Written by: Dee Burrowes, 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. Affirmations are uber-powerful when using in the correct fashion and a great tool to uplift your day. The reason behind this? As they are expressed habitually by hearing, saying, and writing, any powerful affirmation will allow the manifestation of your desires in the brain as you’re reprogrammed into believing these affirmations. Our belief systems are filters of what is to become – our reality. What you think, you will become, and this has been proven many times over. They do work according to scientific evidence that confirms that self-affirmation will reduce tension, mental strain and maintain balance when under adverse pressure. To what degree have you unintentionally sabotaged yourself with negative beliefs or crippling emotions of self-reproach and indignity? Very often, most of us wrestle with continual negative belief patterns that chip away at our confidence, viewpoint, frame of mind, and self-worth. Affirmations are daily positive declarations replicated, giving rise to an expected encouraging outcome. The repetitious exposure impacts and stimulates the innermost part of the brain into forward-looking results, making it possible to transform your internal state. Affirmations tend to recount a particular set of positive proclamations directed toward promoting almost immediate shifts with self-belief and self-love whilst crushing your stress and insecurities to the curb. A well-needed ingredient for success in life has an excellent self-image seasoned with self-worth and a strong presence of confidence. Affirmations are short, powerful positive statements that allow you to align consciously to be in charge of your thoughts and actions. Affirmations are creatively constructed to have the most profound transformation as they have proven to shape your reality. When spoken with persuasion, affirmations alter your beliefs, behavior, and emotions in creating a dynamic situation that will propel you into your achievements and greatness. Words are extremely powerful that not only influence how you communicate but have the potential to reshape your psychological state on a new level of consciousness. Affirmations can be used in situations where one would like to experience positive changes in their life. From taking control of negative emotions to improving your self-esteem or ridding yourself of bad habits – affirmations are a great pattern to have crafted in your daily routine. It is also suggested that affirmations help to buffer depression whilst improving your tenacity towards your physical strength. Most are feeling the pinch of mental issues due to this year’s unforeseen challenges and uncertainty. We are well aware that life is unpredictable, and maintaining a sense of control is paramount. Routinely reciting affirmations are cultivated with a sense of control of the mind which will grip any challenge life can throw at you. It can be challenging to be positive, full of energy, and calm when dealing with anxiety, fear, and unpredictability. Unveiling the Power of Words You have certainly affirmed yourself without even taking note by being effectual with phrases of: “I can be whatever I want to be.” “I do have what it takes to make my next move.” “I believe in myself to succeed at all my endeavors each day.” Positive affirmations fall into a traditional practice by those who needed a bit more boost for their daily inspiration to live life fully and make the most of their time and day. These powerful words of affirmation can be recited out loudly, be written in your journal, or sticky cards for quick encouragement on the go for a pep up. At first, they can seem skeptical with the idea of affirming oneself and becoming overly self-indulgent, then it dawned on me how much of a welcoming and promising impact it had on my mindset. Affirmations do work as they have the ability to reprogramme your brain, giving credence to persistent expression and perception. It's no secret that on a regular we unconsciously vocalize negative connotations to ourselves about various circumstances in our lives that result in revolting occurrences. Affirmations will strengthen your self-esteem by uplifting your opinion of yourself and confidence as a cushion to dealing with any ill feelings from stress, anxiety, and self-doubt. They tend to frame and maintain behavioral patterns and mental well-being similar to gym workouts, and constantly repeating affirmations engage and build up the positivity muscle within the brain that can instantaneously adapt to how you’re feeling. You do not have to control your thoughts. You have to stop letting them control you. Simply put, affirmations are positive declarations that help you challenge negative thoughts, blocks, and stories that hold you back. Starting your day with some morning mantras with positive affirmations might feel a bit strange at the get-go. With continuous practice, you will realize affirmations are not only a game-changer and gratifying but a necessary part of your way of reasoning to have more meaning and power for you. Allowing powerful affirmations sets the tone for the day emphasizing behaviors and outcomes as an active roadmap for your thinking pattern. Ultimately, affirmations are a medium to harness tension and nervousness, which can help you on the journey to navigate negative thinking and become more astute in reaching your goals: Professionally Financially Personally Physically Here are a few affirmations in taking control and tackling challenges when you feel that enough is enough. Write them down and recite as often as you can. I always find joy in the little things daily. I am fully equipped to create my desires and needs. I have chosen to focus on my many blessings. I am becoming stronger in my mind and body by the minute. There is so much to be grateful for right now. I am creative and focused on manifesting my dreams. Things are aligning in divine order and the divine season. I feel grounded, protected, and very safe. I have the support of my family and friends. I am confident, resilient, and powerful. Things are becoming easier and easier in my life. I am in the present moment, right here, right now. I am in charge of my emotions, and I choose peace. I have what I need to accomplish my daily tasks. I am consistent in all that I do. I have an excellent immune system. I know that there is always tomorrow to be better. Today, I choose myself with an outburst of love. I know how to make great decisions to my benefit. Today I am full of awesome ideas and thoughts. I attract happiness and joy into my life. For more information, visit my web site ! Read more from Dee! Dee Burrowes, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dee Burrowes, Certified Professional Coach, NLP Practitioner, Speaker, Trained Teacher, International Awards Judge, and Mental Health Coach with Behavioural Disorder, help you gain more confidence in being more effective at bringing happiness to your life. By identifying your core values and what drives you, you will gain clarity on your life and career vision. By learning how to eradicate self-doubt, boost self-confidence, and form good habits, all of us can overcome our challenges and live more mindfully, consciously, and authentically. Life passes us by, and the fear of not being authentic kicks in, and it is the right time now to identify your inspiration by designing a lifestyle that would capture the very essence of you. Dee is a visiting professor in Events and Hospitality management in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. She continues to participate in the hospitality industry. Dee is very much passionate about mental health, and as a Mental Health Advocate, she supports corporate companies on mental well-being.

Written by: Carla Keibler, 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 wanted something in your life but never seem to see any evidence of it? You wish your life would be different but keep running in that same hamster wheel day after day? Have you ever taken the time to ask the question, why? Most people live in limitations or self-limiting beliefs that can stop you in your tracks even before taking the first step. You may think you are not good enough, undeserving of good things in your life, scarcity of finite resources, overwhelmed, feel unheard, and unloved. Honestly, it can be exhausting carrying all those burdens on your shoulders to see any movement in your life. We go through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. It shows up in our choices of relationships, career opportunities, scarcity or abundance, confident or low self-esteem, and so many other ways. Taking the time to really seek the real answers, removing limitations of limiting beliefs, can free you to grow toward the goals you want to see happen in your life. I spent many years living in self-limiting beliefs. I was painfully shy for many years. Afraid to say anything contributing to conversations. I just accepted that was just who I was even though inside I was bursting to speak freely, I just kept quiet. I had let someone else words of frustration alter my life for many years. But not anymore. I am now an impacting speaker and transformation coach strategist, teaching and guiding others to challenge and break away from limitations, holding them back from the life they want. To speak up and give their passion and purpose a voice. We have made choices, detours, and mistakes in our life, but that is all behind you. Learn from it, grow, adjust and get on the road to your authentic purpose. A life of beauty, fulfillment, freedom, and purpose. If you want to be transformed – see a change in your life – you have to live life intentionally. If you want to become the person you have the potential to be, to live a life you love, you must believe you can. The majority of the people don’t lead their life – they just accept their life which takes them down the path to unfulfillment, passiveness, and regrets at the end of their life. Saying “I wish I did” instead of “I’m glad I did.” When those things of your past try to pop up their ugly head, remind them who you are – you are more than enough -be persistent and determined to have a “no matter what” mentality in looking forward and keep running toward the life- the goals- that has been planted in your heart even before you took your first breath here on this earth. I believe that whatever has happened in your life, the setbacks, the misfortunate, undeserving, and unexpected things - that you can still choose to make it into something that is of value and beautiful. Don’t let your past predetermine your future. No amount of guilt or shame can change the past, and no amount of worry, fear, or anxiety can change the future. Every aspect of your life, personal or professional, is impacted by the way you see yourself. Let your value show with a clear lens. To know you are unique, wonderful, and powerful. The only limits that you have in your life are the limits that you allow. If you accept them as truth, then you will live like that. Don’t live your life by limiting beliefs and self-sabotage your future. This kind of life may seem too good to be true, but it is definitely possible and a life worth living. It is worth the process of dismantling any self-limiting beliefs that hold you, prisoner. If you live your life on autopilot, you will get the life you don’t want—live life with intentions. You will get the life you love. To give your passion and purpose a voice of positivity, hope, freedom, and love that every single person on this planet desires to have in their life. You can allow yourself to stay in stuck mode, self-limiting beliefs, and carry the weight on your own shoulders. Or you can choose to live a life intentionally that will take you from limiting beliefs to unlocking your potential within you. It will launch you into greater things of a life well-lived. When you want a change and gain insight into your internal world, your way of thinking, self-limiting beliefs that are holding you back from your authentic self, then your external world will reflect that change. Your thoughts, your habits, your choices you make today become your reality for tomorrow. Create the greatness that you were put on this earth to do, be, and become. Each one of us is here for a purpose, so sparkle and shine your amazing self to the world. I believe in you! Take steps of growth every day toward an extraordinary life of limitless beauty. Take the mute off of your voice - just know that you can speak up and reflect your value, your thoughts, contributing and adding value to the world around you. If your voice seems to be on mute, your self-worth, your identity, then check out what is going on in your internal world, what program is replaying in your thought life and affecting areas of your life. There is a fine line between the life you have and the life you want, and the difference is often just a matter of how you think and what you believe. If you confront, identify, and change your beliefs, you’ll clear the way for growth, fulfillment, and freedom. Today, take actions! Take a look at your life and the beliefs that led you there. The goals, desires, dreams that you envision for your life are you pursuing them? Or, are you allowing limiting beliefs to alter your life that is more than likely not true but has adapted them as truth and holding you back from greater things ahead? Become unstoppable! Become authentic in your purpose and goals! For more info, follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , Instagram , or visit my we bsite ! Carla Keibler, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carla Keibler is a leader in mindset awareness and revealing self-limiting beliefs. She also specializes in helping women discover their unique passion and purpose. After struggling for many years in these areas, the pain she went through birthed a passion that has helped many women unveil their power and beauty within. She is the Queen Visionary of Broken into Greatness and the President of Greatness Publishing. She is a dynamic speaker and a highly respected coach. Her mission: to help women transform by converting their aspirations into their realities.

Written by: Monica Pelaez, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. This morning I read on Medium, “The Pandemic Proves that Society was Wrong About How to Live Life” by Kristin Wilson. She lists all of those truths we were fed, truths about how to live our lives successfully. Yet evidence shows these truths are no good. The world that is supposed to be is not. We feel lost or lied to. Hard to know what is worse, lost or betrayed. We expect fairness, justice, and demand as much, searching for whom to present our grievance because we have most certainly been injured — challenges, obstacles, disease, failure, pains, ailments, injuries, fault. The list is long. I have owned all of these agonies, healed, and moved on. Perhaps this is why I do not like attending twelve-step meetings; incessant repetition of terrible stories. After acknowledging and recognizing my miseries, regardless of whose doing, they are, what comes next? Something must come next. During the weekend, I watched a series about a religious scholar who travels to disparate places such as Mexico, India, LA, and Israel, to immerse himself in off-the-grid religions. The undercurrent of these episodes is the relentless search of humanity for the meaning of life, the experiences of many, through the ages, going through deep confrontations, questioning the purpose of existence. Still, the meaning and purpose of life remain a question without a definitive answer. I like what she says and how she says it; I like her voice, calm, devoid of judgment, serene, placid. A very different voice from the feminine voices in my world. Offering concepts and a vision dissimilar to what I’d known. Love above all. Trust and faith. This woman was cool as a cucumber! But how to reconcile the world I knew with her ideas? I tried to. It didn’t work. The world I was surrounded by was powerful. Have a good job, live in a good neighborhood, have a nice car, the latest cellphone. Achieve professional success or at least have a career of consequence. Be slim, pretty, and composed. Be organized, manage my time and commitments, pay my bills. Have a great credit score. After fourteen years of struggling, I was liberated. I didn’t cut loose on my own. Although I do believe deep down inside I was profoundly convinced of a better existence, the possibility of choices radically different, something pushed me out. That “higher self,” God, the Universe, perpetual wisdom gave me a push, propelling me to change. Louise Hay accounts of her many pits of darkness. She was not born illuminated. She walked a long road. I find myself in that account. Her story is credible in its simplicity. Nothing mysterious about the human plight. It happens every day. I like to think she would get my “before” world and would get the world I am building now. Too much theory in these matters is just another self-help book. If you have never been burned, you can’t know the alchemy of life. Medieval alchemists believed they could turn any metal into gold. The alchemy of life is to turn a half-empty glass into a half-full glass. Same glass. Same life. I promise the instruments of alchemy to exist. They are not the same for everyone. Not the same dose and certainly not in the same order. Each to their own in finding them. No need to search. Just be open, and they will come to your doorstep. Most of the time in unexpected places, from unlikely sources; regardless, they will arrive. Your part is to be open. One will lead to another, and you will be swayed down the currents of transformation effortlessly. Life is not as we were told. Life is neither fair nor unfair—neither good nor bad, nor beautiful or dark. It is just existence; you exist, period. Everything else is babble. 300 years ago, children were not mandated to attend school. Staples of good child-rearing did not include teeth brushing. 400 years ago, women wore corsets, not bras. 150 years ago, weekends had not been invented, neither the driver’s license nor drainage systems. Life, as we know it today, is an invention. Existence is not our invention, but the life we live today is our invention. That is the mid-life crisis, throwing away all the baggage we have, almost everything we have deeply believed in. On the other side of the crisis, a “tabula rasa,” a blank page to fill as we please; with a pencil, a pen, a crayon, a sharpie, black and white, colors. No guarantee, no assurances. No one to complain to. Not even God answers. Absolute silence. And as we realize our absolute oneness in this life that is no more as we were told, down we go. Some will descend into “Hades,” where complete darkness rules. Those who have been burned know Hades. Some propelled by divorce, or the pink slip, the death of a loved one, a serious illness. This Hades is not just the disappointment of losing something, having bad credit, or your boyfriend’s sexting with your neighbor. Hades is thick, heavy, darker than black, silent, neither hot nor cold. It is said you must descend there at least once in a lifetime. Only those who return break free into the light. Many stay stuck there while managing to pay taxes, wash their cars, and showing up for work, but they never left Hades. They thrash, bitch, moan, bicker, cry while trapped. Being in Hades is neither good nor bad. It is a state of being. Free to choose. Life is not as we were told because unavoidably, we suffer and go to Hades at least once by means of our collective consciousness. We go to Hades because we are one with pain. We need to endure it one way or the other. It may begin as emotional pain, mental, or spiritual pain, always manifesting in the body. Or it may begin as physical pain, extending into the mind, spirit, or heart. As we evolve in our existence, our need for pain diminishes. But we will still experience some degree of pain as long as we are alive, for no one knows the truth about death. Will come, regardless. Meanwhile, in our existence, we choose and build our lives as we please. Most of it is in the inner world. How I behave, I think, I react—no need to move to the Himalayas, or become a yogi or get Botox. The outer world comes after the inner world. What happens inside is under my control, mine, and no one else’s. Life outside improves as long as there is inner alignment. The “zone” is inner alignment. When I am in the “zone,” I know I flow. To flow, I must ask myself in full honesty. I cannot lie to myself. The author of a psychology book I am reading proposes living an emotional sterile life can be dangerous. Always happy and content. He suggests this paradigm is a modern Monica Pelaez Life & Education Coaching invention, where the natural spectrum of feelings is rejected. Our emotions fluctuate, and this fluctuation is natural. Mindfulness is the art of observing and acknowledging at the moment what I feel, accept it and let it go. This helps me identify and separate the normal fluctuation of emotions from much more pervasive, underlying emotional scars that need careful attention. As I dig deeper, I wish to understand what experiences caused those pervasive scars, understand if they are creating emotional pain or just a recollection. In both cases, it is liberated, and I move on. Lighter and lighter as I go. Just as children, living in the moment. They don’t carry baggage. In this, I learn to know myself better; I can respond to life calmer, feeling but not going berserk! Everything is inside, and inside is under my control. I can decide what to think. My thoughts are mine, and I control them. What and how I think can be changed now, today. The point of power is the present moment. Power is now. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and visit my website for more info! Read more from Monica! Monica Pelaez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Monica Pelaez is a thinker, writer, coach, and instructor. With a background in international law and business, involved in educational projects across continents, she has built a coaching/tutoring private practice to help the ones who are like her, "outliers." Those who do not fit the mold have a hard time with the system but are smart, curious, and intrepid. She combines the spheres of emotions, behavior, and academics in her practice. She views the individual as a complex being with unique talents, challenges, and needs and works to succeed in academics. She writes about any and all topics that interest her, without any claim to expertise, under the liberal principles of freedom of thought.

Written by: Jennifer Jones Bryant, 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’s face it, in the last 18 months. I’ve witnessed people with increased anxiety, fear, and suicidal thoughts due to the stressors of isolation, unemployment, broken relationships, and loss of loved ones. In parallel, I also witnessed people’s creativity, innovation, and kindness towards others by finding ways to celebrate others’ accomplishments while helping others achieve their goals. Do you want to know the difference between those who are riddled with anxiety and stuck and those who continue to celebrate? A winner’s mindset. I share the importance of a Winner Mentality on page 50 in my book, Overcoming Personal Challenges to Achieve Professional Success. You can use a winning mentality in your personal relationship and professional career. Look for opportunities to improve; turn negative situations into fuel to win; look at your blessings; never give up . This is when you challenge your mind and learn as they face adversity, knowing they will succeed in their personal and professional lives. You may ask how? Let me share. Six Ways to Cultivate a Winner’s Mindset for Professional Development Don’t put limitations on your knowledge. Developing a growth mindset requires a new frame of mind. Your mind is like a muscle. And just like any other muscle, you can exercise it and develop it over time. And although your brain might not grow physically, you develop new neural networks when you challenge yourself or learn something new. The more you try to learn something new or challenge yourself, the more your neurons fire, creating new thought patterns. Reading will help with expanding your knowledge and keep your brain active. Embrace challenges. Another way to expand your knowledge is to be okay in uncomfortable situations. Taking a chance can mean taking a risk for unknown outcomes. But you need to embrace those challenges to grow and achieve your true potential. Fear of failure often forces us to avoid challenges. But failure itself presents some of our greatest learning opportunities. For example, you may not have gotten a promotion. This is an opportunity to learn more about what that business was looking for in the position. You might also fail at something with lower stakes, like trying a new and interesting recipe. The worst thing that could happen is that you don’t like it so that you can TRY AGAIN. Through failure, you learned how important it is to follow directions or ask for help when you’re confused or uncertain. People fail all the time, but that can lead people to their biggest revelations. Embrace failure and the lessons it teaches you. Even when those lessons sting. No one is forcing you to become an expert in these things, and that’s the fun of it! You get to learn what you want when you want. Press on in the face of setbacks. Every famous and successful person has failed, but they kept going. You should, too. Setbacks can often feel like monumental hurdles. The easy way out is to stop trying. Instead, embrace this temporary setback as a way to overcome and have a lifelong lesson through learning and growing. The trick is to keep preserving until you succeed and celebrate those wins when you do succeed. See effort as a path to mastery. Extraordinary efforts yield extraordinary success. Your effort is a sign of your strength. No matter how insignificant your efforts might feel, any effort is better than none. When you change your mindset and perceive your effort as a pathway to mastery, your potential is limitless. Be inspired by the success of others. I believe in finding inspiration in other’s success. Instead of seeing someone as a competitor, try to see them as a role model, celebrate their success, and potentially a tribe member and cheerleader. A tribe is a unique support system that may go through the same experience as you and serve as a sympathetic ear, a support system, and a motivator. Celebrate your accomplishments — big or small. I know I shared the importance of celebrating others. Don’t forget to celebrate your successes, no matter how big or small. Taking time to celebrate every success will build your confidence and make it easier to keep pushing to reach those large-scale future goals. Not to mention, a celebration can give you closure on goals you’ve been working toward for a while, provide encouragement to continue, and make every success even more worthwhile. So now that you’ve accomplished that goal, are you ready to celebrate? Your celebration doesn’t have to be a big deal. It can be something you do alone or something you share with others. It just has to make you feel good and help you enjoy your accomplishments. Here are some great ways to celebrate your successes, both big and small. Share the news with friends, family, and colleagues. Reflect on the path you took. Write down your success and put it where you can see it every day. Thank everyone who supported you. Accept and enjoy the compliments. Support someone else in reaching his or her goal. Cheer for yourself. Have a virtual party. Write your success story to share in a newsletter, blog, social media, or email to clients and colleagues. Start a success journal. Treat yourself to a day of rest and relaxation. Keep in mind in order to get the most out of your celebration. You should do it immediately after reaching your accomplishment and before moving on to your next goal. Celebrate your winner’s mindset. I celebrate you as you are adjusting your mental framing to that of a winner’s mindset can be transformative. It changes what’s possible for you. You have what it takes to make it. Reach Within to bring out your winning mentality. Ignite Your fire ® and show the world your magic! For more info, follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , Instagram , or visit my webs ite ! Dr. Jennifer Jones Bryant, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Jennifer Jones Bryant was fatherless during her childhood. She spent her teenage years caring for her mother, who was mentally ill when Dr. Bryant’s only sibling was incarcerated. After going through sexual assault and domestic abuse throughout her early twenties and later dealing with the loss of all her loved ones that left her deeply depressed, Dr. Bryant looked past her challenging beginnings and reached within herself and relied on faith find strength. She has since spent her life helping others find and grow their inner strength to accelerate to the next level in their careers. Her 33-year career and executive-level experience with the federal government and corporate spanned many functional areas, including budget and finance, human resources, procurement coordination, logistical support, strategic planning, strategic communication, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. She is Executive Founder of Reaching From Within, an Empowerment Journey LLC, the well sought out coaching and mentoring company with thousands of clients worldwide, including federal government agencies, academia, churches, and community organizations. She provides services through workshops, resume reviews and updates, and interview preparations, and goal setting. Dr. Bryant is also the host of the "Empowerment Journey" Podcast, which is consistently among the top podcasts within the Elite Conversation Community. She was featured in Speakers Magazine, Faith Heart, Glam CEO, Power 20, Women on the Verge, VoyATL, One Tribe, and UpWord global magazines, Making Headlines News, Radio One, Great Day Washington WUSA, NBC and ABC affiliates, and ThatAnitaLiveShow, and numerous Podcast interviews. Her mission: Ignite Your Fire® to Propel Your Professional Development.

Written by: Mikaela Contreras , 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. When we are unhappy at work, it’s natural to want to jump ship. Go somewhere else, somewhere different, somewhere better. But sometimes changing jobs might not be your best move. Perhaps you’re just in a temporary rut. Perhaps you haven’t figured out what you want in your next job yet. Perhaps you need to stay put while applying for a mortgage. Whatever your reason is, you can still make changes that will make you happier in your current situation while staying where you are. When you are happy in your present, you will attract more opportunities in your future. Here’s what you can do now: Cultivate your growth mindset. "Just because you haven’t found your talent yet, doesn’t mean that you don’t have one." I know; there’s so much talk about mindset at the moment. But there’s a reason for that. Your mindset can change your whole outlook on something. It can influence every single part of your life. Carol Dweck’s research within Growth vs. Fixed mindset showcase that if we approach new challenges with the view that we can learn and develop any skill, we will ultimately achieve more. What if you embraced the challenging project that your boss has dumped on you as a way to develop instead of feeling annoyed and anxious? What if you didn’t see your mistake as a failure but instead as a learning opportunity? What if you didn’t see your hard work as fruitless but as a way to mastery? What if you didn’t see your successful colleague as competition but as someone to model and learn from? Imagine how different your day would be. Challenge status quo. “It’s not enough to be busy. We need to ask: what are we busy about?” It’s easy to get sucked into the hamster wheel and accept the pain points in your every day – even become blind to them. But what if you would adapt the newbie perspective? Walk into work like it’s your first day and really think about what can be approved? A step in the process? Ways of collaboration? How are meetings held? A new template? Think of all the positive changes you can do to improve your day-to-day, not just for yourself but your colleagues as well. Seek the flow. “The happiest people are not the ones that achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time in a state of flow”. Flow state is when you are so engrossed in a task that you lose track of time and space. To achieve a flow state, the tasks are normally within the sweet spot of being interesting enough, challenging but not too difficult, and speaking to your strength. If you can identify those tasks and spend more time on them, it will give you a higher satisfaction at work. Lean into learning. “Happiness is learning something new.” When we are stuck in the same job, we can sometimes struggle to identify learning opportunities. But there are ways to develop your skills without changing roles or having a big learning budget. Use the network around you. Identify a colleague or someone in your personal network who is skilled in something you want to learn, and ask that person to be your mentor. They wouldn’t have to invest a huge amount of time, and they will also learn from mentoring you – win, win situation. You can also explore new projects coming up in your company and ask to get involved. It will not only expand your skillset but your cross-functional network. Prioritize pleasure in your life . “The more pleasure we take in, the more wind we have in our sails to move towards our desires.” When we are stressed, unhappy, and overwhelmed, the last thing we think about is making time for pleasure. However, it’s the time we need it the most. Do whatever feeds wind to your sails. An hour in the bath? A walk in nature? A glass of wine on the balcony? And incorporate small pleasures in your every day. 5 min mediation in the car? Smell the flowers outside your home on your way out? A kiss from a loved one? Don’t forget to bring more pleasure into your life. Ask for help. “Asking for help is a sign of strength.” We are normally very good at giving but not so good at receiving. And asking for help does not come naturally to many. But it’s amazing what it can do for your day to receive a bit of help. Instead of worrying about work in silence – ask your friend or colleague for advice. Instead of feeling anxious about a confrontation at work – speak to someone about it. Instead of spending hours trying to figuring something out – ask for someone to explain it to you or teach you how to do it. Don’t be afraid of asking for help. You do not have to solve your world’s problems alone. You have more power and influence over your career happiness than you think — even when changing your job might not be an option at the moment. Embrace your inner power, your ability to create, innovate and change what’s in front of you. If you seek guidance to find more joy, purpose, and clarity on your career journey, please feel free to book a free chat with me here . Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Mikae la ! Mikaela Contreras, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mikaela is a career development and leadership coach who works with women who are living the international life. Mikaela is Swedish, has lived and worked in 5 countries herself, and is currently based in Abu Dhabi. She is using her 10 years of experience in Talent Acquisition and Talent Development to help women in international environments to explore their true vision, purpose, and desires and to overcome any internal and external blockers to pursue them. Her mission is simple: For every woman to feel purpose and joy in her professional life!

Written by: Chesline Pierre-Paul , 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 . Innovation for the sole purpose of pushing industrial edges past their defining state of normative constraints, is halfly purposed and halfly impact-driven. What brings true norm-defying elevation to innovation is when it is established through affirmed purpose and scalable impact. In other words, beyond the generation of readily monetizable gain, what culture of augmented global thought leadership, justice, and economic empowerment can be instated so that money-determined and money-transcending leverages are capitalized upon to enhance the grounding paradigms of our industry? A furthered extension of that thought and rationale begs the question; “How to render undividedly bound, mutually justifiable, and binding the purpose, scope, and intrinsic finality of social justice, resistance, and purposed entrepreneurship ?” How can we create a space of mutual honoring and belonging that inextricably proposes entrepreneurship as a vehicle for more than the targeted exponentialization of capital, assets, and tangible gains? How can social justice be geared and poised as an accelerating force of purposed entrepreneurship? Too often, any activistic pretension, inclination, or enterprise is unduly mischaracterized as concessions from the haves ostensibly relenting material privileges to the haves not - in this lens domineered by lack, non-reciprocity, and fixist hierarchy, activism is reductively framed as economically non-generative, purely functionally re-distributive, and substantially concessive in nature. Targeted universalism reveals that the elevation of the most unprotected and systemically disprivileged class consequently instates the elevation of everybody else’s condition and material privileges. Thus, when circling back to our baseline question: “How to render mutually binding, necessary, and justifiable the converging purposes and finality of resistance, social justice, and purposed entrepreneurship?” … Here’s how to roll forward with it. Step I: Decenter Your Paradigm For one, decentering the dominance of your own perception and construct of self as a leader allows for lucidity and innovational intelligence to reveal themselves to you through positive disruption . By deliberately integrating spaces where the consolidated intelligence of the majority does not carry your norm leadership-wise, you are bringing yourself to be mindfully compelled to re-appreciate the bulk and kernel of your intelligence as a leader against narratives, realities, industry knowledge, defining foci and purposes that encompass a depth and magnitude of leadership that is systemically sustained outside of your own reality. Thus, each point of encounter between the reality of your leadership and the one expressed and nurtured in such spaces allows you to see, through other-awareness, new gaps, new possibilities, and new leverages in yourself. The humility of your own perfectibility makes you more powerful in your disruption, for this brings you to allow your own norms to be optimally re-appreciated, counterbalanced, challenged, checked, and deconstructed. Step II: Create a Posse of Socialpreneurial Allies Here, it is all about learning to prioritize spaces where socialpreneurship is the incarnator of purposed entrepreneurship. Use these encounters as live sounding boards, wherein you can whet your acumen for the latent and untapped synchronicity of where your leadership can be internationalized in reach and maximized in impact. As you find your rhythm in spaces that decenter your norm and in spaces that are requisite on the power of activistic socialpreneurship as a defining paradigm, here are the prompts you want to hold as top-of-mind to steer you onwards in your growth into more momentous, purposed, and elevated thought leadership: Ask yourself: How can you solidify a structure of accessibility around your brand and mission so that more direct engagement with your brand may be altruistically concreted through the servicing of invisibilized and underserved communities in ways mutually honoring (as a direct application of targeted universalism )? What voices are systemically removed, tokenized, or decentered in your communities? And how to harmonize voices that issue from different regimes of in/visibility into what the next iteration of social impact will come to be through you ? What is the organic constitution of your community, board, executives, leaders, partners, sponsors, and clients? And to what extent does it allow for you to be optimally expanded by a layered register of intelligent disruption, innovational intelligence, and industry knowledges that are so powerfully complementary to your own because they exist beyond the reality of your norm ? What for-impact consultants ( such as myself ) do you work with on the quarterly that offer impact-driven tangible ways of maximally leveraging social impact on the scale of the global by pointedly tending to your disacknowledged and underserved gaps and areas of development impact- and leadership-wise? What new connections can be brought into your circle of power with clarifying intentionality so that cross-collaborations purposed for the intermixing of for-purpose and for-profit can be compounded into yet another layer of impact, transformation, and rebellious leadership? How can you critically, mindfully, responsibly, and purposefully utilize anti-oppression as a driving and accelerating force of innovational intelligence that infuses more reach, deliberation, activistic self-consciousness, significance, and impact to your embodiment of leadership? As you do use these afore-posited prompts as a way to elevate your consciousness into a state of focused intentionality, deliberation, activistic consciousness, and self-reflection, you grow from localized impact to expansion-hungry and -capable. Why, you ask? Because of the combined actions of... Decentering yourself, Being impacted by other paradigms, defining truths and realities around impact and leadership, Nurturing disruptively enlightening allyships with creatures of the resistance that compound change and transformation into a culture of purposed entrepreneurship helps you be challenged into more growth, humility, strategic recalibration, self-searching, and innovational intelligence as a leader, working with social impact experts ( that is, yours truly ), and harnessing anti-oppression as innovational intelligence makes leadership an unfractured embodiment of change-making, activistic brilliance, deliberation, and social transformation. … make you paradigm-shifting, change-making, and industry-making. Concretely, through your posse of allies, social impact consultants, and their connections you get to smoothly anti-oppressively scale impact across languages, activism, global organizations, and even industries by pooling resources, escalating accessibility and compounding impact. Truly elevated global thought leadership is construed on the strength of for-profit meeting for-purpose in ways exponentially binding and anti-oppressively grounding in their impact-focusedness. Dare to be more than your industry’s paradigm can currently contain and behold so that you may empower yourself to grow into everything it needs to reach elevation in its next cycle of growth and augmented thought leadership. Transformation, is only the beginning. For more info, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn or visit my websit e ! Chesline Pierre-Paul, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Chesline Pierre-Paul is a transformation coach, thought leader, digital media & language activist, and social impact expert on innovation, economic empowerment, & rebellious leadership. They deploy healing, cross-industry innovation, and positive disruption to concretize and accelerate the transformation and global impact. They have been featured on; Woman in Language, This Is It Tv, She Owns Success, Polyglot Conference Global, The Hambone Show, Happier By The Minute, The Accented World Podcast Callum Connects, to name a few. They bring into harmony worlds that are customarily divorced: activism and entrepreneurship, and they leverage the disruptive distance between the two to activate and stabilize next-gen global thought leadership. Today.

Written by: Kamladevi Sharma, 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. One of the most common subtle issues leaders and entrepreneurs face globally is procrastination. When someone, including a leader or entrepreneur, finds it difficult to take action to help them achieve what they set out to achieve, it indicates that they do not have the motivation or inner drive to move forward. They are not aligned with the outcomes of that action. Now when procrastination becomes a habit, it is important to reset your mindset. What do you believe and feel about yourself and your ability to perform the task at hand? Do you think that the task is relevant to your purpose? What do you think about or prefer to do before engaging in what you need to do? From a coaching perspective, the major cost of procrastination is limiting yourself from living a fulfilling life. The reason being, the inaction, and little interest to act, eventually lead to feeling pressured internally, subsequently frustrated that you're not getting what you need to get done fast enough. It becomes a weight or energy drainer, which unconsciously leads to further inaction. Additionally, not being aligned in one area of your life can result in a ripple effect of procrastinating in other important areas of your life. You miss deadlines, communicate poorly, forget what matters and become inefficient. Unfortunately, the momentum of 'living out of purpose' is created. Thus, I recommend the following to anyone who struggles with procrastination: 1. Discover and connect to your "why ." Why do you need to do what you set out to do? Is it relevant to your overall goals and objectives? Do you think and feel that it is beneficial to you just as it is beneficial to everyone else involved? Knowing your "why" creates that connection with your tasks. It signals acceptance of them as a part of the process to achieve your goals to your brain, resulting in the motivation to get them done without resistance. 2. Realign your focus by visualizing your outcomes every day. Life's distractions can cause you to put off some tasks ever so often. However, if you’re consistently putting them off, it's important to realign your focus by visualizing the outcomes of these tasks and their purpose in your life. Do this every day to be effective. It will help to guide your energy during the day to feel the momentum of success and accomplishment. 3. Get physical. Physical movement helps you to shift energy on the inside. In particular, exercise increases the production of endorphins in the brain, making you feel good and reducing stress's negative effects. Creating a routine around exercise helps to maintain a momentum of productivity. Practicing mindfulness when exercising is also an incredible boost to your mental, emotional, and physical well-being, inspiring you to keep reaching for better outcomes. 4. Value your time and energy. If the task is not aligned with who you are or what you need to get done, be authentic, delegate it, or refuse politely. When you value your time and energy, you feel better about yourself, and you allow others to do what they are good at doing, which may not necessarily be something that you love doing. In other words, it's pointless having a task repeat on your to-do list when you will never be motivated to get it done, but someone else may be passionate about it. 5. Organize your tasks in order of priority using a to-do list. Having a to-do list helps your brain feel organized and accomplished as you track what you need to get done every day. The more productive you feel, the more you will be motivated to stay in that momentum of flow and strike things off your list. Additionally, reflecting on your day and recognizing what you have accomplished helps you keep going with enthusiasm. 6. Set smaller goals and time block your schedule. Some tasks involve many processes that can subconsciously feel magnanimous and create inner resistance to get done. If you feel this way about a task, dissect it and choose to do specific aspects of it during blocks of time on your schedule. This makes it easier for you to track your progress and use your time and energy during the day. Overall, procrastination is a decision of change. If you know that you are often procrastinating, you have to be the one to train yourself to change it. You have to get to the root cause of it- whether it is a subconscious block in terms of your beliefs or misalignment with your overall purpose. Follow Kamladevi on Facebook and her website . Read more from Kamladevi! Kamladevi Sharma, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kamladevi Sharma is an international speaker on work-life balance, a certified professional life coach, and a qualified business consultant. She helps entrepreneurs and people in management globally, including you, to eliminate burnout and achieve balance in their personal and professional lives. Her dedication to achieving clarity, alignment, and results for her clients ensures that they can thrive and feel more fulfilled and successful in their lives, careers, and/or businesses. Additionally, her expertise in mindset and personal development strategy has benefitted over 4000 professionals globally in personal growth. Over 250 businesses have jumped start a momentum for success in her signature momentum training at Revive, and she has been featured on several podcasts on Spotify, Apple and Google. A known feature in magazines locally and internationally, Kamladevi holds a MBA in Business Administration from the University of Bradford, Bachelors in Social Psychology, Social Research, and Business and certificates in Professional Life Coaching and Counselling. Prior to co-founding Revive, she was in upper management positions in Guyana and lectured at several tertiary institutions.

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. Chances are, you know someone who struggles with smoking or weight management. With 3000 diets boasting beach body results, it’s easy to see why we get confused about keeping our figures intact. For many, instant gratification is paramount. I blame it on sitcoms and drive-thru expectations. When I owned fitness centers, I had to convince newbies to stay the course that first month or risk losing vital momentum. Before visible results provide lasting motivation to break a sweat and eat veggies, my cheerleading couldn’t bridge the gap their tenacity held. In my time helping people get fit, I realized that tenacity is an overlooked superpower. Despite knowing the goal is worthy/winning is about the journey, most of us suffer from premature evacuation. We quit too soon. Too easily. And all too often. Sometimes the smell of fresh pizza dough outtrumps even my deepest desire for an unfettered bikini summer. What can I say? I’m a premature evacuator of epic proportions—when my “why” is weak. Therein lies the go-juice. You’ve simply gotta find a big enough “why” to activate this superpower. See, tenacity will keep your ironclad grip intact when you rescue that precariously perched hiker. Talk about a cliffhanger! Tenacity is your best friend when you can’t get clarity on a rumor until your spouse is home. Tenacity pulls you through rough spots when you have zero answers, but your gut screams, “stay the course!” Quitting too soon is often a rookie move in a fledgling business, volatile stock market, or baking bread. Premature evacuation serves no one well. Tenacity is one of those strengths that can be helpful in both negative and positive settings. . How to activate this superpower to stop addiction or start eating well? I’m glad you asked. First, grab a seat. Take a few deep breaths to clear your head. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Next, recall times when you felt so solid that nothing could shake your resolve. Paint the picture with greatness. You signed up for Weight Watchers, followed the rules, enjoyed a cheat day, and sure enough, watched your fat pants fall off three months later. Good on you, you tenacious fit model! Really soak in the imagery of your tenacious success. Get into the proud emotions, the better sleep, the increased energy, the steamier sex life. Relive the rewards of your tenacity. Say you want to stop drinking, because it goes right to your gut and your mouth spews nasty words, but it feels better to stop worrying about your day job. How do you apply tenacity in this circumstance? Your why isn’t clearer than your love for the beverage, so you’ll be hard-pressed to accomplish your goal without some superpower strength. Anthony Robbins’ hilariously effective disruptive behavioral tricks work well in this case. Here’s my takeaway from his book, “Awakening the Giant Within.” Imagine you want to quit drinking, and you need willpower. Instead of beating yourself up for letting an inanimate object run your life, treat yourself with kindness. You deserve it. As soon as you’ve reconnected with yourself, take another deep breath. On the exhale, visualize a grotesque image. Maybe it’s rotting grain. Or worse still, rodents on a high dive like they’re at a public swimming pool instead of a vat housing your brewski. If your cravings are particularly stubborn, feel free to add to the disgusting imagery. Amber beer looks eerily like rat urine. Smell that foam? Oh boy. I don’t know about you, but that did it for me. No more beer for this girl. Often, recalling evidence of your strength is enough to renew resolve. Put your mindset back in that successful time and go for it. If that doesn’t work, go the Tony Robbins route and I guarantee you’ll have plenty of tenacity the next time your mouth waters on a hot afternoon. Your mind will zoom straight to high diving rats peeing in their beer pool, that just happens to be your best stein. Yup. The one with the elk carved in the side like a GOT lord. Instead of hitting the gym after munching a whole bag of celery, only to wake up disappointed when you don’t see a puddle of fat on the floor the next morning, remind yourself that tenacity is your superpower. You got this. And like any other superhero, give yourself a pat on the back when you get it right and a hug when you get it wrong. You are a superhero. Activate your superpowers. Love life. Cape optional. Follow me on Facebook and visit my website for more info! 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: Nancy Hovde , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Have you ever admired someone that has the ability to sustain their energy level under pressure? You know, that person who always seems to cope and adapt well to disruptive changes? If so, then you may have thought of this person as a natural born leader. Someone with this type of mindset has resilience. Those who have resilience are able to bounce back from setbacks and overcome major difficulties without engaging in dysfunctional behavior or harming others. This is why we often look up to them as a leader, for guidance or mentorship. Maybe this describes you or who you would like to become next time you are under massive pressure. Do you feel that you don’t have enough, maybe even zero, resilience? It should be noted that, most people are not just born with resilience, but they have had life experiences that have helped them learn to become more resilient. Through awareness, resilience can be learned and by developing thoughts, behaviors, and actions that allow you to manage stressful situations, as well as overcoming traumatic events. Follow these helpful tips to begin to build resilience: ● Prioritize Self Care for Stress Management. The most important thing you can do to begin building resilience, is to always take the best care of YOU! This isn’t selfish. This is self-care. Have you ever noticed that leaders who are resilient maintain positive habits? View your self-care as Quality Wellness. How? By ensuring to integrate quality wellness into your daily regimen. Get quality sleep. Eat quality, nutritious foods. Discover what quality workouts/exercise allows you to feel optimal, physically and mentally. Think quality, positive thoughts as often as possible. Quality service/work happens when we feel our best physically and mentally, we can provide optimal performance. Quality time is using your time wisely, so that you can allow quality time for all that you value. When we take the best care of ourselves, we feel our best, and we build higher resilience levels within; this empowers us to operate and perform at optimum levels. When we feel our best, we tend to think our best which helps us make better decisions and use creative problem-solving techniques. ● Train Your Mindset. Our mindset can be trained to become resilient. Have you ever tried to reframe your perspective of a difficult situation? It can be helpful to think of reframing as a brainstorming session where you think of as many different perspectives of a situation or problem as possible. What are all the possible alternatives to perceiving the situation? This step helps us become more flexible with our thinking and become more optimistic, instead of the alternative, which is getting caught up in our emotional reaction to a situation. ● Focusing on the Positive. By focusing on the positive, this helps to foster creative solutions on moving forward and getting from where we are in this moment to where we would like to be. Dwelling on the past or current problem can lead to overthinking, which tends to block our creativity for problem-solving. Try asking yourself how you might find meaningful purpose out of the troubling circumstance or event. How might you benefit from the challenge? Are there new skills you might be able to develop? ● Hold Yourself Accountable. Regular check-ins to reflect on what is working and positively supporting you, your wellness, your business, and in some cases, your team or organization. Alternatively, it can be helpful during your accountability check-ins to review what is not working and could be negatively affecting performance. When you observe any behaviors, negative thought patterns, unhealthy habits, address these immediately by creating action steps for those positive habits you want to see more of. Try integrating these helpful tips into your daily life, so that the next time you are faced with an unexpected and challenging situation, you will feel more empowered that you can not only face, but effectively overcome anything life throws your way. If learning to build more resilience is a positive change you would like to make and you would like guidance, support and accountability, please contact me to get started. 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: Marilda Cutrone, 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. Overwhelmed by the changes over the last year, more than a third of working mothers declined promotions and decided to switch to part-time work or move down the career ladder. Recently, several kinds of research and studies (done by several institutes/foundations) agree that working mothers doubled their domestic workload during the pandemic. Many women (one-third of the interviews) said they had already done or are ready to put their work growth on hold. And, most remarkably, these decisions will cost them almost 2 trillion dollars. It sounds like an unbelievable figure, but, according to many economists, it is real because you have to consider the loss of promotions and the loss of income by going from full-time to part-time, and you also have to consider these figures in the long term. So, the pandemic is reversing women’s progress in the workforce and setting it back decades. Research conducted by Accenture states that there is already a significant gender imbalance, and now this situation will add 51 more years to achieve gender equality globally. Besides, the pandemic also widens the wage gap . Until last year, women earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man, but now that gap is more severe (it is increasing by 5%), and women will earn about 76 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues (for the same job). There is already evidence that working mothers take fewer promotions; in 2020, the chance of promotions for women plummeted (compared to men). This is a direct consequence of the fact that women asked for and received flexibility to work during the pandemic (to look after children or help with online schooling). But this “flexibility” is fake and extremely dangerous. Colleen Ammerman, director of the Gender Initiative at Harvard Business School , says that this kind of flexibility is actually a stigma: asking for maternity leave or flexible hours is associated with lower employment status. Working mothers need to look at the current situation from all perspectives, and they need to analyze new possibilities. There are other options, but one has to have an open mind to see them. Why Female Entrepreneurship is key to Economic Recovery? Women entrepreneurs, or mompreneurs, have a profound impact in the workforce thanks to "deep scaling," i.e., the ability to change unequal systems, recreate expectations, and overcome dominant (and now obsolete) norms and paradigms. Three Reasons: Women entrepreneurs can effectively contribute to global economic growth and poverty reduction . When women are empowered and aware of their potential, they can boost productivity and increase economic diversification, which is essential to achieve other positive development outcomes, personal and gender-wise. Women can create an inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic recovery . Through education, up-skilling, and re-skilling, given the rapid technological and digital transformation, women emancipate themselves and pass on the same knowledge to their daughters and younger girls so that they too can have opportunities. Women can motivate and help other women to start up an entrepreneurial project . When a woman can overcome all the obstacles in her way as an entrepreneur, she is inclined to surround herself with other women and motivate them to do the same. It becomes a challenge against the system, and victory is the only chance for them to succeed. The pandemic has shown us how severe gender inequality is, but it has also shown us how decisive women's leadership can be. Women and mothers who create and grow their own little entrepreneurial kingdom are increasingly common. The networks are full of such stories and offer good examples. Yet, the lack of visibility of these women in our education and work system contributes to a culture where young girls are not encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills or pursue leadership positions. And at this point, another variable comes into play: the traditional economy vs. the digital economy. Many reports and research state that the most common challenges women entrepreneurs face are that men heavily dominate their industry, that they have been discriminated against based on their appearance, that they have not been valued or considered experts. This is real in the traditional economy but not true in the digital economy. Why? Why is the Digital Economy the Ideal Ecosystem for Women? The digital economy and new technology create opportunities for women to overcome traditional business barriers, broaden their entrepreneurial possibilities, and build flexible careers that allow them to manage both work and family responsibilities. This is true flexibility. Forget about the one mentioned above. “Flexible working” means being able to choose when and how to work (and also from where) and does not imply a decrease in one's value. In this context, flexibility is not penalized in any way but is a way of life and work. Moreover, the digital economy erases the gender pay gap issue: there is no difference in earnings between men and women. The opportunities are the same for everyone; the profits are the same for everyone. The concept of gender itself does not exist. It is irrelevant. The digital economy and female entrepreneurship offer a systemic-level solution to a systemic- problem. A balanced system of entrepreneurship is not only fair and equal but also creates more impact. And this is true because we have a systemic social problem, and it can only be solved on a broad level, as wide as the web and the new technologies. Therefore, when we reshape the concept of entrepreneurship that finally includes women massively, we will create an ecosystem with more "changemakers" women. "You could make a case that, along with the technological revolution, the most provocative upending destabilizing thrilling change in the course of human history is that we’re finally in it.… We're here now, women are in the world, and we will not be bullied." — Meryl Streep Follow Marilda on Instagram , find her on Facebook , or visit her website to learn more about the programs. You can also subscribe to her YouTube-cha nnel ! Read more from Marilda! Marilda Cutrone, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Marilda walked away from a successful 20-year career as Senior Project Manager. For many years, she felt unfulfilled: she was continuously struggling to juggle her career and family. And eventually found herself drained and depressed. Marilda massively changed her life in 2019 when she realized that developing a new set of skills in the current economy is necessary. And here is why: over $2.5 trillion per year is being spent on retail purchases online and, over the last few months, there's been a 25% increase in online sales. By leveraging the digital skills, Marilda created her own business – Living My Digital Life – and reached a whole new work-life balance level. This shift would not have been possible for Marilda if she had not discovered the power of affiliate marketing. She is now the owner of her time and can build her career around the family (not a life arranged around the job as it used to be). Her mission is to empower other women to stand up for themselves and make the same shift. Hence Marilda offers a program that walks you through specific steps to learn the skills you need to create a profitable online business from scratch.

Written by: Lori Clark, 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. Overcoming defeat is probably one of the most underrated accomplishments ever. We don’t realize just how many situations life throws at us that can leave us feeling defeated. Some examples include: a partner leaving out of the blue, another person getting the raise or promotion we think we should’ve gotten, that medical diagnosis that came out of nowhere, the denial of getting into that school or getting that new house. The list goes on. When we face defeat, we often get very critical of ourselves. We assume we did something wrong. We assume we’re not good enough. We LIVE in defeat. We lose hope, and in some cases, we grow content where we are. We no longer wish to seek out higher levels in life in fear of possible repeated defeat. Here’s the thing, we ALL have faced some form of defeat. The good news is, defeat never has to define us. If something did not go as planned, accept it with a smile. There will always be new opportunities for you to achieve what your heart really desires. Some may say, well that still leaves us with the thought, “well, how do I overcome/” in all honesty, you really just do it. If you keep your heart set on your desires, focus on your gifts, understand the power of timing, and understand the power of patience. We live in a world where instant gratification is growing, and many things seem to be easily attainable. With that being said, defeat can hit some people harder than others and may even come as a surprise. Don’t let defeat make you feel as though you’ve lost. I’m here to inform you defeat is a stepping stone into new beginnings and mental awakenings. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Lori Clark, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lori Clark is a leader in the life coaching industry, dedicated to helping individuals overcome life's challenges. She also aims to help people reach their highest potential while eliminating mental barriers. Lori had a rough childhood that led to an adulthood of trying to fill different voids. She eventually made up in her mind; she would live a life worth living and changed her world. During this time her health failed and she was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Doctors told her she would never be the same. Instead of playing small, Lori took her circumstances and excelled. She finished college, went back to work, and is now certified to help others.

Written by: Sukanya Datta, 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. Technology has evolved over time and gradually taken over our lives. We have become heavily dependent on automated applications that are easing out our lives to a big extent. AI has been a big boost to mankind. From day-to-day lives to businesses being bound by technology. It has become an integral part of our lives that we cannot imagine ourselves without it. It has helped us connect the world. From attending networking events in one particular country to connecting with people from all over the world has allowed us to collaborate and get to know each other, and break the cultural boundaries and stereotypes. But to what extent will a human be able to take it? And use it on a daily basis? Artificial Intelligence has helped and, through multiple ways, has made tasks simpler amazing. Helping us prioritize and aiding us to the fullest that has made us handicapped. We simply rely on our phones to remind us of ordinary chores. Probably generation alpha will be one of the most tech-savvy and advanced, but they will probably never realize the importance of the meticulous human era. What is next? Can the mind tolerate the bad effects? A sharp rise in mental health issues for the younger generation might make us ponder longer. Do you think we will go back to primitive ways? Would you avoid using technology to the fullest? Will you allow the tech to take over your lives? Knowingly or unknowingly, we are being drawn into AI. It affects our subconscious mind as well. How satisfied are you with the advancement of technology? Do some of us still use pen and paper and use diaries and journals to write our daily chores and take notes? Even though technology has helped us get closer via facetime and audio-video, have we really spent time with our loved ones? If everything is being digitalized, why are we still using pen and paper to keep track and note down points? Is AI dangerous that our future generation will lose innocence? Time to think...Will AI blast us to the extent of becoming intolerable? Or is the demand yet to come? Visit my Instagram for more info! Read more from Sukanya! Sukanya Datta, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sukanya Datta is an electrical engineer. Along with the tech side, she is also a certified fashion designer. Being a tech lover, she has had a penchant for creativity. Entrepreneurship is a significant journey. Both tech and fashion have been a boon in her life, from developing monetary strategies and embark on the body positivity mission across the world and bridging the gap between women and fashion.