Written by: Mona AlHebsi, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. There is no doubt that our work takes up a great portion of our lives and many of us identify ourselves to a large extent with the kind of profession we are in. The reason being that this is where we see ourselves contributing and being of service to others henceforth, we derive our self-worth from the work we do or with the discipline we are best experienced at or love the most. Nevertheless, it is a quite common scenario to see many people who are stuck in jobs they dislike for long periods of time and cannot stop complaining about the hard nature of their jobs, the insane company policies, or their demanding bosses, etc. while they are acting powerless about their situations forgetting that they are contributing in some way or another to the problem. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes that goes: “If you don’t like where you are, move. You are not a tree”! Besides, there are several repercussions of working without purpose, I will be highlighting the top 5 in this article as follows: 1. Disconnect From Self & Others This is a common state of mind that you will ultimately be in if your choices in life are mostly based on analytics and logic alone. A lot of people choose not to lend an ear to their gut feelings or emotions when making big life decisions. This is very unfortunate as each one of us has the wisdom inside to lead a happy and fulfilled life if we only dare to pay attention and act upon it. That is why we see people who choose to continue in jobs or professions that do not thrill them anymore for other reasons, suffering in silence and the symptoms show on the outside to others around them. There is a disconnect from the external environment and people as a result to disconnect from their own selves. This is exactly what happens when you always try to suppress your inner wisdom or “Intuition” for other mediocre worldly gains. You better learn how to trust your instincts and break the habit of needing to have constant validation or data for every single decision you take in life. Have the faith that if you listen to your intuition you will soon be exactly where you are meant to be fulfilling the purpose of your being. 2. Overworking & Exhaustion Most people who work in jobs or professions they love report that they do not even know where the time flies. This is because the person is so much engrossed in the moment; the element of time fades out and nothing matters more than the current moment. It is such a pleasant feeling that people who are passionate about their work will understand what it is. On the contrary if you are just working because it is just an obligation to provide necessities or have a job because everyone else is working, then you will end up working in all directions and spreading yourself too thin to the point you feel too exhausted to do anything. In other words, like our directed efforts motivate us, make us “Focus” on what matters, give us the energy to do a lot of valuable things to ourselves and others and stay strong in challenging times; aimless work can be a massive energy-consuming behavior where you always feel that you give more efforts but receive incomparable returns, rewards, and inner satisfaction. 3. Feeling Lost and Off-Track Our work contributes in a big way towards creating a positive self-image from the outside and can provide us many reasons to achieve inner fulfillment. Many people work hard most of their lives to wake up one day and wonder where did their lives go and why they still feel so empty from the inside? Here, I will use my favorite word “Intentions” matter! Most of us were never taught how to make our endeavors worthwhile for ourselves and others. We keep going around in circles for the most part of our lives to realize later that this is not what we really wanted in the first place or that we completely feel lost and do not know how to get back to “our right” track. That is why one of my key lessons that I have learned later in my adult life is to set the right intentions before starting anything meaningful in life and following that with concentrating your efforts in the right direction that will allow you to achieve what you want. 4. Mental Stress & Anxiety If you know your bigger picture while doing your day-to-day job, you will be happier because the passage of every day means that you are one day closer to achieving your goal. When we do the work we love, this can be greatly beneficial for our mental health. According to a recent CIPD report, over 11 million working days are lost a year because of stress at work. It mentions that occupational stress causes risks to both businesses and employees in terms of higher sickness absence, lower employee engagement and reduced productivity. That is why we see an increasing focus by big corporations towards mental health by providing yoga and meditation classes and offering coaching and therapy as well. This is on an organizational level, but individually, as grown-up adults, we are all responsible for taking care of our spiritual, mental, and physical health by knowing what works for us and having the ability to practice it to feel better and this can be as simple as not saying yes when we need to say no! Therefore, the magic formula here is “Self-Care” because when you are on purpose you know that you must be healthy to be able to achieve your dreams and having the courage to stop when you are done with a certain job or role especially when your health start giving you unpleasant messages you must acknowledge those messages and do what is best for your overall wellbeing. 5. Adverse Impact on other Life Areas Whether you are focusing too much on your work, or not doing any work at all, both can have a negative impact on other areas in your life such as family, finances, recreation, self-development or even the career itself. The key is to choose balance in life. Being balanced will allow you to have an astute perspective on your life as a whole and support you in allocating your time to the things that matter the most to you at any given time. You will learn how to prioritize what and when and not just run on the treadmill without direction. I have come across many people in my work life who have given big sacrifices to maintain a job or move to the next level in their careers and that is all because they felt powerless and imagined that a well-paid-job or a position of power can give them what they lack in life; unfortunately, they found out that this was not the case when they attained that lucrative job or the so called status. For instance, many women chose to delay starting a family until they are well settled career wise to realize that it is too late to have children, likewise, men who thought they can spend time with their kids once they achieve a reputable position in the hierarchy to discover later that kids have already grown up and busy in their own lives. So, the keyword here is “Balance” in taking all life areas together so that there are no regrets later in life. Lastly, it is painful to see so many people around us stuck in jobs they dislike and so, working aimlessly, and the lucky ones among those who realized at some point that this is not a good bargain then gathered up the courage to pause and do something that will allow them to strike a balance between the various life areas to achieve purpose and fulfillment. If you find yourself struggling to overcome these toxic work patterns and feel stuck in a mediocre job, know that you are not alone. Career & Success Coaches like myself can help you be aware of your blind spots while guiding you towards career options that will make you achieve personal effectiveness and fulfillment. You can email me at info@monaalhebsi.com For more personal effectiveness and career success tips, visit my website . Connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Instagram , Twitter & Facebook ! You can also subscribe to my channel on YouTube . Read more from Mona! Mona AlHebsi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mona AlHebsi, is an Award-Winning Hotelier, HR Practitioner, Success Coach, Renowned Author, and Speaker. She has recently been named “Most Influential Woman in Hospitality Human Capital” and "Inspirational Female Leader" due to her eminent contributions to the hospitality industry and Human Resources profession. Through her book “Beat The Odds,” Mona aims to provide a roadmap to all hoteliers and working professionals on how to make their work a vehicle to delivering excellence and achieving astounding success. She instinctively knows how to ignite the courage in others to stay true to their values and capitalize on their strengths, which will ultimately steer them towards success and fulfillment. Mona's life mantra is "The more odds you beat, the greater will be your feat"!

Written by: Jenn Drakes, 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 writer, I love words, specifically the word “innovation.” It has been trending as a buzz word for some time now, much like “collaboration” once was. Yet somehow, innovation seems more relevant and lasting. I traced the media buzz as far back as 2015 at both the news, corporate, and government levels. So, it has been in the limelight for some time, and with the promise of advancing artificial intelligence, travel to Mars pending, new industries such as cannabis and electric cars finding their footings, and invite-only platforms like Clubhouse further changing social interactions, it can be expected that the innovation buzz still has longevity. Innovation is deemed to be the introduction of something new and is typically associated with business, science, and technology related to new ideas, methods, processes, devices, products, and services. The rationale for innovation is to improve. In the above fields, innovation aims to achieve improved efficiencies, effectiveness, or competitive advantage. While all of that is great, I have a different perspective on innovation, and it’s that perspective that hugely peaks my fascination with the word. Consider all the effort, both in time and money. We put into innovating things. What if a portion of that was repurposed to innovate ourselves? I submit the perspective of people innovation. Innovation is rarely applied in that way. People innovation is about the renewal of individuals, something necessary in both the personal and professional areas of our lives. It is also necessary across the triad dimensions of ourselves – mind, body, and spirit. The varied definitions of innovation can easily be applied to people. Continuing along the rationale for innovation to improve, what or who better to improve ourselves than us? 2020 certainly showed us there was room for that. Should we not be living out our life journey in a manner that supports improvements occurring along the way? Our lives should also encourage ideation, the formation of connections, and a sense of worth, all core elements of innovation. A renewed individual may move from a state of stagnation, being worn out, or broken to a state that is restored, rejuvenated, vigorous, meaningful, and forward-moving. Innovated people should demonstrate efficiency, effectiveness and should have a competitive advantage over non-innovated people. Why? Because those who look to continuously improve themselves seek education, new ways to do old things but keep the things that work best, adapt better to changes, reflect more deeply, and often read on diverse topics and views to stay informed. To some degree, 2020 gave fuel to innovate ourselves. The pandemic interrupted our fuel-injection systems, breaking our speed, halting our auto-pilot actions, and forced us to look at ourselves and our lives. It forced our greater use of innovative technologies and services like Zoom and Amazon. 2020 moved our focus, and in so doing, it proved that innovation could occur at an individual level. We adapted, we made changes, reflected on our circumstances, and endured discomfort, all for the noble reason of health and safety. After all, lives were at risk. But what if I told you that lives were already at risk pre-COVID. To agree with me depends upon how you look at life. The way I see it, 2020 saved me. 2020 truly was a people innovation year. Innovating ourselves is about looking at our current status quo and courageously finding what needs to change, and just as courageously taking steps to change it. At times, it may be a fundamental shake-up in how we live, how we think, and what we do. The rewards are in the transformation, the energetic facelift, and the new you that emerges. This is bigger than change. It is the resurgence, and it is innovation. Follow me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Jenn Drakes, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine JENN is a Mom, serial entrepreneur, and life advocate who hosts the podcast ARRAYS OF LIVING. She is also creator and co-host of the GET AWESOME show, author of the book ALADDIN CARPETS - change your perspective, change your life. In addition to Brainz Magazine, she is a Featured Author on Plumose.co for her poetry and stories, as well as Contributing Author on Boss Ladies Mindset. JENN is a hidden gem in a desert of gems, and everyone who discovers her is forever changed by her personality and presence. Over the years in working with youths and young adults, she was crowned The Original Goddess to acknowledge the shared feeling that "Jenn is wise beyond her years. I find her to be almost an "old soul" type of spirit." Her voice and writings are powerful, impactful, and life-changing because they trigger thought and promote tantalizing, intelligent conversations. Today, she is using that wisdom to shatter glass ceilings and power up the purpose she believes everyone holds within. A belief that is foundationally based on all of us being born with a gift, and a responsibility to use and share that gift to achieve sustainable happiness. Her mission: "Improve how people feel about themselves, and empower their sense of self-worth to achieve more personally and professionally than they imagined.”

Written by: Henrik Pettersson, 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've never tried that before, so I can do it for sure!" Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking saw everything that came her way as opportunities. The word "impossible" was not in her vocabulary. The adults failed to control her, the police officers Kling and Klang begged to get her into an orphanage, and Dunder-Karlsson and Blom gave up when they were trying to steal her bag with gold money. Pippi's dynamic mindset and mentality shattered the old static views, the ones that so often chain our belief in success to rusty old ideas. A lock that kills your creativity, your forward-thinking, your will, and ability to take action. Let me therefore provide you with the keys to a positive, dynamic, and energy-generating Mindset, which steers you towards success and calibrates you for strong results while at the same time preparing you for the efforts required to reach all the way forward. Key number 1: Know yourself! Or 'gnothi aefthon' as it stood on the walls of the ancient Greek schools of philosophy Getting to know yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses was - and is - a key factor for success. To find out who you are and how you react in different situations while finding your own "sound,"; your Mindset that is linked to your goals and identity, much like ABBA did when, after many years of hard work, they finally found their special sound. What is your dominant trait, which you can trust in any weather? Is it, for example, "efficiency," "sense of responsibility," "speed," or perhaps "Strategic"? To develop further, it is important to find out what you are good at - and less good at. Do not expect anyone else to support your personal development. Start investing in yourself and choose an area to peak - and strengthen your skills in. Which wave is most suitable for surfing? At the same time, our different roles provide different conditions. As a manager and leader, you should, for example, put the will to learn and develop - before talent. And give positive feedback on what benefits forward-thinking and the ability to take action. Regardless of results. As a parent, you should praise efforts that develop their willingness to never give up and constantly acquire knowledge, primarily focus on their activities and secondarily on results. Get to know yourself, so you also get to know others. Like you are playing chess, rather than being a piece, for others to move around. Key number 2 : Be open to everything! Then your chances of a positive Mindset increase. Dare to challenge programmed, static truths. Trying to sit on the other side of the table and think the other way around. The law of polarity; there is nothing left if there is no right, nothing up if there is nothing down. No inside if there is no outside. Try to see opportunities before difficulties. Do not judge ideas casually; "We have already tried that, ""we have never done it," "it is outside our business concept," "it requires too much," "we do not have time for it," "we can’t afford it" and so on. And that usually ends with "it never works." Do not close doors until you have carefully analyzed them; become dynamic and evolutionary rather than static and anti-progressive. Key number 3 . Load with faith in success! Faith in the future, is that something you can train yourself to get? First, you should make clear what success is for you. Is it money or fame? Is it to fulfill one's mission/purpose, whatever happens, and regardless of the result? Or success is about creating the reality of your goals, and that starts with your thoughts, which lead to action? The great feeling that makes you take ACTION. Also, think about what, in addition to success - that motivates you. Research on mindfulness at UCLA shows that a grateful attitude changes the brain's molecular structure, making us healthier, happier, and more proactive than reactive. Can you start the day by thinking about what you have to be grateful for? I promise you a positive mindset, which you are happy to reinforce with things that make you proud; for example, when you advanced at work, came back after an adversity, were involved in the development of a business. When you met your spouse, when the children were born, they graduated or got their first jobs when they started school. Play the "movies" on your screen when you need a kick. Faith in success, is it a feeling you can train to get? The answer is unconditional - YES! Key number 4: Control your mind - and let your mind control you. According to psychology professor Carol Dweck, you have more influence over your brain than you think because it works like any muscle, which gets stronger the more you practice. When you become fully aware of the possibility, you can change your attitude, mentality, and attitude to life. If you choose to look for gray hair when you look in the mirror, you will find them. Are you looking for reasons to procrastinate difficult things as well, just like reasons not to take action? Alternatively, you can meet challenges with a smile on your face, treat your fellow human beings with care - and express a positive outlook on life. You choose how you shape your thoughts, connect a positive Mindset and an emotionally beautiful picture of the future, and strong results will come to you over time. Control your mind, and let it control you. Then it will be as you think. Key number 5 : Do not waste energy on things that do not take you forward. First, try to surround yourself with people who give you energy. Positive key people who help you on the way to a Mindset that strives forward. Caring and honest people who make you grow. Evaluate your surroundings and be careful about who you let in. Second, try to minimize energy-intensive irritations. Do not get upset over injustices, "idiots" who disturb you in traffic, TV, or Facebook. Third, keep in mind that you are responsible as an employee, leader, and parent to create hope, commitment, and enthusiasm in your co-workers and loved ones. A commitment that, together with your own development, does not allow wrong prioritization or unnecessary energy losses. At the same time, the realization that life is not about ticking off a to-do list, but living in the present, focuses on the future. Key number 6: Put dynamic approaches before static ones. Generate energy before stagnation—activity over passivity. And hard work in front of talent. Research shows that children who are praised for good grades or are told that they are smart tend to get stuck around a fixed way of thinking. While those praised for good efforts or high activity levels tend to develop dynamic mindsets that make the wheels spin faster. Mindset reminded me of my childhood when a dynamo was connected to the bike to generate the energy needed for the lamp to light the way forward. And like you need to pedal to move the wheels for the lights to shine. And the stronger the resistance, the heavier the loads you lift, the stronger you become. Just like dynamic Mindset produces people with fighting spirit. At the same time, static thinking avoids challenges and resistance. Put dynamic approaches before static ones. Fade down the focus on results (even if it’s important) and highlight focus on activities. And create stronger results in the long run. Key 7: See failures as opportunities. As J. K. Rowling did when the book about the wizard Harry Potter was rejected twelve times before the first book was published. Adversity she summed up with: "Nothing is impossible if you see failures as benefits, work on your weaknesses - and focus on your strengths." She saw the rejections as driving forces. And turned frustration into success. Some people seem to have it in them, the mindset that is usually called "Blessing In Disguise." Success is disguised as adversity. To turn trouble into triumph. "What are the benefits of failure?" This is the question that your positive Mindset asks. "There is no bad that does not bring anything good," as the old saying goes. When doors close, new ones often open. Life is a result of how we choose to think. If you have the right attitude, you can apply the liberating mindset regardless of the situation; bring a higher level of positive thinking, which increases the reward. And the more often you practice it, the stronger results you will get. Seeing failure as an opportunity, can there be a better mindset? To unlock doors to success take these keys: Key number 1: Know yourself! Key number 2: Be open to everything! Key number 3: Charge yourself with faith in success! Key number 4: Control your mind - and let your mind control you. Key number 5: Do not waste energy on things that don’t take you forward. Key number 6: Put dynamic approaches before static ones. Key number 7: See failures as opportunities. If you only follow half of the tips, I can guarantee that you will open the locks that have so far prevented you from reaching all the way. Therefore, click here to download the Mindset Indicator . But if you want to test immediately, use the indicator on the next page. Mindset Indicator for stronger results. For each of the 7 parts below, add your self-assessment score and multiply by 4 (minimum 1, maximum 5). It will give you a score based on 100%. Whatever your score, try to improve yourself in these areas because they significantly impact your future success and deliver strong results. Know yourself To what extent do you feel 100% confident in yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, and dominant qualities? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20= of 100 % Open for ”everything” and attached to nothing? To what extent does that way of thinking fit you? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % Faith in success To what extent do you tend to have hope in the future? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % % Influence over your mind I often direct my thoughts towards the positive and the emotionally good images? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % Surround yourself with ”right” people To what extent do you consciously choose how much time and energy you invest in the "right" type of people who give you energy? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % Growth Mindset Praise yourself and others for efforts/activities to a greater degree than the result. To what extent do you do that today? 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % Blessing In Disguise To what extent do you have the ability to see the benefits in adversity? (When one door closes - another opens) 1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5 Total *20 = of 100 % Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and connect with me on LinkedIn ! Read more from Henrik ! Henrik Pettersson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Since 2004, Henrik has been working as a coach, educator, and motivational speaker around Europe. Life is about growth. The challenge to growth is to gain boldness to handle our fears and vulnerability. To strengthen your spine - to be able to manage your challenges towards stronger results. Life’s tough at times, and the formula for gaining more boldness, and dig deep into, is: Faith – Energy – Focus. His new book is built on the three pillars above and is called: program yourself to success. Henrik is frequently hired by large companies like Volvo, H&M, and Avis.

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. An in-depth analysis of Jay Shetty’s book and if it truly can help you overcome your fears and make you reach your full potential. When religions were created, their primary purpose was to help the human race achieve a higher functioning mode (it’s another story that those teachings have taken on warped meanings depending upon how they were and are continually interpreted). Jay Shetty’s book relies heavily on those foundations which come from combining Hinduism and Buddhism. Belonging to a Hindu family myself, I was exposed to the core teachings of Hinduism through what I like to call “generational-teachings.” These included the learning of Dharma(What you are meant to do in life and how to do it righteously); Artha (your means of life); Karma (the consequences of your actions have consequences); Moksha (freedom from the cycle of life and death) and finally Kama (which includes all of your desires and I mean all of them) In between all of that, you have to have a fine balance of your intellect, ego and emotions. Jay Shetty dives deep into these core concepts by taking his time to explain how our learned experiences take over of what we perceive as the “meaning of life,” but for this article’s purpose, I have taken the liberty to simplify two core concepts with an illustration: Artha: defined as the physiological well-being (food, shelter, and safety) of an individual. It starts in childhood where a child tries to understand the meaning of “safety.” First, with parents through love and security then, with their peers through the feeling of integration and acceptance, followed by safety through financial means into adulthood. If you look at the picture above, EGO is right above safety… why is that? It is because SAFETY AND SECURITY take on warped meanings in life. Here are a few examples: a) When you think about it, security to any of us means having a roof over our head and food on the table. But then we start to become competitive: a bigger house, a better car, expensive clothes and the list can go on. b) We want to become the most popular person at any given time, be it with friends or family…always wanting to up one over the other. This brings self-esteem and the desire to be loved into play, which moves us into the realm of KAMA. Kama: These are all of your desires (physical and material). With your self-esteem and ego in the driving seat, you are moved into a world that is governed by jealousy, envy, hatred, and fear. You see, the wants outweigh the needs in our life and this is how it happens: a) When you are constantly looking to be better by satisfying the ego’s need such as expensive cars, better homes, expensive clothes, etc., you are creating jealousy and envy towards those you perceive you are in competition with. b) When those emotions take over, your goals and meanings in life change. c) This, in turn, creates fear in us. You would hear yourself asking questions like, “What if I don’t do better?”, “What if I lose those friends?”, “What will they think of me?” or “I can’t do this now; I have already said I can’t do it.” Drama of life: You are the protagonist in your play, and like any story, you will have antagonists. I like to describe the antagonists as anything and everything that has taken control over you. Yes, you read that right… anything that controls you has the power of controlling your emotions. So, how does this book help you live an empowered life? I could write on this for many pages, but here is a simplified version: A) Find the true you: Being a therapist myself, I explained a key phenomenon to my clients using the example of an "onion." There is a core of you that gets covered with layer after layer of what your ego has fed you. Jay Shetty uses a similar example in his book by talking about a mirror that accumulates dust. You need those layers to be removed to FIND YOUR TRUE SELF AGAIN. Finding your true values and beliefs is going to ground you again – what is TRULY important and what can be discarded. How do you do that? Quieten your mind and listen to your inner voice. It will always direct you inwards and help you reflect. Start reflecting on what you need in life vs. what you want in life. Who do you want to surround yourself with? What changes have occurred in you that have taken you away from who you truly are? B) Become the Charioteer of your mind and senses: Jay Shetty uses this illustration to understand the concept of intellect (the buddhi) and how we can start using it to our benefit. Jay Shetty states, “The senses are responsible for our desires and attachments, and they pull us in the direction of impulsivity, passion, and pleasure, destabilizing the mind” In other words, everything in your life has a memory attached to it, and those memories govern your thoughts. To give back control in the hands of the charioteer (you), he suggests the following: 1. Give new scripts to the charioteer: If you frequently hear yourself say “I am scared,” then change the script to “It is okay to feel scared, but what can I do to move myself forward” This will give you choices in life- choices you thought you never had and break the shackles of a negative repetitive pattern. 2. Keep a journal of thoughts: Journaling is something that many psychologists and therapists recommend. It allows your mind to slow down and pin-point the exact one that you need to focus on. Remember the onion ring I mentioned above? Writing empties the mind to a point where nothing is left to ponder on. That allows you to reign in your negative repetitive pattern and start finding a solution to every thought you have written down. 3. Live with an Attitude of Gratitude: Let go of the ego and the competition. When you sit down and reflect, ask yourself the question, “what is truly important in my life?” and thank the higher power for having it. When you start to realize that you have more than what you need, you truly start LIVING AN EMPOWERED LIFE. CONCLUSION: Jay Shetty’s book is one of the best self-help books I have read. It is relatable to real-life experiences and gives you ways to start making those necessary changes. As being a therapist myself, I can tell you that some of the techniques he suggests are what many therapists use in their profession to help their clients. His combination of using the spiritual realm with the psychological realm has made this book a best-seller. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is on a path of self-reflection. Follow Megha on her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and visit her website. Megha Mathur, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Megha Mathur is a Psychologist and Life Coach focused on helping people with their personal development. She dedicated the past few years as being a full-time mother and is now focusing back on her career. Her background in Psychology allows her to be a more focused and goal-oriented coach because she helps people understand the reasons of why they feel stuck. She has her own YouTube Channel "Let's talk Mental Health, to Live your Best Life" where she addresses mental health as being a sphere around a person. She is also leading a series for YOUTH DEVELOPMENT through an initiative called Bright Hearts and Open Minds which is focused on building leadership in the current and future generations of young minds. Her Mission: To create the BEST SIDE OF YOU.

Written by: Jenny Gattinger, 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. “Should I pay off my student loans or fund my 401K?” This is one of the most common financial questions asked among college graduates once they start working. Looking at it from an emotional standpoint, some financial experts recommend working towards getting out of debt. They would prioritize paying off your student loans. The idea behind this is that getting rid of the debt burden allows you to then better focus on other financial goals you may have, such as saving towards big purchases and investing. Now, let’s look at a numerical breakdown. First and foremost, you have your monthly student loan payment to make. Now assuming you have your monthly budget under control and extra money on hand, this is where things can get interesting. If your student loans have a lower interest rate (<6% or so), you may want to consider contributing to your 401K. In this case, using a 6-7% conservative return of investment, your money would be growing at a higher rate than that of your student loan interest. In other words, your investment would be earning a greater amount than what you would be saving on your loan interest rates. That being said, if the interest rates of your student loans are on the higher side, paying off extra debt may outweigh the investment gains. Your specific company 401K plan should also be considered, especially if there’s a company match. By choosing to invest in your 401K, you would be taking advantage of this so-called “free money” from your employer (note: this is not actually “free money,” but part of your salary package) According to Fidelity, the average employer 401K contribution reached 4.7% in 2019. So, let’s say you make $70,000, and you put 4.7% of your salary ($3,290) into your 401K, with an employer match of another 4.7% ($3,290). Using your extra money to contribute $3,290/yr to your 401K, you are actually contributing a total of $6,580. Conversely, if you choose to put your extra money towards debt repayment, you are essentially leaving the extra $3,290/yr on the table. Multiply that by 10 years, and you’re looking at $32,900, which is a pretty big chunk of change! If you want to take it even further and look at how an extra $3,290/yr would grow at a conservative rate of 7% over the next 25 years, you’re looking at over $200,000. Now THAT’s a huge chunk of change to be leaving on the table! If your student loan rates are low and you can contribute to your retirement investments, the quicker you can receive your company match, and the more time you’ll have to take advantage of compound interest. These things said, plug in your specific numbers to see what makes the most sense given your personal situation. Interested in learning more about how to make your money work for you? Schedule your free 15-minute chat to get started. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jenny! Jenny Gattinger, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jenny is a personal financial coach with a passion for helping millennials reach their financial goals. Having completed a degree in Economics, along with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Coach Master Training, she teaches them how to organize their money and put it to work so that one day, sooner rather than later, they won’t have to. A millennial herself, Jenny’s financial savviness has allowed her to follow her dreams of travel and visit 50+ countries as well as compete internationally in two different sports, all while maintaining a sense of financial wellbeing.

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. In this article, I will explain what affiliate marketing is and how you can start earning money with it. Get ready because you are about to discover a whole new world that you have probably never considered before. By the end of this article, you will have all the information you need to get started. Just twenty years ago, companies spent thousands of dollars a year on radio, television, or print advertising in the hopes of growing their brand. Worse still, their marketing efforts had to contend with giant corporations with multi-million-dollar advertising budgets, and small business owners had great difficulty gaining visibility. Nowadays, anyone with an internet connection and the necessary knowledge can earn money online, helping brands grow and sell through affiliate marketing. What is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate Marketing or Performance Marketing is one of the rising disciplines of digital marketing. Of all the channels available, the affiliate marketing stands out because it is the best-known performance channel, and affiliate marketing is a new and very successful form of digital marketing that has emerged online. It is a powerful method. Affiliate marketing allows you to earn a commission by promoting other companies' products. There are three parties involved in this market. The merchant, i.e., the person/company who makes the product available. The affiliate, i.e., the one who promotes the product. The consumer, i.e., the user who buys the product. The great thing about affiliations is that everyone wins in the end. The affiliate relationship is a so-called “win-win”: You are happy because you earned your commission. The company is happy because it made a sale or received a new contact. The user is happy because thanks to you, he/she has found what he was looking for. Affiliate marketing is not only about promoting and selling products created by others, but you can also put your own product up for affiliation. If, for example, you have created a digital product, such as a video course (make-up, drama, photography, sewing, etc.), or a coaching program, you can decide to share it on an affiliate network and allow others to sell it in exchange for a commission. This is also affiliate marketing. 10 Reasons to Start Affiliate Marketing To better understand what affiliate marketing is and how it works, let's look at all the advantages of this exciting world. Affiliations are a great way to earn money online, whether you are just starting or are already an expert in the field. Here is a shortlist of the main reasons why you should start with affiliate marketing. 1. Getting started is easy. As an affiliate, you don't need to create anything. You sell an existing product, which will save you a lot of time and money. Getting started as an affiliate is extremely easy: sign up for the affiliate program of the product you want to promote and get your account ID link, which will track all your movements via cookies. 2. You don't have to buy anything. If you decide to become an affiliate (affiliate marketer), you do not have to buy any products to promote them, as is the case of Network Marketing. Once you become an affiliate, you can promote products or services without having bought them yourself. You will be paid a commission every time someone buys through your affiliate link. You will not have to deal with inventory, sales, shipping, payment, or after-sales service. You only have to focus on creating quality content and attracting traffic to your website and social profiles. The manufacturer and the affiliate network will take care of the rest. 3. Affiliations create passive income. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to generate passive income 24/7 wherever you are in the world. There are billions of users online, continually looking for information or products to buy on the Internet. This means that your affiliate business will generate sales and income even when you are not at your computer working. In a nutshell, you can make money even while you're sleeping, or playing with your children, or enjoying your time at the SPA. 4. Minimal start-up costs. One of the most significant benefits of affiliate marketing is start-up costs. You do not need a large amount of money to get started. Although you will incur some necessary expenses (such as buying a domain name and hosting for your website or signing up for an email marketing service), the costs will be very minimal compared to other types of online business, such as network marketing or e-commerce. Paradoxically, you could also do affiliate marketing without a website/blog, only using social or email marketing. Still, nowadays, it is not easy to earn significant amounts of money in the long-term using only these tools. 5. Affiliations are a high-profit method of earning money online. Some affiliate programs offer up to 70% commissions, and with a little experience, you can work out which manufacturers pay the best and which products are in high demand on the market. It is also possible to sell so-called 'high ticket' products, which offer high-profit margins. This system gives you the freedom to choose which products you want to promote and how much you want to earn. 6. The affiliate business works for almost every market niche. If you decide to become an affiliate, you will have the opportunity to turn your passion and interests into a real profitable business. Whatever your passion in life, interests, or hobbies, you will find suitable affiliate programs and products or services to promote. Affiliations are a business solution that works, no matter what your niche of interest is. 7. You can set your own working hours. As an affiliate marketer, you are your own boss. You can work as many hours a day as you can or want. You can freely set your own goals and deadlines. You are absolutely free to decide how much time you want to dedicate to affiliate marketing. And this makes it possible to achieve a whole new level of work and life balance. 8. You can work wherever you are If you decide to start with memberships, you won't need to rent an office. You can work from the comfort of your home or while traveling around the world. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. 9. There is no age limit to start working as an affiliate. Anyone, regardless of age, can become an affiliate. It doesn't matter if you are 20 or 80, as long as you have a strong passion and are ready to work hard to achieve your goals. 10. No experience needed No previous experience or skills are required to start working in this field. Of course, specific technical skills will benefit you. Still, I can assure you that many successful affiliate marketers have started from scratch; all it takes is a lot of commitment and perseverance. You will learn new skills through the affiliate marketing program and then learn how to optimize your skills. You will definitively make mistakes (we all do), but you will become more aware of the right path to follow with every mistake/learning opportunity. The only skills required to get started are: Commitment Determination and perseverance Willingness to learn Patience, lots of patience How to succeed in affiliate marketing To better understand how to get started in affiliate marketing, we need to clarify a few points. There are many small but essential steps during the sales process, which we can sum-up in four basic steps . 1. Choose a niche The absolute first thing to do is to choose your niche. A niche is a small part of a larger market, don't choose topics that are too broad or varied; it will drastically decrease your chances of success. Try to be as specific as possible; people like specialized sites find them more reliable and worthy of attention. The more specific the niche, the better, and avoid transient or limited-effect trends. 2. Market analysis Once the niche has been chosen, the second thing to do is find the product to be promoted and assess through market analysis (Google searches) whether the product you have selected is sought after by people and generate earnings. 3. Building a website Once the product has been chosen, you will have to build a site around it or a landing page, i.e., a sales page. Built the website (I use the WordPress CMS) and then optimized it as much as possible to offer the user a good browsing experience. 4. Attract visitors to your site No visitors = no sales. You need to generate constant traffic to your site. There are four primary sources of traffic. Search engine optimization (SEO): Using advanced SEO techniques, you will optimize your website so that search engines will notice you and show your site on the first search pages for specific keywords. Social Network: Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram have become a constant in everyone's life. Establishing a strong presence on social networks can bring many advantages. Email Marketing: Email marketing is one of the most functional strategies today; if you can generate a relevant and quality contact list, you will achieve great results. Paid traffic: This is the preferred source of traffic for the vast majority of marketers. It is a fast and effective method. It consists of creating paid advertisements via social media, search engines, or banners, which entice the user to click through and access your offer. You will typically receive a charge every time a user clicks on your link. There are many tools for generating paid traffic; the most popular are Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Affiliate Marketing Program If you are serious about this business, I recommend the SFM Online Course , one of the most advanced and successful online courses available on the web. Why a digital marketing course? Because the course is a selection of tested and approved techniques, tools, and strategies, and a practical application of them. The course speeds up your learning curve and saves you from wasting time and money on market research and various tutorials to build your website or Facebook page, YouTube channel etc. Through the program, you will grow quickly and find yourself within a supportive community that will support you both technically and personally. Basically, the program takes you step-by-step through all the stages and saves you from having to go through all the steps on your own without guidance (see all the steps listed in the paragraph: How to succeed in affiliate marketing). Conclusions In this article, you have understood in detail what affiliate marketing is and how it works. It is undoubtedly a fascinating path that can bring you huge profits without large investments. Obviously, you will encounter obstacles along the way, but with the right determination and, above all, you can reach your goal with the right program. Are you ready to start? 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-channel ! Read more from Marilda! Marilda Cutrone, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Marilda walked away from a successful 20-year career as Senior Project Manager, as, for many years, she felt unfulfilled: she was continuously struggling to juggle 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 a must. 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.

Agnese Rudzate is a Business Productivity Coach and Time-management expert with a professional background in Quality Management and Empowerment Coaching. She has turned her lifelong passion for organizing into her mission, helping women gain the confidence, clarity, and time freedom they deserve by providing action steps, tools, and customized strategies. Agnese is a firm believer that anyone can achieve business or personal goals through a deeply focused effort based on her coaching. Through structure, systems, and processes that bring results, Agnese teaches her clients to manage their business with ease, create time freedom, and scale profits. Who is Agnese? I’m Agnese Rudzate, a mom, business owner, and passionate productivity expert. My 3-year old son keeps me on my toes and gives that kick of motivation when life throws lemons. He’s an absolute charmer and a baby boss. I started my entrepreneurial journey for financial independence and time freedom. It’s important for me to have all the time I need to spend with my son and family. I want to be spontaneous without sacrificing my business success. I love the ability to be in charge of my own time and attend all the important life events without guilt. I have always been keen on organizing. So it was only a natural flow of events that got me into Quality Management all those years ago. I was so fortunate to see first hand how well-tailored processes affect business success. Implementing systems for efficient workflows changed my perspective on effective management. It’s amazing what a simple restructuring can do for sustainable business growth! Seeing the success first hand made me want to create an even wider impact. This is why I have started to work with newly established coaching businesses. At those starting stages, many owners don't think about systems and streamlined processes. They only notice themselves betting busier and busier by day. To change that, I have created a system. It allows entrepreneurs to leverage their time in a smart and efficient way. Throughout my journey, I have gone in-depth into time-management, focus, and productive action. This knowledge has helped me to help other women gain the most of what they have. It’s not necessary to quit and start all over again, all is needed is a tweak to make good things great. I love searching and finding weak links in businesses. Fixing them to save time, errors, and frustration is my goal. Leveling up in business doesn’t mean that owners have to get busier. There is a better way! What is it that you do for your clients? I support my clients to their desired time freedom without sabotaging business success. In my 3- month mentorship program, women go from silly busy to strategic & smart. Together we tailor the most effective way to leverage time. One size doesn’t fit all, and finding that exact size that fits my clients is what I thrive for. By combining strategy and mindset, together we work on the best solutions to work less. Organized, streamlined systems that save time and calm the mind is just part of it. By providing this experience, I allow women to go from tiredness, frustration, and overwhelm to falling back in love with their business. Isn't that exciting to be able to impact even more lives without burnout? It’s important to me to find the best structure, systems, and processes for each specific situation. This is what provides profound and sustainable results. Some businesses might need restructuring. Others have to use automation and effective recruitment to leverage time and level up. Mindset is an important part of my mentorship as well as technical aspects. In combination, they create sustainable results allowing them to work less without sabotaging success. Who should hire/work with you? I absolutely love working with women. I get them, I am one. Usually, women reach out to me because they want to stop being so dam busy. They are ambitious, successful entrepreneurs who have created an awesome business. But they're doing it all on their own. What started off as an exciting venture has now become a weight around their necks. They are working ridiculous hours and are exhausted trying to move the business forwards. While absolutely loving their business, they lack family time. Missing out on their children's success moments is heartbreaking. It makes them wonder if it's all worth it. And I can tell you that it absolutely is and there IS a better way! If your days are spent juggling many tasks in business and home. If you're meeting everyone else's needs but not your own. Then it’s time to change that one-way ticket to burnout. I get it - women are natural givers and sometimes it just feels easier and quicker to do things ourselves. But with big dreams in mind, something has to change and that change starts with us. While we absolutely CAN do it all, we don’t have to. It’s time to put in place systems and work smarter instead of harder. If you would have to suggest one tip to leverage time, what would it be? While there are many tools, tips, and tricks anyone can use, prioritizing comes first. Understanding what matters creates clear action steps. Knowing the actions that align with business vision puts things into better perspective. There is a simple technique anyone can use to instant clarity around the task you are filling your day with. Before starting another task, ask yourself: “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?” The answer will allow you to determine what requires your attention and what doesn't. That way, you will save your precious time. And put your focus on tasks that are of strategic importance to your business growth. What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now? What a great question! Envisioning is something I use with my clients at the beginning stage of my mentorship. It sure helps to gain clarity around action steps towards goals. For me, it’s all about creating an even greater impact. Empowering women to take charge of their time and living their best life! My goal is to speak in front of thousands of women who want to stop trading their time for money! My passion for structure has given me great freedom. My goal is to show other entrepreneurs that they can do the same. For more info, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn or visit my website ! Read more from Agnese!

Written by: Jeanette Eriksson , 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. Over the past couple of years, I have noticed an increasing challenge for my clients. More and more people complicate matters unnecessarily and far too often. There is a lack of calm focus and individual confidence in the workplace. An example of this is that professionals have started to use words and expressions they do not understand. As a coach and consultant, I am there to listen, watch and learn. I occasionally question some of these terminologies, as I genuinely do not understand them. Fancy words and unnecessary abbreviations, often to do with digitalization and other IT processes, are banded about without the giver themselves understanding them. I have asked in my direct Swedish way, “What do you ACTUALLY mean?” And if I had thought they could not explain, I would never ask, as my role is never to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Surprisingly, many managers at all levels cannot fully illuminate me. They do not really know themselves. Most likely, they felt that the chosen expressions sounded great and oh so professional. This begs the question, "why do otherwise clever and intelligent people feel they need to do that?" Many people are not aware, nor feel, that they are good enough, just the way they are (cue Bridget Jones’s Mark Darcy). Instead, these very capable individuals resort to ‘faking it’ in various ways to feel like they are ‘better’ and so that others can perceive them as ‘good enough.’ The problem is that, increasingly, we are now in a situation where a smaller workforce is expected to achieve more, with a faster turnaround, whilst producing better ‘quality’ and at a lower cost than ever before. This stressful phenomenon has been going on for quite a while now. In addition, these overworked people feel that they do not have time to reflect on their day and what they have learned and achieved. This results in their non-reflected learning not getting brain-registered at all. Instead, everything learned barely shifts in the brain from an unconscious-unknowledge to an unconscious knowledge, without passing through our consciousness. Human beings cannot avoid learning new things. We learn every single day and plenty of it. Some things we master consciously and even more stuff unconsciously. I often try to remind my clients to take the time to reflect on what they have absorbed, e.g., “Today, I have learned this, today, I managed that, today, I handled this in such a way...” If you do not reflect on your competence and bring it into your consciousness, you will then learn plenty of things without being aware. This results in you being very capable and knowledgeable, but you do not know that. I meet lots of people nowadays who have such an unfairly low feeling of self-confidence and self-belief. As a result, they end up holding back completely unjustifiably. Because you know what? “You know SO much more than you know that you know.” The consequence of what I am describing is that you will end up in a situation where you know more than you know that you know , but the risk is that you only know what you know (perhaps re-read that slowly to grasp it). And without self-reflection, you will continue to be unaware of how much you know without knowing it . This sounds like one of these ‘word plays,’ but it is far from it. Think about it this way, the awareness of your own knowledge or skills most likely comes from an academic qualification you have, or from a problem you solved before, or perhaps from situations when others have praised you for that skill or knowledge. In short, you are most likely conscious of things you have ‘managed’ and managed well. This is what we call ‘self-confidence.’ “I have confidence in knowing what I am aware of knowing.” Unfortunately, in today’s speedy-change-of-pace-world, self-confidence is a quality which is still important, but less than before, as what we really need to practice is the trust in ourselves. Trust your capabilities! Trust your skills and knowledge! Trust your competence to manage things you do not yet know how to manage! Recently, in this topsy-turvy world, most of us have ended up in more and more new situations, which often can be scary or at least uncomfortable. However, imagine if you are attitude-filled with total self-trust and the knowledge that ‘I have managed far worse situations than this’ by using a self-reflecting process? Suddenly, the situation will not appear so scary anymore, and instead, you could find yourself enjoying the challenge and feeling really empowered. Stress is also the curse of the twenty-first century (excluding positive stress or eustress, which we need to enjoy challenges and help with problem-solving). I like to explain negative stress as an imbalance between demand and ability – or rather, perceived demand and perceived ability . Trust me. You will be very aware of the increased expectation of yourself. The people or world around you will make sure that you know about the faster tempo, more complex situations, more technology needed, and so on. However, if you do not increase your conscious ability, then your perceived demands will be much higher than your perceived ability, which will end up completely uneven in your mind and will be extremely stressful as the mental scale will tip over. This is incredibly unfair, as you simply don’t know that your ability is higher than what you perceive it to be. I have had many one-to-one sessions with people at all levels who are all affected by this. And I am yet to meet someone where we could not identify that the perceived demands are higher than they actually are and where their own perceived skills and abilities are lower than their true ones. We all have so much more ‘inside’ than we really know. In other words, the pressure you put on yourself is always higher than the expectation, and you can manage much more than you perceive yourself being able to achieve. Because you know more than you, yourself, know that you know. Not being aware of one’s own capabilities can also lead to the dreaded ‘imposter syndrome’ as your brain uses your conscious and unconscious knowledge, whereas you recognize the former. You really have to focus on what this means, where other people will see you as more competent and more capable from the outside than how you see yourself from the inside. These ‘other people’ will have higher expectations of you in terms of capability, pace, skills, etc., than what you feel that they should have. This feeling comes from all the doubts you have about yourself, the feeling that you are not as good or capable as they think. You carry your doubts with you, including memories of any mistakes you have ever made along the way. The people on the outside do not see that. They only see this capable, high-performing, clever person, and if that does not match your own view, then the imposter feeling will kick in. The worry of getting ‘caught out’ will start, which is so very unnecessary. Because you know what? You will not get ‘caught out,’ as the outsiders know that you have ‘it’ in you. You need to set it free and trust yourself. Simples. Well, with practice, it can be. So, what to do if you do not feel competent and maybe like an imposter? Here are a couple of life-changing tips for you: 1. Sit down and do an experience ‘stock-take .’ Look at what has happened in your life, since you were a child until now. Define the skills and abilities you need to have to have managed whatever you have managed in your life. During your education, in your personal and social situations, work-related situations etc. Simply set up two columns on a piece of paper and do not worry about it being in a chronological order: A life event column on the left and a ‘skills and abilities needed’ column on the right – and start jotting down all the pretty amazing things you have experienced and handled. Pretty quickly, you will see plenty of skills and abilities which you have never realized you had, or maybe simply forgotten. Keep that list, read it often and add to it as often as you have something to add, which I suspect will be daily. 2. Improve your confidence and self-trust by doing a conscious 4 x 2-minute daily analysis. This is a tool that can really help you and only takes up 8 minutes in your day. Wake up (2 mins) : When you wake up in the morning, as soon as you open your eyes and before getting up, spend two minutes choosing to think positively, acknowledge and appreciate everything good in your life. Think about what you DO have (not what you do NOT have). Arrive at work (2 mins) : When you get to work (or start working from home), choose to think about what is good about your work, what do you enjoy, and what your profession provides you with. Return home from work (2 mins) : When you get home (or finish working from home), consciously select all the thoughts on what is good with you and your life situation. Consider things that could (or do) annoy you and appreciate them instead (tip: think about how life would be if those kids’ shoes were not scattered in the hallway or if your partner was not there to annoy you occasionally). Before sleep (2 mins) : When you are back in bed and before you go to sleep, reflect on what you have learned that day and decide on the best thing that has happened that day. Keep a notepad next to the bed and write it down if that works better for you, or at least by entering it into your consciousness, you will mentally note it on your incredibly important self-trust list. If you do this daily, your conscious awareness will flourish, you will feel more confident and positive – and you will be more aware of yourself, your skills, and your abilities. As Ralph Waldo Emmerson once wrote, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Jeanette Eriksson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jeanette Eriksson created Nordicly out of her passion for making people and systems work, achieve and feel better. Being Swedish, having lived in London for more than half her life, Jeanette uses innovative Scandinavian thinking in her coaching and consulting approach when working with individuals wanting to achieve personal goals and business leaders, who want to improve their own leadership skills, the happiness and productivity of their staff and the performance of their company. Having led large teams for many years, whilst gaining national sports success, both as a captain and player, and also at the national team coaching level, Jeanette has learned all the tricks of the ‘personal and business development’ trade. Jeanette is also a best-selling author in UK, US, Canada and Mexico, by contributing to the ' 1 Habit to Thrive in a Post-Covid world' book. Whether you need help to improve yourself and pivot in our new, ever-changing world, or build your people and help them achieve clarity and progress in life and/or perform at a higher level at work, Jeanette is your Nordic(ly) solution.

Written by: Snježana Ana Billian, 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. Triple-board certified nutrition expert and Fitness Hall of Famer JJ Virgin is a passionate advocate of eating and exercising smarter. JJ helps people stay fired up and healthy as they age, so they feel the best they ever have at age 40+. JJ is a prominent TV and media personality, whose previous features include co-host of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, 2 years as the on-camera nutritionist for Weight Loss Challenges on Dr. Phil, and numerous appearances on PBS, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Access Hollywood, and the TODAY Show. She also speaks regularly and has shared the stage with notables, including Seth Godin, Lisa Nichols, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mark Hyman, Dan Buettner, and Mary Morrissey. JJ is the author of four NY Times bestsellers: The Virgin Diet, The Virgin Diet Cookbook, JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet, and JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet Cookbook. Her latest book, Warrior Mom: 7 Secrets to Bold, Brave Resilience, shows caregivers everywhere how to be strong, positive leaders for their families while exploring the inspirational lessons JJ learned as she fought for her own son’s life. JJ hosts the popular Ask the Health Expert podcast, with over 8 million downloads and growing. She also regularly writes for Rodale Wellness, Mind Body Green, and other major blogs and magazines. JJ is also a business coach and founded the premier health entrepreneur event and community, The Mindshare Summit. Visit www.jjvirgin.com for hundreds of free recipes and resources, plus state-of-the-art programs, products, and plenty of support to help you build your dream life. People call you a superwoman because of your personal story narrated in Warrior Mom. In a nutshell, what is your story about, and what inspired you to write a book about it? Eight years ago, I was launching my book The Virgin Diet. I took the full advance from my publisher and invested it into a public television show as part of the book launch. I decided to take such a risk because I felt it would mean a significant shift in my career and impact other people’s lives. One month before The Virgin Diet came out—and that is the busiest time you have as an author—my sixteen-year-old son, Grant, was struck by a hit-and-run driver. When we arrived at the hospital, the doctors literally told us that he wouldn’t last through the night. The only way we could save his life was to move him to the next hospital, but we were told he wouldn’t survive the airlift. And even if he were to survive it, he wouldn’t survive the surgery. And even if he were to survive the surgery, his brain would be so damaged that it wouldn’t be worth it. We decided to take the tiny chance that he might survive and moved him to that hospital. Fortunately, Grant survived both the airlift and the surgery. Not only that, you helped your son get stronger than he was before the accident. What kind of mindset did you adopt to achieve such a miraculous result, despite the doctors’ pessimistic predictions? While my son lay there in a deep coma, I stood by his side, holding his two fingers. He had got casts on both legs, thirteen fractures, and a tube coming out of his brain. Everything was either bandaged, cast, or raw, and the only thing I had left to hold on to were those two fingers. The nurses said he couldn’t hear me, but at times I felt a little squeeze of his fingers while I was talking to him. At one point, I looked at him, and I said: “Grant, your name means warrior, and you are going to be 110 percent. You are going to be better than before the accident, but I need you to fight. I will bring in all the resources that I can to get you there. You just have to fight.” This mantra became my guiding principle—to get my son to be 110 percent. I remember standing there and wondering how the heck to make it happen. Being the primary financial support for my teenage kids, I knew I had to make my book a success, otherwise, I would go bankrupt. That’s when I decided to be there for my son and make The Virgin Diet go more prominent than ever. It takes a lot of courage to think this way in a situation where everything is on the line—from your financial security to even your son’s life. How did you find the strength to confront this traumatic experience? I realized that the only way I would be able to pull this whole thing off was to put myself first, which is absolutely the opposite of what you would typically think in such a situation. But I knew that I couldn’t make life or death decisions if I were tired or if I got sick. At that very moment, I had to make sure my health was top of my game. On top of that, I was going to focus on only two things: Being there for my son and making sure my book went. That meant automating, delegating, and getting off my plate anything else. This is not the approach most people take when they face challenging times. For example, a global study showed that many of us ate more junk food during the pandemic, exercised less, and got less sleep. What’s your view on that? This is not the time for neglecting your body. Instead, you need to up your game and put your self-care above everything else. The best vaccine against the virus is to take excellent care of your health. Back then, when my son was in the hospital, I never fed him any hospital food. I brought in a blender and fresh food for both of us every day. On top of that, I was running up and down the hospital stairs, and I made sure I was getting enough sleep. To be at the top of my game, I couldn’t afford to get sick. To make a difference in your life, it is not how you show up when things are easy; it’s how you think about the challenges happening right now that will change the trajectory of your life and career. This could be the biggest opportunity for you to shift, show up, and do what you need to do in life, or it could be the biggest letdown, where you become a victim. How can we get past the victim mindset? I had a great mentor early on who always said there are no victims, only volunteers. My son was nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver, and not once has he called himself a victim. Today, eight years later, he is 110 percent, and it took us seven and a half years to get him there. All along the way, Grant kept looking at how fortunate he was. He never was angry at the woman that hit him and then drove off, leaving him almost dead in the street. Instead, he forgave her and looked at how lucky he was to know that his family would do whatever it took for him. You mentioned that the key to overcoming your catastrophic situation was to take care of your health. How does health tie into the success mindset? A couple of years ago, my team and I sent out a survey to my health community. One of the questions we asked was: If you are not where you want to be with your health and weight, why not? It was an open question, and the respondents could write in whatever they thought. I expected people to say the main reason they faced health and weight challenges was that they couldn’t quit their sugar or gluten, but that’s not what most of them responded. What came out was that most people were struggling because they thought they were not good enough. I do health coaching and business coaching, and they’re similar because, at some point, someone’s going to get stopped. And it’s not because they don’t know the latest right diet to use or lack business strategy. It’s because of what’s going on in their head—something that says they’re not worth it. Whether you’re building a business or your health, what generally stops you is not the lack of strategy. What stops you is your self-talk all along the way. You launched The Virgin Diet—a book that not only became a New York Times bestseller but spent twenty-six weeks on that list—while you were in the hospital fighting for your son’s life. How did the crisis in your personal life help you move your business forward and achieve such extraordinary success? Some people in my Facebook community were writing to me to just be with my son and that my job was going to wait for me. I knew they were trying to be helpful, but the truth was, I didn’t have a job waiting for me. The reality was that by investing everything in my book, I had burned the boats before taking the island. I think that The Virgin Diet achieved such a level of success because, to me, success was not optional. I had no backup plan, and being the primary financial support for my children, my son’s life depended on it. And that’s why I was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. Before this experience, I lived my life always having a little backup plan on whatever I was doing. And when you do that, you don’t fully commit. In this case, I was fully committed, and my son was completely involved with my book launch. I’d sit by his bed, work away, and tell him what was going on. Sure enough, he could hear me. He later said to me that he wasn’t ready to die because he kept hearing my voice. Many people admire you for your strength and courage, and they think they could never do what you did in life. What is your advice to those people? If you had said to me earlier that my son would be in a near-fatal accident and I would launch a New York Times bestseller making a couple of million dollars in sales by his bedside, I would have never thought it possible. We are much stronger than we think, and we are never better than when we’re challenged. When my son came out of the hospital, I was overprotective, and I would grab him each time he was going to cross the street. My protection was so depressing for him, and I realized it would not make him better. The way he was going to get better was for me to start rechallenging him. It’s been eight years to get my son to 110 percent. There were so many challenges along the way where we could have given up. In life, you need to keep showing up. Success favors the people who are tenacious and who will not quit. Grab those challenges because every time you go through a situation that seems hard, you grow. There is no growth in your comfort zone. Think about a day in your life when everything went perfectly for you. Chances are you didn’t think you became a better person that day. You feel you’re expanding when you’re challenged. Every time you challenge yourself to overcome a problematic event, all of a sudden, that situation becomes your new normal. In my case, I have a new normal. To me, a challenge is if someone who I love is dying. But money issues and many other things that used to rattle me don’t intimidate me any longer. How did this mindset help you thrive through the COVID-19 pandemic? When the pandemic started to hit, I looked for new opportunities to serve and do better in my work. As a health expert, I noticed this was the first time ever people were concerned about prevention, and I wondered how I could support that trend. I also looked for ways to help people who had lost their jobs get back on their feet. There are so many opportunities out there right now for us to be able to serve other people. Look for that, and you’ll get out of the victim mindset. One of the easiest ways to get yourself out of fear and anxiety is to help somebody else. Lastly, where do people start in taking on a major challenge? When I was thirty years old, I hired a mentor who I thought would teach me how to be successful in business. But for the first six months, she didn’t teach me anything about business. She focused only on my mindset, and the first thing that she had me do was put two rubber bands on my wrist. Whenever I had a negative thought or a limiting belief, I was supposed to snap those rubber bands and say cancel, cancel. I don’t like the cancel, cancel nowadays because we’ve had a terrible cancel culture in the US, but I think it still applies. I challenge anyone to do this for a week because, within that time, you will become aware of your negative thoughts, and you will stop thinking them. Thoughts are powerful. They can create. That’s why the first thing you can do is to be aware of your thoughts. When I was at the hospital taking care of my son, I knew I had to adopt and maintain a positive mindset. Every morning I wrote down at least three things I was grateful for in my journal. At night, I always looked for three wins or three little miracles that happened that day. For example, when my son made it through the day, that was always a miracle. Sometimes it was him squeezing my finger or making eye contact. And if I needed to change my state of mind throughout the day, I would shoot a little text of appreciation to someone. That simple act of gratitude in the morning, a bit of appreciation during the day, and then thinking of little miracles at night can help you dramatically shift your life. You shape your environment, and you need to tightly control it so that you can shift yourself into a more positive place. To learn more about JJ Virgin, her work, and her mission, visit: www.jjvirgin.com. Make sure to check out JJ’s Ask the Health Expert podcast, in which JJ and her guests share health tips, up-to-the-moment science news, and answers to the toughest health questions. For more information about Snjezana Ana Billian, visit her website and connect with her on LinkedIn & Instagram! Read more from Ana! Snježana Ana Billian, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Snježana Ana Billian is the founder of Workmazing, the go-to career platform for people looking to leave a mark and do amazing work in the world. Workmazing's online summits are devoted to sharing thought-provoking feature interviews of people who are authorities in the field of leadership, happiness, money management, and relationships at work. Ana is the co-author of the bestseller Inspired By The Passion Test – The 1 Tool For Discovering Your Passion And Purpose. She was featured in Business Insider, Thrive Global, Brainz Magazine, and other media outlets. In the past decade, Ana has been leading numerous human resources programs for large-sized multinational corporations, helping executives and high-potential professionals step into more prominent roles. She graduated with a degree in Economics and holds multiple certifications in the field of personal and leadership development. Ana is, at heart, a citizen of the world. Born in Bosnia Herzegovina and having lived in Italy and the United States, she now spends her days in Germany, with her husband Thomas and their son Tim.

Written by: Chuck Bean, 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. Robots are not going to be serving us, and we are going to be serving the robots. As robots enter our lives, there will be a short novelty period, perhaps human-looking devices, but soon they will revert to less aesthetically pleasing machines with incredibly fast reaction times. Our roles will change and be focused on keeping them moving in a fine fashion. Specific to business the addition of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-based decisions, we should expect to see the end of middle management as we know it. Artificial intelligence is nothing new. Consider the elevator operator, the only job listed as having been replaced fully by automation. Elevator operators were eliminated through the mechanization of lifts. Had this not happened, there would be 3 million operator roles in the USA today, but as we all know, this career is gone… zip. Having access to data is nothing new either. For many decades’ office printers consumed miles and miles of computer paper to print documents so that a manager could locate one small piece of data to assist in decision making. Middle managers would stay up all night combing through reams of paper, finding data points, and entering them into spreadsheets. The manager would then use the data to develop an opinion and use that opinion to determine future moves. What has changed now is the combination of data abundance, accessibility, and the speed at which the AI and further ML works to instantly provide well-calculated decisions. Faster than people, without needless opinion. Bye-bye manager. We are already in the middle of it. One of the hottest jobs on the planet is that of AI/ML developer, a career that is squarely in the middle of transitioning tactical decision-makers out of a job. It is not that this is a bad thing. It is just evolution, and it causes me to predict that organizations that have middle managers and those managers themselves will need to rethink their future roles in the company. Connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Chuck Bean, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Chuck (Charlie) Bean started his business career at age 6, collecting golf balls at the local driving range for pennies. “I would spend every Saturday and Sunday making enough money to buy a bottle of pop or a candy bar in the concession”, tells Chuck. Soon after he was selling golf balls to players on the local course, and even beer! Fast forward and Chuck was an award-winning sales professional. Management followed. Moving into the paper industry, Chuck carried on with regional and then national turnarounds, eventually being named VP Sales and Service overseeing a team of 180 inside and outside salespeople, managers and directors. Following his dream, he opened a consulting and training advisory. Chuck will tell you he has had a great ride. Besides having worked with over 400 companies and over 18,000 individuals, Chuck has consulted and guided some of Canada's biggest stars including working as COO for what was one of the largest specialty energy service companies in the world. Today Chuck specializes in developing strategies and delivering training and coaching in leadership, sales, communication, business value building and teamwork. He is no-nonsense and pragmatic and has helped people and corporations succeed for over 40 years. He will call a spade a spade and work quickly to understand, address and help fix problems, identify opportunities and identify challenges. He has developed business strategies for almost every geo-market and has worked extensively in oil and gas, general industry, IT, electronics, dental, paper, chemical, wood products and consumer packaged goods. He specializes in B2B and channel type organizations. He has authored/contributed to books with Dr. Stephen Covey, Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Ken Blanchard. Chuck also owns 6 tech start-ups currently in different levels of commercialization.

Written by: Amanda Cottrell, 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. Valentines can be a hard day for so many people who do not have a significant other to celebrate this time of year with. It is a tough “Hallmark” holiday any year, but maybe even more difficult for people this year because of the pandemic. My challenge to you, whether you are in a relationship or not, is to consider how you will surround yourself with love this Valentines. You can find love all around you. You just have to be willing to notice and recognize it. We live in a world filled with love, but we do not always see it or consciously send love to it. You can send love to your pets and children. You can even send love to your home, car, and furniture. Quantum physics has proven that everything is made of energy. We are all made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies. We have a choice to vibrate love and positivity or to vibrate sadness and disparity. When you step back and take a moment to consciously choose to vibrate love, you will notice more love in places you never expected. When you look for the love in each situation, you will find it. Here is my story of looking for love in each situation. When I look back on my most memorable Valentines Day, it actually had nothing to do with a significant other and everything to do with spending time with my daughter. I was given a gift of a one-night stay in Banff for Christmas and the only weekend that worked for me to go away was Valentines weekend, which I clearly did not realize when I had booked it. So I took my 5-year old away for a special mommy and daughter weekend. We went to the fancy hotel, checked in, played in the hot tub, and then went for dinner. I tried to convince my 5-year old that we should go into the town to a more kid-appropriate restaurant for dinner, but she insisted that we eat at the fancy restaurant in the hotel, much to my mortification at the moment. At the restaurant, there were all of these couples around us having special Valentines' dinners and toasting over glasses of wine. Meanwhile, I sat with my 5-year-old, who ordered grilled cheese and was sitting on me, then beside me and then of course under the table and chatting with people as they walked by. I am sure right now you are picturing this and laughing at the thought of this scene. At that moment, I was completely mortified by the situation; also, I could not help but laugh to myself. Here I am out with my 5-year-old, celebrating a mommy and me weekend of swimming, skiing, playing go fish, and watching a movie curled up in our hotel room. At the same time, everyone else around me was out in the mountains for a romantic getaway. I could have left that weekend feeling completely deflated. But instead, I felt completely empowered. I got to spend a special weekend away with my daughter, and if that is not love, I do not know what is. I chose to see the love that was surrounding me in that moment at that time and have complete gratitude for it. I modeled to my daughter that Valentines is about love, not just for a significant other but for everyone and everything in my life. I was so absolutely grateful for the night away with her, and to be honest, it was the best Valentines I have ever had because of the special moments with her. Your children do not last forever. They grow in the blink of an eye, cherish those moments. Movies, the internet, and commercials constantly bombard us with images of love and passion and other desires that attempt to manipulate our brains into thinking we do not have love unless we have what they are trying to sell. I guarantee you there are no Valentines commercials out there depicting the story I just told you. The truth is, love is everywhere. It is in the kindness from a random stranger. It is in the traditions you build with friends. It is in the time you take just for self-care. I am single, and I have been mostly single for a number of years, and honestly, for the most part, I love it. I have absolute gratitude when I get to focus on my passions, projects, and building the most positive space I can for my daughter. So as I look to this Valentines being single again. I think, man, I am so lucky for everything in my life. I have an amazing job, the best friends anyone could ask for, an extraordinary daughter, and so many passion projects on the go that keep me on my toes and feeling absolutely alive and fulfilled. What do you have that you can send absolute gratitude and love towards this Valentines? I know each and everyone has their own unique situations, and I know that if you consciously look for love in your life, you will find it! Sending you all love from the bottom of my heart this Valentines! May you find the love that surrounds you every day. Take a moment to be completely in awe of all of the love you are surrounded with and carry that with you not just on Valentines but also on each day forward. Follow Amanda on Facebook , Instagram , and visit her website for more info! Read more from Amanda! Amanda Cottrell, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Believe! Create! Inspire! Amanda Marie Cottrell is a woman who wears many hats with a BA in Political Science, B.Ed in elementary education, M.Ed specializing in creativity and technology, Reiki master, yoga for young children instructor, artist, mom, author, illustrator, and teacher. She also runs an arts-based business teaching art and mindfulness workshops. As an educator of young children for over 14 years, Amanda’s passion is education and creativity. She believes that everyone has creative capacities. Her mission is to empower people by tapping into their own unique creative gifts through connection and mindfulness. Namaste!

Written by: Domenica Escatel, 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. Much like a non-profit has its board of directors, you as an entrepreneur should have your own board of directors. No one should go in life making big hairy audacious goals alone. I am sure you have a friend, a family member who is your go-to person when discussing a big decision. Of course, at the end of the day, you must use your own intuition and what feels right for you and only you when making decisions. The concept behind having your own board of directors is that you handpick people that are outside of your friends and family that will be your support system when it comes to making decisions. Here are the four people who need to be on your board of directors. Board Member Number One: This person needs to be a trailblazer. A trailblazer is a pioneer or innovator. They most likely have paved the way in your field. Have recognition for being an industry leader. They have been where you want to go. They want to see those that they opened the door for come right through. They are a champion for change, and they want to see you succeed. They are the voice of wisdom. Board Member Number Two: This person is your advocate. When they are in the community and hear a need that you can fill, they will ask for that business card to give to you. They have the ability to connect people with you to give you a solution. They are always finding an opportunity to mention your name. They want to see you win as badly as you want to win. They not only cheer you on, they are running alongside you, supporting you. They will stand out because the thought leads them as success doesn't come alone. Board Member Number Three: This person has big goals. They have the ability to take your dreams and help you see a life without limitless. They have actionable steps to coach you to be able to follow systems. They are doers. They understand what's in your best interest, not theirs. They can step into your vision and uplift you when you think you can no longer keep going. They are present while in your space. You can feel their energy on how they get excited to see you win. They give you shoutouts on social media, like a proud parent would. Board Member Number Four: They hold you accountable. They are poking you to not only hold you accountable but to challenge you to work harder. They are analytical and help you set deadlines. They evaluate what went well with you each month and help you reflect on what didn’t. They help you find solutions to your obstacles. When you take these four core members to be active participants in your growth, they will be the first ones to elevate your online presence. Anytime you share something related to your business, goals, and dreams, they should share this information online. For example, if you were a podcaster and posted your latest episode, your personal board of directors should be sharing and posting the post to their network or social media profiles. They should be: Liking your post Commenting on your post Sharing your post Saving your post These four ways of engagement with your post will help the algorithm in any social media platform, in return, get you more visibility online. Let me be clear this is not an expectation for every single pos or event that happens to you. This is for the goals, dreams, events that need to be elevated online. You want people to see you and what you are doing. However, you also want to honor the time of your personal board of directors. Challenge yourself this year to find your own board of directors. Connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more information! Read more from Domenica! Domenica Escatel, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Domenica Escatel is an online branding strategist dedicated to helping entrepreneurs around the world show up powerfully online. Domenica shows entrepreneurs how to craft their business stories with practical steps that can be easily implemented. Domenica will show you how easy it is to leverage any social media platform to make you and your business stand out. Domenica has a master’s degree in leadership, and her photography has been featured in various media outlets. Domenica has earned numerous awards in the United States for her work and has been invited to speak at various conferences. Domenica has also used the power of building an online presence to build a movement on social media built on educating, empowering, and equipping the next generation of leaders.