Written by Saaid Radwan, Behavior Analyst and Family Consultant Saaid Radwan is a Behavior Analyst, Neurodiversity and Family Consultant, and CPD Certified Trainer with 20+ years of international experience across the UAE, MENA, Europe, and Central Asia. He specializes in ABA, communication support, emotional regulation, and family-centered care, advocating inclusive, lifelong development. Inclusion policies for autistic individuals and those with neurodevelopmental conditions often promise progress, but families, educators, and professionals still face long waits, limited support, and fragmented systems. This article examines the global gap between policy and lived reality and presents a collaborative blueprint for meaningful, measurable inclusion. “Inclusion is not defined by intention. It is defined by what changes in a person’s daily life.” The policy promise vs. The playground Inclusion policies for autistic individuals and those with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) have never looked better on paper. Governments worldwide have signed conventions, passed laws, and made bold commitments to education, healthcare, and social participation. The intentions are unmistakably noble. But step into any school corridor, any clinic waiting room, or any family’s living room, and the story shifts. Parents still wait years for a diagnosis. Teachers still face classrooms of forty with zero specialized support. Therapists still burn out under impossible caseloads. Autistic adults still face unemployment rates that would make any economist wince. The gap between what policymakers promise and what families experience is not a failure of will. It is a failure of translation. As my coauthor Mounia Saghir and I have witnessed across 25 years in the field, spanning clinical practice, family consulting, and policy engagement across continents, the distance between a policy document and a child’s daily reality is measured not in pages, but in years of waiting, layers of bureaucracy, and countless missed opportunities for early intervention. “Between the political decision and the lived experience of families, several intermediary levels intervene: institutions, school settings, educational and medical and social teams, available resources, and organizational constraints. At each stage, the original intent may be partially transformed, slowing or complicating real access to rights.” – Mounia Saghir, France By the numbers: Why this matters now Let’s talk scale. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 78 million people worldwide live with autism, roughly 1% of the global population. Yet access to support remains profoundly unequal, driven not by biology but by diagnostic infrastructure. The diagnosis desert Perhaps nowhere is the gap between policy and practice more visible than in diagnostic pathways. In Scotland, children wait a median of 525 days for an autism assessment, meaning a child referred today may enter adolescence before receiving support. In England, as of mid 2025, over 236,000 people were waiting for an autism assessment, with 89% waiting longer than the recommended 13 weeks. The average wait now exceeds 17 months. In Australia, parents navigate an average of 12 months and eight appointments to secure a diagnosis, often delayed by “wait and see” advice. Across Europe, ADHD diagnosis waits average 20 months, stretching to nearly 32 months in the UK. “A child referred for assessment today may enter adolescence before receiving a diagnosis. During this window, critical early intervention opportunities are lost.” The policy says, “early identification saves lives.” The reality says, “Please wait.” The employment cliff If diagnosis is the first gate, employment is the final measure of inclusion, and the numbers are sobering. In the UK, only 34% of autistic individuals are in employment, compared to 82% of people without disabilities. Globally, approximately 32% of autistic adults report paid employment, while 59% have never been employed. Autistic graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed after 15 months, and those who do work face the largest pay gap of any disability group, earning roughly a third less than their peers without disabilities. “77% of unemployed autistic people want to work. The intention is there. The structures are not.” The ABA access divide Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) remains the most evidence-based intervention for autism, yet access is deeply unequal. In the United States, ABA utilization grew 267% from 2019 to 2024, yet more than 50% of U.S. counties have zero BCBAs, or Board Certified Behavior Analysts. In 2023, there were 65,300 BCBA job postings, but only 66,300 credentialed professionals nationwide, meaning that if every BCBA changed jobs, gaps would still remain. Full-time ABA therapy can cost up to $60,000 annually, which is insurmountable without comprehensive insurance coverage. Children from lower-income, ethnic minority, and rural backgrounds experience diagnostic delays of two to three years on average, directly impacting intervention timing. The invisible workforce Behind every statistic is a family. Families are burning out. A 2025 Autism Europe survey found that over 70% of caregivers reported that caregiving had taken a toll on their health, describing isolation, chronic stress, and exhaustion. In South Africa, 36% of caregivers reported frequent stress, and 62% experienced uncertainty about their role. Yet the majority felt a strong sense of responsibility to do more. “These are not numbers. These are parents who navigate bureaucratic mazes, fight for school placements, coordinate between fragmented services, and still show up every day for their children, often without recognition, respite, or support.” Why the gap persists: A systems view Two decades of promise, persistent gaps: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), now 20 years old, has been ratified by nearly all nations. Yet a meta-analysis of 51 national situational analyses reveals that 92% of countries report weak enforcement, limited capacity, and insufficient budget allocation. As Dr. Ola Abu Al Ghaib, Director of the UN Global Disability Fund, notes: “Twenty years is not only an anniversary. It is a full generation. For millions of persons with disabilities, (the promise) remains distant. Rights still exist on paper, but are not always financed. Services remain fragmented. Data is still missing.” Key systemic bottlenecks include: Medical and charitable understandings of disability dominate policy discourse. Disability assessment systems remain predominantly medical, not rights-based. Lack of costing and disability budgeting is preventing effective implementation. Weak or nonexistent coordination mechanisms leading to fragmented, donor-driven initiatives. Inclusive service systems remain underdeveloped, with continued reliance on segregated models. Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) lack the capacity to participate meaningfully. The education paradox: In South Africa, progressive policies like White Paper 6 (2001) mandate inclusive education. Yet in rural Tzaneen Circuit, mainstream educators report feeling “lost,” “helpless,” and “overwhelmed,” with no special materials, no assistants, and no therapists. One educator described their approach as “trial and error.” In the UK, the National Autistic Society’s 2021 Education Report found that 74% of parents did not believe their autistic child was fully supported at school, while only 8% of autistic children believed their peers had an adequate understanding of autism. Autistic children are twice as likely to experience school exclusion. “It’s very difficult to give enough attention to a learner with autism when you have forty other children who also need help.” – South African Educator, Tzaneen Circuit The policy says “every child deserves a chance to learn in a mainstream school.” The reality says, “It’s very difficult to give enough attention.” The professional’s dilemma: Professionals, including teachers, therapists, clinicians, and social workers, are often highly committed but face structural constraints: lack of specialized training, high caseloads, poor interagency coordination, and limited resources. As Mounia Saghir observes from her practice across clinical and educational settings in Europe, “Professionals are often engaged with conviction but confronted with significant structural constraints: lack of specialized training, high workload, lack of coordination, and limited resources. In this context, the difficulty does not lie in individual commitment, but in the systemic conditions of implementation.” In Ireland, the 2025 review of the Joint Committee on Autism found that while the Autism Innovation Strategy (2024) represents progress, “significant gaps remain in delivering independent living supports.” Workforce retention remains a critical challenge, with international recruitment campaigns now being deployed. A five-pillar blueprint for closing the gap The challenge is not to pit actors against one another, but to strengthen the bridges between them. Based on global evidence and field experience spanning 25 years across clinical, home, and international settings, we propose the following collaborative roadmap: Pillar 1: Family-centered partnership, not token consultation Families evaluate effectiveness not through regulatory texts, but through their daily reality: access to supports, quality of schooling, coordination between professionals, and genuine consideration of their child’s needs. Actionable steps: Family representatives should be embedded in policy design, monitoring, and evaluation committees at both national and local levels. Every diagnostic and intervention service should establish family advisory boards to ensure that families have a meaningful voice in shaping services and improving outcomes. Plain language rights guides should also be developed in multiple languages and codesigned with families to make information more accessible. Peer support networks can further strengthen this approach by connecting experienced families with newly diagnosed families who may need guidance, reassurance, and practical support. Service quality should be measured through family-reported outcome measures, PROMs, and not only through process metrics. This ensures that evaluation reflects the lived experiences of families and the actual impact of services on their daily lives. “To reduce the gap between policy and reality, we must first strengthen the place of families as full partners in evaluating systems.” – Mounia Saghir, BCBA Pillar 2: Workforce development, from general awareness to specialized competence The global shortage of trained professionals is not a staffing problem. It is a training infrastructure problem. Actionable steps: University-level ABA and autism-specialized programs should be expanded with government-subsidized placements to increase access to high-quality training. International BCBA certification pathways should also be developed for professionals in underserved regions, helping build specialized competence where services are currently limited. Autism-specific continuing education should be mandated for all educators, healthcare providers, and social workers. This would help ensure that professionals across systems are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to support autistic individuals and those with neurodevelopmental conditions more effectively. Tele-supervision models should be created to extend BCBA oversight to remote and rural areas. National workforce registries with geographic mapping should also be established to identify and address service deserts, ensuring that workforce planning is guided by real community needs. Pillar 3: Measurement based on outcomes, not outputs Current systems often measure what is easy to count: number of assessments completed, hours of therapy delivered, and policies published. What matters is what changes in the person’s life. As Mounia Saghir emphasizes: “We must foster a culture of measurement based on real observable outcomes in people’s lives, rather than solely on the means deployed.” Actionable steps: Systems should shift from process metrics, such as wait times and session counts, to outcome metrics, such as communication gains, independence skills, and quality of life indices. Standardized outcome measurement frameworks should also be implemented across education, health, and social care to ensure consistency and accountability. Annual national inclusion dashboards should be published with disaggregated data by region, income, and demographic group. This would help identify gaps more clearly and ensure that inclusion efforts are measured against the realities experienced by different communities. Implementation science research should also be funded to better understand what works, where, and for whom. Funding should be aligned with results-based contracts for service providers, ensuring that resources are connected to meaningful, measurable outcomes in people’s lives. Pillar 4: Integrated systems, breaking the silos Autistic individuals and their families navigate a fragmented landscape: health diagnoses, education support, social care, and employment services. Each system has its own language, criteria, and waiting lists. Actionable steps: Single points of access, or SPoA, should be established for children and adults, integrating disability and mental health services. Shared electronic care records should also be created with family-controlled access to improve coordination while respecting family involvement and consent. Joint protocols between education, health, and social care should be developed with clear accountability. Each family should also be assigned a navigator or care coordinator, particularly during the first two years after diagnosis, when guidance and continuity of support are especially important. Budgets should be aligned across ministries to prevent cost shifting and service gaps. This would help ensure that responsibility is shared across systems and that families are not left navigating disconnected services on their own. Pillar 5: Global equity, from high-income islands to universal access The disparity between high-income and low-income regions is not a resource limitation. It is a priority limitation. Actionable steps: Global autism support funds should be established, modeled on Gavi or the Global Fund, with country-matched financing. Telehealth and digital ABA platforms should also be deployed to extend evidence-based intervention to underserved regions. South-to-South knowledge exchange networks should be created to link experienced autism service systems with emerging ones. Culturally adapted intervention protocols should also be developed, rather than relying on single model imports that may not reflect local realities. Local OPD capacity building should be supported to ensure meaningful representation in national planning and budget processes. This would help strengthen equity, ownership, and long-term sustainability in autism support systems worldwide. An open invitation Reducing the gap between public policy and field reality requires a collaborative approach, grounded in data, and centered on the lived experience of the individuals concerned. It is under this condition that inclusion can move from a stated objective to a tangible reality. “The issue is not to oppose actors against one another, but to strengthen the bridges between them. Effective inclusion does not rest on intentions or frameworks alone, but on their concrete impact: autonomy, social participation, quality of life, and real access to learning.” Our commitment: To work with any government, any center, any organization, or any family anywhere in the world to ensure that every child, every adolescent, and every adult on the autism spectrum receives the support, respect, and opportunity they deserve. The policies are written. The frameworks exist. The science is clear. What remains is the will to bridge the gap together. “Reducing the gap between public policy and field reality requires a collaborative approach, anchored in data and centered on the lived experience of the people concerned. It is under this condition that inclusion can move from a stated objective to a tangible reality.” – Mounia Saghir and Saaid Radwan Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Saaid Radwan Saaid Radwan, Behavior Analyst and Family Consultant Saaid Radwan is a Behavior Analyst, Neurodiversity and Family Consultant, and CPD Certified Trainer with over 20 years of international experience across the UAE, MENA, Europe, and Central Asia. He specializes in ABA, communication support, emotional regulation, and family-centered care across the lifespan. Saaid is passionate about inclusive education, early intervention, and empowering families and professionals through practical, compassionate strategies. His work bridges evidence-based practice with real-world impact.

Invincible Tears eBook by Julius Clark Jones is a raw, non-fiction memoir and anthology that exposes the harsh realities of gang culture, trauma, and redemption. The book serves as an intervention tool aimed at saving at-risk youth and guiding parents to recognize behavioral warning signs. What the book is about Authentic gang narratives: The book compiles raw, unglorified, and uncut stories from men and women across the United States (including regions like New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Virginia, and Los Angeles) who were formerly immersed in major gang factions like the East Coast and West Coast Bloods. De-glorification of street life: It directly counters the glamorous portrayal of street violence often found in movies and the music industry, presenting the heavy legal, emotional, and physical tolls of that lifestyle instead. Deep dive into severe trauma: It explores the root causes and lasting consequences of severe personal struggles, including trauma, PTSD, bullying, gang violence, incarceration, betrayal, and sexual assault. Parental and community advocacy: A core theme is empowering parents to look out for behavioral warning signs in children and teenagers to prevent them from becoming statistics. It also passionately advocates for fathers to remain actively involved in their children's lives. Spiritual redemption: Drawing from Julius Clark Jones' personal experience serving time in state and federal prisons, the book emphasizes accountability, breaking generational curses, and achieving personal transformation through faith and spiritual guidance. What readers and reviewers are saying Public reception highlights the book as an emotionally gripping and highly effective educational resource. "A real page-turner": According to readers on platforms like Barnes & Noble and community readers, it is frequently called an addictive read that they "couldn't put down" due to its intense graphic honesty and rapid narrative pacing. An inspiring testimony: Audiences view the book as a powerful firsthand "testimony" rather than just a narrative. They praise the author's clear dedication and passion for community leadership and youth advocacy. A crucial tool for inner-city youth: Reviewers emphasize that the book is highly inspirational and motivational for urban youth. Readers state that it effectively teaches teenagers and young men how to overcome their past, make better life choices, and pursue their goals despite deep systemic challenges. The eBook version of Invincible Tears by Julius Clark Jones is distributed widely across multiple digital reading ecosystems. Major global eBook retailers Barnes & Noble Nook: Offered via the Barnes & Noble Digital Marketplace for Nook devices and reading applications. Apple Books: Available for iOS and macOS devices through the integrated Apple Books storefront. Google Play Books: Purchasable globally for Android devices and web browsers via Google Play Help instructions. Kobo: Available on the Rakuten Kobo store for Kobo e-readers and its multi-platform reading application. Independent and open platforms Smashwords: Accessible on the Smashwords Profile Portal, providing multiple DRM-free formats like EPUB and PDF for broad device compatibility. Bookshop.org: Can be ordered digitally or tracked via the author's official storefront on the Julius Clark Jones Bookshop. International platforms Casa del Libro: Distributed globally to Spanish and European readers via the Casa del Libro Storefront, supporting online web reading and Vivlio e-readers. Digital library platforms If you want to borrow the eBook for free through a public library network, the title is distributed to institutions through the main library catalog systems: OverDrive & Libby: You can search for the title on the Libby App by OverDrive using your local library card login. Hoopla Digital: Available for instant streaming or borrowing if your local public library partners with the Hoopla Library Platform. eBook Website

Written by Ebony McNeil, Men's Mental Health Enthusiast, Life Coach, and Non-Profit Leader Ebony McNeil is the Founder & Executive Director of The Forge of Reading, a men's enhancement organization with a focus on men's mental health, transparency, and positive identity creation. He is a community leader with a focus on sending men back into the community as the best version of themselves so they can positively impact those around them. Accountability is often seen as admitting when we are wrong, but true accountability goes deeper. This article explores how a man's identity shapes his choices, values, motives, and ability to take responsibility with honesty, integrity, and purpose. One of the greatest reasons men struggle with accountability is not a lack of character. It is a lack of identity. Accountability begins long before a mistake is made. It begins with knowing who you are. Many men, especially young men, struggle to take ownership of their actions because they have allowed outside influences to define them. Social media, peer groups, culture, relationships, and even family expectations begin shaping their decisions. When those decisions produce negative outcomes, those same outside influences become convenient excuses. The problem is not simply that they made a poor decision. The deeper problem is that they never made the decision from a place of knowing themselves. A man without a clear identity constantly searches for validation. He will often silence his own convictions in exchange for acceptance because belonging feels safer than standing alone. Instead of finding people who strengthen the man he is becoming, he looks for people who will tell him who he should be. That is where accountability begins to disappear. When your decisions are based on someone else's expectations, it becomes difficult to truly own the consequences. Identity gives accountability its foundation. A man who knows who he is also knows who he is not. That clarity filters his decisions before they are ever made. He doesn't have to debate every situation because his values have already made many of those decisions for him. While he will still make mistakes, they won't come from confusion about who he is. They'll come from being human. Too often, we reduce accountability to admitting we were wrong. We think accountability is saying, "I messed up," or "That was my fault." But that's only the surface. Real accountability asks deeper questions. Why did I make that decision? What belief was driving me? What was I trying to gain? What fear was I trying to avoid? Until those questions are answered, accountability remains incomplete. Identity allows a man to answer those questions honestly. It forces him to examine not only his actions but also the intentions behind them. Sometimes those intentions are good, but the decision was poor. Other times, the intentions themselves reveal insecurity, pride, fear, or the desire to gain approval from others. Without understanding his identity, a man can never fully understand the motives behind his decisions. When identity is secure, decisions become more consistent. They're no longer driven by emotion, pressure, or popularity. They're guided by principles, integrity, and purpose. Even when those decisions turn out to be wrong, a man can own them completely because he understands why he made them. That understanding allows him to adjust without losing himself. Society constantly presents men with an image of what they are supposed to be. The roles of protector, provider, leader, husband, and father have been distorted into unrealistic standards that often measure a man's worth by his income, possessions, status, or influence. Many men spend years chasing an image they never truly wanted because they've been convinced that's where their value is found. There is nothing wrong with ambition. There is nothing wrong with pursuing financial success. The danger comes when success becomes a substitute for identity. A man who believes his worth depends on what others think will eventually make decisions to impress people rather than honor his values. That may look like risky investments, unnecessary debt, overspending, career decisions driven by ego, or compromising his integrity for financial gain. On the surface, those decisions may seem like financial mistakes. At the root, they are identity problems. This is why accountability must reach deeper than behavior. Imagine a man who embezzles money from his employer. Everyone knows stealing is wrong. Simply admitting the crime is not the fullest expression of accountability. True accountability asks how he arrived there. What compromises did he make six months earlier? What lies did he tell himself? What insecurities convinced him he needed more? What identity was he trying to protect or create? Catastrophic failures are rarely the result of one impulsive decision. They are usually the product of hundreds of smaller decisions made long before anyone notices. Identity determines those small decisions. When a man has done the difficult internal work, through honest self-reflection, through God, and through surrounding himself with people who reinforce his values instead of reshaping them, he develops something that cannot be manufactured: peace. He no longer needs to perform for acceptance because he already knows who he is. That peace changes everything. It allows him to lead with confidence instead of insecurity. It allows him to admit when he's wrong without feeling like his identity is under attack. It allows him to receive correction without becoming defensive. Most importantly, it gives him the ability to take responsibility at the root instead of merely apologizing for the fruit. Real accountability isn't simply admitting that you made a mistake. Real accountability is understanding why you made it, identifying the beliefs that produced it, correcting those beliefs, and ensuring the same roots don't continue producing the same fruit. Identity is where that work begins. Follow me on Instagram and visit my website for more info! Read more from Ebony McNeil Ebony McNeil, Men's Mental Health Enthusiast, Life Coach, and Non-Profit Leader Ebony McNeil is a purpose-driven leader dedicated to empowering individuals and strengthening communities through intentional work with men in the community. Holding a Master’s degree and over twenty years in various leadership roles, Ebony brings both academic insight and real-world experience into every initiative he leads. He is deeply invested in advancing men’s mental health, recognizing the critical need for safe spaces where men can process, grow, and heal. As the driving force behind The Forge, he has created a platform focused on identity development, brotherhood, and accountability.

Written by Janie Terrazas, The Mindfulness Coach Janie Terrazas is a Mindfulness Coach and creator of PazMesa, a self-mastery guide to help you access inner peace, joy, vitality, and prosperity through mindful living and unconditional loving. For decades, the personal development and mental health industries have encouraged us to look inward, identify the origins of our pain, and understand the stories that shaped us. Today, many people can describe their attachment style, recognize their trauma responses, explain their triggers, and identify the childhood experiences that influenced the way they think, feel, and relate to others. Yet despite all of this insight, countless people quietly ask themselves the same question: "If I understand my trauma so well, why do I still feel trapped by it?" It is one of the most important questions in modern psychology because it challenges one of the most common assumptions about healing, that understanding automatically creates transformation. It doesn't. Understanding is incredibly valuable, but it is only the beginning. Healing requires something more. The body was never the enemy We live in a culture that celebrates pushing harder, suppressing discomfort, and overriding our own needs. Many people unknowingly develop an adversarial relationship with their bodies. They criticize their appearance, ignore exhaustion, dismiss emotional pain, and become frustrated when anxiety, tension, inflammation, fatigue, or illness interfere with their plans. Symptoms are treated as inconveniences. Emotions are viewed as weaknesses. Stress responses become evidence that something is wrong with them. Over time, this creates a subtle but exhausting civil war within ourselves. Ironically, the very systems we are fighting are often the systems trying to protect us. One of the most transformative shifts a person can make is recognizing that the body is not the enemy. It is the messenger. Every sensation, emotion, symptom, surge of anxiety, muscle contraction, racing heartbeat, and wave of exhaustion carries information. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with me?" we can begin asking a far more compassionate and useful question: "What is my body trying to tell me?" This perspective lies at the heart of the PazMesa philosophy. PazMesa means Peace Within, and one of its foundational principles is that healing does not come from conquering ourselves. It comes from reconnecting with ourselves. The mind, body, heart, and soul were never designed to compete for control. They were designed to function as an integrated system, working together to help us navigate life with greater awareness, resilience, authenticity, and peace. Your nervous system is protecting you, not punishing you Modern neuroscience has transformed our understanding of trauma and stress. Researchers studying attachment, neuroplasticity, and nervous system regulation have demonstrated that many behaviors we judge most harshly are actually adaptive survival responses. Anxiety, hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, dissociation, chronic muscle tension, digestive disturbances, sleep disruption, people pleasing, perfectionism, emotional suppression, and even the tendency to constantly scan a room for danger are often not signs that someone is broken. They are signs that the nervous system has learned to prioritize protection. Its primary responsibility is not happiness. It is survival. Whenever the brain perceives physical, emotional, relational, financial, or psychological danger, the nervous system automatically prepares the body to react. This process happens long before our conscious mind has the opportunity to reason through the situation. The body reacts first because survival has always depended upon speed, not analysis. The challenge is that the nervous system does not distinguish between a danger that happened twenty years ago and one that exists today. If early experiences repeatedly taught the body that the world was unpredictable, critical, neglectful, or unsafe, those protective patterns often remain active long after the original threat has disappeared. The nervous system continues running yesterday's survival software in today's life. Why understanding trauma doesn't automatically heal it One of the most important contributions of psychiatrist and trauma researcher Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is helping us recognize a truth that is both simple and profound: Understanding trauma is not the same as healing trauma. Many people spend years in therapy and personal growth. They can explain their attachment style with remarkable accuracy. They know why they become anxious. They understand where their perfectionism originated. They can identify their triggers before they happen. Yet they still brace before difficult conversations. They still grip the steering wheel on the way to family gatherings. They still apologize for taking up space. They still perform instead of simply being. Why? Because the nervous system is not a belief system. It is a survival system. Belief systems can change when we receive new information. Survival systems change when they accumulate enough lived experience to conclude that the environment has become safer than it once was. This distinction changes everything. Insight explains. Experience rewires. When children grow up in environments that feel unpredictable, emotionally unsafe, critical, chaotic, or traumatic, the nervous system does exactly what it was designed to do. It adapts. It develops protective strategies such as hypervigilance, bracing, people reading, perfectionism, emotional suppression, overachievement, caretaking, or constantly performing in order to earn love and avoid rejection. These behaviors are not personality flaws. They are intelligent adaptations that once served an important purpose. The difficulty is that those protective programs continue operating automatically. They do not disappear simply because we understand where they came from. The nervous system is not waiting for another explanation. It is waiting for evidence. Evidence that vulnerability will not lead to humiliation, that boundaries will not lead to abandonment, that mistakes will not lead to rejection. Evidence that authenticity is safer than performance, that rest is not dangerous, that the threat has passed. Insight tells us why we became the way we are. Experience teaches the body that it no longer has to stay that way. Those are not the same process. The missing piece is nervous system calibration This is where I believe one of the greatest gaps exists in today's healing culture. Much of the self-help industry is built around insight. Books, podcasts, journals, courses, and even many therapeutic conversations help us better understand ourselves. That understanding matters, but understanding alone rarely changes automatic survival responses. The nervous system recalibrates differently. It updates in graduated increments through small, repeated experiences of safety. A difficult conversation that doesn't end in rejection. A healthy boundary that strengthens rather than destroys a relationship. Feeling sadness without trying to suppress it. Allowing yourself to rest without guilt. Making a mistake and discovering you are still worthy of love. Speaking your truth and remaining connected. Each experience becomes another piece of evidence. Each repetition teaches the body something new. Over time, the nervous system quietly begins updating its predictions about the world. This is what I call gradual nervous system calibration, the process of teaching the body, through repeated lived experiences, that it no longer has to remain organized around survival. Healing is not a single breakthrough. It is thousands of small moments that gently rewrite the body's expectations of life. How do we give the nervous system new evidence? This question is central to the PazMesa methodology. Awareness opens the door. Practice walks through it. Rather than relying solely on intellectual understanding, PazMesa emphasizes daily experiences that help the nervous system accumulate evidence of safety. Through mindfulness, breathwork, nervous system regulation, movement, somatic awareness, healthy, safe REALationships, compassionate self observation, restorative practices, time in nature, and intentional moments of presence, we repeatedly teach the body something it may have rarely experienced before: "I am safe enough to stay present." One example is the PazMesa S.N.A.P. Tool: Stop and breathe. Notice and name. Accept and allow. Proceed mindfully. Rather than asking someone to simply think differently while overwhelmed, S.N.A.P. helps them interrupt automatic survival patterns and create a new embodied experience. Every repetition becomes another opportunity for the nervous system to discover that slowing down, feeling emotions, and responding intentionally can be safer than reacting automatically. Over time, these seemingly small moments compound into profound transformation. Peace is an embodied experience One of the greatest misconceptions about healing is believing that peace arrives when every symptom disappears. In reality, peace often begins much earlier. Peace is not the absence of anxiety, grief, uncertainty, or discomfort. Peace is the absence of internal war. A person can experience sadness without fighting it. They can experience fear without becoming consumed by it. They can feel uncertainty without abandoning themselves. When we stop treating our emotions, bodies, and nervous systems as enemies, we create the conditions where healing naturally unfolds. We replace criticism with curiosity, judgment with compassion, and resistance with acceptance. Eventually, the body no longer has to spend every moment preparing for danger. It can begin preparing for life. Final thoughts The journey toward healing is not about becoming someone different. It is about becoming safe enough to become fully yourself. Your body has never been working against you. It has been working tirelessly to protect you using the best information it had available at the time. Healing begins when we stop asking the body to obey the mind and instead invite the mind to partner with the body. Awareness opens the door. Embodiment walks through it. Insight reveals the wound. Practice creates new experiences. Repeated experiences become evidence. Evidence recalibrates the nervous system. As the nervous system learns that it no longer has to protect you from a world that no longer exists, something extraordinary begins to happen. The armor softens. The vigilance quiets. Presence replaces performance. You stop fighting yourself. That is where peace truly begins. Because peace begins when the body is no longer treated like an enemy, but honored as the faithful companion that has been guiding you back to your wholeness all along. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Janie Terrazas Janie Terrazas, The Mindfulness Coach Janie Terrazas, known as The Mindfulness Coach, transformed her media career into a life-coaching and wellness-advocacy mission after a spiritual awakening in 2011. As the creator of the PazMesa self-mastery program and the force behind Rise Above TV, she fosters balance and mindfulness in others. Her triumphs and trials deeply shape her coaching as she helps clients address stress and trauma and build safe relationships. Janie combines spiritual depth with actionable strategies to guide individuals toward a joyful, vital life. Her coaching transcends conventional methods, empowering clients to find peace and purpose within. Janie's empathetic and innovative approaches offer a safe roadmap for self-discovery and authentic living and loving.

Written by Janice Elsley, Leadership Expert, International Author, and Podcast Host Janice Elsley is a leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker who helps CEOs and leaders elevate their impact. As founder of Harissa Business Partners, she blends neuroscience, change management, and human design to drive success. Janice Elsley shows why self-esteem isn’t built through affirmations or positive thinking, but through trust, integrity, and consistent action. Through her work with high-performing women, she demonstrates how keeping promises to yourself, honoring boundaries, and showing up in the moments that matter creates real self-trust. In her article, she guides readers step by step in transforming self-doubt into unshakable confidence. "I just need to work on my self-esteem." I hear this all the time from the women I work with. Successful, accomplished, high-performing women who, on paper, have every reason to feel good about themselves. But inside, they're running on a loop of self-doubt, comparison, and the quiet belief that they're somehow not enough. So they try to fix it. They read the books. They repeat the affirmations. They tell themselves they're worthy, they're capable, they're enough. And yet, nothing changes. Because here's what no one tells you about self-esteem: you can't think your way into it. Self-esteem isn't built in your head. It's built through your actions. And until you understand that, you'll keep spinning your wheels, wondering why you still don't feel good enough no matter how many times you tell yourself you are. The lie we've been sold We've been taught that self-esteem is about how you feel about yourself, that if you just change your thoughts, change your self-talk, change your mindset, you'll finally feel confident and worthy. So you stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself you're amazing. You write down affirmations. You try to convince yourself that you're enough, even when every fiber of your being is screaming the opposite. And it doesn't work, because your brain is too smart for that. Your subconscious mind doesn't care what you say. It cares about evidence. It's constantly scanning your behavior, your choices, your actions, looking for proof of who you actually are. When your actions don't match your words, your brain calls bullshit. And no amount of positive thinking will override that. This is why you can tell yourself you're confident while simultaneously avoiding the conversation you need to have, staying in the job that's draining you, or saying yes when you mean no. Your brain sees the disconnect, and it believes your actions, not your affirmations. What self-esteem actually is Self-esteem isn't about liking yourself. It's about trusting yourself. It's the deep, internal knowing that you can handle what life throws at you, that you'll keep your promises to yourself, that you'll show up for yourself the same way you show up for everyone else. And here's the key: "That trust is earned." You don't build self-esteem by telling yourself you're worthy. You build it by acting in ways that prove you are. Every time you do what you said you would do, even when it's hard, you're depositing into your self-esteem account. Every time you honor a boundary, speak your truth, or choose what's right for you over what's comfortable, you're building evidence that you can trust yourself. Every time you take action despite the fear, you're teaching your nervous system, "I've got my own back." This is how real self-esteem is built, not through thoughts, but through integrity with yourself. Why women struggle with this Let's be honest about something: women have been conditioned to prioritize everyone else's needs over their own. We're taught that being "good" means being selfless, that our worth is tied to how much we give, how much we do for others, and how little we ask for ourselves. So we say yes when we mean no. We shrink ourselves to make others comfortable. We abandon our own needs to keep the peace. Then we wonder why we don't feel good about ourselves. Because every time you betray yourself to please someone else, you're sending a message to your subconscious: "My needs don't matter. I'm not worth protecting. Everyone else comes first." Your brain hears that, and it believes it. This is why self-esteem isn't a mindset problem. It's a behavior problem. You can't feel good about yourself when your actions are constantly telling you that you don't matter. The real work of building self-esteem So how do you actually build self-esteem? You start keeping promises to yourself. Not big, life-changing promises, but small ones—the kind you can actually keep. If you say you're going to go for a walk, go for the walk. If you say you're going to set a boundary, set it. If you say you're going to stop scrolling and go to bed, put the phone down. Every single time you follow through, you're building trust with yourself. You're creating evidence that you're someone who does what she says she'll do. Over time, that evidence accumulates. Your brain starts to believe, "Oh, she's reliable. She keeps her word. I can trust her." That's self-esteem—not a feeling, a fact. Here's how to start: Identify one small promise you can make to yourself today. Not something huge—something manageable. Maybe it's drinking water before coffee, taking five minutes to sit in silence, or saying no to something you don't want to do. Keep it. No matter what. Even if it's uncomfortable. Even if it's inconvenient. Show yourself that your word matters. Notice how it feels. When you keep a promise to yourself, your brain releases dopamine, the feel-good chemical that says, "That was good. Do it again." Pay attention to that feeling. Let it anchor in. Repeat. Self-esteem is built through repetition. The more you keep your promises, the stronger the trust becomes. Stop abandoning yourself Here's the hard truth: you can't build self-esteem while you're constantly abandoning yourself. Every time you ignore your intuition, override your boundaries, or betray your own needs to keep someone else happy, you're eroding the foundation of self-trust. "Without self-trust, there is no self-esteem." So start paying attention to where you're abandoning yourself. Where are you saying yes when you mean no? Where are you staying silent when you need to speak up? Where are you tolerating behavior that doesn't align with who you want to be? These are the places where your self-esteem is leaking. And until you plug those leaks, no amount of affirmations will fill the void. The version of you that trusts herself Imagine what it would feel like to trust yourself completely. To know, without a doubt, that you'll have your own back, that you'll keep your promises, that you'll honor your needs, your boundaries, your truth, no matter what. That's not a fantasy. That's what's possible when you start building self-esteem the right way—not through what you think, but through what you do. Not through what you say to yourself in the mirror, but through how you show up for yourself in the moments that matter. Not through convincing yourself you're enough, but through acting like someone who already knows she is. Because here's the truth: you are enough. You always have been. But you won't believe it until your actions prove it. Let's build this together I'm Janice Elsley, international author, podcast host of Legacy Leaders, keynote speaker, and award-winning leadership expert. I help women stop waiting to feel worthy and start building unshakable self-trust through action, integrity, and deep internal transformation. If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels with affirmations that don't work and start building real self-esteem from the inside out, subscribe to my podcast Legacy Leaders, follow me on YouTube or connect with me on Instagram. And if you're ready to do the work of becoming a woman who trusts herself completely, explore my programs at Janice Elsley. Self-esteem isn't something you find. It's something you build, one kept promise at a time. Let's start building! Follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Janice Elsley Janice Elsley, Leadership Expert, International Author, and Podcast Host Janice Elsley is a leadership expert, author, and keynote speaker helping CEOs and executives future-proof their leadership with neuroscience-driven strategies. As founder of Harissa Business Partners, she drives performance, inclusivity, and talent retention. Her book Leadership Legacy and programs, Leading Edge Women, The Leading Edge, and First 100 Days of Leadership, equip leaders with the confidence and strategies to make an impact. Whether coaching executives or delivering transformational keynotes, Janice creates real results.

Written by Emma G, Empowerment Coach and Singer-Songwriter Emma G is an award-winning singer/songwriter, 2x TEDx speaker, and empowerment coach specializing in trauma-aware voicework, mental health advocacy, and music-led healing. She is the author of "Mental Health Sounds Like This" and founder of Emma G Music LLC. From stress reduction to nervous system regulation, music and songwriting offer powerful benefits for student health. Today, I want to explore the science and the practice with you. We know music moves us. But the research now shows it also heals us, connects us, and helps us learn. Here's what the science says, and what I've witnessed firsthand working with young people through music and songwriting for over 20 years. Five ways music and songwriting benefit student health Ask most educators what they need more of in their classrooms and they'll say the same things, more engagement, better emotional regulation, stronger social connection, less anxiety, and fewer students slipping through the cracks. What they don't always know is that one of the most powerful tools for all of those things has been around for as long as human beings have gathered together. Music. Not just listening to it. Creating it. Writing it. Singing it, unapologetically, in community, with intention. I've spent over two decades working at the intersection of music, mental health, and empowerment. My book, Mental Health Sounds Like This, explores this methodology in depth, part memoir, part neuroscience, part songwriting workbook. What I've seen in schools, treatment centers, workshops, and one-on-one sessions tells the same story the research is increasingly confirming. Music isn't an extracurricular. For young people, especially those navigating a genuinely difficult world, it's a lifeline. Here are five ways music, and especially singing and songwriting, benefits student health. 1. Mentally: Music builds brains that learn better When a young person engages with music, listening, playing, or writing, their brain lights up in ways that few other activities can replicate. Music activates multiple neural networks simultaneously, engaging memory, language, emotional processing, attention, and executive function all at once. Research has shown that music therapy can stimulate the brain to secrete neurotransmitters, effectively regulate emotions, and relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, conditions that are increasingly prevalent among students at every level of education. The field of music neuroscience identifies specific neural correlates involved in or altered by engagement with music, including areas associated with memory consolidation and cognitive flexibility, two things every student needs to learn effectively. Songwriting, in particular, demands a level of cognitive engagement that passive listening doesn't. When a student writes a song, they're organising thoughts, making connections, problem-solving, finding metaphors, and making decisions about structure and language. This creative exercise can improve problem-solving skills as students organise their thoughts and emotions, make connections, and experiment with new ways to communicate, benefits that carry over to school and other areas of life. In short, music doesn't just feel good. It builds the kind of brain that learns. 2. Emotionally: Giving feelings somewhere to go One of the most common things I hear from young people, and from the adults who care for them, is that they don't know what to do with how they feel. Much like a toddler having a tantrum, for many young people, and more experienced people, let's be real, the emotions are there, but the language for them isn't. Songwriting solves that problem in a way that very few other tools can. Research from Youth Music found that young people aged 16 to 24 reported that listening to, reading, or writing lyrics enables them to process difficult feelings and emotions and helps to reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness. But the benefit goes deeper than expression. With the right guidance, songwriting becomes a tool for cognitive reframing, the practice of consciously shifting the story we tell ourselves about our experiences from negative to empowered. When a young person takes something painful and turns it into a lyric, they move from being the passive recipient of an experience to being its author. That shift, from helplessness to agency, is one of the most powerful things I witness in my work. According to Medium, a 2025 randomised controlled trial found that mindfulness-based music therapy significantly improved all mental health indicators in students, including depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and resilience, with effects remaining stable after the intervention. This is why I say that songwriting isn't just a creative tool. It's an emotional one. It gives feelings somewhere to go and, with the right coaching, it can transform those feelings into something a young person can own, share, and build upon. 3. Physically: Sound moves through the body, not just the mind This is the part that surprises people most, and it shouldn't. When I'm working with vocal clients, one of the first things I tell them is this, you are no longer a human. You are an instrument. It sounds provocative. It's meant to. Because the moment a young person truly internalises that idea, everything changes about how they relate to their body, their voice, and their health. Think about it this way. A guitar doesn't perform well if its strings are too tight, its body is damaged, or it hasn't been tuned. A piano sounds different in a cold room than in a warm one. Every instrument is affected by its environment, its condition, and how it's treated. Your body is no different. Everything a student carries in their body directly impacts their voice. Stress creates tension in the jaw, the neck, and the shoulders, and tension is the enemy of free, resonant sound. Shallow breathing from anxiety restricts the diaphragm, robbing the voice of its power and warmth. Emotional heaviness literally changes how sound moves through the body. You can hear grief in someone's voice. You can hear fear. You can hear when someone hasn't slept, hasn't eaten, or is carrying something they haven't told anyone yet. The voice is the body's most honest instrument. This is why physical health is not separate from musical development. It is musical development. It's why I approach vocal coaching as whole body work, not just technique. Music is a physical experience at every level. Sound frequencies travel through the body, not just the ears, and the physiological effects are measurable. Research shows that high-frequency music plays a significant role in stress relief. 528 Hz frequency music has been shown to lower cortisol and increase oxytocin levels, a modulator of stress response and social bonding. Specific frequencies can promote relaxation, reduce anxiety, and lower cortisol levels, fostering an environment conducive to recovery and learning. Singing specifically engages the diaphragm, the primary muscle of respiration, which directly stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. In plain terms, singing helps the body shift out of fight or flight and into a state where learning, connection, and growth are actually possible. For students whose nervous systems are chronically activated by academic pressure, social anxiety, or difficult home environments, this physiological reset isn't a nice-to-have. It's a necessity. It's one that music, uniquely, can provide through the simple act of opening your mouth and making a sound. This is why I begin many of my sessions with breath and voice work before we ever touch a lyric. You can't write from a place of genuine expression if your body is braced against the world. We have to get the instrument in tune first. When we do? Everything else becomes possible. 4. Socially: Music builds the community that young people need There's a reason music has been used across every culture in human history as a communal tool. It brings people together in a way that few other activities can, and for young people navigating loneliness, disconnection, and the pressures of social comparison, that matters enormously. Research led by Dr. Jason Goopy at Edith Cowan University, reviewing 30 academic sources, found strong positive links between music education and wellbeing, specifically that music supports confidence, social connections, and overall engagement with learning. Group songwriting is particularly powerful in a student wellbeing context because of its capacity to both create and explore social connections and identity. Research suggests that songwriting in this context provides a meaningful base for identification, change, and personal development through the act of participating in a shared creative experience. There's also something important happening in the digital space. When young people write songs and share them on social media, in performances, and in their communities, they're doing something that most people don't fully appreciate. They're programming their own algorithms. They're actively curating what they consume and what they put out into the world, training the platforms they use to reflect their values, their voice, and their identity back to them. That kind of intentional self-expression builds confidence, strengthens connection, and creates a sense of agency over one's own narrative that is genuinely rare in the social media landscape. The research also points to something I've long understood, community is one of the most powerful protective factors for young people navigating mental health challenges. Joining new groups can improve physical and mental health, even in those experiencing severe depression. Isolation, which prevails in people experiencing mental health difficulties, can be directly addressed through shared music making. Music doesn't just entertain. It connects. Connection, for young people, is everything. 5. Spiritually: Music accesses something words can't This one is harder to quantify, and that's exactly why it matters. There is a dimension of music that exists beyond the measurable. Every culture across every period of human history has used music as a spiritual tool, for ceremony, for healing, and for connection to something larger than the individual self. That universality is not coincidental. For young people who may not have a religious framework, or who are in the process of forming their own sense of meaning and purpose, music can provide a pathway to transcendence that nothing else quite replicates. The experience of being completely absorbed in a song, of feeling a lyric land somewhere deep in the body, of co-creating something with a room full of strangers and feeling a collective shift happen, that is a spiritual experience, whether or not we label it as such. In my work, I've seen this happen in libraries, in treatment centers, in school halls, and on stages. The moment when someone stops performing and starts feeling, when they stop thinking about the notes and start inhabiting the song, something opens. It's one of the most profound things I've ever witnessed, and it happens consistently. Music teaches young people that they are part of something. That their voice matters. That beauty is accessible to them, that they can create it, not just consume it. That's not a small thing. For a young person who has felt invisible, misunderstood, or without purpose, it can be the thing that changes everything. What this means for educators and parents The evidence is clear. Music, and especially singing and songwriting, offers young people benefits that span every dimension of their health and development. It builds better brains, regulates nervous systems, processes difficult emotions, creates community, and opens doors to meaning and purpose that other tools simply don't reach. Yet music education continues to be underfunded, deprioritised, and treated as a supplementary activity rather than a core one. If you're an educator, a parent, or a decision maker who cares about the wellbeing of young people, the research is telling you something important. So is the lived experience of every young person who has picked up a pen, written a line, and felt something shift. Music is not a luxury. For young people, it is a language, for processing, for connecting, for becoming. It deserves to be treated as such. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Emma G Emma G, Empowerment Coach and Singer-Songwriter Emma G is an award-winning singer/songwriter, 2x TEDx speaker, and empowerment coach who helps teens and adults transform pain into power through trauma-informed voice work and songwriting. After surviving 10 brain surgeries due to hydrocephalus, she discovered the healing potential of music and self-expression. Her book and album, Mental Health Sounds Like This, offer a neuroscience-backed, culturally grounded approach to emotional wellness. She’s the founder of Emma G Music LLC and has been featured by FOX, WUSA9, The Washington Post, CBS, CBC, and more. Her mission? To save the world, one song at a time.

Written by Joanne Angel Barry Colon, Certified Wholistic Personal Trainer, Intuitive Healer & Cosmic Energy Reader Joanne Angel Barry Colon has 30+ years in the health, fitness, and wellness industry. She is the Wholistic Fitness owner located in Queens, New York, a certified holistic personal trainer, intuitive healer, cosmic energy reader, student of Astrology, Master of Numerology, and Creator of Chakra Balance Numerology Cosmic Energy Forecast Deck. Jupiter in Leo, June 30, 2026 to July 26, 2027: The rise of heart-centered power for women in midlife and beyond. Jupiter, the planet of abundance, expansion, spiritual growth, and higher meaning, is preparing to enter Leo, a bold, radiant fire sign that governs the heart, creativity, leadership, and authentic self-expression. As Jupiter transitions from the emotional waters of Cancer into the fiery essence of Leo, we experience a powerful energetic shift. We move from nurturing and healing into expressing and embodying. This is not just another transit. This is a call to rise. For women in midlife and beyond, this energy activates a sacred turning point. You are no longer in a phase of proving, pushing, or people pleasing. You are entering a phase of alignment, embodiment, and visibility. Jupiter in Leo illuminates the truth that has been building within you for years. Your voice matters, your presence matters, and your wisdom is meant to be seen and shared. This transit is deeply connected to the heart chakra. Leo energy asks: Are you living from your heart, or are you still operating from old expectations and survival patterns? For many women navigating perimenopause and menopause, this question becomes undeniable. As hormonal shifts occur, so does your tolerance for anything that feels misaligned. Jupiter amplifies this awareness and expands your desire to live authentically. This is the season where confidence is not forced. It is remembered. Creativity begins to flow in new and unexpected ways. You may feel called to speak, teach, write, create, perform, or lead. The passions that were once placed on hold now return with intensity and clarity. Jupiter in Leo reminds you that joy is not a luxury. It is a requirement for expansion. However, this expansion is not without reflection. On December 13, 2026, Jupiter turns retrograde in Leo, inviting you into a sacred pause. This is a time to go inward and ask yourself if you are truly expressing your authentic self or if you are still seeking external validation. Retrograde energy does not stop progress. It refines it. It allows you to realign your creative goals, your leadership style, and your relationship with visibility. For women in midlife, this retrograde becomes a powerful recalibration of identity. You are no longer who you were. You are not meant to be. From an astrological perspective, different zodiac signs will experience this transit in unique ways. Fire signs, Leo, Aries, and Sagittarius, are positioned to excel in their careers. Leo, in particular, steps fully into the spotlight. This is a time of recognition, elevation, and leadership. Opportunities may arise that place you front and center, asking you to own your brilliance without hesitation. Aries experiences bold forward movement in career and purpose, while Sagittarius expands into new territories, aligning passion with a deeper sense of meaning and global impact. Air signs, Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius, experience growth within relationships. Leo’s warmth encourages openness, communication, and emotional expression. Libra finds balance and harmony in partnerships, attracting connections that feel supportive and aligned. Gemini becomes more expressive in love, creating playful and passionate dynamics. Aquarius, often more reserved emotionally, is encouraged to soften and allow deeper intimacy to unfold. Water signs, Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio, move through a cycle of emotional and spiritual healing. Cancer begins to step out of emotional protection and into empowerment, recognizing their worth beyond what they give to others. Pisces channels their intuitive depth into creative expression, turning inner wisdom into something tangible. Scorpios experience profound emotional release, letting go of control and embracing vulnerability as a strength. Earth signs, Virgo, Capricorn, and Taurus, undergo body and soul transformation. Virgo releases perfectionism and begins to embrace self-love on a deeper level. Capricorn redefines success, shifting from external achievement to internal fulfillment. Taurus experiences transformation within the physical body, making changes that support long-term vitality, stability, and alignment. Overall, Jupiter in Leo is awakening the leader within the feminine. This is not leadership rooted in force or control. This is leadership rooted in presence, truth, and heart-centered power. Women in midlife are no longer meant to fade into the background. They are meant to radiate. The wisdom gained through life experience becomes your greatest asset, and Jupiter expands your ability to share that wisdom with others. This is your time to be seen without apology. To speak without hesitation. To create without limitation. Because when a woman aligns with her heart and expresses her truth fully, she does not just transform her own life. She becomes a catalyst for transformation in everyone around her. Jupiter in Leo is not asking you to become someone new. It is asking you to fully become who you already are. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Joanne Angel Barry Colon Joanne Angel Barry Colon, Certified Wholistic Personal Trainer, Intuitive Healer & Cosmic Energy Reader Joanne Angel Barry Colon has 30+ years in the health, fitness, and wellness industry. She is the Wholistic Fitness owner located in Queens, New York, a certified holistic personal trainer, intuitive healer, cosmic energy reader, student of Astrology, Master of Numerology, and Creator of Chakra Balance Numerology Cosmic Energy Forecast Deck. She is the Host of Joanne's Healing Within TV Show, Joanne's Cosmic Energy Radio Show, and Author/Self-Publisher. Joanne's mission is to help women (men by referral) release issues from their tissues as they release emotional weight and fall in love with themselves while witnessing their transformation into the best version of themselves.

Dr. Stacy Ellis is the founder and CEO of Forward Focus Coaching & Wellness. She is a clinical psychologist, executive coach, functional medicine certified health coach, and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. For more than a decade, she has helped individuals understand human behavior, overcome obstacles to growth, and build the resilience needed for long-term success. Her work integrates leadership development, wellness, and behavioral science to help professionals elevate performance while supporting long-term well-being. In this interview, Dr. Stacy shares why performance doesn't occur in a vacuum and explains how leadership, emotional intelligence, mental wealth, and sustainable performance are deeply interconnected. She offers a fresh perspective on what it takes to build lasting success by investing in the whole person, not just the role. Dr. Stacy Ellis, Clinical Psychologist, Executive & Wellness Coach What inspired you to build a coaching practice that brings together psychology, leadership, and wellness? Throughout my work, I repeatedly saw highly capable professionals struggle not because they lacked intelligence or motivation, but because stress, pressure, and competing demands were affecting their performance. I came to understand how closely leadership, performance, and well-being are connected. When we consider the whole person, including their mental and physical aspects, rather than focusing solely on workplace behaviors or outcomes, we gain valuable insight into the factors that support or hinder performance. That realization inspired me to build a coaching practice that brings together psychology, leadership, and wellness. Why do you think well-being is treated as separate from leadership development in many organizations? I think part of it is historical. Leadership development has traditionally focused on skills such as communication, decision-making, strategic thinking, and leading teams, while well-being has often been viewed as a separate health or benefits issue. As a result, these conversations frequently occurred in different parts of the organization. Fortunately, that is beginning to change. More organizations are recognizing that leadership effectiveness and well-being are interconnected. Factors such as stress, burnout, emotional regulation, and recovery influence how leaders think, communicate, make decisions, and support their teams. As we continue to learn more about human performance, I believe we will see an even greater integration of leadership development and wellness initiatives. What patterns do you see most often in high-performing professionals who feel successful on paper but unfulfilled behind the scenes? Success can become surprisingly narrow when accomplishment is the primary measure of a life well lived. One pattern I see frequently is that achievement becomes the primary focus while other important areas of life receive less attention. Many high-performing professionals have accomplished impressive goals, yet they feel disconnected from relationships, hobbies, personal interests, or a broader sense of purpose. I also see professionals who have difficulty fully appreciating their accomplishments before moving on to the next goal. There is a concept in Positive Psychology that suggests well-being is supported by multiple domains, including positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Many high achievers become heavily invested in the accomplishment piece while unintentionally neglecting some of the others. This perspective is supported by The Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has found that the quality of our relationships is one of the strongest predictors of long-term health and happiness. Yet relationships are often among the first things sacrificed in pursuit of achievement. Over time, this can create a situation where someone appears successful on paper but feels unfulfilled behind the scenes. Sustainable success requires more than achievement alone. It involves investing in the areas of life that contribute to meaning, connection, and long-term fulfillment. From your experience as both a clinical psychologist and executive coach, what separates resilient leaders from those who struggle under pressure? One of the biggest differences I see is how leaders respond when they're under pressure. While knowledge and technical expertise provide an important foundation for leadership, what often strengthens a leader's ability to perform under pressure is being self-aware, regulating emotions, adapting to changing circumstances, and responding intentionally rather than reacting impulsively. Those abilities are closely tied to emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is our capacity to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions while also recognizing and responding effectively to the emotions of others. It influences how we communicate, navigate conflict, connect with others, make decisions, and lead teams. Research by Daniel Goleman helped bring widespread attention to the role emotional intelligence plays in workplace success, suggesting that it is a significant differentiator between average and exceptional performers. In my own work, I see this reflected every day. Our emotions influence how we think, interpret situations, make decisions, and interact with others. Under pressure, those patterns become even more apparent. Leaders who can pause, regulate their emotions, and respond intentionally are often better equipped to navigate conflict, foster collaboration, maintain trust, and lead effectively under pressure. How is the conversation around performance changing as more professionals prioritize sustainability over constant achievement? One of the biggest shifts I'm seeing is that professionals are redefining what high performance actually means. In the past, performance was often associated with working longer hours, taking on more responsibility, and pushing through exhaustion. Today, many professionals are beginning to ask different questions. Instead of asking, How do I get promoted? How do I make more money? How do I accomplish more? They're asking, Does this align with my values? Can I thrive here? Does this support the life I'm trying to build? Ultimately, they're asking, How can I continue performing at a high level in a way that is sustainable? This is a broader conversation than simply striving for work-life balance. I'm also seeing people become more intentional about the choices they make at work. Rather than continually adding more responsibilities, they're becoming more selective about where they invest their time and energy. That doesn't mean they're becoming less ambitious. In many cases, they're just redefining success. They're recognizing that sustainable performance isn't about doing more or doing less. It's about building a life where your values, work, health, and relationships support one another instead of competing with one another. It's about creating the conditions that allow them to continue performing well for years to come. You often talk about building "mental wealth." What does that look like in practice for ambitious professionals? Financial wealth isn't created by a single investment. It's built through the intentional accumulation of valuable assets over time. Mental wealth follows the same principle. It's not built through one skill, one habit, or one good day. It's the intentional accumulation of psychological resources that strengthen how we think, adapt, make decisions, respond to challenges, and perform over time. Just as financial wealth is built by intentionally investing in valuable assets, mental wealth is built by intentionally developing resources such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, psychological flexibility, resilience, and healthy habits that strengthen our capacity to thrive. While many people intentionally invest in their physical health and financial future, we don't always think about investing in the psychological resources that influence nearly every aspect of our lives. Our ability to think clearly under pressure, navigate setbacks, adapt to change, and make sound decisions isn't accidental. Those capacities can be developed over time. For ambitious professionals, mental wealth isn't about eliminating stress or avoiding challenges. It's about building the internal resources that allow you to continue leading, performing, and living well regardless of what challenges arise. What is the most important lesson you hope leaders take away? If there's one lesson I hope leaders take away, it's that performance doesn't occur in a vacuum. We often evaluate performance as though it exists independently from the rest of a person's life, but the reality is that our physical health, mental health, relationships, stress levels, and the environments in which we live and work all influence how we think, lead, make decisions, and perform. Lasting success isn't about pushing harder or sacrificing more. It's about recognizing the factors that support long-term performance and intentionally investing in the internal and external resources that make it possible. When leaders take care of the whole person, not just the role, they create the conditions for both high performance and lasting success. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Stacy Ellis

Written by Masithokoze Moyo, Aviation Professional-Entrepreneur and Philanthropist Masithokoze Moyo is the Founder and CEO of Angel Wings Aviation and the Masithokoze Foundation, combining her expertise in aviation with a mission to empower youth and girls in under-resourced communities through skills development and mentorship. The future of progress will not be built by capital alone. Inspired by the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan and the philosophy of Ubuntu, this article explores why interconnectedness, shared purpose, and empowered talent are essential to building the industries of tomorrow. “Our ambition is not only to attract investment, but to create an environment where the world’s brightest talent and most ambitious businesses come together to build the industries and opportunities of tomorrow.” – His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum These words from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan are more than a visionary statement. They are a global summons. A reminder that the future will not be shaped by capital alone, but by the ecosystems we build, the people we empower, and the collective imagination we dare to unleash. For decades, nations have measured progress through the narrow lens of investment attraction. But as His Highness so powerfully articulates, the true currency of tomorrow is not money. It is human ingenuity, collaborative innovation, and the interconnectedness of talent and enterprise. As a business owner and African leader shaped by the timeless philosophy of Ubuntu, I recognise this shift as both necessary and overdue. Ubuntu teaches us that “I am because we are,” a profound truth that extends far beyond culture. It is an economic principle, a leadership model, and a blueprint for global prosperity. The future belongs to interconnected nations No nation, industry, or enterprise can thrive in isolation. The world’s most transformative ideas emerge when diverse minds converge. When borders become bridges. When talent is not merely welcomed but empowered. This is the essence of the ecosystem His Highness is building, one where talent flows freely, innovation is nurtured, not stifled, collaboration replaces competition as the primary engine of progress, and shared growth becomes the benchmark of national success. Such an environment does not simply create jobs or attract investment. It creates industries, reshapes economies, and redefines what is possible. A new gold standard for global leadership The world is witnessing the rise of one of the most impactful leaders of the 21st century. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan is not merely modernising governance. He is reimagining it. His leadership represents a paradigm shift from transactional economics to transformational ecosystems, from isolated national agendas to interconnected global futures, and from competition for capital to collaboration for collective upliftment. This is leadership that understands the true wealth of a nation lies not in its financial reserves, but in the collective brilliance of its people. Ubuntu as a global economic strategy Ubuntu is not a sentimental ideal. It is a strategic imperative for the world we are entering. In a century defined by complexity, disruption, and rapid technological evolution, our greatest strength will be our ability to build together, innovate together, and rise together. When nations embrace interconnectedness, they unlock exponential potential. When they embrace Ubuntu, they unlock humanity. A call to the leaders of the world Let this moment be a turning point. Let us transcend the zero-sum thinking of the past. Let us build environments where talent is not only attracted but rooted, where ambition is not only encouraged but amplified, and where innovation is not only possible but inevitable. The industries of tomorrow will not be built by nations acting alone. They will be built by ecosystems of shared purpose, shared vision, and shared humanity. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan has illuminated a path forward. It is now up to the global community to follow, not in imitation, but in inspiration. The future belongs to those who understand that interconnectedness is our greatest competitive advantage and Ubuntu is our greatest guide. Let us rise to meet that future, together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Masithokoze Moyo Masithokoze Moyo, Aviation Professional-Entrepreneur and Philanthropist Masithokoze Moyo is a Zimbabwean-British aviation professional, entrepreneur, and public figure who gained international media attention following a high-profile banking error. She is the founder and CEO of TripleM Group Holdings, which trades as Angel Wings Aviation, a private jet charter brokerage firm based in the UK.

Written by Anthony Jackson, Thought Leader & Conversationalist Anthony Jackson is a thought leader and speaker dedicated to transforming the way people think about quality, purpose, and personal growth through his platform, The Circle. When a brand new industrial or manufacturing facility is in its construction phase, the atmosphere is charged with anticipation. A new layout represents a blank slate, providing an opportunity to optimize workflows, deploy cutting-edge equipment, and scale operations. However, a new layout also introduces a critical challenge: the absence of established routines and muscle memory. In the high-stakes environment of a site launch, treating safety and quality as separate departments is a missed opportunity. To build a truly resilient operation, organizations must realize that a robust Quality Assurance (QA) mindset is the ultimate driver of workplace safety and compliance. The risk of the blank slate In an operational facility, teams rely on historical data and familiar patterns to mitigate risk. In a new facility, those guardrails do not yet exist. New traffic flows, unfamiliar equipment layouts, and untested workflows create hidden hazards. This is where the disciplined eye of Quality Assurance becomes invaluable. QA professionals are trained to look past the daily routine and analyze systems objectively. We do not just see a physical asset like a valve or a pump, we see a critical node in a larger compliance framework. By injecting QA principles into the construction and pre-operational phases, organizations can identify process deviations and safety hazards before a single technician ever steps onto the floor. Procedures are the foundation During a facility launch, the most critical assets are not the machines, they are the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). A new layout requires building a compliance architecture from scratch. Writing effective procedures requires a deep understanding of regulatory standards, risk mitigation, and human behavior on the floor. A quality-driven approach ensures that safety protocols are seamlessly woven directly into the operational steps, rather than tacked on as an afterthought. When the safe way to operate a system is also the most efficient way, compliance becomes automatic. Bridging quality, EHS, and continuous improvement True operational excellence happens at the intersection of QA and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Utilizing data-driven frameworks, such as Six Sigma, allows leaders to proactively eliminate process variations that lead to safety incidents. A facility that embraces a QA led safety culture from day one builds accountability directly into its DNA. It transitions the workforce from a reactive mindset, responding to accidents after they happen, to a proactive culture of risk prevention. The bottom line Building a state-of-the-art facility is an engineering triumph, but running it safely and efficiently is a human one. By leveraging quality principles to design tight procedures and robust compliance frameworks during the launch phase, leadership can protect their workforce, secure their investments, and ensure a seamless path to full production. Final thoughts The launch of a new facility is more than a construction milestone. It is the moment when culture, systems, and expectations begin to take shape. Decisions made during this phase often determine how people will work, communicate, and respond to risk for years to come. This is why safety and quality cannot be treated as separate priorities. They must be designed together from the beginning. A QA mindset helps leaders slow down enough to ask the right questions before production pressures take over. Are the procedures clear enough for a new technician to follow confidently? Are the risks visible before they become incidents? Are teams being trained not only to complete tasks, but to understand why those steps matter? When quality is built into the foundation of a facility launch, safety becomes more than a checklist. It becomes part of the way people think, move, and make decisions. This creates stronger compliance, fewer deviations, and a workforce that feels better equipped to do the job well. A successful launch is not only measured by how quickly a facility reaches production. It is measured by how safely, consistently, and sustainably it operates once the doors open. Organizations that recognize this early give themselves the best chance of building not just a new facility, but a stronger operational future. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info. Read more from Anthony Jackson Anthony Jackson, Thought Leader & Conversationalist Anthony Jackson is a speaker, executive contributor, and founder of The Circle, a movement designed to spark deeper conversations around mindset, purpose, and leadership. Drawing from his background in pharmaceutical quality assurance, Anthony teaches the power of integrity, structure, and self-mastery. His mission is to inspire individuals and organizations to pursue excellence not just in what they do, but in who they become.

Written by Rachel Mailer, Dating Expert Rachel is a dating coach for high-achieving, career-driven women over thirty, blending a holistic approach with advanced training in attachment theory, communication, body language, leadership, relationship, and life coaching. Drawing on her own journey from single pringle to Wife for Life, she empowers women to attract deep, lasting relationships. Success changes a woman. It teaches her to lead, decide, protect, provide, solve, organise, and create results. In business, these qualities are frequently celebrated. They build careers, reputations, financial independence, and a life she can feel proud of. But in love, the same energy can sometimes create the opposite result. This is where the gap begins to show. Many successful women are not struggling in dating because they are too ambitious, too independent, or too much for a man. More often, they are struggling because the energy that helped them succeed is not always the energy that creates a romantic connection. This is what I call the attraction gap. It is the space between being impressive on paper and feeling truly seen, chosen, pursued, and emotionally met in love. When success does not translate into a romantic connection The modern woman has been taught how to achieve. She knows how to set goals, manage pressure, make decisions, and hold herself to a high standard. She may be confident in a boardroom, visible in her business, trusted by clients, respected by colleagues, and financially capable. Yet dating can still leave her feeling uncertain. She may receive attention, but not aligned attention. She may match with men, but not feel met by them. She may go on dates, but leave feeling emotionally unseen. She may look confident from the outside, while privately questioning why love still feels so complicated. This is not a lack of worth. It commonly stems from a lack of clarity about the energy she brings to dating. Attention is not the same as attraction According to the Pew Research Centre, women are more likely than men to report feeling overwhelmed by the number of messages they receive on dating apps. Yet attention is not the same as attraction, and attraction is not created by appearance alone. A 2024 study published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour examined the role of eye contact in romantic partner selection during natural speed dating conversations. The study found that people were more likely to choose dating partners with whom they shared more eye contact after a conversation lasting five minutes, and that mutual eye contact predicted partner preference beyond perceived attractiveness. This reinforces something many successful women overlook. Attraction is not only about how polished, impressive, or physically attractive you appear. It is also communicated through presence, warmth, openness, eye contact, and the subtle nonverbal signals your body gives before words are spoken. A woman can be beautiful, successful, and intelligent, yet still appear closed. Another woman may not look perfect on paper, yet she may feel more magnetic because her energy communicates invitation, warmth, and feminine openness. Masculine energy may build success, but feminine energy creates magnetism For many ambitious women, masculine energy has been fundamental to their success. It is the energy of action, structure, leadership, protection, decision-making, and onward momentum. It is part of a woman that enables her to build a business, take on responsibility, achieve financial independence, and hold herself to a high standard. There is nothing wrong with this energy. In fact, many women have needed it to create the lives they now have. But dating asks for a different kind of presence. When a woman enters dating with the same energy she uses to manage her business or career, she could unconsciously set the emotional pace, analyse the interaction, manage the conversation, anticipate the outcome, or try to create certainty before the connection has had time to develop. What is effective in a professional environment can feel controlling or guarded in a romantic one. This is where my Feminine Energy Framework becomes important, because it explains the shift more clearly. The framework is not about teaching women to become passive or less powerful. It is about helping them understand how to move between strength and softness with awareness. A woman can remain clear, discerning, and emotionally perceptive while also allowing herself to be receptive, present, and open to being met. This softer energy is not created through performance. It is not about pretending to be more feminine, agreeable, or available than she truly feels. It comes from a woman being grounded in her own self-worth. It is expressed through the way she holds herself, receives attention, listens, allows space in conversation, and stays connected to her body rather than disappearing into overthinking. This is the kind of energy that radiates, and it becomes easier to see in the way a woman shows up. A woman becomes magnetic not because she is trying to attract everyone, but because she is no longer abandoning herself in order to be chosen. She is open, but not overextended. Warm, but not without boundaries. Interested, but still discerning. Soft, but still self-led. For successful women, this is often the missing piece. They do not need to become less ambitious to create love. They need to bring a different expression of power into dating, one that combines clarity with openness, standards with softness, and self-worth with the ability to receive. Feminine energy is not a weakness Feminine energy is often misunderstood. It is not about becoming passive, agreeable, silent, dependent, or less ambitious. It is not about dimming your intelligence or pretending you do not have standards. Feminine energy is grounded in self-worth. It is the ability to receive without overgiving. It is being open without abandoning yourself. It is allowing attraction to build without rushing into attachment. It is trusting your body as much as your mind. It is also the ability to let a man reveal his character through consistency, rather than trying to manage him into becoming the man you want him to be. Feminine energy is not the lack of power. It is a different expression of power, and that difference matters. It allows a woman to be warm and still discerning, attracted and still observant, open and still deeply connected to her standards. The body often speaks before the mind catches up Attraction is not only verbal. It is deeply physical and psychological. Before a man consciously decides to approach, engage in conversation, or lean into connection, he is often responding to nonverbal signals: eye contact, facial expressions, posture, warmth, openness, tone, and body direction. These attraction gestures are frequently subconscious. They are not about performing femininity or pretending to be interested. They are the body’s natural expression of openness when a woman feels safe, relaxed, and genuinely attracted. However, many successful women have trained themselves to stay in their heads. They are assessing, analysing, scanning, and protecting. They are wondering whether he is emotionally available, whether they are saying the right thing, or whether the date has long-term potential before allowing themselves to be present in the moment. When a woman is overthinking, her body can become guarded. She may be interested, but her signals are not clear. She may want to be approached, but her posture says, “Stay back.” She may desire connection, but her nervous system is still in a state of protection. This is why attraction is not only about looking good. It is about becoming embodied, which is where the shift begins. Why successful women can unintentionally block attraction A successful woman is often used to being the one who holds everything together. She has learned to rely on herself. She has been required to be capable. She may have created a life in which she is the decision maker, the organiser, the provider, and the emotional anchor. These qualities are admirable. But in dating, they can create a subtle block if she does not know how to soften into receptivity. That is where the pattern becomes visible. She might unknowingly test a man rather than experience him. She may lead so much that there is no space for him to step forward. She may appear emotionally unavailable because she is trying to stay composed. She may mistake vulnerability for weakness. She may confuse receiving with needing. She may also be so focused on whether he is right for her future that she disconnects from how she feels in the present. This is where dating becomes less about strategy and more about self-awareness, which leads into my framework. The Feminine Energy Framework In my work, I guide women through my Feminine Energy Framework because dating does not begin when you sit across from someone at dinner. It begins with the energy you bring before the date even happens, and that is what the framework covers. There are three core layers. 1. Be mindful before you start dating Before a woman begins dating, she needs clarity on who she is choosing to become in love. Is she dating from fear or self-worth? Is she hoping to be chosen, or is she choosing from clarity? Is she looking for validation or agreement? Is she available for inconsistency, or has she decided what emotional safety looks like for her? This is where a woman must understand her standards, her values, her non-negotiables, and the patterns she is no longer available to repeat. A woman who is unclear will often tolerate unclear behaviour. A woman who is grounded will recognise misalignment sooner. 2. Your emotional behaviour while dating Once dating begins, a woman’s patterns become visible, and each layer shows how that energy lands in practice. She may notice that she overgives when she likes someone. She may become anxious when communication changes. She may attach to chemistry before consistency has been shown. She may make excuses for poor effort, confuse potential with emotional availability, or silence her needs to appear easygoing. This layer is not about judging herself. It is about understanding herself. Feminine energy allows a woman to stay open while still holding her standards. It helps her remain warm without abandoning her truth. 3. Why having physical presence on dates is not enough The third layer is how her energy lands in person, which brings the framework into the moment. Can she walk into a date feeling grounded? Can she receive a compliment without deflecting? Can she hold eye contact? Can she allow silence without filling it? Can she let a man lead without losing her identity? Can she be playful, expressive, and present? Can she listen to her body rather than relying solely on her mind? This is where attraction becomes embodied. A woman does not need to perform. She needs to be present enough for her natural warmth, confidence, and receptivity to be felt. Stop performing and start observing Many successful women approach dating as another area to master. They want the perfect profile, the perfect message, the perfect response, the perfect timing, and the perfect strategy. Strategy has its place. But strategy without embodiment becomes performance. A high-value woman does not audition for love. She observes. She notices how she feels. She allows a man’s actions to reveal his intention. She receives without rushing to repay. She stays open, but she is not available to everyone. She does not chase clarity from someone who is showing inconsistency. She does not mistake attraction for alignment. This is Queen Energy. The real shift successful women need to make The shift is not from strong to soft. It is from guarded to grounded. It is from proving to receiving. It is from overthinking to embodiment. It is from chasing certainty to observing consistency. It is from performing for love to choosing from self-worth. Successful women do not need to become less powerful to attract love. They need to learn how to express their power differently in dating. Because the energy that builds a successful life is not always the energy that builds a safe, emotionally connected relationship. Love requires a different kind of leadership. It requires self-awareness, softness, standards, and the courage to be seen without performing. Take the free Queen Energy Dating Quiz If you are a successful woman who feels confident in business but confused in love, your next step is to understand the energy you bring to dating. My free Queen Energy Dating Quiz will help you discover your dating style and identify what may be blocking you from attracting emotionally available, aligned love. In just a few minutes, you will gain awareness of whether you are dating from protection, overthinking, anxiety, fantasy, overgiving, or grounded feminine confidence. Take the free Queen Energy Dating Quiz to discover the energy you are bringing into love. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Rachel Mailer Rachel Mailer, Dating Expert Rachel is an innovator in dating strategies, she draws on in-person, walking-the-talk systems that truly support women in attracting their partners. With over 11 years of experience navigating the online dating scene, she empowers clients to attract a man worthy of sharing their world and build deep, lasting relationships by allowing their queen energy to lead. With Rachel, you're in great hands, as she has found true love online and is now married to her Life Love. She supports other career-driven women to do the same!

Written by Mona Liza Santos, Award-Winning Children's Author & Emotional Literacy Advocate Mona Liza Santos is an award-winning children’s author and founder of World Love Press. She has written more than 40 books focused on emotional literacy, kindness, confidence, and cultural identity, inspiring families, educators, and young readers worldwide through heartfelt storytelling and meaningful life lessons. National Intentional Kindness Day, observed annually on August 24, was never created simply to add another holiday to the calendar. It came from watching how emotionally disconnected, overwhelmed, lonely, and exhausted people were becoming while still pretending they were okay. As the founder of World Love Press and the author of more than 40 children’s books focused on kindness, emotional literacy, empathy, belonging, and self-acceptance, I kept noticing the same emotional truth in both children and adults: people want to feel understood, valued, included, and less alone. That realization became the heart behind National Intentional Kindness Day. The world started feeling emotionally disconnected Over the years, I started noticing how emotionally drained people were becoming. Children were growing up carrying worries, pressure, loneliness, insecurities, and emotional stress much earlier than many adults realized. At the same time, adults were trying to balance work, family responsibilities, financial pressure, grief, burnout, and personal struggles while still showing up every day pretending everything was fine. What stayed with me most was realizing that the same emotions I was writing about in children’s books were the exact same emotions I saw adults struggling with too. People were constantly connected online, yet many still felt emotionally disconnected from one another in real life. Everyone seemed overwhelmed, distracted, emotionally exhausted, or simply trying to survive the day. Even in crowded rooms, many people still felt deeply alone inside. As a writer, mother, and empath, I could not stop thinking about how deeply people want to feel safe, understood, valued, and cared for. That became one of the reasons this movement mattered so much to me. There are already many kindness observances in the world, including Random Acts of Kindness Day, World Kindness Day, and Be Kind to Humankind Week, all created with beautiful intentions. But I kept feeling like there was still something missing. I did not want kindness to become something people practiced only because the calendar told them to for one day. I wanted to encourage people to practice kindness more intentionally in everyday life through their words, reactions, patience, empathy, and the way they treat others, especially during moments when kindness is needed the most. Why intentional kindness feels different Intentional kindness has always meant something deeper to me than simply being “nice.” Why is this one simply different? Intentional kindness asks people to become more emotionally aware of one another in everyday life. It asks us to slow down long enough to truly notice people instead of emotionally rushing past them. Intentional kindness is checking on someone who suddenly becomes quieter than usual. It is noticing when a child is smiling on the outside but struggling internally. It is listening without immediately trying to fix everything. It is choosing patience over judgment when someone is clearly having a hard day. Sometimes it is simply making someone feel emotionally safe instead of invisible. The truth is, a lot of people are carrying battles nobody else can see. Sometimes what looks like anger is really exhaustion. Sometimes what looks like distance is emotional pain. And sometimes the people smiling the most are hurting the deepest inside. As an author, I also started thinking more deeply about why this movement mattered to me so much. Through writing stories centered around kindness, empathy, belonging, and emotional literacy, I kept seeing how deeply people are affected by the environments they grow up in and the way they are treated by others. I wanted it to become something people practiced daily through their choices, words, reactions, and the way they treat others. I truly believe that if intentional kindness and emotional awareness were normalized more in schools, homes, communities, workplaces, and even systems where people are struggling emotionally or mentally, more people would grow up believing kindness still exists in the world. So many people come from environments filled with criticism, emotional distance, neglect, anger, or survival. Sometimes one moment of compassion, patience, or understanding becomes the thing that reminds someone they still matter. That is part of why this movement became so important to me. What my books taught me about people A lot of the books I write are for the child who feels different, too sensitive, emotionally overwhelmed, left out, or alone in what they are feeling. While writing those stories, I started realizing something that stayed heavy on my heart: many adults are still carrying those same wounds too, just hidden behind older faces, responsibilities, and years of learning how to hide what they feel. Some people grow up in environments where kindness, patience, emotional safety, or understanding were not shown to them consistently. Over time, they stop expecting gentleness from others because life has slowly conditioned them to expect criticism, judgment, rejection, anger, or emotional distance instead. That realization changed the way I viewed kindness completely. Kindness is not weakness. Empathy is not weakness. Sensitivity is not weakness. In many ways, those are the very things helping people emotionally survive in today’s world. It also made me realize how much a person’s environment shapes the way they eventually see themselves and treat others. So many people carry behaviors, fears, emotional walls, and pain that were formed long before adulthood. A child who constantly feels unseen, criticized, neglected, or emotionally unsafe often grows into an adult still trying to heal from those experiences. That is why intentional kindness matters so much to me. I truly believe it starts early, from the way children are spoken to, supported, listened to, and emotionally cared for while growing up in an ever-changing world. It begins inside homes, classrooms, schools, communities, public spaces, and everyday interactions. Even though there will always be pain, cruelty, and difficult people in the world, I still believe intentional kindness has the power to change lives in ways we sometimes underestimate. Sometimes one moment of patience, compassion, encouragement, or understanding becomes the very thing that reminds someone they still matter. I wanted kindness to become something people could practice One of the most important things to me when creating National Intentional Kindness Day was making sure it became something people could truly carry into everyday life instead of something people talked about once and forgot about the next day. I kept thinking about how much the world already influences people emotionally every single day through the things they constantly see around them. Advertisements, social media, news, conversations, negativity, pressure, stress, and noise are everywhere. So I started imagining what could happen if reminders about intentional kindness existed just as visibly in everyday life too. What if people saw reminders about empathy, patience, compassion, and kindness in parks, schools, grocery stores, workplaces, libraries, streets, freeways, public spaces, and communities while simply going about their day? Sometimes people are carrying heavy things silently while walking through ordinary moments. Sometimes one simple reminder that kindness still exists can affect someone more deeply than we realize. Observed every year on August 24, National Intentional Kindness Day was created to encourage empathy, emotional awareness, compassion, and meaningful human connection in practical and everyday ways. I wanted intentional kindness to become something people actively practiced in schools, homes, workplaces, friendships, libraries, neighborhoods, and communities, not just something spoken about once a year. That is one of the reasons I created intentional kindness toolkits and activity guides for children, families, educators, workplaces, homeschools, and communities. The resources encourage meaningful actions like listening more carefully, responding with patience, making others feel included, speaking more thoughtfully, and becoming more aware of how words and behavior affect people emotionally. My hope is that these tools help people bring intentional kindness into everyday life in real and practical ways instead of kindness being treated as something temporary or only discussed once a year. I have included a general National Intentional Kindness Day toolkit on my website, along with additional free downloadable toolkits and activity guides for every age group, from transitional kindergarten all the way through high school, as well as guides for families, educators, workplaces, and communities. Everything was intentionally created to be accessible and free for anyone who wants to use, share, teach, or pass the resources along to help spread awareness and encourage a more intentionally kinder world. Readers can download the general National Intentional Kindness Day toolkit here. Additional grade-level and community toolkits can be found here. How to practice intentional kindness in everyday life A lot of people want to make a difference but do not always know where to begin. The truth is, intentional kindness does not have to start with something big. Most of the time, it begins in ordinary moments people often overlook. It can look like putting your phone down when someone is talking to you. It can look like checking on a friend who suddenly became distant. It can look like listening without interrupting, choosing patience during stressful moments, or noticing the child sitting alone and making them feel included. Intentional kindness can also be practiced in classrooms, workplaces, homes, and communities by creating emotionally safe spaces where people feel respected instead of judged. Sometimes the most meaningful thing a person can do is make someone feel heard, valued, and less alone. Small actions may seem insignificant in the moment, but they often stay with people much longer than we realize. Because sometimes kindness is not about grand gestures at all. Sometimes it is simply about helping someone feel seen, valued, safe, understood, or less alone during a difficult moment in their life. National Intentional Kindness Day also serves as a starting point leading into Be Kind Human Week from August 25 through August 31. While I was not the creator of Be Kind Human Week itself, I loved the idea of creating a day that encourages people to begin practicing intentional kindness before that week even begins and hopefully continue carrying it forward long after it ends. More than anything, my hope is that intentional kindness becomes something people normalize in everyday life and future generations grow up seeing more often. Even though the world will always have pain, cruelty, and difficult situations, I still believe intentional kindness has the power to soften hearts, change environments, and remind people that goodness still exists in the world. The small things people never forget Sometimes people do not remember the exact words someone said years ago, but they remember how someone made them feel during one of the hardest moments of their life. A teacher encouraging a struggling child. A parent responding with understanding instead of shame. A friend checking in at the right time. Someone making another person feel included instead of invisible. Those moments stay with people far longer than we realize. That is why National Intentional Kindness Day was never meant to be about one “nice day” out of the year. My hope is that it becomes a reminder for people to move through life more intentionally with one another every day, especially in a world where so many people are carrying more than they let others see. What I hope National Intentional Kindness Day becomes My vision for National Intentional Kindness Day has never been about perfection. It has always been about awareness, connection, and humanity. I hope it encourages people to slow down more, listen more carefully, speak more gently, and notice the people around them instead of emotionally rushing past them. I hope it reminds adults that children are absorbing far more emotionally than many people realize. I hope it encourages schools, workplaces, families, and communities to create emotionally safe and compassionate environments where people feel respected, included, valued, and heard. Most of all, I hope people continue spreading intentional kindness not only on August 24, but in the everyday moments that shape how people feel about themselves and the world around them. Whether it is through classrooms, workplaces, homes, libraries, friendships, or communities, I hope people use these conversations, resources, and toolkits as a starting point to help create a kinder and more emotionally connected world. Even small acts of compassion can create ripple effects far bigger than we realize. Sometimes one moment of patience, understanding, or empathy becomes the thing someone remembers during one of the hardest seasons of their life. I truly believe the world becomes softer, safer, and more connected when people choose kindness with intention instead of waiting for someone else to go first. Readers can learn more about National Intentional Kindness Day, download intentional kindness toolkits, and explore additional resources through Mona Liza Santos’ official website. Her children’s books focused on kindness, empathy, emotional safety, belonging, and self-acceptance can also be found through her Amazon Author Page. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Mona Liza Santos Mona Liza Santos, Award-Winning Children's Author & Emotional Literacy Advocate Mona Liza Santos is an award-winning children's author, publisher, and founder of World Love Press. She is the author of more than 40 children's books focused on emotional literacy, kindness, confidence, resilience, and cultural identity. Her work has been recognized by the Mom's Choice Awards for its positive impact on children and families. Inspired by motherhood, global travel, and her Filipino heritage, Mona creates stories that encourage children to embrace who they are and recognize their worth. Mona is also the founder of National Intentional Kindness Day and Heritage and Heart Day, created to promote empathy, inclusion, cultural pride, and meaningful human connection within schools and communities.