worked hard enough, took the right certification courses, and time-blocked more, I would eventually achieve this ideal life. But I wasn't aware that I was chasing a mirage. I was so busy comparing myself and my life to the world's expectations of who I should be and what my life should look like that I never stopped to reflect on my actual life. To be honest, I didn't even know if the things I was pursuing were my values or if they were just adopted from someone else without even realizing it. The truth is, when we take on or adopt the beliefs, values, and expectations of others, it's almost always because of this deep, intrinsic need to belong. We fear being alone, misunderstood, left out, or abandoned. In order to belong, we will do almost anything, even if it contradicts who we are at our core. Life coaching opened up my heart and my mind to the core of who I was and who God created me to be; it helped me shed the worldly idea of "perfect balance" and allowed me to create a whole new way of being. During this process, I found a rhythm that suited me, as well as values and beliefs that I held dear. And this is what finally gave me the freedom to enjoy the ever-changing moments of motherhood and entrepreneurship. In the last blog of this series (The Work-Life Balance Myth, Part 1), I talked about how the first limiting belief we must move past to pursue a more fulfilling life is to stop comparing ourselves to others. The next limiting belief I want to highlight is to... stop trying so hard to achieve an impossible thing. It will only exhaust you. Limiting Belief No.2 Trying Too Hard "If I just try harder, I can have a perfectly balanced life." Our society today would have you believe that if you just try harder, you'll be able to get the things you want faster. You will be worthy if you do more, achieve more, take on more responsibility, or add another line to your resume. I believed this in my young adult years, and to my dismay, it only caused more imbalance. Coaching helped me release control of things I never had control of in the first place, including others' choices and behaviors. I felt heard and understood when I was able to confidently say what I needed, set limits, and explain why they were important. My relationships improved because I chose to bring them along with me instead of alienating them or assuming they should know what I needed. "Trying softer" means to lead with love and live with more intentionality and simplicity. So as you head into this week, lean away from the limiting belief of "trying too hard" and lean into this newly expanded belief: "I can choose to try softer and slow down to enjoy each moment that's gifted to me. I welcome the shifting seasons of my life, and I'm inviting others to see the beauty in theirs." Personal Rhythm Launching Point Creating your own personal rhythm will help you live happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. Choose one action step below today and find your rhythm. Increase Your Self-Awareness: Take a personal assessment test like CliftonStrengths. Make it a priority to learn about yourself and increase your self-awareness. Schedule In Reflection Time: Journal regularly. Keep track of how what you've learned about yourself manifests (for better or worse) in your daily tasks and interactions. What's working? What's not? What are you grateful for? What life lessons did you learn? What could you do differently to increase your awareness of yourself and others? What limiting beliefs do you have that hold you back from the life you want to live? Experiment Freely and Often: Give yourself permission to experiment by creating a new daily or weekly rhythm. Think about what unhealthy or old habits you'd like to replace with better ones and what is manageable in this current season. The big results you're looking for never come from one grand gesture every couple of weeks or months but from consistent small actions every day. What could those be for you? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read More. Gina Lokken, ICF PCC, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Gina is passionate about helping female entrepreneurs, business professionals, and leaders infuse God into their everyday personal and professional lives so that they can become the person He designed them to be. She firmly believes business and faith do not have to be separate, and business does not have to be boring. Gina specializes in strengths-based leadership and team building, creating cultures of joy through neuroscience practices, leadership and communication training, and creative coaching methodologies that propel her client's past what they originally thought was possible!

Written by: Andrea Lewis, Senior Level Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. As the sun is about to set on the current year, many personal coaches, business coaches, sports coaches, and other types of coaches have been discussing with their people to start setting up the next year by reviewing their strengths, weaknesses, wins, losses, goals, and intentions of the present year and from that determine what they want to do to have a better, if not, great new year. The problem that may arise from this goal setting or intention setting is that the person may be creating those goals or intentions from an emotional place that may not be in the present moment but hanging the space of a negative past mindset. And if that is the case, that person may be setting themselves up for a repeat of the current year, which may not be what they want to design. Especially if the current year was not so great. This is where the daily if not every few hours declarations come in. I use the word declarations as opposed to affirmations because some may have some sort of internal negative bias towards the word, affirmations, and may tune out. The definition of declare is, to make something known formally, officially, or explicitly (thefreedictionary.com). The scientific “research has shown that talking to yourself out loud can motivate you to move forward with your goals, help you focus on a task at hand, and combat self-criticism”. (Science-Backed Reasons to Say Your Self-Talk Out Loud | Shine (theshineapp.com). The Biblical reason is from Proverbs 18:21, “The tongue has the power of life and death”. Which in my humble opinion means that what you speak out loud brings life or death. Blessing or cursing. Whether on yourself or others. To make your declarations more powerful, when verbalizing, go out into nature, such as the woods, beach, a park, a reservoir, etc., and say, out loud, your declarations while walking or running. Why? When you add the movement of the body, you are syncing the mind and body to agree with your declarations and powerfully create emotion. Have you ever had something exciting happen to you and you are very animated, happy, and just energized? And you can feel the air around you fill with that excitement? So much so that anyone with you feels it too? Look at the word emotion. E – motion. Energy in motion. When you do that, it helps cement what you are saying in your energy systems (and we have 9 of them), your body, and your brain. Powerful!! Now, I’ve tried this, but I always wait until no one is around, because otherwise, I feel silly and embarrassed. I’m not at the point where I don’t give a hoot what others say. I’m getting there, but not quite. So, I completely understand if you have some hesitancy about doing so! I hope you do try it a few times as it will create grace and ease in taking the inspired action(s) towards those declarations for a healthy, abundant, and joyous New Year. That’s how speaking declarations out loud can help you change your mindset to one that will help you create a better new year from a more powerful internal place. This works for everyone. Declarations are very powerful! However, they won’t work if you have that negative nelly voice in the background laughing and saying, “Yeah, right! Who are you trying to kid? You’re no powerhouse! You’re just some little black girl, who doesn’t realize she should just sit down and be quiet and go along to get along!” So how can you quiet that negative nelly voice and have your declarations be effective? Of course, by using EFT Tapping to tap and release the negative nelly voice. When you don’t deal with and release the negative nelly voice, it makes your declarations non-effective. The negative nelly voice is the subconscious keeping you safe and in your comfort zone. And as I’ve heard recently, everything you want is outside of your comfort zone. What do I say for my declarations, you may be asking? A lot of my affirmations are based on who God says I am and are from the Bible. I am sure that you can find similar declarations in whatever spiritual book you read. I say God or Abba, but you can substitute who you talk to, Universe, Source, or Spirit. Here are a few of mine: I am created in the image and likeness of God, I am of God, want to know what God looks like? Look at me, I am victorious, I am strong, I am courageous, I am funny, I am kind, I am patient, I am forgiving, I am powerful, I am sound minded, I am loving, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I am marvelous, I am gorgeous, I am intelligent, I am capable, I am surrounded by the best most amazing people who have my best and highest good at heart, I am beautiful, the forces and people for me are greater and louder than those against me and God reveals them to me and to others, I am bold, I am well able, I am more than a conqueror, I am worthy, I am deserving of all that God has for me, I am more than enough, I am a strategic thinker, I am a relator, I am a great learner, I am empathetic, I am fabulous, I am a breath of fresh air, all things are possible, everything always works out for me, always has and always will, I am quirky, I am a co-creator with God of my life, I am thriving, I am healthy, I am whole, I am complete, I am forgiven, I am fun, I am adventurous, I am a traveler, I am a child of God, I am a warrior, I am a business woman, I am a CEO, I am beloved and loved by God, I am blessed, I am highly favored, I am the best and brightest of all God’s children, I am creative, I am a photographer, and I am a skier. You get the idea! This is especially important to practice and to teach to your daughters and sons as they come against peer pressure and bullying issues. This will help them to know who they are for themselves and not by someone else’s judgement. Your play work is to create your list. Ask your family to create their list and have fun with it. Someone takes the other's list and reads it back to them while using their name. For example, “Jessica, you are loved and loveable”. Or “Jonathan, you are courageous and funny”. Have fun with it! And take note of anywhere the negative nelly voice pops up and tap on it until it releases, and it no longer pops up when you state that declaration. Remember, diamonds are made under pressure, and we are all diamonds! Let’s shine on! Buckle up! Here we go! Let’s tap! Side of the hand. Even though I hear this negative nelly voice when I say my affirmation…I deeply approve and accept myself Side of the hand. Even though I hear this negative nelly voice when I say my affirmation…it’s okay Side of the hand. Even though I hear this negative nelly voice when I say my affirmation…I deeply love myself anyway Top of the head. This negative nelly voice Eyebrow. This negative nelly voice, be quiet already Side of the eye. This negative nelly voice, shut up! Under the eye. This negative nelly voice, cállate! Under the nose. I’m not feeling this affirmation Under the bottom lip. This affirmation doesn’t feel true, and I don’t know why Collar bone. I’m feeling triggered by this affirmation Under the arm. I wonder why? Tap the inner wrists together. Why isn’t this true for me? Tap the back of the wrists together. Negative nelly, what do you want me to know? Take a deep breath. How do you feel? What came up for you? Did another emotion appear? Do you have the same emotion, but now you feel it somewhere else? What is the intensity level now? These are the probing detective-like questions the EFT Tapping practitioner will ask you. And you continue tapping. That’s a traditional EFT Tapping round. Normally you would then continue until the intensity of the feeling or emotion is down to zero. Let’s do another round. Side of the hand. Even though negative nellies are still popping up and that is okay Side of the hand. Even though negative nellies are a nuisance to hear and listen to, I’m still okay Side of the hand. Even though the negative nellies are annoying, and I feel bad, I am willing to love and accept myself anyway Top of the head. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself at powerful Eyebrow. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as strong Side of the eye. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as courageous Under the eye. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as sound-minded Under the nose. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as loveable Under the bottom lip. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as kind Collar bone. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as triumphant Under the arm. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as worthy and deserving Tap inner wrists together. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as being a masterpiece Tap the back of the wrists together. Negative nelly, I’m choosing to see myself as being created by God in his image and likeness Take a deep cleansing breath How do you feel after those 2 rounds? Better? Let’s tap one more time without the set-up statement. Side of the hand. I’m choosing to see myself as virtuous Top of the head. I’m choosing to see myself as wonderful Eyebrow. I’m choosing to see myself as powerful Side of the eye. I’m choosing to see myself as courageous Under the eye. I’m choosing to see myself as handsome Under the nose. I’m choosing to see myself as bold Under the bottom lip. I’m choosing to see myself as strong Under the arm. I’m choosing to see myself as loved Tap inner wrists together. I’m choosing to see myself as worthy Tap the back of the wrists together. I’m choosing to see myself as a diamond Take a deep cleansing breath Feeling empowered? I sure hope you do!! Keep looking up at the sky!! Each month, this magazine will feature a new EFT Tapping round or two from Andrea for you to follow along. Find out more about how Andrea can guide you to embrace change and boldly and joyfully live beyond the expectations of family, society, and culture to live life on your terms at her website, EFT Tapping | Online EFT Classes | Solace4me Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and on her 30-minute online radio program, The Power of EFT Tapping, on Sundays, 12PM EDT, on Live365 Radio Stream WNJR-Radio.Com | WNJR-Radio.Com (wnjradio.com). Read more from Andrea! Andrea Lewis, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Andrea D. Lewis is an Accredited Certified Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner (EFT Tapping) and often states that, "EFT Tapping is an answer to a prayer." She started using EFT Tapping in 2014 when she searched for a way to relieve her fears and worries that often left her feeling reluctant to leave her home to go to work or do other outside activities. She was so encouraged by the results she received from 50 days of 10-15 minutes of daily tapping that she wanted to share this newfound knowledge with others and became certified. EFT Tapping does not do the healing. It just releases the stuck emotional charge of past events to help the body do what it was created to do, which is to heal itself and to enable the person to move forward confidently in life. You can listen to her weekly internet radio program, The Power of EFT Tapping, on Sundays at 12PM EST on wnjr-radio.com. Her mission: To help clients thrive by being emotionally healthy and happily engaged in their life.

Written by: Erica Walter , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Our past informs how we see the world and the people in it. As a result, almost everyone enters a relationship with some kind of "baggage". When those bags contain unresolved emotional wounds, couples can lose hope that a happy, healthy relationship is possible for them. Why? Because healthy relationships require healthy individuals. Unresolved emotional trauma left unrecognized and untreated will lurk around damaging and disrupting seemingly loving relationships. Some people are unaware that they have unresolved emotional trauma. Often their negative behaviors, problems with communication, and constant conflict are accredited to their personality; when in reality, it's their brain's attempt to keep them safe from feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. One can only imagine how disheartening this can be for the other person in the relationship who is requesting a change or expressing relational needs. However, all is not lost; healing is possible. Emotional wholeness is within reach when unresolved emotional trauma is acknowledged and addressed. 4 Ways Unresolved Emotional Trauma may be Affecting Your Relationship Meeting Emotional Needs In 'The Marriage Clinic', Gottman writes, "The emotional language people have for emotion is very closely allied with the richness of their emotional experience." Often, when a person has experienced emotional neglect and/or wounds as a child, they learn to invalidate their feelings and emotional needs. This can result in an inability to validate the emotions or emotional needs of others as an adult. When this happens, emotional talk has no place in the relationship. Emotional safety is one of the most important facets of a healthy relationship. When emotional needs aren't met, there can be a lack of connectedness, which results in resentment and ultimately the dissolution of the relationship. Playing the Victim Conflict can be very scary for a person who has experienced wounds because of emotional trauma. When faced with conflict or a request to meet their partner's emotional needs, they may say, “Why am I never enough for you? or I never do things right." They may even go so far as to denigrate themselves so that you feel pressure to abandon yourself and the whole conversation to rescue them from their overwhelming feelings of inadequacy. This also halts any progress toward the assumed common goal of resolution. This can cause the other person to avoid bringing things up altogether, which ultimately results in a sense of loneliness due to an inability to engage with their partner in a meaningful way. This victim role can also be a result of childhood emotional neglect. Difficult emotions are harder to handle if yours were never handled appropriately. Retreating Expressing feelings of anger, disappointment or worry may cause a person with unresolved emotional trauma to retreat, rather than attempt to meet their partner's need at that moment. Retreating or shutting down can be due to an overwhelming sense of blame or an effort to steer clear of confrontation. This could be the result of growing up in a household where there was a lot of yelling, adult tantrums, emotional incest, or emotional neglect. In an attempt to make those feelings of guilt or blame cease, your partner may shut down or even walk away. You Become Enemies We all get angry with our partners and may even say things we don't mean when emotions are high. Someone with unresolved emotional trauma may take this to an extreme. For a person with an unresolved emotional wound, conflict or a complaint can be a reminder of this gaping wound that was never properly attended to and the deep feelings of not being truly cared for that come with it. When this feeling is triggered, they feel attacked and therefore attack their partner. This can look like bringing up insecurities, yelling, name-calling, and/or gaslighting. I often hear couples complain that when it's good, it's really good, but when it's bad, it's really bad. This is because the relationship appears to volley between feelings of deep love and hate. When this occurs, it's hard to talk about important things in relationships, such as child rearing and finances, or to resolve conflict healthily. It can also cause the other person in the relationship to assume more responsibilities at home or even take responsibility for the health of the relationship to avoid the high negative emotion that comes with attempting to discuss these topics or other important issues with their partner. Due to the high volatility of these relationships, emotional and or physical abuse can be the result and ultimately cause the dismantling of the relationship or worse. Conclusion The ability to repair during conflict is the best determination of health in a relationship. These behaviors, along with others not mentioned, can make it hard for any problems that arise in the relationship to reach repair or resolution. Since our brains are always trying to protect us, it can be hard for an emotionally wounded person to realize and/or accept that their behavior is a problem. Recognizing these behaviors and how they affect your relationships can make a world of difference in not only romantic relationships but familial and platonic friendships. Unacknowledged emotional trauma/wounds can make repair seem unattainable, but there is hope. Whether you recognize this behavior in yourself or your partner, seek help from a trained Trauma Therapist and be well on your way to a healthy and more meaningful relationship and a better sense of who you are as an individual. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Erica! Erica Walter, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Erica Walter is a Licensed Therapist, Wife, and Mother of four who recognizes that some of life's hurdles are just plain unavoidable but giving up should not be an option. Prior to becoming a therapist, Erica spent more than 15 years working in Corporate America. This experience, coupled with an array of personal challenges has enriched her value as a therapist. Erica graduated from John Brown University with a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy and is also a Certified Trauma Specialist. Leading clients through self-discovery, and helping people understand how to have healthy relationships, despite past trauma is her passion.

Written by: Nicole Kalil, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Imagine that someone out in the world is walking around with your confidence, but you don’t know who it is. They’ve got it in their pocket or hidden in their bag, and life’s not-so-fun game is that you need to find them and get them to give it to you. Maybe it’s the person you’ve got a crush on or one of your best friends. Maybe it’s the bully who made fun of you, or a complete stranger you meet at a bar after work. Maybe it’s your boss, who has it hidden in their desk drawer and is waiting to present it to you alongside your promotion. Maybe it’s your parents, and they’ve been secretly withholding it from you this whole time. All you have to do to win the confidence con is figure out who or what has it, like some incessant game of Where’s Waldo? But once you find it, you still have to prove yourself worthy—the right clothes, the right car, the right job, the right house, the right marriage, or the right number on the scale—and they’ll hand it over so you can finally feel good about yourself. Does this sound like a game you’d want to play? Of course not. It’s ridiculous, but so many of us are playing this game and operating as if it’s how confidence works. Trusting yourself is not a “If you go first, I’ll do it, too,” proposition. There isn’t anyone or anything to prove yourself to, wait for, or find. True confidence is built internally and involves one person. We’ve been conned into seeking it from all the wrong sources, especially as women. In this article, I’ll offer specific strategies for building real confidence from the inside. The empowering kind that’s based on trust, isn’t conditional, and can’t be taken away. The kind that’s solely in our hands, not hiding from us. 1. Keep Your Commitments When you ask anyone how someone could earn their trust, they’ll answer with some version of, “They’d have to keep their commitments.” They do what they say they will, their word matters, and you can count on them. So a phenomenal way to build internal trust is to keep the commitments we make to others and the ones we make to ourselves. As women, we tend to be better about honoring the commitments we make to others; we put our internal agreements on the backburner. If it has to do with our family, kids, friends, and our work, we often do what we say we will. But if it’s something that impacts only us, we can get pretty loosey-goosey with our word. When you don’t follow through on the commitments you make to yourself, you’re breaking trust and chipping away at your confidence. Important note here: this is not about perfection. You are human, and you’ll let yourself and others down on occasion. Your opportunity here is to give yourself grace, practice forgiveness, learn, grow, and be better next time. 2. Create and Communicate Boundaries Another way to build internal confidence is to set and communicate healthy boundaries. I’ve seen over and over that when people communicate their boundaries, it actually increases both trust and respect. But, I hear from so many women that they have a hard time saying no and worry that it’ll negatively impact their relationships. Many of us have been socialized to be people pleasers and martyrs, so we feel like we’re never supposed to say no. Every time we say yes to something, however, we’re saying no to something else, and it’s usually something that matters to us. As an example, you might be asked to head the PTA at your child’s school, but you know you’d have no time to read the books or do the workouts you’ve been wanting to if you did. In moments like these, we have a hard time saying no, often because we feel selfish or feel like we’re disappointing someone. But the reality is you’ll either disappoint them or yourself. An even bigger reality is that in saying no, you may gain your own respect and theirs. Plan out what you’ll say ahead of time, so the next time someone asks, you’ll have a prepared response and won’t automatically default to, “Sure, I’ll do it!” 3. Practice Self-Care Yes, I’m jumping on the self-care bandwagon! However, how self-care is being modeled and encouraged has become a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I’m not talking about getting your hair and nails done or having frequent spa days. If that’s self-care to you, great. It’s not the entirety of what self-care means, though, and it has an element of privilege that makes it seem like only people with excess time and money can practice self-care. I’m talking about things that actually fill your cup and bring you energy, and they don’t have to be expensive or complicated. Self-care for you might be deep breathing. It might be moving your body, getting outside, or reading a book. For me, it’s exercising regularly (even though I hate exercising), reading, and traveling. It’s making sure I have time in a week just for myself, which is necessary for me as an introvert. What is it for you? What fills your cup and gives you energy? I’d also like to point out the word “practice” is crucial here, because self-care is ongoing, and practice is how we get better at just about anything. 4. Follow the 3 Ps I call my fourth suggestion for building confidence internally the three Ps: Prepare, Plan, and Practice. I pass them on with a word of caution, though, because they will turn into derailers when taken too far. Being prepared is great, but overpreparing will chip away at your confidence. Having a plan helps, but overplanning, or being overly attached to the plan, will become problematic. And for the love of all things holy, practice, but keep in mind that the point of practicing is to do the thing—so make sure you don’t get stuck perpetually practicing. In all three cases, these Ps should lead to action. The 3 Ps are about education, knowledge, and personal and professional development. They create internal trust that you can then execute on. Nervous to meet with your employer to ask for that promotion and raise? Prepare your talking points, plan for possible questions or objections, and practice what you’re going to say. Just remember, in order for it to be confidence-building, you actually need to go ask for that promotion and raise! The Benefits of Building True Confidence Are Endless You’re the only person who can choose confidence for yourself. You are the creator, the decider, and the giver of your own confidence. Confidence is not built by collecting external evidence of our worth or value. Validation is for parking. It is not required for confidence. When you make a serious effort to do the work of building real confidence, the benefits you’ll experience will impact every area of your life—your career, your family, your relationships, and even your hobbies. You’ll enjoy more peace and freedom in your life instead of beating yourself up while seeking external validation. You’ll make better decisions. You’ll take risks. You’ll chase bigger dreams. When your confidence is in your pocket, you’ll know when and how to leave the things that chip away at it behind. For more advice on building internal confidence, you can find Nicole's book, "Validation Is for Parking" on Amazon. Nicole Kalil is an in-demand speaker and the dynamic host of the This Is Woman’s Work podcast. Known as the Confidence Sherpa, Nicole reveals how-to strategies that set her apart from other self-help experts. Previously a Fortune 100 C-suite executive, she’s helped thousands of women reclaim their confidence so they can live authentically, both personally and professionally. Nicole lives with her husband and daughter in Andover, Massachusetts. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Nicole! Nicole Kalil, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nicole’s passion for eliminating gender expectations and redefining “Woman’s Work” is both what keeps her up at night, and what gets her up in the morning. Well that, and an abundant amount of coffee. An in-demand speaker, leadership strategist, respected coach, and host of the “This Is Woman’s Work” Podcast, her stalker-like obsession with confidence sets her apart from the constant stream of experts telling us to BE confident. She actually tells how you build it, and gives actionable tools – not just stories – to BECOME confident. A fugitive of the C-suite at a Fortune 100 company, she has coached hundreds of women in business, which has given her insight as to what – structurally, systemically and socially – is and isn’t serving women and leaders within an organization.