Written by: Isaacoed Buchi Jamie, Guest Writer The 6 Key Strategic Moves of Jeff Bezos Success Progress Jeff Bezos, born in 1964, is the founder and CEO of the giant e-commerce Amazon. According to Forbes World’s real-time billionaire, he has a net worth of $182.4 billion. Bezos is typically the definition of a remarkable entrepreneur. His exceptionalism towards the tenets of entrepreneurship is practically overwhelming. No wonder the meteoric rise of Amazon, which is one of his world-class innovations, continually and rigorously emerged as the world’s dominant brand. He has confidently pulled through every market and competition darts and yet still stands out as being consistently ranked among the top three richest people in the world since 2017 up till this day. What kind of strategy does it take to become this successful? What kind of model or structure did Bezos set up to leave the competition far behind to reach such humongous heights of wealth and success and still be on top of the world’s richest people’s list? However, below is his listed 6 cohesive strategic golden formulas on how to achieve entrepreneurial success and productivity: 1. Discover your passion to invent and invest your soul in it. A business without passion lacks the propelling force needed to fuel resilience. Constant invention is the precursor for every innovation. It is very imperative that every entrepreneur must keep its brand's inventiveness afloat all the time to be able to keep its customer wondering in amazement. It isn't easy to satisfy customers, and that’s why the constant invention of new ideas concerning your brand needs to be flamed at all costs. Brainstorm on different ideas, think outside the box because a business that lacks innovation finds it difficult to please its customers to the fullest. The invention is really important to Bezos and his team. That’s why at Amazon, there is a constant invention of ideas on the product to please their insatiable customers. Although success might not always be guaranteed like this, but not inventing or innovating at all will lead to a total loss of opportunity to gain invaluable insight into how customers interact with your offering. 2. Putting customer-first mentality. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Bezos says: “We are not competitors obsessed, we are customer-obsessed. We start with the customer, and we work backward.” No matter the kind of product or service you are selling, you must keep your interest aligned with your customers. Jeff Bezos has always had a customer-first, and I come mindset, and that has been part of what has catapulted him to the level of success he is. He once said he believes focusing on what customers are saying is much more important for success than focusing on what competitors are doing. He often compares customer's feedback to company data to see where they misaligned because he knows that they are the bedrock of his every entrepreneurial exploit. Despite how high up his success ladder has plumaged over time, he never loses touch with the people he's serving. His customers are one of his top priorities, and that’s why even up till now, he still read emails from his public-inbox to keep tabs on how his brand is treating its customers. 3. Be a strategic opportunist Real success comes with high strategic inputs than mere opportunity. Being strategic means thinking through all plans, time to execute it and measure the progress against targets in alignment with the business vision and mission but being mere opportunistic means taking things as they come but being a strategic opportunist tends to balance ones ability to remain focused on long term vision while staying flexible enough to solve daily problems in recognition of new opportunities and that Jeff Bezos has explored all round without leaving any stone untouched. 4. Sticking to the vision with a long-lasting strategy Nothing good comes easy. Sticking to the vision of the business is certainly the best approach to building something that will last. Big ideas in business for entrepreneurs are often very obvious. Still, oftentimes, it is tough to maintain a firm grasp of the obvious, but sticking firmly to the business's vision and mission and patiently exploring different opportunities by being flexible in accepting new innovative ideas helps build a better service to your customers. Focus on the service's vision that you want to remain true for your customers over the decades. Just like Netflix, Verizon wireless, Facebook, and Amazon focus on increased reliability with streaming of better content, coverage, faster speed, and delivery, let your energy be invested to what your customers will always want to Enjoy in years to come. This idea can be summed up by the motto of Blue Origin, the space exploration company founded by Bezos: "Gradatim Ferociter," meaning "Step by Step ferociously" in English. 5. Be simple and invest wisely When Amazon went public in 1997, Jeff Bezos didn’t drop a ton of cash on a fancy new material acquisition like cars. Rather, he traded in his 1987 cherry blazer, which he used as a business run for a Honda Accord's post office delivery. His strategy for spending even when there is an underlying success is one of Amazon's central tenets despite him being the world’s richest man. He would rather invest in one agricultural or tech startups than riding an expensive car. 6. Spot and pounce on new trends Not only is Jeff Bezos an inventor, but he is also very keen on spotting out new trends in the market. He is open to new trends and isn’t afraid to try new things, like in 2013 when he bought the Washington Post. He understands that a shift in cultural or economic trends will create new entrepreneurial opportunities, which sometimes arise from technological advances. He knows when such signaled new market opportunities and didn’t hesitate to pounce on it. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , Linkedin , and on my website . Isaacoed Buchi Jamie, Guest Writer, Brainz Magazine Isaacoed Buchi Jamie is a Content writer, entrepreneur, and founder of Befirst African Initiative, a non-profit organization based in Abuja, Nigeria, which focuses on harnessing young minds' strength and potentials the purpose of change. He is a Healthcare service professional and an Experienced Electrocardiograph Technician with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital, health care industry, and non-profit Organisations. He is Skilled in Personal & identity Branding, Personal Development, Organizational Leadership, Fiction/Creative Writing, and Website Development.

Written by: Susan Francis, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We can't avoid it. It's at the core of everything we do. On a daily basis, you need money to pay for food, shelter, or entertainment. Money makes the world go round. Even if you don't desire to have lots of it, you can’t avoid it. You need money to survive. If you desire more, though, if you have huge lofty goals and would love to have an abundance of money, this article is for you. Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I create more money?" Certainly, when I used to ask myself this question, it was always answered with “work harder.” When I moved to Sydney at 18, I had 3 jobs. While I was at Uni — full-time, I still worked 4 days a week. When I finally started my full-time job, I still worked another job on Saturdays. I have always worked hard. I believed that was what you needed to do. But in reality, no matter how hard I worked, I never had any more money in my bank account. Whatever I earned, I spent. Somewhere deep down, I had a belief that I would never be wealthy and that I had to work hard to get by. I was always left wanting more and wondering what I had to do to create it. How could I possibly work harder? Until I discovered the truth about money. Money is simply energy. What you believe about it and how you feel about it becomes your reality. Money is an inside job, always. It's far less about what you do and far more about how you feel and what you believe. You can't create wealth while you feel poor. You can't create abundance while feeling lack. You will always receive what you are a match to. If you desire to be wealthy and have an abundance of money, you need to shift how you feel about money. Whatever you believe about money is what will show up for you. It's energetically what you are a match to. Ask yourself, "What stories are you telling about money?" Is it that money is hard to make, I don't deserve a lot of money, or I’m not smart enough to be wealthy? Or is it that money flows to me easily, money is abundant, and I always have more than enough? If you’re not sure what you believe, take a look at your bank account because it reflects what you believe and how you feel about money. How much money you attract, keep, and flows to you is a reflection of your self-worth and value. If you feel deserving of divine compensation, if you feel you have something magical to offer the world and, in fact, that you are worthy of being wealthy, then you will attract people, circumstances, and opportunities to you that allow you to live out that belief. On the flip side, if you don't feel worthy of being wealthy, you don't feel confident that you have much value to offer, or you're afraid of being wealthy for fear of being judged or mismanaging your money, then you won't attract it to you. All of the power lies within. Money is internal; it's not external. I make far more money now and work far less since I have let go of the belief that money comes from hard work. Instead, I focus on the value I can add to the world, how I can help transform lives, and its value. I know I am worthy of receiving lots of money, and I know I have so much value to add. My bank account's difference had nothing to do with my actions and had everything to do with my beliefs and feelings around money. If you’re ready to shift your money stories and attract more abundance into your life, a great place to start is with gratitude. Have gratitude for the money you do have, all that it allows you to do, and how grateful you are for the money that is yet to come and all of the wonderful things you will be able to do with it. You get to decide how things go for you. The universe is abundant, and there is more wealth and abundance available for us all. Your only limit is what you allow yourself to receive. Activate the energy of feeling abundant and more abundance will flow. To learn more about this, you can listen to my podcast episode, (#8) Becoming Magnetic to Money. Or, to learn more about how I scaled from $500 months to $15K months in 60 days, you can access my free 3 part mini-course Magnetic Money . Follow Susan, find her on F acebook , I nstagram, join the F acebook community for regular live training, learn more on the website, or listen to the Soul Aligned Business Babes podcast . Read more from Susan ! Susan Francis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Susan Francis is a leading Mindset, Manifestation, and Business Mentor and Coach empowering female entrepreneurs to create more income and impact their soul-aligned businesses. She helps women unlock the truth of who they are, helps them to step into their powerfully, and teaches them the secrets to taking quantum leaps in their success. She believes life was meant to be easy, to feel good, to flow, and you can create anything you damn well want! With a background in senior management in the fashion industry, she escaped the 9 to 5 hustle after her daughter's birth to follow her passion for helping other women create epic time and financial freedom. Trained in NLP and Time Line Therapy and obsessed with the Law of Attraction, she knows that everything is an inside job at a very deep level, and as she helps clients make shifts in their mindset, and energy they become magnetic to their dream lives and business success.

Written by: Linda Evans , 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. So you think you want to start a solo coaching business? It can be very fun and rewarding... after you’ve laid the proper foundation for it to flourish. I’ve had my career coaching business, Launched by Linda, LLC , for 9 years. After being asked by many people how I got started and what advice I have for them, I decided to put together a checklist for individuals who are considering starting a coaching business. This checklist is not only to help you know what to do but also to help you honestly ask yourself if you really want to invest your time and resources in this endeavor. If you already have a coaching business, this checklist may help you improve it. My business has been an enriching addition to my full-time career in higher education career services, but I will be the first to tell you that I did things out of order. It worked for me, but I generally don’t suggest following in my footsteps. There is a better, more proper order I recommend. ($) indicates a financial investment, ($+) indicates recurring payments 1. Get proper training and credentials ($+) – Whatever area(s) of expertise you intend to coach in, be sure you have the necessary training, credentials, and/or experience to be competent and confident as a coach. You should also consider how you will continue your professional development through books, webinars, conferences, memberships, etc. 2. Create a business model – What services will you offer? How long will each session be? What will your fee structure be (i.e., standard rate or sliding scale)? Will you have discounted rates for packages? Who is your target audience? What location or platforms will you use to conduct your sessions? How will you schedule clients? Will you be open to calls, emails, or texts outside of coaching hours? Will you follow up with clients after sessions, and if so, at what frequency? 3. Create a business name – Will you use your personal name or create a business name? This will ideally never change even as your business evolves. Do an internet search to ensure it is not already in use by another coach. 4. Create a logo and brand look ($) – Hire an experienced graphic designer who can advise you on what kind of logos, fonts, and colors work well for your business. 5. Get professional photos ($) – Hire a photographer or barter your services for a set of professional quality photos for your website and marketing materials. Get various poses, including close-ups and whole-body shots, in landscape and portrait orientations. 6. Buy a website domain ($+) – Choose a website platform and purchase a domain (the .com address for your website). Ideally, it is just the name of your business, but if it’s already taken, you may consider renaming your business. 7. Design your website ($+) – Many platforms are easy to use, but if you don’t feel tech-savvy, it will be a worthwhile investment to hire a web designer. 8. Create a business email address ($) – Your website platform may allow you to create an email using your domain, or you can use another domain like Gmail or iCloud. 9. Set up a payment system – Some website platforms will have a built-in payment system for a small fee. You may also consider using free apps like Venmo or Paypal. 10. Create a company page on Linkedin – This will allow you to add it as a job under your Experience section with an official logo. You can also gain followers and post about your services on Linkedin through your official company page. 11. Create social media pages – Consider Facebook, Instagram, and whatever other platforms make sense for your target audience. 12. Create a marketing strategy ($+) – How will you attract new clients besides referrals? 13. Create a receipt template – This document confirms payment and the details of your sessions for each client. It is also a great way to reinforce your brand. The following steps are the best legal practices in the United States, most of which are for your protection in a highly litigious country. I highly recommend hiring a lawyer to assist with these processes. Laws in other countries will dictate other legal steps. 14. Register your business name ($) – Check the specific laws for your state and reserve your business name. 15. Buy a business license ($+) – Check your local laws for licensing your business; it may require annual renewal. 16. Form a Limited Liability Company ($) – Follow the specific process for forming an LLC in your state. This legal designation separates your business funds (revenue and costs) from your personal financial accounts, so if a dissatisfied coaching client ever sues you, it will not affect your personal finances. 17. Create a business bank account – Having a separate bank account for your business will allow you to benefit from the protection of your LLC. 18. Register for an EIN – The Employer Identification Number is issued by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) to be used when paying taxes each year. 19. Prepare an Operating Agreement – Details your business’ financial and functional decisions, including rules, regulations, and provisions. 20. Prepare Privacy Policy and Terms of Use – Links to these 2 documents are usually located at the bottom of your website. The Privacy Policy states the ways your business gathers and uses clients’ data. The Terms of Use lists the things any user of your website tacitly agrees to by using your services. 21. Prepare Client Agreement – This is the contract you should have every client read and sign before beginning services. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has a template you can download and edit, but make sure you also read and abide by their Code of Ethics. 22. Track all clients – Keep a detailed record of each client’s name, sessions, and payments for both financial and business improvement purposes. 23. File taxes yearly ($) – Be an honest taxpayer! It usually takes months or years to build up a coaching business that can sustain all your living expenses, so don’t quit your day job until you have received sufficient income for several months! When you have a business, and you are the only employee, your business and personal brands completely overlap—exercise deliberate intention for every decision and action to maximize your brand's value and reputation. Good luck! Make sure to follow Linda on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit her website for more info! Read more from Linda ! Linda Evans, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Linda Evans is a strengths-based career coach and personal branding expert. In 2011, she founded her virtual career coaching business, Launched by Linda, LLC. Her full-time career has been in higher education since 2012, and she currently works in Career Services at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Linda has a B.A. in American Studies and a minor in Ballroom Dance from Brigham Young University, and an M.A. in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University. She is also a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and has certificates in positive psychology and public speaking.

Written by: Sara Abaza, 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. Knowing what we want from life is such a delicious path. Our desires give us the sensation of satisfaction, self-motivation, self-reliance, and self-awareness. They are the beautiful internalized-self we search to become. In this article, let me guide you to discover your true desires or manifest your desires if you are aware of them. As we head into the New Year, my main aim is to create this guide or help you achieve your desires. How to discover your truest desires intuitively. Stop being resistant towards your inspired thoughts. Stop doubting if you deserve them, whether they are good enough for you, and what others may think of them. Let me explain what an inspired thought is. It’s when you are alone or tapping into something that excites you. You receive a vision. It’s like a daydream of doing something, creating something, manifesting something, and it excites you. It makes you feel elated. Don’t deny these thoughts. These visions are your inspired thoughts. They are what your true-self desires. You have to practice the things you love and the things that make you feel good. It doesn’t matter how simple it is – from listening to music, jogging, going to the gym, painting, and singing. These are whatever that puts you in your space and makes you feel good. It will encourage your self-discovery. It will guide you to what your inner-self desires. Collaborate longer with the universe laws. In my previous article, I spoke about this, and I highly recommend that after reading this, go back and read Re-create yourself. This will help you learn about universal laws. Collaborating with the universe's laws allows you to expand your awareness of how your mind works and accept and decline thoughts. Remember, high elevated emotions are what allows your desires to be discovered. Thoughts are the main key behind every emotion and staying longer in high elevated emotion. This will allow you to complete your vision. Social awareness and perception. We’re not alone; we have to remember the influence of others and society. Friends, community, and family do impact us. Social awareness and perception builds a mindset made of steel. What happens around us is a self-reflection. The more you dig deep into what you are attracting around you, the more you will change your belief system. The core of your belief system holds you back from discovering your true potential and your true desires. Blaming and complaining about how things in the social community are will make you upset or tired. This switches your perception toward the negative. You attract people what you think about them, so remember your self-reflection is a reflection of you. There are so many choices in life. Your choices are momentum. They are based on the present moment only. You must be aware of how you are feeling. A good feeling takes you far away from your desires. It’s a process to understand and learn about yourself. In this part of the article, I want to highlight people who actually know what they want, people who have desires that set their soul on fire. It’s what makes them hungry to manifest their desires. I want to bring to your attention that physical actions are not creating desires. Desires are created by vibration matching to the desire of our universe to function in a vibrational form. The more you think of effort and actions, the more you distract yourself from the real power of your mind. As a human being, the real power of you is internal power, and it's represented through our emotions. Vibrations and frequencies that come from what you want and how you see it internally is where your desires manifest. This is a story that you’re creating internally. It requires a process, require matching vibration to it. Each individual has a different lifestyle, values, manners, and how we carry ourselves towards achieving them. Although there is a common path, it depends on who you are and where you are in your physical reality that makes your desires manifest. I’m going to share a few techniques and tools that help you to match your vibration to what you desire: 1. Writing or journaling. Divide them into five parts or areas such as health, fitness, career, financial freedom, and relationships. As you divide and write down specifically what you desire, your subconscious mind re-programs to where you are heading. A new direction of feelings and thoughts will choose a new face to the new belief system that manifests those desires. In journaling and writing, the more specific we are or, the more general we are, relies on how much we believe with positivity towards those desires. Journalism with dates give us the 'when' we expect the desires to happen. Journalism with 'how' is knowing what you can give to the universe so it can also give back to you. For example, I will serve humanity and fitness to create an amount of income monthly. Just try to be specific. I am also an honest, happy person who attracts beautiful, honest, successful relationships into my reality. It’s another exchange with the universe of what you deserve based on your values of who you are. As a self-reflection, so the universe answers you back. 2. Vision boards Knowing what you want and seeing it on a vision board emphasizes your desires as constant reminders. For example, you may want a house, a different career, or a specific amount of money; vision boards drive your mind's belief system to increase as you see it daily and visualize the story internally when you are looking at it. This allows them to manifest with greater ease. 3. Visualization and Imagination You have to choose a part of your day when you are the calmest – when you first wake up or before you sleep. See the story, smile at what you see. When your eyes are closed, feel the stories worth to the universe. Collaborate and join to create. It’s no fairytale. The power of your internal mind is what carries the physical reality. We are 99.9999 energy, and all our energy is cooked internally and manifests externally. 4. Meditation and quieting the mind The less thinking of daily stressors, the more creative you become. It is when you discover how you will attract your best momentum. In manifesting your desires, the more you think, the more you become analytical. Also, the more micromanaging your reality, the least power you gain to create. Quieting the mind is like giving your mind a break and allows it to reset. You can quiet your mind and meditate first thing in the morning to get ahead of your day. This will allow your stress level to decrease and stay in height elevated emotions longer during your day, and the result would be manifesting. 5. Trusting the process and planting the seed. Nothing can go from point A to point B without process trusting. The process means paying attention and awareness to all the little things that manifest and are being created around us. Gratitude makes you see how your process is actually manifesting one step at a time. You will notice all the little things towards your desires come true when you pay attention to the little things. Live your story that you are creating internally in your physical reality. Some call it "living as if," but let’s call it "living present future self." "Living as if" could create distraction and resistance, but remembering who you are becoming will make you always aware of your intentions and your energy that you are exchanging. I would love to remind you of the path of least resistance compared to effort and resistance. Strained choices that we make in momentum based on our ability to focus and trust. So, all the choices above to create your desires are based on where you are with your resistance and where you are with the least effort path. Are you a type that would visualize? Are you the type that would journalist are you the type that would daydream? At the end of the day, our differences could carry us to different hobbies, maybe every day, yet all of the above points will help you create your desires with ease. Having desires is our right in this universe. It aspires us. It’s what makes us different. It what makes us create a better life, not just for ourselves but for others. We all came here for a purpose. Your desires are your purpose given to your mind's process and given to the faith that all our desires have unlimited possibilities to create and manifest in the physical reality, live your daydream of life is the strength, faith, and love. You are the creator, and you are born with magnificent power. Use your power to serve you and reflect your desires as a light into our planet. I have dedicated a great course called Mindset Made of Steel. It will serve you a lot to understand desires and purpose visions, manifest and create, and live satisfied. Looking forward to see you as part of the course, looking forward to see you achieve your dreams with ease. To learn more, visit Sara's website and follow her on Instagram Read more from Sara! Sara Abaza, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mindset and wellness mentor Sara Abaza comes from Kuwait and a conservative Arabic family. She was fed with thoughts of limiting beliefs and a narrow mindset from an early age. She was stuck in that mindset for a long time, but the turning point came when she started listening to English music. That was the one thing that inspired her to go beyond her surroundings, to go beyond what she thought she was.

Maggie Perotin is a business and leadership coach, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses without the overwhelm so they can live the life they want. Through her DREAM-PLAN-DO coaching model, she helps her clients reach their potential and get results while maintaining balance in life. Maggie has over 13 years of coaching and leadership experience in the corporate world in various domains. She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations, Facility Management Administration designation, and currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Jack Welch Management Institute. Maggie uses all her knowledge and experience to help entrepreneurs be strategic and creative in building a successful business and brand that attract their ideal clients. She is passionate about spending quality time with her blended family with four kids in the Canadian nature, traveling, self-development, and healthy cuisine of the world. Who is Maggie? From very early on, I always trusted my gut as far as BIG decisions go and would pursue them even if the loved ones around me would disapprove. I was born and raised in Poland. I'm probably the last generation who remembers the "joys" of the communist regime. Absurdities such as days-long line ups to stores that either didn't have anything or had merchandise that you didn't need or want other than trade it later for something else. Now, being raised in a humble environment wasn't all that bad. I never lacked safety, food, shelter, or love, and the rest we figured out as kids. Not having everything helped me become quite resourceful and creative. Dancing for 6 years in the folk and modern dance group helped with creativity as well. I entered university in new modern Poland and studied International Relations to become a European Union civil servant. I even signed up for an exam that would allow me to pursue this career but never attended because Canada came calling. I have been living in Canada since 2005 with my beautiful, blended family with 4 kids. We love nature, traveling, and just spending quality time together, preferably outside. I started my Canadian professional journey in the corporate world as a Customer Services Agents and, over the years, moved around in different positions to become Director of Operations. I lead a team of 25 people who is a heart supporting the dynamic operations of 400 others across North America. I love to be challenged, learn, and grow. That's why, as I turned 40 a couple of years ago, I had a thought hit me. At 40, I really have more than 2/3 of my independent adult life still to live. Let's not kid ourselves up until 20, or so we're very dependant on others. And given that the life expectancy will soon be 80, I have another 40 years to live! That very thought got me thinking about how I wanted to live going forward. What impact do I want to make on the world? I lived in my comfort zone, making 6 figures in a good corporate job, working with great people, and being exceptionally good at what I do. So that lead me to do something about my passion for empowering and growing people. It led me to start my own business coaching practice, Stairway to Leadership. What is it that you do for your clients? I help service-based women entrepreneurs attract consistently and paying clients online without overwhelm. Finding new clients is the # 1 challenge for all entrepreneurs and doing so consistently is even more challenging. However, if we want to build the life of our dreams while running a business of our dreams, having proven ways to generate consistent income is key. And guess, what? It can be done without the complex strategies that lead to overwhelm or burnout but with simplicity, balance, and fun! That's what I help my clients do through my Dream-PLAN-DO coaching model. Who should hire/work with you? A service-based woman entrepreneur committed and passionate about her business who believes in the power of self-development and: 1) Is realizing that she's unable to reach her dream goals on her own; or 2) Wants to get to hear dream goals faster; or 3) Doesn't want to waste time and energy to be figuring it out all by herself and wants a proven system and advice from an expert Tell us a little bit about your Business Results Accelerator program. It's my signature group coaching program that combines self-paced online learning through pre-recorded sessions (by me 😊) enhanced by regular live in-person individualized coaching and advice. This program is really a comprehensive one-stop-shop that provides you with everything you need to attract consistent clients and therefore make consistent income in your business: from online marketing, content creation, and sales to mindset, time management, and accountability. What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? I see myself running a multiple 7-figures business where I train other business coaches to empower even more women to build their dream lives through their dream businesses. And just like now, 10% of the profits are donated to women from underprivileged backgrounds to empower them and their families. If someone wanted to get in touch with you, how do they find you? The best is to connect with me is either to join my free FB Group Women Entrepreneurs with Passion 4 Life or through my website Follow Maggie Perotin on Facebook , Instagram and visit her website ! Read more from Maggie !

Written by: Vicki Ravangard, 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. 2020 has been a year that most people want to write off as a disaster for humanity, but what if all that is happening now was written in the stars? As I try to rationalize and understand what is happening in the world, combined with my Spiritual beliefs and perspective on higher consciousness, I want to share my thoughts with you (with the caveat that these are my own personal views and I am not a scientist!) In the simplest of terms, the Earth is raising its vibrational frequency, and humanity is being called to rise with her. This is causing the collapse of tradition created over hundreds of thousands of years in our civilization. It is the primary reason we are experiencing confusion and significant change in the world today. As Mother Earth is releasing all that is no longer serving the highest good of all, this is sending a shockwave through our global society, and I believe this is a good thing. This destruction has not been sent to destroy us but to help us understand, guide us back to love and unity, remember who we are, and help us see the truth from every perspective. Who are we? We are Spirits having a human experience on an infinite soul journey, and your soul is here in this body at this time with a unique mission and purpose to fulfill in this timeline. When the Spirit, soul, and body are working together to accomplish this mission, you will experience what I like to call spiritual alignment. I firmly believe that we have hand-picked our spiritual assignments in this lifetime to experience and understand things from a different perspective. So while there are elements of our journey that have been pre-determined before we even got here, we all have the freedom of choice when we arrive. It is up to us to remember what we signed ourselves up for to fulfill what we wanted to experience in this lifetime. For example, when you go to Subway and order a 6” sub, you have complete free-will to choose which bread you want, like cheese and toasted, meat or no meat, and a selection of toppings and sauces. You may have decided to go to Subway, but when you are there, you get to choose what goes in your sandwich, and it is the same concept as what we choose to do in our lives. How will you know if you are fulfilling your soul purpose? You will feel it in your body. The energetic vibration inside you creates your reality, from the thoughts in your mind to the emotions you feel in your body. These emotions become the expression of who you are and your perspective of the truth. Imagine a singer; the emotions are the expression of the soul’s experience through the words, while the spirit is the composer. Working together, they create a masterpiece that is brought to life with the instruments of the Universe – the body and then shared with the world using other tools such as technology, guitars etc. These thoughts & emotions often live in our subconscious, which have been stored since childhood, and they can reflect the pain and suffering that we have not healed from. So what happens if you are not expressing these emotions? When your mind or body blocks the expression of your emotions, you don’t understand the real reason why things are happening for you or why you are here. It creates a blockage of energy in your body. You become disconnected from the essence of who you truly are, you feel stuck and unable to move forward in your life, and it can also manifest in the body as sickness and disease. For example, perhaps your soul has been gifted with the voice of an angel that was sent here to change lives and bring joy to the masses through your message, but instead, you decided that you would rather be an accountant. That is your free will, and there is nothing anybody else can do to change it, except you. But don’t be surprised if you receive several messages, or obstacles, from the Universe trying to guide you in the direction of your true purpose. How can you break free from the chains and raise your consciousness? Nobody in the world can do this for you, but you, and it is one of the most important things to remember. There is no secret formula that will give you the answer. For me, it came from questioning all that I knew to be true around me in search of a deeper meaning. With that came an understanding of who I am at a soul level and realizing that I have a purpose far greater than I could have dreamed in this life. I will leave you with 7 key messages to guide you on your journey to a higher consciousness: The willingness to release judgment & recognize there is no right or wrong, just different perspectives of the truth Find a way to see yourself as equal to your idols. We all come from the same source; we are no better than anybody else. See yourself with compassion, witness where you have been stuck, and commit to heal and release all that no longer serves you. Create energetic boundaries around all that you have created and hold space for those who are not there yet with love & compassion. Take full responsibility for where you are now and reclaim your personal power by embracing your essence and deciding to make a change. Detach from the outcome of every situation and focus on the spiritual solution that serves the highest good of all. Commit to expanding on your soul journey by learning from your spiritual assignments and teaching others from where you are. Someone out there needs to hear your message and your unique experience. "Raising your consciousness is not a destination you will reach outside of yourself; it is about returning to the wholeness of you." History has formed our reality, but we are transforming our future with the decisions we make today. Remember who you are as One, soul spirit & body working together to return to love. Follow me on my Instagram, Facebook, and visit both my Facebook-Group and page. You can also find more information on my website. Read more from Vicki! Vicki Ravangard, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine After 10 years of working my way up in my corporate career, I am a Part Qualified accountant who works as a Finance Analyst for a UK Airline. I am also a Spiritual Mindset Coach. So how did I go from corporate to coaching? My coaching business 'Take Her To The Moon' was born after embarking on my own spiritual mindset journey. I discovered the art of creating a life with intention and the power of conscious thinking, which positively influenced all areas of my life, including my corporate career. My Business focus is helping women who have lost their direction in life to master their mindset & discover their soul purpose. I put my own unique spin on some of the greatest spiritual teachings and use these to help my clients experience greater success. I have a huge passion for Music & Travel, where I draw a lot of my inspiration from - and I am also a Disney lover!

Written by: Yogesh Osher, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. When it comes to change, whether it's our lifestyle, appearance, line of work, team culture, or organizational structure, resistance is sure to rise. Hence, change is not always so easily achieved even if many promise an easy and fast change. The problem of change remains the most difficult reality to address. This problem may have grave implications for income, relationships, health or life purpose, and the expression of who we really are. My clients often come to me after so many trials with myriad modalities like NLP, Dieting, Therapy of all sorts, Coaching, and you name it! But they have never yet succeeded in establishing a new way of being and feeling. This is where my secret three steps method comes to play. In just a moment, I will share how the same people and teams can achieve great change with minimal effort. Firstly though, we need to see the common mistakes they make and why it doesn't work for them and thousands of others who attempt change. So there are two extremes that lead to failure. The first one is the ‘all is good trap.’ This trap provides the illusion that things are happening just as they ‘should’ and there is no need for any doing from their side. It is a lazy philosophy that supports being the same and never reaching fulfillment. It avoids the challenge that precede change at all cost. This trap is a type of neglect. Thinking that it will be ok without trying, without doing, without engaging. It can also be a method of avoidance or projection of the problem on some other ‘thing,’ ‘factor’ or ‘person.’ This method is tough to shift. I see people or teams making these mistakes over long periods of time and achieving nothing but some borrowed time that delays the painful confrontation with reality. The other side of the spectrum on the scale of unsuccessful change is the very effortful attempts to change reality from a top-dog position. This can come in the form of rigorous and continuous efforts to control the way one is engaging. It can be with food, exercise, daily habits, ways of thinking, or even attempting to alter the way one feels about life or herself. In teams, it may be the imposition of behaviors or working methods that secretly or un-secretly meet with much resistance. This extreme often comes to play with the help of a system or a personal coach or therapist of some kind of coaching that helps the individual or the team by taking a strong conviction that they ‘CAN DO IT’ if only they try hard enough. We hear this approach in every sphere of life, from health and fitness through weight loss to financial strategies and business coaching. I often get stories about how this doesn’t work and how no real change happened. It may help, but it’s usually short-lived and lasts as long as the encouragement is there. Or as long as the will-power works extra hard. When using the forceful method, what typically happens is a big swing back to the old way of being, and the path of oscillation and swings begins. The same is true for organizational change. Leaders addressing change with a forceful or dominating approach will only reach a certain level of recruitment of their team members. However, if they take a different approach that I will share here, they’ll find a path to much greater change and growth of their teams. The shift that I am talking about today is neither this nor that. I am speaking of the BALANCED INTEGRATION of who you are with the ability to move as a whole person, whole team, whole organization ahead without the typical swings of new and old superficial methods. What I am talking about is the empowerment of integration. Sounds simple, yes, not always easy, though. It’s a profound shift in the way the person, team, or organization operates. It can only happen when there are three key elements in the process. 1. The ability to see, hear, feel, recognize and acknowledge what is actually happening, being pushed away, demonized, forbidden, or distracted from. This is a critical phase and in itself, when done well, can create real connection and peace. 2. The second stage is the deep cleaning of the barriers to change, not by force but with a heart of understanding the deep cause of resistance. In other words, seeing the function of the resistance and learning the lessons to be learned. 3. Lastly is the co-creation of the new direction that integrates the new insights and discoveries. Here clarity and excitement are building up, and the movement ahead has a fresh and empowered flow. As simple as this may sound, it most powerful and works like magic every time. Synergy is empowerment and integration on all levels. I do this for my clients; it works like clockwork. Learn more about growth-full change here ! Read more from Yogesh ! Yogesh Osher, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Yogesh Osher holds a Masters Degree in Gestalt Therapy. He is a highly skilled Gestalt therapist and group facilitator, a certified Wellness Coach and Yoga Teacher, and a Detox Practitioner (Dip. Natural Therapeutics). He is the founder of Living Total Wellness and a co-founder in the global naturopathic movement of Natural Yogic Treatments. He has been studying, practicing, and teaching Zen, Tantra Yoga Meditation, Gestalt Therapy, and Functional Medicine in the past two decades. His life purpose is true wellness. Engaging a synergetic synthesis of east and west and drawing on methodologies, practices, and systems that bring real results. He currently offers online wellness programs integrating personal growth with detoxification and lifestyle changes. He brings a spiritual outlook to promote lasting transformations in the life of his clients. Using the gestalt process, self-empowerment, and practical wellness, Yogesh promotes a heartfelt integration and elevation of life as a whole.

Written by: Melissa Gamarra, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year beyond our wildest dreams, or rather, our nightmares! A year that many people thought would bring great fortune and abundance turned out to be more of a year of growing pains. And with 2021 approaching at hyper-speed, many of you are probably thinking about how you can make the most out of the new year. COVID-19 has really highlighted the need for an online business model, and many entrepreneurs are turning to online courses to help them adapt and leverage their time. There couldn’t be a better time to launch an online course, but it’s important to understand how buying patterns have shifted so you can be sure to launch successfully in 2021. How have buying patterns changed? Since the start of the pandemic, the online space has been flooded with previously in-person businesses trying to adapt to our changing economy. This means you are up against steeper competition in the marketplace and will need to stand out. This doesn’t mean getting overly flashy or obnoxious. In fact, quite the opposite! Because of this influx of businesses selling online, people are getting bombarded with ads and pitches all day long. They are becoming desensitized and have gotten better about seeing through all the bells and whistles. The key to having a great launch in 2020 is slowing down and taking the time to understand your audience, build the trust factor and treat them as people. Gone are the days of building a course in 5 days or less. No more launching the same month you built the product. Now more than ever, it is important to really nurture your audience with value first. Taking that extra time to really show people you GET THEM pays off big when it comes to online courses. What should your course include? Now that people are overwhelmed by advertisements and offers all day long, it’s important to make sure you include enough value to get your audience to click the buy button. When it comes to looking at your offer, being objective will help you determine just how much value to include. Ask yourself: “why would someone buy this product over a competing product?” and “is this offer a one-stop-shop for getting people results?” When someone buys a course, it’s because they believe it will help them achieve a certain goal or result. This means you have to have a product that includes nearly everything they need to achieve a transformation. If your strategy is to upsell each piece of the puzzle, you are setting yourself up to fail. Julie Stoian has a great workshop if you feel a bit lost when it comes to making your offer irresistible in today's marketplace. Her workshop, Offer Cure , walks you through the process of building a product with value in mind. Remember, people are more frugal and cautious with their money, so it’s important to knock their socks off before they even purchase something from you. Do your market research . So we have established that taking your time and providing crazy amounts of value are key to building the Know, Like, Trust factor, but neither of those things mean much if people simply don’t want what you're offering. Market research is one of the most commonly skipped steps in course launching, and it’s probably the most important step. Because there is so much competition in the online space currently, making sure people actually want what you are offering is a step that could make or break you. Getting really clear on who your audience is, what pain they are experiencing, and what they are willing to pay to solve that problem provides a strong base for having a successful launch. Market research is easier now than it has ever been. Simply join a Facebook group filled with your ideal client and use Facebook's polling option to ask these people for their opinion on your offer. This is a super-easy way to make sure you are on the right path and avoid wasting time. You can also ask your email list to fill out a survey and simply respond to you with what they would like to see from you. These people are a warm audience (usually) and will be the most likely to buy the product when you launch. Making sure you are filling a need they have will nearly guarantee a successful launch. Launching a course can be a huge undertaking and requires a lot of time and energy. But if you take your time, provide lots of value, and make sure you are creating something people want, you will have a much easier time creating something successful in the long run. For those of you needing more of a roadmap to help you get from idea to finished product, I have put together a 90-Day Course Launch Checklist you can download for free. This checklist will make sure you don’t miss a single step in the launch process and will help ensure you have an amazing start to 2021! Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and connect with me on LinkedIn ! Read more from Melissa ! Melissa Gamarra, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Melissa Gamarra is a Certified Online Business Manager and Author living in Salt Lake City. She helps online business owners create organization and business strategies so they can scale their companies effortlessly .

Written by: Jacqui Grant, 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. Decisions, decisions, decisions! When it comes to weight management, in particular, weight loss or, as I refer to it as weight release, there are so many options available, so many choices! Today, in 2020 – almost 2021, many people are choosing to have bariatric surgery to release excess weight and then expecting that surgery is all they need. Whilst on some level they understand it is ONE tool after a while, usually after the first 12 months many people tend to go back to old habits with eating, which results in weight gain or the person not achieving their goal weight and this over time takes it tolls on emotional and mental health of a person! For long-term weight release and management, it is important to understand that which weight loss/management program you choose for yourself is a mind, body, and soul journey. A journey that requires some flexibility and obtaining information that is correct and even adjusted for your personal needs. Long-term success comes from understanding that it's more than food and exercise; it is also about your mindset and relationship with yourself, food, your body. Weight release and keeping weight off are also impacted by your expectations about how different your life will be when you achieve your goals. How will you see yourself? How different will your life be? Why is that you want to release the weight, and are you doing it for YOU? Are 3 questions that I ask my clients, and I have asked myself over the years. As someone that was morbidly obese ( 168kgs – 4.5 years ago) and now fit and healthy (54kgs), who has had bariatric surgery, has a nursing background, personal trainer, coach and weight management practitioner and studied bariatric surgery for over 10 years, I understand the challenges that both obesity and weight management programs including bariatric surgery bring and how there are really no guarantees with any of them. However, I have found that a personalized program does work, especially with the right person. With all the knowledge, qualifications, and experience I have, I created personalized programs for my clients. I have written books on bariatric surgery and creating long term change, and my focus is on the whole person, not just one aspect of the person, this approach works! When you are ready to create long term change, to be vulnerable at times and do the work, you will know which weight release program is right for you, and the key thing to remember is that it is YOUR choice in conjunction with your doctors because your situation is unique to you. Should you choose to go down the path of bariatric surgery, understand that your surgeon is the best one to guide you to the type of bariatric surgery that is for you. There are challenges will all the 4 different types of bariatric surgery. In case you did not know, the different types of bariatric surgery are: Lap-band, Sleeve gastrectomy or gastric sleeve, mini bypass, gastric bypass, and there is also omega loop. Each surgeon will have their ideas of the right surgery for you and will advise you of this. However, the choice is also yours. If you are choosing bariatric surgery, take your time and know that while the surgery does get results, the surgery itself is ONE tool and when used in conjunction with diet, exercise, and working with a weight management practitioner, you are in the best position to release the weight and keep it off! Therefore, there really is NO ONE SIZE fits all when it comes to weight release, weight management, and even bariatric surgery! To learn more about our weight and fitness programs, visit our website, book a FREE consultation with Jacqui . For more information, follow Jacqui on Facebook , Instagram and visit her website ! Jacqui Grant, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jacqui Grant is a highly sought after Weight Management, Bariatric Surgery and Wellness Coach, Personal trainer, soon to be Advanced Weight Management Practitioner, International Best Selling author of 3 books, (Break Free & Go For It!, Life Beyond Obesity! (Jacqui’s story of transformation) and Can-Do Bariatric Surgery!) who is dedicated to help clients around the world to stop feeling overwhelmed, tired and embarrassed by their weight, by showing them how to create long term changes in their food choices, change their relationship exercise and develop a “Can Do” mindset to live their best life! Jacqui also helps those who have had or considering having bariatric surgery how to achieve their goal and keep the weight off, as well as working with professionals such as personal trainers to understand bariatric surgery. Jacqui has worked as a nurse, coach, personal trainer, manager and also owns her own business Break Free Consultancy, where she is able to work one to one with her clients or through her programs, course, challenges along with her books. Empowering others to Break Free, Go for It and Live their BEST Life!

Written by: Lauralee Schmidt, 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 May of 2020, right at the peak of when businesses were either closing up or finding a new groove due to Covid, we made a major business decision that could have potentially hurt us, but we took a leap of faith and committed to our idea. We decided to take our growing auto shop from a Monday to Friday, 8-5 shop and make it a Monday to Thursday, 8-7 shop. This is pretty unheard of for the auto industry, considering most run a six-day workweek, but I felt in my gut it was important to tell a different story in automotive care, and I’ve always wanted to be able to give our team a 4 day work week. I wasn’t sure how to make that happen. I just knew I wanted it. I’ve been asked a lot over the last few weeks on why our auto shop switched to a 4 day work week from both clients and other business owners, so here you go. Prior to being Queen of the Auto Gods at Schmidt Auto Care, I had my dream career going in cosmetics that was an 80% travel with a Fortune 500 Company. I made my own schedule in that role, and after a lot of tinkering with it, I learned I was the most productive on longer but fewer days. I hit goals when I worked a 4 day work week, I had more ideas within a 4 day work week, and I felt more energetic in my role. I was happier. In fact, I was more productive in my home life, as well. I felt quite strongly I couldn’t be alone in that scenario. So when I took over Operations at my husband’s auto shop in 2016, I knew I wanted to change how the team worked, but there were other business priorities to attend to first, so the idea sat on the shelf a long time. In late 2018 , I could feel the urge to move the team in a new direction. We had a solid team, a growing customer base, and our brand was solidified in the community, but I still couldn’t comfortably guarantee I could keep the business safe with new working hours. I had a dollar figure and customer count in mind that I wanted to achieve before we moved to new hours, but I still wasn’t sure if it was the right time. On top of that, we were smack dab in the middle of a massive build-out to relocate the shop, so I wasn’t sure moving to non-traditional hours was smart. Looking back, it probably would have been the perfect time to switch hours. By 2019 we were moved, growing rapidly, and in a sweet groove that you can only hope for in a business. I knew in 2020 I would launch the 4 day work week, but I didn’t even pitch it to Erich, the CEO, until November of 2019. He hates change, and I knew it would be incredibly uncomfortable for him, but it was necessary to evolve, so I came to the table with a whole strategy I deemed “project balance.” My original idea is that we would move on January 1, 2020, and kick off the year with a “New Year, New Hours” marketing campaign. But we had some staffing issues that needed to be addressed. January ran into February being short-staffed, and February ran into COVID. My full attention switched to the survival mode of our shop finances and protecting our team like a mother hen. It was a very uncomfortable time, but a very important time in business. I hope all business owners took that time to reflect and focus on areas of opportunity inside their business and dissect them. As I was sipping on coffee one afternoon, a statement someone made once hit me like a ton of bricks. I remembered a mentor once told me, “There is no perfect moment to make a move. You just have to move”. And, in May, as we crawled out of the state shut down, we pulled the plug on the 5 day work week. Two weeks before April was over, and we started dropping hints online something big was coming. We ran a lot of media to add suspense. We launched a team video announcement, and on May 1, 2020, we went to a 4-day workweek. It was one of the best business decisions we could have made in the company. In two weeks, I saw productivity lift, attitudes change for the better, teamwork happen, less groggy technicians, and we were all part of an overall happier work environment. By the end of May we were surpassing goals and shop efficiency was at the highest it had ever been. I’m not one to go off only a month of data, but I knew it was going to work, I could feel it. I just knew it. When people told me we would lose money thru the summer with our new hours, I wasn’t concerned.I was focused, and the team was too. As a team, we had several meetings to best figure out the path for making a time change work.I value their input because it gave them ownership to commit to it. We all wanted to prove it could work. And it did. We had the best summer of our entire 11 years in business, we were still working a 40-hour workweek so all the same time was there, it was about how we allocated the time. We weren’t trying to swoop up every job in town. We knew we would miss Friday walk-ins and phone calls. But we also knew we have a loyal client base, a strong marketing plan, and a solid reputation. The long stretches of uninterrupted repair time meant faster turn over on vehicles, which in turn, led to an excellent auto experience for our guests. And that is exactly what we wanted to achieve. It was a win-win to move the hours. While I do take a lot of pride in the excellence we provide to our guests, this business decision was about the team. Being an auto technician is incredibly demanding, both physically and mentally. I watch my guys do labor that is tedious and frustrating day in and day out. The way cars and trucks are built now is maddening, and it’s a difficult career path to go down, but so rewarding if cars are your passion. And we have a service team that navigates a substantially difficult workload daily. Their job is so mentally draining some days I could cry for them. I know the people I work with. They aren’t just a number to me or someone to boss around. They are an extension of our family. I want them to take a 3-day weekend trip if that’s what they want. I want them to be able to spend time with their families that they normally wouldn’t be able to work a traditional workweek. I want their bodies and brains to rest and recharge. I want them to be the best they can be, and that means letting them live life in environments other than the garage. I learned a lot of valuable lessons in 2020, but one of the best lessons I learned is that you don’t need a perfect time to make a change in business. You just need to do it and commit to it. Have we missed out on sales? Probably. Were some people annoyed we closed on Fridays? Most certainly. But I had to stay true to our vision of setting our shop apart in auto care. And for us, that starts inside our doors with the heart of our business, our team. As an employer, you need to take the chance on your team and let them live. The performance you see in return will be outstanding and progressive to your company if you just step back and see what’s best for your biggest asset, your people. For more information, follow Schmidt Auto Care on Facebook , Instagram and visit their website . You can also follow her beauty pages here ! Lauralee Schmidt, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lauralee is a cosmetic guru turned auto care goddess. Her years inside a cosmetic education role with a Fortune 500 company armed her with knowledge and skills that paired perfectly with her passion for branding a business and educating a client base. Her goal is to educate women in car care, change the stigma that surrounds the auto industry, and be a guiding post for branding and business development. From international beauty campaigns to underneath a car, she has successfully navigated the world of business and branding.

Written by: Kamladevi Sharma, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The “Boss Is Coming” panic has been one of my longest observations. It’s definitely a true reflection of the phrase, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” As such, employees’ behaviors change for the better whenever their bosses approach. But why? These questions lingered in my mind for some time whilst growing up. Notwithstanding, why do employees feel so intimated by their boss’s presence that they cannot be their true self all the time? Do bosses know that they trigger this reaction in their employees? It was a mind’s battle for some time. I then grew to realize that it was an automatic reaction of fear in employees. This speaks of a boss’s leadership style and mindset, as well as the mindset of employees. Deeper thoughts revealed that bosses’ leadership styles are shaped by their personal values and the environment in which they operate in. For example, I’ve noticed that employees in the healthcare and education sectors react this way more than employees in other sectors, maybe because of the extent of risk in providing a service in those sectors or the expectation of world-class service delivery. Where efficiency is paramount to business success, and an employee’s work diligence positively influences that business’s success, employees' behavior is short term. It has devastating long-term effects on the organization and the employee. In other words, if an employee’s performance peaks only in the presence of their boss, how practical is it that their boss remains on the scene all day, every day, and around all employees? Additionally, how beneficial is this fear to an employee’s mental and physical health? From my coaching over 4000 management employees, I find that a toxic work culture develops with this level of panic. Employee dissatisfaction escalates in the organization and, employees become super stressed on the job due to feeling anxious and intimidated. Consequently, to better deal with this and have a more consistent forward-focused behavior as an employee, understand the source of your behavior via introspection and decide with yourself to change it if you want to. Understand the source of your behavior via introspection The reason for every employee’s reaction around their boss is different. Some react with panic because they fear their boss’s scolding, which may result from their poor or lagging performance, while some fear because everyone else fears. It’s important to understand why you react the way you do when your boss is approaching. Is your panic and anxiousness inherent to you, or is it inherited from someone else in the office? If it is inherent to you, get to understand why. Do you react this way around your boss only, or do you react this way around anyone superior to you, for example, your parents? If your reaction is only around your boss, then you need to decide if your boss’s energy will continue to have this level of impact on you. Working on your self-confidence and self-concept can help you to improve your reaction. If your reaction is the same around anyone superior to you, consider healing childhood trauma and doing mindset work. It’s possible that you have been lead to believe as a child that ‘you are not good enough’ or ‘you cannot do anything correctly.’ Hence, those thoughts subconsciously dominate whenever someone superior is around, and they influence your behavior. On the other hand, if you inherit your reaction to panic from someone else, work on grounding your authenticity and becoming resilient to shifts in energies around you. The reason being, panicking because others are panicking in the office indicates that you are not in control of yourself in the moment and, people’s behaviors are leading yours. This can create emotional upheaval and hurt if not controlled. Additionally, as an employee who wants to elevate in an organization and achieve more in life than just the present job and its rewards, you want to open yourself to the possibilities and allow your creativity and innovativeness to come forth. Following others who are at the same level as you are, stifles this kind of growth in an individual. Deciding to change your reaction if you want to The ultimate power lies with you. You decide if you want to change this reaction or remain who you are. However, staying stuck on, “This is who I am. I cannot change.” leaves no room for improvement. Thus, it is important to recognize your weaknesses and work on improving them. Further, from my experience, shifting from the place of panic and fear around a boss improves your relationship significantly with your boss. It helps you to become recognized and rewarded fairly for your talents and skills at that organization. If you decide to make this change in yourself, make that decision in a meditative state so that your subconscious mind receives that instruction and can guide you in your conscious state to control yourself better when your boss comes around. This, followed by a religious self-awareness routine and affirming your value and confidence, will improve your reactions. Resist panicking and own your power. You deserve to be your authentic self in any situation or any environment. It will leave you feeling personally fulfilled and professionally developed. Be magnificent and live in full enjoyment always, even at work! For more information, join my Facebook-Community , follow me on Instagram and visit my website ! Read more from Kamladevi ! Kamladevi Sharma, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kamladevi Sharma is an international speaker and teacher of work-life balance , a certified professional life coach, and a qualified business consultant. She helps entrepreneurs and people in management globally, including you, to eliminate burnout and achieve balance in their personal and professional lives. Her dedication to achieving clarity, alignment, and results for her clients ensures that they can thrive and feel more fulfilled and successful in their lives, careers, and/or business. Additionally, her expertise in mindset and personal development strategy has benefitted over 4000 professionals globally in personal growth and over 250 businesses in jumping start a momentum for success in her signature momentum trainings at Revive. She has been featured on several podcast shows on various platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and, the Guyana Times Sunday Magazine. Kamladevi holds a MBA in Business Administration from the University of Bradford, Bachelors in Social Psychology, Social Research and Business and, certificates in Professional Life Coaching and Counselling. Prior to co-founding Revive, she was magnificent in upper management positions in Guyana and lectured at several tertiary institutions.

Written by: Ceinwyn Rudnick, 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. Though I may be personally in denial, we are well on the way to wishing 2020 farewell. I remember the last time I felt normal, very vividly. My husband and I were at a construction convention in Las Vegas for his company. We went to dinner, took pictures by tires on equipment 100 times my size, and gave away a little money to slot machines. It was amazing! By the end of the convention, booths were shuttered early, and people scrambled to get on flights back home as the Strip emptied out in an eerily apocalyptic scene. All across the world, physical offices suffered the same fate. People left their desks without a clue of when they would return. Some never have. Some never will. A prime example is the sparkling new REI corporate campus near Seattle, which is now for sale as they have fully transitioned to working from home. Obviously, this trend is here to stay. So what does that mean for us small to medium size business owners? Well- there is some good news and bad news. The good news is that your talent pool suddenly became exponentially larger, and you are not tied to geographic areas with very high pay rates. For workers, perhaps they also have access to better-paying jobs and upward mobility that previously was not possible. But this also comes with challenges such as managing your team effectively and creating connections when there is no casual chat or downtime together. In addition, as an accountant, I work hard to make sure my clients can tackle the three biggest tax and accounting challenges that come with having a work-from-home team. So what exactly are these three hurdles, and how can you overcome them? 1) Your employees cannot take a tax credit for their home office. Many people who have worked from home historically took advantage of deducting their home office expenses on their taxes. When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, all the miscellaneous deductions on Schedule A (itemized deductions) went completely away, including unreimbursed employee expenses. This means that if you ask your employees to spend out of their own pockets to furnish their home office, whether it is something small like pens or something large like a computer. They will be doing so out of their own pocket in a way that is not tax-deductible. They may not blink right now, but I am willing to bet that after most employees file their 2020 taxes and discover these expenses are not deductible, they will be coming back to their employers asking for a stipend or reimbursement. Be ahead of the game here and create a policy to reimburse or purchase office supplies for your employees, and you will create a positive and proactive environment where employees feel taken care of. 2) Know who is an employee and who is a contractor. There seems to be a trend towards hiring workers as contractors rather than employees, especially when working remotely. It is important to label employees and contractors correctly; just because you are not physically together in an office does not mean your workers are automatically contractors. Rules vary by state, but the IRS provides some basic guidelines at a federal level. Ask yourself these questions. Do you control what work and when it is done? Do you evaluate the work done? Do you provide training to the worker? Is the work regular and on-going? If you answer yes to most or all of these questions, it is likely that your worker is an employee. If you misclassify them as an independent contractor, you could be liable for employment taxes plus penalties. Don’t let this be you! 3) Know where you stand with income tax laws when your employees live and work in a different state Congratulations! You now have access to a pool of talented and amazing employees across the country! But wait- get ready to deal with a patchwork of state laws that will make your head spin. Making your best hire regardless of geography, is a great gift of the work from home revolution, but it comes with a price. When you hire an employee out of state, you will have to register with that state and setup employer accounts and withholding for each state you hire. I have personally spread my workforce across three states, and the task has so far been more annoying than daunting. This is mostly since there are payroll providers (we are a Gusto partner) that will take the heavy lifting off your shoulders once you register for your initial accounts. This isn’t an insurmountable task, but make sure you know before you go on a nationwide hiring spree that you will have some boring admin work to do to ensure your team is paid properly. I have mixed feelings about the massive amount of change we have all been subjected to under such stress, and in such a short amount of time. However, I relish the chance to make the best of our new frontier and continue to personally build my team with the best people I can find-whether over Zoom or a handshake. I also strive to make sure our clients also thrive in this new frontier of remote work, new rules, and ever-changing boundaries. For more information, follow me on LinkedIn , Facebook and visit our website ! Read more from Ceinwyn ! Ceinwyn Rudnick, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ceinwyn Rudnick is an Enrolled Agent and Certified Tax Coach based in the Pacific Northwest. She opened her boutique accounting firm, Veritas Accounting Solutions PLLC, to help business owners realize the benefits of transitioning their accounting services to the cloud. Recently she has completed advanced training through the AICTP to become a Certified Tax Coach-making tax planning a leading service offered by Veritas Accounting Solutions PLLC. Ceinwyn has two degrees, a B.A. in English Education as well as a B.S. in Accounting. She loves helping her clients achieve a better understanding of the role accounting, money and taxes play in their business. Her goal is to guide business owners to a place of peace and confidence regarding their taxes and finances through education and customized tax planning.