Written by: Jo Jackson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The curiosity surrounding consciousness is not new to the current awakening we reside amongst. For centuries unanswered questions have driven countless people to inquire about the implications of the unknown on the way that we live our lives and our success. Great minds such as the Roman Caesar Marcus Aurelias, who is renowned for living a Stoic lifestyle, and quotes such as: “ Our life is what our thoughts make it.” Tapped into the collective consideration that we are powerful beyond belief if only we control our mind. Like all subsequent philosophers, neuroscientists, and yogis: Caesar knew the power that we may possess and intentionally embodied it daily with rituals and humility. This foundation of exploration has wielded great power in the leap towards understanding human potential. For, is it not the power of the mind that both enables and disables the mastering of the potential that we as human beings are gifted? Through the historical archives , one can find countless evidence of the pursuit of mastery from harnessing the focus of the mind. Perhaps none so evident as the explosion of the acceptance of the Flow State. An indication of an undisputable point where the impossible becomes possible. We hear of gravity-defying feats in this century almost as often as we walk our dog. Nowadays, nothing is out of bounds. The race to understand and harness flow state has fuelled the endless enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and neuroscientists alike for decades. This gamechanger completely turns everything on its head. This optimal state of consciousness derived when in Flow means that all bets are off, laser focus is at a peak, motivation levels soar, and productivity is at least 10X. Suddenly everything is possible. If only we could bottle it, right? The world population would line up to purchase this wonder drug to live that better life, chase that dream, have that success. Though this alone would be useless , most people do not subsume the precursor discipline to enable any flow state other than those which they simply fall into. Flow can be achieved by anyone; however, it can be replicated by a few purely due to the conscious preparation that is required. The control environment for flow sees various triggers (22 in total) where neurologically it drives Dopamine and Norepinephrine (pleasure chemicals) and lowers cognitive load (the day-to-day rubbish that we pay attention to for no benefit). Attention and focus are key triggers for this neurological wonderment where awe uplifts the human state of consciousness into embracing the “more” as our collective new normal. The Pre-Frontal Cortex shuts down and with it, so does judgment and ego, which are infamous inhibitors of potential. Steve Kotler of the Flow Genome Project articulates another potent flow trigger – the Challenge/ Skill Ratio. “If the challenge is too great, fear swamps the system. If the challenge is too easy, we stop paying attention. Flow appears near the emotional midpoint between boredom and anxiety, in what scientists call the flow channel — the spot where the task is hard enough to make us stretch but not hard enough to make us snap.” The simple truth attests that we have everything that we need. Like the sexiest Ferrari, our wild machine of neurobiology needs fine-tuning where we too can perform at our true potential. The mechanisms of the Flow State are not limited but exuberant in the availability of resources within every human brain. Our role in the unraveling of the “I'm” possible is to remain available to consider the release of constraints based on what we personally consider to be plausible and instead think broader than our experiences. Factoring in not only what we know, but that which we do not, and coupling it with a healthy dose of conscious choices that lead us to our true destination where we finally concede that as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has said in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience: “Control of consciousness determines the quality of life.” Consciousness is the key to the Flow State and becoming Smarter, Faster & Stronger. For more info, follow Jo on her Fac ebook , Instagram , and Link edIn . Jo Jackson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jo Jackson has turned adversity into a new thriving chapter in her life. After becoming a single parent, she directed herself into being the sole provider for her two children, vowing that "They will have everything that I promised them." However, in 2018 that all changed when Jo was rushed to hospital in an attempt to save her life. Burned out but determined, she turned it all around after being released and subsequently created her 2mm Shift solution, which teaches professionals globally how to use their X factor to Master Their Potential.

Written by: Yvette Troyna, 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. With such talk of superheroes gracing our screens, it’s clear: greatness is our birthright. But what’s an everyday hero to do when life gets crazy? Let’s be real. Nobody could foresee the global havoc a microscopic virus could wreak. And who could predict the super-bloom of heroes shortly after the world went dark? We are all superheroes. Scientific research proves that our strengths contribute to happiness. Together at Superpower School chapters all over the world, we activate these strengths to love life again. Cape optional. When life feels like a slobbering, ravenous beast hellbent on having your head for lunch, we don’t often have the luxury of time to pause and really reflect on the best course of action. I, for one, love to analyze pros and cons with a numerical valued list. (Read on for details about this quick exercise to swiftly make excellent choices). It takes time to gel and longer sleep on it because we must verify facts before taking action. Sure, your imagination can blow things out of proportion, and it’s best to discover that what you’re upset about is all in your head. After all, if it is indeed your imagination, you can simply deal with your inner self-talk and be about your business. But what if there is a proverbial tiger on your tail? Days come around like this — where you wake up to one disaster after another chomping at your heels. Exhausting and confusing. It’s a part of life, yes, and it’s also human nature not to stand idly by when we feel threatened (or even mildly uncomfortable in some cases). Take this year, for example. I relocated after realizing small-minded racist people populated the community I had invested my livelihood and home with. I spent seven years in a Carpenter Gothic Victorian. High ceilings, lacy cornices, and intricate crown molding. History-stained glass windows overlooked tree-lined Francis creek. A towering Cypress candelabra tree with thirty trunks fixated gawking tourists in their tracks. Imported herbs and flowers from all over the globe populated my French chef garden. I had a cozy apartment for my mother and a lovely townhouse for my daughters. It was a dream come true —on paper. Until one day, I simply couldn’t avoid, and certainly no longer tolerate, the hatred of another nanosecond. It was spring 2020, during that early shelter in place confusion where we still shared sidewalks and overheard conversations. I heard a story that the only black couple left town. Their children, both sweet, smiley kids, were bullied in class. I had just walked down my old brick driveway, past the pale purple wisteria winding along the porch toward the antique post office. I took my time admiring thoughtful window shop displays, smelling the flower baskets swaying gently in the crisp ocean breeze until I caught up with two rich ranchers chatting as they strolled toward the town tavern. “I heard the Injuns are keeping the casino open.” “Good! I hope they allllll die.” As a Euro/Scandinavian ancestry woman, I’m fortunate to be on the safe end of this conversation, and it still hit me in the guts like a steel-toed boot. These men seemed so gentle and trusty like they’d help a kitten out of a tree. I was shocked, and then I started to pay closer attention. It turns out, this wasn’t an isolated sentiment. Even some of my friends and local pastors spew this unintelligent hatred. Just last week, I ducked into my FB feed to find a local church marquee proudly blasting the LGBTQ community. Heavy sigh. Where’s the Lysol? Good God, I wanted to shake the isms out of these people, and therein lies the problem. Hatred spreads like noxious wildfire. I had become hateful of their hatred. I made the right choice pulling up stakes and never looking back. Not gonna lie. I cried, driving over that picturesque bridge for the last time. Twas a mixture of joy, relief, and nostalgia. I miss the sacred old-growth forests most of all. People couldn’t believe I’d up and leave like that. Their racism forever marred any brotherly love between us. See, racism (like so many other isms) oozes up through the rough-hewn floorboards and seeps in through the warped single pane window frames. One’s psyche simply can’t thrive in a hateful community—even if you lock the doors and stay inside. Even racists struggle in their mental filth. See, I believe a part of their noggin is damaged, or else they’d realize how words and actions impact their children and neighbors, and perhaps most of all, their own souls. From a selfish perspective, being racist simply makes no sense. Clearly, there’s a brick missing, screw loose, or thumbtack unaccounted for. This slobbering beast of a crisis led to a simple decision because one of my strengths (aka superpowers) includes flipping a scenario on its back to examine its underbelly. In this example, the scenario flipped must be spelled out in no uncertain terms because I needed conviction to uproot my entire life. When I uttered this sickening phrase, it was as plain as day: “I live in a racist community.” The truth slapped me in the face like a mackerel. That’s how I knew it was pivotal. My next step was to verify findings with my neighbors and friends. Some surprised me by sharing such ugly sentiments as if we were discussing sandwich options rather than the value of one life over another. Others said it wasn’t their problem and to mind my own business. Huh. That didn’t feel like home to me. Isn’t how my fellow humans/neighbors are treated my business? Aren’t we all in this together? But we had a phone tree! Once I exposed my beloved Victorian village’s underbelly, right here in the ‘Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave,’ and identified its most tender and ticklish spots, I took my name and number off that precious phone tree, sold my property and never looked back. How did I do it? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s my secret to making any decision the best decision. How to flip it: Identify the topic at hand. (I live in a racist town) Verify the validity of your assumptions. (ask questions, sit and listen, observe my gut reactions) Get into a meditative state of mind. (try tai chi, cannabis, stroll, grounding, or deep breaths while focusing on the word “ONE.”) Write down ten possible solutions to the problem at hand. Take note of how easily the first half dozen solutions emerge and how hard it is to get the last few jotted down. This is when it gets fun. Make the last few options the most ridiculous, outlandish, and zany ideas you can conjure. I once wrote down “rob a bank wearing last year’s Halloween costume” when I was particularly impoverished, which made me laugh, which in turn taps creative juices like Maple trees giving luscious amber syrup. Take massive action--while still emotionally charged. This last step is critical because many of us get all wound up and crusades and then lose steam, forgetting all about our latest holy grail. In my case, I could have ignored my findings and refocused my attention on the beautiful region I lived in, the work I adored, and dug in to build more healthy relationships. If I had taken this approach, I’d have lost the man I love, self-respect, and the amazing adventures we’re now savoring while we figure out how to help folks get happy again. In the spirit of candor, Flipping It can be a simple exercise used for daily decisions, or it can become a monumentally pivotal moment in your universal life path like this spring has been for me. I am still reeling from experience. Despite the edgy feeling of deliberately pulling my own rug out from beneath my feet, I am deeply thrilled to be settling into Portland, Oregon, a city of inclusion and eagerness to do better. Alive and thriving within this global metropolis of eco-grooviness and humanity. We can do better. We can flip even monstrous challenges on their backs to expose options, alternatives, and better ways to handle the most beastly of hurdles. Yvette Troyna, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Positive Living Maestro, Yvette Troyna, is a serial entrepreneur who grew up in the Pacific Northwestern United States. No matter how tough life can be, she bounces back with genuine happiness. Who knew that decades later, her unique brand of positive living would translate to heavy-hitting, science-based strengths training in the form of her new B Corp, Superpower School Inc? When she isn't training new Superpower School chapter owners, you can find Yvette using her Psychology degree to write about positive living, traveling for speaking engagements, celebrating her loved ones' latest wins with ridiculous fanfare, and generally savoring all that the Good Life has to offer. Her brand of positivity is neither religious nor political in nature. Just authentic tips and scientifically proven insights into what it takes to activate your superpowers to love life again. Cape optional. What are her superpowers, you ask? Love, perspective, creativity, humor, gratitude, parallel parking, and fitting 15 pounds into a 10-pound bag.

Written by: Whitnie Wiley, 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. Recently I enjoyed celebrating with my four Beyond Your Best Plan Podcast co-hosts. We celebrated recording our 52nd episode, one episode a week for a year. That’s a tremendous accomplishment, as only a small percentage of podcasters who start recording ever air their 10th episode, let alone a whole year’s worth of episodes. I was fortunate to celebrate that milestone; then, I got to do it again within a few weeks when I commemorated a similar accomplishment with my co-host of the Life, Lemons & LemonDrops Podcast. Ask yourself, “When was the last time you consistently put out content, any content, week after week for a solid year?” Yeah, me either. As big a deal as acknowledging these events were, we also celebrated periodically throughout the year leading up to those 52 episodes. Both events, along with thousands of others belonging to you and me, should be celebrated. Whether large or small, celebrations make us happier, healthier, and more successful. I keep track of my daily wins using my day planner. Some are as simple as accomplishing a task on my to-do list, and others are as noteworthy as becoming a bestselling author or podcaster with more than 100 taped episodes. The things we celebrate are not nearly as important as the act of reveling—and doing it consistently. Since the merits of celebrating are probably not all self-evident, I’ll focus here on why you should not let your successes pass by unrecognized. Following are seven helpful tips that amplify your life and hopefully inspire you not to hide your light under a bushel. Nothing motivates like winning Motivation is easier to come by when you stack up a few quick wins. Take the time to acknowledge every success to help instill in yourself a motivation mindset. Remember, you will not always be motivated. So, when it eludes you, discipline will help bridge the gap. Tapping into that discipline will help you rack up some early wins, which will, in turn, feed your motivation to keep going. Discipline and motivation are opposite sides of the same coin. When motivation is present, enjoy the ride. Positivity breeds positivity Have you noticed that people who have a positive mindset seem to attract not only more positivity, but things always seem to go their way? Even when they don’t necessarily come out on top, they find the positive in the experience, and that attitude permeates other things they do. Winning means you are successful; at least it means you are successful in the thing you just won. Focusing on the positive helps you to be more positive over time. Adopt the attitude that either you win or you learn. Bigger than you As much as your life is about you, it’s about others as well. You are a leader, which means you are constantly setting examples for others. When you take the time to celebrate your wins, you give others permission to celebrate theirs as well. You inspire others to take action because they see they too can succeed, and in turn, you motivate yourself to seek new projects—creating a cycle of success. Nothing feels as good as feeling good There’s a “feel good” chemical that floods our bodies when we celebrate—dopamine. Celebrating produces dopamine and creates a natural “high” in addition to the other benefits of celebration mentioned in this article. You will feel happier and walk with a bounce in your step, which is reason enough to celebrate. So, why would you ever deprive yourself of that uplifting gift? Confidence is as confidence does Ever stop to think about where your confidence comes from? Do you do what you do because you are confident, or are you confident because of what you’ve done? Confidence comes from taking action—which may mean, when you are scared, doing it anyway. For any given goal, starting a business, writing a book, speaking on stage, etc., there are thousands of reasons not to try. The fact that you went for it helps you to build your confidence muscle. The more you exercise that muscle, the more your confidence grows and moves you to try new things, leading to achieving greater success levels. The journey is the thing What do you get from your journeys? You’ve heard this before, “It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.” It’s true. Success is not the destination. Enjoying the journey is. Journeys are for lessons. If nothing else, when you win, you have a story to tell. You have lessons along the way that will benefit others which again, as a leader, is an opportunity to make the world a better place. More than that, however, going on a journey means you didn’t let the obstacles that could have diverted you prevent you from taking the journey in the first place. So, celebrate the journey as much as reaching your eventual destination. A reason to be grateful Studies have shown that gratitude is the number one predictor of happiness. We are not grateful because we are happy; we are happy because we are grateful. Every win is an opportunity to be thankful not only for what you’ve achieved but for the actions you had the opportunity and courage to take. Be grateful and increase your happiness. Celebrations can be huge events with other people, like parties and awards ceremonies, or can be as simple as sitting with a cup of tea and reflecting on what you’ve accomplished—and any and everything in between. The purpose here isn’t to tell you how to celebrate; instead, it’s to share the excellent benefits that result when you do. Be careful, however, of celebrating in ways that may create self-defeating outcomes such as with food, alcohol or overspending, if you have challenges with weight, drinking, or money. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit. Don’t let your hang-ups about the past or negative associations about boasting, outshining others, or being perceived as narcissistic stop you. Acknowledging your accomplishments and patting yourself on the back is none of those things. If you would cheer for your child, a friend, or colleague, you should be as big a cheerleader for yourself. Now go out and do a backflip—literally, if you can. If not, a simple “Rah-rah, sis-boom-bah” will suffice. Want to learn more from Whitnie? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Whitnie Wiley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Whitnie Wiley is a leader in organizational, leadership, and employee development. After spending years in companies with crummy cultures and lousy leadership, Whitnie has dedicated herself to helping organizations and individuals adopt and implement strategies that create workplaces people love to work in. As an in-demand coach, speaker, and trainer, Whitnie shares wisdom from her own life experiences, as well as those of her clients, with grace, humility, and humor to drive change in today's business world. Her clients include aspiring, emerging and new executives aiming to be the kinds of leaders even they'd want to work for and organizations seeking to hire, develop and promote the best talent. Whitnie is a seven-time bestselling author and is anticipating the publication of four books in 2021, including her first solo effort, "The SIMPLE Leader(TM)." As the host of "Love Your Work," she interviews guests about the work they love to do, their journey, and lessons learned along the way. She also co-hosts the "Life, Lemons & LemonDrops" and the "Beyond Your Best Plan" podcasts.

Ches is Queer-E-O of Chesline Inc., a global transformation coaching and social impact consulting digital company on innovation, economic empowerment, and rebellious leadership. As a transformation coach, they empower folx born into several cultural regimes, those born into the Third Culture, to reclaim their biological ancestry by (re-)learning their lost native language(s). In so doing, they are maximally autonomized to become culturally and linguistically affirmed, whole, self-aware, grounded, and self-determined. They come to self-establish on purpose with purpose their place of belonging in the matrix of culture, identity, race, and language, in power, in grace, and maximized autonomy. As social impact expert consultants, they work with global thought leaders and empower them to innovate, transform, and impact global communities through positive disruption as the ultimate accelerating and defining force of social transformation. Innovational intelligence itself is thus wholly deconstructed and re-potentialized through anti-oppression, positive disruption, and healing. World leaders are taught how to be innovationally evolved, creationally expanded, socially transformative, and glocally industry-making so that they may self-drivenly come to think like an activist, act like a strategist, and impact like a luminary. They work with world leaders, international development organizations, purpose-driven passionpreneurs, transnational activists, and all-around disruptors so that our communal realities and converging worlds may find new grounding and expansion in our concerted deployment of innovation as social transformation. They’ve been featured on international platforms in 5+ languages on OMNI TV, La Presse, Women in Language, 3MT Competition, This Is It TV Network, Polyglot Conference Global, The Hambone Show, Talk To Me, and Brainz Magazine, to name but a few. Chesline Pierre-Paul, The World’s First Queer-E-O Expert on Anti-Oppression As Innovational Intelligence & Activist Digital Socialpreneurship Their portfolio of organizational clients, institutional partnerships, and private clientele encompasses the University of Ottawa, McGill University, Concordia University, 4th Space, FutureBound, WELI, Nuestro Flow, CEED, SHIFT center for social transformation, and the Decolonial Perspectives & Practices Hub, amongst others. They are regularly (co-)moderator of spaces such as: “Balance B.E.E.M.S”, “Daring To Be. Whole”, “Polyglot Club”, and “Language, Poetry, & Identity” on Clubhouse. Their high-impact 3-minute micro-podcast’s first season just aired - it is informationally incisive, terse, potent, on-the-button, and teeming with disruptively affirming and enlightening ways to mobilize ourselves in purposed disruption through a microverse that deploys innovation for social change. Their world-class education portal brings forth a comprehensive host of e-courses, multi-tiered VIP memberships, and high-impact transnational event series that take their coaching and consulting to new depths of expansion and innovational brilliance. Through all their enterprises, they proffer entry points into their world where positive disruption and impact, beget grace, healing, and communal transformation on the scale of the globe. Their core motivating principle is that whoever we be, wherever it is we hail from, we can all be communally expanded by the conscientious leveraging of our voices, gifts, agency, and privileges in the scaling of social transformation beyond and across industries and global communities. Why here? Why now? As Liz Gilbert professed, when the cost of refraining from freefalling into the abyss that the edge presents and proposes is bigger than not committing to the void, that is when committing to living fully to die empty - as Les Brown says - is the one inevitability that supplants all constitutive parts of our truth, power, and reality. It came to a point where everywhere I went, what spoke louder to my spirit was everything that was remiss and amiss; I had yet to see a re-configuring of entrepreneurship that grounded anti-oppression as a force of industrial advancement, innovational intelligence, and digital media activism. Thus, the more the absence of what was most necessary to me and yet non-extant for all weighed on my spirit, the more I fell into the awareness that to fully taste freedom with intentful deliberation and affirming purpose-drivenness, I had to become the answer to the void that all-encompassingly attached itself to my gaze and perception. The pandemic was a moment of grace and upheaval that afforded me the possibility of seeking affirmation outside of the stringent traditionalism of a 9-to-5 pace of being and living. As I got freed from my gainful corporate employment through a pandemic-instated termination, I was compelled to sit with the choice of defining how the next part of my purpose would be expressed, stabilized, and acquitted thenceforth. At that moment, I understood that I wanted to live uninterruptedly and unconstrainedly. Thus, I had to find my own capacity for maximized affirmation within a purpose encompassing more than my voice and spirit. The question became; how do I transmute my gifts, voice, privileges, and agency into an unconstrainedly mobilizing force of servanthood that is tangibly and deathlessly socially transformative? How do I bring elevation and might to voices unheard, paradigms to-be-unearthed, bodies denied, and powers unclaimed? Then, as one thing led to another, I found the perfected conjoining of grace, healing, and transcendence in how I came to establish my business within a duality of transformation coaching and social impact consulting. In that dichotomy, I found my rhythm of grace and expansion of self and purpose, wherethrough I bring my brand of disruptive harmony into worlds still unconversant in the language of innovation as social transformation and r/evolution. In so doing, I evolve entrepreneurship as an irretrievably purposed act of intentful servanthood that constitutes a new paradigm that I coin as follows: the paradigm of activistic socialpreneurship. Innovation for the sake of innovation is the hubris of a mind that isn’t purposed to exert itself fully through a design more transcending than its own self-ingratiation. Innovation for a purpose, on the other hand, produces paradigm shifts that implement disruption designedly so that the human experience as a whole be heightened by creatures of the daring that are norm-defiant, purpose-affirmed, and change-making in essence, intent, and purpose. What can you tell us about your ventures? As I’ve put forth heretofore, I am a staunch believer that everything my gaze can encase as disaffirmingly missing or enhanceable is an opportunity for my spirit and constitution of self to be the change that the space I am in requires to be instated into furthered completion. Thus, I am a big advocate of community-building. As such, I (co-)host several rooms on Clubhouse (see above), I host free digital multi-event series, house a free education portal, hold numerous speaking engagements and podcast interviews across converging and diverging industries, founded an annual digital International Summit (set to occur from July 25 to August 5, 2021). What’s more, I am soon to publish my first book called: “Decolonize your language to sanitize your mind.” Ultimately, my anchoring purpose resides in elevating humans through anti-coloniality, resistance, and purposed disruption as a means to bring next-level enrichment, industrial development, transdisciplinary intelligence, evolved thought leadership, and economic freedom to all - wherever they fall on the spectrum of innovation, race, language, gender, identity, and positionality. What is one truth, one lesson, you can impart us that summarizes what you stand for and who you are through your company and your life’s purpose? Conformity is such an inorganic construct and untruth about the defining reality of who we are and of who we are called to become in our individualities and as a species. Conformity is the ONE thing we have to sustain reiteratively through a system as a construct for it to stay normative yet definitely untrue. Thus, the impulse towards daring, disruption, and unsettling is the one way to transcend a reality that, as Janet Mock says, is intent on our communal and individual destruction. We weren’t taught how to be or how to be whole. We weren’t institutionally groomed for wholeness as THE or as A way of life, and choosing restoration, affirmation of the self, grace, might, and stillness in a world so skewed, so designedly imbalanced, and so inhumanely disruptive and deceptive is an act of wholeness-instating magnificence that is remarkably daring in its outrageousness and stark necessity. Being whole is being daring. Being is being daring. Understand that we are too rich and impregnated with too much might and purpose for us to be so small as to be reductively norm-compliant and silent is contemporaneously truth, grace, and power. My one truth is that, when you are committed more to living than passing, when you ensure that any space you inhabit is all the fuller for it because you showed up full, present, (self-)determined, wholly self-expressed, and unconstrainedly self-affirmed, you being, whilst being you, is the greatest and most incorruptible act of generation-making r/evolution. Thus, dare to be. So that you be whole, and do that on purpose with purpose where you can be seen by others who are one uncertainty away from full revolution and affirmation of the self. Why do clients love working with you? Everything I do is holistic. I tailor-make each program; I construct versatile, need-centered programs and groom my coachees to be maximally autonomized so that my services become purposively obsolete within a very tightly consolidated timeframe. My aim is for them to be empowered so holistically, so radically, and so definingly, our rapport has to evolve from coachee to ally. As the one-and-only leading anti-colonial multilingual digital activist-socialpreneur and global thought leader on anti-oppression as transdisciplinary intelligence and cross-industry innovation, I leverage language, embodiment practices, healing, and positive disruption very intentfully to take my clients from stuck to undeniably affirmed and self-accomplished. I found what makes me powerful and undeniably luminescent and incandescent. I am here to empower a posse of souls, of mavericks, of creatures of the daring to do as much if not more for themselves and for the worlds they inhabit, impact, transform, and transcend. Every day. Deathlessly. And purposively. Remember, transformation is only the beginning. Be the first one to buy Ches’s book: “Decolonize your language to sanitize your mind” by signing up to their exclusive monthly newsletter right here. Check out their amazing world-class free education content through their official company website. Sift through their value-driven host of next-level international podcast interviews. Join their tribe and their world, where impact meets healing and transformation, for more content, next-gen coaching, and r/evolution. For more info, follow Chesline on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit her website!

Written by: Jacqueline Rhule, 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. After all, it doesn’t stop terrible stuff from happening in your life, and the world does it. Better to be “realistic” and not expect too much, so you don’t get disappointed, right? You know, be prepared for the worst – so you can see those bad things coming a mile off? Well, many years ago, I used to feel just like that. Frightened to let myself be fully happy. Thinking that if I let my guard down, then those “bad” things would come tumbling down on me, like an avalanche – sneakily waiting for me to relax and actually start to enjoy myself and life. I’d somehow settled into my own level of how happy I’d allow myself to get before I’d let in the feeling of dread that would start to consume me. A warning that something was, surely, bound to go wrong next, wasn’t it? “Don’t get too comfy, Jacks, ” I’d tell myself. “You know it can’t last because look what happened last time – you didn’t see that disaster coming, did you?” And the biggest thing I’d believed was, when “this” and “that” happens, then I’d be happy. So I figured that, in the meantime, I was fully entitled to be as miserable as sin – until then! You could keep your “Pollyanna” attitude and your “positive thinking” rubbish. How could I possibly be expected to be happy when I didn’t have what I wanted… like, duh?! Just way too much to ask of a mere human being like me – or so I thought. Kind of like holding your own happiness levels and peace of mind to ransom. Give me this thing I want badly “unpredictable and variable life,” and only then I’ll allow in my happiness. The trouble is you are only hurting yourself and diminishing your own life's existence. The reason being, none of us know the precise time of receiving what we’ve been asking for. In the meantime, life is carrying on regardless. It’s what it does and will continue to do forevermore. It’s like leaving your happiness to an unknown time frame. Do any of those thoughts sound familiar to you? To expand the question further, why is it worth the time and effort to keep yourself happy, in the here and now, regardless of the outside conditions? And is it even possible? In answer, the following are x3 good reasons why you should put in the effort. 1. Everything we desire in life; the dream home, fulfilling business/job, ideal partner, desired lifestyle, full health, great family, and enough money in the bank to spend how we wish, is all so that we can experience happiness. Now, human beings are pretty smart. We can think beyond our present circumstances. Oftentimes to our detriment (e.g., worry and fearful thoughts). When we feel any emotion, our brains do not know if it’s happening in real life or just in our imagination. Our body chemistry and physiology will adjust to reflect whatever we are feeling strongly and regularly. Take the opportunity to conjure up those feelings of happiness, joy, and peace of mind right where you are. Before you actually receive the things you’ve decided will bring you happiness. It is perfectly doable, and you will feel happy on your way to getting what you want. Not wasting any of your precious life being unhappy. Happy before you get the stuff and happy when you get the stuff. 2. Let’s assume you don’t leave this earth prematurely but live on well into, say, you’re 90’s. Look at the estimated time you personally have until then and ponder this: Do you really want to spend that remaining time dogged by incessant worry and dissatisfaction, with happiness only making brief appearances in your lifetime? I am sincerely hoping your answer to that is a “Hell No!” It’s an opportunity, to be honest with yourself as to where your happiness levels currently sit. Ask yourself what the standard of happiness is that you want for yourself and the rest of your life. My bet is that it’s a lot more than where it currently is. On the other hand, in the absence of a crystal ball, we don’t know when our time on this wonderful planet will be up. Putting it bluntly, it could be tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade… who knows? Therefore, how about being as happy as possible, right here and now – as if it were your last day on earth. And do that every day. 3. I’ll say this first, it is not your job to make others happy, and you are not responsible for their joy and neither are they for your joy and happiness. (That lets everyone of the hook then – phew!) However, we live and interact with others. No woman/man is an island. One of the many joys of being alive is forming relationships, of all kinds, with others. Relationships, I believe, are one of our biggest teachers in life too. Reflecting back to us what we are putting out there energetically and what we think of ourselves, in respect of the people we choose to interact with. We naturally want to see others we have relationships with happy and at peace in themselves. That’s a wonderful and caring desire to have. I am a firm believer that the biggest gift you can ever give to others is your own well-cultivated inner happiness. When you are stable and happy within yourself, you are a joy to be around, and you give others permission to be themselves (wherever they happen to be in their own happiness journey). They do not have to force themselves to be happy just to keep you happy. Your happiness always has the opportunity to positively influence others too, by being a living example, not by telling them they should be happier. There are more reasons why happiness is worth the time and effort, but I thought the three given would provide you with a good understanding to start with. How it’s worked and continuing to work in my own life: Fast forward to now, some 13 years later, after putting in the “happiness” work and continuing it on deeper levels (it’s never done), my health and ability to cope with unexpected life challenges have massively improved. I sleep better and have considerably less fearful thoughts, and general anxiety is barely there. Whenever I do experience worries, I can more quickly turn things around in my head. I’ll share with you that I am now working on being able to stay centered in my soul/consciousness, more of the time, on a moment-to-moment basis, and even when I bump into the things in life that can trigger me. With my current spiritual practices , my happiness levels are only getting better and better. I can wholeheartedly tell you that taking the time and putting in the effort to keep yourself happy is the biggest gift you can give yourself and the most rewarding job you could ever undertake, should you accept the position. I had set an intention long ago that I wanted to live like it’s Heaven on Earth, regardless of whether I have the things I want in life or not - watch this space. It is possible, and I wish you the same. Jacqueline Rhule Follow Jacqueline on Facebook, Linkedin , and Instagram. You can also visit her website . Read more from Jacqueline ! Jacqueline Rhule, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jacqueline Rhule is a Business Coach (Business Coaching With Heart & Soul) who helps entrepreneurs to grow their businesses with much more ease and flow and turn their passion to prosperity faster. She also coaches you in the other areas of your life to ensure an optimum work-life balance, all within the realms of personal growth, spirituality, and the law of attraction. She believes that most of the work lies in improving the mindset and clearing any negative thought patterns that are holding you back. When coupled with practical business steps and advice, an unstoppable momentum to success and greatly enhanced overall happiness levels can be achieved. Email her at jackie@serenitycoachingtips.com.

Written by: Lisa M. Kindle, 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. As a Therapeutic Art Life Coach, I work with clients from my heart, based on years of professional experience and training. I light up when I am able to inspire someone to start a business, follow her passion, fulfill a life-long dream, or overcome a limiting belief. As much as it lights me up to share my passion with the world, the most powerful message comes from those with who I am in contact with online or in person. Art by Lisa M. Kindle What’s really amazing is that statistics reveal 88% of consumers trust customer testimonials of a product or service as much as a close friend or family member.* A customer, client, or a follower's testimonial not only gives credibility to a business, service, or product, it also affirms that business and helps them secure their subject of expertise. One follower recently said to me, “Thank you, Lisa, for always being so innovative…..a wonderful artist, leading those who are lost to be found while you bring art into their lives. You are like a candle in the darkness.” What are your customers (clients) or followers saying about you? What do you do really well? How can you leverage that to both empower yourself and inspire others? Do you see how it goes hand in hand? One thing I love to do with my clients and creative community members is to challenge them. They know this. As I learn from others, I create growth and relay that to my community and into my work (coaching). As I reflect on my coaching, I can see how the words of a customer (client) or follower can act as a mirror to my own work. Here’s my challenge to you, my reader: I encourage you all to write an affirmation for yourself today based on a compliment received from a client or follower testimonial. Say it back to yourself and see if you really believe it. If not, write it down and repeat it at least once a day to yourself until you do! For extra emphasis, say it in front of a mirror while you look back at yourself. Testimonials serve as powerful affirmations to our work. I use color in my work (coaching) to create affirmations and anchoring beliefs. Taking a testimonial, you struggle to embrace 100% would be a great way to create a new belief. If you are interested in learning more about using color as an anchor to change a belief, please consider taking my workshop, “Empower Yourself with Color, Create Your Own Color Affirmation Deck™.” You can sign up on my website at www.artsoulliving.com. You can find the information by clicking on the tab “shop.” This is a one-of-kind program developed from my work in the therapeutic arts and life coaching. Remember, together, we shine brighter. Embrace the praise you are given. Share the light and pass it on! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Read more from Lisa! Lisa M. Kindle, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lisa Kindle, a therapeutic art life coach and leader in building a creative community that inspires people worldwide is dedicated to a creative lifestyle with a personable approach and an artsy twist! She now coaches one-on-one and in group settings, including retreats and workshops. With over 25 years of professional experience as a corporate designer, photographer, graphic designer, small business owner, and all-around visionary, Lisa's creative spirit shines through connecting people and ideas.

Written by: Trevor Folgering, 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. It is commonly thought of that as you age, it is harder to lose weight… And to be honest, that is a myth! Age has nothing to do with how slow or how fast your body responds to weight loss. What does matter is the types of foods that are eaten consistently each day. And this is where most individuals falter… They have never truly been taught what foods to eat daily to help them lose weight and stay lean year-round. So, if you are 40, 60, or even 90, pay close attention to what I’m going to say here because this will change your body and your life. Food is a Drug You have to realize that all food affects the body differently. I would go as far as to say that food is a powerful drug that influences your entire body. Food is so powerful that it can influence our pleasure and feel-good hormones in our brain (Dopamine and Serotonin), and it also can have a major influence on other hormones like Testosterone and Growth hormone. However, eating the wrong types of foods over a period can destroy cells and cause the body to break down. And no synthetic drug will be able to fix that…. Ever! Synthetic drugs like Statins, Blood Pressure pills, or even simple things like Aspirin are all “Band-Aid” solutions to your health and weight problems. What you want to focus on is using food to heal your body. Yes, food is that powerful! It can actually heal cells. But you must eat the right foods in the right combinations timed perfectly throughout the day, and this is where most people falter. A History Lesson on Foods This is due to the horrible misinformation that has been shared for decades around foods and what they do to the body. This started as early as 1953, with Ansel Key’s famous 7 country study. He wanted to test his hypothesis that Dietary Fat causes Heart attacks, High Cholesterol levels, and Obesity. He studied the effects of Saturated fats on individuals who lived in 22 different countries across the world. The problem was that Key’s “Cherry-picked” the results from his study. He ignored most of the data that he collected and only used the data that supported his theory. Inevitably he lied about Saturated fats and if they are harmful to the body. The sad truth of this whole situation is that he sold this lie to the United States Government, who then implemented a plan to have the individuals of the United States of America to focus entirely on refined carbohydrates like Wheat, Cereals, and Breads… Which made sense to everyone as the world was starting to turn to the Agricultural Age, where farming was booming… Dietary fat became taboo and was largely ignored for its amazing health benefits. “If you eat a diet that is high in fat, you will become fat, so instead consume a diet that is high in carbohydrates like bread, flour, and potatoes.” This false agenda that was pushed to the world has caused major sickness, disease, and obesity for over 65 years. This lie, which was started in the 1950s, has spread like cancer throughout the world, and now we as health professionals are educating the public on the truth when it comes to foods that heal the body and foods that destroy the body. Foods that Heal the Body The truth is that Carbohydrates can cause major illnesses, diseases, and sickness in the body if eaten too frequently and in excess. Carbohydrates immediately turn to glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream, and this can cause significant issues later on. If your body cannot deal with all the excess sugar that is accumulating in the arterial walls, then that sugar gets converted to Triglycerides and stored as body fat, or it will move around the arterial walls causing massive inflammation and damage. This inflammation is what brings about Cholesterol to help heal the damaged cells. And Cholesterol gets unfairly blamed when it is the excess glucose that is the major culprit in this whole scenario. Foods That Heal And guess what, the foods that can heal your body are saturated fats. The food that has been villainized for over 65 years can help drive down inflammation and improve the bodies’ ability to use its own body fat for energy. So, what types of foods should you focus on if you’re a man over 40 who wants to lose weight and become the healthiest version of himself? The answer now should be obvious. Dietary Fats! Fats have a powerful healing property within the human body. You should be focusing on consuming these highly nutritious foods that are higher in fats: Avocados Extra Virgin Olive oil Coconut oil Salted Butter Avocado Oil Almonds High Fat Whipping Cream Hemp Hearts Chia Seeds MCT oil Bu incorporating all these fats in your nutritional protocol, you will lose belly fat and become the healthiest version of yourself. Within the Biohack the Fay Body Transformation System, we create scientifically-backed meal plans that help drive your body into a fat-burning metabolism. If you have 40-60 lbs. of fat to lose and are tired of trying diet after diet, let’s connect. You can head over to our website to get more information and read our clients success stories: https://www.biohackthefat.com/biohack-your-fat Once you're there, click on the “Get Started Button” enter your contact information, and you will be redirected to our online booking page, where you can book a time to speak with one of our Biohacking coaches. Remember, for you to truly create the body and health you deserve, then ignore the misinformation that has been spoon-fed to society that fats are bad. That is truly misguided and will keep you stuck and not able to lose any weight. Fats drive the fat-burning process, so eat a diet that is higher in fats, and you will become Biohacked! We look forward to connecting with you real soon! Trevor Folgering – founder of Biohacked. For more information, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Trevor! Trevor Folgering, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Trevor Folgering is a leader in the weight loss and nutrition industry. For over 22 years, Trevor has relentlessly pursued the truth regarding losing body fat correctly. By uncovering the truth about how our bodies utilize body fat, Trevor created particular nutritional protocols that allowed him to tap into his own body fat stores and lose 40 lbs. of body fat in a concise period of time. He achieved this without going on a low caloric diet or restricting the foods that he ate. As a result, he now helps men and women achieve the body and health that they truly deserve through the science of Biohacking. He is CEO of Biohacked, global online health, and body transformation company. His mission: To shift the weight loss industry's paradigm and re-educate the world on the proper methodologies of losing excess body fat correctly.

Written by: R. Natasha Stephens, 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. If we need eyes for sight, but we don't need eyes for vision, then what do we need for vision, and what is the difference between the two? First, We need faith for vision. Secondly, the difference is that sight is a function of the eyes which has physical limitations, and vision is a function of the heart but not a literal physical heart but the metaphorical heart that we mostly refer to as the seat of emotion, mind, reason, will, intellect and purpose. Ahhh... Yes, purpose! My favorite topic of discussion. Why? Because I believe the world would be a better place if more of us knew the purpose of our existence. We all have one, but not all of us will discover it in our lifetime. My mission is to help as many people as I can find their purpose. So here's a start. In my previous article, Are You Thriving or Surviving? I discussed how to find 20 minutes per day of quiet time, asking God what did He create you for. I believe if you don't know the reason for your existence, then you are merely surviving. However, to thrive is to know and live the life specifically designed for you without the limitations and restrictions from fear and unbelief. When in pursuit of your purpose, a vision is revealed, or you may already have a vision in your heart, and because there is no manifestation, it requires faith to cultivate that vision. The biblical meaning of faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If you already have a vision, I strongly urge you to not ignore it. It is there for a reason. In order for the vision to materialize, our innate gifts and talents must be utilized. What would you happily do without getting paid for it? Do you know what skill comes effortlessly to you? You may not recognize it as a gift because it is natural. Sometimes it takes those who know us to open our eyes to the gifts we already possess, although some gifts manifest along the way. Take some time to look inside. It is not apart from you, so you no longer need to search outside of yourself. There is a reason why God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. The benefit of sight is restricted to the physical. Therefore, it is temporary. However, vision by faith is limitless and boundless because anything is possible if you believe. Believing is seeing, not the other way around! Follow Natasha on her Facebook and Linkedin. Watch her videos from her Youtube channel. Read more from Natasha! R. Natasha Stephens, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Natasha, a retired dental hygienist, turned entrepreneur as owner of Transformational Coaching with Natasha and a women's athleisure clothing brand, Ripped and Restored, is committed to the transformational journey as she discovers new ways of being and higher than realized levels of existence through the power of pain and using it to her advantage as a springboard to create an ideal life for herself. Along the way, she answered the call to empower others with this revelation. With fiery passion and authentic advocacy, she is dedicated to revolutionizing mental health and fitness by embracing the pain of conflict and resistance in whatever form as a weapon for good. Realizing that thoughts shape reality, Natasha's coaching model is built around mindset shifts resulting in realized potential. She loves to volunteer in local and global dental missions, physical exercise, and travel in her spare time.

Written by: Tunji Olujimi, 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. Is writing a book something you have always wanted to do? It might be on your vision board, or it might be on your bucket list. I really do believe that everyone has a book in them, but they just do not know it. Sometimes you are reluctant to get started on a book idea because there is an internal voice saying: I don’t know how to write a book I don’t know where to get started I don't have the time to write it I keep getting writer’s block I’ve got nothing to write about No one is interested in what I have to say... When it comes to writing your book, you should understand that writing is not the first step but rather planning your idea is. There are three components that will help you get started on your book idea — finding an opportunity to write about, researching your book topic, and getting it written and published. With these 3 keys, you have the tools to get from idea to manuscript in no time and bestseller status. Opportunity Most people feel they have nothing to write about, but when you look around you, life presents opportunities that we can write about if we are careful to pay attention. I remember when the pandemic hit, so many people seized the opportunity to write a book about it. Find an opportunity in the space that you’re in, which might be finance, health, and fitness, personal development, career development, business strategies, relationships, or spirituality. Be aware of gaps in the market and find a topic that suits the audience. There are so many topics you can write about to help your audience by giving sound advice, helping them reach achievable goals, providing tips to building their businesses, and open their eyes to being financially free. Another way to find a topic to write about is to explore your passions. This can provide great ideas for a book. Write a list of everything you are passionate about and spend time brainstorming ideas about how to turn each one into a book. You can also look at your life experiences and find a topic that way. You may have been through something in life that can help and inspire someone else who is going through a similar situation and looking for a way out. It could be in relation to relationships, business, health, career, family, or even your faith. Knowledge After finding an opportunity to write about, you have got to acquire the right. Knowledge to put it in a book. This may be the most important step of the process because, without it, you cannot complete your book. Once you have the knowledge, which in this case, I would call your planning and research stage, then you are on your way to getting your book done. You must be able to do the research on that topic you sourced out as an opportunity. For example, once you know you would like to write about how to be successful, do the research so that you will be able to provide the right information to your readers. Spend time finding out everything you need for your book to make it a best seller. The content within a book is as important as being an author. If you produce low-quality content, then you will never be seen as the go-to person or an expert in that field. Make sure you have done your homework, and you know your stuff before producing the content and publishing your book. In order to get your book done, you need to do your research on various things such as who your target audience is and their needs, how to become a bestselling author, how to get your book published, and what platforms you can use for promoting your book. Action The final piece to completing the puzzle is making sure you take action on writing the book and getting it published. Once you have found your opportunity and you have the knowledge, then create the time to write your book every single day. This is vital in the steps to becoming an author because a book idea must be written and published for you to call it a published book. If you never write it, your book idea will not come to life. Find your writing place and have a set time to write and get it done daily, and you will see that in no time, you will be an author. Get your book cover done, edit your book, format it and then go on to the publishing platform and get your book published. Commit to doing what it takes to get your idea out of your head, onto paper, and into a book. As they say, “Action speaks louder than words.” You must be a person of fast response, don’t delay, just do it and make it happen for you. Put your head down and let the writing flow so your book can be ready in time for your launch. The world is waiting to read your message or your story, so take action now to boost your business, gain a new income stream, attract new clients, become an expert and authority in your field. You must make the move to writing and publishing that book as it can be used as a marketing tool for you and your business. Do not let anything stop you in your tracks to becoming an author but go all in and play full out because you have got what it takes to make it. Go Write and Publish Your Book Now! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my more website for more info! Read more from Tunji! Tunji Olujimi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Tunji is a speaker, pastor, author, and CEO of Accelerated Authors Academy. He has worked with over 100 people to write and publish their books and has coached over 1000 people through workshops and speaking. He helps faith-based coaches, consultants, business owners, speakers, trainers, and entrepreneurs to create authority, profitability, credibility, and visibility using the power of writing and publishing their first book in 90 days or less to build their business, profile and brand. He is also the CEO of Accelerated Properties Ltd, where he finds and secures below-market value deals for property investors to build their portfolios. Tunji was born premature and weighed 1 pound with no hope of living along with his twin sister, but he also had a hole in his heart and needed an operation. In addition, growing up with Dyslexia made it difficult for him to excel in education. Still, it also gave him the determination to make something of himself, and he has now written and published five books, started two businesses, and running a ministry. He is married to Elizabeth Olujimi, and they have a beautiful daughter called Janaya Olujimi.

Written by: Britta Lübbing, 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. “It is okay if you are getting slower. We are going up a freaking mountain.” I am a Dreamer. I can spend hours and hours and hours imagining a version of myself in different kinds of circumstances. Sometimes, I am the funny one, sometimes the well-dressed one, sometimes the powerful one or a bold one, and so on. I love the feeling in my belly when I see myself in those scenarios. It feels exciting. It makes me feel alive. Dreaming is so easy. Somehow I always knew I wanted to live a big life. Deep within me, it felt like I was supposed to. What does that even mean? Good question. While trying to figure out that big question mark inside of me, connecting the dots, exploring the unknown step by step, I have realized it is fascinating how nothing makes sense, how life is messy and chaotic, how we think we are in control only to find out a moment later that we are not. I assume that this is why so many of us give up. Carrying the complexity of life, trying to give all of it meaning, allowing ourselves to manifest our dreams is not easy. One month ago, I thought I had it all figured out. Not that my journey so far had been straightforward, rather the opposite. Remember that my starting point was to live big. Somehow I had ended up studying business for reasons that made sense at that time, even though I would not claim that it was a choice by heart. Fashion had always been something I loved, so my new goal was to find my way into that magical world. I also discovered my passion for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, which I have talked about in other articles of mine. So there I was with three topics in my hands — being a Fashion Entrepreneur, this seemed to be it. But, as a 20-year-old talking about Fashion & Entrepreneurship, a very common belief that was shared with me was that I was too young with not enough understanding or insights and because I didn’t feel confident enough to prove people wrong, I decided to gain working experience as it was told to me. Luckily, I figured that the fact that I couldn’t be an Entrepreneur right away would not stop me from learning how to be, think or act like one. Hence, whatever webinar, book, article, or person crossed my path that helped me learn how to build an (online) business, I soaked it up. This included Personal Development, Personal Growth, and any other topic that connected me to the world and lifestyle I was so fascinated by. Long story short, as little as straightforward as the rest of what you will hear, I got a job in the fashion industry, which I would describe as my dream opportunity. „I will work a few years and then start my own business'', was what my two years younger self wrote down in her 5-10 year plan. Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly I had a lot of time to think and browse the internet. As a personal development addict, I saw opportunities all around, and one of them was a free webinar I stumbled upon marketing a 6-month program to become a Life Coach (you could also say that I was the victim of great Facebook Ads Placement, but it wouldn’t sound so great). Since the holiday destination of the year 2020 was called staycation, I decided to invest my holiday budget as human capital; half a year (and a lot of hours of studying) later, I had a piece of paper in my hands that certified me as a Life Coach. I felt on top of the game, had I not only beaten my 5-year plan but also supposedly figured out what my purpose should be. Fashion was out, Coaching was in, and driving the highway already, it seemed appropriate to speed up even more and start my own Coaching business. To do that, I bought into a 3-month program of a Business Coach which taught me everything you need to know as a „New Age Coach.” I learned a lot, I tried new things which excited me and I was looking forward to launching my first Coaching program. That is one side of the story. The other side is that I felt more and more tired. Every spare minute, every spare penny, I spent on building my business. Instead of following my heart, one of my biggest principles in life, I started following my mind. “Do more,” “Don't give up.” I neglected my health, my friends, and the present moment. The goal to have my own business had always been that I would be able to choose the lifestyle I wanted to live, define my personal freedom, but suddenly, I felt caught in hustle culture, stuck in work. When I launched my program, I was done with the world and honestly happy that nobody signed up for my program. It felt like I had pushed and pushed and pushed towards something I wasn’t even sure I wanted. Not that I doubted my ability to coach, but from the beginning, I had questioned whether I wanted to work as a Coach at all (and kindly ignored that thought). I had never connected to the word Coach. Ask me if I want to be a writer, and I would say yes without a doubt – but Coach? In my attempt to follow my dream of wanting to live big, I realized that by making an effort to get closer and closer towards that goal, I had somehow ended up “niching” it down to make it more “sellable.” I had made decisions based on short-term gains rather than by focusing on the bigger picture. To get out of the rat wheel, I took some weeks off away from my ambitions to rest & reflect. “It is okay if you are getting slower. We are going up a freaking mountain”, is what my Spinning instructor recently said while we were increasing the intensity (meaning it gets much harder to push the pedal), and I will never forget those words. Having a strong connection to nature and the alps where I grew up, I immediately built the connection to all the time I had spent in the mountains throughout my life. For me, our dreams are like mountains. Of course, you can decide to walk in the valleys where the view is shitty. It is going to be easy and safe because you can just follow the path a thousand people have defined for you. Your dreams equal mountains. When you start, you don’t know what to expect. You only have a vision of the top, but to get there, you need to climb “the freaking mountain.” There are so many quotes about living your dream life and how it has to look like, we start thinking in Pinterest quotes and Instagram pictures. Because our life doesn’t equal that fake reality, we come up with 1000 reasons why it is not worth it even trying. The visualization of our dream(s) is so much more perfect than we believe we are that we will never allow ourselves to think we are capable of living them. I am learning that – being a dreamer – I need to let go of the unrealistic expectations I have around how living my dreams is going to happen and learn to co-create with life. Life doesn’t make sense, and so living our dreams doesn’t make sense either. Conquering our dreams, our personal top, there is nothing perfect about that. It is not going to be as effortless as in our imagination. It will require us to slow down, to rest more, to go through the ups and downs. However, thinking of the view…where would you rather choose walking? The last months, my way of creation came from a place of lack. I had looked at what I didn’t have in my life and tried to find ways to add those things. The more I was focused on my future, the shittier my current circumstances, the more desperate I felt. Although I had already decided to climb my mountain and I had already gained height, I was only looking at the top and the path ahead – not the progress I had already made, the view I was already able to enjoy. By doing that, I had not only exhausted myself but also followed a path just for the sake of getting higher, only to realize later that there was a dead end because I had forgotten my heart somewhere 200 meters further down. Once you start climbing your mountain, the mountain is dedicated to you. Just because you haven’t reached the top yet, doesn’t mean it is not yours. My new way of approaching my journey is to look at the abundance, the possibilities, the amazing stuff that is already mine right now. Slowing down to discover all the beauty around me, moving up with a heart full of joy. Plus, since in my observation, most people only talk about their journey once they have reached their top because supposedly only by then we call people successful – nobody shares their way up, and that’s what I am here to change. Nothing I have done, seen, or experienced has been according to my roadmap. But: opportunities are there, sometimes hidden, sometimes strong and clear in front of my eyes. So apart from not knowing whether I identify as a Coach or not, as an Entrepreneur or not, as a Writer or not, what my niche is or how to make money with what I love, what I do know is that everything that is, has been and will be – it is all going to be worth it. As much as my mind wished that the top was already in sight (but who knows…maybe it is just around the next corner?), I feel powerful and strong in showing my honest and vulnerable self to you with the intention to inspire you to make your dreams come true despite your circumstances. Never forget that too many of us don’t live our dreams because we stick to the idealization in our imagination, while the reality is that life is never going to reach those standards. I want you to get out there and start looking for your mountain. Start climbing your mountain. Start right now and not the day after tomorrow. Start small. Allow yourself to grow and get stronger through the process. Allow chaos, confusion, and a pounding heart to be part of the deal. Your mountain is waiting for you! Practical Implications If you have never climbed a mountain in your life, you should – to fully understand my story (by the way, it doesn’t count to take the cable car to the top – there is no shortcut in life either). Ask yourself: What step can I take right now? (And don’t fall into the trap of believing that you are not the most perfect version of yourself yet because your mountain doesn’t require you to be perfect. It simply requires you to start.) Co-creating with life will maximize your level of happiness and empower you on your journey. It is good to have a roadmap but never forget that the real deal is the mountain! For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Britta! Britta Lübbing, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Britta is the founder of Bttrflymovment, a platform and community dedicated to supporting and connecting people in their 20‘s who are looking for a way to unlock their potential fully. After studying Business and getting a taste of a 9-5 corporate career, she quickly realized that this lifestyle would never allow her to “swim in the ocean” but rather lead to jumping from one aquarium into the next bigger one. Furthermore, she had friends and fellows around her with great ideas, ambition, and talent seemingly stuck, not knowing how to make their dreams come true. Britta’s passion for Self Development, true connection, and a fulfilled life eventually led to the vision of a safe space that would allow young people to transform from a caterpillar into a butterfly and also allow them to connect to like-minded people with shared expectations for life. Bttrflymovement was born. Britta loves to write, share and inspire through her journey according to the motto: Be the change you want to see in this world!

Written by: Santosh Naidu, 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. Namaste, Hola, Greetings, Halo! Trust everyone reading is vaccinated, safe and well — prayers for everyone’s wellbeing. What do you think of the headline picture? I was trying to get innovative with the angles of my library and at the same time use the various words in this picture to create a narrative from the random. Take a look at that picture again and see how many words you can come up with a second, third time around. You will be surprised that the more times you repeat, the more number of words your brain spots. That's how I conduct most of my coaching sessions, subtly pushing and prodding my clients to see beyond the usual, to spot patterns or order from chaos or see the picture in the picture or see beyond the usual, build focus, encouraging various points of view that will help get over binary thinking, explore and take cognizance of all that is being presented to us to experience every living moment. "Also, I am on a new mission as a co-founder of an AI-based app which will help those silently suffering from mental health issues." An output of over 5 decades of collective experience in the fields of clinical psychiatry and modern coaching methodology, our objective is to help people lead fulfilling lives. The app is being beta tested now. Back to the subject of this article, Wellbeing – What Is It? Have you spotted the book in the headline pic? This is my copy from 2010 when Gallup first came up with this publication on what it takes to lead a good life, the five essential elements that constitute our life holistically and when aptly measured deduce the state of our existence as Thriving, Struggling, or Suffering. The five elements are: Career Wellbeing Financial Wellbeing Physical Wellbeing Social Wellbeing Community Wellbeing When I first read the book in Oct 2010, I was sure that I was struggling or suffering and realized that I needed to work much harder to Thrive as per Gallup's definition, especially on physical, career, and social aspects because of my habits. I was physically fine, going to the gym 5 days a week, but certain habits and lifestyle I settled into, along with leading a regional team in a global investment bank, were building a distance between me and my long-term wellbeing. It was imperative I needed to act. "Making lifestyle changes or overcoming certain habits continues to be a challenge for many in this day and age." Over the years, I made certain changes, and I still felt that I am still struggling and not 100%. Mind you, I have not taken any assessment to measure what my state is, but that’s how I felt in my gut. Thus began a new project to be honest with myself, introspect, learn from what’s not working, practice my coaching tools and begin afresh. It included restarting spiritual practices from my childhood but not where I left off but started as a beginner and, to my utter surprise, started feeling the positive change in about a few months. The pandemic impacted my business, too, but I was able to start a new habit, writing, and today I am writing to you. With confidence, you can take strategic risks, ideate, and innovate. “Felt a certain kind of buoyancy, increased confidence about myself.” The changes that made the difference included changing my job(s), stopping some old habits, relearning some practices, started new relationships and habits, which in effect redefined my unique formula. To the Gallup list, I add more elements: Spiritual Wellbeing Mental Wellbeing; and my response (my unique formula) One can ask what the difference between mental and spiritual is. Well, I can define it for you, but in a spirit of creativity, and in the short term, I encourage you to define it for yourselves And the next element was an added measure of “my response,” meaning it’s not about making changes only but also factoring in how am I responding to the change, the people, situations, or places consciously or sub-consciously so that I can sustain the change for better Let’s assess the baseline prefixing the following questions with, Do I: suffer from anxiety, anger, insecurity, prejudices, bias, or prone to emotional outbursts? feel threatened in the presence of a few people? feel safe, calm, and content in certain settings? leave people better feeling than how I would find them? radiate an energy that is warm, human, and caring? etc. The measure of how I am responding to life was a significant finding in my research because we are so used to getting measured by external sources, most of our responses are influenced by what others think or say. What I emphasize here is to focus on the internal causes, the voice within, what it's telling me that needs to be acknowledged and acted on to thrive. In the words of Daniel Goleman, “The benefits of mindfulness and meditation are not exclusive to what you experience while doing it, it extends how you move through life.” Fast forward to now , and I make the following points: The measure of looking inward is a critical measure to develop our wellbeing. The impact of the pandemic is unprecedented on the global business landscape. Therefore, it’s critical for organizational processes to prioritize employee wellbeing metrics and ensure the psychological safety of employees working from remote locations. Physical wellbeing stood out as the most significant because you can experience it across other elements when you have a life, but without it, what's the point. Those who had existing comorbidities were dropping like tenpins, and this has put brought the focus back on our lifestyles and habits. Even healthy people got infected by the virus when they went to get themselves checked in a hospital, which begs the question: "How do I determine my physical health?" As per the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda, one could measure based on these 8 parameters: timely bowel movements every morning w/o medication no excess weight clear skin feeling energetic throughout the day strong sense of hunger at least twice a day no body part is aching or calling out for attention getting a good night sleep experiencing positive thoughts "And what you eat influences what you think." Nutrition impacts both physical and mental health performance and a very important consideration. Hence I ask again, "How do you measure your life?" Following are a set of interesting questions the Native Americans asked of the sick: When was the last time you sang? When was the last time you danced? When was the last time you told your story? One of the reasons I use the Native Americans' example is because they never cared about financial wellbeing. They were most adept at a symbiotic relationship with nature. Wealth or lack of it is more a cause for mental health issues in the present day than an independent measure by itself that impacts our wellbeing. Moving on to career wellbeing, one aspect everyone recognizes is job satisfaction and its cascading impact on all other elements of wellbeing. A lack of a livelihood can be very stressful that can cause suffering and lead to other undesired consequences. Employees, when placed in roles based on their talents, where bosses are coaches, are recognized for their contribution at work are proven to be more engaged and productive. Organizations perform at excellence when internal customers feel good about themselves. Just when we thought we had it all covered comes an interesting stat: Employees engaged but not thriving have a 61% higher rate of burnout often or always 68% of the global population is not Thriving. 43% of employees experience stress globally, up 30% from a decade ago 75% of suicides are male. Therefore based on my experience and research, I need to submit that it is a combination of problem identification, accurate measurement, and analysis combined with our own unique ability to execute that should help us overcome challenges. That unique ability becomes a ‘winning formula’ as a blend of talents, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, derail factors, lessons from experience, etc., that help us deal with various curveballs of life. The AI-based app we developed will help with problem identification, and the bespoke coaching mechanism will help in accurate measurement, analysis, and psychometrics will help develop implementation plans to embark on your wellbeing journey. This does not happen overnight but needs determination, discipline, and persistence. Over the next few months, I hope to reveal more about these elements in my own ubiquitous way but in the meanwhile need to ask you, the reader, about what you think of the factors I describe and the significance of those in your life. Are you thriving, struggling, or suffering? A few additional questions to ponder: When ill, do you go to a doctor or resort to self-medication? What does your fitness routine include? What are you doing for your career wellbeing, crisis vs. opportunity, pivoting strategies, talent discovery? What are you doing about the mental health of your children who are under tremendous pressure due to education/examinations? What change(headline pic) have you made post-pandemic with your lifestyle? What new habits have you started that will help your wellbeing? What change are you making at home to promote harmony? What is your measure of mental health? These are indicative questions and the idea to improve awareness and make informed judgments about health and wellbeing. My programs will help you with identifying those issues and working with you to develop your unique formula that should get your learning started. Contest alert : All those who can pick >8 words from the headline picture and match them with words in the body of the article will stand to gain a 15% discount on my personalized coaching programs for successful sign-ups in July and August 2021. T&C apply Let’s bounce back from the pandemic. As Rafa Nadal says — Vamos! Coach Santosh Naidu For more info, follow me on LinkedIn , Twitter , or visit my w ebsite ! Santosh Naidu, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Santosh Naidu is a Management Consultant and a Brainpower Coach with over two decades of international experience across Asia, N America, and Europe. At the turn of the century, he was employed with GE Capital, IBM, and Fidelity Investments and, in his last role, was heading HR S Operations Excellence for the APAC region at Deutsche bank group. He has been running his consulting and coaching practice for the last 10 years under the brand name santhnaidu®. His objective is to facilitate relevant change and human wellbeing. He is excited about solving some of the most pressing problems, such as unemployment, mental health issues, and climate change . He is well known in industry circles for taking a stand on unethical practices. Over the years, he invested in treehouse building, soil rejuvenation and loves playing his part in innovating sustainability solutions. As a brainpower and strengths coach, he ensures wellbeing for his clients by diagnosing and addressing various issues impacting the modern populace. This is done by using credible surveys, credible APPs, and coaching methodologies. His unique coaching approach helps clients' spot causes affecting them, especially after the recent pandemic where many are struggling and suffering silently. Be it physical, mental, career, social, or community aspects, his unique coaching formula addresses most lifestyle aspects by helping his clients build strengths from natural talents, gain confidence from physical, mental, and nutritional methods to sustain the changes they make to successfully thrive.

Written by: Dusya Lyubovskaya, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. I worked recently with a client in Victoria, Australia. I will call her Renata R. Renata is the daughter of immigrants from Turkey. Renata has done different jobs in her early 20’s and decided to go into business. She chose a spiritual business, to be specific. Renata reached out to me because she needed help with mental blockages. We had a call where I offered a free consultation, and she shared her story / her problems. She has a business and wants to make it a spiritual business. However, she is not sure where or how to start. I asked her then what she meant by spiritual ? Renata was surprised by my question. Here is the issue, nowadays there are two definitions of the term spiritual. I am not necessarily talking about the dictionary version of spiritual. However, there are definitions that people use in 2021. One version people use is going to church or other religious institutions. The other version is believing in a higher power like the Universe without restriction to a certain religion. Renata was impressed and explained that she believed in angels and wanted to work with angels to guide future clients. However, she did not feel connected. I asked her to share about her childhood and when she first became interested in working with angels. After hearing her story, I realized that she needed a crystal healing session because of her mental blockage from not being able to connect, and I recommended ancestral healing to release the obstacles from her upbringing and limiting beliefs she was raised with. In my practice of helping entrepreneurs, I noticed that anytime entrepreneurs feel stuck or not being able to offer adequate services to clients/customers, it is always because of something that happened in their childhood and or family traditions. Her family was very spiritual. However, their idea of being spiritual was attending a religious institution, while Renata wanted to connect deeper spiritually. There is nothing wrong with either Renata or her family. It is simply that she wanted a deeper connection and was very talented. Her family just did not know how to connect deeper or was not aware that this was even possible. For Renata, it came naturally, and it confused her family, which caused them to neglect her in some ways, and that again caused her to feel lonely, which caused mental and emotional blockage. After the free consultation, I did an hour and 30-minute session entailing remote crystal healing to unblock her mind and help her reconnect with her ancestors. After the session, she was crying and releasing her emotional blockages and was able to connect with angels. I showed Renata how to pay attention to messages from angels and to let them guide her in working with clients in her business. Renata being able to work with angels and their guidance will help guide her to be of service to her clients and gain more clients and provide financial abundance. Follow me on Facebook , YouTube Channel , or visit my website for more info! Read mo re from Dusya ! Dusya Lyubovskaya, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dusya Lyubovskaya is a leader of ancient holistic modalities. After growing up with an abusive father, her trauma caused her to develop health issues that doctors could clear diagnose. Although Dusya has been passionate about science since her youth, she went into the medical field because she had to be the breadwinner at an early age but never gave up her dream of going into science. During her work taking care of patients, she realized there was more than western medicine could offer. However, she felt she was running into walls. Dusya took care of both of her parents, who died from terminal cancer, and knew that she could at least ease their suffering with the holistic modalities she learned about growing up. After her mother’s passing in 2014, she discovered meditation and Reiki, and a brand new world opened to her full of opportunities! She got trained in reiki, and after a year, she was encouraged by many clients to get paid because she appeared to be very talented. She would perform energy healing on and off on the side, and in 2018 with additional training, became a holistic life as her clients around the world greatly appreciated her positive energy and experience. Dusya has also evolved in her medical career and started speaking for health care agencies as well as government agencies seeking her advice and expertise. Dusya discovered that many chronic health issues in her clients were caused by trauma so she used her western medicine knowing combined with ancient healing modalities and has been very successful. Meanwhile, Dusya has expanded to helping entrepreneurs who struggle to make more than 5k by helping them increase their money mindset and helping them get unstuck by helping them with inner child soul retrieval and helping them reconnect with their inner child as every issue we face as adults is affected by what we learned as children.