Written by: Dr. Denise L. Morrison, 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. First, I want you to know that this is a safe “no judgment space” where my intention is to lovingly nudge you out of your comfort zone. Second, when I ask you the question, “why,” it’s out of pure curiosity to help you dig deeper into what you are experiencing at your very core. I am here to offer you the freedom, safety, and space to tap into what’s really happening inside you. So, why is it that you are repeatedly falling off track and choosing the same unhealthy habits that keep you stuck? Would you like some help with that? Do you really, really want to change? If you don’t, that’s okay, that is your choice. Know that NOT making a choice is empowering as well. If you truly are a “YES” to wanting to know how to create change in your life, I invite you to become aware if you have a strong need or desire to change? What’s your inside motivation to make a change? What is your “why” or a reason(s) to make a change? Listen, sense, and feel deeply for your unique reason(s). Those insights are very valuable in helping you fuel your desires/needs, so please savor them and hold them as priceless gifts. This might be the reason you haven’t made any significant behavior changes yet. I hear from many clients that they resist making changes because they tell themselves these stories about how hard it is. You may be afraid to change because it’s unfamiliar or uncomfortable. However, if you have this mindset, you are really discouraging yourself. You’re thinking your way to the feeling place of “hard’ which causes those stuck and uncomfortable feelings. And when that happens, your lizard brain and monkey mind start sending emergency signals that alert your fight-flight-freeze responses: Change = fear = different = unsafe = not belonging = too dangerous!! Let me help you turn off the danger signals. I want you to know that making a change doesn’t have to be scary, hard, or impossible. However, if you’ve been living in the state of striving or stressing about making changes and falling off track, your body and mind will remain in emergency mode. And when you’re experiencing stress, your precious brain will find it challenging to focus on what you want. So, without laser focus, you will struggle with making calm, easy choices to create your new and healthy habits. This isn’t to discourage you, but it’s to help you see the importance of getting into that mindset. Once you can calm your mind, body, and soul, you will more easily create new thoughts, choices, and actions to make a change. Will you allow yourself the time, space, and loving honesty to tap into your desire to change. Let’s do some brainstorming about what you want to change. In what areas of your life do you desire to change/new habits? This can be about any aspect in your life: health, fitness, career, relationships, self-care, and spirituality/connection to something greater. Take a self-assessment and feel into which ones are really causing you harm, zapping your energy and making you feel bad. Let’s first focus on the “unhealthy” habits you currently have that aren’t serving you. Take out a journal or notes on your phone and jot down your thoughts. Here are a few questions to get you started: What is something you do that you no longer want to be doing? What are your thoughts, self-talk, and feelings that come up when you answered question 1? What is it costing you to keep repeating these unhealthy habits? How will your life change for the better if you let them go? Excellent job! Thanks for answering those questions. You can choose to get rid of the negative habits in your life for good! Once you’re in that mindset of wanting to change your behavior and begin following healthier habits, you will find that it’s much easier than it’s ever been. Your new, healthy habits will then become a part of your life. You can choose to get rid of the negative habits in your life for good! Keep brainstorming and reflecting so you can continue on this path to healthier habits. What are some new habits that could take the place of the old ones? If your habits change, what else in your life would change? How would your life look and feel if you started living this new way? Wonderful!! Thank yourself for taking the time to really tap into what you want. Use your responses to the questions to help you to stay motivated and on track. And, I am here to help you stay on track too! Let’s chat so that I can guide you more deeply. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Denise! Dr. Denise L. Morrison, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Denise Morrison is the CEO of Intuitively Unique Coaching, her Holistic Brand of Health/Life Coaching. She struggled for decades to overcome traumatic experiences from her own past. She compensated for her lack of confidence with degrees and professional success. She numbed her pain with addictive eating and self-abusive behaviors. And when she finally turned to the right teachers and coaches, she learned that change does not need to take decades. Change can actually be instantaneous. And change can be lasting. After working for many years in healthcare, Denise felt a pull and a passion for working with people on a deeper and more transformational level. Her academic mind was drawn to the evidence-based nutrition and exercise practices, but she was also compelled by the more mystical therapies emerging from neuroscience and quantum healing. Denise sought out the best training in health and wellness, life coaching, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to access the most powerful tools to help others change their lives for the better.

Written by: Kinga Zerhouni, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. You've probably heard many times that self-care is necessary for your well-being. Relaxing massage, deep breathing, meditation, or a walk in the park are fantastic ways to calm your body and mind. But how often do you do them? Even though you know the benefits of self-care, most likely, you don't do it consistently. Maybe you see self-care as something you do when you have time for it, which rarely happens. Some experts suggest scheduling self-care activities in your calendar to help you stick with them. But this idea makes self-care feel like another item on your to-do list. I don't know about you, but my daily list is already quite long. Seeing self-care in these terms doesn't probably motivate you to make it part of your daily routine. But what if you use self-care as a tool that helps you stay within your limits? We all have limitations on how much work, stress, expectations, and responsibilities we can handle, even though we often act like we are limitless. Have you ever pushed yourself to the point you couldn't go any further? Your days are filled with deadlines, office politics, school notices, soccer practices, dinners, planning, and budgeting. You constantly push your boundaries on how much you can handle each day. The more you push beyond your limits, the more likely you are to experience burnout. That's why daily self-care is so crucial to stay within your healthy boundaries and prevent over-exhaustion. The goal of self-care is to help you recharge, manage stress, and stay balanced physically, mentally, and emotionally. It shouldn't feel like another item on your never-ending to-do list. Your practice should be simple enough that you can easily integrate it into your daily routine. Here are five tips for shifting your mindset about your self-care practice: It's about simplicity and enjoyment. Your self-care routine should include activities that you enjoy doing. There are many suggestions on the internet on creating self-care practice, what it should consist of, and how you should feel about it. But not every self-care activity will work for you. We all have different needs, enjoy different things, and have different schedules. You may need to experiment to find what you like. It's about respecting your limits. It doesn't only include establishing boundaries with other people but also having boundaries with yourself. If you decide to start going to bed earlier, respect your need for more sleep. Learn to say "no" to late TV shows. It's about small commitments you can do daily, not activities that you occasionally do. Exercising 15 minutes each day is more beneficial than one long workout a week. Taking 30 minutes each day for yourself has a more significant impact on your well-being than one vacation a year. It's about repetition and consistency. Implementing a specific daily self-care activity will eventually create a healthy habit that you perform automatically without thinking. It's not about perfection. If you have a busy day and skip your self-care practice, don't stress about it. Try to get back to it the next day. How you see self-care in your life can make or break your practice. If you use it as a tool to help you prevent burnout and keep you within your healthy boundaries, it will be easier to stick with it. Self-care is not necessarily about specific activities or products that you should use. It's more about knowing, being aware of, and respecting your personal boundaries to ensure you don't stretch yourself too thin. For instance, you may decide to skip sleep, so you can do an hour of a morning workout. However, it will reduce your body's ability to recharge, repair and have a negative long-term effect on your health. Eating by your desk instead of taking lunch breaks affects your digestion and metabolism, leading to weight gain over time. In summary, your perception of self-care in your life can determine its effect on your wellbeing. If you see it as something you have to do and treat it as one of your items on your to-do list, it might be more challenging to stay motivated and do it consistently. Seeing self-care as the essential tool to keep you within your healthy boundaries may help you prioritize your self-care activities in your life. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Kinga Zerhouni, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kinga Zerhouni is a Board-Certified Functional Wellness Coach helping women reverse burnout and fatigue naturally by following simple lifestyle changes designed to re-energize the body and mind. She wants to empower women to take charge of their health and find the root causes of their fatigue because feeling tired all the time is not normal. When she is not working with clients, you can find her spending time with her family taking nature walks and playing sports.

Written by: Louisa Havers , 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. Do you desire to break through an upper-income ceiling? Does the new money goal feel just beyond reach? This is most likely because what you're pursuing is on a different level of vibration to that which you're currently resonating. What do I mean by this? Well, most people have heard of the Law of Attraction, which states that like attracts like. But do you know about the Law of Vibration? It's the oft-forgotten Law behind successful manifestation. Nikola Tesla famously stated, "If you want to find the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration." He was right! Everything that is is the result of vibration. Everything around you is the result of your vibration. If you've been around me for a while, you'll know I often talk about our 'Human Wi-Fi.' We're all familiar with the internet, mobile phones, and Wi-Fi. We know and trust that when we switch on our TV and tune in to the right frequency, our favorite program streams directly to us via our preferred method of viewing. Well, we too have our very own Wi-Fi, aka our Aura. It is a sender and receiver signal to the Universe around you. It's important to understand because if you're not satisfied with what's happening in your life, it's simple; you must change your vibration. To achieve the multi-six or seven-figure income you desire, you need to match your energetic frequency with that which you seek. The more aligned your vibrational energy, the more you attract. It's the mirrors and magnets I'm always talking about! Stay with me here! It's not as hard as you may think to raise your energetic vibration. I'm going to give you my top 10 tips as to how. Practice these daily to consciously create with the Law of Vibration; they'll help you become an even more powerful manifestation magnet: 1. Be Intentional Money loves intention and focus. Be specific with financial goals at every level, living from the space of having already realized them. This is the art of manifesting. Speaking about your intentions as though you've already received them supports your vibration. For example, "I earned XYZ and used it to (insert the desired outcome), and I felt (the gratitude and joy you feel)." As you talk to your subconscious from this place of already being there, you'll receive inspired ideas in alignment with that which you desire because you have bought yourself closer in resonance with it. 2. See It In Your Imagination This is the very essence of conscious creation and one of my favorite manifesting tools I help my clients master. There are some amazing ninja-like techniques I teach to really amplify success. Everything is energy, and energy can be changed. To get you started: create a picture in your mind – allow yourself to really see and feel it and talk about it as if it's already happened. Make it feel real. As you do this, you create new neural pathways in your brain, and your vibrational energy responds as if the thing you desire has already happened. The more you do it, the easier it becomes and the more the reality matches the dream. 3. Feel The Fear And Make it Feel Safe High earners know that this feeling of fear means they've moved out of their comfort zone, which says to the Universe, "I am open to all possibilities." Doing only what we feel comfortable doing leads to stagnation, lowering our energetic vibration. However, moving onwards and upwards can cause resistance and fear to bubble, as your subconscious tries to keep you 'safe,' i.e., in places it has already been. So, the key to moving forward is to make your subconscious feel calm and safe. Firstly, welcome any feelings that come up. They're a sign you've expanded your receiving energy. Instead, you can soothe your subconscious by saying to yourself, "I am safe, I am calm, I choose to do this." This removes the fear blocking you from diving into something new, which allows you to discover a fresh version of yourself, increasing your vibrational frequency. 4. Take Aligned Action When it comes to manifesting your goals, remember the Universe takes its cue from the energy and attitude behind the action you take to achieve them. With the Law of Vibration, make sure you take an aligned action – because that is what will be attracted back to you. As you are in movement, so is the Universe. In short, taking a positive, aligned step towards your goal allows your energetic frequency to do the heavy lifting, attracting back positive, aligned results. 5. Be Curious, And Open To How It All Unfolds Non-attachment is important when it comes to manifesting your desires. Forget the 'how' and the 'when.' The most successful people understand how to stay curious and non-committed. By remaining open to all options, the Universe may present, you become more and more in resonance with what you're creating. By doing so, you'll be amazed at how quickly and miraculously new opportunities flow to you. 6. Activate Certainty And Faith Have faith in the process. This is so important and something I help my clients with all the time. What you need to remember is if your desires don't instantly manifest, it just means something bigger and better is on the way. I call this managing the delay! This is where you build faith in yourself, as you follow your inner guidance, taking action on it, and trusting in the Universe. You'll see the opportunities increase as your belief and certainty does. 7. Be In Communities With Like-Minded People This is key. Our energy field/vibration attracts people to it, and it's affected by those around us at the same time. This is why successful entrepreneurs immerse themselves in Masterminds and network with like-minded people. You may have heard the saying you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So, who are you spending most of your time with, and what is this manifesting? 8. Practice The Attitude Of Gratitude Whatever is happening in your life right now, be thankful. There is always something to be grateful for. This is such an important habit to adopt. As you feel gratitude for what you've already received, you open yourself up to receive more. A master tip: whilst you practice gratitude for what you already have, also be thankful for what you are seeking to create, speaking of it in the here and now, as though it's already yours. As pointed out in tip no.1, the subconscious won't distinguish between the two! 9. Your Words Are Spells; Spell Wisely! It's called spelling for a reason. Words have their own vibration. And that's why it's so important to choose them wisely. As words are spoken, they create your identity and your future through their frequency and vibration. Instead, I invite you to choose a definitive, affirmative language. Let go of, 'I should', 'I would', 'I could'. These are restrictive words that don't serve you. Instead, say, 'I do', 'I am', 'I have' – these are empowering action words that you can use to recreate your identity and thus your frequency and vibration. 10. Activate Abundance Activate the frequency of abundance in how you approach life. There is no such thing as limited time, money, happiness, etc. High achievers know that all resources are as abundant as they want. This is because what they believe, they receive. The more you practice seeing abundance everywhere, the more neural pathways you create around this belief, and the easier and easier it becomes to manifest this reality. With enough practice, it becomes as unconscious as breathing. I love intentionally working with the Law of Vibration. By bringing it to your awareness, you'll feel more empowered, enjoying the certainty that when you change your vibration, you'll change what you attract. I've seen this in my own life, in the lives of my Masterminds colleagues, and the lives of my clients. These tips underpin the manifesting processes and energetic alignment practices that I use and coach my clients to use to have the success they desire. The more you raise that vibration to align with your higher goals, the more easily and effortlessly you magnetize what you seek. I hope that this has served you. I'd love to gift you my Abundance Codes Activation in Akashic Records. It's a 30-minute journey that you can use any time you require a top-up. It's on the house from me to you! Click HERE if this feels aligned for you. For more info, follow me on Face book , Instagram , LinkedI n and visit my websi te ! Read more from Louisa! Louisa Havers, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Louisa Havers is an internationally renowned Master Transformational Coach, Master Manifesting teacher, Master Akashic Records teacher (Soul Journeys® Method), and business mentor. She enables high achievers and coaches to unlock their superpowers, turbo-charge soul-aligned magnetism, and "lift the ceiling" in both their lives and businesses. It’s a journey Louisa knows works as she’s personally undertaken it. Years spent leading change in the highly pressurized and stressful social services sector led to shingles and chronic fatigue, compelling her to break free from the corporate matrix of overwork. It was the first step to creating her own life of freedom and dream business income. Louisa enables clients across the globe to activate quantum leaps to success in their own journey to fulfillment, self-love, and a six / seven-figure income. Daring to live your life’s purpose is truly possible under Louisa’s loving, powerful and insightful guidance.

Written by: Dr. Hynd Bouhia, 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. Everything we do, everything we work on, every problem we solve are related directly or indirectly to STEM. In our everyday life, we use calculus, science, biology, computer, technology, physics, etc. Thus, when STEM is approached as a necessity for different life matters, for business, and for succeeding as an entrepreneur, the choice becomes obvious. It is not anymore an issue to choose or not to choose STEM. Finland’s Lesson: Tech-savvy Children Just Want To Have Fun For the past two decades, the world’s top education system has been Finland. What’s the secret of that Nordic country’s success? Paradoxically, much of it comes down to short class time and the near absence of homework. By focusing on learning during four school hours per day, kids can play, sleep and be a kid the other 20 hours a day. With a cap on 10 minutes of homework, they can knock it off to play games, sports, music; draw and paint; write poetry; learn new languages; read for fun – or explore and experiment with practical outcomes, like construction and robotics. Teachers – liberated from a long school day and year – have the energy to share with students everything they need to know for a rich and balanced life. They teach with fire – and kids learn with hunger – not just reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also how to cook, sew, to sing during class. Finland’s gender-neutral approach treats girls and boys are treated the same way, with the same activities. With no private schools, rich parents feel obliged to contribute to improving education for their own daughters and sons – as well as every other child in public schools. Those schools also treat boys and girls like adults. The shift forward gears teaching toward what a student wants to become and, therefore, what she needs to learn to achieve her dreams. A math teacher’s pedagogic approach is based on her discovering joy from an equation, and he ensures parity through all STEM disciplines. It follows, of course, that in addition to leading in education, Finland is also the most advanced country in terms of gender equity in the working world. There is absolutely no reason that Finland’s approach can’t be adapted for the needs of the African girl or any girl in the world. She can and must be raised exposed to all the activities taught in those Nordic classrooms, learning for pleasure, making time to play and experiment, and discovering what she needs to know to achieve who she wants to become. STEM Turns A Schoolgirl Into A University Woman College unlocks every girl’s gateway to her career. In university, she starts to understand what role she could play. Now her barriers to overcome are those of the adult. She may feel intimidated coming in the door of her computer science lecture hall, robotics class, or chemistry lab, or engineering shop, only to discover she is the lone female among her fellow science geeks and tech nerds. That gender imbalance is becoming an increasingly distinct possibility. Even as university STEM disciplines have ballooned in size, female ratios within them have shrunk, from 37% in the 1980s to 17% in 2015. This defies easy explanation, like the ignorant shrug that assumes without a shred of evidence that “boys just like computers more than girls.” Requests for empirical proof of this are met with awkward silence. The good news, as shown in my book “African Girl, African Women,” is that public and private leaders are working to restore gender balance in STEM fields. Better still, universities aggressively encourage females to pursue these disciplines. This said, despite massive efforts to encourage girls to pursue scientific studies between 2000 and 2008, female interest in computer science plunged 79%. Amid a transformative and powerful digital revolution, as demand for tech jobs continues to rise, the ratio of women going into computer science is lower today than it was in the 1980s. In this respect, a girl with no grasp of math or science has a diminished future. Learning A Common Language STEM disciplines can feel new, distant, and imposing. People naturally fear what we don’t understand. One way to integrate the field is to simplify it into an everyday issue, a language tool that opens a world that can be fun, even tasty. Growing up, the girl can discover that cooking is basically chemistry, that gardening is botany, that light is physics, or and that shopping involves calculation. Her interest in a goat involves biology and may lead her into veterinary science. Her love of electronic games, or even a mobile phone text, can remind her of the coding behind the screen. She can start to see scientific reality in the weather, the climate, the rain, and the drought. Once the language of STEM becomes as common as a family member, it becomes easier to reach. She can even find STEM in athletes. Understanding that running and performing combine the forces of biology, chemistry, and physics in motion. The exciting thing about this language is that once learned, it imposes no limits, no rules. Every girl can embrace several identities. She can explore mathematics, dance, and fashion. She can chase particles and butterflies. She can dress up technology and paint robotics in pink. Such options can be mixed and reordered as she sees fit, according to her identity and spirit. Girls and boys both face STEM challenges but respond in different ways. Boys feel they simply lack time to master this important new language, while girls feel they lack the innate capacity to ever do so. The confidence gap suggests the need for a different approach. External pressures and media – movies, cartoons, games – may reinforce stereotypes and nourish doubts. Finally, childhood can build any girl’s confidence, self-sufficiency, and self-love. Through a multifaceted education, the balance of “serious” subjects as well as culture, art, and sports activities are nourished. With support from below, above, and surrounding her, we can see a glimpse of how far she can go and strengthen her leadership skills. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Hynd! Dr. Hynd Bouhia, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Hynd Bouhia has cumulated more than 20 years of professional experience in high-level and leadership positions, covering investments, financial structuring, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development strategies. Hynd Bouhia was nominated by Forbes among the 100 most influential women in the world in 2008 and the most influential women in Business in the Arab World in 2015 and honored as a member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2018. With a Ph.D. from Harvard University (GSAS 1998), an Engineering degree from Ecole Centrale Paris (1995), and a Master from Johns Hopkins SAIS (2000), Hynd Bouhia started her career at the World Bank in Washington before joining Morocco’s Prime Minister as an economic advisor. She was appointed in 2008 as the Managing Director of Casablanca Stock Exchange. After that, she structured and managed investments and venture capital funds. As the CEO of Strategica, she advises entrepreneurs, companies, and institutions on economic intelligence, sustainable finance, and growth strategies. Dr. Hynd Bouhia is the author of the motivational book for women entitled "Africa Girl, African Woman: How agile, empowered, and tech-savvy females will transform the continent for good." References: https://www.amazon.com/

Janet Caliri is a certified life coach, bestselling author, and well-regarded speaker who brings her innovative process and playful energy to audiences and private clients alike. Known as the “Curiosity Coach,” Janet’s mission is igniting human potential. She is the founder of Visible Transitions, a proprietary photographic technique that helps clients approach difficult and challenging life transitions with curiosity, ease, and acceptance. Janet has combined her passions and experience in life coaching, professional photography, cardiovascular radiology, writing, and art, to develop a community of leaders with high emotional intelligence. Her journey and her proven photographic methodology were inspired by personal health challenges, which required her to utilize curiosity and a smartphone camera to accelerate her healing and feel joyous during a life transition ever since Janet has shared Visible Transitions with thousands of people worldwide as a gateway to ignite their potential. Life Transitions Coach, Janet Caliri As an established life transitions coach, what is your purpose, and what drives you in working with clients? My goal in life is to help others feel safe in their realness and experience ease, joy, and confidence in the midst of chaos and life changes. I want to show people that they can live in the space of sincere curiosity. The combination of living practically while simultaneously in a state of playful, childlike wonder is one of the greatest gifts we can provide to ourselves: it brings that experience of ease and joy despite the stress of our daily lives. I created Visible Transitions, a proprietary photographic methodology, to help my clients feel more at ease despite stressful circumstances and develop more resilience. What is the Visible Transitions methodology? The mission of Visible Transitions is to help people ignite their human potential using curiosity and a smartphone camera. It starts with a series of questions to assess where the blockage is in someone’s life and what is limiting them from living to their full potential. Often these are internal – limiting beliefs and subconscious resistance. Resistance is like armor: when we’re in a state of resistance, we reject and block solutions from the get-go. Before I even start taking action with clients, we start to reduce and dissolve their forms of resistance. Once we identify areas of resistance, I bring in the proprietary Visible Transitions photographic process. This is photography with intention and has three practices: Create imagery of your feelings and emotions (to manage emotional reactions) Track subtle evidence of your progress (for motivation, confidence, and self-compassion; showing evidence that you care about something) Capture what triggers your emotions and significantly neutralize the emotional charge Visible Transitions is unique in its use of photography for life transformation. What is it about a photograph that is so transformative? First and foremost, this is intentional photography. It’s not snapping a photo of a sunset, though I do appreciate those as well. It’s mindfully celebrating your brain being at ease, being present with what is happening at the moment, and how you manage the present moment’s events. It’s about moving into acceptance, a state of zero resistance, through photography. Our brains hate change. They like repetition, consistency, and staying safe in the same patterns and habits they’re used to. So, as we go through a change, whether global or personal, small or large, the brain starts to resist. One way to combat that resistance is to snap a photo. Each time we take a picture with intention, we become more present, and new neurons are developed, which support new patterns and habits. Taking a picture in a mindful, intentional way allows the brain to become more confident in the present moment, letting your brain be more at ease and less resistant to the changes occurring. In addition, that moment of looking through a different context, a curious lens, activates a hit of dopamine and serotonin. We use photos to acknowledge that beauty exists everywhere. My methodology is multi-fold, but one important part is taking photos of things and situations you are frustrated with. Frustration is a normal and expected part of life, but it’s our reaction to the frustration that shapes how it impacts us. By taking pictures associated with that frustration, it brings you into a state of acceptance. It gives you the time to pause in curiosity to uncover what is truly frustrating you (your narrative) and how to ease that feeling. This is how I came to name this the Neutrality Practice. All of these photographic methodologies are a form of self-care. You snap a picture and embrace the moment as sacred and give your future self a gift of the picture. It’s a nice way to capture how influential you are in every experience. Taking photos is the evidence: you matter. Most importantly, the moment when we click, we are celebrating! We don’t celebrate the small stuff enough. Without the subtle steps, there is no long-term success or happy outcome. And why suffer from resistance along the way? Let’s enjoy each moment and help the brain be confident! How do Visible Transitions differ from other forms of therapy, coaching, and meditation? I strongly believe meditation, movement, therapy, art and coaching are tools to help us live our best lives, and no one tool should be the sole solution to life’s problems. In my career, I’ve worked with many different clients who range from corporate businesspeople to life coaches and wellness practitioners. Yes, even life coaches and therapists need support in the midst of life transitions! Visible Transitions work to make long-term changes within the brain. The methodology acts as an acceleration pedal that activates new neurons and produces dopamine and serotonin, making those other self-care practices easier (i.e., meditation, exercise, creative outlets, coaching, therapy, etc.) There’s nothing else that gets you to the state of zero resistance faster than Visible Transitions. Once you get to that state, then you can take quality action in your life. You can rely more on your intuition and gut instinct instead of the limiting beliefs and stories circulating throughout your head. Your brain works more in your favor, and those other self-care practices have more of a pronounced impact. You can look inward and have more insights and ease in your relationships: with yourself, partners, family, and friends. In the end, that’s all we can ask for more ease, flow, and connection in our relationships, rather than tension. Visible Transitions sounds like a very powerful and intentional program for effective life transitions. How did you create it? I received the first idea for Visible Transitions at the most trying moment of my life, when I wanted to quit. I was down and out with adrenal exhaustion and swine flu. My relationship with my emotions was a blockage to be truly happy and experience growth in my life. I found the miracle response to the crucial need I had: the power of photographing emotions. When I first started this journey, I immediately noticed a reduction in depression and stress, with a surge of vitality, personal power, and resilience. The more I practiced, the more this intentional photography released my emotional blockages and unleashed newfound creativity and curiosity. Ever since I’ve devoted my life to deriving more specific practices to find the curious lens through which to live life. I’ve practiced with myself and with graceful clients, who helped me find the most effective way to apply this methodology for positive change. Ultimately, this 3-part process was my saving grace! More recently, when I experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury, I used my Visible Transitions methodology in conjunction with holistic healing practices and Western Medicine to lift myself back to an effective, curious, and creative state of mind. In short: I had a need, I found the solution, and I made sacrifices to bring it to others! Why is this work so important right now? That’s a great question. The past year and a half have been a time of global transition, and my Visible Transitions methodology is effective for those of us going through any transition, so it’s been more relevant than ever recently. Coronapocolypse has had tremendous impacts on every part of our world, but I break it down into two aspects. Firstly, the last year and a half have shown us that we can slow down, enjoy simple, everyday moments, and celebrate small victories. We’ve realized – being constantly busy isn’t healthy for us, and busyness doesn’t mean productivity. Visible Transitions is based on the simple concept of pausing in curiosity. Being more present at the moment, dissolving internal resistance, and pausing in curiosity can actually help to increase productivity. So, the slowing down of the world over the last year has shown us we can be productive if we aren’t blocking our internal emotions. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops as the world starts moving at a faster pace again. Can we take some of these lessons we’ve learned to embrace slowing things down in the “after”? Secondly, Coronapocolypse has revealed the immaturity of systems that haven’t been working for a long time: education, medicine, politics, etc. While we realize how broken these systems are, our society is becoming more polarizing – the mindset that there are two options, and only one can be right. This has caused fighting and even the loss of relationships and friendships when we attach to the duality and pick sides. It’s impossible to move forward and solve our problems in this mindset. We’ve been trying to prove we’re right rather than trying to accept each other’s differences. That’s why this work is important: it reminds us there’s a third option in that polarizing duality – the neutral, curious state. You do you. I do me, together we live in harmony through sacred curiosity. We need radical acceptance of the reality that we have our differences, and we can even enjoy each other’s differences! When we allow each other to be who we are, we raise our emotional intelligence, awareness, and curiosity. Those are three extremely important factors in negotiating and creating solutions to our most pressing problems. We can’t solve our systemic issues without first accepting each other’s differences through curiosity. Follow Janet on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn or visit her website for more information about the Visible Transitions methodology!

Written by: Klaudia Moon, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Imagine that you are just about to receive the best opportunity of your life. This promotion you have always dreamed about or a great job opportunity in a new Company that you have been applying to for a while now. Or maybe, every year, you talk about joining Gym to get healthier and lose weight. You couldn’t be more excited at that moment, and then here it comes again ‘What if I’m not good enough?’, ‘What if I’m not qualified enough?’, ‘I always end up with terrible bosses, this won’t be any different. ‘Why bother, I just stay where I am- it’s safe’. And just like that, you are back to the same old patterns, watching the same old Netflix on the same old sofa. Sounds familiar? Everyone craves changes and better life, so why is it so difficult for us to take the next step? Carry on reading, and you will find all Dirty Secrets of your Patterns. Conscious & Subconscious Mind Our mind operates on conscious and subconscious levels. Everything you learn, read, or research is stored in your conscious mind. Thanks to this information, you are able to make conscious decisions, recognize what is bad or wrong, and have an engaging conversation with others. In other words, anything that you are in control of operates on your conscious level. The subconscious mind is an area where your belief system is stored. When you were very young, too young to make your own decisions- anything that you have observed or experienced has influenced and formed your belief system. The main source of our beliefs is our parents, teachers, and caretakers. We have been observing their behaviors, how they communicate with others, how they are forming relationships, and what words they are using towards us or others. We have accepted their way of being as the only way, and sometimes it is even scary how sometimes we resemble our parents when we get older. Sometimes if you have experienced some embarrassing or stressful situation in your childhood, it could leave you with confidence or trust issues. This lack of confidence most likely will hunt you dressed up as “I’m not smart enough” or “I’m not good enough” in your adulthood. Even if memory or experience doesn’t mean much to you, know it has formed certain beliefs in your subconscious mind that prevent you from moving forward. And this is where our patterns are stored, deep inside our subconscious mind. Running On Autopilot Everything we do for a long period of time (brushing teeth, driving to work, walking, breathing) becomes so easy for us that we don’t even need to think about it while doing it. We are set on autopilot mode. When we try to push ourselves from autopilot, we face resistance from our body and mind, which is called a homeostatic impulse. The subconscious mind loves existing in its comfort zone. The safest place is the one you have been to before because you can predict the familiar outcome. Habits and behaviors that we repeatedly return to become the subconscious default mode. This is why habits and routines feel so comforting and why it is so unsettling and even exhausting when the routine is disrupted. Every time we try to do something new, something different, our brain is shouting: What Are You Doing? This Is New! This Is Scary? Why Can’t We Do What We Know? No wonder why changing patterns is so difficult —everything within us is against it! Build Up Your Awareness — It’sTme To Be Conscious In order for us to get back control over our patterns, we need to uncover the very root of our problem. Building awareness is the first step to success. Think about the specific pattern of negative self-talk that you would like to change. When was the first time you felt or act this way? Why have you chosen this comfort behavior? What past memory comes up to my mind? What words have been said? The more details you get, the better understanding you have. The next step is to practice being conscious. Every day spends at least 2 minutes practicing consciousness. Try to stop and be very present in what you are doing. Recognize the smell, taste, texture, teach your brain that it’s ok to switch off autopilot. Yoga and meditation are really good for practicing consciousness. The first days are the most difficult ones because you are starting to change a default system, but as you get more confident and used to it will get easier. Start Small The final step is to start changing habits and behaviors into more positive and empowering. Start with a small daily routine that you need to stick to, a promise to yourself that you can keep the practice. This can be as simple as drinking a glass of water every morning or reading 10 pages a day. Don’t try to change everything in one go, and you will feel overwhelmed and demotivated very quickly. With time, you can always add more to already new existing routines. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Klaudia Moon, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Klaudia has started her career as an HR Professional in the hospitality industry. After many years of chasing the dream to make a difference, she realized that something was missing. What used to have meaning now has been replaced by burnout, anxiety, and lack of purpose. Through her own self-discovery journey, Klaudia has learned that a lot of emotions and patterns that she was holding on to were nowhere related to her own experience. Most of our beliefs, patterns and behaviors are passed on by generations via childhood traumas, events, or cultural programming. Now, her mission is to create a community of women who are ready to create their own future by living their dream life and finally break free from the generation cycle. By giving them support and space, Klaudia is guiding her clients' step by step through self-awareness and teaches them how to embrace their own roots.

Written by: Ira Correia, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. You are in the business of influencing and persuading if you ever needed to get a message across in an attempt to achieve a specific result. We influence others when we employ the appropriate verbal or non-verbal language that motivates and inspire them to take the desired action. Influencing skills are essential in business, leadership, and relationships. They are the same tools used to attract more of the best clients, hire the right people, achieve better results in negotiations or litigations, increase sales and customer satisfaction, create high-performance teams or improve organizational change. Just imagine what it would mean to your personal life, career, or business if you could achieve ten or more times the results you aim for, in less time, using fewer resources, or have a more significant impact? This article will show you a collaborative and conversational way to master the power of influence through inspiration and empowerment while building relationships, increasing trust and loyalty. A. Be Aware of the Framework that Works Failure to influence primarily originates from an erroneous understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and mechanics during effective communication. We often expect the receiver of our message to swiftly understand what we mean, as we comfortably use our own words, triggers, filters, or ways of thinking. Consequently, we tend to think less favorably of whoever doesn’t understand such explicit terms, requests, or ideas. However, during effective communication, it’s the responsibility of the communicator to tailor his message in a way that its receiver can process and understand, not the other way around. When we do this, we use the correct “mental codes” or filters that unlock comprehension and incite motivation and action in others. Being aware of this framework automatically makes you accountable for the results of your communication efforts. Furthermore, it inevitably compels you to enhance your observation and listening skills to determine the appropriate message in each case. B. Identify the Mind-Opening Filters Have you ever had the impression that you were talking to a wall during a conversation? Well, maybe you were if you were not using the words that open the receiver’s mind. Mental Filters are the codes we use to organize and process language. They can be words, order, detail, direction, etc., with which we structure language and communication. These filters are potent cause they reflect the way our neurology works. For our communication efforts to impact others, we need first to meet them where they are mentally, then use their mental filters to trigger their interest and motivation, ultimately taking them where we want them to go. The mechanics of influence pull others towards a goal using their keywords, which reflect what matters most to them while using their mental filters to structure the message. Here are 3 Simple Steps to achieve that: 1) Spot and Use Their Mental Filters • Identify the direction of motivation: Do they intend to go towards an objective or move away from a problem? • Identify their decision-making preference: Do they want to decide for themselves, or do they want to be advised? • Do they want to consider different options to achieve something, or are they ready to know the how-to process? • Do they communicate in a logical, short, and sequential way, or do they use a long story-like format? 2) Identify Their Criteria Criteria lie at the core of all human experience. It refers to what is important to us in a specific context. Our criteria are the utmost drivers of our emotional, psychological or physical reactions. We can quickly identify them with simple questions such as; “What is important to you in………?” “What do you want in….?” 3) Listen to The Keywords They Use Keywords are the words we use to express what matters most to us, along with how we process information. They represent valuable data that carry immense meaning and power. Paraphrasing is not as effective as it transforms other people’s words into ours, removing their influence in the process. Carefully listen to and use their keywords or phrases. You might find that people repeat or stress them often enough. Formulate the Message Equipped with the knowledge of their criteria, the keywords they use to convey it, and the mental filters contained in the way they communicate, influential communicators elegantly structure their message in a way that reflects this information. For example, it is crucial for someone who communicates shortly and sequentially to decide the best way to avoid a specific problem. Thus, telling them how to install a long process to achieve a positive goal is one ineffective way to influence them. Firstly, what is important to them is that they decide which is the best way, not to be told by someone else. Secondly, they want to consider options or different forms of “what to do” not precisely or at least not yet “how to do it”. They need the information to be in short, logical, and sequential order (steps 1, 2, and 3), not in a long story-like format. Their goal is to avoid or move away from something negative instead of moving towards a positive result. Highly effective influencers pull others towards their vision by sparking the motivation that energizes them towards what matters most to them while fulfilling the strategic business or leadership goals. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Ira Correia, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ira is the Founder of Evolucentric, a Coaching, Consulting, Training & Development start-up based in Singapore, with the mission to Empower Mindsets, Develop Skillsets, Revamp Strategies & Tools for Personal, Financial & Business Success. She is passionately driven by the belief that our lives are meant to reflect the highest expression of ourselves. Ira is an Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor & Financial Trader. She is an ICF Accredited NLP Master Practioner, Professional Member of The Association of NLP and The Association for Coaching. She holds degrees in Neuropsychology, Finance & a Master’s Degree in International Management.

Moniek James is a Master Content Strategist, veteran, military spouse, speaker, author, columnist, and online entrepreneur. Her passion is teaching purpose-driven business and brand owners how to leverage strategic content marketing to build awareness, establish credibility and create their profitable digital footprints. Moniek has been featured in the Huffington Post, Fit Small Business, VoyagePhoenix, and the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs and believes that entrepreneurship is a building block to economic empowerment. Entrepreneur, Moniek James Who is Moniek? I’m an Army veteran, serial online business owner. I also own The Confetti Collective, a confidence coaching brand, military spouse, mom, voracious reader and I like to say that I’m based on the internet because that’s where my business actually “lives”. I never had any plans to become an entrepreneur, but after being denied a raise at the only job I had after leaving the military, I start a side business and haven’t looked back since. What is it that you do for your clients? I’m a Content Strategist, so I work with business and brand owners on clarifying their message and creating their content marketing plans so they can build awareness, establish credibility, and get paid. I work one-on-one with clients, host workshops, and offer done-for-you services where my team and I create and publish social media content. Who should hire/work with you? The fundamentals of content development are the same regardless of industry, but I work with online service-based business owners primarily. What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? My big goal is to change the narrative around content marketing to learn more on the strategy piece and place less emphasis on the creative. I think that online business owners focus a lot on being creative without really being clear on why they’re investing resources into getting attention. In my opinion, a defined strategy is an essential ingredient because it will guide the marketing activities on any platform. What is your biggest tip for business or brand owner who wants to step their game up with their content marketing? My biggest content marketing tip is to get clear: who your intended customer is and why your offer would matter to them. In the online space, there is a war for attention; if business and brand owners aren’t able to first capture attention, they won’t be able to make their offers. And they’ll have to know what to say in their marketing messages in order to attract the people they’ll want to sell to. I believe that content marketing creates a competitive advantage for the business and brand owners who choose to invest in it, instead of hiring talent to represent their business, they have the opportunity to connect with their audience in an authentic way through the content they create. For mindset, marketing, and business ownership tips, connect with Moniek on Instagram or her website! Read more from Moniek!

Holly Jackson is a certified Holistic Business Coach. Through Holistic Business Coaching, Holly helps holistic entrepreneurs and business owners start, build or scale their business without burning out. Holly’s clients learn how to cope with stress, define their life priorities, and rediscover their passion for business. She helps them see blind spots that often cost them exposure, clients, and income. Having undertaken a thriving career as an executive in Silicon Valley, Holly chose the road less traveled. She decided to leave the corporate world. She has dedicated her life to helping individuals design the life and business of their dreams. For over 12 years, Holly has provided insights, strategies, and fresh perspectives across multiple industries. Holly states, “My clients can expect accountability, growth, and an individualized step-by-step game plan for success. I believe every professional must develop their internal compass and decide what their legacy will be. Holistic coaching goes beyond helping your business and helps the whole person.” Leading Female Holistic Business Coach To Help You Scale, Holly Jackson As the host of the Inspiration Contagion podcast, Holly seeks to inspire millions of business owners and individuals to live the life of their dreams. Holly is in the process of writing her first of three books based on Inspiration Contagion. The first being focused on health. Holly Jackson, you were recently named one of the top 5 female business coaches to scale your business in 2021. What’s your mission and driving force behind what you do? My mission is to help as many individuals start and scale their businesses to reach millions of individuals who need their holistic approach to life. I am deeply passionate about serving the whole person. Not just glossing over problems or symptoms. Rather, help people take responsibility for their healing. Empower them to take the reins of their life and thrive. Reach their greatest potential. The best way I can help most people in the world is by helping business owners thrive. Help these holistic business owners scale their business so that they can serve even more people. Given my own personal journey and continuous struggles with health, I feel it’s my personal mission to help others avoid the mistakes and missteps I made. I have walked the path of struggle, anxiety, stress, and chronic pain. I have worked with numerous health professionals who did not have the answers. I know that real healing happens when we take full responsibility for our health. And that includes finding a team of holistic healers that work to help you with your health challenges. A holistic team that helps you bust through any blockers in your way. A team that helps you break through any mental walls or ceilings you have placed on yourself. I believe that our world will thrive when we each take ownership of our lives. When we each achieve our personal potential, then we can find better solutions. Better collaborations. New inventions. New healing lifestyles. And so much more. I am here to help inspire the holistic healers of the world. To empower them to do what they are so great at healing. Your title says Holistic Business Coach. What does that mean? How is a “holistic” business coach different from a regular business coach? And how does one know if they are a “holistic” business? A holistic business coach serves the whole business owner. It means I can not only help my clients with their business challenges. I go beyond that. I help them optimize their personal health. We dig into their life values, priorities, and the legacy they wish to leave behind. I designed the My Life and Business Compass to help my clients stay on track. When they get stuck, we identify and bust through limiting habits, thoughts, beliefs, or identity challenges. As a certified health coach, life coach,, and transformational method coach I bring value to my clients in a way other business coaches cannot. Often when my clients are doing all the right things tactically and yet not experiencing the outcomes we would expect, it means there is something emotional, spiritual, or physical that we need to push past. I have the tools to help them bust through any blockers they have. Holistic businesses are serving the whole person. They are helping heal people in non-traditional ways. They are providing healing solutions outside of the traditional medical system. Here are some examples of holistic businesses: A chiropractor who works with individuals to heal emotional blockers inside the body showing up in physical form. A doctor who also works with homeopathic medicines and herbal remedies. A counselor who works with energy. An acupuncturist who helps heal past traumas. If your business’ mission is to help heal the individual by getting to the root cause of their pain or illness, then you are a holistic business owner. If you are in the business of really trying to understand and get to really know your patients/clients in order to help them heal on a deeper level, then you are a holistic business owner. At the core of the holistic business is whole healing. We are healing the whole person. Looking at their whole life. When you speak with lots of holistic business owners and entrepreneurs, is there a common challenge many of them face? How are you helping them face this challenge? The biggest challenge I see with holistic business owners is that they struggle with how to market their services. They feel bad about marketing and selling their services. They feel guilty for charging their worth or the real value of their services. Or they simply don’t know how to communicate what it is that they do to the general public. They know that what they do works, and yet they struggle. They feel a great deal of guilt and resistance around marketing and sales. They don’t know how to price their services. They are incredibly talented at healing, but they don’t have the business savvy needed to share their story, market their services, and build a business foundation that works. And without a firm business foundation, you cannot scale. Without marketing and sales, you have a hobby, not a business. I help my clients build firm business foundations. Together we build a roadmap for launching and scaling their business—step by step. We set up the right business tools, technologies, systems, and processes for where they are in their business today. And we build the plan to get them to their next vision of growth. I help my clients identify the best strategies for building a sustainable business. I help my clients get past the fear of sharing their stories. Past the fear of marketing. Past the fear of having the sales conversation. I help them redefine their relationship and mindset around marketing and sales. After working together, my clients have the confidence and system to have successful sales conversations that feel great. They walk away knowing they served their potential client. Satisfied that they are doing what they were meant to do. Grateful that they are serving people who need their services for healing. You talk a lot about fear and the importance of facing our fears in your talks, podcast interviews, and when you speak. What’s so important about this, and how do you help your clients overcome their fears? Fear is the number one reason people are failing in life. And failing in their business. Fear is what keeps us stuck. It keeps us small. It keeps us from telling our story. It keeps us from growing and changing. Fear is what stops us from making the changes we need the most to thrive in life. Fear is its place. Yes, listen to your fears because sometimes they are valid. But do not let fear take the steering wheel. Fear should never be in charge of your life. It is only a spectator providing you with the occasional relevant warning. Honestly, most of the key decisions in my life where I know I am on track are the ones where I am 50% excited and 50% terrified. The sweet spot is to be equally excited and equally scared. That’s the edge I am always looking for because it means I am growing. It means I am ALIVE! A lot of what I help my clients with is around managing their fears. Many of the challenges my clients have around marketing and sales are 100% related to their fears. They are afraid of how they will be seen, what people will think of them. They are afraid they might fail. The reality is as a business owner, you can’t win without failing. There are always failures along the way. It’s about reframing our failures. It’s about learning from our mistakes. It’s about growing and pivoting as you make missteps. This is where I help my clients around their fears. We identify their fears, and I provide them with tools to push through them. And I offer the support and cheerleading they need to thrive. People would love to hear more about your journey. What are your top 3 pointers for people who want to scale their business in the holistic space? This is such a great question. It’s hard to narrow it down to three. 1. Get Started Today What are you waiting for? Life is way too short to wait another second. I encourage you to get started today even if you don’t have all the answers, even if you are working full time. If you are already in business, what’s keeping you from setting that next stretch goal? Set it, speak it, commit to it and build a plan to make it a reality. Take one small step towards building the business and life of your dreams. Tell those around you what you want to build. Learn what you need to learn to make it happen. 2. Get a Coach If you don’t want to waste time and want to stay on track, get a coach and a mentor. I can’t tell you how much time many of my clients have wasted waiting to work with a coach. It’s one thing to take your time and find the right coach. It’s another entirely to not seek one. Having a coach helps you see your blind spots. They keep you on track. They cheer you on when you hit a speedbump. They give you a kick in the butt when you are way off track. And when you are looking to hire a coach, ask them who their coach is. If they don’t have at least one coach, keep looking. You want to work with a coach who is also committed to continuous growth. 3. Invest in Marketing If you aren’t marketing your business, you aren’t growing. Stop shying away from sharing your story. If you’re afraid of walking onto that stage, get a speaking coach. Push past your fears. There are way too many people out there who need to hear your story. If you’re afraid to go live on video, practice. Get past it. Do it. Whatever your fear around marketing is, get over it. Push past it. Your clients are waiting for you. Instead of blaming the medium, simply focus on the message. Focus on who you want to serve. Make sure you are investing at least 7% of your earnings back into marketing to grow your business. Way too many business owners build it and expect people to magically show up. Without marketing, no one knows you or your services exist. Get the word out there. They are waiting for you. So, what’s the next big goal or project for your business? My next BIG stretch goal is a shared goal with my two co-hosts, Matt Rouse and D. Smith Scott, on the Business Builder Throwdown. We have a stretch goal of serving over 2,000 holistic business owners within the next year. We want to help these business owners build the best marketing and growth strategies for their businesses. We also have a massive stretch goal of building one of the biggest and best marketing networking channels worldwide over the next 5-10 years for small business owners. If you want to learn more and tune into the business channel of the future, be sure to subscribe and watch live! [FREE GIFT] If you would like to get clarity on what’s next for you in your business scaling journey, please visit https://coachhollyjackson.activehosted.com/f/14 for your complimentary copy of the Business Visualization Audio. For more information, follow Holly on her website, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook!

Written by: Manoj Gopalani, 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 term strength can be interpreted in many ways. A general definition for our purpose would be a skill which a person has and is above average on the same. Let’s illustrate it with an example: Let’s assume Ravi is good at running and can run 100 meters in 15 seconds while most students in his age group can only do it in 18 seconds or so. So, he is in the top 10% – 15% of the group. While in high jump he can only do 4 feet and so is in the bottom 40% of the students in his group. Given the example above what would we term as Ravi’s strength? But obviously, he is a more gifted runner than a high jumper. Now imagine you are heading to a university where Ravi has applied and you have a position open under the Runner quota and also under the High Jumper quota. Given the choice under which quota you would allocate the seat to Ravi? Ravi should be allocated the seat under the Runner quota as his potential to excel would be higher for running. So, while Ravi has a talent for both running and high jumping, because he has a natural inclination to running and is performing better in running his major strength would be running and his lesser strength would be high jumping. Now if Ravi invests time in training his major strength could blossom to be able to beat the world record or maybe get close enough to challenge the same. Although we generally speak in terms of strength and weakness, I would avoid the term weakness and use the term lesser strength. But can strength be a weakness as well? When done to an extreme strength can have its own challenges. If a person is very focused on the 100-meter run which requires them to expend maximum energy in a short span of time and they use the same principle for a marathon, they will not be able to complete the race. Let me take a mindset example. Let’s assume that I am a very cordial kind of person and would like to include everyone before I take a decision. So, I keep on seeking inputs from every person so that I can make them feel included. Well, if it is a small team size, it might work – but if the team size is 100 or 500, how will that work? A decision needs to be made but since I am a person who cares about input from all – I am not ready to make the decision. So being inclusive is a good strength but when taken to an extreme it backfires. The key in all this is to leverage your strength while doing a balancing act keeping the GOALS in mind. Coach Manoj coachmanojkg@gmail.com The solution for your problem is within yourself. A coach helps you to identify the solutions. Invest in yourself now. Connect to start your journey. Follow Coach Manoj on Instagram, Linkedin and visit his website. Manoj Gopalani, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Manoj - is a Life coach by passion and IT/Management professional by design. He is an accomplished leader who has been coaching individuals to unleash their potential. Individuals who have been coached by him have grown multiple folds in various aspects of life. His coaching style reflects his varied experience and exposure which include Design Thinking from MIT Sloan, Gallup Strength-Based Coaching, his spiritual upbringing, Graphology, Reiki, and so on. His Mission states, "We all are one big family to help each other on our journey of life."

Written by: Viloshni Moodley, 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 most beautiful gift given to humans and least spoken about. Ever ask yourself why? Why is sex made out to be dirty? Why do people have shame about sex, yet they are doing it? Sex is not only for procreation. Sex is the glue to a relationship. It’s what keeps the connection between lovers strong and the bond, which brings on familiarity, security, and comfort, amongst other benefits. We are inhibited by a combination of reasons, not allowing us to fully lavish the moments of physical, sexual intimacy with our partners. So, where does this shame come from? Shame is defined as “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.” This feeling is evoked from the sex-negative messaging received through childhood to becoming an adult. Shame originates from our moral beliefs. This is how we distinguish between what is good and bad or right from wrong. Family, School, Church, Magazines, Television, Peers are some of the factors that influence our sexuality and specifically the sexual shame we carry. Sex Negative Messages have been fed to us for the longest time, as we started sexual development as young kids. Children aged between 3 and 5 years old, normally start to experience the feeling of sexual self-discovery with their genitalia and tend to be in comparison with parents and friends. During this sexual self-discovery, parents or caregivers stop the little ones from touching their genitalia. In turn, this is the beginning of the negative conditioning in our little minds that it is a shameful act and considered dirty behavior. Not Feeling Body Confident starts at puberty, and one becomes more conscious of their outward appearance. Many can’t come to terms with the changes as no one tells them what to expect and this is something that needs to be dealt with alone. Individuals have difficulty accepting the new form & shape the body is being molded into, preparing itself for reproduction. These insecurities remain as we become sexually active, removing the focus from the experience of the moment to the hang-ups we feel about our bodies. Understanding your Body takes accepting that your body parts collectively have a greater part to play in helping you fully function in a normal healthy way to exist every day. We cannot expect our bodies to look like what social media & reality stars falsely represent. We need to practice gratitude for our bodies and embrace beauty with no body shaming. This helps us to focus our attention on being present in the moment when being sexually intimate with our partner. No communication between partners can lead to unsatisfactory sex. If you are not telling each other what turns you on and what you don’t like, then you more than likely are engaging to please your partner only. Asking and respecting are key components in any relationship, and the reality is we all have boundaries. Clearly communicated healthy boundaries bring couples together, understanding they can talk without fear of unfair judgment. Sexual fantasies are usually just a fantasy and remain that. Most sexual fantasies require a partner to be carried out, so what better way to share with your partner and unlock a steamy bedroom environment & satisfy a desire with someone you care about. When you do that, you create memories and a much stronger bond with your partner, which leads to a fulfilled relationship. Ever heard that the brain is the most erotic organ? Well, believe it. It starts between the ears and not the legs. Feed yourself with positive thoughts and work on the inhibitions to allow you to overcome the negative conditioning that is holding you back and distracting you from taking the physical, sexual intimate connection in your relationship to a connected state. Relationships provide overall wellbeing and mental wellness, all the reason to do so. For more information, follow me on Facebook , Instagram and visit my website ! Read more from Viloshni! Viloshni Moodley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Viloshni Moodley is an accredited Sexpert practicing as an Online Intimacy Coach. She is the founder and owner of Ultimacy Online, since leaving her over 25 years of management experience within Corporate. Her passion for empowering individuals with positive sex education and breaking the cycle of negative conditioning has influenced her change in her career path. She believes relationships are the most important factor to overall well-being and is thus passionate about making a change to ensure people have more fulfilling relationships. Having a happy, healthy relationship provides balance in individuals and couples. Her work specializes in coaching individuals or couples who wish to achieve certain goals in the bedroom and short courses in different areas of sexuality.

Written by: Jeanne Agius, 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. From time to time, each of us will find ourselves in a rut of boredom and disinterest. We seem to lose our spark for life and feel tired, irritable, and unmotivated. We want to hide under the covers rather than face the day. Perhaps you're feeling overwhelmed by work, or sad about the pain and suffering in the world, or just bored with the routine of your daily life. You are not alone. We all go through periods like this at some point. The good news is that we can do something about it. Here are some tips to help break out of the rut and feel excited about life again: Take a "Time Out" Prolonged stress can wear us down and zap any enthusiasm we once had. Before doing anything else, take a few minutes to breathe and BE. Empty your mind of all stress and worry. This takes practice, but don't give up! As thoughts come into your mind, gently push them back out and continue to keep your mind empty and calm. Take slow, deep breaths and let all of your muscles relax. Sit quietly and recharge your batteries. Try to do this daily, or even twice daily (morning and night). We need quiet time as much as we need anything else in life. Give yourself the gift of inner peace. Get Inspired Read something motivational, inspirational, or uplifting. Look at some beautiful nature photos, or read something humorous. Consciously move your thoughts to a more positive place. Focusing on nothing but work and our daily tasks in life can leave us feeling pretty uninspired. It's easy to turn it around if we want to. We have to seek out things that will lift our spirits and our moods. Make it a point to laugh, be happy, joyful, and lighthearted each day. Please don't wait for inspiration to come knocking on your door; go out and find it, or create it. Conjure up some funny or touching memories. Write them in a journal so you can go back and read them when you're feeling down. Get Excited Think about the things you have planned for the day, and rekindle the enthusiasm you once felt for them. When we first begin a new project or start a new job, we are excited about the possibilities and eager to get moving! Over time, we can lose that enthusiasm for a variety of reasons. Travel back in time for a moment, and think about what got you so excited initially. What made your heartbeat a little faster? Recapture that feeling and hang onto it! Even if your tasks aren't anything to be enthusiastic about, at least think of some positive benefits to doing them. For example, list how they will benefit your children, your spouse, yourself, your job, or your home. Identify the payoff, and focus on that. Even mundane tasks have some benefits. Sometimes it's just a matter of switching our mindset to see the positive side. Baby Steps: Sometimes, the hardest part is getting started. A project seems so monstrous that we cringe at the thought of all that time and energy we'll have to expend. Instead of overwhelming yourself, start small. Set a timer for 15 minutes and start working on it. Allow yourself to stop after 15 minutes if you want to. But most often, once we start working on something, we won't want to stop. Don't focus on the big picture; look at the more minor details and take them on one at a time. Any enormous task seems manageable once we break it down into smaller steps. Care of the Body Sometimes, our feelings of fatigue are caused by physical deficiencies, not mental. Be sure you are getting enough rest, eating food that nourishes your body, drinking enough water, getting enough exercise, etc. Especially when we're swamped, we tend to grab the quickest, most easiest meals, which aren't always the best choice for our bodies. Eating a lot of highly processed foods and sugar is like putting watered-down gasoline into our cars. For our cars to run smoothly, we need to maintain them properly, and so it is with our bodies also. Remember, the body is the vehicle for the mind and soul! Reward Yourself Finally, remember to reward yourself from time to time, and be gentle with yourself! There will always be things that "need" to be done. But some of us take on way more than we can handle, and our lives turn into a pit of struggle because of it. Try to eliminate the things that truly don't bring you joy, or at least minimize the time you spend on them. Do what you can, and let the rest go. Or ask for help. Don't feel you have to do everything yourself. Remember that motivation, just like happiness, is something we CHOOSE. We may need to give ourselves a little push initially, but once we get into the right mindset, it's simple to stay there if we choose to. Follow me on Face book , Instagram , Linkedin , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jeanne! Jeanne Agius, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jeanne Agius is a former Corporate Escapee of 15+ years turned founder of Self-Care Journey Holistic Wellness. She is known for being every woman's Self-Care Coach and is currently an Executive Contributor for a digital global magazine as a Holistic Lifestyle and Self-Care Coach. Since becoming a mom of two and being the co-creator of her dream life with her husband, she has been a frequent speaker on guiding women, especially moms, to prioritize themselves with holistic self-care practices without feeling guilt, despite the many hats they wear. She has also been featured in a number of publications such as Yahoo Finance as one of the Top 20 Female Entrepreneurs, Top 20 Female Entrepreneurs to look out for in The Digital Journal, Authority, Medium, and Brainz Magazine. Jeanne is a 2021 honoree of the CREA Global Awards for top entrepreneurs, influential leads, and innovators who have been recognized for their accomplishments in the areas of mental health. With decades of experience in the fitness industry and several certifications in holistic health and wellness, life and success, and as a NLP, EFT, and hypnotherapy practitioner, she has been fortunate to help hundreds of women worldwide to create sustainable, balanced, and healthy lifestyles by using self-care as their superpower to look and feel their best. She has built thriving programs teaching do-it-all-woman how to build a strong body, confident mind, and healthy lifestyles so they can reignite their inner spark and reclaim their time, energy, and joy!