Written by: Jill Hollander, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Let’s come together knowing that life will throw us curve balls that will make us want to scream a big loud NO! As we remind ourselves that we get to choose how we respond to every challenge and obstacle. We do not have to let our circumstances stop or define our lives. We can redefine how we respond to our challenges. We can find our YES! through all the NOs. We can say YES! to ourselves, our health, and live our lives as fully as possible feeling empowered and inspired! We can make choices and life decisions that inspire us to make our fight worth it- as we continue to show up through all the ups, downs, twists, and turns. We can create a YES! filled life, filled with moments of challenges as well as triumphs as we hope, cope, and deal with what is to create what could be not only possible but probable. “My NOs propel me forward to find my YES! My YES! moments keep me going through it all.” I have found that connecting to your inner fighting spirit, fosters you to keep going and continue to show up through all the ups, downs, twists, and turns by using specific approaches to help you rise up to your life, health, and/or relationship challenges. I have learned, applied, and honed these techniques by rising up to my own health, life, and relationship challenges. These techniques have become foundational in my career as a resiliency coach and motivational speaker; helping others to redefine how they respond to their life, relationship, and health challenges. Finding my YES! motivates me to respond with: grit, tenacity, perseverance, determination, self-advocacy, and resilience as I practice problem-solving skills to find creative solutions to hope, cope, & deal. It is important to remember that rising up to challenges takes unwavering commitment, dedication, diligence, and so much more. These are challenging times, no matter what difficulties you are up against. I want to let you know that YOU are integral in rising up to your challenge. You are powerful, strong, and courageous. YOU can turn your adversaries into opportunities to rise up! What is your YES? How is it helping you to show up and LIVE your life as fully as possible no matter what? Visit my website for more info! Jill Hollander, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Certified Health & Life Coach Jill Hollander helps people to FIND THEIR YES! even IN A SEA OF NOs. Through individual, group coaching, workshops, and motivational speaking, she empowers, motivates, and inspires her clients and audiences to find opportunities in their obstacles. She offers a variety of tools and strategies that foster mindset shifts, create self-advocacy, and build resiliency. Jill created her YES! Filled Life amongst extreme medical diagnoses, surgeries, and life events. Her mission is now to help others do the same. Jill has been helping others communicate and be their own advocates for 10 years after earning her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Jill has been featured in Entrepreneur, American Heart Association, The Associated Press, U.S. News & World Report, and more. She is a Survivor Ambassador for The American Heart Association. Jill received the Gift of Life Pillar of Strength Award at the national Marrow Match Gala.

Written by: Star Hayward, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Women make incredible leaders, CEO’s, and business owners. We’re visionaries, intuitive, creative, and we drive initiatives through connection, collaboration and inclusion, yes- we are tribal! But traditional, masculine leadership conditioning leaves many women either feeling afraid to lead, or trying to lead in a way that isn’t working because they haven’t learned that they can trust in bringing their feminine qualities effectively into leadership roles. The imbalance in the masculine-feminine approach to leadership and performance expectations is holding women back from achieving the freedom, fulfillment and flow they innately crave to feel through their heart centered work, leading to burnout, overwhelm, and looking for alternatives. I read an article recently that was titled, “women are leaving the workforce in droves.” Yes, droves! Part of this has to do with the hard reality that the paycheck women are earning doesn’t close the gap on the cost of childcare, therefore they’re left to make the hard decision to stay home with their children rather than work. The other truth to this is that women are fed up with the inequitable parameters we’ve been shrinking to fit within in order to be valued, seen, heard, recognized, and respected in the workforce and in the business world. Statistics show that women have to work 20% more than men to close the salary gap. This proves to be nearly impossible to achieve while maintaining reasonable health and quality of life, especially for those who are also the primary caregivers of the family, doing school drop-offs, running errands, cooking, cleaning, and paying the bills. The simple fact that we can name the old adage “women should rule the world,” an old adage alone is proof that we’re overdue in dissolving the gender gap by creating an equal and balanced playing field, for women, men, and all gender identities in business, commerce, economies and social structures worldwide. The question is, how? We cannot look to the external, physical world for a change. The change that we as women, and those who want women to take the lead, are wanting begins within our individual commitment to a new consciousness. One that expresses the values which uphold the behavior and choices that will cultivate a more harmonious world within each of us, therefore outside of us. One that incorporates empathy, connection, intuition, humility, and vulnerability with strategy, knowledge, assertiveness, and productivity. In other words, in order for women to be valued for their natural feminine qualities and encouraged to bring their whole, authentic selves into their jobs and businesses so that we can contribute to the world in the ways that our world asking for, it will require an understanding of the distinction between the masculine and feminine leadership qualities that reside within ourselves, and then learn how to leverage both through an empowered and balanced state for powerful momentum, achievement and fulfillment. Is this a tall order? It may be for many but I say we don’t have a choice if we want real significant change. It’s time that we embrace the truth that in order to heal our wounds and inequities, we must do the inner work to bring the masculine into harmony with the feminine in all that we do, especially leadership. Without this transformation, we’re only limping along, but when we commit to being the change we want to see in the world, we also make a commitment to becoming a greater version of ourselves, as whole and complete. You don’t have to be in a position of power to be a leader, there’s a leader in every one of us. The more we embrace this idea the more empowered and confident we will become in breaking away from the old ways that are no longer working to forge a new path into an existence that will be reflective of a new consciousness order, in wholeness, inclusion, abundance, and health. Should women rule the world? Man, woman, non-binary… Let’s let love be the cause of the pendulum swing. Follow Star on Facebook, Instagram, Clubhouse and visit her website. Read more from Star! Star Hayward, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Star Hayward is a Certified Life & Success Coach, Transformation Specialist, Spiritual Mentor, and founder of Ascending Heart Academy. She specializes in coaching female executives and entrepreneurs in self-mastery and feminine leadership strategies to achieve freedom and fulfillment through their purpose-inspired work. Star resides in the Pacific Northwest with her loving husband and family, and enjoys a passion filled life of outdoor adventures, travel, writing, and spiritual practices. www.starhayward.com

Jay Staniforth is the Founder of Expert Unleashed, a high performance coaching business for coaches and online entrepreneurs. Jay focuses on habit formation and marketing strategy to help his clients with overwhelm, procrastination and self-sabotage, all whilst assisting them to scale their business. Jay started his business when he turned 30 and has since worked with over 100 business owners from around the world, with his biggest client achieving £1.2million in sales in just 18 months. He has been featured with HubSpot and Sniply as well as other global brands. Jay Staniforth, Founder of Expert Unleashed So tell us, who is Jay when he’s at home? So I’m actually pretty introverted, I recharge better alone and definitely enjoy time on my own, but at the same time, I love spending time with a select few people who are close to me; the first being my partner, Naomi, another being my little dog, she’s a Patterjack called Kite, and then other people who I believe inspire me to become better every day. What is it that you do for your clients? From the outside looking in, it can seem quite complex, but in its simplest form, we help entrepreneurs to scale their business and confidently position themselves as THE expert in their specific niche, whilst still maintaining balance in their personal lives, their health and their relationships. How does it all work then? How do you help your clients to achieve that? Our process is built heavily around frameworks because this makes everything scalable. The first step is to instill a series of habits into their business - and personal life if needed - to ensure that the needle-moving activities are happening consistently, without these, it’s an uphill battle for any business owner. Any signs of procrastination, anxiety, self-sabotage etc are usually dealt with during the habit implementation stage as we need our clients to operate from a clean slate in order to guarantee the result. Our focus then shifts to the strategic side of things which mostly leverages my 10 plus years of experience in marketing. Every client we work with has the owner as the face of the business and we show them how they can leverage their story to connect with potential clients. What advice do you have for a new business owner struggling to get things off the ground? This is a great question, and actually where we do most of our work. The first thing I’d say is ‘get ready to fail.. a lot!’ - I see promises of ‘short-cut to this’ and ‘fast-track that’, but the reality is, nothing you have in your life right now that you value came from a short-cut or a hack - it came from consistent hard work, multiple knock-backs and a ton of learning… expect the same in your business! Once you’ve genuinely accepted this, you’re ready to go. So then there’s five steps I’ll share with you: Everything you’re doing in terms of marketing right now, stop! Chances are it’s not delivering. You need to free up time, and this is the best way. Spend the time creating an incredible offer, an offer that people will feel stupid saying no to. I often hear people saying you need to get better at sales or do more with marketing. In a way they’re right, but everything starts with the offer. Once you have an awesome offer, you need to focus on getting traffic. Get people in your circle so they can start to learn about what you do. Next, you need to focus on your content. People buy into stories and this is where you can share yours. Practice sharing different angles of your story and the lessons you have learned so you can deeply resonate with your audience. And finally, focus on the relationship. When you show that you genuinely care about the people you are talking to, sales becomes a closing exercise rather than a selling exercise. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur? The ability to embrace failure, a willingness to learn from others and give credit for doing so, and the discipline to build needle-moving habits. What are some habits that you have formed that would help other entrepreneurs? Time blocking - Scheduling 1 to 2-hour blocks into my diary and turning off anything that bings or distracts me so that I can get into a flow state and achieve long periods of deep work. I get so much done by doing this. Pomodoro Technique - I actually do a variation of this, but effectively it’s 50 minutes of deep work, and then an alarm that alerts me to have a 10-minute break. I use that break to get some water and walk around so that when I return to my work, my mind is refreshed and ready to go again for another 50-minute stint. Labelling Habits - I have 5 core habit types that I diarise into my day so that I can focus on the outcome of a time block, rather than the task. So I have a morning ritual, a close of play ritual, non-negotiable habits, revenue-generating habits and needle-moving habits. These are in my diary every single day and help to keep me consistent in everything that I do. Morning Ritual - I already mentioned this, but having a morning ritual will change the game for you. I get up early, at 5 am, drink a pint of cold water, then I educate myself for 30 minutes. After that, I have a 30-minute Zoom group routine I follow that includes meditation, goal setting, affirmations, gratitude, some stretching, and watching something motivational. Who should hire or work with you? We tend to attract a lot of coaches and service-based entrepreneurs, but as long as you’re a business owner looking to build your business online, and you aspire to be the face of your business, as well as a reputable force within your industry, then we can work with you. Equally, if you’re struggling to grow your business because of lead generation problems, or because of overwhelm, procrastination, or self-sabotage, our programme really shines in these areas. What is your favourite quote? Harvey MacKay said, “If you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it.” and this has stuck with me for a number of years because it really supports the idea of habit formation, and the areas I have seen the most success in my life to date have been those where I have been most consistent. For anyone wanting to know more about what you do, where should they look? The easiest place to learn more about Expert Unleashed is on our website, and we actually have an interesting quiz that you can take on there which will help you to identify where in your life and business you might be out of balance. It’s definitely worth checking out as we’ve had some real transformation stories from those that took action after receiving their results. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jay!

Written by: Derick Grant, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We all struggle with the concept of patience. Few of us understand, though, what patience is. Patience is not an act. It's a state of being. The reason why so many of us struggle with being patient is because of our ego. Our egos develop expectations of how the outcome should turn out, and the moment those expectations aren’t met, we become impatient and disappointed. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with having expectations. The issue is when we develop an emotional attachment to the result, we’re setting ourselves up to be impatient. Something we must grasp is that there is no such thing as time. Past, and Future, are mind-made concepts to help measure this experience we call life. All life unfolds in the eternal present moment. Your expectations are no more than your mind, wanting to figure out future events. You then develop an emotional attachment to that specific outcome your mind has conjured up. What ends up manifesting in the present moment is something we call impatience. When you become impatient, take a deep breath and look at your feet to bring your mind back to the present moment, the home of patience. We often say, “How come my life right now doesn't look like how I imagined it to be in the future?” When you can emotionally detach from the expected outcome and be mentally wherever your feet are, now you have the opportunity to live life in a state of patience. Don’t get me wrong; you’re going to need to set goals. You're going to have to have pre-planned ways or routes to attain that goal. But the key is to know that there are infinite possibilities as to how something can be created or will happen. You don't have to take just one road to the supermarket. There are four or five different ways to get there. Some may take longer than others, but ultimately, they'll all end up leading to the same place. Life is no different. Your mind creates expectations as to how something will play out. Instead of having expectations as to how everything will play out, pretend your life is like being on a ride at the fair with your eyes closed, and you don't know if the ride will go left or right or up or down. You’re ok with the thrill and the excitement of the ride because you are mentally so immersed in the present moment. Every experience in life is to become a little better at growing, learning, and loving. You're here to enjoy the experience. All of your patience is rooted in the present moment. The present moment is the only place you have ever lived life. So stay where your feet are mentally, and you will find the virtue we've all been seeking; patience. Want to learn more from Derick? Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin Twitter and visit his website. Read more from Derick! Derick Grant, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine After traveling to 70 different countries, and playing 8 years for the Harlem Globetrotters, Derick Grant set out on a mission to help hundreds of athletes, coaches, and people tap into their infinite seed of greatness. His client base consists of but is not limited to the NBA, WNBA, NFL, executives at Fortune 500 companies. He is an author, TEDx speaker, and revered as one of the most powerful performance mindset coaches in the athletic world. His revolutionary approach to mindset by teaching what the mind is, and how to use it as a tool has helped influenced high achievers across the globe. His podcast, “The Pathway to Your Results”, helps teach people how to find this seed of greatness we all had inside of us.

Written by: Jean Fleming, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. There are many definitions of values but fundamentally it boils down to the things that are important to you. Knowing your values is being clear on what is important to you, what drives you and what motivates you. Working in line with your values gives you energy. When you are clear about your values, decision making becomes easier as your values will guide you. Values are what sit at your core - they are what you are all about, they guide your thoughts, beliefs, qualities and behaviours. They are a moral compass that can guide what work you do, which people you choose to spend your time with and how you spend your time. However, when your values are not aligned with what you are doing then it will zap your energy and it will not feel right for you. You will be dissatisfied and frustrated. And goodness, when someone breaches your core values, you will really know about it! 3 steps to identify your values Think of people you admire. What are the qualities you admire about them? Make a list. Consider this list and ask yourself which of these qualities are core to you? Reflect back on a time in your life when you have been at your happiest. What was going on for you? What specifically was making you happy? Were you surrounded by those you love, were you helping someone, were you achieving great things, was it a calm environment, were you having fun – whatever you come up with, think about how these elements were feeding your soul. Think of a time when you were particularly frustrated or angry. What specifically caused you to feel this way? Had a loyalty been breached, was it someone who didn’t care, was disrespectful, lacked compassion. It is likely that it was a breach of your values. Don’t overthink – just go with your gut answers on each of these activities. Once you have these 3 lists see what themes emerge so that you can identify the core values for you. If you have more than 6, start to rank them. Identify which could you really not live without so that you land with your core 6. Ask yourself where are they being met in your life e.g. career, relationships? Where are they not being met as well as you would like? What action could you take to get more aligned with your values. Living a life aligned with your values is a happier life. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Raed more from Jean! Jean Fleming, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jean Fleming is an Empowerment and Leadership Coach helping women to create the life they want. With over 30 years of business experience, Jean was the first woman to join the Board of a global company – a role she still fulfills 12 years later. Jean is an experienced ICF accredited Coach, a DiSC Profiler, an Emotional Intelligence EQi-2.0 Assessor, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Jean uses her extensive range of skills and experience to bring a dynamic and supportive service to her clients to help them identify and create the life they want.

Written by: Bridget Richard, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Anxiety. For some people, just the word makes them anxious. It is something we deal with every day. It can be different types or intensities, but it is usually something we can handle. The problem is when the anxiety becomes debilitating. Throughout our lives, we go through things that can cause anxiety and stress. Normally, our bodies feel these things because it helps us figure out how to respond to situations. In normal circumstances, we feel anxiety in response to a situation; however, the feelings of anxiety should decimate after the situation passes. When it doesn't, therein lies the problem. You may ask yourself when too much anxiety is too much. The answer to that is it varies from person to person. Your response will differ from someone else's, and the same is true for someone else. Remember, anxiety is a normal thing. It is natural. What is not normal is when we begin to hyper focus on it. We run a magnifying glass over the anxiety, and that is when we start to see the formation of a type of anxiety disorder. With anxiety, there are generalized anxiety disorders, phobias, and social anxiety. For a moment, think about these things. If you have a phobia or fear of heights, for instance, then you anticipate the fear and anxiety you will feel if you go rock climbing. Once you make it to solid ground, that fear should decimate, right? Some people tend to use the words “anxiety" and "anticipation" interchangeably. We know that, biologically, they are the same thing. So, the next time you are feeling anxious, you should stop and ask yourself, could this also be anticipation? For so many people who deal with this feeling of anxiety in their daily lives, this switch in mindset is what does the trick. It helps them stop hyper focusing. The frustration many people feel is they cannot understand how to deal or overcome anxiety. It is just understanding that your body is designed to settle down the feeling of anxiety over a period of time (so long as whatever is causing the anxiety has passed). There are plenty of things that cause anxiety, but once the event has passed, your body will normally, and naturally, release all the chemicals that come along with anxiety. It will process right out which is a beautiful thing for some people. For others, it may take longer. Some people experience extreme feelings of anxiety which can result in many expressions of anxiety. The shakes. Feeling hot. Sweaty palms. These physical symptoms are the body's physical release of the extreme, anxious feelings. Now, when these last longer and don’t wash out of your system, this is where mental triggers and disorders can happen. The one thing I like to stress when I talk with people is it is not a matter of normal or abnormal in regard to anxiety. It doesn't matter if your body doesn't know when to release, resulting in always keeping higher levels of cortisol and other anxiety-causing hormones. That can simply boil down to genetics. When I talk to clients, I may ask if there is anyone in their family that has been diagnosed with a mental health issue. Sometimes, they say yes. Other times, they say no. Then I will ask if there is anyone in their family who should have been diagnosed. Most of the time, people will laugh at that, but when you think about family history and behavior, you may begin to wonder if you do or did have a family member who was particularly anxious. Maybe you remember your great-aunt Myra would check the stove was off multiple times before she left, without fail. Or perhaps, your grandmother was afraid to drive because she didn't like being in a car. These resulted in coping mechanisms where the anxiety was not handled or even managed. The individuals simply lived with it. This was extremely common before mental health was a thing. Now that we know how important mental health is and why we need to learn to overcome rather than simply cope, we have developed tools and ways to deal with and manage anxiety. We also know that some of these things are genetic; therefore, we need to learn ways to rewire and rework our habits when dealing with anxiety. There are some things you can do to manage anxiety. You can give it time and space for it to go away naturally. It's not comfortable, but it can help. You can also try some kind of coaching that can help you figure out what trigger(s) you have and how to overcome them, so they aren't an issue anymore. Journaling is also very popular. It can help you gather your thoughts, write down what you are feeling, and process your emotions. Or you can simply write whatever. A tidbit on any topic, subject, or creative idea you may have. Remember, it doesn't have to make sense to anyone. You can process things in your own way. Lastly, you can find professional help like a therapist or counselor. Sometimes, we don't like to admit when we need help, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't find it when we need it. Therapy is a great way to talk and work through things. This is also a great place to start when you have no clue where to begin. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Bridget! Bridget Richard, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Bridget Richard, MA, LISW-S is a Social Worker and Life Coach with 20+ years of experience in the field of mental health. In her work, she is passionate about helping with women to conquer feelings of anxiety and depression caused by burnout. She helps her clients move from being too frustrated and overwhelmed to enjoy life to focused, empowered, and re-energized. Bridget enjoys bringing her message of self-love and determination to virtual and live venues everywhere. She has been featured in the Women's Journal as a "Person You Want to Know" and regularly contributes to Thrive, Medium, and Brainz Magazine. To learn more about working with Bridget schedule your free discovery call at https://calendly.com/bridgetsrichard/freeconsult.

Written by: Katie Pancione, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Interesting title, right? You are probably wondering what I am referring to and why it’s so unpopular. I am a clinical mental health counselor, and I have several clients who have what is known as an ‘alternative lifestyle.’ That phrase always gives me a crick in my neck as no matter who you are, what you believe in, or what you spend your time doing, who decides it is an alternative? An alternative lifestyle is another way of saying society labels it the incorrect way to conduct yourself compared to the mainstream majority. I often face clients who come to our sessions with their heads hung low, carrying the weight of shame society has placed upon them for living the life they choose. Some come to sessions to expose their lifestyle as a secret; they are afraid to tell others. There are so many things that can warrant feelings of shame and guilt. Opinions that today’s culture deems inappropriate for no other reason than the fact they are not faced with it regularly should not be one of them. Some people participate in open and/or polyamorous relationships. Some people enjoy safely using recreational drugs. Some people co-parent and never had the intention of being in an intimate relationship themselves. People who believe in a higher power that is not a mainstage religious organization. People who do nothing to hurt others around them and yet feel the need to hide in shame simply because they are considered “alternative.” These are all people you pass on the street. They don’t wear signs that attract their status, and they don’t wear clothing or have haircuts that make you assume they are “alternative.” These people are in therapy because they feel judged and isolated for what they believe. Be sensitive when sharing your opinions with others. Encourage those around you to live authentically and not hide in fear. I am here to say if you are safe, healthy, and do not cause harm to others, who cares how you spend your time? So, while it may be an unpopular opinion, I say you go ahead and do you. Live your life for yourself. Follow me on Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Katie! Katie Pancione, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Katie Pancione spent well over a decade in corporate America before concluding that she wanted something more personally meaningful in life, helping others. While still working her high-powered executive position, she took her undergraduate degree in psychology and continued her education by receiving a Master of Arts in Counseling. At this point she departed her corporate career and started her own counseling practice, NOVA Mental Health Counseling. Katie focuses on helping others via tele-health work through grief, loss, anxiety, and the many overwhelming life transitions that many individuals face across their life span.

Written by: Christine Deschemin, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Investing in your corporate wellness program with the UpNow app ultimately will boost your bottom line and send your employees’ satisfaction soaring. Employee productivity is essential to a healthy, functional workplace, but that productivity is not just a matter of the right conditions at work. Factors in an employee’s personal life can directly affect motivation and productivity, which in turn can affect your bottom line. Any company with an eye to the future must address not just workplace wellbeing but also overall mental health. With the right corporate mental health strategy, you can maintain your competitive edge while attracting and keeping higher quality talent. Moving beyond the Conventional EAP Stress, anxiety, and other mental health concerns can directly affect not just your employees but the workspace. These issues can lead to higher levels of both absenteeism and presenteeism, which occurs when people work despite illness or poor health, which lowers their performance and function. According to the American Psychiatric Association, depression costs U.S. employers alone $44 billion annually in lost productivity. Global costs are likely even higher. The right workplace wellness program can transform not only the lives of your employees but your entire work culture. Conventionally, employers have offered options such as employee assistance programs, or EAPs. These programs typically offer basic services, such as assistance with: Alcohol and substance misuse Relationship difficulties Financial issues Traumatic experiences Employees can typically access EAP services at no cost to themselves, and services may also be available to the employees’ families as well. While EAPs can be beneficial for some employees dealing with specific issues, they are not a cure-all. Utilization rates are often low, and services tend to be generalized. Access can be difficult, too, with some companies requiring employees to jump through numerous hoops to access the care they need. Finally, sessions tend to be limited in number, which means that many employees are cut off from benefits when they need them the most. A new health care model is needed. Hypnosis for employee wellness might be just what the doctor ordered. Hypnosis is cost-effective, easy to access, and transformative, providing employees not only with the wellness care they need but the tools to change their lives. Changing the Narrative to Improve Emotional Health and Increase Performance Stress is a global issue affecting workers everywhere. Excessive stress is associated with numerous issues, including distractibility, low motivation, fatigue, and depression. Over time, it can even increase the risk of health issues, such as high blood pressure and obesity. Modern corporate health programs tend to focus primarily on the physical markers of health: weight, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels. While it is true that these markers tell a story about a person’s health, the picture they paint is incomplete. Furthermore, addressing these issues requires not just treating the symptoms but addressing any underlying issues. It is time to flip the script on your corporate wellness program. Digital hypnotherapy can give your employees the tools they need to improve not only their physical well-being but also their emotional health. The payoff for you is happier, healthier employees who regularly perform at their peak. When you change the way you approach employee wellness, you can take your program beyond the symptoms and give your employees the tools they need to transform their health and wellness. With hypnotherapy, your employees can take control of their stress, developing skills that can last a lifetime as they combat burnout, boost motivation, and renew their sense of achievement in the workplace. All of this translates to stronger, healthier company culture and greater overall productivity. UpNow’s Hypnotherapy App The UpNow app puts the power of emotional wellness directly into your employees’ hands. With our app, your employees can access the care they need in comfort and privacy. There is no longer a need to schedule appointments or to go through human resources departments. There are no forms to complete or questionnaires. Instead, your team can access powerful audios on relevant topics, including: Anxiety Stress Sleep Depression Grief Interpersonal relationships Motivation Performance Fears and phobias Career enhancement Bad habits Financial management Confidence UpNow’s app also features support for physical needs, including pain management, women’s health, weight loss, improved sleep, and more. The app is easy to use and can help employees access the care they need in an environment that feels safe and comfortable for them. Invest in Corporate Wellness; Boost Your Bottom Line As our knowledge and understanding of mental wellness evolve, so does our understanding of how to craft an employee wellness program that properly meets our employees; needs. With the UpNow app, you have the power of transforming your teams’ lives without significantly increasing costs. Not only can you control your costs, but productivity will soar as your employees develop healthier stress management techniques, overcome bad habits, and build resilience. Their motivation and job satisfaction will skyrocket, and you will be better able to attract and keep the talent you need to grow. Investing in your wellness program with the UpNow app ultimately will boost your bottom line and send your employees’ satisfaction soaring. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Christine! Christine Deschemin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Christine Deschemin is a certified hypnotherapist and founder of the Renewed Edge Hypnotherapy Centre in Hong Kong. With a keen interest in resilience, she leverages her experience as an athlete and as a former engineer and banker in high-stress environments with her executive and sports clients. In March 2020, she released the UpNow hypnosis app to bring the benefits of self-hypnosis to the fingertips of anyone in need. The self-hypnosis downloads can be accessed online and offline to make mental health aids very affordable. In addition to her many scholastic achievements, Christine Deschemin has a Master of Science from the Ecole Polytechnique (France) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is fluent in four languages.

Written by: Christine Hansen, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. So you want to launch a group programme. Before we get started there are a couple of elements that you should have in place: your story, you’ve got your niche and now you need a programme to actually start teaching people or informing them more about what you’re good at, right? This is not only for the coaches among you. Having a programme, having a methodology – that is, a process of how YOU do things – is invaluable. Even if you are an artist or a creator. Your way of thinking, your process is valuable. It’s the ticket to fame! It’s the thing you will become KNOWN for. Launching a programme. Establish a methodology you become known for: A signature programme that delivers a result. That methodology is your ticket to freedom. The way to come up with it? Identify your ideal client. Identify the steps you teach and implement over and over. Package those into a framework. My Impact with Integrity method, for example, is Branding, Pricing & Packaging, Email & Tech, Content Creation & Distribution, and finally, Global Outreach. Those are the 5 pillars every business should entail. When you have a launch, you’re putting an event around your programme. While launching is one of the strategies to grow business, don’t rely only on it; you need to get clients year-round. The idea to take away here is to have a mainstay: Create the methodology you become known for. Create the method you’re the expert for. Concrete steps to take before launching your programme. Build a methodology. What are the fundamentals your ideal client needs to get results? Beta test that methodology, i.e. let people know it’s unfinished and a test, often at a reduced price and not as professionally produced. Either with a group or one-on-one. The important thing is that you beta-test at all. It doesn’t matter if you start with a group or one-on-one. You just need an x number of people to have gone through your methodology to make sure it works. That’s your experience. Those are your first 5 clients. Only then think about the model you want to use. It also alleviates so much pressure to be perfect. Collect ALL. THE. Feedback. You can use feedback later on. You can then change your programme or not, it’s up to you. Top tips for group programmes: Okay, you’ve got your methodology, now you want to probably create a group programme. Here are some tips: Decide whether you want to launch sporadically or whether you want the programme to be evergreen, i.e., have people enrol all year round. A group programme doesn’t need to have a hundred people, a group of 4 or 5 people is just as valid! Organise weekly group calls (it doesn’t matter where people are in the course). Offer an additional level of support: one-on-one, for an extra upgrade fee The hot times to launch: spring and autumn. Magic tip: A programme doesn’t sell. What sells is your ability to identify the person who needs it. Then, connect the programme to the person’s problem. Boom. (This is an excerpt of my book We Mean Business coming out in January 2022.) Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Christine! Christine Hansen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Christine Hansen is an award-winning business coach & consultant for online entrepreneurs who want to embrace their inner lazy, profit like a pro, and add philanthropist to their list of credentials—without ever undercharging or feeling like they have to be anyone but themselves again. She combines hardcore strategy with lush personal development so that entrepreneurs can build and scale businesses that are still soul-aligned all the way. With 10+ years as a sought-after TedX France and keynote speaker, Christine’s work is featured in Forbes, Business Insider, National Geographic, and more. Having built two successful online businesses herself, Christine found out the hard way—like losing money on sketchy business investments and ruined “put your damn laptop away!” vacation moments—that most entrepreneurs are closer to burnout than they are to reaching 6-figures. (And they’re still worrying, “Am I overcharging?!”) Christine is famous for sharing cautionary tales from the trenches, tell-it-like-it-is tips, her all-time go-to (no-brainer) tech tools she uses to get twice as much done in half the time, and gushing her best secrets to help you bust past your blind spots, be true to yourself, and breakthrough to 6-figures in under a year...all while donating to charity, taking vacations every 6 weeks, and spoiling yourself with something nice on a very regular basis.

Written by: Rose Burnett, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Our Shadow Self can provide many deep insights into self-imposed limitations we place around ourselves. Along with deep-rooted fears, insecurities, and triggers that impact our sense of self-worth. It is also a part of us to be loved. Because within our Shadow side is a gift that can help us grow, expand, and release things about ourselves that hold us back in life. Our Shadow side is the part of us that we try to repress, ignore, or don't like that much for fear of rejection, shame, guilt, or feelings of being unworthy. Sometimes when feeling emotionally overwhelmed, it can be confusing to understand what our shadow side is trying to tell us. It often sits encased in our subconscious mind and needs a period of reflection to find the deeper meaning that explains our feelings, the root cause, and what we need to learn. Ultimately it is a life lesson, that sets us free in one aspect of self. ENDURING A DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL The Shadow side of self can be painfully obvious when enduring a dark night of the Soul. A dark night of the Soul can be triggered by a significant life event, feeling overwhelmed or hopeless, experiencing high levels of stress or burnout. You may feel like you have lost your footing in life, your life direction and your purpose. Often what is being shed is a belief system we have outgrown (or need to), an identity, relationship or life path that once held meaning for us, but now no longer positively supports us. We can cling to familiar, resisting change, even though we know we need to. When enduring a dark night of the Soul, you can: Feel depressed, flat, lethargic, burnt out, tired, and fatigued. Be overly concerned about the future or past failures. Feel not good enough, judge yourself harshly, and compare yourself to others concerning material wealth, possessions, relationship status, body image, career progress and achievements. Experience despair, hopelessness, and not see any way out of your situation. Feel isolated and disconnected from others. Lose interest in your normal activities, be overly emotional and sensitive. Feel stuck in states of procrastination, confusion, frustration, and not knowing what to do next. This crisis is helping you figure out what has meaning for you and what needs to change in your life to make it better. Letting go of parts of self, attached to our identity, can involve a period of grief and feelings of loss. As we let go of what was and open ourselves up to new possibilities. It could be a failed business, a socially admired relationship, a way in which we have defined ourselves, a home, lifestyle, or career we are shedding. It may be that you have reached a point of no return, where you are so frustrated with how things are in your life that you're not going to take it anymore. Which usually involves a feeling of lack in some area of your life. Be it your finances, material possessions, love, connectedness to others, health and wellbeing, or sense of self-worth. USING OUR SHADOW SIDE TO TRANSFORM DARKNESS TO LIGHT To transform the feeling of darkness in our life, or shadow side into light, we need to accept responsibility for ourselves and see the truth in situations. Deciding what you will no longer tolerate in your life. By bringing conscious awareness to those things that no longer serve us we can identify what needs to change, and how. It can also be that we need to change how we are perceiving things. The meaning we are giving them, and how our negative self-talk can be making situations worse than they are. Whenever we are kinder to ourselves, release harsh judgements about ourselves or others, and find the lessons in our experiences, we release the strong hold our shadow side has on us. When we accept responsibility for what is not working in our lives and take small or big steps to create positive change, we instantly start to feel better. It is like a big weight is lifted off your shoulders and psyche. You have stepped into your personal power and out of victim mode and released feelings of helplessness. The Shadow side is to be loved, explored, and treasured for the life-changing gifts it will give you in living your life with more freedom and happiness. And remember… Action is power. Clarity is learning. Change is personal growth. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Rose! Rose Burnett, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rose Burnett is a Certified Rose Burnett is a Certified Transformational Coach, NLP Practitioner and Advanced Reiki Practitioner. Rose specializes in Mind Body Soul Balance with a keen interest in fitness, healthy natural eating, mind-body-soul connection, and spirituality. Founder of Warrior Spirit Activewear, a collection of vibrant gym wear for women and fitness blog. Rose also works as a Change Management Consultant helping people and teams successfully navigate through organisational and technology change.

Written by: Haseena Shaheed-Jackson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Success and accomplishment are the results of encountering and overcoming obstacles and adversity. They occur to provide you with lessons that you are to apply to your life. Life is not about winning. It is about how good you are as a fighter. You get up and keep on swinging instead of throwing in the towel. "You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages." - Michelle Obama Your obstacles and adversity add to your character, depth and knowledge. They mold you into the person that you need to become. Adversity and obstacles provide the lessons that you must apply to your life. Do not regret or begrudge these lessons. It is the application of these lessons that will enable you to live an exceptional life. I give you six tips to gain momentum to move forward using your obstacles and adversity. Provide Direction. Aid you in navigating the course that you are travel to live a life in your purpose. You want the path to be in alignment with your potential, gifts and talents. You do not want to find that you have traveled a road that was a dead end. Placing you on a path that was filled with distractions caused you to waste time and resources that entice you to give up. You want to be on the path that is pressing you forward. Builds Resilience. You are to get back up and keep moving forward. You develop the fortitude to see beyond the vicissitudes of life because of your beliefs and faith in what you can do and will do. Keep your eye on your vision and target. It will add to your strength and build your character. Solidifies core values. You get to know who you are. Develop the foundations and pillars of your life. You identify what is most important to you resulting in following your passion and building your courage. Acquire Experience. You build on your knowledge, skills and abilities. Experience cannot be bought on sale. The price cannot be discounted. You must pay full price. Obtain Wisdom. It is the application of your experience. You apply what has been acquired to keep you going forward. Wisdom will keep you on track and on target. Provides the insight in strategizing and planning your next steps and courses of action. Yields evaluation and feedback. Input is needed to provide correction and adjustments to your plans, actions and goals. You cannot live in a bubble. Evolution and change requires collecting and gathering input and information. You will need to alter and revise your plans. Failing to incorporate will result in your becoming stagnant and ultimately extinct. Your adversity and obstacles make you stronger. They prepare you for the person you are to become so you can live an exceptional life. Embrace them. They will allow you to: Continue increasing and enhancing the picture you are painting for your vision. Be creative. Thinking outside the box. Finding and developing new solutions and alternatives. Use adversity and obstacles to be the momentum to keep you moving forward. With momentum you can continue to move forward achieving success. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Haseena! Haseena Shaheed-Jackson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mrs. Haseena Shaheed-Jackson is a Certified Coach, Speaker, and Trainer under the John Maxwell Team. She is the author of Reflections Within and Messages from the Spirit. Her mission is to add value to people to add value to others by intentionally growing, resulting in transformation and changing their world. Growth is a continual process that never ceases. It is a lifetime commitment that must become a habit. Ms. Jackson is the Owner of Faith, Hope and Spirit, LLC, which offers training, coaching, and speaking in growth, development, leadership, and influence. For over 30 years, she has held positions in leadership and management for various companies and organizations, where her responsibilities included mentoring, coaching, development, and training. She hosts a monthly networking group, Connecting and Collaborating to Thrive (CC2T). CC2T focuses on developing relationships and establishing a community. She actively seeks to form partnerships with others to make a difference and be impactful.

Written by: Mags Thomson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. I have spoken before about the amazing effect publishing a book can have on your business. It creates credibility and helps you reach new audiences. Or in the words of Melanie Herschorn: “When you write a book, you automatically set yourself apart from your competition. You are now part of an elite club of experts. Why? Because you wrote the book on it!” Before you get started on YOUR book, there are a few things to consider in order to make this the best opportunity it can be! 1 – Get Clear on Your Goals Before you even get started on writing your book, get clear on why you want to write it. Not just what you hope it will bring for you or your business, but also why you want to share THIS story and why now? Your ultimate goal will not just keep you on the straight and narrow when it comes to some of the considerations we’ll be looking at today, it will also keep you motivated on days when the writing isn’t coming quite so easily. When writer’s block hits, it can help to look at a post-it on your desk or an affirmation on your vision board that reminds you why you set out on this journey. 2 – Start With the End In Mind In order to plan your book, start with the things that may sound like the last items on your list: your description and index. Your description will help you really nail down what you want your readers to gain from reading your book. Your description should include exactly who your audience is, the pain point your readers want to solve and what they will knowledge or solutions you are offering to help them. Once you have that all clear, try and distil it further and further until you have 1 or 2 sentences that address all those questions. Who is this for? What is their issue? What is your solution? Now that you have a clear aim of what your book will achieve, it is time to start outlining. This is where your index comes in. Work out around 10 chapter titles that will create a logical journey for your reader from their pain point to your solution. Your outline will guide you as you work through the writing process. 3 – Ask Your (Future) Audience What questions are your clients always asking you? What are the words they are using? What other resources are already available in that field? What are the comments and reviews of those resources saying? Researching the kind of questions, challenges and language your audience uses is helpful at all stages of your business, but most certainly also when you are writing your book. This will help you write a book that resonates with your ideal clients and creates a connection with you. It makes you the Mr Darcy to their Elizabeth. Pro Tip: Set out some poles on your social media profiles to ask your audience for input around specific topics or chapters as you are going through creating your first draft. 4 – Use What You Already Have How many blog posts, guest articles and podcasts have you already created? You can include those ideas and passages in your book. There is no reason to have to continuously reinvent the wheel. Start copy-pasting passages into the chapter structure you have created, so you know where they fit into the structure of your book. Remember that writing a book or writing a blog post are two very different things. In online text, you have to create shorter paragraphs and include enough subtitles so your article is easy to skim. In your book, you can dive a little deeper and explore topics to a greater extend. So, you will need to do some rewriting of your original content, but it will give you a great starting point. 5 – Start Small Your first book doesn’t have to be a 1000 page epic. Start with something around 10 chapters and 50.000 words. It will make the writing project more manageable as you practice your skills, but will also make editing more cost-effective (more on that later). Pack your book with value, rather than meeting some arbitrary expectation you the world may have about the length of a book. You can always write a second volume, right? 6 – Make it As You As You Can Be You may not be the only person teaching exactly what you teach, BUT there are millions of people in the world trying to learn what you have to offer. They are all at different levels and have different preferences for what kind of teacher they’d like on their journey. So, there are always people who are searching exactly for what YOU have to offer. To find those people, you have to be as YOU as it is possible to be. Add personal anecdotes, talk the way you would with your clients and use language as you do normally. Make your daft jokes, add the puns you love and reference your favourite TV programmes or movies. Your book is the way to start a conversation and create a connection with your clients before ever meeting them in person. 7 – Consider How It Works With Your Marketing If you want the book to make a real difference in your business, take some time to consider how the book will fit in with your overall marketing efforts. Your book can supply you with great content, be an amazing discussion starter or function as a tripwire sale. However, you decide to integrate your book into your strategy, make sure to give it some thought. This can also impact how you offer your book to your audience and how you organise your book launch. 8 – Start Talking About Your Book, Build Credibility Start talking about your book from the word GO! Share about your experiences writing and how you are progressing. Give a few golden nuggets and tell your audience all about your whys and whats and hows. Why are you writing this book? Why did you pick the title? Why are you so passionate about this topic? How do you hope to impact the world with your book? I can go on and on, but you get the idea. Talking about your book right from the get-go will help you create buzz, and will start building credibility for you as an expert and the book as a valuable resource. 9 – Hire an Editor It is important that the book you put out meets the standards you want people to associate with your business; how else will it compel your readers to buy from you? Working with an editor is an important step to make your book the best it can be. An editor does much more than just proofread your manuscript. They will help you with the structure of your text too. It’s almost impossible to edit your own work because you already KNOW the point you are trying to make, so any gaps in your argument will fill themselves in. Your editor, however, is trained to pick up these holes and help your plug them. Trust me, editing is a specific profession and you want to put some money toward this. 10 – Create a Funnel from Your Book to Your List Think about a good call to action in your book that exceeds: “check out my website for more information.” Our websites are often so full of information that your reader may feel super overwhelmed. Besides, you lose the opportunity to start a conversation with your audience. You can include a link to a video training, guided meditation, workbook, the possibilities are endless. This is an amazing opportunity to build your email list and start having actual conversations with prospective customers and show them a little more of what it would be like to work with you. 11 – Plan Your Launch In the weeks leading up to your book launch, you want to start building a launch team. Your launch team will exist if people in your audience and your personal network, who want to help you get your book off to a good start. They can help spread the word on their social media, can help with reviews and may have podcasters and journalists in their network they can get you in contact with. It is important to create a group with people who are willing to be actively involved, as such, it's better to have 10 people who are really on it, than have 100 who are not really that bothered. People may be quick to comment they will help, but make sure to engage with them and see if they are really happy to help and if so what they would like to help you with. Make sure you create a plan for yourself and your launch team, so you and your launch team don’t feel lost or overwhelmed. Make sure to follow up with your people AND don’t forget to thank them after the launch. Perhaps there is something you can give them or raffle off among the people who helped. 12 – Optimise Your Listing Once you publish your book, you want people to be able to find it! So, you want to make sure that your description, keywords and shop categories are set up so that customers can find your book. I wrote an article about how to go about this for Amazon recently, so I won’t go into too much detail. I just want to highlight that Amazon Optimisation helps your book gain traction right from the launch date and makes for a happy algorithm that will happily recommend your book to new readers. Ready? Set? Change the World! The world of online entrepreneurship holds unlimited potential for you to share your message, connect with the people who need your support and guidance and create the change you’d like to see in the world. With your brand new business book in hand and all the strategies in place, you will be creating impact with your vision before you know it. And if you need a hand? Then, just get in touch! Follow Mags on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit her website for more information! Read more from Mags! Mags Thomson, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine Mags is a story coach, impact co-creator, and the founder of House of Hives. She helps female entrepreneurs and change-makers use their personal stories in their business, bridging the gap between emotive storytelling and strategic marketing. Together with developmental editor Karina Asti and event strategist Ana Gallo, she helps women co-create books and collaborative online summits to empower themselves and their brands. Resources Write Your Book in a Flash by Dan Janal (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1631610481/) 14 More Tips for Publishing Your First Business Book (https://smallbiztrends.com/2018/04/tips-for-publishing-your-first-book.html)