Written by: Peter Paul Parker, 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 live in fast-moving times. Or, as the old saying states, we live in interesting times. As Edward O. Wilson wrote, "Our species has begun to cross what is the most important yet still least examined threshold in the techno-scientific era. We are about to abandon natural selection, the process that created us, in order to direct our own evolution by volitional selection--the process of redesigning our biology and human nature as we wish them to be" (from The Meaning of Human Existence, p. 14). We can see this with the discovery of Epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence. We, as human beings, are beginning to realize how much power our mind has in the creation or even re-creation of our lives. We are beginning to realize that we have lived through quite a few centuries now where the focus has been outwards. But what about inwards. Are there many more places to explore outwards? Definitely, but how many of us are going to get the chance to travel in space and observe the amazing universe from outside the Earth’s atmosphere? How many of us are going to be able to travel to the moon? Not many, I would say, with some confidence. But how many of us are capable of exploring what we have inside of us and breaking the barriers and obstacles that are hindering us from seeing what we are capable of. That would be all of us. We are encouraged to stop using our imagination at a very early age. My suggestion would be to encourage the use of our imaginations again to realize how much we are actually capable of. Have you looked into remote viewing? Suppose we look at remote viewing, for instance. In Wikipedia, the practice is written off as pseudoscience. If this was the case, why did the USA and Russian military take it so seriously? If you watch the film ‘The men who stare at goats, you will see there was a group of people who trained for this particular practice. There are now experiments happening all over the world, where the practice is coming up with some amazing findings. I was shocked to see high-profile scientists having what they call a Zen-like experience and looking into this phenomenon seriously, with compelling results. Edward O. Wilson is correct in saying we are in the midst of an enormous change of perception, and this evolution will not be televised. As the studies mount up, there are still scientists holding onto outdated belief systems that the universe is just made up of matter, where the evidence now showing us is that energy creates matter. I feel it would be fair to deduce that energy came before matter, and that changes the perspective of everything. When you realize that consciousness is energy, we are now seeing studies where consciousness actually sees objects in front of us before our eyes do. Having two out-of-body experiences explains to me scientifically, how it was possible for me to see my surroundings without the use of my eyes. This also explains near-death experiences, where people see what happened around them at the time of their death before coming back to life. Caroline Cory has put together a documentary called ‘Superhuman, The Invisible Made Visibly.’ There are many incredible studies going on in that documentary that really makes us realize there is far more to human potential than we know about. There were two aspects to this documentary I was particularly interested in. One of them was viewing without the use of your eyes. From some of the studies, the subject could predict what slide was coming next when blindfolded. Also, there were children who were blindfolded. All they could see was blackness. With these blindfolds on, they could read, see colors, play games, play football, ride bikes, in fact, do anything they could do without the blindfolds. They then taught the technique to a lady who had macular degeneration. Once she learned the techniques, she no longer needed her magnifying glass to read menus when she went out for dinner. This was truly incredible to see. Have you heard of telekinesis or psychokinesis? The second phenomenon that made me think was telekinesis. Also known as psychokinesis. This is the ability to move objects with your mind. During one test, Cory was asked to lower the Ph balance of a glass of water after it had been sitting there for a while and was stable. She placed her hands around the glass and focused on removing the hydrogen from the water and make it more alkaline. This started to happen after a few minutes. If we have the power to change the alkalinity of water with our minds, imagine how we could change our health. We are 70 % water, and we need to have a balanced Ph level. When our body becomes too acidic or too alkaline, we become diseased. Imagine using our minds to bring our bodies back into balance, and therefore back into good health. This takes epigenetics up a notch to realize we can do this. Also, this goes some way to explaining the placebo effect, where someone thinks they take a form of medication, but really it is a sugar pill and believes so strongly that the medication works, they actually get healed from their ailment. There were also interesting exercises to move objects through glass, which shows we can project our minds outside of our bodies and alter our surroundings. How much can we change our surroundings? That is a very good question, as more and more people are starting to take these phenomena more seriously. Who knows where this will lead humanity to? How do we achieve a strong mind-body connection? How do we achieve a strong mind-body connection then? The key to all of these exercises and tests the people were doing in this documentary, and in fact, experiments around the world, are that the subject has to be relaxed and completely surrendered to the situation. That is, being 100% in the moment mindfully, with no distractions. Then the magic happens. The key is relaxation and focusing the mind. In a world where we are bombarded 24 / 7 with information, how many of us take time to exercise and relax the mind, let alone our bodies? The good news is, the numbers are growing. More people realize that they are far more productive when in a relaxed state and can figure our problems much more easily. I have also seen this in my meditation coaching course, where people have turned their lives around by learning to relax properly and focus on what they actually want. This has helped them make their business far more successful. I personally did this through the practice of Ki Gong, which is the Korean version I teach. You can learn this too from the comfort of your own home. I learned so much from my work with the elderly . What made me set up the Bright Beings Academy was the work I have done with the elderly in my local area. I have set up a charity called Brighter Living, where we go out and teach Ki Gong classes and meditation and sound toning sessions in the local area to the elderly population. We have witnessed some amazing stories, like a woman of 84 being able to open jars again. Her hands were in such a state because she had arthritis, and the Ki Gong exercises have strengthened her hands to open jars again. One lady had a serious stroke, which left her disabled all down her left side. This made her unable to move her ankles or wrists. Now, after a year’s training, she is rotating them again and also being able to almost walk unassisted. Another lady, who has been on blood pressure and anti-depression medication, has trained with me for over a year. Her doctor saw such an enormous improvement in her health, and he has decided to take her off her medications. She is 78 years of age. What I love about Ki Gong is that you are never too old or even too young to start. It is simple to pick up and difficult to master, which is why people practice it all their lives. You can find the impact report we have created from our charity work at the Bright Beings website. The Bright Beings Academy I have set up the Bright Beings Academy, where you can learn simple Ki Gong techniques to connect your mind and body quickly, become more focused and less stressed. Ki Gong has been scientifically proven to help with so many aspects of our lives, and they are too numerous to mention here. I have read many of the studies and seen this manifest in the material world through my work. We are seeing that when we connect to our energy bodies in a relaxed manner, we can achieve miracles. Our energy bodies create our physical bodies, and when we look after both our physical and energy bodies, that is when the magic happens. You can check out the Bright Beings Academy at this link to see what Ki Gong can do for you. Want to learn more from Peter? Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit his website. Read more from Peter! Peter Paul Parker, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Peter Paul Parker is an expert in the mind-body connection, a sound healer, and working with both the energy body and the physical body. Peter is a Ki Gong champion, having entered a competition with the British Team in Korea in 2016, winning the International competition. Peter has run a successful coaching business for many years and has particularly done some amazing work with the elderly. He has set up a charity called Brighter Living to help the elderly with their health and well-being using Ki Gong and meditation. Peter has also worked with schools in his local area, helping people connect with themselves, from grandchild to grandparents. Peter has launched the Bright Beings Academy, which is his online business, which incorporates everything that he does to empower people to reach their full potential as human beings. Peter's motto is 'If you don't own your future self, somebody else will!'

Written by: Raeesa Mahomed, 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. August is Women’s Month in South Africa and 9th August is Women’s Day. It is a day that commemorates a march by thousands of women in 1956, against an apartheid law that pertained directly to women. It is a month where we are bombarded with media messages about women’s rights and how one should honour women. The reality on the ground is that South Africa has one of the highest women abuse, rape and femicide statistics in the world. Of course it is not uniquely a South African problem. This is a global shame. Women are abused by men (usually known to them, most often their partners) in every country in the world. Of course men are abused too, but the figures are dwarfed by the statistics of women. Why? And of course every year the same questions are asked. Why? What can be done? What is going wrong? We have noteworthy legislation protecting women, but implementation is dismal. And of course we ask, what kind of men unleash such heinous acts on women and (even worse) young girls. Men who are filled with rage and with hatred, with fear and contempt. Where does it come from? Early programming We know that most behaviours are learned when we are children, that most of our programming happens by the age of seven. And we know that values, beliefs, habits and behaviours are learnt from the environment in those early years. When a child is that young, the primary environment of influence is the home. So we have to seriously look at how we are bringing up our boys. What messages are they getting in those early years and indeed, even as they grow older into teenagers and adults? Enough studies have shown that abused children become abusers. A child will subconsciously do what is programmed into him or her, even if their conscious mind rejects it as being harmful. It takes therapy and reprogramming of a child’s mind to unlearn harmful behaviours that were instilled in early years. It’s not just about ‘obvious’ abuse Knowing this brings into acute focus how much work needs to be done into ensuring that the male child gets the right messages about females and how to treat them. This is not just about abuse. Of course, the chances of a male child growing up to inflict abuse on his female partner is increased if he witnessed his father doing it to his mother (and he did not get the necessary counselling or intervention). But it’s not just ‘obvious’ abuse – physical, or verbal abuse in the form of obscenities, insults, blaming or accusing. It’s emotional abuse like threatening, ignoring, manipulating, gaslighting and a whole host of other behaviours. More subtly, it’s a slew of patriarchal practices where the son is favoured or given preferential treatment purely because of his gender, or discriminating unfairly between sons and daughters on the basis of gender – one common example is expecting girls to do household chores while their brothers don’t. In many cultures, girls’ education is seen as less important to that of boys and even more concerning, sons are given more food or better quality food than daughters. All the wrong messages So abuse by men against women is systemic – couched in a history of social and cultural practices. All these practices are giving messages to both genders that boys are more important than and superior to girls. It teaches and emphasises male prerogative, it enforces male power over women. When these boys grow up, they will exert that male prerogative and assume that any woman who resists is being ‘difficult’ or defiant and needs correcting. For men who have been exposed to abusive behaviours that ‘correcting’ can take the form of abuse or violence. Resistance to sexual advances by a female may result in rape. And women who have been brought up with these values will accept their abuse as something they ‘deserved’; they will accept their inferior position as just the way things are, even if they are unhappy with it. They will think they provoked their abuse. So what’s to be done? So what’s to be done? Ensuring that we bring up our sons to respect women and to treat them as equal partners. Of course that is the ideal and this has been said countless times. It’s not happening in so many instances because reality is unfortunately ugly and complex. Parents are themselves struggling with a litany of problems and outside stresses, families are navigating complex problems and life is a series of challenges. Added to this, many cultures have deeply entrenched differences in gender roles which one cannot just dismiss as ‘backward’ and try to change – that will bring about a whole minefield of issues. However, there are universal values that should be unquestionable – the golden rule of ‘Do unto others…’. Teaching boys to respect all girls, that they do not have male prerogative and undoing all harmful patriarchal practices. Teaching boys that abuse is a no-no and that violence is never, ever an option. Neither is bullying, manipulative or threatening behaviour. Of course girls should be taught all this too, but it’s the scourge of women abuse that is of concern here and the fact that boys are learning the wrong lessons growing up. And after we teach them what not to do, we will have to teach them what healthy behaviour is, gender specific and generally. We need to teach boys how to express disagreement and discontent, even anger without becoming hurtful or abusive. We need to teach girls how to express their needs and be more self confident and assertive. We need to teach both boys and girls how to deal with differences and conflict in relationships, how to express emotions, how to control their anger and set boundaries. And most of all how to love and care and be compassionate. Even if parents don’t sit down and speak to their children about this, just leading by example is hugely effective. I go back to my earlier point about children absorbing what they pick up from their environment and implementing that in their behaviour. As parents we have a duty to fix ourselves and sort out our issues so that we can create healthy and conducive environments for our children. A huge responsibility as parents We need to be very conscious and aware of the huge responsibility we have when we bring a life into this world. Our future world depends on it. Let’s bring down those horrible statistics and do our best to create a better world for our children by how we raise them. Raeesa Mahomed Transformational Life Coach www.raeesamahomed.co.za info@raeesamahomed.co.za Follow Raeesa on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and visit her website for more information. Read more from Raeesa! Raeesa Mahomed, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Raeesa Mahomed is a transformational life coach, broadcaster and her tagline 'Be the best you' aptly describes the results she gets with her clients. Raeesa has helped hundreds of clients remove negative programming from the subconscious mind and take them to a place of positivity and empowerment and, in so doing create the life they want. She comes from a decades-long award-winning international career in radio, TV, and film, and her path to deep self-reflection and life coaching began when she faced a life-threatening illness a few years ago. She now also helps others heal from disease by addressing their emotional health and spirituality. She is also a writer and motivational speaker.

Written by: Linda Ford, 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 confess that in the early years of positioning myself as a life coach who helps people with self-doubt and confidence issues, I’ve often felt like the biggest fake. Yep, that’s the truth. I would often feel like a phony and imposter. There were days when my feelings of "not feeling good enough" seriously hijacked my work. But fortunately, those fake feelings - which used to sabotage my work for long periods of time – now have a short shelf life. So, what happened? How did things change for me? The short answer is that I learned to accept that feeling like a fake and an imposter is quite normal. Let me explain. I eventually caught on that I had this thing going on where I didn’t want to put myself out there until I had gotten over my fakeness. I wanted to first feel "enlightened" before I called myself a confidence coach – which for me translated as being perfect and polished. I have since come to discover that there are many coaches who feel the same way. Sorry to burst your bubble about coaches, but many of them feel just as dysfunctional as their clients, and they don’t want to be seen and heard until they can confidently proclaim that they’re over their insecurity. They’re waiting for that glorious day when they’ll emerge perfect and fake-free. And let me tell you - it ain't ever gonna happen. The reason why I can now live with being a fake is that I made a big discovery about myself - that there are actually two versions of me – who knew? – and here’s the interesting thing. These two versions are always vying for attention. There’s what I call my "small self" – and it’s all wrapped up in the personality called Linda and how she shows up in this world. It's made up of my physical body, ego, and my mind. That’s a lot right there, isn’t it? And in a way, it’s no small thing. So why call it my "small self"? Stay with me. And then there’s my "Big self." The larger part of me. Some call it the soul. It’s the quiet voice that keeps whispering in my ear and tapping me on the shoulder to pursue my dreams and live out my soul’s purpose. You’ll recognize it whenever you tune into the dreams you have for your life because it feels amazing, loving, and expansive, and it’s always cheering you on…that is, until the small self butts in and tells you you’re not ready yet. My small self always wants my big self to go away and not come through me. And I discovered that alerting me to this is actually its job. Taking the risk to put yourself out there and allowing others to possibly judge and have an opinion about you invites rejection and ridicule. And who wants to put out the welcome mat for these two misfits. When I understood that I had these two dynamics – two versions – going on, not only did it all begin to make sense, but it also explained why I kept stalling and hiding out – why I kept having this push-pull thing going on. One day I’d want the spotlight – the next day, I feared it. The irony of all of this is that I’ve come to see enlightenment, not as a state of perfection, but recognizing how beautifully imperfect our small selves are and forever will be. So, the next time you find yourself putting the brakes on, stalling, sabotaging yourself, and hijacking your work, just know that it’s your small self doing what it’s supposed to do – it’s vying for attention -warning you of potential danger. It won’t be easy to suddenly toggle over to your big self. You and your small self have built a pretty cozy relationship over the years. It’s what we’ve come to erroneously call being in our comfort zone. Your small self is not your enemy – it’s just that it’s a little bit outdated in wanting to constantly warn and alert you about not following your dreams and putting yourself out there . There’s no need to unfriend it, but also know that it’s not your true friend. It will promise you comfort. But know that comfort is not your friend. It isn’t easy to make peace with the fact that I sometimes feel insecure – that I stumble over my words and don’t sound articulate. It isn’t easy to do videos when I think I look tired and overweight. And screwing up and coming across as unprofessional never feels good (but take heart that your personality can get better at doing things). But I’m going to continue to commit to faking it – I’m going to listen to that voice that encourages expansion and not the voice of restriction. Befriend your BIG self. Let your soul take the lead. Take the Quiz! – How Confident Are You (really) as a Coach? It’s FREE! Click here: https://www.lindafordcoaching.com/confidencequiz Follow Linda on Facebook , Youtube and visit her website for more info! Read more from Linda! Linda Ford, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Linda Ford is a master coach and author who specializes in helping introverted coaches and solopreneurs who want to have more impact and clients – who want to be seen and heard - but who struggle with imposter syndrome, hiding out fear of criticism, and the uncomfortableness of having to put themselves 'out there'. At the heart of Linda’s work is the belief that we have to develop a deep connection with our unique gifts, message and to know our true value. This is the rocket fuel that allows us to be seen and heard and feel the ease of putting ourselves 'out there'. When we do this essential inner work, we awaken our natural confidence, charisma, and power to connect and resonate with others. It surpasses and precedes any marketing strategy. Linda Ford is the co-creator of the online programs, The Confidence Coach – how to have more impact and change the world, and Confidence in a Box: If I’m so smart, then why don’t I feel more confident? Ford is also the co-author of the Kindle best-selling book Women and Confidence: The truth about the lies we tell ourselves.

Written by: Amy Bondar, 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. The end of summer is the time of transition in nature and of adjustment in our lives. It is a challenging transition as we often feel summer has flown by, and we are not quite ready to get back into the busyness of Fall. We still have 3 weeks before the season officially changes, but the cooler air, summer holidays ending, and kids heading back to school catapults us into change. It is important to be present with the time we have left in this season and at the same time embrace the changes that are inevitably coming. Seasonal transitions also mark an important time to switch up our diet and lifestyle. Seasonal eating is one of my absolute favorite nutritional practices and teachings. In all of the conflicting and changing information in the nutritional world, seasonal eating holds the greatest wisdom, simply makes sense, and stands the test of time. Aligning ourselves with the wisdom of mother nature and providing our body with the exact foods it needs to be well in each season is a wise way to approach our nutrition. There is perfection to the foods we are meant to eat with each season, and when we follow that wisdom (which comes from the science of Ayurveda), we provide our body the key elements, tastes, and nutrients it needs to be well and maintain good health. You may notice that about 3 weeks before a new season begins, your cravings and what you desire to eat start to change. As the weather is cooling and there is that late summer chill in the air, you may feel a pull to eat more building foods – more protein-rich foods, a little more essential fats (such as nuts and nut butter) than during spring and summer and warming fuel from whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice), steamed vegetables and more cooked food like soups and curries. It is important to listen to these subtle cues that the body provides. In fact, gently transitioning your diet in the junction of seasons may be the most important thing you can do to prevent getting sick and keeping your immune system strong. Cold/flu season ramps up at the end of summer and early fall, as well as the end of winter and early spring. That is because we often do not change our diet and lifestyle soon enough. We stay too long into the foods and lifestyle practices of the last season and don’t provide our body what it needs as we enter the new season. This creates an imbalance in the body. The cold and flu season is upon us, and our diet is our first line of defense. If we stay too long in our light, cooling, higher carbohydrate summer diet and don't begin this building phase, we can be more prone to getting sick and imbalanced. Summer is often about play, spontaneity, parties, BBQ, drinks on the patio, and we find ourselves eating more sugar, ice cream, and drinking more alcohol. But at the end of summer we must clean that up as too much sugar and alcohol will weaken your immunity which is essential to build right now. Colds and flu can be prevented by eating seasonal foods and adding hot spices, ginger, chilies, garlic, and onions regularly to the diet. All these foods help reduce and clear out excess mucous in the body. Burdock and comfrey are also excellent herbs to use for this purpose. Regular nasal flushes with a ‘Neti-Pot’ are also recommended. This last month of summer is considered the building time and marks the shift from the outward expression of spring and summer to the inward focus of autumn. There is a desire to earth, to feel more grounded and focused. Late summer is the beginning of harvest time. Fruits are falling ripe to the ground, and vegetables are luscious, full, and bursting in our gardens. We stock up on berries to freeze for the fall and winter, and many love to pickle, jar, and store food for the seasons to come. The Farmer's Markets are plentiful with delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables, and shopping is such a joy as we embrace the bounty of our local farmers and growers. This may also be the time where you are craving a new workout routine focusing on building and toning with more weights and yoga. Your thoughts and ideas centered towards projects, writing, and programs may also be ready to manifest at work. Transition can be hard, but it offers opportunity, and just as every season turns, so must we. Listen to your body’s call for the changes it wants to make in diet and lifestyle right now and provide it the food and lifestyle practices it is asking for. Enjoy the last weeks that the summer season has to offer while noticing the subtleties of nature’s transitions. The greatest thing you can do to maintain health is to follow nature’s lead. Want to learn more from Amy? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Read more from Amy! Amy Bondar, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Amy Bondar, Nutritional Therapist, Certified Eating Psychology Coach, Speaker, and Author, changes life! Amy brings two decades of experience in the field of nutrition and mind-body coaching and believes that nourishing o ur body with the power of food, resolving stresses that are blocking our physiology and hindering our full potential, and living a life with purpose are essential ingredients to optimizing our health. Amy offers virtual consults and lectures to clients around the world and will inspire, educate and guide you to transform your relationship with food, body, and self.

Written by: Nicole Posner, 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. Anything can trigger an emotive reaction in a meeting. An incendiary remark. An accusation. A clash of personalities. A difference of opinions. A misunderstanding. Raised voices. Finger-pointing. In the Board Room or any high-stakes situation, the way we manage our response is critical to the outcome of the conversation. Otherwise, we may find ourselves caught in a diatribe of destructive dialogue with nothing to show except wounded egos and little in the way of constructive conclusions. We would be wise to see the situation from another perspective, but often all we see is red! So how do you course correct to encourage more listening and less challenging when you have been triggered? When you’re itching to get your point heard above the white noise. How do you diffuse the tension and bring back decorum and purpose to the conversation? 1. Acknowledge The Conversation Is Not Constructive As hard as this may be to do when you’re in the thick of it, recognizing that the dialogue is unhelpful and unproductive is a crucial place to start. The conversation may easily spiral out of control, which means the purpose or focus will be lost, and more often than not, the point of contention feels like a personal attack. Pause. Put your foot on the brake and take a few moments to cool down, reflect and question what’s actually going on. Why were you triggered? What’s driving your reaction? It may feel personal but is it really? What’s important about the remarks or comments that frustrated you or your colleagues? Once you are aware of these points, you have a choice of how you process this information and how to change the direction of the conversation. 2. The Approach These precious few minutes serve two purposes; they will not only have given you breathing space to all calm down but also time to explore a more helpful way forward. Much like a pilot navigates a plane’s strategic and cautious approach to land, you should adopt the same thoughtful and sensitive approach to your next steps. Otherwise, as the plane will inevitably crash and burn, so will the remains of your conversation! Remember, it’s not just what you say but how you present your response and information. For example, bounding back into the meeting like a bull in a china shop, fighting fire with fire, and an attitude to match, probably won’t encourage others to graciously welcome your ideas and opinions. Matching tone and raised volume of others won’t give your point’s air time either. It is far more effective and powerful to approach the conversation calmly, quietly, and with composure. 3. What Do You Want to Achieve From the Conversation? Although you may feel as if you are in the midst of a battleground, you’re in a Board Room. Play nice. Your collective purpose may be to find a solution, birth a new project, brainstorm ideas, agree on processes, strategize, plan, forecast, create, analyze. This isn’t about you. It isn’t personal. Refocus on your goals and gently but candidly bring the conversation back to what you all ideally want to achieve from the meeting. And if this isn’t clear, do a quick sanity check that you are on the same page. Remember, it is not always about winning or losing, the right way or the wrong way. There might be several ways to achieve ‘success’ in the eyes of all your colleagues. Understanding everyone’s perspectives will help to reign the conversation back on track. If you don’t agree with a suggestion, instead of dismissing it, open it up for exploration by asking questions and seeking further clarity. For example, ask your colleague and others in the meeting to expand on or improve an idea which is a much healthier and more creative approach to encourage collaboration and ‘buy-in’ to ideas. If someone feels invested in the process, they will be far more committed to it. This process is also a less contentious strategy if the idea is eventually discarded as the person who raised it, won’t take it as a personal rejection. 4. The Power of Listening Do not underestimate the power of listening. It really is a superpower and not only allows others to feel heard and recognized, but it also brings calm, clarity, understanding, perspective, and presence. You’re not backing down, giving in, or agreeing, which is what people often believe. Nor is it a weakness to sit quietly and listen. In fact, it is a strength. Some of the most powerful leaders do this so well. While you may be extremely frustrated that others are not listening to you, the best way to change that is to listen to them first and then repeat it back, which confirms you have understood them! Accepted, it is a big ask, particularly if you are incensed by other’s behaviors. However, something very interesting happens in those few moments. Let me explain. In a heated discussion, everyone is fighting to communicate their point yet unwilling to tune in to colleague’s opinions. A great analogy is a radio transmitting information out but not being able to receive it back. The same is true here. Once someone feels heard and acknowledged, that competitive, fiery streak in them begins to ebb. The barriers drop, and they become more open and willing to listen to you. As Stephen Covey said: “Seek first to understand, then seek to be understood.” This will improve the chances of dissipating tension, restoring calm, and an opportunity to resume a two-way (or more) dialogue rather than a one-way rant and monologue. So as we Brits would say… ‘Give others a jolly good listening to!’ While it might not always be possible for everyone to achieve what they hoped for, the key is maintaining respectful dialogue and behaviors which will encourage collaboration, salvage fractured relationships and inspire breakthrough conversations. Want to learn more from Nicole? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Read more from Nicole! Nicole Posner, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nicole is a Communication and Conflict Expert, supporting leaders, business owners, and high-performing teams to communicate and navigate difficult conversations with confidence, courage, and compassion. She is a Consultant, Executive Conflict Coach, accredited Workplace Mediator, and Trainer and has an interest in the psychology of conflict combined with extensive experience in PR and Communications. Her clients include CEOs, Leaders, Senior Executives, and their teams across multiple sectors. Nicole is the author of many published articles on communication and workplace conflict in the following publications: Thrive Global, SME Magazine, and HR Magazine. She was featured in COACH Magazine in 2020 and is a regular podcast guest and contributor to local radio shows discussing conflict and communication issues in the workplace. Last year she was a shortlisted finalist in the UK National Mediation Awards 2020.

Written by: Nurit Amichai, 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. 2020 was more than any of us expected. The entire world was not the only witness to, but also a participant in something so big and encompassing that we were left breathless, afraid, and feeling very out of control. The pandemic could not be controlled effectively. Lockdowns, policing, isolation, medical advice, common-sense advice, threats, and promises abounded, and to keep things tense, everything changed every few hours. It seemed nobody knew for certain what was going on and who, if anyone, was in control. We want and need control to feel safe. Often, when our world feels out of control, we look for ways to control our personal space, our own environment. There’s a sense of safety in control. We know what’s going on, we determine what happens to us. In this sense, control is a very good thing – normal and even healthy. But there’s another side to control, which focuses on controlling situations and/or people outside of ourselves. It's little surprise that many people have a hard time with the word, control. “You’re always trying to control things!” But really, the problem isn’t control – the problem is in the trying. The reality is that to live life, we must be in control. Life is all about control. Think about it for a moment. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you’re in control. Walking down the street, preparing dinner, or going to work, if you weren’t in control you wouldn’t be able to accomplish any of these things. As I mentioned earlier, the problem is in the trying to control. When we try to control, we are asserting our will or desire upon a situation or person. Trying to control is always pointed away from us. We want things to change to our liking, to what suits us, what makes us comfortable. So, we make noise. We make demands. We have all kinds of ways in which we make the effort to assert our control over the issue at hand. One way trying to control shows up is in the need to fix people or situations. While most often we see it in relationships, being a fixer is also prominent in social and work environments where the fixer shows up to rescue the situation. We want to be the savior, to fix what we perceive is broken or not working properly. It’s the thrill of the challenge. We feel needed, special, life-changers. We see ourselves in the broken situation and by fixing someone else’s issues, we unconsciously fix ourselves. We thrive on seeing the impact of our work on someone else and long for the appreciation of the individual or situation we fixed. We want to make them better for us and indebted to us. We are now in control of the situation – not necessarily in control of ourselves. Truth told, there’s really nothing at all wrong about wanting to help other people or help resolve situations. Being part of a team means being part of the solution, working together with others to find the best way to resolve an issue. Where the problems enter is when it becomes about controlling the outcome. Trying to engineer a solution that may not be in the best interest of all but serves an individual need. Trying to fix what is perceived as being broken for the wrong reason. What if we focused on being in control of our own lives, ourselves, our personal space? What if we stopped trying to control what is outside of us and just lived a life of self-control? Can you imagine your home, office, classroom, or social space without someone trying to control things? Some would call that utopia! What kind of harmony would ensue if everyone was in control of their person and personal space and let others do likewise? There’s an ancient adage that says that iron sharpens iron. Relationships should be focused on a quality that sharpens each individual and brings out the best without trying to control or fix the other. It’s always a good idea to step back and assess before diving in for control or repair. Is it your place? Why are you doing it? Consider the following warning and remember: Some broken things have very sharp edges that are often difficult and dangerous to fix. It’s just a good idea to accept those things and people for who and what they are – as they are. Follow Nurit on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit her website for more info! Read more from Nurit! Nurit Amichai, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine Nurit Amichai is a holistic therapist and life coach who provides individuals with an opportunity to strip away old, unproductive and damaging habits and create new, lasting behaviors that support the dynamic and powerful life they really want to live. As a result of a devastating illness, she set about rebuilding her body and life through nutrition and fitness. Realizing that wasn't enough, she entered the personal growth world where she allowed her truths to surface by giving herself permission to face and then release the pain and self-destructive behaviors she had harbored for so many years. This experience birthed the desire to share these lessons and gifts with others. She has merged all of the disciplines learned over decades — nutrition, fitness, and mental and emotional health — into the true passion of her life: to help people heal and gain optimal health, giving her clients the benefit of many years of learning and experience, coaching them and giving them tools for finding fulfillment and unleashing their own personal power.

Written by: Lois Wagner, 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. This article forms part of a series explaining my model of healing from life’s challenges and adversities. In my previous article, I spoke about resilience and how you use resilience to survive, how to make meaning of your experiences, and how to reframe, refocus, and redirect your energies. The next step on this journey of healing is to develop your grit to grow and to thrive. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines grit as “firmness of character; indomitable spirit”. According to Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania, grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward long-term goals. Grit is an important quality to develop. Although you may be talented, intelligent, and creative, without grit, without that drive, you do not achieve success, and you do not thrive. Grit is closely related to resilience and is your passion, perseverance, patience, and persistence towards achieving long-term goals. It requires sustained commitment to complete a specific task despite failures or setbacks. It is forging forward to a new reality with an attitude of seeking, striving, and finding without giving up. You can develop your P’s by growing your grit. Growing The G's Of Grit Groundwork It is easier to have grit when you are working towards something you love and towards achieving your purpose. It may require groundwork to discover what your real purpose is. Reflect on times when you felt good, when you were successful, and when you were happy. Consider what you find yourself thinking about and where your attention goes. How do you enjoy spending your time? Examine those experiences in detail and identify what contributed to those positive moments and outcomes. Map the high and low points and identify any associated emotions. Games Discover your passion through play. Experiment, explore, exchange ideas. Look back to your childhood games (See my article on Finding Your Passion – Your True Calling) Goal When you identify and clarify your dreams, visions, aspirations, goals, and intentions, you can approach achieving them with grit. Here is my example of these concepts: My Dream is to eradicate sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, especially against women and children, around the world. My Vision is that men and boys (and women and girls) learn the qualities that make them BRAVE, to underhand Boundaries, Respect, Agreement, Values, and Equality. My Aspiration is to be the most sought-after coach that people turn to when needing to manage their trauma, to develop their resilience and grit, and to forgive the past transgressions. My Goal is to run an online and face-to-face coaching business and attract and connect with 10 new clients a month. Another goal is to teach 40 men and boys each month to be BRAVE. A third goal is to develop and deliver keynote talks sharing my message of freedom. My Intention is to guide my clients to find peace and freedom from their trauma. Guidelines It makes sense to develop a blueprint, a road map, to turn your intentions into actions. This will assist you in monitoring your progress and encourage perseverance. Gift Have trust in your innate talents and gifts. Know that you have the answers and the solutions within and that you can develop and grow. Grow Grow your courage and manage your fear of failure. Embrace it as part of the process. Acknowledge mistakes immediately and accept them as feedback of what you are not doing right YET. Failure is not defeated. It is an opportunity to practice persistence, to make changes and to have another go, and to grow. Growth Mindset See a challenge or and adversity as an opportunity to learn how to deal positively with mistakes or failures, how to overcome obstacles. See these as temporary blockages, discover the lessons within and refine your strategy. Be persistent in embracing the challenges. You can change and grow, and your experiences encourage new stronger neuron connections in your brain which makes you smarter. Guilt Let go of guilt and shame and blame. It is pointless blaming others. Take responsibility for the mistakes and learn from them. Gradual Break your goals into smaller action points and identify the key objectives. Measure and celebrate all milestones on your journey. Give and Be Generous You develop a benefit mindset when you give and when you understand that we are all connected. You gain more value in your life when you give to others and when what you do contributes to their well-being, learning, and success, and it makes a meaningful difference in their lives. Share your time, knowledge, expertise, and experience with the individuals around you and the community at large. Create a sense of “we.” This motivates you to develop and deepen your drive, so look for the prosocial benefits of your work. Grind Grinding is the activity involving effort or exertion. Practice your skills, or grit, with a deliberate focus. This requires full attention and concentration on your purpose and on your stretch goal, your goal that is greater than your current abilities. Develop intentional habits and apply dedication, commitment, and self-control to your activities. Guide Find a coach, a mentor, or a guide to support you in achieving your goals. Grasp Understand that striving for excellence is working towards success while perfectionism is avoiding failure and is an extreme concern over making mistakes. Excellence is an attitude that requires effort, interest, persistence, and commitment (grit) over a period of time to achieve outstanding success. It involves risk, creativity, spontaneity, vulnerability, hard work, and focus despite any setbacks or challenges. Grapple At times you may find yourself frustrated, bored, or may even wrestle with the worthiness of your passion. When things go wrong, and you miss deadlines or cannot find a solution to a challenge, you may be filled with anxiety and stress, and disappointment and may want to give up. Go back to your purpose and realize that you are contributing to something larger than yourself. Look at your why, the reason you chose this project or route. Revisit your expectations. Giants Research and study the success of others. Find these examples of giants who have achieved greatness, who have thrived. Listen to their stories. Read books on your topic and on grit and look at the patterns and trends. Be inspired by them. Gain Gain confidence. Push out of your comfort zone and do something new and courageous. Believe in your abilities and know that comparing yourself to others is not helpful. Practice positive self-talk. Grounded Remain grounded. Stay focused on the present. Be sensible and reasonable. Believe in your strength and your purpose. Guru You are the expert, the authority on your passion and purpose. Only you can do you. Glue Stick to your plan with persistence. Find an accountability partner, someone who can check in on your progress towards achieving your goal. Get immediate and constructive feedback and make the necessary adjustments. Keep at it and continue to focus on the end result when times get tough and the excitement has waned. It is also about getting unstuck, managing distractions, and dealing positively with your challenges. Glass half full / half-empty Know that the glass is always full. It may be half full of gas and half full of liquid and is always full. You have all that you need inside you to be productive and successful. Groups Join groups, masterminds, and networking events of like-minded people. Create spaces where you can learn from each other and encourage and support each other. Gratitude Praise your strategy, your process, and your effort, and celebrate each win. Yes, you have the talent, intelligence, and creativity, and be grateful that you have the passion, perseverance, persistence, and patience to keep going, Gut Trust your gut feelings, your intuition, and follow them after due analysis and consideration. Go – Keep Going Follow through even when you are fearful of the process, and things appear unsurmountable. Focus on your purpose and desired outcome. Get out Sometimes grit is not enough. You need to recognize when it is time to get out and quit. Let go when you see that some of the requirements are not within your range of talents or passions. Perhaps your skills would be better utilized elsewhere. You can always outsource the activities that do not serve you. Pick yourself up. Dust yourself down. Breathe. Learn from your mistake. Forgive yourself. Laugh. Continue with renewed determination and vigor. In my next article, I will talk about forgiveness. For more info, follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube-Channel, and visit my website! Read more from Lois! Lois Wagner, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lois Wagner: Your friend for forgiveness. Helping you move from victim to survivor to thriver and beyond and then to freedom, after facing a life or business challenge or adversity. Lois lost a business and went bankrupt. She was attacked, raped, and left for dead. She was forced into retirement and experienced many other challenges. Her work is based on these personal major adversities and life experiences. Lois learned to forgive (she forgave the rapist and the business partner who betrayed her) and moved on to a more rewarding and fulfilling life. Lois guides you through building your resilience and grit, developing a growth mindset, energizing your mojo, and learn to forgive. This is achieved via one-on-one coaching, group masterminds, and keynote presentations. Lois’s book – Walking Without Skin: A Journey of Healing – From Fear to Forgiveness to Freedom is part memoir and self-help guide. Fly Free with Lois – Your Friend for Forgiveness

Written by: Veronica Sanchez De Darivas, 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. The concept of spirituality comes from the Latin word “spiritus” and it means breathing, in a more profound way it means “first breath”, therefore we are all spiritual beings. Now in saying this, I have to add that we tend to see ourselves in parts, thinking that we function in one way when doing business or within our professional environment and we function in a different way in our private life. This is just an illusion because we are not separate from anything, we are a complete person within ourselves. This sense of separation makes us think that spirituality and business or work are completely different things, I am here to challenge that idea. When you wake up in the morning, you do so in a certain vibration or frequency and this frequency can vary during the day, our vibration will make us attune to events of a similar frequency, therefore the energy I emit is very important. Yes, that is right, you emit energy, why? Well, because you are energy, we are energy, everything in the universe is energy vibrating at different frequencies. We are breathing in and out certain qualities and traits we bring we us. Vibration is part of us, our soul vibrates and we can physically see and feel this in our heart. Then my body functions because I have a heart, so when I go to work that heart is with me and I feel its weight. What I am trying to say is that to separate ourselves in pieces really makes us to malfunction in this world and if we acknowledge that yes, we own a business, we work to earn a living, we do so in mind, body, and soul. And here I want to talk about the word alignment. If my body is acting only with my intellect or mind and I leave my heart aside, I am out of alignment. If my body is only acting with my heart and I leave my mind aside, I am out of alignment too. Our goal is to act in this world as a complete being: mind, heart, body functioning together in harmony and making the best decisions in conjunction, because when we do so, we are able to connect to the bigger picture, to what science calls the unified field, in other words to the universe, Source, God or Spirit (your choice of name). When leaders understand this, they become world-class leaders. World-class leaders know the importance of alignment and they find ways to stay connected to their inner self when leading companies and businesses, that is why we find leaders meditating, having spiritual teachers, journaling, taking time out to recharge, and embracing nature. My invitation is for you to do the same and I suggest the following: When waking up in the morning, no matter the time, connect to your heart via a short or long meditation. Journal. Just 5 to 10 minutes of writing about your feelings or thoughts will help you to stay focused. Be organized . This calms anxiety and stress and helps you to be prepared. Always remember that people working with you or your clients are complete beings too, they emit their own radiation, and sometimes you don’t know what is going on in their lives, so show compassion and understanding. You can be firm without being rude. Love is not soft, it is firm and to be expanded. You are the creator of your own reality and if that reality is one you don’t like or enjoy, change it, all the tools are inside you. To get a copy of my books or to get one of my journals click here: Follow me on Faceb ook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Twitter , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Veronica! Veronica Sanchez De Darivas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Veronica Sanchez De Darivas is an expert in inner-self intelligence techniques. She shares tools on how to manage stress and negative emotions and on how to use high vibration words. Veronica is a Spanish grammar and literature teacher. During the last ten years, she has dedicated herself to spirituality. She is a Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method of Internal Activation of the Pineal Gland (Third Eye), a method created in South America 30 years ago by the spiritual leader Fresia Castro. Veronica is currently the only instructor in the world teaching this life-changing method in English. Veronica is also a number one bestselling author. She has been writing for many years for online magazines and blogs in Spanish and English. Veronica is both a Chilean and an Australian citizen now living in the UK. Her mission is the expansion of consciousness.

Elle Ballard was born in Kazakhstan and has been living in the US since 2002. When Elle came to the U.S. she had to start everything from scratch while supporting her family at the same time. Elle completed her MBA in Marketing and built a successful marketing career. She left the corporate world to pursue her true passion of impacting and helping people realize their true potential. Elle is a founder of Women of the World Network, John Maxwell Team Leadership Trainer and Speaker, Entrepreneur, and a mother. Despite of all the challenges she faced, she always wanted to maintain her authenticity and who she is. This is a core reason for creating the Women of the World Network. As a certified Leadership Trainer, Speaker, and Founder of the Women of the World Network, Elle helps multinational women become diversity-aligned and happy leaders while staying true to their individuality and uniqueness. She has been a featured guest on the following podcasts: Expand Your Fempire, The Art of Feminine Marketing, Voice of America, and others. Tell us about yourself and where you are from I was born in the Soviet Union, the country Kazakhstan which back then was a part of the Soviet Union. My childhood was very simple and happy. I was busy as a child, and I went to a regular school and music school in the afternoon couple of times a week, I was also involved in various extracurricular activities and clubs. I graduated college with a degree in English but never really worked as a teacher and started my career instead as a translator/interpreter for oil and gas companies in Kazakhstan. In 2002, I moved to the US with my husband and entered an MBA program, then worked in a Marketing capacity for local software companies. Tell us how your transition as an Entrepreneur started I am grateful for my corporate experience and its lessons, but one day I reached a point where my corporate career no longer satisfied me. I was seeking more fulfillment. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to change my professional life. One day my company got sold out, and I lost my job. I decided to leave my corporate career for good and start a business. I joined a network marketing company, and that is how my entrepreneurial journey started. What do you mean by Diversity-aligned and Happy Leadership? After leading different kinds of teams, starting in the International oil and gas pipeline project, continuing in the network marketing industry, and now expanding and growing Women of the World Network (WOTWN), I learned a lot, and I love sharing those Leadership concepts. I like to show women not only how to become diversity-aligned leaders but also how to become happy leaders at the same time. Leadership plays an important role in everyone’s life, and true leadership starts with leading yourself by accepting who you are and your individuality and authenticity. That is when we are truly happy: when we embrace ourselves, discover who we are, and live our truth. We do not have to occupy big positions or have impressive titles to be outstanding leaders, and we have to first learn to lead ourselves before we lead others. Tell us about the Women of the World Network. I am an open-minded, conscious leader who is always striving to grow, overcome, and better myself while listening to my inner voice and trusting myself in the process. Having to start from point zero several times in my life, I know how challenging the transition can be while maintaining your authenticity and individuality - that is the reason for creating WOTWN. I love authentic women, women of substance, and I believe in developing diversity-aligned and happy women leaders! With Women of the World Network, I am building a legacy of powerful women who then positively impact future generations. Everything we do in our community is structured around three pillars: Personal Growth, Professional Growth, and Individuality. Our programs include Community Program, Empower Program, and Influence program, as well as our various Retreats. I want you to know that no matter where you are in your life, you are unique, powerful, and needed just as you are and that you have the support of other women on the journey. Know that we are cheering you on at Women of the World Network. We celebrate you and honor your journey. Follow Elle on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit her website for more information! Read more from Elle!

Written by: Florence His, 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. “Life is not a meaning; it’s an opportunity." – Dr. Sol Gordon. When life presents us with an opportunity, we naturally create meaning for it. Such meaning is emblematic of our perceptions and beliefs about our own identity and the world around us at a given point in time; that´s Dr. Sol Gordon’s core message. His work also depicts how learning something new and serving others for the greater good is conducive to life-giving relationships, which, he contends, are the best antidotes to depression and suicide.[1] What does this have to do with the topic of Differentiation in business, might you ask?… Well, we are a meaning-making species and differentiation is a direct by-product of our special aptitude to compare options since they each mean something different to us. Read on for insights about how thoughtful differentiation can position your business to compete and strive in a noisy, crowded and competitive market. Recently, I have been revisiting the thematic of differentiation as most entrepreneurs and alternative asset managers I work with are obsessed with one question: how can we stand out in a fast-moving, noisy, competitive market and attract customers and investors? That’s when I started digging deep into the corners of my mind and soul. Drawing on ancient Chinese wisdom, approximately 300 years ago, the principles contained in the "Thirty-Six Stratagems" and the "Art of War"[2] have been widely adopted to the field of business by modern branding and strategy practitioners to assist companies in differentiating their market positioning, stand out from the competition and succeed. This school of thought materialized through processes that generally guide companies to identify their unique strengths as well as their customers’ needs, elaborate aggressive strategies to win market share, and beat competition. In recent years, however, practices have evolved to embrace more innovative and inclusive stakeholders’ approaches to creating differentiation and value. Kaihan Krippendorff [3] is the creator of The Fourth Option™ approach, a strategic methodology that teaches executives and businesses how to seize opportunities others ignore, unlock innovation, and build strategic thinking skills. In particular, he identifies mental patterns applied by great military strategists and advises modern breakthrough companies on how to implement those strategies and succeed. The framework developed is worth taking a close look at since it is particularly effective in periods of high volatility and change. Amid economic turmoil and a global pandemic is prime time to discover how it works. The Fourth Option metaphor hinges on the number three, the number at which most people stop looking for additional options. It’s the moment that separates thinkers from out-thinkers. Implementing the Fourth Option means using a strategy that’s not one of the accepted and predictable first three approaches. The option chosen is one the competition doesn’t consider or expect (the surprise element is key), so they can’t anticipate or respond to the outcome. Out-thinkers are defined as those who “out-think” rather than outspend their competition. Out-thinkers are the leaders who will embrace new concepts to drive their organization on a path toward astounding, sustainable growth. But how can you become an out-thinker and generate that Fourth Option? There’s a 5-step blueprint (I.D.E.A.S) for finding those innovative strategies that will open the realm of possibility : Look ahead to Imagine the future Look beyond the obvious to Dissect your business model Generate ideas to Expand your strategic options Spend time with your ideas to Analyze and Choose your options Build a plan to Sell your strategy (stakeholders alignment) Step 3: Pattern recognition ability is a key element in formulating a strategy. Research shows master chess players recognize twice as many patterns as expert players, and grandmasters see 10 times as many. Master players win games because they see more patterns than their opponents. Step 4: Guy Kawasaki’s insights on how to pick winning strategies (drown from the Art of Rainmaking) he expresses as: “Let a 100 flowers blossom”. This means you sow many seeds, see what takes root, and harvest what blooms. Above all, you need to remain unattached to the options you chose and monitor their evolution. Companies are often surprised how unintended customers show up or how intended customers use their products but in unintended ways. Selecting your Fourth Option: the innovative strategy that no one expects is likely to be in the high-difficulty, high-impact square of the grid. Don’t be afraid to focus on that idea that seems impossible. It’s the idea you initially might want to laugh at, just as your competitors will. Sit with that crazy idea. Overcome objections to it (find ways to remove barriers to implementation). Your winning moves will appear, and with them, your Fourth Option will take form. For more details about the framework, how to implement it, and the free “36 Stratagems Cheat Sheet”, please visit: cutt.ly/rQ6hOJf Mark Levy’s [4] inspiring work on Differentiation and how to surface a “Big Sexy Idea”, I consider foundational. The Big Sexy Idea is that differentiating idea (concept) at the fore of your business that defines what you stand for. It’s the single, strongest idea you are going to lead with, communicate clearly from and contribute to the world through. According to Mark’s work, differentiation stems from how we create (new) meaning and are able to perceive a truth that nobody (yet) does. His work is grounded in existentialism principles, and he readily quotes Dr. Sol Gordon. But how can you surface this differentiator? It’s all about asking the right questions. Mark generously shares how he guides his clients through engaging conversations and a framework that involves a variety of explorative questions touching on usual and unusual topics: What do you know (ideas, insights, stories…) that nobody else does or that 80% of the people don’t know about in your field or that they know but did not think to say or articulate ?. What are your products/services based on, how do they function that the market the audience does not know of? Why starting with you is essential: while it is important to survey the marketplace, doing so too early won’t lead to a truly differentiated position. The market has its own goals and can only respond based on what it already knows as a standard. The journey really needs to start from within, with a solid vision for what you want to make happen in the world. What are the stereotypes, stories your industry and its products or services are known for (pre-conceived notions about your marketplace)? What’s obvious about your business/industry? What do people expect to hear you say that they have already heard of/already know? Top-of-mind knowledge is commoditized and not edgy hence not differentiating but needs to be surfaced before moving to the next question. What is(are) the stereotype(s) you defeat that will make you stand out. What is surprising and delightful about your product or service that defeats expectations? Once you know what is obvious, you can answer this question to sparkle novel ideas. The element of surprise is necessary because you need to disrupt a set way of meaning-making in the mind of your audience and deliver a positioning message that is different from what they have heard so far. Hint: If you only tell them or give them what they expect, they have no reason to listen to you. What is a spot in the market that is unoccupied? If you don’t have unlimited resources, it’s best to pick a narrow-yet-important unoccupied position in which you can dominate What is your origin story, the one leading to your “Big Sexy Idea”? People are looking for congruence and expertise; they want to know that you are “an apple tree giving apples”, not oranges or any other product that’s in style or expedient at the moment. They want to know and feel that you are doing what you were meant to do in the world, and when you do, your presence and your work will encourage them to find the work they are meant to be doing. Mark’s methods include using Free Writing Techniques to allow the clients he works with to break free of their own entrenched ways of thinking and divert them from their usual thinking patterns to allow the true gems of differentiation to emerge. His clients are encouraged to journal regularly about all kinds of thoughts, experiences (trips and non-business related experiences are valuable), and ideas and write them down faster than their own mind’s internal editor can ring-fence them in order to have them cycle through a great variety of ideas uninterruptedly, bypass their internal-editor and find the one idea that will work for them, might be the 27th, the 40th… as he says, the mind is not a precision instrument. This process, he goes on explaining, is meant to disrupt his clients’ mind patterns that would otherwise keep them inside their comfort zone, stuck in the realm of conventional, safe ideas (that have proved to work for them so far) and prevent them from accessing what lives at the edges and others cannot see. An important aspect of his work is its intentional evolutionary bias. A “Big Sexy Idea” or “differentiator” is considered as a “foot in the door,” which is relevant at a specific moment and allows to launch and break through the walls of invisibility. It is merely the initial positioning that can put your business on the map, get you known as the go-to solution provider in the industry. However, a “Big Sexy Idea” is not a fixed concept and is not meant to encompass the whole of someone’s personality or life, nor is it built around someone’s passion. On the contrary, it is about a specific and time-sensitive position that’s emblematic of an opportunity in the field of possibilities and which you can lead with. “Big Sexy Ideas” are like thrusters on a Rocketship, Mark says. They are meant to drop away and burn up in time (and must be let go of) so that the Rocketship can continue its trajectory. Any business was an idea to start with, an idea that got legs (or thrusters to boost it to outer space). A differentiator needs to evolve over time to remain relevant as markets move, changes happen, and timely adaptation is essential. Finally, Mark emphasizes that he engages with every person as a portal of possibilities because most opportunities are hidden. His work is really to facilitate the unleashing of that potential and support the growth involved with every person’s developmental journey. Rory Vaden’s work on personal branding and how to differentiate is very insightful. Rory is the co-founder of Brand Builders Group, a firm that helps clients identify their voices, tell their stories, and share their unique messages [5]. Being the best-kept secret is a tragedy for any business’s livelihood. A business lives and dies by its reputation and reach, and both precede revenue, he says. In a recent episode of the Elevate Podcast hosted by Robert Glazer, Rory Vaden expressed this dynamic as a formula: Revenue = Reputation x Reach. Listen to the podcast here: www.cutt.ly/fQ6TnvR The podcast notes’ highlights include : For business owners, few things are more frustrating than seeing a competitor who offers an inferior product or service get far more attention through superior marketing. But the fact is reach and marketing matter. People and businesses need to embrace this reality to stand out and get ahead. For a business to grow revenue, it must be both excellent at what it does (reputation) and have a large audience of people who know about it (reach). To the frustration of many, reach is likely the more impactful part of the above equation. While many leaders are focused on quality and ideally want both reputation and reach, a business with a great reputation and a poor reach is likely to have fewer customers than a business with a poor reputation and great reach. These are the major reasons why personal branding exploded in relevance in the past decade. Technology and social media have democratized the process of gaining reach, even for people and companies without deep pockets. Personal branding helps spread your reputation either within your company’s walls or in your industry where you’re looking to build awareness and relevance. As we at Coach4ppol.com are beta-launching both an assessment tool (scorecard) [6] for alternative asset managers to evaluate where they stand on the fundraising readiness value-cycle and a 90-day online program [7] aimed at preparing them for Effective, Drama-Free Fundraising; creating this piece, we believe, participates to our educational mission towards the entrepreneurial and alternative asset management community we serve; by providing more insights around how a thoughtful differentiated positioning, a strong reputation/brand and an amplified reach participate to the success of any business initiative, irrespective of its industry. Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram and visit my website for more info! Read more from Florence! Florence His, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Florence leads Business4People, an advisory, marketing, coaching, and investor relations platform she founded in Paris (FR) to support Mission-Driven Founders and Impact Investors internationally. She serves as Director of Marketing and Head of Impact Investment at Crito Capital, a boutique Placement Agent headquartered in New York with a presence in London and focused on providing advice and capital raising services to small/mid-cap Private Fund Managers and Companies in the US, Europe, and Emerging Markets. Finally, she is also active as a Mentor and Global Partner at the Entrepreneurs Institute on their GeniusU online education platform. Florence spent over 17 years in the investment, private equity, M&A, and risk management functional disciplines leading multi-disciplinary teams before embracing the entrepreneurial path. She holds an undergraduate degree in organizational psychology from Yale University, an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration, a Masters's degree in Sustainable Studies from the International Institute of Management in Paris, and speaks six languages. References: [1] Dr. Sol Gordon is a clinical psychologist, author, and lecturer on relationships. [2] Books about strategies used in politics, war, civilian life to strategically stand out and prevail [3] For more information about Kaihan’s work, please visit: www.kaihan.net [4] Mark Levy is the author of The Accidental Genius – Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content. More about his work at www.levyinnovation.com His Free PDF: “List-Making as a Tool of Thought Leadership” here www.levyinnovation.com/1565-2/ [5] Rory is also the New York Times bestselling author of Take The Stairs and is a world-class speaker who has competed in the World Championship of Public Speaking. Rory also has a TEDx Talk, How to Multiply Time, which has been viewed over 3 million times [6] Take the Assessment here www.bit.ly/3fXjkMg [7] Find out more about the 90-day Mastering Fundraising Essentials program here www.bit.ly/3svUVSX

Jenn Taylor is Mom Of 18 (yes, 18 kids!), a Transformational Coach for Christian Women, and the host of At A Crossroads with The Naked Podcaster - a 4-year podcast to uplift others in their struggles. Her goal is to help others get through life’s struggles faster, easier, and with more support (and joy!). Jenn is also a motivational speaker, has written the blog "Mom’s Running It" for over 9 years, and is a published author of a self-help memoir "Hello, My Name Is... Warrior Princess" - which she will email to you as a pdf for free. She is also married to an amazing man in Reno, NV, is a runner, minimalist, and healthy lifestyle enthusiast. If you’ve attended events or heard speakers in the past and gotten excited about making changes only to return home and have felt frustrated at not knowing how to implement the information, you’ll love working with Jenn! Who is Jenn? I’m Jenn! I’m Mom of 18 (yes, 18 kids!), which is a story in and of itself. Most people ask me “how” OR “are they all yours?” For the latter question - yes, they are “all mine.” In my experience and hundreds of conversations, when you’ve done foster care, adopted, etc.… you feel the same about ALL the kids, and just to give a heads up - it hurts the child’s feelings to be segregated into which box they fit in in a family. It’s a normal question, and I only point this out because, in my experience, the person’s intentions have never been intentionally hurtful. Large families don’t make sense, and it’s human nature to get it to make sense. Just be aware. The incredibly short story: I went through infertility and ended up pregnant 7 times in total. I gave birth to four babies and had 3 miscarriages. In my final pregnancy, I lost twins at 19-weeks, which resulted in a D&C, then a hysterectomy, then a life-saving surgery for internal bleeding. Biologically I’ve been through pretty much everything to bring those 4 humans into the world. It was absolutely worth it. My heart belonged to foster care, as I was a kid that grew up in dysfunction, and my 3rd-grade teacher made a huge difference to me. I was licensed to do foster care after my first daughter was born. We went through 4 adoptions, 1 child that stayed long-term in foster care and 1 foreign exchange student. That’s 10 if you’re following the math - and then, I was divorced. I continued to do foster care and had one more adoption and 3 more long-term in foster care. That brings the total to 14. I had 9 living at home at this point, and my daughter and a family friend decided to fix me up on dates. Retrospectively it was incredibly fun. However, at the moment, I wasn’t the most enthusiastic person. Dane was one of my dates, and I give him lots of credit as I was really humoring my daughter and friend and not exceptionally interested in a relationship. At the beginning of our first date, I wasn’t very open. Thankfully, he hung out with me until I relaxed and opened up, and our first date was pretty amazing. Now that we have the luxury of retrospection, I can see why from our first texts, we’ve never been apart. He is one of my favorite people in the world and my best friend. Dane had 4 kids, and his wife had died, which makes the total number of kids 18! Not long after we met, one of my kids was moving out, and he and his 4 kids moved in. We launched our blended family with 12 kids at home - which is the most we’ve ever had at home, although 11-12 kids have been in the house off and on for many years. I love the story of my family - an amalgam of yours, mine, ours, theirs, foster, adopted, step, biological, and yet, they are “all mine”. Other things about me: I’ve written the blog - Mom’s Running It - for 10 years, sharing stories of our family. The blog is where my online connections began, and it’s been fantastic to look back over a decade at how life has changed, stayed the same, and how I’ve grown as a writer. It started when a successful female blogger that I followed encouraged me to start my own blog. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of encouragement, and I’m grateful she gave that to me. I’ve also been a Motivational Speaker for 30-years, speaking at foster training, to Head Start, and in my community as well as summits and on stage. Sharing stories is a passion of mine, and speaking has the potential to reach many people, similar to the blog. I’m a published author of a self-help memoir “Hello, My Name Is... Warrior Princess”. 5 ½ years ago, when funding changed at the non-profit I worked for, and I lost my job, Dane told me to take a couple of months off and write the book I had been talking about writing. Being given time was an exceptional gift, and I feel blessed that I was able to complete the book in 2 months. That was the catalyst for starting the podcast as my book is ONE story, where the podcast shares a different story of the struggle to success every week. My guests can “write a book in an hour” by sharing their journey of encouragement with others. I’m the host of At A Crossroads with The Naked Podcaster for the past 4 ½ years, and I love hosting a podcast. I have met and connected with the most amazing people, and I feel honored to call many of them my friends. It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve lived in Reno, NV, for the past 17-years. Prior to that, I lived in Alaska for a decade and have lived in several states and traveled through more. I’m a bit of a gypsy at heart. We have a 4-year-old 70-pound rescue dog named Madi -- that was supposed to get to only 35 pounds -- and sheds more than a dozen dogs put together. She’s sweet but hairy (and Dane is allergic). I’ve been a healthy lifestyle enthusiast all of my adult life, am a runner, and love warm weather, water, and being outside as much as possible. Biking, hiking, dog walking, running, trips to the beach, etc. I love it all. Cold weather isn’t my jam, so when the temperatures dip and people are excited about all things pumpkin, I’m less than enthusiastic. I sing on our church Worship Team - something I wasn’t sure I’d ever do again. I was offered a 3-record contract on my 19th birthday (circa 1989), and I turned it down out of fear of the “sex, drugs, and rock n roll” lifestyle. I didn’t know how to balance the music lifestyle with my own family values, so I walked away. I have missed it every day, although my life has been beautiful and full. It’s been rewarding and a much different experience to jump back on stage to sing after taking a 30+ year break. What is it that you do for your clients? In my business, I’m a Transformational Coach for Christian Women, an NLP Practitioner, and have 15+ years in the foster care sector as both a parent and a trainer. All of the training I have goes into my coaching. My clients are experiencing a crisis of faith. It might be faith in themselves, faith in their career, faith in Christianity, faith in living their purpose, faith in what their God-given gifts are, etc... They are living with anxiety, overwhelm, uncertainty, stress, and past traumas, and they believe they are meant for more. The program lasts 12-weeks with 2X a week group coaching calls and three 1:1 sessions a month apart. The group builds community and friendships, I have experts share their advice alongside my teachings, and the 1:1 sessions address specific traumas, limiting beliefs, etc... Who should hire/work with you? The program is for Christain Women who no longer want to feel stuck, who know deep down they could be squeezing so much more out of life. Women are ready to identify self-sabotaging patterns (we all have them!) and learn ways to create deeper connections. Those ready to learn to commit to a gratitude practice that actually sticks – and why it really matters to you – and why self-care goes so much deeper than an annual pedicure. Christian women who feel at a loss about their purpose and are struggling with the balance between work, relationships, purpose, and your God-given gifts. Who feel that - although they chose their life - they didn’t think it would be like this. Women who are looking to build... Better relationships Career fulfillment Better health Clarity about your purpose More intimacy Better time management Crossroads is a change of direction or a decision. It means you’re at a stage in your life when it is necessary to choose a course of action that will affect your future in significant, positive, and irrevocable ways. Crossroads Coaching is designed for Christian women who, at the core belief that they have been made for more, have that small mustard seed of faith and are ready to get to work. It is embracing, empowering the community, meeting you where you’re at, and supporting you confidently stepping into the amazing person God meant you to be! What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Odd as it may sound, the big goal is to live full-time in an RV traveling and living where we want, which we should be starting by the end of September 2021. We’ve been minimalists for 6 ½ years, and that seems like the culmination of a lot of years of downsizing. There’s something really soothing to be able to take my home with me, have my home regardless of where I am, reduce my footprint, and lower monthly expenses. When I took time off of work 5 ½ years ago to write the book, I decided working from home permanently was my goal. Being a digital nomad meant I could continue to connect, make a difference, AND an income regardless of where I am. This lifestyle offers a lot of freedom - which is my 1 value. Living this lifestyle, even if we’re stationary, means more time together and more time outside, which we love. It’s a little frightening to whittle things down to 260 sq ft, although we’ve watched so many families embrace this lifestyle - which is reassuring. In business, as in my personal life, I want to love what I do. Right now, that’s a podcast I’ve hosted for 4 ½ years, and being a Transformational Coach for Christian Women. Life pivots and I’m certain that even if what I’m doing isn’t the same in ten years, loving, it will remain the same. All my kids will be out of the house within ten years, so a new phase of life with my husband - one that I’m excited about - will be happening, and I look forward to that new phase of our lives. As I write this, the world is an uncertain, divided, crazy place. Knowing how much has changed in the past 18-months makes me realize even more that things are ever-changing—fluid and not static. I hope to be often traveling, and I want what I do to continue to make a significant, long-lasting, positive difference in the lives of others. For more info, follow Jenn on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit her website! Read more from Jenn!

Written by: Karen Mc Dermott, 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. To be successful we must also embrace creative transformation and evolution. The Oxford Dictionary definition of alchemy is ‘a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or a combination. There's also a scientific definition, but I like that one because when you're a soulful entrepreneur, not only do you need a savvy business mindset, you also have to be very creative. There are ebbs and flows in business and you have to be able to pivot with demand and often rethink on the spot. Some people don't have the ability to do that or will operate differently. What I'm talking about is really getting to the heart core of what your passion is in life and helping others through that passion without compromising any of yourself or your values in the pursuit of success. Entrepreneurs are often thought to be reckless but I do not believe that. Entrepreneurs can act from a higher vibration and have faith in the process of the Universal Laws. That is why it helps to understand those laws so later I will share a chapter on my insights into them. I will also share my seven life principles, which are my creative process, and part of my transformation was really getting to know and action those laws in my life. I was already using them, but not to the highest ability because I wasn't doing it mindfully. And whenever you mindfully do something with intention and love, magical things happen. So when you choose to embrace alchemy in your business, really capture the essence of that definition. Choosing to be a soulful entrepreneur is being innovative, really growing yourself and your business, and making amazing things happen in your life. Whenever you embrace the alchemy of that, the creative process, and the magical energy that comes with that, you're harnessing the best potential outcomes possible because you will see what others don't see. You will hear and action what others will never have even thought of. Being a soulful entrepreneur and embracing the alchemy in that means that you can go next level, you can be more efficient, you can get results faster. You can make amazing things happen in your life and also be happy and joyful in it. If what you are doing is stressing you out and you are not enjoying it, you are not engaging in your best self and pouring that into everything that you do, then what is the point? We know what stress does to our bodies, we know what it does to our lives and we know what it does to our energy fields. Being a soulful entrepreneur means that you're connecting with your passion. It means that you really focus on your genius zones and you outsource the rest because you want to stay in that energy. I have included a chapter on staying in your genius zone and some tips on that. But when it comes to the alchemy of life, these are my top three tips: Really embrace the creative ideas that you have; see them as gifts and have the courage to action them. Believe in the magic and have faith in the process of what can be. There are no limitations. Understand that nothing is impossible. You can make happen anything you want. But be mindful that for it to be really fulfilling and rewarding, you first need to embrace the journey and align with your values so that you're not compromising yourself and your happiness. Otherwise, it won't feel worth it when you get there. Take a moment to think about what alchemy is for you. Where can you be more creative? Have you been dismissing creative thoughts? Really resonate within yourself and ask that question, because creativity comes from different areas. It may come from within or be inspired externally, but when you put your own innovative thoughts and your own self into an inspired thought, an action that and execute it in your own way, that's creativity in motion. That's you showing up and being an inspired leader and a soulful entrepreneur, so embrace that but really get to know what that is for you. You are the one with those answers. When something catches your attention, pay attention because it's for a reason. I remember listening to Jack Canfield talk on The Secret about how the National Enquirer started jumping out at him in the stands and it was because he set in motion a thought process that he would love to make 100,000 dollars. And if he sold 400,00 books, he would have 100,000 dollars in his bank account. He didn't know how it was going to happen, but he believed that it would. Suddenly these other things that were always in the background before started to jump out at him and come into the foreground. A few weeks later, he spoke at a conference and a reporter came up afterward and said they wanted to interview him for the National Enquirer. His book was featured and it set the ball in motion for him and brought him to where he is today. You have to own your success, know the potential of it, and really embrace the alchemy of your soulful entrepreneurship journey. Really learn to start paying attention if something jumps out at you and action it straight away. Don't wait. It's an inspired thought, so action it and see what happens. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Karen! Karen Mc Dermott, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Karen Mc Dermott is an award-winning publisher, multi-genre author, and TEDx Speaker. Karen realized her passion for the story after an epiphany led her to write her first novel in only 30 days. Karen has gone on to build a publishing empire and is the publisher for many well-known best-selling authors and also aspiring authors alike. She is a regular Forbes writer and her signature book series is the Alchemy of Life Magic series. Karen is a passionate teacher and runs her own publishing academy, Everything Publishing Academy, which recently won an award for innovation. Her motto in life is 'When time and circumstance align, magic happens.'