Written by: Susan Watson, 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 love doodling. It really enhances how you feel in so many ways. And today, we are going to explore this further. You may want to have paper and pen or pencils beside you just in case you fancy a wee doodle. Let us start by looking at what doodles are. What are doodles? Doodles are non-verbal messages that are sent from the unconscious mind. They are viewed as symbolic, visuals representing feelings, thoughts, and perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Scientific tests have taken place, and it was identified that men typically draw shapes, like squares and circles, whereas women draw out faces. Men and women tend to doodle differently. Think about this: Do you have anything that you tend to doodle more of? There are real benefits linked to doodlings, like creativity, better learning, and performance. When you doodle, you help your mind tap into deeply held emotions that perhaps you may avoid or have hidden them away, doodling can bring them to the surface, and if you use this as a tool to support your feelings, this can increase a sense of mental balance and inner peace. Doodling can provide relief from distress and help make sense of confusing thoughts and memories, bringing them into the present “now” world. These benefits will help you relax and de-stress and also improved concentration and clarity of thought. Doodling is a simple form of art, and anyone can do this; you do not need to have any special skills at all. All you need is a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper; this has been even proven to help with depression and anxiety and increase mindfulness and staying in the moment rather than focusing on the past or worrying about the future. We all need a good laugh. Laughter helps cheer us up, and we experience a release of “happy hormones.” When you draw and drawing faces are good this for this, your minds tap into your brain's right frontal lobe, the mind's funny bone. You really start to see the funnier side of life. Drawing out mental pictures and doodles from the unconscious mind has also been proven to be useful for reducing anxiety and increasing a sense of calm and peace. Well worth it. If you experience anxiety, why not try it and see how you get on. This can be useful whenever you feel anxious or nervous, perhaps for an exam or a job interview. If you want to doodle more and support your own well-being, here are some suggestions on how to start. Draw ordinary things, shapes, and squiggles. Draw circles, faces, or eyes, etc. Use colors to express how you feel. You can even close your eyes and doodle and see what happens. Try using your less dominant hand and then your dominant hand – see what comes up for you. Try having a little pad and a pencil with you, so you can use this little and yet so powerful method whenever you need it most. Lastly, you can also use a method that is for solutions and problem-solving. This is also great for kids. Draw what is bothering you or causing you any issue. Do not really pay too much attention to it. Just enjoy the drawing. Draw how you would like to feel or the solution you would like. Again, just draw it without scrutinizing it too much. Lastly, draw another picture of how you can get there. Just let your hand move. Try dominant and non-dominant hands. Use colors, stickers, anything you want, just enjoy it. Put it away. This engages your own creative mind to find solutions that suit you best. If you would like to know more hints and tips to improve wellbeing, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Susan! Susan Watson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Susan Watson specializes in working worldwide with all ages experiencing Anxiety, Emotions, and Trauma in a content freestyle so that no talking really needs to occur unless wanted. Working with feelings and emotions within the body, Susan releases the emotional connection of past experiences. She teaches self-help tools to help others live their best life, the life that is deserved. Susan supports individuals, groups, and the workplace with her Be Your Own Empowered Hero workshops, which were introduced as a measure to reduce the risk of future issues with mental and emotional health.

Written by: Carmel Murphy, 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. Marketing is the key ingredient to a successful business, especially online. Yet, it's one of the most overlooked aspects when deciding to start a business. You focus on what you want to do now that you've quit your job and taken the leap. It's all about ideas and action and that first flurry of customers and clients – of people you know. But what happens when you run out of friends, friends of friends, and all those networking events get you nowhere? You'll suddenly realize the importance of marketing — the importance of reaching bigger audiences and having your message spread much wider than ever before. It plays a crucial role in creating consistent and reliable cash flow from leads and clients coming to you – rather than you chasing them! When I first got into the business, I overlooked the importance of marketing too. I thought, "I'm good at what I do, so everyone will want to work with me." I didn't realize that just talking to people about 'what I do' wasn't going to be sustainable in the long run. I didn't realize there's a whole lot of psychology around how you have to communicate your message so that they actually understand how it's helpful to them and why they should care, right now - not just a nice conversation with people who are never going to take action with you! Yes, there comes a time when marketing becomes the critical factor to getting beyond the 'hobby' stage of business and entrepreneurship. The starting point is understanding WHAT marketing is. Marketing is very different from sales. Marketing is the process of communicating your value to an audience. It's a way of communicating what problem(s) you solve, what desire(s) you satisfy, and how you can help those you want to work with the most . Marketing is everything you do before a sale. The biggest mistake you'll make when you start marketing is falling into the ANNOUNCING trap. Announcing to the world what you do, who you are, and what you're selling. TELLING people what's good for them. Leading with how many awards you've won, your qualifications, and stating the price upfront. SELLING before providing any real, tangible value! Marketing becomes exhausting when approached like this. It leads to the next big mistake… the "Spray & Pray" approach. Make as much content and advertising material as you can, then throw it out on 'social media land' to see what sticks. Picture a firehose drowning people with irrelevant stuff they don't want. There's already an overwhelming amount of marketing messages that we're bombarded with every day. It's time to make your message one of the goodies! A targeted message that gets the RIGHT people wanting to work with you – less hoping someone will buy from you, and more knowing people really want your offer of value. From my experience, effective marketing boils down to this simple 3 step approach: The Right Message, To The Right Person, At The Right Time 1. The Right Message The key with this is it is the right message for THEM. Not you. Ask yourself what they need to hear from you right now, not what you want to say to them. There's a profound difference to this! The message must be focused on them, the potential client or customer. The message must be created for them, to them, and about them. Not you. The language you use in the marketing message is important. It must be the words they use, they understand, and with which they resonate. Too often, people use professional jargon or high-level concepts that instantly alienates the audience. If you do solve complex problems for your clients – it can be challenging knowing what to 'lead' with when marketing. You can end up promoting a YAWN-inducing message that either people have heard before – or is meaningless to their current problems! That's why it's important to have a message that talks directly to an urgent problem they're looking to solve. Or an urgent desire they're seeking to satisfy. Urgency is key; your message must grab their attention because it's relevant to what's going on in their lives, right, now! As Frank Kern says, there are only two things you will do when it comes to marketing – you'll either be speaking your message or writing your message. Learning how to craft compelling copy and researching the psychology of decision-making science is key to transforming an average message into a high-conversion one. Getting the 'right message' takes research, testing, and perseverance to learn the nuances of influence and persuasion and how you can communicate your value in a way that encourages a direct response from THEM! 2. The Right Person Getting the 'message right' depends ultimately on who will be consuming it, aka who you want to work with, who you can help the most! Defining your Lucrative Target Market (aka an existing market, already spending money, already seeking solutions) and constantly refining it over time as you get feedback and results is the best way to ensure your message is seen, heard, and desired by the right people. When writing or speaking your message, it's important to remember who you are talking to. Getting clear on your Ideal Client allows you to always structure your message to them. In the language they use. To do this, your Target Market Research needs to go beyond simple demographics. You must familiarise yourself with their fears, desires, wants, needs, problems, urgencies, anxieties, beliefs, values, and stories they tell themselves. Not only does this provide insight into what is going on in their world – it gives you fantastic insight into appropriate content to create FOR them. Tying your skills back to their problems and desires is critical. Thorough Target Market Research will soon highlight where the 'gaps' are in existing solution providers offers – you will then start to see how you can craft your message to fill a gap in an already lucrative marketplace. "But! Doesn't getting so clear, and specific, and targeted to just ONE person's inner workings – exclude everyone else?" Here's a way to explain why getting clear on your Ideal Client's inner workings doesn't restrict you to a tiny audience: Picture a dartboard. The bulls-eye is that ideal client you'd love to help. Say they have 10 problems and desires you can help them solve and satisfy through your offer. The next ring out is someone who has 8 of these problems. The next ring out has only 6. The next ring out has only 4. And so on. When you talk to the bulls-eye, you're automatically talking to everyone else. The difference is you're so clear on who you help and what they're seeking. You actually open the door to more people seeing your value. Simply because you know what they're looking for and how to communicate it to them! Speaking their thoughts, feelings, stories, and challenges back to them is a sure-fire way to skyrocket your like-know-trust factor. Something which untargeted, fire-house, "Spray & Pray" marketing will always struggle to achieve. 3. The Right Time Out of these three steps – time – is the one thing you can’t control. The right time for each person who sees your message is going to be different. Some will instantly want what you're offering because they have high urgency. Some will resonate with you and your message, but the time won't be right for them, but the more they see you and your message, they will know who to turn to when the time is right. Some will see your message and scroll right past it–but two months later, see it again, and suddenly it's the thing they need, right, now! You can't control when the time is right for anyone. That's why consistency is king in marketing. Consistency in the message you put out to the marketplace. Consistency in content being created and published out to your marketplace. Consistency in your desire to do what you do – and share it out to your audience! Now consistency is not always an easy thing to achieve. It gets caught up in all sorts of time management challenges and resource restrictions – money, time, energy – as an entrepreneur or business owner, time is always of the essence. Still, it can also feel like you waste a lot of time on things that 'don’t work.’ This is why being clear on who you help and what they need to hear to take action with you is so important. It’s much easier to be consistent in a message when you know what to say, write, create, and publish. It’s the not knowing that usually wastes so much time and holds you back from greater success. But mixed into the marketing challenge (and reality) is the fact that most people will not take action with you. When you look at the analytics, statistics, and numbers of online marketing, the percentages are usually lower than you’d expect – especially when you’re just starting. Therefore, an aspect not often talked about when it comes to consistency is the resilience required to allow the results to improve over time. Especially if you’re doing organic marketing strategies, it will take time for you to gain confidence in your message and develop the marketing skills such as copywriting, video creation, and influence and persuasion before the ‘numbers’ will create that consistent cash flow you need. That’s why surrounding yourself with people who can guide you, provide support, and aid in your skill development is key to ensuring results happen faster than you trying to do it all alone. Putting it into action! Now nobody gets all three steps perfectly right the first time. But you can use these three steps as the foundation of your marketing approach. Come back to these three steps when you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the ‘to dos’ of marketing when you’re caught up in the intricacies of how to put a marketing campaign together technically. Or when you’re at a loss of what to communicate to your audience. Marketing can seem so complicated. So daunting. So time-consuming. So go ahead and write them on a piece of paper and stick them on your wall. Then the next time you’re feeling at a loss of what to do – ask yourself one thing: “ How Can I Get The Right Message, To The Right Person, At The Right Time?” Use these three factors to help guide your decision-making process. Does a week of "Right Message, Right Person, Right Time" marketing support sound good? This 3 Step Marketing Approach forms the foundation of what we teach in Exceptional Entrepreneurs. Exceptional Entrepreneurs is an online co-creation space where you can get weekly support for all your online marketing and automation needs - and this month (April 2021), you can try it for 7 days, for only $7! So, if you would like expert eyes on your marketing strategy and content, simply click here to join in. Follow Carmel on Facebook , LinkedIn and visit her website for more info! Read more from Carmel! Carmel Murphy, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carmel Murphy is known for being an out-of-the-box thinker and an expert in human behavior, marketing, and business strategies. Carmel’s passion for people, curiosity, know-how, business acumen, and background have come together to develop unique programs around marketing, copywriting, and videos designed to create higher conversion and increase sales and profit in business. Carmel coordinates, hosts, and delivers membership programs, workshops, and events to teach business owners how to build and market a sustainable online business.

Written by: Kelly Hater, 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. Corporate Spouse — a significant other with a partner “climbing up” or already “high up” on the corporate ladder. In my first job out of college, I had the privilege of working as a Fitness Floor Manager and Personal Trainer at the Procter and Gamble Corporate Fitness Center in Cincinnati, OH, USA. I worked with hundreds of employees through one-on-one training sessions and group fitness classes. Several of my clients were standouts to me as I trained them. These individuals stood out because of their devotion. They were devoted to their jobs, and they were equally devoted to their families as I continue to have relationships with them today. The executives that I trained worked high-pressure positions at literally all hours of the day. Many of them even relocated their families to international locations for several years at a time. Their work ethic just blew me away. I was always equally impressed by their love and concern for their families and especially their spouses. They held their spouses in the highest regard. Rightfully so because usually their spouses selflessly let go of his/her own career so that their husband/wife could achieve great things in their career instead. Without their spouse at home taking on the role of “Family Manager” to support them and the household, their world would absolutely crumble. They would refer to them as their “corporate spouse” from time to time. I got to be honest; the first time I heard them refer to their husband/wife as a “corporate spouse,” it caught me off guard. After further clarification, it became evident that a corporate spouse, in my humble opinion, literally runs the world for their spouse. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but they have an enormous amount of responsibility. Running a Home Single-Handedly With or without children, a corporate spouse is no small feat. I mean, just thinking about all the single parents out there rocking it at work and home knocks the wind right out of me. What a tough season in life! Single parents are heroes for real. The household, just like corporations, has lots of balls to juggle all at once. For starters, there is the great task of raising kids if you have them. I mean, you must manage their personal hygiene, school activities, extracurricular activities, and oh do not forget the eating, sleeping, and disciplining that goes on in between. Raising them to be respectful, kind, and hard-working adults. Then there are all the household chores like laundry, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, dishes, organization, yard, home maintenance, etc. Then there are the home finances with budgeting and paying all the bills. You are responsible for maintaining healthy relationships among family, friends, and neighbors; things like sending birthday cards and holiday planning and attendance are typically solely the corporate spouse's responsibility. You get the point. It is a good bit to keep up with, and most of it has little to no personal gains associated with it. For example, no one is giving your corporate spouse a performance review that results in a bonus check at the end of the year. Usually, no one is even saying a good job or thank you regularly. To me, this job as a corporate spouse sounds like a very lonely place to work. Performing endless tasks without any recognition or reward or, most importantly, self-fulfillment is a one-way ticket to self-deterioration. No one wants their most treasured employee to quit. The corporate spouse who stays at home to manage the household needs to be supported. They need to build a strong sense of self-confidence. It’s important to encourage them to seek and achieve personal growth through self-actualization, starting with self-awareness. For the corporate spouse to operate at full throttle, they need balance in all their wellness dimensions. The corporate spouse may also feel personally aimless as they wake up and do the same thing day-to-day. Completely losing their own identity. “Stop Existing, Start Living” — Mama Bear Domain A Cry for Help These skills are tough to master, considering the various challenges a corporate spouse faces. I have done hundreds of interviews with moms and clients from all walks of life. No matter which side of the coin they fall on, the ones who stay at home while their spouse goes to work or the ones who get up and grind it out in the office all day both have struggles. The corporate spouses are weaning for guidance, as they feel overwhelmed, aimless, lonely, and self-loss. As the kiddos need constant reassurance that the other parent does, in fact, love them, and they will be home. Attendance at various school gatherings, family celebrations, and social events is not actually glamorous but completely and utterly exhausting. You have no choice but to show up and put on a good face because people expect you to be there and have it all together. The phrase, “I’m sorry my husband/wife can’t make it today,” is just something people who know you will hear often. You never really get a true, completely detached vacation from work with your spouse. Even on vacation, they must check-in, and when they do, you never know how long it will take for them to log back into vacation mode with you. The schedule must be flexible all the time. They might plan to come home early one day and must cancel at the last minute, leaving you alone for the soccer practice shuffle and bedtime routines yet again. The hardest challenge might be teaching your children that their talents are gifts that are meant to be shared with the world. These gifts we possess come with responsibilities. In all the things we are responsible for, we always do our absolute best, and in doing so, we treat others how we would want to be treated. The struggle to keep life in balance is real for both spouses. On one side, you have the guilt of working constantly, and on the other side, you are lonely, and your tasks seem thankless. Left without intervention, this scenario does not look pretty. Both sides of the house need to be supported. “Whatever you aren’t changing, you are choosing not to change” — Mama Bear Domain. Nowadays, the corporate world has access to corporate wellness programs. In fact, they are the gold standard for most major companies. By offering corporate wellness programs, companies encourage healthy habits in the workplace. Research has proven that healthy employees are happier, more productive, have lower healthcare costs, and miss less work due to illness. An employee's family is the real ticket to an employee’s health because they have the greatest influence on an employee’s health behaviors than any doctor or medical professional. When an employee's home life is stable, they are happier, and they are more consistent in their work productivity. Distractions at work are minimized when they have very few things to worry about at home. Therefore, a healthy employee who has a healthy home environment is a win-win for any company. Obviously, there is a gap in the support for the corporate spouse who stays at home to manage the house and everything else under the sun. The Foundation Must Be Strong These Family Managers are the strong foundation for their spouse to climb the corporate ladder. Corporations and companies need to support and educate the corporate spouse to keep the foundation strong. Educating the importance of healthy and balanced well-being. Teaching the corporate spouse the importance of wellness within the wheel of life, circle of control, reaching the growth zone, building awareness to discover self-actualization. The last thing we want is the corporate spouse to feel is resentment for the company and/or their spouse. Causing the foundation of the executive or future executive to crumble. I think it is safe to say that this article is a call to action. If you or someone you know feels swallowed by the pressures of being a corporate spouse, tell them to contact me. Corporations small and large can contact me for spousal wellness speeches and/or workshops. I have a space in my heart for them and their struggles. I want to support the corporate spouses of the world. I want to help them find balance and build self-confidence. I want to help them discover new things about themselves and evolve. I want the people who support others all day to feel supported too. Follow Kelly on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and visit her website. Read more from Kelly! Kelly Hater, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine Kelly Hater, the owner of Mama Bear Domain, has over 15 years of coaching experience and a B.S. in Health Promotion specialized in Exercise Science. She specializes in helping clients overcome mom burnout, providing a clear, decisive plan that leads her clients on a path of success. Her clients no longer let mom guilt steal their identity and goals. Moms deserve to be happy and live a fulfilling life. She personally has overcome overwhelming struggles herself. Get the accountability needed to take action. As a mom of two, she gets it.

Written by: Eula Clarke, 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. During this current climate, we are all looking at starting our own business or looking for something extra. What is your Niche? What are you known for? Whatever you have decided to do, you must set goals and have a plan of action. I would like to share my 4 tips that will help you get started on the right track. Find Your Passion What does this mean? This is finding the thing that you are really good at and, in turn, finding your purpose. This is something that gets you so excited that you cannot sleep. I am passionate about helping others both with their personal development and growth. Being an entrepreneur gives you the chance to be able to do this by helping and sharing ideas with others. When you are passionate about what you do, you will get excited about it, and it will not feel like you are working; however, focus on the purpose of helping others. Make a commitment and keep your loyalty around helping others. Help people within your team if you are an entrepreneur to change their mindset from employee to being their own boss. You must do whatever it takes to find your success and maintain this; you are responsible for your own growth. Create your plan of action to achieve your goals Review these goals daily. Reset, realign and set the target dates to achieve these goals. Make sure they are SMART goals. Set time aside to develop yourself and improve your skillset. Book courses online, daily reading of motivation development books, check your level of attributes -what is it that you need to work on, do a checkbox exercise to see what skills you need to improve on. Personal development goals need to be set so you can review these. Coach or Mentor Look at getting a Coach or Mentor and find someone that will help you and work with you on a 1.1 basis. A Coach will be able to give you honest feedback and share your thoughts about what you need to improve on or learn. If you are looking for a mentor, then this will be someone who provides you with feedback and someone you can reach out to and be able to discuss or review your thoughts or ideas. If you are looking for a coach or mentor, you must choose wisely and ensure that they will be able to help you to achieve your goals. If you are looking for a coach, you want someone with leadership qualities or who has achieved success and has a track record. They will coach you and support your feedback and hold your hand to help you get to the next level. However, you have to put in the work and be consistent with what you are doing. Brand yourself If you are in a product-based business, you must brand yourself. People buy from you, not the company. Start by getting your own body transformation so that you can help your clients and team; this will be your niche as the go-to person for help. The most important thing is to build a relationship with your clients and team. How you make people feel is extremely important and will determine your level of success. Always provide a human touch whichever business you are doing or planning to do. Find that purpose and run with it during this current time, stay motivated and passionate about whatever you do. Another Stream of Income During this time, a lot of people are interested in getting their own home-based business started. I am proud to know that I have taken the chance to make a start. This is your plan B to create what you want for yourself on the side. For example, to be able to plan for a vacation, pay off large debts – your business is something that you need to put hours into and make it work for you. This is a mindset shift to make your team move from employee to manager and build their own business effectively over a period of time. This can be a lucrative business if you plan to work hard to achieve your goals and are open to learning how you can impact lives on a global scale. Do not put yourself in a box. Work outside of the box. Change the dynamic of the new normal. For more info, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my website ! Eula Clarke, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Eula Clarke is a collaborative woman in Leadership expert, award-winning financial services professional and detail-oriented trusted board advisor commanding over two decades of experience gained building teams, enhancing performance and driving diversity and inclusion initiatives within highly regulated spheres. Committed to enabling women to grow and develop, both personally and professionally, spearheading customer service programs, leadership development projects and providing astute, insightful advice. Invested in shattering the glass ceiling through consulting, training, mentoring, coaching and the delivery of keynotes speaking engagement, Above all, recognized as determined, courageous and driven to transform individuals and organizations from the inside out.

Written by: Denise Ledi, 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 kid, I remember watching my dad sitting at our kitchen table working away on technical drawings. Buildings of kinds, bridges, heck even power plants, you name it! Strange lines, angles, and numbers filled huge sheets of paper. He was a structural engineer, not that I really understood what that was. All I knew was drawings meant ROAD TRIP!!! We would be heading out of town on an adventure very soon! You see, my father was a structural engineer; a new Canadian in the early stages of building his business & raising three young kids. Talk about a handful! During the summer months, he took my brother, sister, and I with him on inspections. I absolutely loved it! It we’d be up and out of the house at the crack of dawn. It felt like we were explorers, ‘the Ledi’s’- all for one and one for all, venturing out into the unknown. Off we went, styling in a 1980s Chrysler Cordoba. For those of you who don’t know what that is, think classic, big post 70’s era car. Can you imagine? Three kids strapped in tight; excitedly waiting for Dad to hit the gas when we got on to the highway. With no one in sight, every now again, we experienced a bit of ‘dough-ba power!!!!!! As we called it, or should I say, SCREAMED it when he let it rip in short bursts that left of laughing ourselves silly. Oh, what I’d do for a bird’s eye view of us cruising and styling in our big silver beast of a car. With dad at the helm, our books, dolls, mini cars, and treats stacked in between us. Those were the days! Talk about fun! We were discovering new places, new people, new foods and more! Everything seemed so vivid, bigger, brighter, faster, higher..... No matter. Some things stay in our memories. Some things stay with us and shape us forever. These trips, framed by endless kilometers of highway, the beauty of the Canadian prairies, and the Rocky Mountains, captured my imagination & cultivated my love for new experiences and see things with fresh eyes. It also unknowingly planted the seeds of my adult dreams: to also own my own business one day. To take an idea and see it developed into something tangible; lasting, and impactful. To connect, journey with others and discover something new and inspired. It might seem strange then, that my entrepreneurial journey was didn’t start right away. I studied Criminology intending to become a criminal lawyer, eventually with my own practice! But the more attuned I became to adult responsibilities and practicalities, the more I chose routine. What is known and expected; the ‘safety net’ of a regular paycheck and all the trappings of what some may define as success. Somewhere along the way, I bought into societal definitions of lock stock and barrel and stepped away from my dreams. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade my path for anything. I’m grateful for it. Growing up is inevitable. At some point, our childhood curiosity, excitement, faith, and trust become something we look back on instead of something we’re currently experiencing. Childhood was a time when we believed we could do and be anything! The late Jim Rohn, Master speaker, and motivator reminded us to “be like children, and remember there are four ways to be more like a child no matter how old you get: curiosity, excitement, faith, and trust…that is a powerful combination to bring (back) into our lives.” I came to appreciate the power and truth of this statement along with this: great childhood memories that haven’t diminished with time, the ones that quietly empower our dreams, are not lost. They inspire us to be the person we are today. The seeds planted in childhood thought to be dormant or worse, dead; had not only taken root, they thrived. A flower had blossomed and demanded to be seen in its full glory. Who would have thought I’d develop and launch a coaching business after all this time and become an entrepreneur? It’s NEVER too late to go after your dreams or change your views of success. Your dreams are personal. How you define success is personal. It looks different for everyone; it’s not a one size fits all destination. My dreams are an exciting and inspiring journey into the unknown, filled with endless opportunities best summed up by this quote: “Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life; it's about what you help inspire others to do." – Unknown What are your fond childhood memories? For a moment, take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce about the good old days! They may be just memories now, but what beautiful memories they are. A reminder of glorious days gone by, and the days that made you who you are today. To our childhood dreams & memories! Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Denise! Denise Ledi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Denise Ledi is an Empowerment & Executive Leadership Coach based in Edmonton, Alberta Canada serving clients across North America. She has spent more than 20 years as a leader in addiction & mental health, forensics, and correctional healthcare and knows firsthand how complex and challenging it can be to lead in ever-changing environments. Denise integrates real world leadership experience, experiences as a coaching client with expertise as a certified executive trained coach and Master’s trained Criminologist to provide a unique, innovative, integrative perspective to her clients to help them gain clarity and achieve the measurable results they're looking for. Denise has been a mentor to 100+ professionals and family; including her younger brother & sister after their mother died and as their father built his Engineering firm into a successful business as a new immigrate to Canada. Chapter Chair- Powerful Women Today Edmonton, budding podcast host, speaker and presenter, Denise believes that our highest potential is reached by helping others reach theirs. It is her primary mission to empower others to become their best selves, access their whole potential, and make an extraordinary impact on the world!

Written by: Sarah-Jayne Juniper, 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. Yes, that's right, I am talking to you. STOP making excuses as to why you cannot achieve great things. You are powerful, intelligent and brave, the only person holding you back is YOU! As human beings, we are incredibly talented yet such creatures of habit, naturally turning towards what feels comfortable, easy, and familiar. Ask yourself right now, are you truly satisfied with every aspect of your life? Do you wake up every morning fulfilled and excited? Are you living the life you dreamed of when you were a child? Over the past year, my concept of ‘ideal’ has been challenged, I have been encouraged to rethink my thinking and ‘get over’ my so-called fears and barriers. Believe me, the more I conquer, the more I realize how many barriers we all place in front of ourselves… No more excuses. There is never a ‘right time’ or program that can help cure all, it stops with you and you only. To move forward we have to be ready, we have to be prepared to feel uncomfortable and awkward, we have to be willing to practice every day and all day. Are you ready? Sometimes we set ourselves personal challenges and wonder why we do not stick to them. Is it because you are not passionate about it, you are not ready to commit or you have taken an almighty leap forward that whatever that challenge may be, it already appears unrealistic. So, let's be honest here what is it you truly desire? If there were no barriers, what exactly would you, and when I say you, imagine a blank canvas with your name on it, truly want? Give yourself permission to be bold, to take risks in your thinking, and be selfish for this moment in time. Now reflect on the reason why you have not taken action. What excuses have you made, and what are the greatest barriers you believe are stopping you from going out there and living the life you desire? It is natural to feel resistance, to worry, and feel a range of emotions. All we have to know is when it comes to the end of life, how would you like your story to be told. Steps towards no more excuses: 1. Have a big piece of paper/ notepad and colored pens to hand. 2. Have your favorite drink and a treat of your choice by your side. 3. Find a calm and quiet place to sit. Preferably where you will have no distractions and feel safe to completely relax and be present in. 4. Do the box breathing exercise for 5 minutes - breathe in for 5, hold for 5, release for 5, hold for 5, repeat. 6. Now to be bold, brave and creative, capturing EVERYTHING that arises. Once you have completed the above, see what ACTION you can make right now to move you into the right direction. Recap and continue to map out the next steps to help create a powerful and exciting road map towards the desired outcome. Remember, No more excuse! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Sarah-Jayne! Sarah-Jayne Juniper, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah-Jayne Juniper is a leader in Transformational Life Coaching. After struggling to understand her position in the world and the boundaries placed in front of her regarding academic success, she set out to challenge barriers and the concept of societal norms. She has since accomplished a MSc Psychology, traveled the world and launched Sarah-Jayne Life Coach; a company fuelled with determination- reconnecting individuals with themselves, finding balance and encouraging personal growth and fulfillment. Her clients are those who are ready to take life to the next level, face mental health with a forward-thinking attitude and focus on their full potential.

Written by: Megha Mathur, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. What is the one emotion that dictates how we govern our decisions in life? Fear. You might look at me and disagree, but that is the truth, and I ask you to look back on the decisions you have recently taken and ask yourself these questions: 1) What was the motivation behind my recent decision? 2) When I made the decision, what was the immediate next emotion I felt? 3) What is my biggest fear for that decision? Fear is one emotion that dictates pretty much how we live, how we interact with others, and how we navigate ourselves in our personal and professional lives. Fear is a natural, powerful, and primitive human emotion. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological. Sometimes fear stems from real threats, but it can also originate from imagined dangers. Fear can also be a symptom of some mental health conditions, including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But in all cases, fear manifests itself either as conscious fears or unconscious fears. Conscious Fears Let’s say someone was bitten by a dog when they were young, which led to a fear of dogs. Now, every time they see a dog, they have a panic attack because they believe that the dog will bite them. This is termed as a conscious fear when someone is aware of the fear's existence. Most of these fears lead to severe anxieties in life. Most of the conscious fears club have similar situations to the same instigating event that caused the fear to develop. Using the same example as above, an individual who is afraid of dogs has generalized all dogs as aggressive. Their response to that fear comes from what they felt at that moment to that one specific dog, and their responses are now generalized to all dogs. A conscious fear can be dealt with in a desensitization process where the individual is exposed to smaller yet similar situations to overcome this fear, such as showing them a puppy will not harm them. Unconscious Fears This is an interesting phenomenon psychologically. These fears are hidden deep within us and don’t come into our awareness per se, but our actions will prove otherwise. An unconscious fear will keep us stuck in dysfunctional cycles leading to self-sabotaging behaviors. How do these fears develop? They develop because we, as humans, are looking for one thing in our life, and that is validation - validation that we matter; validation that our relationships are fulfilling; validation that we have successful careers. Some of the most common examples of the manifestation of these fears include: 1) Fear of not succeeding: This type of fear starts we deem failure as being absolute in our pursuit of success. It registers deep down in our psyche, and even though we tell ourselves that the failure was a learning curve, our actions and words would say otherwise. Sentences beginning with “I can’t” will start to take over. 2) Fear of making mistakes: This fear can again be learned in childhood, resulting in a perfectionist behavior. Most individuals who fear making mistakes have low self-esteem and push others to compensate for it through their work ethics. 3) Fear of rejection: One of the most feared “fears” is the feeling of not being accepted by people. When you live with a fear of rejection, your self-sabotaging behavior leads you to become defensive and “close-up” You could use sarcasm to stop others from hurting you because you work retroactively to stop the hurt, which may or may not occur. 4) Fear of the unknown: This type of fear, in its true essence, holds us back to take any action that will truly propel us to our success. When you fear the unknown, you could possibly hear yourself weighing out the CONS of your situation more than the pros. Overcoming the Unconscious Fears 1) Identify your fears: It is so important to identify your unconscious fear. To identify these kinds of fears, you will have to sit down and self-reflect on some of these things: Did you at any time in your childhood hear your parents talk negatively about success or failures? Were you chastised for your failures? How do you view your relationships in your life? Do you have a habit of pleasing others? Do you become defensive? Do you become sarcastic? Are you afraid of success because it will mean taking on more responsibilities? 2) Why and when of this fear? Can you identify the specific situation that made you bury this fear deep down in your subconscious? For example, if you are fearful of success, did you ever have an incident in your life where you failed at something and now equate failure as being “what you are good at” and there is nothing better than you can do, which will be good enough. 3) How has this impacted your life? Unknowingly the impact of your fear is not seen until and unless you sit down and self-reflect. When you remove yourself from the situation and view yourself from a birds-eye view, you will be able to see how the fear has shaped your life. It gives you an idea of all of the self-sabotaging behaviors you are engaged in. 4) The What If …. This is so important to do once you have completed the first three steps. You need to think through the what if and see how things would be different for you once those fears were eliminated. It could overwhelm you, but it brings things into perspective. 5) Face your fear by utilizing small steps to overcome it: As a life coach, I cannot tell you to face your fear , and then everything will be fine! No. You need to see for yourself that small steps taken to overcome your fear make you stronger and that the root cause of your fear has no factually based evidence to support the notion that you will not succeed. For example, for fear of success – a small goal could be taking on a small project and giving it your 100%. It doesn’t have to be anything that will significantly impact your career but something small. Once you succeed at your small goals, your mind now starts to loop in positive thoughts against your fear, making it smaller and smaller in your mind. Conclusion More than the conscious fears, unconscious fears are what hold us back. It is so very important to know what you actually fear so that you can stop the self-sabotaging behaviors and achieve the success you deserve. Follow Megha on her Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , YouTube and visit her website . Read more from Megha! Megha Mathur, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Megha Mathur is a trained Mental Health Professional and a Life Coach. She has her own YouTube channel where she posts weekly videos on mental health and personal development. She has a strong passion for helping those individuals who live in cultures where talking about mental health and stigma is still a taboo. She has become a life coach to give quick solutions to individuals who feel stuck in their life. Her mission is to help everyone live a more empowered life by mastering confidence.

Written by: Michele Ogston, 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’s not the stars that create light. It’s the light that creates stars.” — Don Miguel Ruiz. Yo u might be a lightworker since you were drawn to this article. Have you ever wondered what a lightworker is? There has been a powerful shift over the last few years. Especially recently, people are feeling a calling for a greater good. If you have felt this pull, or some call it a push or nudge, then you know. What is a lightworker? A lightworker is someone who feels called upon by a greater force than themselves to be a beacon of light in this world; to push out the dark, bring light and lead the way. They were chosen as a part of their soul contract. Here are 11 clues the universe gives you to let you know you are a lightworker: 1. You feel like you were meant for something bigger. You have a nagging feeling inside you that something is festering and ready to come out. Yet you aren’t sure where to put this energy. It feels like you are often wasting time which grains against your soul. The power brewing inside can be scary and overwhelming. This feeling is your light. Even when you aren’t trying, it will peek out from within. You might have noticed it when random strangers share their life with you. It seems like you are often in the right place at the right times. This is not a coincidence. The universe knows it can trust you to handle any situation with ease and comfort. You are a great listener and provide strength for others when they have lost their way. 2. You frequently feel like an alien or like you don’t fit in. Trying to talk to people about spreading love and light and working with the oneness of the universe doesn’t always go over so well with mainstream society. You have probably spent a good portion of your life from as far back as you can remember feeling like you don’t fit in. You might have overcompensated just to make sure you were accepted. The energy of others could have forced you to retreat into isolation. You are different! You are different for a reason. The universe has been preparing you from the moment you were born. Facing adversity has only taught you more about empathy. This trait makes you an incredible lightworker . 3. You want to save the world! The universe will often leave clues throughout your life, letting you know you have a higher calling . You might have chosen a career in the helping profession or are an active volunteer. Many times, lightworkers choose professions as: A Teacher A Coach A Doctor/Nurse A Yoga Instructor An Activist of any kind A Veterinarian You have a low tolerance for injustice! You might have spoken up for people when they couldn’t find their voice. It’s possible as a child . You stepped in to save another from being bullied. You are a crusader for human and animal rights. You are concerned for the planet and oftentimes catch yourself daydreaming about how you could do better. This is because you are one with the planet, which enables you to actually feel the world's suffering . 4. You can manifest like nobody’s business! It seems like whenever you practice manifestation, your life aligns fairly quickly. You set intentions and stick with them. You practice patience and allow the universe to show you the way. You feel like you are an abundant soul with the ability to “tap into” the energy around you at any given moment. This is because you have high levels of energy that finds its way into a material manifestation fast. You have learned to surrender your thoughts to a higher power . Therefore , letting go of the attachment to the outcome is easy for you. You are still amazed by this, though. 5. You have strange dreams. Like crazy dreams where you are sometimes embarrassed to talk about them , you are curious about the meanings behind your images. Your dreams aren’t just meant for nighttime. You catch yourself frequently daydreaming too. Your light is often trying to explore the possibilities of all realms around you. You are a visionary and aren’t anchored to a logical approach. You think outside the box and can quickly problem-solve . 6. You are interested in history and philosophy. You are drawn to ancient times and artifacts. Antiques fascinate you! Knowing the “why, who, or what” behind events is fulfilling on a soul level. Your favorite discussion might revolve around historical topics. Be careful not to obsess over these things. It’s important to learn to stay balanced, grounded, and in the present moment. 7. You have had a deep spiritual shift. At some point in your life, you have experienced a spiritual shift. A moment in time where you felt like the whole world stopped spinning just for you. The quiet moment of pause allowed you to see your life from a different lens , almost like an out-of-body experience. This moment led you to make decisions that shaped your life in a new direction. A direction you felt gave you purpose or a higher calling. This can happen in a few different ways, and of course, everyone’s shift is unique to themselves. 1. You fell apart, and you had to rebuild your life. During this process, it made you question your beliefs. 2. You had an event that made you see the light. It could have been an accident : a medical diagnosis or a traumatic event. 8. You have a deep belief in a higher power. It doesn’t matter what you call the higher power. God, Jesus, the Universe, Allah, or something else; you know there is something more. You have faith in the unexplainable and things that aren’t tangible. You are ok with the fact that you might be wrong about it too. Your ability to be humble allows you to see things from a variety of perspectives. People often feel comfortable around you and bask in the feeling of being fully accepted by you. You push people to always try their best and oftentimes believe in them before they believe in themselves. There is a master plan for everything and everyone. 9. You had a challenging childhood. You had to learn to overcome adversity at an early age. Your childhood taught you how to survive. Although, while this skill saved you at one point in your life, you have had to unlearn this skill too. Martyrdom is not in your vocabulary! You do not see yourself as a victim and are easily annoyed by pity. 10. This isn’t your first time here. You’re an old soul! You are a natural leader without arrogance. People are drawn to you. You are comfortable in your own skin. Your soul has a story to share. You have grace and confidence in how you let your life unfold without trying to control it. People use the word Zen about you or describe you with a Zen-like quality. You are easy to be around, and people are comforted in your presence. 11. Darkness doesn’t scare you. One of your strengths is being able to relate to others still in the dark. You feel like darkness is attracted to you, and you’re comfortable being there. You feel especially drawn to dark empaths or might have been raised by one. You see the good or light in everyone , enabling you to overlook other traits many define others by. You have been known to drop your boundaries for these types of people and may have experienced trauma at the hand of someone who is dark. Your boundaries need to be especially strong here because you attract everyone to you. People in the dark NEED your light. You have been trained to recognize all kinds of darkness and understand how to transmute it to the light. You have to know who is ready for your light and who is going to take it from you. Maybe they’re not ready to receive your light at the moment, but you create that opportunity for them once they can receive the light. Remember, being a lightworker is not just about you. You already have everything inside you. You are complete! It’s about leading others to step into their light. The more you become anchored yourself with this intention, the stronger your light shines. Being a lightworker is like being a lighthouse. You are grounded with such force no storm can knock you down. You are there to guide others towards their chosen path. The time has come for all of you who resonated with this article! Everything will fall into place. Let your light shine! You can connect with her on: Facebook , Instagram , or LinkedIn or visit her website: Cloud 9 Life Coaching . Read more from Michele! Michele Ogston, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Michele Ogston is an empowerment and transformational coach! She holds certifications as an intuitive life coach and is a certified meditation & mindfulness teacher. She works with her empath and like-minded people to empower them to break the patterns holding them back to create an authentic life filled with purpose and meaning. Her mission is to spread the word that you’re just one decision from changing your whole life. She truly believes life isn’t about being happy all the time but about learning how to navigate the more challenging times a little easier. After experiencing her own loss through the death of loved ones and a painful divorce, she decided to turn her pain into passion and helps people navigate life a little easier. In addition to coaching clients 1:1, she facilitates The Soul’s Assignment Club . A weekly group for people who feel like they were called upon to do more with their life. She runs the Empath Support Group, where she provides a safe place for Empaths to find comradery to learn and share with each other. She owns Cloud 9 Life Coaching in Northern California, where she lives with her husband, children, and fur babies. You can connect with her on: Facebook , Instagram , or LinkedIn or visit her website: Cloud 9 Life Coaching .

Written by: Ralph Varcoe, 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. In every aspect of our lives, we are being influenced and are influencing others. Adverts, social media, the opinions of friends and colleagues, fake and real news. Have you ever noticed that some people seem to just have a knack for influencing, without even trying? The science of influence is a fascinating topic, and the top influencers around us all exhibit five core habits. What are they?¨ 1. They make people feel liked Contrary to popular belief, the key to influencing others is not to get them to like you. The notion that someone might do what you suggest because they like you is accepted as a primary driver. And it’s not necessarily wrong to think this. However, if someone feels you like them, they are far more likely to be influenced. Everyone, even the hardest of individuals, enjoys being liked. Feeling that someone likes you makes you feel good about yourself, and believe it or not, when you feel like that, you are more likely to be influenced by your newfound admirer. This isn’t about faking it…people can generally spot when someone is blowing smoke up them or trying too hard. Those who are brilliant influencers genuinely make the people they interact with feel liked, and that’s why others tend to accept what they say or do. It was Maya Angelou who said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 2. They’re motivated to help people Trying to influence someone to do something that won’t benefit them is poor form and ultimately won’t succeed. With influence being the art of facilitating another person to come to their own conclusions, the act of trying to push someone into thinking or doing something that’s not in their best interests is closer to the darker side of the worst forms of manipulative persuasion. Those who are master influencers enable those around them to see how what they (the influencer) are saying and doing could fit them (the influenced), their lifestyle and ambitions. Top influencers will work out what others could do, use, learn etc and then talk about it in the context of how it would help the other person. Because if someone who you feel likes you is suggesting something that would benefit you, why wouldn’t you feel inclined to take their lead? 3. They communicate to be understood There’s a key principle of NLP that says, “The meaning of your communication is the response you get.” That may seem strange at first, but if you dig in a little deeper, you’ll realize it’s spot on. Top influencers ensure they communicate in a way that the recipient interprets as the influencer intended. The communicator seeks to understand the recipient’s map of the world, the filters through which they will interpret what’s being said, and then deliberately choose language, style and communication structure that suits the recipient. It is never good enough to make a statement and assume the other person should have understood what you meant. If they understood something different, then it is not their, but your, responsibility to clarify the meaning. Whatever they think it means is what it means to them. Top influencers always communicate in a way that’s suited to those they communicate with so that the messages are received as intended. 4. They do unsolicited favors for people Well-timed and appropriately sized favors can go a long way to creating an environment where people are more likely to be influenced. In the giving of a small gift, a kind word, public praise, or a small favor, the top influencer creates a basic human need in the recipient to return it. In terms of social science, this is termed as Reciprocity, one of the 6 core pillars of human social psychology. It is an innate human desire to return favors to those who have done us one. But don’t make the favor you give disproportionately large – that won’t work and may cause someone to be suspicious of you. If the favor or gift is too small, or random, it may also not have any impact. Making sure the favor is proportionate and, better still, personalized will, nine times out of ten, makes someone want to return the favor and feel better disposed towards you, and therefore, more likely to be influenced. 5. They ask for small favors Benjamin Franklin noted, "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged." This came about because he needed to get one of his opponents on the side. Rather than try to ingratiate himself and persuade the opponent to believe something he didn’t (and frankly never would), he instead decided to ask his opponent if he may borrow one of his books. He obliged. Franklin later asked for a larger favor and this was also granted. What Franklin discovered was the notion that people seek to be consistent with their actions – his opponent felt a need to be consistent with his actions of granting the first favor by granting another, slightly larger one. If you seek to influence, one of the most powerful things you can do is to ask for someone to do you a small favor. Before long, they will be happy to do you another, larger one….and this is especially good if it is something that is in their interests and not yours. Adopt these 5 habits today There are so many tips and techniques, all based on social science and much research, but if you want to be a successful influencer, start with these 5 and make them daily habits. You’ll find your IQ (Influence Quotient) skyrocket. And, the world will be a much more pleasant place…..imagine a world where everyone made others feel liked, where actions were done for the benefit of others, where people communicate meaningfully, where small acts of kindness are distributed and where people are comfortable to ask for help! Follow me on LinkedIn, twitter and visit my website for more info! Ralph Varcoe, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ralph Varcoe is a business leader, speaker, coach and mentor, working with sales and marketing teams, enabling them to master the power of influence to get to 'yes' more often and quicker. He is qualified in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and has written the best-selling book 'Accelerate Personal Performance' which encompasses the power of influence and persuasion for better self-management, management of teams and interactions with customers. His clients include individuals and teams from large global organizations to pre-seed start-ups and everything in between. His keynote talks inspire, inform and entertain audiences, taking them on a practical journey of discovery into the power of influence in their daily personal and working lives. He is also the host of the popular podcast 'Focus Action Results'.

Written by: Amber Barry, 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 get it. You’re busy! So am I, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put the time we invest in our business to the absolute best possible use. You'd be amazed at home many hours you can save every week by automating repetitive tasks, getting organized, and streamlining your systems. Finding time to focus on getting things in order is one investment that will pay off big in the long run. It’s truly one of the most important things you can do for your business because it will allow you to do what you love doing the most—working with your clients! Remember that?? It’s the reason you are doing this! Here are 4 things you can easily automate to help you get some of your time back: Appointment Scheduling and Reminders It takes so much time and energy going back and forth trying to find a time that suits you and your prospective client, and it gets even trickier when different time zones come into play! Set yourself up for success by automating the entire process. Follow-Ups Congratulations! You booked a discovery call and presented your strategy and offers to a prospective client. Then what? Think about the next steps you take to follow up with that person — you can easily set up a follow-up email (or two) and set them to send automatically a few days after your call. Welcoming New Clients With some proper planning, you'll be doing this one a lot! Think about your onboarding process. Do you send an agreement, invoice, and a welcome pack? Do you manually gather information differently with each new client? When you systematize and streamline your process, it makes things so much easier — not only for you but for your clients! Setting up seamless onboarding workflows helps you stay organized and ensures that you’re delivering a consistent client experience. You can easily create automation or template for each step of your process and set it up as a workflow. Then, breathe easy while autopilot works its magic! Marketing If you don't have a system in place yet for your marketing, you're probably feeling quite scattered, and you might not be getting the results you're after. Using automation for your email sequences is one of those things you should absolutely be doing, but it often gets pushed to the back burner. Quick example: My first two clients had built up substantial mailing lists their first year or two in business without even trying, but neither one of them had emailed their list — Ever! Don’t let this be you. Automating takes a bit of time, research, and planning, but it is worth it! Once your systems are in place and running smoothly, you'll see how much easier your life gets and how much happier your customers are. What questions do you have about automation? Comment below or book a call with me to learn how I help women streamline and strategize for big momentum and optimal business growth. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram or join my private group and visit my website for more info. Read more from Amber! Amber Barry, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Amber Barry is a US-based business strategist and consultant specializing in digital marketing, automation, and social media advertising for small businesses and startups. She is passionate about deconstructing the process of establishing and growing a business and aims to make it less overwhelming and easier to navigate for new business owners. She is the founder of Amber Barry | Digital, a digital marketing and advertising agency, and creator of The Go-Getters Club, where she offers online courses and coaching to women in business to help them maximize their marketing efforts and turn their small steps into big wins and massive momentum. She is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Health Coach by training. She draws from her 12+ years of experience in health and wellness and 20+ years as an endurance athlete to help people transform their journey as business owners into an enjoyable, successful, fulfilling experience.

Written by: Byron Athene, 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 article may very well change your life. I’m going to share with you a new perspective on how negative and positive emotions are maintained. I guarantee you that by the end of the article, you will have the keys to happiness in the palm of your hand. I’ll start by outlining the CBT model of emotional disturbance. I’ll then outline a model of emotion regulation that’s based on this model. I’ll describe a personal experience that shows the mechanics in action. I’ll end by giving you a simple four-step process that can help you secure happiness. To put what you’re about to read into better context, let’s start this by having a whistle-stop tour of the history of psychotherapy. I’m only going to talk about three ground-breaking ideas, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and the cognitive approach. We could go back even further, however, because you could argue that the first form of psychotherapy was philosophy. Although the topics covered in philosophy had universal implications, it wasn’t a popular field of interest. This meant unless you were in a philosophical circle or had access to texts, you didn’t have immediate exposure to ideas that would benefit you. Psychoanalysis gained popularity because talking about your problems with a specialist could be beneficial. Psychoanalysis highlights the importance the past and our unconscious play in maintaining issues in the present. It involves conversations that explore significant events in our past and the unconscious processes they may have created. Another important development in psychotherapy was the emergence of behaviorism. Behaviorism highlights the importance of conditioned responses. One of the more famous behaviorists was a psychologist called Ivan Pavlov. He carried out a series of experiments that showed how easily dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell after making an association between this bell and food. In the 1950s, psychotherapist Albert Ellis conceived what we now call cognitive behavior therapy or CBT. He had a background in psychoanalysis but became frustrated at how long this form of therapy could take. He recognized the importance of conditioned responses, but he believed it failed to take other important things into account. He reasoned for long-lasting change to take place. You would need to make a philosophical change. He was interested in Stoic philosophy, in particular a philosopher from the 1st century called Epictetus. Ellis based a new therapeutic approach on the following quote from Epictetus, “Men are disturbed not by things but by the views which they take of things.” This suggests that it’s not what happens that disturbs us. It’s our opinions or our thoughts about these things that disturb us. This idea was initially met with a mixed reception when first suggested, but now it’s a popular premise. To simplify the process, Ellis devised the ABCs of CBT. The A stands for ‘activating event.’ This is any event from the past, present, or future, real or imagined. The B stands for ‘belief.’ The C stands for ‘consequence,’ which includes behavior, emotions, and thoughts. Ellis pointed out that most people have an A-C way of thinking in that people believe events cause behavior, emotions, and thoughts. He showed this isn’t true: it’s not events that cause these consequences. It’s our beliefs about those events that cause them. My view shares the mechanics of the ABCs, but instead of ABC, it’s ACE. A stands for the same thing, activating event, any real or imagined event from the past, present, or future. C stands for concept. E stands for emotion. Most people have an A – E way of thinking in that they believe events cause emotions, but this isn’t true. It's our interpretation of the event, particularly the concept we've associated with it that causes emotions. Therefore, we’re able to feel bad about things that haven’t happened. Negative concepts can lead to negative emotions. Positive concepts lead to positive emotions. If you’re thinking about a negative concept and feeling bad, you need a concept that counters it – a counter concept – to feel better. This might sound familiar to some because this is a similar idea to positive reframing. Positive reframing is taking something that you used to feel negative about and changing your perspective to see the positive things in the situation. My approach is not just positive reframing because positive reframing is the end of the process. I’m trying to outline the whole process from start to finish in the clearest way I can. Some people may have reservations about this idea's effectiveness, but this is what we are all doing already. The difference is we’re doing it in an unconscious or an unstructured way. Doing it in a structured way enables us to exercise conscious control of a subconscious process. How many times have you felt bad about something but then talked it over with someone, and that has left you feeling better? During those conversations, the person or people you’ve spoken to has generated a counter concept. Or they have inspired you to generate one. Bad emotions are only maintained in the absence of counter concepts. A counter concept can come in multiple forms, and some of them are subtle. Having the thought, “I’ve been feeling bad about this for long enough.” could work. If you didn’t have that thought or a similar one, the negative emotion would persist. I’ll invite you to test this but can give you an example first. I’m a member of Toastmasters, which is a club created to help people improve public speaking. When I gave my first speech, it didn’t go as well as I wanted it to. This speech is a useful way to introduce yourself to the other members and say a bit about your reasons for joining. I didn’t memorize the speech, and when reading the notes, I misread something and lost my place. I uttered a mild expletive in momentary frustration as I recovered. I thought this ruined an otherwise articulate and well-presented speech, so I felt bad about it for a couple of days. I felt better when I changed my perspective. I can describe the situation using the ACE framework. The event (A) is me giving a speech. The concept (C) is my belief that the speech was ruined. The emotion (E) was a disappointment. I felt disappointed until I realized a counter concept. I remembered the main aim of the speech was to speak authentically. I, therefore, reasoned that messing up was possibly the best part of the speech because that was me being my most authentic. The above example is a trivial situation, but every instance of negative emotions is resolved in the same way. When debating this framework's universal effectiveness with someone, I asked them to think of situations where they felt it would not work. They asked how you could apply this if someone died? I said you could feel bad that someone died or feel good that they lived and positively influenced you and helped you become the person you are. So, you could mourn their death or celebrate their life. They said if someone died, they would not want to feel good out of respect for the person. I pointed out if they want to feel bad about something, they wouldn't use this framework because it’s most useful when you want to reduce unwanted bad feelings They introduced a hypothetical scenario that I found interesting. How could you apply this if you failed to catch a serious offender before they committed another crime? How can that be positively reframed? I realized they could extend the scenario and gave them two alternatives. The first one is catching the criminal, but mistakes were made during the legal process, so the criminal remained free and reoffended. The second is failing to catch the criminal but learning someone else had. No legal mistakes were made, so the criminal was appropriately prosecuted and rehabilitated. My debater seemed to reluctantly accept that they would feel happier in the second scenario. It may not be easy to reframe some things some of the time, but the more we look, the more we’ll find. You can test this by thinking about an event in the past that usually makes you feel bad. Are you able to positively reframe that event? If so, that positive reframe will change the negative feeling into a positive one. Did any positive things stem from the negative? Did that negative thing teach you a valuable lesson you may not have learned otherwise? It may seem difficult to use this framework in the moment because you may be too negatively affected by the situation and the emotion. There is a simple process you can follow that makes it easier. Step 1: When you’re feeling a negative emotion, notice how you feel and think about the event you think triggers the bad feeling. Step 2: Acknowledge you’re not feeling bad because of the event; you’re feeling bad because of a concept you’re associating with that event. Step 3: Identify the concept. If there’s more than one, what’s the main one? Step 4: Generate a counter concept that neutralizes this concept by positively reframing the event. So to recap, we don’t emotionally respond to events. We emotionally respond to our interpretation of the event, particularly to the main concept at the core of the interpretation. If it’s a negative concept, it can lead to negative emotion. We can feel positively by generating a counter concept. Bad emotions are maintained only when this doesn’t happen. This means the keys to happiness have always been in our hands. Albeit subconsciously. It can seem like events determine the length of time you experience bad emotions, but our subconscious determines its length. You can start exercising conscious control to dramatically reduce this time and feel happier more. So, now, what are you going to do? Connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Byron! Byron Athene, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine After fully immersing himself in the fields of philosophy and psychology for 30 years, Byron Athene is truly an innovative force. His 'Generative Mindset' and 'Emotions Mastery' packages vastly extend the boundaries of conventional thinking. He encourages clients to change their current perspectives. This often results in them immediately tapping into the infinite source of creativity and power of the mind, and this will have significant emotional, psychological, and behavioral benefits.

Corey and Gabriella are leaders in high-performance mentoring and mindset training. Corey became interested in how the mind plays an instrumental part in determining the success that people achieve in different areas of their lives after working with numerous professional tennis players to improve their psychology over a 15-year period. This led him to partner with Bob Proctor, the world's leading authority in unlocking human potential, and the Proctor Gallagher Institute to help entrepreneurs create quantum leaps in their businesses by raising conscious awareness and teaching how to unlock latent potential. Gabriella joined Corey in 2018, bringing her corporate experience and passion for success psychology. Together they created ‘The Conscious Entrepreneur,’ The two now work to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs create a greater impact in the world through the application and implementation of success principles that harmonize thoughts and actions with the natural laws of the Universe. Tell us about your story? How did you get here today? I've never believed that we came to this life to struggle and spend our time doing something we don't really enjoy, passing from life to death with nothing more than a mediocre existence. Kids are expert dreamers. They don't understand limits, aim for the sky, and encourage them, but then as adults, the imagination becomes limited, aspirations die, and we settle for what seems realistic. I never bought into this, and I always turned my back on people who advise me to be 'realistic' and follow my dreams. And it's always seemed to work out for me. In 2016, I came across a guy named Bob Proctor who claimed that if you told him what you wanted, he would show you how to get it. He was featured in a film titled 'The Secret,' which claimed that 'thoughts are things' and that whatever we 'hold in the mind' can be 'held in the hand.' This is because unchanging universal laws govern all creation. It turns that Bob Proctor has spent the past 60 years of his life studying and teaching these laws to people. I became more interested in studying Bob Proctors' work, and in 2017 started working as a consultant with his institute in partnership with him. Gabriella joined me shortly after, and we have been working with individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations ever since, helping turn people's dreams into reality. What challenges have you had to face on your journey? I think the biggest challenge everyone has to face is building self-belief. A true goal always represents growth, and that requires courage and determination. There is never any growth beyond belief we hold about something. To move to higher achievement levels, we've had to be willing to let go of some of our old ways, ideas, and beliefs. Bob proctor always tells us that everyone has unlimited reservoirs of potential, but we have to bring it to the surface. It's impossible to create new results with old thinking. The challenge is always to be laying the foundations of greater success with expansion in awareness first. What do you specialize in, and why do people work with you? Whatever results you’re getting in your outer world, whether rich or poor, good or bad, positive or negative, are simply a reflection of your inner world. If things aren’t going well in your outer life, it’s because things aren’t going well in your inner life. It’s that simple. Each of us has a personal blueprint already operating in our subconscious mind, and it's this blueprint that determines our success in any area of life. People work with us because they want to experience more income, greater success in their businesses, more health, better relationship, and a richer quality of life. The secret of all of this is changing their subconscious blueprint. We facilitate a safe, predictable, scientific, and guaranteed method to do this. What the best piece of advice you could give to readers that want to find success in their lives? Decide exactly what you want! Get a mentor. Keep your mind closed tightly to any negative influences. Start taking action. Speaking of success, what does it mean to you? To us, success is passion, excitement, service, contribution, fulfillment of purpose, and living a full life. Having goals create a sense of purpose, and it's the progressive realization of those goals, little by little, that gives life direction. What's next for you? We'll continue to work with Bob Proctor and the Proctor Gallagher Institute with ambitious goals to impact more people and organizations on a larger scale. We want to help more people reach their goals, live their dreams, and have a richer life experience. How can people connect with you? Visit our website at www.resultsthatstick.co.uk. Email us at corey.butler@resultsthatstick.co.uk or gabriella.gozon@resultsthatstcik.co.uk. Follow us on Facebook. Read more from Gabriella and Corey!