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. Have you ever wondered can I really make an impact in the world? Do I have what it takes to influence others, or how do I start making more income? I think we all have those thoughts at some point in life because we desire to make a difference in our world. At some point, I never thought I could ever share my message because of being dyslexic, but when I wrote and published my first book, things changed. I believe we all have a message to share with the world, but some write ourselves off because we feel we do not have what it takes to make it happen. The funny thing is we all have a story to share that can help someone out there make a change in their life or business. Books become your legacy! One of the best ways to impact, influence, and income is by sharing your message in a Book. In addition, writing and publishing a book positions you as an expert, giving you credibility, which in turn helps increase your impact, influence, and income. A book brands you and your business; if you have a book idea, determine your topic or niche and go for it. Think about the following areas: Your purpose. Your passion. Your business. Your values. Your interest. Your clients and customers you want to attract. 5 Reasons to share your message with a book 1. Establishes you as an expert/authority. A book will place you as an expert and authority in your field. You became known for that market and were looked at by others as the go-to person in that area. By writing a book on your niche topic, your customers will come running to you as the go-to person in your field. They will see you as the authority on a topic just because you have the answers in your book. A book helps build your personal and business brand identity! 2. Higher credibility. Once you write a book, it makes you trustworthy in the eyes of your customers. People buy from people they know, like, and trust, and by having a book, you become credible for them to spend their money on. A book sets you apart from the non-author colleagues in your field and now has become your business card. Your book becomes your new business card! 3. Builds your platform. Your status and your business change once you have a book published. You increase your platform and get more attention to your business. Your profile skyrockets once you are called a bestselling published author. Your name becomes known in your niche, and you create a space just for you. Build your platform, grow your business! 4. Increase cliental. Your client list grows once you have a book in your name about your expertise. It allows you to become visible, and your clients come running to you to spend their money. A book is a powerful tool used to open doors! 5. Creates new products. A book creates different products such as e-courses, online courses, live events, seminars, workshops, boot camps, and public speaking gigs. You can leverage the power of writing and publishing a book to help you and your business gain additional income from different streams. Your book becomes an extension of you and your business! These 5 things make you stand out from the crowd as you become the number one person in your field. Your Book will be the Hook you need to build that relationship with your clients far and near. Write your Book, Increase your Personal Brand and Build your Business Today! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my more website for more info! Tunji Olujimi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Tunji is a speaker, pastor, an 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: Pia Antico, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. “Let it go, let it go! Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it go...” When I was 42, I married abuser No.2 Abuser No.2 was 17 years younger & from an ethnic background that particularly prized youthful women & fertility, to the point that if you did not come up with ‘the goods’, you were cast aside for a new, more fertile model. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Long story short, after 3 years of hyped-up fertility therapy & 2 missed miscarriages needing surgical removal. Throughout this trauma, I put my body through, & the 'thanks for trying' prize was an abuse of every kind. Needless to say, for a while there, I was swimming in fear & self-loathing in my new country of origin. Yes, ladies, I sold up the life I had clawed back from after toxic marriage No.1 & a traumatic brain injury acquired at age 28; thrown in for good measure. The mistake at 42 was denied the stage of life I had entered, trying to wind back time & force myself to go in the wrong direction. At a fundamental level - I was ashamed of aging. I had bought into the misogynistic myth that unless I looked & acted as if I am 20, I have no value & was irrelevant. So I told myself I was lucky that a handsome 29-year-old chose to 'risk his future' to marry me. I believed I had to prove my worth. I got sold on the bullshit that the only way a woman 40+ would be desirable is if she denied the energy & symbolism of the life stage she was in. So I allowed myself to be devalued compared to a 20-something because I denied wearing the crown of my authentic Crone self. When I accepted & appreciated who I was & the entire scope of my life choices— that is when I stepped into my power. No more regrets! At 49, I no longer care what people think, I am not trying to relive the past & I am not worrying about the future. My power comes from tapping into my heartful wisdom and creating a life that I want, with no explanation & no apology. Living from my heartful wisdom in the present moment means I can take on limitless adventures with calm, clarity, & confidence. It means I can live & love fearlessly in complete authenticity. I get to define how my Sacred Crone shows up & what she looks like. I define 'the Crone' as the Divine Feminine wise woman, who has shifted her focus toward living her life from her innate wisdom & no longer holding back due to her fear-based, Ego overthinking. This life transition appears to kick in as we enter our Menopause cycle & it continues through to old age & death. Yes, living from your heartful wisdom will change the face of the Crone through the maturing life cycle & the benefits of living in your wisdom will produce different outcomes. An empty-nester in her 40s - 60s may be seeking to pick up what fell away during the motherhood years, or maybe she wants to redefine herself completely. A never-nested in her 40s - 60s may have had a life of uninterrupted self-prioritizing but is now looking to call in her Divine feminine wisdom to reshape & reenergize an outward-focused career & community building life. Neither are ready for retirement but are also no longer chasing youth. Their vitality & power is magnetic & mystical as she strengthens her connection to her heartful wisdom at the beginning of her Crone Quest. This is where I am currently at. Now, for some women, they never 'retire & continue feeding the Community with the fruits of their wisdom & continue to challenge the status quo well into their 90s. The call toward a Crone Wisdom Quest has them in retreat & solitude much earlier than the stereotypical retirement age slow down for other women. So, for me, the crone is not about strict biological or developmental life stages; our modern world has blurred the lines & extended our lives in ways never seen before. The Crone represents the tapping into our innate heartful wisdom & creating unapologetically authentic lives of fearless compassion & joy. It's all about squeezing every last drop of juice from our lives. It's about rebelling against the youth-obsessed misogynistic society that dismisses or pathologizes the aging of women. We all have our own realities, so what that looks like for you, for me & others, will not be the same. Archetypes & Stories are great. They help us try and describe the formless energetic truth of our existence. But they cease being useful when we limit our present moment wisdom experience by overthinking labels & definitions. So, when I call women over 40 on a Crone Quest. I am inviting them to tap into their innate heartful wisdom & create lives free of self-limiting labels. I want to invite women over 40 to learn from my mistake & embrace wholeheartedly this season of your life. Awaken the joy within©️ & embrace your Sacred Crone. Join me for this 90-minute masterclass where I will share with you how to effortlessly ditch your regrets & step into your unapologetic, authentic self after 40. Save your spot! *A replay will be emailed to those who register. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Pia! Pia Antico, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine “In the middle of a storm, it is possible to find peace and strength when we tap into our innate Spirit-led wisdom and step heartfully into the present moment.” - Pia Antico. Pia Antico is the Founder of Essential Awakening Mentoring, a Relationships Reset Mentor/Coach/Trainer, Speaker, and Author. Pia is also in a Creative Partnership with the charity “More to her life,” contributing a percent of her sales/fees to inspire and support women to dream and build beyond domestic violence. She guides and encourages unfulfilled women over 40 who have spent their adult lives looking after others and following ‘the rules’ to courageously step into the second half of their lives with a total ‘Joy Reboot’ using her signature AWAKEN Model © of joyful living, based on a 3-step transformational journey embodying the 6 key elements of joy. This allows her clients to respond to any situation with calm, clarity, and confidence, enabling them to live and love fearlessly in the present moment. Pia holds three degrees in Psychology, Counseling Training, and Certification in the Inside-Out Paradigm. Additionally, she learned how to thrive after two toxic marriages and following an accident that left her with a life-altering brain injury, all while she raised a resilient, courageous, and creative daughter who has now stepped into her own light and soulful marriage.

Written by: Ilham Musayev, 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 nowadays practically impossible to do anything without trust. But, as they say, it is “Hard to build and easy to lose.” I would like to shed light deeper into what trust is and why it is so important in today's conversation. My best example when referring to trust is about the bird sitting on the tree: “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but its own wings.” According to Cambridge Dictionary, trust (verb) is “to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or that something is safe and reliable.” Trust requires time! It develops gradually over time and results from personal knowledge and cognitive assessment of another person’s behavior. Credibility is created through people’s track record of openness, vulnerability, and experiences with each other. To me, trust is an extremely hard currency you can’t use everywhere and with everyone. Some people don’t even recognize it, so you can’t exchange anything with them on this subject. Trusting another person is always risky because it is unknown whether the other party can be trusted or not. Hence, one must be willing to take that risk with consideration of the “unknown.” We have certain circles where we build and experience trust very quickly, and that could be our family members, next of kin, or other people who know us even before we were born. Let’s now step out of our family circle and focus on why trust is important in relationships, business, leadership, and how it impacts us a people? Here is another favorite quote of mine comes: “I trust you is a better compliment than I love you, because you may not always trust the person you love, but you can always love the person you trust.” I think it explains a lot in just a couple of sentences and kind of adds a superpower to the person who earns it. I personally use the word trust carefully towards people and always re-assess my vision from time to time. As we said at the beginning, it is “Hard to build and easy to lose.” And if you look back, how many people you lost so far is far too much than the ones we built trust. So how is trust built up, and how do we know that we can trust someone? There are normally 6 elements or layers upon which the trust is built. These are: Dependability factor: A person or group that stay true to their promises or word and fulfills their commitments earn trust. Transparency: Trust is cultivated and built when people share their thoughts, feelings, and considerations; or when leaders openly share with employees what is going on, everyone knows where they are, trust can flourish. Capability: Another critical element that is instrumental to building trust. If a person, leader, or organization cannot do what they are supposed to do, how can we trust them? Hence, regardless of how good the person is, and we like them personally, they cannot win our trust if they’re not capable of doing what they promise. Authenticity: People truly sense when someone says something that is not sincere. Many leaders are insincere or inauthentic, and people naturally do not believe them. It is also relevant to other circles we relate to. Just think about it and try to recall how many similar cases you can remember? That is when trust is eroded. Fairness: Trust is like a two-way street. Some people's needs and desires are not important, and other people's perspectives have not always been considered. Trust cannot grow in a relationship where it’s all about one person or in a workplace where all the energy is focused on the company or leader. Fairness is one of the keys factors which helps to establish trust! Openness and Vulnerability: It is very critical when people apologize or acknowledge their mistakes. That is where others feel you are vulnerable and relate to them—people who push themselves to be “never wrong” never get the truth from others. In summary, timely apology or admission of being vulnerable is a powerful weapon to build or rebuild trust. Successful coaching and mentoring relationships are also absolutely built & depending on trust. There are specific qualities and behaviors, which define how successfully we build trust while coaching and mentoring. Here are some important ones: Remaining non-judgmental Importance of showing empathy Asking for other’s feedback and perspectives and accepting it. Demonstrating proactive listening Being vulnerable is always important Another important factor is confidentiality. That’s so important that it decides how to further not only our relationships with the coached ones will go, but our entire business. Imagine any coach or mentor is like a bank and people who use these services – clients (regardless internally or externally) who share their personal information. In fact, this is their personal assets they would never share with anyone else. And for us as a credible or reputable bank, we must take care of their assets – personal information. If we fail – then there should not be any surprises on why we are not successful. Trust within your relationships with the coaching clients is just as important as our personal relationships. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) identifies establishing trust and intimacy with the client as their core competencies. Likewise, number one on the list of coaching masteries by the International Association of Coaching (IAC) establishes and maintains a relationship of trust. Trust in the workplace is another important subject to pay serious attention to. It is clearly visible if employees enjoy a culture of honesty, maintain psychological safety, and exercise mutual respect. We just mentioned psychological safety. Specifically, trust helps build an environment of psychological safety, where all team members will feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, and expressing their thoughts. As we already covered, there are always some factors, which support building trust. Here are specific ones related to the workplace: Giving more time to listening Acting on feedback The power of simple appreciation and Thank You. Trust first before getting trusted Be open for support Build an inclusive culture Trust also heavily impacts collaboration in the workspace. If the members of the team lack mutual trust, they will be reluctant to offer smart ideas. But, unfortunately, you can’t compel trust; it either exists, or it doesn’t. The paramount paradox of trust is that it develops when people have shared strong experiences, but from another hand, these quality experiences require trust too. Thus, those teammates who already trust one another represent an essential foundation of trust on which others in the team can further build trust. Summary Trust is fundamental to life. If it is not possible to see trust in anything, life becomes meaningless. It is also hard to build relationships without trust. As humans, we are made to connect with others and trust others. Without connection, we would not be able to survive as a species. We thrive off of one another and learn and grow with one another. Beyond this simple fact, trust is important for healthy relationships for so many other reasons. Trust is a dangerous game. And before we play this game, better if we know all it’s rules first©. For more info, follow me on LinkedIn & Instagram! Read more from Ilham! Ilham N. Musayev, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ilham N Musayev is a mentor and coach (outside of the company he works for) who helps people unlock their potential in career and personal development. He also helps in personal effectiveness, setting realistic goals, and becoming organized and structured. Ilham also helps to re-gain the [lost] confidence and look to issues and problems from different perspectives. Another area of his support is helping to cultivate servant leadership via coaching and mentoring technics. Overall, he is an energy sector professional with 22+ years of the practical experience obtained by working in one of the leader companies in this sector. Ilham’s experience is very multilayered. He worked and gained his experience from the following functions: Wells, PSCM, Operations, Global Projects, by mainly providing project controls support. For the last three years, he worked in Modernization and Transformation and Agile Design Teams and helped his company transform into new working ways. He currently is a part of the Agility team and, as an agile coach, supports the company by implementing agile ways of working. Ilham holds the following professional certifications and accreditations: EMBA, PMP®, ICP-ATF; ICP-ACC; PSPO I; PAL I. He also is a Professional Life Coach and ICF Professional (Member). Ilham’s position is that staying open for support, serving people as a leader, and helping people grow is what wins hearts and minds and is the only answer to all questions. His mission: “Aspire to inspire before we expire.”

Written by: Martina Hrubes-Rios, 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. More and more people asking themselves the question, why am I here, and is there more to life? How can I live a more meaningful life? Life purpose does not mean that you were born to do only that one thing. More so, it is about aligning with your true self and discovering the innate gifts that you are bringing into this life with you. These gifts are your strengths and wisdom to be shared with your community to impact the collective positively. Most people look to find meaning in their jobs or the life roles they play. The purpose is about a feeling of valued contribution, the energy of how you do things that make you feel valued. For example, you could have the gifted energy of a teacher, but you don’t need to be working in a job as a teacher to self-express yourself in your true calling. You could be a visioner who is here to create and make a positive impact on your environment. Maybe you are a nurturer and find real meaning in being a mum. Or you could have the urge to stand up for your values and the things that you see need improvement in the world. You came here with a gift, and your life mission is to rediscover who you really are and offering that to the world. It is a process of self-discovery that never ends, and life has its way by showing us when we get off the right path by putting challenges such as wake-up calls and opportunities for us to expand. Life happens for you, not to you, and there are blessings in the curses. Contrast creates clarity, and often it is those challenging life experiences that shape us and help us grow. We are not here to get too comfortable falling into automated routines and hiding ourselves behind the walls of our self-made castles. Instead, we are here to live an abundant life by being who we truly are and offering that to the world, so we can collectively expand. Your life purpose is not just about yourself. Change your perception of consciousness to be part of Oneness. Purpose gives you direction, and living life with more intent is the way to a happier and healthier life. When you start focusing on what is important versus what is urgent, you will experience a more fulfilled life. Ask yourself: Am I my full expression? Am I living with my authentic power of my full self-expression? And are my actions aligned? You may have the perfect job and a loving family but still, feel something is missing? If you are not feeling satisfied and happy in the present moment or even notice your physical health is being affected, then that is a warning sign! It is important to know that the body-mind-soul connection is very real, and healing of the physical body includes aligning the mind-soul connection with it. Unfortunately, this ancient knowledge has been ignored for the last century and is now being rediscovered, practiced by healers, life coaches, and integrative medicine more and more. We must stop separating the three aspects of being. We can only live a healthy and harmonic life when we are positively tuned in and holistically connected to ourselves. Another misconception is that living in alignment means giving up your job and money securities. Sure, if the job does not feel in alignment with yourself and makes you feel stressed and unhappy, that is important to notice. But living with purpose is more about how you live your life and how you express yourself through it. In fact, when your actions align with your vision, and you’re following the path of synchronicities, you will feel looked after. As a creator of your life, you are welcome to attract all abundance to help you co-create on your path of truth. But, unfortunately, most people do not even get beyond their fears of losing their fake securities or are fearful of being judged. However, if you learn to play this game of life right, you will elevate yourself, experience liberation, and never look back. So, where to start? Well, firstly, you must be prepared to do the work of self-reflection, asking yourself the right questions, practice self-honesty and awareness. It is like peeling an onion: unlearning conditioning, quieting other people’s voices in your head, detaching from stories that no longer serve you, rediscovering your passions, looking at acquired skills and talents, and finding the hidden meanings in your life story. Lastly letting go of fears and limiting beliefs to follow your calling and learn to trust yourself in the process. Some people are very good at following their intuition, and others have fallen into the traps of other people's and societies expectations. You come to the world with a blank canvas, and it is up to you what painting you paint, but the true meaning of life is to live with integrity and be your authentic self, contributing with your gifts. Giving your life meaning also helps you make healthier choices for yourself, which means taking control rather than living by circumstance. The purpose is a direction; purpose motivates one to take aligned actions with your bigger vision. When you live in alignment with your true self, you experience excitement, freedom, flow, and ease. Purpose is about the life journey and not the destination. Through my Discover Your Life purpose coaching program, I take clients through 10 steppingstones of the self-discovery process and guide them to find the answers within themselves. It is delightfully fun and something everyone should take the chance to do for themselves. Knowledge is power, Knowledge about yourself is empowerment. When you show up happier in your own life, you will automatically positively impact your environment and the people who live within. Are you ready to live your life to the fullest? Make a statement of Intent to yourself today and start living life with more purpose. Align yourself with your dream and meet it halfway. Join Martina's Facebook group and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linke din . You can also visit her website for more info. Read more from Martina ! Martina Hrubes-Rios, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Martina specializes in Transformative Life Coaching working with tools and practices that help shifting one’s mindset, empowering her clients to live a happier and more fulfilled life. As a Life Story Coach, she helps her clients reach their higher potential by rewriting the persistent life stories that keep them stuck or playing out the same life script repeatedly. Besides Individual Coaching, she offers a monthly online coaching Bootcamp called: “Rewrite your Life Movie.”

Written by: Dr. Ann Moir-Bussy, 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 coach and therapist, I talk to many women moving towards mid-life or making the transition through menopause into the afternoon of life. So many acknowledge that they feel confused as they approach this transition. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, they are being challenged. There are ways to change this. The noise that holds us back. Women struggle with many challenges at mid-life – menopause, life changes, kids leaving home, and many external distracting factors. On the global level, the challenge and fear of the pandemic continue to loom over us, and so many outer voices almost drown out the deep inner voice that is stirring within, particularly at this stage of mid-life. The outer voices won't be still in the here and listen. So, instead, they continue to cry – "Let's go back to normal," "Let's get this over with," or as someone said to me recently, "I just put things on hold and then distract myself." Social media shouts the need for instant gratification, denial, use of band-aids. One radio station that plays classical music constantly interrupts the music with announcements of what is yet to come: "In 5 to 10 minutes you can hear this," or, "in half an hour you will be delighted with the song that is coming." It's always advocating for something more, something in the future. It is never encouraging listeners to be in the present. What has happened to the message of being in the here and now, being present, and embracing the moment that is? Ways to transform yourself in mid-life: Be present to yourself and take the time. Be aware and notice what is happening within you. Stop thinking too much. John Kabat Zinn, the master of mindfulness, once said, "Your awareness is a very big space within which to reside. It's never not an ally, a friend, a sanctuary". Become aware that you are pregnant again. No longer to give physical birth but to give birth to the divine feminine within. You are a woman who has gained experience, wisdom, knowledge and given so much to family, career, relationships. Now is the time to nurture your own inner life and allow yourself to give birth to the creativity, the new and emerging ideas waiting to flourish. Nurture the masculine and the feminine within. In the morning of life, much doing is the masculine out of balance. Now is the time to nurture the active sun (the masculine) and embrace more of the passive earth (the feminine) and have more time for being. Let go of external authorities. Those voices have controlled or dominated the story of your life. As you recover your personal power, you can rewrite the narrative of your life. See experiences of your morning of life, even the traumatic ones, as an invitation to engage in greater depth with the mystery within you. Acknowledge your inner wisdom. This means finding what is true for oneself and live it in the world. Acknowledge and own what is wanting to come into being through us. Tune into your body and your senses. Engage again in the importance of loving and compassionate touch. Develop a genuine presence to yourself, with warmth and compassion and without judgment. Only when you are truly present with yourself can you be genuinely present to others. Benefits of being present and aware: We can see beyond the immediate small things and view a larger context and horizon. We can pull back the veil on our blinkered vision and can glimpse new and beautiful possibilities. We can begin to see that we have the freedom to make the choices we want to make – and no longer be imprisoned by others' expectations of us. Being present enables us to hear and respond to the invitation to join the conversation with our inner world. In presence, we are enabled to engage in the here and now, in the journey of our own unfolding and becoming. Being present and aware means we are accountable for our becoming and our evolution. Look at all of creation and notice that we are the only part of it who can refuse to live out our gifts. Don’t forget the essential nature of ourselves. Don’t allow ourselves to be steamrolled, overwhelmed by others. Just look at the destruction, the cutting down of mother nature – we must not become part of this destruction and cut ourselves down too. Instead, join the circle of wise women, the circle of crones – the Crone being 'she who crowns her wisdom.' Be the ones who share this wisdom with those coming after us. Mid-life calling us to go within and listen to our soul How can the inner world communicate with us if we only live on the surface of things? Being present and being mindful and aware generates a new energy for ourselves, and we can then enjoy the wonders of the moment. If you had the experience of being pregnant when you were much younger, you might remember the wonder and awe as this tiny new life within you began to grow and develop. Bring this same wonder to the developing creativity and possibilities emerging as you transit through menopause and into the afternoon of life. How do I know this? Because at mid-life, I found myself in a dark place and didn't know which way to turn. Only when I took the hand of a guide and became still and present to myself and listened with love and compassion to the inner voice, I discovered the beautiful possibilities that were waiting in the afternoon of life and how to transform the morning's experiences into gold for the afternoon. Take that first step! Follow Ann on Facebook, LinkedIn, or visit her website for more info! Dr. Ann Moir-Bussy, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine The rich life experience of Dr. Ann Moir-Bussy spans decades of missionary work, teaching, counseling, transformative life coaching, consulting, and becoming a best-selling author. She worked in schools across Australia and, in particular, in Indigenous schools in the Northern Territory and also trained Chinese students in Hong Kong in counseling and psychology. The founder and editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, Ann, became an editor of the Australian Counselling Research Journal and editor of the Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis. During a life of transitions and transformations to now conscious aging, Ann now brings her dedication and zest to guide women, in particular, to discover renewed clarity, purpose, and direction as they embrace their powerful feminine wisdom and intuition in their afternoon of life. Through her programs, podcasts, coaching, and writing, Ann enables women to develop a strong spiritual leadership that brings transformation in their life, work, and world.

Written by: Sarah Jones, 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. Ever felt stuck in your career? Under-appreciated and under-utilized? You know you have more to offer and yet struggle to be seen by your colleagues and boss. This often leads to a state of ennui and resentment—what some might even call an attitude problem. Managing upwards is a way to reclaim your empowerment in the workplace, take ownership of your work, improve communication skills, and set the foundation for a thriving career. Put simply, managing upwards means using management tools to tap into your highest potential as an employee and build a mutually beneficial relationship with your employer. Through the cultivation of specific communication skills and consciously establishing a healthy working relationship with your boss, you can train them how best to manage and utilize you as a valuable resource. It’s not about sucking up or manipulating your boss, rather bringing your best traits to the table and working towards mutual success through efficient communication. Managing upwards asks us to take a closer look at our boss and put ourselves in their shoes. It requires a level of empathy and professionalism that not only benefits the entire organization but renders you an invaluable and irreplaceable asset. Reframing how we view and work with employers optimizes efficiency, meaning a more fulfilling career, more respect, confidence, and control. Get to know your boss. The key to establishing a symbiotic relationship with your employer is learning to work and communicate with them based on their specific personality, preferences, and learning style. As you gain deeper insight into your boss’s mindset and requirements, you’ll be able to exceed their expectations, make yourself indispensable to the workplace, and ultimately increase opportunities for your future career. Start by observing your boss’s behavior, their communication style, what makes them tick. Get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, their values. Then, put yourself in their shoes, and don’t shy away from asking them about their priorities, their ultimate goals within the company, the role they envision for you in the future. We tend to dehumanize our employees, forgetting they, too, have flaws and insecurities. So instead, take time to get to know them. This will enhance your communication and rapport with your boss, ultimately helping you anticipate their needs—and that’s how you become invaluable. Build rapport. As you get to know your boss, you’ll get a sense of how they prefer to communicate and how they make decisions. Check-in regularly, seek feedback and don’t hold back from providing feedback when appropriate. Employers and CEOS depend on insights from trusted employees. It’s a mistake to assume you should just do your work and keep your head down. Your perspective is valuable. The goal here is to develop trust and respect within the relationship, an honest flow of conversation. Anticipate their needs. By putting yourself in your boss’s shoes, you’ll be able to discern what they need before they know it themselves. Show consideration for their time and energy by offering to take work off their plate. Step up in a crisis and pay close attention to the ebbs and flows of your workplace so you can pitch in when it counts. Showing initiative will change the game, and you’ll soon become your boss’ go-to person, the one they can rely on. Be Dependable and Reliable. The last thing any employer needs is more problems. When issues come up, make it your job to do the groundwork and present solutions. Offer to take the lead and pick up the slack. By making their job easier, you’ll make your job easier. Show you can remain calm under stress and adapt well to change. Become the rock when your boss is overwhelmed by taking on additional tasks, easing their workload, and staying cool under pressure. You’ll develop a reputation as a reliable and resilient asset, carving a place for yourself as an indispensable resource. Use their tools of choice. Sometimes good management comes down to practicalities. Figure out what tools your boss works best with. Do they prefer summaries or to get into the weeds? Shared documents, e-mails, or face-to-face meetings? Your boss might receive information better with lengthy reports, spreadsheets, or receiving updates orally—it depends on their learning style. Adapting to their preferred tools and smoothing out the method of communication will make everyone’s life easier—especially your employer’s. By managing up, you are stepping into a place of power and paving the way to a thriving career. Build the tracks before the train comes, so when it does—you’ll be ready. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Instagram ! Read more from Sarah! Sarah Jones, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah Jones - Published author, speaker, accredited personal & executive coach helps motivated, ambitious professionals & executives improve their career, find a new career, and help teams accelerate success & performance. Due to significant early challenges in her own life, Sarah has always been tenacious, entrepreneurial & unafraid to speak her mind. At times being the only woman in the boardroom amongst international corporations in her early 30s, she is a beacon of strength for leaders and individuals. In Sarah’s former career, she was a leader in corporate affairs but founded Sarah-J Coaching to help individuals & leaders become their personal best in life and their careers. She is dubbed the phrase 'regroup, reboot, and reinvent' - a three-step change process - having helped pull out individuals from the trenches & into their own spotlight through her transformative and action-based coaching approach. Her book ‘From Vulnerable to Invincible’ helps readers identify how to step into their challenges, reframe & learn, to launch themselves to success. She also regularly contributes to the media such as BBC, The Guardian & Sky. She regularly speaks and has delivered empowering talks for Pearson Business School and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

Written by: Viviana Di Leo, 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. How many times you wake up and the first thing you watch is your cellphone? Maybe you do not even give a kiss to your partner or parents or kids. Get trapped by this “parallel” world that goes on in Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok emails, WhatsApp, or any social media. And unfortunately, all of this pulls us apart from focusing on ourselves to focusing on others. It has been a while now (almost 6 years) since I decided that the first hour of the day is fully dedicated to myself, which means no technology! No phone! No family. Me and my rituals. Walking to the lake and meditating for 30 minutes. How do I feel? I must confess that I felt a little bit of anxiety at the beginning, and a lot of “what if” came to my mind, more than everything, what if something urgent happens. Do not worry. People will reach you if it is that important. Back to the how does it feel question, I must confess it feels amazingly . I have passed this on to my clients, and they were able to take the addiction away to social media to finally stop worrying and letting go of what others would think. I got interested in giving myself the best hour for myself and making my day productive and amazing. Today I share this with you because this little thing can make a huge difference in your life. My tips to have an amazing day start the night before because if you don’t have a good night's sleep, it will probably make you wake up drained. I use my journaling and relaxation before going to sleep. Here are some journaling questions I have asked myself every night for more than a year: What am I grateful for today? What did I learn today? (You always learn something about yourself if you listen) What I look forward to? (Normally, I have my day planned and visualized, how I want to feel) Why this? Because you want to wake up with an intention, wanting to have an amazing day , not waking up just because you should do it. What do I do in the Morning? Morning, morning, not every morning has to be the same. I surely now understand more of this because being a mom to a 3-year-old every morning can be different, yet I have not skipped this ritual since he was 10 days old. Here some of the things I have been doing that make a difference in how I feel my energy throughout the day and having an amazing day! My best energetic days are when I get from bed, just put shoes on a jacket and get outside, to have a short walk sometimes it was just 10 minutes, and my husband did not even realize it. During this walk, I start by power walking and focusing on my breath, inhaling in 3 and exhaling in 3. (If it is a short walk, 2 min will be ok) After this powerwalk fills me with pure air, I will do 3 affirmations and repeat those feeling them, only 3 as you do not want to make your brain collapse and get overwhelmed. My last thing is to stop in nature and just freeze. You will be surprised by the things that happen when you stop and be present. I have seen things I was too busy to see before, I have learned to appreciate nature differently. I look for my favorite tree and meditate for 20 minutes before nourishing myself with a great breakfast with my loved ones full of things I like and enjoy. You must be thinking, but I never meditated . I cannot be still for 20 minutes. My answer to this is you do not need to . I learned that meditation could be as simple as sitting comfortably on a chair or having my back on the wall closing my eyes, and just breathing from my nose slowly for 5 minutes. You don’t have to be hard on yourself . Just tell yourself you are learning how to live differently and more amazingly. Being present and loving your body and mind. There will be mornings when you wake up, sit on the bed, take 3 deep breaths, enjoy a long, beautiful shower, just put on music and feel yourself with energy, and on your way to work, you just decide to be conscious of how you are breathing. Being able to do things differently and shift the way you live is an amazing way to start. At least you are not disconnecting from yourself every day and complaining about why you feel bad and with no energy. What do you think? Do you want to give it a try? If you have any doubt, fear, need to share, just reach out to me . I will be pleased to help you. For more information, follow me on Facebook , Instagram and visit my webs ite ! Read more from Vivian a ! Viviana Di Leo, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Viviana Di Leo is a Certified Peacefulness & Fulfilment Coach. She helps women on their self-healing journey to live a more peaceful and fulfilled life. She's an Expert in Biodecoding & Emotions.

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. A positive change can happen in your business and your life when you choose to come from a place of personal integrity. When we focus on coming from a place of integrity, we are in alignment with our values, our company’s mission, business vision, and our personal message, and this allows us to be our most authentic self, both in life and in business. When we choose integrity, we are also choosing to create a meaningful purpose and a fulfilling life. You may be familiar with the general definition of integrity, which is the quality of having strong ethical or moral principles and following them at all times, no matter who's watching. However, defining your personal integrity is, well, unique to you. For example, personal integrity for some could mean being truthful and honest with yourself and accepting yourself and others, intentionally aligning your actions with your behavior and what is ethically right. Our personal integrity requires personal choice and commitment to align ourselves and stay consistent with our personal values so that when we speak, we mean what we say. While both of these definitions of integrity can provide helpful insight, it can be inspiring to reflect on personal integrity and on your definition of what integrity means to you; your personal integrity. Choosing integrity is admirable, but it also shows courage — Courage to be who you truly are. Sometimes we may feel out of alignment or that we need to get back on track. There are some simple but key emotions we can learn to recognize that will help us know when we are off track and when we are in alignment and living with our personal integrity. For example: Emotions that communicate when we are off track, we may feel discouraged, let down, and begin to have what is known as negative self-talk. Mentally, we may feel a lack of clarity, it can be hard to focus, and our thought process takes more energy. Emotions that communicate when we are on track, we generally feel in the flow, energized, peaceful, joyful, fulfilled, and living our purpose. Mentally, we may experience thoughts that connect us to the right resources, the right people, and at the right time. We tend to have more clarity, and things just make more sense. When our behavior does not match our words, goals, or intentions, then we are out of alignment with our integrity. Using these powerful tips below can help create a positive shift in our lives and our business. Sometimes to get our life back on track, we need to reflect a bit and review anything that could be omitted, such as certain habits, people, work, or certain things we are attached to that are actually not positively serving us. We can then replace what we let go of with new, positive habits, practices, and actions aligned with our focus and life purpose. Sometimes even new connections with the right people will help support us and keep us in alignment with our integrity. Lastly, we need to maintain accountability for our actions by remembering that most things in life come from our choices. Ramping things up with personal integrity, try asking yourself what are your personal intentions, set of rules, or expectations? Those personal expectations that you choose to live in your life and they have deep meaning to you. These are personal intentions because they are not set or required by others, but they are expectations we hold ourselves accountable for. When we are aligned with the intentions or expectations we’ve set for ourselves, we know it because we feel fulfilled with our progress and goals. For example, personal intentions might include: Someone who values optimal wellness may set a personal expectation or intention to make time for exercise each day and choose to select nourishing meals. They hold themselves accountable. Someone who values quality conversations with colleagues and friends may set a personal intention to be fully present when talking (limit distractions, fully listen without any personal agenda for the conversation, refrain from interrupting). When we are aligned with what we say and what we do, we have integrity with ourselves, our business, our vision, and this is when success has the greatest potential. Life is more meaningful and fulfilling! If you are thinking of creating positive change, contact me for a complimentary call. 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: Marika Humphreys, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Do you ever wish things were different? Do you wish that you didn't have to see your partner in pain or that you could think of the future without a flood of anxiety coursing through your body? Despite how it may seem, the frustration and anxiety you feel are not caused by the fact that your partner has cancer or seeing them in pain or your uncertain future. It's caused by your belief that it should be different. Wanting things to be different than they are is the belief that keeps us stuck and unable to move forward. Arguing with my reality. My husband was angry. Not all the time, but it seemed it was always under the surface. His first cancer was a tumor in his right arm, and after surgery, he was able to keep his arm but lost full function. He could no longer do certain simple things like reaching up above his head to change a light bulb or reach high up into a cabinet. He had trouble reaching forward to change the dial on the car radio. These simple things that were now so difficult frustrated him. As he dealt with multiple cancers and his body failing him, his anger increased. For me, it was difficult to be around. I kept believing that he shouldn't be so angry. It's not good for him! I believed he should be different than he was. I wanted him to cope with the loss of his body in a calm and accepting manner because if he could do that, then I could relax and not worry so much. My inability to accept how my husband was coping kept me stuck and frustrated. It wasn't until he passed away that I finally made peace with his anger. I realize now, and I also see in so many of my clients, that beliefs about wanting things to be different keep us stuck. Even though it may come from a place of love, we argue with our reality by wanting things to be different from what they are. Only by finding acceptance with where we are can we find peace and move forward. What is a Belief? A belief is simply a thought you've had over and over again . You have thought it so often that it just feels true . Picture a belief like a table. All tables have legs that support them and hold them up. Our brain likes to find “legs” to support what we already believe. There is a way to bust these beliefs, the beliefs that argue with your reality and keep you stuck. 5 Steps To Bust Your Limiting Beliefs (modified from Byron Katie & Tony Robbins) In order to bust a belief we need to take away the legs that support it. We have all this evidence in our heads to support what we already believe. The way to take away those legs is to start calling doubt to the evidence supporting our belief. My limiting belief: My husband shouldn’t be angry. Step 1. Question the “evidence .” You want to question the evidence. Is your belief really and absolutely true? Can you absolutely prove that it is true? Is there any evidence that counteracts this belief? Start to remove the “legs” by questioning and causing some doubt in your belief. Example: No, it’s not true that my husband should be angry because he is. It’s understandable that my husband is angry. My husband isn’t angry all the time, just sometimes. Step 2. Understand how this belief impacts you. Everything we do is because of how we think it will make us feel. Usually, we are either moving away from something or moving toward something. You want to really understand how your belief makes you feel and act. How do you feel when you think about it? What do you do when you believe this? How is this belief impacting your life? Example: When I think that my husband shouldn’t be angry, I feel powerless. I try to comfort him and control how he is feeling. Step 3. Explore life without this belief. How would it feel if you didn't believe this thought? Really go into your imagination and try to picture how you would feel if this thought didn't even exist in your brain . This can be difficult, but really try to imagine it. You may find it easier to think of how someone else might feel who didn’t have this thought. How would your life be different if you didn't have this belief? Spend some time on this step. Once you can truly see how this belief impacts you now and imagine how it would be if you didn’t have this belief, you have started to create doubt. You’ve shaken the legs of the table. Example: If I didn’t believe my husband shouldn’t be angry, I’d feel so much more peace. I wouldn’t get so stressed trying to control his emotions. It would be freeing. Step 4. Choose A Better Belief Choose a new belief that feels better. There are a couple of ways you can do this. The first way is to start small. If a belief is really powerful and painful, you may be resistant to letting it go. Find a new belief that is less limiting and feels better. Example: Anger is just how he’s coping right now. Notice that I’ve shifted toward a belief that no longer argues with my husband’s anger and is accepting of it. It’s a small shift, but one that can bring huge relief. The second way to choose a new belief is to go big! What is the opposite of your belief? Sometimes you want to go straight to the opposite. Example: Of course, my husband feels angry. Step 5. Find Evidence For Your New Belief Once you find your new belief, you need to add legs to that table by finding proof for how that belief is true. Right now, think of all the ways it’s already true. Write your new belief down everywhere you can think of. Repete it in your mind as you take a walk or work out. Work it into your bones. Practice your new belief often! What belief is keeping you stuck? Any belief that argues with the reality you face is going to keep you stuck. Finding acceptance is the path to peace. Spend some time uncovering one of your beliefs that are arguing with reality so you can bust it and replace it with something that feels better and keeps you moving forward! It is so worth it! For more info, follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my we bsite ! Read more from M arika ! Marika Humphreys, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Marika Humphreys is a Resiliency Coach. At the age of 40, while working full time and raising a 5-year-old, her late husband was diagnosed with cancer. Over the next 5 years, as her husband battled multiple cancers, she took on many roles, including spouse, employee, mom, and caregiver. Marika believes caregiving is one of the toughest jobs out there, and it’s easy to become depleted and feel like you have no control. Through coaching, she learned that she could still be in charge of her life, even while caregiving to her husband. Coaching helped her discover her own power, strength, and resilience, and now she helps her clients do the same. She believes that even in the midst of a challenge like having a spouse with cancer, you can build resiliency skills and take control of your life.

Written by: Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez , 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. Everyone wants to achieve their goals with ease, but somehow not everyone can do it. Why? One of the main reasons is because of their mindset, and the other reason is that they’re not using the right system. Here’s when SMART goals come into place. What do SMART goals mean? SMART stand for 5 main pillars your goals should be addressing: 1) S = Specific 2) M = Measurable 3) A = Attainable 4) R = Relevant 5) T = Time-bound Specific: The first thing you need to establish your goals and to reach them is to get very specific. What do you want, how do you want it, what do you need. The more specific, the better. One of the number one mistakes when setting goals is remaining general. If you keep things vague, you will get vague results. Measurable: What’s not measured cannot be improved. The only way of knowing if you’re making any progress is by measuring it. For example, using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will allow you to know if you’re hitting your target regularly. Attainable: Don’t get me wrong; I'm not talking about setting small goals so you can easily achieve them. But setting unattainable goals will only decrease your confidence; you might feel like you're not making any progress. While having attainable goals will allow you to see progress, gain momentum, and you will feel unstoppable going after your dreams. Relevant: If the goal you’re setting does not support your vision, does not create any impact short or long term, then there is no point in going after it. Establishing a relevant goal will keep you on the right track instead of walking around with a hundred “accomplished” things that don’t serve you at all. Time-bound: Not having a deadline equals not doing it. As simple as it sounds. What you don’t put a date on, you’ll keep postponing it. I always help my clients set realistic deadlines because this is exactly what will drive them forward and stop procrastinating. But why settle with SMART when you can be SMARTER? There’s always a better way to do things, and I would love for you to start focusing equal attention on these two pillars that will make your goals go to the next level: 6) E = Evaluated 7) R = Rewarding Evaluated: The first thing I want to say is let’s not mix evaluation with measuring. You now know why you need to set measurable goals, but what I mean by evaluated goals is that you need to see what’s working and what’s not. The measures will help you do so. To keep improving, you need to regularly evaluate what’s going on, double on things that are working well and pivot if needed. Rewarding: Last but not least, and this is one of the most important pillars: reward yourself. People are so busy going after the next achievement that they forget to celebrate their wins, which is a huge mistake. Wouldn’t it be nicer to celebrate every time you achieve something, no matter how small it is? Wouldn’t you feel more happy and ready to give your 100% because you see results? I highly encourage all the readers to start rewarding themselves with something simple every time they achieve something. It could be daily, weekly, monthly, whatever you want it to be, and start noticing the changes around your life. So now tell me, are you settling with SMART, or do you want to be SMARTER? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram , and Linkedin for more tips, or visit my website if you want to start achieving your goals with ease! Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Alejandra Marqués is a Time Management and Goal Achievement Mentor and an Accountability Advisor. By the age of 26, with over seven years of experience studying for two degrees: Law and Business Management (and graduating top of her class from both), working at the same time as a criminal law professor at University, in Law firms, notaries, research centers as project manager, and more..., and still have time to learn six languages (Spanish, English, French, German, Catalan, and Chinese), she is an expert when it comes to productivity and achieving goals. Her mission is to empower driven female entrepreneurs to accomplish in 2 months what without time management would take them over a year, get rid of procrastination, and create time for all the things they’ve been keeping in their bucket list their whole life, with her TIME signature method. She has been featured in many publications such as Medium, Authority Magazine, Morning Lazziness & more.

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. I think most of us are aware that stress can damage our health. As a business owner, however, although I was warned that constant stress was harming my health, I thought it was also propelling me forward and helping me get more accomplished. As humans, we developed the stress mechanism to respond to danger in the wild. If we encountered a tiger when we were out foraging for food, our adrenalin and cortisol went into high gear, moving blood to our brains and our muscles so that we could remove ourselves quickly from the danger. In today’s environment, however, we are rarely chased by a tiger. And in my case, I let the tiger catch me. My cortisol was so depleted when I got an autoimmune disease that I was almost to Addison’s disease. Stress is a major contributor to the “leaky gut,” which is the root cause of our chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases. Not all stress is harmful. We all have some stress throughout our days. It is when stress becomes chronic that it becomes dangerous. And what I did not realize, it was also hindering, not helping, my productivity. I have learned a series of stress-releasing exercises to use throughout the day. Most require no equipment and can be done in the workplace quietly without others even knowing what you are doing. All of them reset the parasympathetic nervous system and release the “steam off the instant pot.” All of them clear the head and improve productivity, so in the end, if you do these exercises, you will be far more effective running your business. Each exercise takes less than 3 minutes, and you should do one each hour throughout the day. In addition to lowering your stress, each of these exercises will slow your pulse and improve your health. Recovery from chronic stress is not negotiable. You can either make time to rest and rejuvenate now or make time to be sick and injured later. Stress builds up all day long. Every hour, take 2-3 minutes to release the buildup by using these methods: Dr. Weil’s 4-7-8 breathing exercise 4 rounds at least 2x daily. This resets your parasympathetic nervous system. Dr. Weil is the father of Integrative Medicine. You can Google this and learn to do it with Dr. Weil on YouTube. Take your fingers and push into your belly button and just jiggle for 1 minute. The theory is that your belly button is the beginning of our life, and through our belly button, we can impact the entire body.[i] If you are in a private space, use the Belly Button Wand. If you are in a public space your fingers will work. This affects your reptilian brain at the back of your neck (the early brain in development) and significantly reduces your stress, as proven by Dr. Emerel Mayer, executive director of the Oppenheimer Center for Stress and Resilience. Stand and bounce in place every hour to break up the day. This will bring energy to the brain. Stand up by your desk, let your arms hang, and bounce. Do this for 1-2 minutes. Tapping the body starting at the ankles and working up to the top of the head. Don’t hurry. Do front and back of your feet, your ankles, your calves, your thighs, your tummy, your heart zone, go over and start with one hand and tap all the way up, then do the other, now tap your shoulders, your face and then the top of your head. This should take 2 minutes. Every hour do stretches at your desk. Be sure to stretch up and stretch out. You can do it seated, or you can stand. This exercise is done from a seated position. Put your hands on the side of your thighs (one hand on the outside of each thigh) push out. Hold for 10 seconds and release. You will feel relaxation go through your entire body. Do this repeatedly for 1 minute. When fatigued, toe-tap from a seated position. Just put your legs out straight and tap your toes. Releasing stress before it becomes chronic will enhance your mood, make you a better leader, bring you clarity, improve your memory, improve your sleep, make you more productive and help you be successful. Want to learn more from Cheryl? Email her at Cherylmhealthmuse@gmail.com and follow her 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. Reference: [i] I learned many of these exercises by doing yoga with Body and Brain Yoga. They have significantly lowered my stress.

Written by: Kelli Reese, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We all want to feel aligned with our work. But, what do you do when you're feeling burned out, unmotivated, and ready to walk away from your leadership role? What happens when you're thinking, I have to get out of this job? That thought could be true. Sometimes you need to leave but, what if it's something else? The desire to exit and find a new position or path can also mean I don't know how to be myself in this environment or know who I am here. Sure, it might be time to blow it all up and start anew. However, the feeling can also signify that you don't feel comfortable bringing your whole self to your role. It could be a glaring sign that you need to allow yourself to be you at work, without all the self-criticism and second-guessing. Are you overcompensating? When female leaders come to me, they're cautious and tentative about being completely themselves in their role - namely their kind, heartfelt, soulful, deeply connected selves. They don't believe they'll be accepted for who they are, so they overcompensate by being the person they think others expect them to be— which isn't even the person they want to be. Thirty percent of your life is spent working. If part of that time is focused on trying to be someone you're not, that's exhausting. Leadership for all Many empathic, accomplished women are trying to fit into a conventional mold of leadership and an outdated way to achieve success - which doesn't resonate with them. They look around their organization, and they don't see others like them. People in decision-making positions aren't ushering in alternative models for leadership success that speak to their needs, so they struggle to find someone they connect with to mentor them. It feels like the corporate environment often breeds variety out of leadership, doesn't it? I'm on a mission to change that. My expertise is in helping soulful, empathic women thrive in their leadership roles. I provide them with powerful tools and practices that enable them to get to the heart of the reasons they're overcompensating and holding back in the first place. Don't sacrifice your soul for success As a former executive, I was running a $34M organization before leaving my seventeen-year career in natural foods to pursue a calling to help others. I know what it's like to abandon who you are and force yourself to show up in a role as the person you believe everyone expects you to be. Living that way took a toll on my body, mind, and soul. When you're trying to fit yourself into a mold that doesn't align with who you are, you intuitively know that it's not your truth. Something feels off, but you can't quite figure out what it is. Naturally, you look at your workplace and your position, but uncovering the core reasons why you're overcompensating and denying important parts of who you are can be found by going inward. This is good news. You have control over how you show up in your role. How to do it differently? You can do it all differently before it completely zaps your energy and spirit. You can create more alignment, fulfillment, and ease in your work. You can have a positive impact with some tools and practices. 1. Put the Perfection to Bed I see a common thread of female leaders feeling like they have to do it all perfectly, that they have to be everything to everyone. They believe there's someplace they'll land where it's all done. A place where they'll finally feel caught up, prepared, content, or better. It's the "I'll be happy when _____," cycle. But, it's not about perfection. When you don't do it all perfectly (because it's just not possible), you judge yourself for doing too much or not doing enough. Eventually, you judge yourself for getting so far in your career and still not feeling fulfilled. It's a frustrating loop. It's time to put the perfection to bed. 2. Stop Pushing Yourself The desire to succeed is often paired with a long-held belief that the way to achieve your goals is by working harder. It feels like a finish line you can never cross. Not pushing yourself to succeed is a practice. When you're pushing, the underlying driver is fear. Think back to the times when you ramp up your drive and push meter. What's typically happening? Are you terrified of missing some crucial detail? Maybe you're worried the other shoe will drop? Are you so focused on wanting to be liked that you set standards you can never meet? It feels like doing more is the way to make all the self-doubt disappear, but it actually magnifies the irrational thoughts when all that action doesn't bring you the result you crave. The negative inner dialogue and unease are still there. The pushing only drives you to exhaustion, not to the core of what's really happening below the surface. 3. Lead With Courage It takes courage to be yourself fully in your leadership role, especially when it requires you to step out of the same old mold and forge what feels like an untraveled path. Bringing your whole self to your role can feel exposing. It's a vulnerable place to be, especially when you've been working so hard to fit yourself into a framework that isn't aligned with who you are. When you're holding yourself back because you're worried you won't be accepted or well-received, that creates a disconnect. That disconnect can be confused with, this job isn't right for me anymore, when in reality that feeling might be resolved by confidently being YOU - having your own back, following your heart, or sharing your thoughts, even when it's uncomfortable or scary. Take off the mask. No one is expecting you to be someone you're not. In fact, they want to know you - that's how you build trust. 4. Look Within If you're looking outside for what's wrong in your role and you never arrive at an answer that totally resonates, it's a good bet that the shift needs to come from within. It may feel like huge changes must happen in your work life to feel alignment and ease in your job, but I remind my clients, "When you show up differently, everything around you shifts." When you feel confident in who you are and what you bring to your team and role, people notice. They respond to you differently, more positively. You relax and allow more flow and effortlessness. The small inner voice of your intuition becomes more prominent, and you begin to trust yourself. You settle into your body, and it feels like home, rather than something that's working against you or needs to be fixed. Before you throw in the towel and quit, make sure you know what's really going on. Know why you're holding yourself back from showing up as the woman you know yourself to be. With a few shifts in the right place, what you're struggling with can be resolved. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website for more info! Kelli Reese, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kelli Reese is an author and certified leadership coach. She works privately with women in management and executive roles to finally free them from the chronic self-worth issues holding them back. In her research, she's discovered that what's keeping soulful, empathic women from thriving in the high-level leadership roles they were born to succeed in isn't "imposter syndrome": it's childhood shame cycles - a confidence-destroying feeling of never being enough. Through Kelli's signature method, she's helping women stay in their roles and get the recognition (and the fulfillment) they deserve. Her clients feel more like themselves than ever while having the impact they're meant to have.