Written by: Linda Flynn, 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. Failure, I believe, is something that many of us can carry shame around for many years, I remember so well that day I got my final exam results, knowing that I failed my exams and the shame that I felt around it all. I kept the details to myself and lied about it. From a very young age, I just never “got” school. What if instead, we are encouraged to fail on a daily basis? This is something that I heard about from Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX’s when she was interviewed by Tony Robbins. Each day, Sara would come home from school as a young girl and her father would ask her, “What did you fail at today?” So for her, failure was something that she would feel excited about. She would run home and tell her Dad, Hey, I tried this today and I was awful at it! How amazing is that? Imagine that confidence that this instilled in her from a young age! 1. The “blindspot” Admit that I have a “blindspot”! We all have them, right!? When I had my first business back in 2016, I felt a lot of shame because that business did not work out, and while I take all the life lessons from it, I have neglected to acknowledge that some of that fear is still in my body, and maybe holding me back now. I was so “full of beans” that I was going around in circles, taking on clients and working with people because I was starting out, eager to please and, of course, needing the money! This basically leads me to have no boundaries in place, or lots of the time, I would end up listening and guiding clients around their “personal lives” I was a Virtual Assistant! 2. Ask for help! This is something that I still need to remind myself that it is ok to do! What I have found from working for myself is, that anyone who is self-employed\entrepreneur, for the most part, is happy to help you out, especially for those who are starting out! So don’t be afraid to reach out to others for support, to collaborate, etc. The worst that can happen is that they will say no! every day is a learning day for me, and I love helping others and often ask others for help and guidance, including my audience! 3. Take a step back! We can get so bogged down with working in our business that we don’t take that time out of our business. This is crucial. Do you have a clear vision for your business? Where do you want it to go? What does your ideal day look like? Many people leave their 9-5 job to have more “freedom,” only to realize that they are working all hours of the day and night! Get super clear of what exactly it is that you want! 4. Stay true to your purpose and you're why! Why do you want to make this change? If you are trying to build a business, lose weight or make any change in your life, always bring it back to your Why. 5. Trust your Gut Feeling I talk about this a lot, and for many years didn’t listen to mine, that little voice in your head, the feeling in the pit of your stomach, listen to it, it won’t lead you down the wrong path! Love and laughter, Linda. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Linda Flynn, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Linda is a Personal Empowerment and Confidence Coach. She is a certified life coach and NLP Practitioner. Linda works with Female Entrepreneurs & CEO's helping them overcome their limiting beliefs, leaving behind imposture syndrome increasing their self-confidence so that they can step into their true power and potential.

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. Without wishing to state the obvious, but the world has become exceedingly stressful over the past few years. We can see that human beings have seen more change in the last 200 years, compared to thousands of years previously. Everything is moving so much quicker. If I look back at my lifetime, I would not have believed you if you had said that I would be able to carry a video camera, a tape-recorded, a phone, a word processor, a music production suite, and so many other features that a mobile phone can store, around with me every day. I would simply think that would be something you see in a science fiction episode of Star Trek. But here it is. Very real and very concurrent with our modern lives. There is no doubt about human beings’ adaptability through the thousands of years on planet earth. If we did not have this ability, we would not have been able to survive. In fact, we are still not sure how our body works when going down to the quantum level. Our gut biome, for instance, is a marvel. It is made up of bacteria and viruses that are not even us, but we need them to survive in our current environment. Our immune system is also not fully understood, as we have a T1 and T2 response which has so many other factors to consider when trying to figure out how it all works. In fact, I would say that our system is absolutely incredible at adapting. But what about our minds? How are our minds coping with this new speed of living? How are our minds adapting to being more productive in a stressful world? Unfortunately, with some people, the mind is not coping very well at all. What can we do to help the mind cope with this new stress? Take longer vacations? Have more leisure time? Shorten work hours? Maybe this would help. But to me, it is like offering a sticking plaster to sew up open-heart surgery. The problem is not healed. You are just dealing with the symptoms. Of course, most people would want longer holidays, more leisure time, or even shorter work hours. What if there was a way to actually be more productive and therefore relieving stress and anxiety from your everyday work life. There is. And the answer is inside of you. I want to share a story I have included in one of my online courses that can help you see what needs to be done to achieve the state I am talking about. The state that will help you be more productive while alleviating the stress of it all. There is a woodcutter who used to work really hard. He was continually chopping wood as hard as he could and never really rested while he was working. He was really proud of his work ethic and had been with the company for many years. He was a respected member of the team. Business was good, and the company bosses wanted the company to grow, so they hired another woodcutter. After about 6 months, the new woodcutter produced twice as much as the original woodcutter, so the company gave him a raise. This infuriated the original woodcutter, who went straight to his bosses and complained. They told the original woodcutter that if his production increased, like the new woodcutter, then he would be given a raise in salary. The original woodcutter went back to his work and tried even harder, but he could not get his production any higher. He wondered how the new woodcutter was so much more productive than him. The original woodcutter went to the other side of the wood to see how he was twice as productive as him. He asked the new woodcutter how he worked. The new woodcutter said after every tree he cut down and the all-wood chopped into manageable sizes, he would sit down and do some deep breathing to relax and prepare his body for the next tree. While he was doing this, he would be sharpening his axe to make his blows more effective. This would speed up the time it took to cut the tree down and prepare the wood afterward. The new woodcutter was using his rest time to be stronger for the next task and sharpening his axe also to make the cutting as effective as it can be. The original woodcutter could see that he was not using his energy effectively and had to change. That is what we are doing when we stay in the fight or flight mode of our autonomic nervous system. We are not using our bodies effectively, as we are stressed, anxious, and even angry. In saying all of this, some stress can be a good thing. And I mean some stress. This can inspire you to get on with what you need to get on with. What we are doing on this course is give you the tools to recognize what is real stress and what is perceived stress. Also, how we can use some stress to inspire us to work through certain situations and achieve the goals, we wish to achieve, with everyone being a winner in the situation. We call it Hong Ik in the practice I teach. It is a Korean terminology that simply means what is good for me is good for you too. In the story, we see that the new woodcutter has no stress. He breathes deeply to take his body into a parasympathetic nervous state before working and makes sure everything is ready before he starts his task of chopping down the tree and chopping up the wood to manageable sizes. He was using meditation and mindfulness to help him work without stress and anxiety and still be the most productive worker in the company. Force is good in small doses but not as effective as power. When we use our full power or potential, we are very productive. Being tired, stressed out, and unprepared will make our workflow and creativity be that much harder to achieve. Being mindful, seeing everything that has to be done, and preparing ourselves both physically and mentally for that task, is so much more effective. Learning to make your mind more adaptable is one of the keys to a productive and joyful life. If you would like to know more about the courses I am offering, please visit my website, which is www.peterpaulparker.co.uk . 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: Nancy Hovde , 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. Have you ever felt hesitant about which options or opportunities to choose within your life or career? Maybe you have wanted to create a positive change but lacked enough courage to follow through with a successful plan of action, let alone to even get started. Why is it so challenging to finally choose to get started and follow through with creating a positive change? Most of us have experienced, at some point, hesitating to move forward with a new opportunity or goal. Even the positive changes we want to make, such as a new wellness plan or career goal, often something has to change in our life for us to succeed. Being aware of what will have to change can empower us to make the right choices and to have the courage to go for what we want. Self-empowerment helps support you best when you know your true core values. The long-term change will require connecting with your deepest values because your core values help provide guidance when making your choices. Additionally, knowing and holding a meaningful purpose will help you stay on track, no matter what obstacles may pop up. Being in alignment with who you truly helps you make the right choices and creating a strong reason to remind yourself why you want to make a change. Ask yourself what you want more of in your life? Then ask yourself, what is it you are trying to avoid having in your life? Reminding yourself what you don't want can be a strong motivator in keeping you aligned with your commitment. Then, focus on what you do want to see in your life and how you will feel about having this new change in your life. It is helpful to reflect on what could really be holding us back. Why? Because even positive change can be uncomfortable when it means we will be leaving behind the familiar, predictable, and choosing to step into the unknown. Generally, it is fear, and if we let it, fear will paralyze us. How does fear keep us stuck? Ask yourself what is it you fear the most? Would you be giving up a comfortable lifestyle? Do you feel you would be struggling financially? Maybe you are afraid to fail? It could be a combination of a few or all of these. Because fear often comes from the limiting beliefs we hold, we need to become aware of any limiting thoughts. Replace any negative words and phrases with positive words and phrases. For example, stop telling yourself, “I’ll never finish this project in time.” That is a real downer! Focus instead on “I have worked on challenging projects before, and I know I can complete this project, on time, one step at a time.” This will help calm you, regain your focus on the task at hand. You will feel more confident, too. Once we’ve become aware of limited beliefs holding us back from becoming our full potential, we can let them go by replacing them with new beliefs that better support us and our new goals. Completing this process will open up more room within us to shift any fear into courage. Since fear holds such enormous energy, we can also tune into that energy and shift it into an incredible force that compels us into courage plus action. When we have created new supportive beliefs, we have a more empowering mindset to help us move forward with that positive change we’ve wanted to make. Think about it, that change you’ve been thinking of making, it feels so right, yet you are aware of the nervous feeling or some hesitancy. Sometimes connecting with someone who can provide positive support, guidance, encouragement, and accountability, such as a Life Empowerment Coach, can help provide clarity about the successful, positive change you wish to make. Life presents us with endless opportunities , and we can embrace change with a positive perspective. Sometimes adjustments to life changes are in order and will require reflection for some creative solutions. Through coaching sessions, my clients come to realize that true change can happen. Together, we work with developing a positive mindset, examining core values & discovering what obstacles may be holding them back from living their life to its fullest potential. Would you like to make a life-changing choice for the best? Choose courage and keep telling yourself all the reasons why you can succeed! Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Nancy! Nancy Hovde, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nancy is a leading Life Empowerment Coach who has combined her professional background, credentials, personal experience, knowledge, and insight to inspire and motivate those who wish to create positive change. For over 15 years, she has empowered clients who desire positive change with career/life purpose, personal growth, or wellness goals. Nancy will help you discover how true change can happen when we use our time and resources to develop our minds and spirits, examine our values, and let go of issues that hold us back. She inspires and guides clients to live their optimal life through her books, blog posts, articles, and coaching services. Nancy is the author of Uber Empowerment and Uber Empowerment Quotes: 500 Inspirational Quotes for Knowledge, Insight & Wisdom. Her credentials include Certified Life Coach, B.A. Interpersonal Communication, Stress Management Specialist, Behavior Change Specialist, and Certified Personal Trainer.

Written by: Roxy Rapedius, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. There is a specific mental action you can make in a heartbeat that will solve enormous problems for you. It has the ability to enhance almost any personal or business situation you will ever encounter, and it could thrust you to incredible success. The name for this mental action is called decision. Decisions dominate your whole life. The health of your mind and body, the wellbeing of your family, your social life, the type of relationships you develop depend upon your ability to make sound decisions. Regrettably, decision-making is not taught in school and is rarely part of corporate training and programs. So how is one expected to develop this mental competency? Honestly, it is something you do on your own or with help. It is not hard to learn how to make wise decisions. Equipped with fitting confidence and discipline, you can become an effective decision-maker. You can essentially eradicate struggle and turmoil in your life by becoming accomplished at making decisions. Decision-making brings clarity and creates the results you want. Indecision builds up internal conflicts causing full-blown mental and emotional wars. Psychiatrists have named this “ambivalence.” Indecision causes disintegration. Consistently finding yourself in such a mental state is not living; it's simply existing. Making quick decisions would change everything. Indecision is a secondary cause of ambivalence. The primary cause is low self-esteem or a lack of confidence. Decision-makers are not afraid of making an error, they simply brush it off. They learn from the experience and never submit to failure. Decision-making is something you cannot avoid. The foundation of decision-making is quite simple. Decide right where you are with whatever you have. Many people never master this important feature of life. They allow their resources to dictate how and when a decision can be made. Once you make the decision, you will find all the people, resources, and ideas you need coming to you to accomplish what you want. Many will say it’s ludicrous deciding to do something without the necessary resources. My friend, this is an extremely limiting mindset on how to accomplish things in life. Thinking is very imperative. We become what we think about. What do you think about? We all must realize that our thoughts ultimately control every decision we make. You are your thoughts. Refuse to let unhappy, negative people or circumstances affect you. The biggest barrier when making important decisions in your life is the circumstance. We let circumstances hinder us when we should be giving it everything we’ve got. More dreams are shattered and goals lost because of circumstances. How often do you say, “I would like to do or have this, but I can’t because…” What follows “because” is the circumstance. Circumstances may cause a deviation in your life; however, you should never permit them to stop you from making important decisions. You simply pivot and do something else! Many people try something once or twice, and if they do not succeed, they feel they are a failure. Failing does not make anyone a failure, but quitting certainly does, and quitting is a decision. Take the first step in predicting your abundant future. Build a mental picture of exactly what you want and freeze-frame it. Make a firm decision, hold on to the vision, live with enthusiasm, refuse to worry about how your vision will happen, do not let anyone pull you into negative conversations about why something cannot be done. Positive ways will begin to flow into your mind. You have the potential to do anything you want and to do it well. Start today! There is no time better than the present. Be all that you are capable of being. Follow Roxy on her Facebook and Instagram. You can also visit her website for more info! Read more from Roxy! Roxy Rapedius, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Roxy Rapedius’ decades of professional experience include progressively increasing responsibility and measurable positive results. Roxy has built significant and unique skills through these roles. She has experience in life coaching, public speaking, training, teaching, behavioral analysis, addiction, trauma, mental health, palliative support, grief and bereavement support, opioid dependency treatment, finance, insurance, event planning, financial planning, environmental development, immigration, dental, and banking. As CEO and Coach of Life Coach With Roxy, she approaches her work and life as an established leader who gets results. Roxy has a curiosity and keen desire to expand her knowledge and acumen to reach greater heights in serving others as a leader in business and life.

Written by: Mags Thomson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Sometimes when you sit down to write a beautiful blog post, or maybe even your own book, you can’t seem to get the cursor moving. It blinks blinks blinks at you and possibly drives you to despair. I have pulled 10 of my absolute favorite writer’s blockbusters, right from the House of Hives Author Portal! These will definitely get you back in the flow of things and stop the blinking cursor from affecting your health and happiness. 1. Get Into The Habit Of Writing Set yourself the challenge to write a little every day. Not on your project necessarily, but just write something. Start journaling every morning or evening, depending on your preference. Or commit to writing a gratitude list every evening before going to bed. Just make putting words on paper part of your daily routine somehow. 2. Take Notes Get into the habit of carrying a notebook around with you, or install a note-taking app like Evernote onto your phone. That way, when you have an idea or see something that inspires you, you can take note of it. This will then allow you to refer back to the thought when you get to your desk to write. 3. Read Something Are you finding it hard to write, then start by reading. Enjoying the story of another author can give you just that spark you need to get the words onto paper for yourself. Make sure to read something in the genre and language that you want to write in so you get yourself in the right headspace. 4. Braindump Grab a pen and paper and set a timer to 20 minutes. Use that time to just write down any thought, idea, or stoke of inspiration you feel. Don’t think about it and where it would fit into your story or book, or blog idea; just get the ideas out. You can sort through these later. 5. Just Say The Word Sometimes it helps to talk instead of write. Grab your phone and start recording your voice. Whether this just helps you organize your thoughts, or you have the file transcribed later (rev.com is a great service for that), it may just get your juices flowing again. 6. Set Time Aside, And Do It Sometimes it helps to be a bit firm with yourself. Plan some time when you are going to write, and then just do it. Start with 30 minutes or an hour, and see how you get on. Stop thinking about how good it is or whether it’s exactly right. Just get some words on paper. 7. Get Those Creative Juices Flowing Sometimes we get so caught up in what we’re trying to produce that we completely shut down our creative thinking. Get those juices flowing again by being creative in other areas. Start drawing or painting, make some music, or cook something new and challenging. Do you have kids? Get them involved. They are usually creative geniuses! 8. Create The Right Space In order to get writing, create a good space to write in. Make yourself a cup of tea, if you like that. Clear your desk of distractions. Play some music, if that’s how you like to work. Just make sure you can work in a space that feels relaxed and supportive to you. 9. Get Moving Dance through the house, go for a run or a walk. Just get your body moving in a way that feels enjoyable and comfortable for you. Getting out of your head and into your body. 10. Write About Your Writer’s Block If all else fails, write about this feeling of being blocked. What are you feeling and why? What is holding you back? Sometimes writing this out and acknowledging your feelings can be just the thing to get you back to yourself. Are you ready to tap into your most unique selling point? I help heart-centered entrepreneurs like yourself cut through the noise and overwhelm of social media by tapping into their most unique selling point, their personal stories. By working on collaborative publications together with like-minded entrepreneurs and with the support of my team and me, you will create authentic quality connections to new audiences. I’ll help you move through the writing process with ease, support you with limiting beliefs around visibility, and empower you to fully develop your voice of credibility, establish yourself as the go-to authority in your field and grow your business exponentially. Find out more on https://www.houseofhives.com/. Follow Mags on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn! Read more from Mags! Mags Thomson, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine Mags helps heart-centred entrepreneurs like yourself, cut through the noise and overwhelm of social media by tapping into their most unique selling point, their personal story. By working on collaborative publications together with like-minded entrepreneurs and with the support of Mags and her team, you will create authentic quality connections to new audiences. Mags will help you move through the writing process with ease, support you with limiting beliefs around visibility and empower you to fully develop your voice of credibility, establish yourself as the go-to authority in your field and grow your business exponentially.

Written by: Dolores Andrew, 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 antidote for hustling is surrendering. Why then can surrendering feel like giving up?” Feeling accepted is a fundamental need we all have, and one which most of us spend our lives trying to find. It is as if acceptance will somehow be found somewhere outside of us and that if we strive hard enough and look long enough, perhaps we will stumble upon it. However, acceptance is a state of being rather than an active thing to be grasped and held. And it’s in the surrendering to the hustling that we come into the still space where we can meet with and enquire about what true acceptance means. Here are 3 Ways We Hustle for Acceptance in our Lives 1. Belonging Hustling to fit in is the most common way we hustle for acceptance. We try so hard to make people like us that we change ourselves to suit others. We think, “if I behave this way, then I will get acceptance from that person,” or “If I do this for that person, then they will accept me.” It becomes second nature to us as we traverse our journey through life, changing like a chameleon every step of the way. When we truly fit in, we don’t have to try at all, we just are, which again is a state of being. There is no resistance, no push and pull. There is no hustling. Not everyone holds the space for us to be who we are authentically, and no amount of molding ourselves will make someone like us. Some people are our teachers in this world, mirroring back to us those parts of ourselves that we hide away from or are too vulnerable to look into. Until we stop and take a look at those places, those people will continue to trigger us, and we will blame them for our state of being. When we take our power back from them, we stop hustling for their acceptance. 2. Confidence It’s hard to believe the power our emotions have over us if we let them. When we take charge of our emotions, we take back our power from them. Our emotions are messenger molecules. They are energy in motion; e-motion. When we remind ourselves of this, we realize that we are not our emotions. We always have a choice to stop hustling with them, choosing instead to surrender to them. They are a part of us. When we lean into them and find their message, we gain freedom from them. Take confidence, for example. Feeling confident has to do with the beliefs we hold about our ability to do something. Because our beliefs fuel our actions, if we are not feeling confident enough to do something, then that is the energy our actions will come from. We will be hustling for something instead of standing fully in our sense of self and our ability to be confident. Here is something you can do. Ask Yourself - What is your belief telling you about your confidence? Perhaps you are not good enough, not tall enough, not small enough, whatever belief you hold is the key to surrendering and ending the hustle. 3. We act passive aggressively There are three ways we act out with our personal power. We are either aggressive, assertive, or passive-aggressive. Acting passive aggressively can be a bid to hustle for attention. We may say “Yes” and be a people pleaser to gain the affection of another. However, being passive-aggressive is harmful to our sense of self. It means that we don’t present ourselves to other people from an authentic place. We say yes when we want to say no, and when no is better for us. Our actions are conditional, and we are not being respectful of our own needs. Over time being passive-aggressive can lead to all sorts of problems for us. We can feel exhausted, depleted, angry with ourselves and others. Anger turned inwards leads to depression. It is only when we come back to ourselves, stop hustling for acceptance, instead of surrendering to who we are at our essence, that our actions will come from this place. Doing this is not giving up on ourselves, instead, we are taking a stand for who we are, not giving our power away to others or allowing their judgments to define us. The first step is awareness. Then comes the surrender. We allow our true selves to be the beacon that illuminates our authentic way, showing up as our authentic selves. Want to learn more from Dolores? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Dolores Andrew, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dolores Andrew is an All-Star Accredited Lifestyle Leader in Holistic Life Coaching. Her personal coaching sessions and Corporate Training programmes are tailored to her client’s unique requirements. Dolores’ expertise supports people to break through their personal barriers and reach their full potential, whatever that means to them. She supports them to reassess their values, effectively navigate their emotions and live their lives aligned with their authentic selves.

Written by: Cheryl Meyer, 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. What possibly could the three little pigs and the big bad wolf have to do with health? It is really a very smart fable. It makes us stop and think about what we are doing to build the most important house we have, our body. And we only get one, so we must learn to take care of it. You have heard it said that you are what you eat. Well, your body is built from what you eat, so my question today is, do you want to be building the straw house or the stick house or the brick house? How easy do you want it to be for that big bad wolf to blow your house down? Are you fortifying your body with fast, fake, easy junk? Or are you buying the finest quality building supplies of organic fruits and veggies and grass-fed grass finished meats? Are you cooking so that you know just how strong your house is on its foundation? Are you controlling what quality ingredients are going into building your house? Remember, if you build from processed and fast foods when the big bad wolf arrives, he will be able to blow your house down. Eating the SAD (Standard American Diet) will eventually lead to standard American diseases. You will eventually be looking at the standard American death. With every bite you take, ask yourself, are you building a body that can withstand the storm, that can withstand the big bad wolf? Or is he going to be able to blow your house down? Do you have a strong enough immune system to fend off the next super-virus and/or to protect yourself from chronic disease? Every cell in our body has a shelf life. Our bodies are continually rebuilding, but they can only utilize the nutrients that we intentionally feed them. Our intestines replace their villi to absorb nutrients every 2-3 days. Our gut replaces its lining every 6 days. The outside of our lungs replaces its cells every 2-3 weeks. Our skin replaces its cells every 2-3 weeks. Our red blood cells replace themselves every 3-4 months. Our liver replaces cells on an average of every 5 months. The heart cells replace themselves 2-4 times over a lifetime. And our brain replaces some cells daily. Read food tastes wonderful. Feeling good is what it is all about. Learn to eat for health. It can still be yummy, and it can help you build a strong brick house. Build an immune system that keeps you healthy and protects you from chronic illness and super viruses. Eat to build a strong structure. Why would you build your body from defective ingredients? "Next time you chomp down on something, ask yourself if you are fine with it becoming part of you for the long term. If not, do not eat it and find the best quality ingredients you can, ingredients that help you thrive.” — Mark Hyman, MD Start today, don't let the big bad wolf blow your house down. Eat for health. And remember, you can’t be great if you don’t feel great. Taking care of your health is the foundation to life success. This is information from my 7x award-winning book Feeling Good Living Low Toxin. Available on Amazon. Do you know that the sugar and chemicals in processed and fast foods are addictive? I am running quarterly sugar and processed food detoxes. They add support in a zoom group for 4 weeks. There is a private Facebook group for support. There are replays available of all of the modules. Join me, and WIN at health. Contact me at Cherylmhealthmuse@gmail.com for information on the next detox. Follow Cheryl on Facebook, Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn! Read more from Cheryl! Cheryl Meyer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Cheryl Meyer suffered from autoimmune disease. By eliminating hundreds of toxins, she reversed her pain. Cheryl has a BA from UC-Berkeley and is a health coach from IIN. Cheryl is an award-winning author, international bestseller, health coach, speaker, local tv host, and guest podcaster. Cheryl has written four books on health and toxins available here. Her podcast is on Voice America. Cheryl specifically works with clients with chronic illness giving them hope and helping them find solutions. It is never too late to start healthy habits. Cheryl is available to speak about the toxins in our world that are making us ill. She is a sought-after expert on toxins, in our food, cleaning, water, minds, including toxic stress and toxic lack of sleep. She also talks about the impact of toxins on our children and our pet’s health. Contact Cheryl for one on one coaching or speaking at cherylmhealthmuse@gmail.com. Eliminating toxins is a crucial step to regain wellness.

Written by: Tatiana Vilarea, 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. Are you an entrepreneur who often gets triggered by being criticized, challenged by a difficult client, or a sales conversation? Do you spend hours or even days ruminating about it afterward and even begin to question and doubt yourself? Does it switch your imposter syndrome on and make you want to stop marketing or showing up online altogether? How can you stop this? From the perspective of many mind-based approaches , the solution to these issues would be to: Handle it with the person we were triggered by when necessary (behavioral level) Change our thoughts about the situation and ourselves (cognitive level). We would be told not to take things personally, remember our worth, change our internal dialogue and use other similar reasoning tools. However, for most people I know, it's very difficult to "just" decide to think differently . We continue going back to the experience mentally and emotionally, and even when we do move on ⁠— most of the time, something new in our lives retriggers the same mechanism all over. This is when a lot of us entrepreneurs will go to hire a coach and start the mental process again. While others will go with more conventional methods, like therapy, etc. There are also some approaches, such as hypnotherapy, that work on the subconscious mind. They will work with this type of issue by suggesting new beliefs or taking the person back to the event where this response originated. If this negative event, emotional wound, or conditioning took place in our childhood, it might also include some type of inner child work. The therapist will then ask us to talk to the inner child to give some words of wisdom, love, support, and encouragement. And here is where we experience a problem that is missed by most mind-based modalities. We do not have logic, reasoning , or complex thoughts as children, especially in our pre-verbal stage. As I often say: “Our inner children do not understand logic.” In this state, there are emotions , primarily. Consequently, when we try to talk to our inner children and use these practices, they cannot fully release such negative imprints especially, if we are working with serious emotional wounding or trauma that has a much deeper impact on our lives. Moreover, mind-based approaches, whether conscious or subconscious, are not designed to address the emotional and body memory that gets retriggered by such events. The habitual neurological pathways have run on “autopilot” since the negative experience took place. They do not reach the deeper levels of our brain, amygdala, and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems that became dysregulated by that event. This dysregulation is stored in our bodies. Not just in our minds. It is written in our neurocircuitry and neurochemistry (since emotions are chemicals). This is what activates our emotional triggers again and again, until and unless addressed using tools that can be understood by both the body and the mind. From my experience working with emotional triggers and fears in this way, we get to release the entire mechanism that holds the charge around our “perceived pain.” This approach can also be applied to working with fear of visibility, sales, marketing, etc., that we so frequently experience as entrepreneurs. When our “system” loses the charge around what used to cause the reaction, real emotional and mental freedom comes. Freedom to now take on any business actions, use the necessary strategies, go for our dreams fully and dream even bigger. Creating the change from the inside out. To dive deeper into this work, follow me on Facebook or visit my website . Tatiana Vilarea, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine hypnotherapy specialist, intuitive and Inner Success coach. Tatiana Vilarea is a hypnotherapy specialist, intuitive and Inner Success coach for heart-centered female entrepreneurs who struggle with emotional triggers, fears, and doubts and want to step into unwavering inner confidence to create the business, impact and income they deeply desire. She is the author of a proprietary method that combines highly effective subconscious, emotional, energetic and Body Memory Release techniques to help business owners overcome inner limitations and unconscious blocks that hold them back and create fulfilling businesses they can enjoy, with more self-awareness, balance and ease.

Written by: Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, 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. Learning from other people’s mistakes was something I always wanted to master. Of course, I learned plenty from my missteps and oversights as well, so I knew that there is no failure, only feedback but the high achiever in me speculated that if I only could watch other people try and fail and I apply their learnings to my life, that would be even more powerful. “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” ―Otto von Bismarck How do we learn and benefit from the mistakes of others? I often heard my mentors saying that they changed and transformed their lives after going through a crisis or living through a life-altering experience like bankruptcy, near-death accident, loss of a loved one, serious illness, etc. In their hero’s journey, they pointed out how they learned from these pivotal moments and the mistakes they made. They understood what they must change to transform their lives. Learning from other people's mistakes Learning from others’ mistakes sometimes is not so simple. I tried to imagine failing badly, hitting the proverbial wall or the very rock bottom so that I can act as if it happened and so I can avoid potential failure. I tried to demonstrate courage as if I had no choice, and I had to act quickly as if my life depended on it. But I am not going to lie; I found that even though it was possible to simulate certain scenarios, it was often hard to fool my mind that something very serious happened. My brain knew that there were other options open, and that’s why it was hard to act as if I was dangling at the end of the rope. However, in many cases, mistakes could be avoided if we indeed learned from the mistakes of others. As in Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote: “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” In fact, according to a recent study by two researchers at Bristol University in England, we learn from our mistakes, but it turns out that we could learn more from others’ mistakes. “A mistake you do not learn from is a mistake you will repeat.” So how do we learn and benefit from the mistakes of others? Reasons people make mistakes in the first place: Some of the most important initial reasons people fail are lack of preparation, poor planning, poor diagnosis of the problem, weak information, improper incentive, and inadequate resources. Secondary reasons people fail are lack of focus, lack of knowledge or experience, incorrect strategy, and poor execution. The third group of reasons includes bad assumptions, no sense of urgency, short-term mentality, careless behavior, poor attitude, ego or greed, avoidance or denial, and conflicting goals. Finally, the crucial reason for failure is quitting before completion. Ideas on how to turn mistakes into valuable lessons: Observe, take notes and learn why and how people failed. You’ll learn a lot. Don’t try to figure everything by yourself. Consider what’s been already done before and apply it. Try not to repeat mistakes. Keep tracking them. Share with others what you learn from mistakes made by other people. Don’t blame yourself and others for the mistakes made. Move on. Apply lessons learned from mistakes made in one area to another. Be patient trying to figure out how to avoid the most common mistakes in the future. Visualize yourself in the situation and make better choices. Do some research on how others avoid making mistakes. And finally, have a mentality that there is no failure, only feedback. Celebrate that! Everyone makes mistakes at some point in life, but let’s remember that when we do make a mistake, we just might be helping someone else avoid making the same mistake, and they might learn from our failure! So, I conclude with the quote by Anurag Prakash Ray: “Everyone evolves by making mistakes and actually learning from them.” For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Jola! Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jola Pypno-Crapanzano is a Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and TLT®️ Practitioner, founder and CEO of Coaching Journey with Jola, two times International Bestselling Author of “One” - Your wellness guide to body, mind, and soul and “Stay home”- When you can’t go outside, what happens inside? She carries a Master's Degree in Scientific-Technical Information from Silesian University in Poland. She has over 30 years of combined experience working with thousands of unique individuals and groups of people serving them in many different capacities. First, as a tour guide traveling all over the world (almost 70 countries visited so far) and translating into 4 languages, then working in the entertainment and hospitality industry as part of operational management in a large publicly traded company in NYC. Finally, coaching people initially as fitness, wellness, and lifestyle coach and most recently more holistically as Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP, and Time Line Therapy®️ Practitioner. She also helps her clients in Positive Intelligence, specializing in strengthening their Mental Fitness, and supports them through various strategic interventions. Her mission is to help one million people live their lives to the fullest, reach heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence and show them that it is possible to live lives of their dreams, on their terms, without regrets, be fully engaged, joyful and confident and build an incredible lasting legacy.

Written by: Laurence Nicholson, 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. Following on from my last article on ‘Doing Too Much,’ this month, I am going to talk about how to navigate the usual morning email ‘tsunami.’ If you have never experienced the tidal wave of emails waiting for you every morning, then congratulations. You either already know how to manage this well to optimize your mental resources and resilience, work in an environment that is not email obsessed, pre-teen, or retired (and even then, this might still apply!). For the rest of us, the following scenario is all too familiar and carries some level of anxiety and dread each morning: Whilst you have been making your way to your desk, either traveling to the office or walking to your home office if working from home, you are concentrating on a new idea you came up with overnight, trying to keep it all in focus so you can start fleshing it out at your desk. You are aware of a rise in anxiety as you switch on your device, and you wait to see how many emails are waiting for you as the ‘pinging’ starts. The number starts in double figures, rising rapidly, and your pulse speeds up as the number goes past 100. Your heart sinks as you realize there is no way to answer all these as well as work on your projects today. You realize you have stopped concentrating on your new idea, having been distracted by the email tsunami, and now you are struggling to recall the finer details you were keeping in mind. You try launching yourself into the huge list of emails but make little progress as 30 minutes fly by. Your attempt to read emails and listen to voice messages proves (as it would) not just fruitless but counterproductive, as you find you can’t focus on either sufficiently. Then you accidentally erase a voicemail from your manager. The realization sends a dump of adrenaline through your system in a panic response, and your attention snaps back to the present and all the work to do. You need to prioritize, but your brain has been overloaded, and you can’t recall the methods of doing this from the training you had. In frustration, you return to trying to deal with the email pile. Another 30 minutes go by, and despite your efforts, the number has now climbed to 125, with the new ones coming in thick and fast. All thoughts of your new idea have been lost, and attention is struggling to focus on anything particular. To understand what is happening here, remember the ‘operations room’ analogy from my last article (read it again if you need a reminder), and consider the small staff of operations managers in their small room, which runs only on battery power, trying to deal with the line of warehouse staff members (the emails) knocking at the door, each looking for attention from the operations managers, who are trying to focus on keeping the warehouse processes running as well as creating an idea and presentation for a new process (your new idea). The effort to keep this activity going in the operations room is burning through battery power rapidly, and the lighting and equipment in the room are slowing and dimming as the batteries run down. As the power drains, the effort needed for cognitive activities like analyzing, decision making, and impulse control, all competes for less and less available resources, leading to an increase in ‘distractibility.’ Your pre-frontal cortex, where any ‘thinking’ about your present situation is carried out, is your ‘operations room & managers’, and their power is getting very low, so your ability to concentrate your attention and use any higher functioning cognitive capabilities is severely hampered. The brain’s batteries need to be recharged. If you don’t do this, the ‘backup system’ of your limbic brain will assume control from the pre-frontal cortex. Any decisions will be impulse-driven and based on previously stored ‘crystalized intelligence’ with no current information applied to make it relevant and appropriate. The result is reactionary, ill-conceived, and historical-based poor, usually costly, decision-making. Tip No. 1: Important items should only be admitted to your ‘operations room’ by invitation, through prioritizing, and as prioritizing is a very resource-hungry cognitive activity, it should be what you do first before tackling anything else, and energy levels start to deplete. Prioritizing is energy-hungry because it involves ‘imagining’ and moving around concepts that have not yet happened (so cannot be in your powerful crystallized intelligence of the limbic system) and of which you, therefore, have no direct experience to draw on. Doing it first allows you to order your day to ensure you have sufficient ‘recharging’ time between high load cognitive activities, helping have the pre-frontal cortex fresh for when it is called upon. Tip No. 2: Use visual representations wherever you can because they are much more information-efficient constructs, carrying more information in smaller numbers of neural maps. The brain has been using visuals for significantly longer throughout its evolution. Its processing is more energy efficient. Tip No. 3: Use lists! Get the nagging things in your head, which are using energy to stay in mind, down onto paper (physically writing things has been proven to increase the ability to store and recall), or digitally if necessary. This removes them from trying to interrupt the operations managers in your control room so that they can focus better. Tip No. 4: Have a disciplined approach to what you ‘don't’ let into your ‘operations room.’ If you can, delegate. If not, make sure you use time doing non-urgent routine tasks as a chance to recharge the brain by not thinking about other cognitive heavy problems or activities. Do the mindless stuff mindlessly! Things you could have done to improve the scenario above, including: Use a voice recorder to capture your ideas when you have them, or at least when traveling to your desk, On seeing the email tsunami, set about prioritizing your day’s activities, on a pad, or whiteboard, with all devices on silent so as not to distract you during this. Compare the potential cognitive load of the activities to make sure you have built in sufficient ‘recharging’ breaks during the day, and know how many of the heavy load activities you can realistically fit in the day, so as not to leave yourself trying to make important high-value decisions when your decision-making process/systems are too depleted to make good ones. Schedule your time into blocks of similar modes of load. For example, have set times to deal with email, another for a single complex thinking task, etc. Next month I will be continuing the theme of dealing with overload, with the first part of a 2-part series on ‘Managing Distractions.’ Follow me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Laurence! Laurence Nicholson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Laurence Nicholson is the CEO and founder of the N Cubed Group, My Better Life – Mind Coaching, and Exec Mental Health Solutions, through which he works with both Corporate clients and individuals to improve and optimize mental health, performance, and resilience, in order to realize measurable improvements in business and personal productivity and decision making. A Mind Coach, certified as a Corporate Mental Health Facilitator, holding 'Distinction' grade certifications in Life Coaching, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Depression Counselling, Anger and Aggression Management Counselling, Criminal Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Corporate Wellness Coaching, Laurence is also trained in Corporate Coaching and Mentoring, Behavioural Analysis, and to the expert level in non-verbal deception detection and analysis. He had spent over 35 years working across corporate environments as both a consultant and leader, and when he was first sent abroad for work way back in the 1990s, he became fascinated by how different people and cultures think and behave in different ways under the same conditions, and quickly became addicted to immersing himself within local environments, in order to get a true experience of thought processes and event-behavior associations. Human psychology and behavioral patterns became his passion, and he used his corporate consulting work as a way to enable him to travel extensively and to study wide and diverse behaviors, and investigate the ‘how and why’ of our brain’s processes, and more importantly the impacts of stress and change on people, universally. His business education and experience as an advisor and consultant in procurement, finance, law, information technology, organizational change, and executive management, combines with his life experiences and numerous culturally immersive experiences from working in over 14 countries around the world, to provide what his clients consider as a unique appreciation of their individual circumstances. Laurence aligns himself with Jungian psychodynamic theory, with its spiritual element, and supports this as a certified and attuned Reiki Master Teacher and a Certified Meditation Teacher..’

Written by: Kaye Doran, 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. Think with the heart and feel with the mind. This is what I have come to know, yet many are living the opposite of this truth. Science has discovered that the heart has a small brain within it that sends more messages to the brain than the brain does to the heart. Yet why is it that most people find it so difficult to align and listen to the intelligence of the heart? Some call this intelligence intuition, Spirit, or God; I have come to know this voice within as the voice of knowing, power and potential! We have not been raised to understand the workings of this inner guidance nor the power of it. We have become pirated by our minds; the false stories and beliefs that rule our lives are built upon perceptions of our life experiences. Information constantly creating a life of should and should not, slowly dragging you away from the very life you came here to live. A life aligned to your soul’s calling! Yet, the voice of knowledge coming from the heart has always whispered to us. As children, we knew this voice within; we trusted it and did not question it—a child-like curiosity. The older we got, the dimmer this voice became, drowned out by the external world and stories built around our experiences processed by our emotional bodies. The unconscious directing our subconscious, which was designed to ‘protect’ us, yet in truth is limiting us. This voice of knowing within the heart knows what path you need to take and what decisions you need to make to live a life you love and achieve the results you seek in accordance with your soul’s purpose. It knows beyond a shadow of a doubt the power and potential that exists within you. This voice is the voice of your future self that has already achieved what you aspire to, calling to you “come, you are already successful; I have walked the path before you. Let me show you the way.” This voice is your greatest supporter and knows you deeper than you currently know yourself! Most have heard the benefits of meditation: Turning the vision inwards to become the witness Commanding the mind and spirit Being present in the now moment Increasing energy Relaxing the body Deepening insight Developing a sense of peace Improving overall health Connecting with the voice of knowing There are many ways to meditate. Many people practice mindfulness meditation which means you focus on your breathing or words in order to remain in the ‘now’ moment. Open-eyed meditation where you keep your eyes open and fixed on one spot in the room or at a candle flame. Many find this kind of meditation difficult and frustrating because the mind is so used to controlling your undisciplined thoughts. Hence so many feel as though they fail at meditation and give it up. Many enjoy guided meditation in order to achieve a healing result or insight. All these practices are valid. However, if you only practice mindfulness or meditations where you use visualization, you are still utilizing the mind and not calling upon and touching the wisdom of the heart, which does not exist within the mind. It lives within the small brain within the heart! Another practice that holds one back from dialing up the voice of knowing is setting up meditation in ‘perfect’ conditions. Darkened room, absolute quiet or peaceful background sounds of nature. Although this can feel nice at the time, it sets you up for deepened irritation because your external world is not so ‘perfect.’ If you only meditate under these circumstances, you develop a heightened sensitivity to activity and distractions around you. Again, this is where people take on board the belief that meditation does not work, and they give it up. The bridge to the voice of knowing is still not crossed. Physics tells us that matter is made up of molecules and that even something solid, such as a table, is vibrating all the time, as are we. We are energy. The problem is most people do not know what their own energy feels like due to being impacted by everyone else’s energy. Your thoughts and feelings may not even be your own. So, in order to know your own energy, you must clear yourself to feel your own energy. This will help you to feel the voice of knowing within your heart center unencumbered by other influences. This is the process of cutting your cords. Here is what I suggest for your meditation practice for you to connect with and listen to your voice of knowing: Set this as your intention Sit upright in a chair with your feet on the ground so the energy can flow Start with ten minutes and allow your practice to grow Do not judge your results; it is all good Start with a few deep breaths in through the nose, push the breath down to the base of the spine (plugin), and then release the breath out the mouth, dropping the jaw. Cut your cords. Call all energies before you that are connected to you other than your own clamp both ends, and cut the cords. Do the same process again, calling all energies connected into you from behind this time. Allow your whole body and being to be bathed in a brilliant blue, white light of transformation. This is a cleansing process, so you are now clear of other influences and able to start to sense or feel what your energy feels like. As your thoughts go to the past, people, or projections into the future, simply breath and internally say the word peace. You are learning to call your energy back into the here and now. Count from 50 backward and feel as though you are traveling down a staircase into the heart center as your body becomes lighter and you become pure energy This meditation process into the heart is a plugging-in process to power up your inner source. No different from a laptop needing a power source to remain charged. If you do not plug the power cord in, eventually, the power runs out. As you become more adept at meditating beyond the mindfulness practices which overly engage the mind, and as you practice clearing your energy and getting to know what your energy feels like, you will start to feel and hear the voice of knowing growing louder from within. Now a new journey begins, and that is the journey of building a trusting relationship with this inner voice of knowing, power and potential by being guided by it. Remember, the voice of knowing is your future self that has already achieved your desired outcome. It knows how to get you there because the road has already been traveled. Mindfulness is an important practice to become consciously aware of your thoughts, feelings, and body. Self-awareness is a necessary piece of the puzzle. If not coupled with meditation into the heart, your plans and aspirations are driven by your head. The feeling that life is happening to you. Rather than from you. Meditation beyond mindfulness is where you become connected to the life that you are; the life that exists within you. The voice of knowing within the heart is a living roadmap of your soul and the very foundation to being your authentic self and living from your highest potential. With heart connection, it need not take a lifetime of constant adversity. Take the direct path within and connect directly to this voice within your heart. Building a house that withstands time takes strong foundations. Connecting with, listening to, and being guided by the intelligence within your heart is your foundation for living a life you love. “The power of change is in your hands.” If you enjoy guided meditations, please go to my website; under resources, you will find three powerful meditations as my gift to you. Or, if you would like to join a weekly zoom meditation and insight group, please reach out to me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn to find out more. Kaye Doran, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kaye Doran is an entrepreneur, facilitator, speaker, women’s leadership and life coach, shamanic healer, and creator of Inner Expressions, helping women realize their leadership from within. An unshakable optimist, she lives with a foot in both worlds – physical and spiritual, working with her unique blend of gifts in connection, knowing, shamanic energy sound healing, and accredited master life coaching. She empowers women with self-worth and the ability to create change. Supporting them to feel and know their inner power moving them beyond their comfort zone and back into the driver’s seat of their life. She has been working with women for three decades – and working on herself longer. Her motto is “the power of change is in your hands.”

Written by: Ilaria Storch, 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. Two Simple Exercises to blend both. When you get up in the morning, you open your eyes, and your mind roams around for a few seconds, remembering and trying to get a sense of what your morning will be like, and if you are a morning bird, maybe you can visualize how the whole day is planned to go. At this point, your heart will either sprint up with joy or will sink a bit, preferring you had something else on the agenda, or maybe you will just feel demotivated with the routine. This morning assessment of how you wake up is so important because it will give you clues to what you need to change, including your thoughts, to wake up to your desired day from a place of inspiration and not from just going through the motions. Whether you are a CEO business owner, or a stay-at-home mom, or dad, with small kids, or training for a marathon, or caring for elderly parents, or looking for new job placement, remember that you matter and how you live your day with intention is how you will find the strength to evaluate your situation and your feelings. If you wake up yearning to move abroad, grab your laptop and be a nomad, that is great, or if you wake up and think that you need more routine and systems to get your health back on track in body, mind, and soul, that is awesome too, take action then and there. In this first simple exercise, I will guide you to discover if you need more routine or inspiration or a blend of both, and you can implement it right away. First, ask yourself, what makes you click, and write it down - be open and think about anything, from the music you prefer, dancing, to a bubble bath, to just staring at nature, to playing a sports game you enjoy (I would discourage you here to write videogame, it can be addictive and it generally does not come from a true desire within, it is more escapist), practicing mathematics (my husband relaxes doing that, go figure!), walking the dog, sleeping in, sleeping late – it is your call. Read your notes and see how you feel when you imagine doing that – are you indulging in that a lot or a little? If you have the impression you need to incorporate more of what you chose, do it, and your motivation will increase during a day's work when you look forward to more ease and joy. I delight when I can plan and have a whole day, or afternoon for myself, with no agenda, so that I can drive around the city, take the urbanscape in, stop for a latte, and just get my thoughts in order again – see how you can find a more pleasurable routine? Routinely is defined as a regular procedure rather than for a special reason, or something that is done frequently with not so much thought of the outcomes. Routines are important; they are your structure and how you get things done and get to exist in an organized and thriving society. Yet, the motivation for you to live and perform well is better when it comes from your secret place of Inspiration – spend some time discovering what that is for you – it will get you through the daily grind and up levels your time and thoughts to really do what you love, and how you love doing those things! I will share here the second exercise. If you are clinging to routine mode because the automatic pilot is on, it´s because you´re not paying attention to the options around you, and you can get trapped. This is what I have been doing for many years, and I find it extremely helpful and easy to practice! Sit, walk, or stand, and ask yourself, wherever you are: “What if I don´t do this right now? What would I rather be doing or creating this moment?” Sometimes, just asking yourself that will boost your energy to finish what you are doing faster and lighter. Always put Inspiration in your Routine , especially now, challenge your ideas in the small and big things – while at the groceries, sit down and have some coffee, or green juice, before jumping in; while running errands, imagine a new haircut, or a future new city you want to live, travel, be; when there is so much work and virtual meetings to attend, surround yourself with beautiful, inspiring pictures, of nature or pets, and if you can, position your laptop so that you can lift your glance towards a window that shows exciting city lights, or calming trees, whatever resonates with you more. Play with your routine, for inspiration comes from anywhere you are at if you invite it daily with intention and surprise! Keep your energy forward and remember self-care so that you are ready to continually blend structure and routine to creativity and fulfillment. You can connect with me also at Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , or visit my website for more info! Read more from Ilaria! Ilaria Storch, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ilaria Storch, a Life Coach Nomad, is the creator of Life Coach Nomads, where she shares her passion for travel and for inspiring people everywhere to access their true center and find more connection and energy on the way to more joy, fun, and fulfillment. She practices that following your emotions, wrapped up in a personal structure that can connect your goals, desires, and love, is the path to all real and true growth. Wherever you are, change is nomadic by essence, and it takes time, support and starts inside you when you absolutely desire to develop yourself and move on. She has a Bachelor´s Degree in Advertising, speaks many languages, won a Fashion Illustration Award during College, and loves coaching her clients towards their expressive life journey.