Written by: Arthur Gluzman, 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. Job boards may have been born out of the need to make job postings more visible and easier to access for job seekers. However, with the constant innovation of technology, Job boards might lose their value and effectiveness. Hence, potentially rendering it old-fashioned very soon. While job boards may have done a great job at bringing various job vacancies to light, this does not dispute the fact that its effectiveness is continuously declining. According to workitdaily.com, job boards have a 2-4% effectiveness rate, which is relatively low compared to networking, which has an effectiveness rate of over 50%. If we decide to dive into the numbers, you will discover that the statistics of job boards’ are appalling. For example, you must know that for the average two hundred and fifty applications received for a job vacancy, only two percent make it through the interview stage. Also, for every six candidates invited for an interview, only one ends up getting the job. Looking at these statistics alone, one is left to wonder if the stress of reviewing hundreds of jobs and applying via these job boards is worth it? So, if not job boards, you might wonder what else could be of great help to job seekers. Well, the answer is simple because Networking + Referrals = A Gold Mine. According to a study by LinkedIn, the preferred way for people to discover a new job is through referrals. Also, another research by Career Builder revealed that 82% of employers rated referrals above all sources for generating the best return on investment. Now, when we consider certain hiring metrics, you would discover that when it comes to hiring, referrals are better than job boards. To further strengthen the effectiveness of referrals, professional platforms like LinkedIn have greatly encouraged networking among recruiters and professionals. In such a case, it is not uncommon to see a job seeker network with a recruiter via LinkedIn. Sometimes, if the recruiter is interested in such a candidate, he/she might be willing to refer the candidate to a job that suits the individual's skills. Furthermore, with a platform like LinkedIn, sourcing for quality candidates for a job post has become more accessible. Hence, pushing networking to become the major currency shaping the recruiting industry. A 2018 Survey by Jobvite proved this to be true as it revealed that seventy-seven (77) percent of recruiters now rely on LinkedIn for their hiring purposes. Now, when we compare job boards to networking or referrals, we can't help but agree that there are better ways to apply or get a job than via job boards. So, instead of wasting numerous hours scouring through job boards, that time could be better-utilized networking with top recruiters and decision-makers. For more information, connect with me on LinkedIn or visit my website ! Read more from Arthur! Arthur Gluzman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Arthur Gluzman, founder is CEO of a million-dollar recruitment company, and a career coach. For more than 20 years, Arthur has coached and helped various individuals to get their dream jobs within 30 days. He has also helped top reputable companies recruit the best-talent in their organizations. Using his 20 years of recruiting experience, he have helped CEO’s, CFO’s, VP’s, and Talent Acquisition Pros who are looking to hire and retain the best professionals and executives in the known Universe. "I encourage you to take your career to the next level. I believe it’s time for you to receive expert assistance in pinpointing your hidden strengths and passions while building unshakable confidence. Build your brand as an expert in your industry, just like any other leading expert. You will never feel stuck, undervalued, unappreciated, unrecognized, or underpaid - Ever again in your lifetime. So…"

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. Contacting the inner feelings is the key to overcoming procrastination. Why? Because it's where the Energy is. And only with energy we can move on and achieve our goals. Energy is the drive and the power to break through barriers and overcome challenges. Energy can come from different energy centers. But all are harvested through feelings. The mind is the guiding wheel and the heart, or the feelings are like the engine. What am I feeling? Ask yourself and be quiet, listen, accept, know the innermost recesses of your being... This will open the door to your feelings, to your power. Opening this door is like flooding the room with water , it may be scary at first, but if you can understand that the fear is nothing but an idea that these emotions will not change that they may be so strong that they will scare away others or annihilate you. You can overcome this underlying fear by taking a big breath and just sitting with it. Just allowing the emotions to manifest, they are within you, not the other way around. Be present with the rawness and truth of what you feel. Without judging, labeling or boxing, negative self-talk just be, just allow the space to really feel. By doing this, you’ll become the master of the feeling and no longer be ruled by them anymore. Fear dissolves when truth is observed directly. So take a breath and look deeply into yourself, be open to experience. Experience is change. Yet the fear is that experience will stay, but the truth is that fear moves and changes with the ability to see and feel emotions for what they are. The other barrier is resentment. Resentment happens when we disown the emotion , and by doing so, disempowering ourselves by thinking that it is due to someone or something else that we are stuck. Own it. And you’ll have the power to rule it. Without complete ownership, someone or something else will have the power over you. So, resolve to own your true emotions and regain the creative power to direct your life. Resentment is just a reflection that you are not holding the true power in your hands. Sure some conditions are out there that we don’t control but we can always control our responses and choices. Remember this. It’s like your Jedi Sword of truth. By learning to use the Sword of Truth, procrastination will no longer be a problem. There will be only the choice , the empowered choice to do what you want to do. To manifest what you want, and ultimately to be who you want to be. To your Success! Learn more about Empowerment Detox and Wellness 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 as well as 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. In the past two decades, he has been studying, practicing, and teaching Zen, Tantra Yoga Meditation, Gestalt Therapy and Functional Medicine. 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 gestalt process, self-empowerment and practical wellness, Yogesh promotes a heartfelt integration and elevation of life as a whole.

Written by: Theresa Tirk, 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. Your self-confidence comes from your identity which needs to be self-generated, not shaped by others. You are less likely to be influenced by others when you are not seeking validation outside of yourself, when you are holding the power, when your confidence is based on your core values and standards. The key to restoring or stepping into your confidence is to identify what is holding you back in the first place. Then it’s up to you to action steps towards conquering those limits and living life your way. Most of the beliefs and blocks we carry around are not even our beliefs. They have been passed down to us from generation to generation. They may have been picked up due to a trauma we experienced. There are a wide variety of ways that our brain has determined these things are important to our sense of survival. The good news is that we have the ability to rewire the way our brain thinks, what it feels is important to our way of life. We have the power to change the way we think, what we believe, how we feel. I would also like to take a moment to discuss the difference between self-esteem vs. confidence. They are very often considered one and the same when actually they are two separate entities. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself overall, in a general sense. Self-confidence is how you feel about yourself in particular areas of your life, in your abilities. Let’s talk about some of the biggest confidence blockers I have found hold my clients back. This is, of course, a shortlist of the biggest culprits I have found that stand in the way of feeling fulfilled with ourselves, feeling complete confidence in who we are as individuals. 1. Trouble making decisions. Being indecisive about decisions, whether big or small, always wavering. 2. Letting comparison take over. The constant need to compare yourself to those around you not only steals your confidence but, in turn, your joy. 3. Being filled with self-doubt. Always second-guessing yourself, never truly feeling worthy. Now that you have attached yourself to one of the above confidence blockers, let’s talk about how we start the process of breaking down that barrier. This leads us to the 6 pillars of confidence and how you can use them as stepping stones on your journey. 1. Awareness - understanding what areas you struggle in 2. Acceptance - understanding that it exists and that you need to take action towards change 3. Action - creating the rituals, the routines, the steps towards getting back to self-acceptance 4. Mental - releasing the limiting beliefs, start implementing mind shifts 5. Physical - body image, body acceptance, noticing the physical manifestations from the mental beliefs and blocks 6. Spiritual - connecting with your higher power, letting go of something bigger than yourself Awareness. This would essentially be the first step. If you don’t have awareness around a problem, there is no opportunity for change. Take the time to evaluate all areas of your life. Make a list. Determine where you feel you lack something, missing the confidence you need to succeed in that space. Acceptance. There is no such thing as perfection; it’s an illusion. The sooner you can hold onto that and begin to shift into accepting that there may be a block or belief standing in your way, the quicker you can begin to knock it down. Action. It’s time to release, time to let go of what is holding you back. This can be as simple as beginning with some positive affirmations. Perhaps it’s time to offer forgiveness, not only to others, but to yourself. Create daily rituals of journaling and meditating, put into place simple routines that allow you to take action towards your goals. Start small. Overwhelming yourself with a life overhaul is sure to end in failure, and that is going to diminish your confidence, not boost it. Mental. It’s time to really dig deep and work on those limiting beliefs that are holding you back. If you worked through awareness, then you made a list. The process here is to take one item at a time to work on. If you don’t feel comfortable working through these mindset shifts on your own, you can seek assistance through a coach, therapist, or friend. Sometimes it takes a different perspective on your beliefs to help you bust through them, and in order to get that shift, you need someone helping you through it. There is no shame in needing help; if you believe there is, that’s a blockage for you to work through. I will share a few journaling prompts at the end of the article with you to help you get started on your own. Physical. Do you suffer from poor body image? How about feeling comfortable in your own skin? Have physical symptoms manifested from your beliefs and blocks? Such as anxiety settled into a constant stomach issue? Depression as a non-stop headache? The physical does tie into the mental, as the body image issues may be deep-rooted beliefs that you have carried with you from childhood or some trauma you experienced. If you have actual physical symptoms, of course, you should consult a medical professional. However, it could be a deep-rooted emotional issue that needs to be uncovered. Spiritual. The importance of believing in something beyond yourself holds such power. I am not pulling religion into this conversation. It doesn’t matter what you choose to believe in, whether it be God, Angels, The Divine, The Universe, Buddha, what is completely up to you. It’s more of being able to let go of the outcome. To have faith and trust that everything is happening for you, not to you. Life is full of ups and downs. There are days it feels like we are being run over by a truck while in the middle of a tornado. If you can hold faith that there is something more powerful than you at play, maybe you can begin to shift into looking at those trucks and tornados as lessons and using them to improve your life instead of feeling like it’s tearing you down. That is a major step in your confidence boost. Now because I am also a Certified Aromatherapist, I’d like to share with you a Confidence Booster Diffuser Blend. Side note - not all essential oils are equal, so do you're due diligence and make sure you are getting responsibility sourced, pure grade essential oils. • 3 drops Grapefruit essential oil • 2 drops Thyme ct thymol essential oil • 1 drop Cardamom essential oil It is my duty as The Ritual Queen to also provide you with a ritual you can use to boost your confidence. This may be difficult or awkward at first, but I invite you to stick with it and see if it doesn’t get easier and actually begin to feel good. Every single day, stand in front of the mirror and look at yourself, in the eyes, really look at yourself. I want you to set an intention for how you want to feel about yourself today. If you are struggling for an intention, when all else fails, you can just simply set an intention of love. Next, you are going to say an affirmation to yourself. I like these simple ones: “I am choosing to learn to love myself” or “I am a confident woman who loves herself” say what feels good to you. Repeated practice of this ritual will help you feel better about yourself every day. Here are a few journaling prompts that may help you get started. On a scale of 1-10, where is your current level of self-esteem? What can you change to improve that one point? On a scale of 1-10, where is your current level of self-confidence in the different areas of your life? Which area would you like to focus on the most? What is one change you can make to improve that scale at one point? When you can uphold your own standards and values, that is where real confidence lies. I hope you can take this information and implement it into your day so you can begin to feel fulfillment, love, and confidence in the person you were meant to be. For more information, follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website! Theresa Tirk, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Through her work as a Spiritual Life Coach and Certified Aromatherapist, Theresa Tirk empowers women everywhere to step out of overwhelm and into joy by awakening to their own validation and strength. Theresa creates massive impacts in her clients’ lives with dynamic daily rituals and simple yet powerful mindset shifts. Theresa was called to coaching through her own spiritual journey of self-discovery following a battle with depression and anxiety. Theresa is the host of The Ritual Queen Podcast and CEO of The Ritual Queen LLC.

Written by: Iliana Rocha, 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. All organizations on some level understand that employees are their most valuable resource, though they may not always act accordingly. In a small business, the importance of hiring and retaining the right people is even greater. As a business owner, you may be an expert in your own area, but when growing a business, you can’t be a jack of all trades. You need to fire yourself from all those odd jobs you are trying to do and focus on the things only you can achieve – driving the purpose and direction of your business. That means that you need to be very careful as to whom you hire, what you offer your employees to entice them to stay, and how you develop their skills and capabilities so that they can grow alongside you and your organization. I am not going to lie – a lot of (old-school) managers would consider what comes next to be “fluff”. However, gone are the times when “just be happy you still have a job” could be used as a motivator for employees. Take it from me – I have never been as successful in my life as during the times when I have had a high-performance, high-engagement team by my side. The ability to build and maintain such a team though is directly dependent on you being able to identify, hire, and retain top performers. Top performers share some common characteristics, that are especially beneficial for businesses: They have high functional capabilities, driven by experience coupled with innate abilities. They display leadership skills even when not in leadership positions. They focus on and drive high-quality results. They are able to influence others through a combination of communication, coaching, and motivational skills. They seek continuous learning, which they proactively apply on the job. Now you have a relative way of determining who your top performers are. Something to keep in mind is that top performers behave very differently from the rest of your team members. They are motivated by different things, quite often being driven by intrinsic motivators. And there is quite a bit of research speaking to that. High performers place more importance on job satisfaction, the reputation and practices of the company they work for, work relationships, advancement opportunities, fairness of business practices, and flexible work arrangements. On the flip side, they place less importance on extrinsic rewards, such as base compensation and bonuses, nor do they stay in place just because they feel they have no other alternatives. Another less known fact is that the reasons that people stay with an organization differ significantly from those that cause them to leave. There are numerous factors that contribute to an employee’s decision to leave, but those need to supersede the reasons for staying (their engagement with your organization) for one of your team members to even consider looking for outside opportunities. In other words, by focusing on what keeps employees motivated and happy and acting upon those factors, you can greatly reduce employee turnover, especially among your top performers and rising talent. Employee engagement for high performers is mostly dependent on three summary factors: equitable pay, meaningful work, and tangible plans for career progression. It is important to note that you can’t rely on any factor independently – all three need to be in play for your employees to be engaged. So why do HR practices focus mostly on compensation and bonus structure and other factors that are less important to top performers and rising talent? That is due to the one-size-fits-all HR practices that do not take high-performers’ needs in mind. You can avoid this trap! You can tailor your retention practices to those employees who will have a true and lasting impact on your organization. Bonus points: if you retain your top performers while your business is scaling up, you are in effect training the future leaders of your organization! Reflecting on the context above, here are some practical recommendations for your employment and retention practices: Fair and equitable compensation is a basic requirement of high performers. Do some research on websites such as Glassdoor to find out what is considered equitable compensation for specific job functions. I’d like to point out – I know that as a small business owner, it is very difficult to find the funds to offer very competitive compensation packages. The good news is that if top performers feel that they are compensated within average industry levels, they are likely to decline highly competitive compensation packages in favor of meaningful work. Meaningful work makes significant and identifiable contributions towards your business objectives. High performers like to know what the direction of the company is, to believe in its mission, and to understand how they contribute to achieving business goals. Therefore, focus on the mission as well as on discussing with your employees how their contributions are helping you advance the business. And make sure to involve them in decision-making for additional buy-in and commitment. The quest for meaningful work also drives high-performing employees to look for progression in their professional careers. Don’t fret – career progression doesn’t always mean more money or having promotion opportunities. I know that’s difficult in small businesses. Career progression encompasses offering significant learning opportunities that enhance the employee’s skill and knowledge set, allowing for stretch objectives that allow the employee to take on a challenging project, or even having them get involved in another part of the business so that they can learn new skills. If you are feeling stumped, you can ask your employees how you can better support them in gaining access to meaningful work and career progression opportunities. It would take the guesswork out of the process and you will know with certainty that you are meeting your team’s expectations. I want to point out one nuance in the above recommendations – high performers place more value on work relationships and commitment to the organization. This is why it is so important to build a culture that drives employee commitment and engagement. And do encourage building lasting relationships within the organization. Team events and after-work hangouts certainly help. You may not have the budget for anything extravagant, but hopefully, you can buy the team a beer after work every once in a while (well, once we are done quarantining, that is). A final tip on that point – don’t make it a scheduled event. Frequent, small rewards at unpredictable intervals tend to be most appreciated by employees. So, the next time you have a success to celebrate, buy the first round or send a care package to your employees who are responsibly sheltering in place! For more info, follow me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Iliana! Iliana Rocha, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Iliana Rocha is a senior business leader with extensive consulting and coaching experience in all things business. Iliana has been working hand-in-hand with businesses in optimizing their strategy and operations and is now President & Lead Coach at Clubnet Solutions Inc. Her focus is on working with entrepreneurs and small business owners on scaling and transforming their businesses profitably. She is in the process of publishing her first book:  Level Up! Low Hanging Fruit to Instantly Improve Your Small Business. Iliana holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Ryerson University, a post-graduate certificate in Strategic Relationship Management from George Brown College, and a Bachelor of Commerce and Finance, with a Major in Economics from the University of Toronto. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a certified Agile Coach (ICP-ACC), and is in the process of receiving an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certification as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).

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. What is something you could do for hours and hours as a child? That activity where you time almost stood still and hours would feel like minutes? Take a few moments to envision what your childhood was like and what you remember loving to do. That may be your unique creative therapy. Some people may cringe when asked to think about their creativity. This may be because they have visions of having to draw in school and dreading every moment of it. The thing is creativity is not just about what you traditionally think of as the arts. There are so many different ways people can use their creativity. I believe that everyone has their own unique creative capacities. These unique creative gifts may be hidden by trauma from childhood or just not having the confidence in oneself to step out of their comfort zone and share their truest essence. I forgot what my truest essence was for years. I had always been good at drawing and painting. I remember I would spend hours and hours drawing as a child. I even won awards for my drawings. Yet, I never prioritized this part of me because I never felt that it was valued growing up. I also thought my art was not good enough to really ever do anything with it, so why bother pursuing it. So many people struggle with that sense of being “not good enough.” But here is the thing, what makes you feel your truest self may not be what you pursue as a career or what you spend the majority of your time doing. But it is the part of you where you feel the most alive, grounded or calm. Maybe you recognize that you have bills to pay and mouths to feed, and pursuing a career in your creativity will not put the money you need on the table. I am not talking about quitting your career to feel alive and striving to reach your creative essence. I am asking you to consider what piece of you from your childhood that you may be missing that you could possibly find again amongst your busy life. Once you rediscover it, you may find meaning, calm and a sense of wonder that you have not felt since you were a child. Even though what you loved doing for hours and hours as a child may not be what you can spend hours and hours doing as an adult and that is ok. What I am hoping you recognize is what that essence was and ask yourself, “could I carve out some time in my busy life to do something I love?” Could you find some time to draw, paint, sculpt, build or craft something just for the love of doing it, not for the end result? As adults, so many people are always focused on the end result. What children get that adults forget is, “life is a journey, not a destination.” Adults spend so much time focused on the end result that we forget to enjoy the path that we take to get there. When I teach art to both kids and adults, there is always this amazing energy shift in the room that I do not feel when I teach anything else. There is always a point in the creative time where the room is completely silent and everyone in the room is in their own zen space, just enjoying the moment. That “moment” is something that I rarely ever get teaching anything else. I have noticed this for years. Even in the most challenging classrooms or the chattest group of adults, there is always a moment where the entire energy of the room changes and it brings in this complete sense of calm to the entire room. When I teach adults this is even more noticeable. First adults are always more stressed out to start with. They worry about the colors and ensuring their lines are perfect. They stress about how they have set up their page or piece. They are always so worried about the end result of their art piece even that they often take the joy out of the process. That is until that moment happens when they get into their grove, they no longer care about the end result and they just begin to enjoy the process. Creative outlets also do not need to be traditional art forms. There are people who make gigantic art displays out of masking tape! Some people's creative outlets are knitting, or carving, or rebuilding an old car. Whatever your creative outlet is, I am challenging you to find more time in your week to do it. Even if you can only squeeze in 30 minutes once a week. That time you spend for you doing something that you absolutely love just because you love it will have an immense impact on your mental health and positive impact on your life. Go enjoy some aspect of life like you did as a child, embrace the wonder and you will find that connection to your inner self. 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 B.A 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 through tapping into their own unique creative gifts through connection and mindfulness. Namaste!

Written by: Mary Yamin-Garone, 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 “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment and shame. It’s a shield. It’s a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from flight.” --Brené Brown Do any of the following apply to you? You spend more time on a writing task than you should because you want it to be perfect. You have high standards and sometimes will sacrifice your own well-being to complete a writing project perfectly. You’re the first to find errors and correct them, knowing that finding mistakes in a completed project will drive you nuts. You tend to reflect over past mistakes and always vow not to repeat them. You rewrite and edit your work excessively, even before finishing your first draft. You get caught up in fixing trivial errors. You become frustrated by your writing output even though you’ve made significant progress. If more than one of these describes you, you lean toward perfectionism. Related to more than that? You may be a full-blown perfectionist. Don’t worry. I’m right there with you. Perfectionists like us often get a bad rap but fear not; there are good and bad things about this trait. You’re most likely a determined, hard-working writer who’s constantly striving to improve your writing. You’re also probably good at editing your own work because you like finding flaws and fixing them. But there’s no doubt that your perfectionist personality is also likely to make it difficult for you to open up time in your schedule to write. How Perfectionism Can Hamper Your Productivity Being a perfectionist may seem to offer some benefits, such as being more organized and having a keen eye for detail. On the flip side, that same trait has its drawbacks. Here’s how perfectionism can hamper your productivity. It may result in procrastination. Those who believe things have to be done only if they can be done perfectly often end up procrastinating (Guilty as charged.). They wait for that “perfect moment” to write but the “perfect” situation to write never comes. As a result, they don’t finish their project. If you keep delaying your writing, you’ll do nothing or next to nothing. It can hamper innovation. In the search for perfection, innovative ideas are often destroyed. Too much time is wasted coming up with a new idea. However, the urge for perfect results in most of the ideas being discarded because they don’t seem perfect enough. It’s subjective. After investing your time to come up with an idea, the ideas you generated may seem perfect to others. Unfortunately, a perfectionist will continue to make small changes and pick out bothersome details (that’s sooo me). All too often, perfectionists rely on their own definitions of perfectionism. The result is constantly working and reworking the same thing. It can be extreme. In your quest for perfection, you’re wasting your time if you’re focusing too much on every detail. You’re also hindering your productivity. So, as perfectionist writers, what can we do? Are we doomed, or can we adjust enough to make more time for our creative work? How to Become a More Productive Perfectionist Writer Remember the positive side to being a perfectionist. You don’t have to feel badly about this trait. Instead, you must learn to embrace it so you can accomplish more in your writing. Find areas where you can loosen up. As perfectionists, we want everything to be perfect. Try to choose projects that don’t matter as much and practice letting them to be sub-par. Be sure to make time for your writing projects. Make a list of things that don’t need to be perfect and practice spending less time on them. Chances are won’t feel comfortable letting some projects go before they’re “ready.” You can, however, get better at it. Practice being productive. Studies show perfectionists aren’t as productive as others. When you’re agonizing over a writing project, you’re slowing down and taking time away from other things (like writing 😊). Shift your perspective. Perfectionism is a lens through which you can view your writing. The next time you start exhibiting perfectionist behaviors, take a step back and look at the situation in a more positive or forgiving light. Set realistic expectations. Perfectionism can cause writers to develop impossible standards. Try reducing your expectations slowly. If you’re not satisfied unless you’ve written for 60 minutes, shoot for 50 instead. Setting goals based on input rather than output can relieve the pressure perfectionists feel to produce. Thirty minutes of good work is 30 minutes, regardless of how many words you can write or revise. Purposefully fall short. Want to win your war against perfectionism? Try to deliberately fail to meet your expectations. Instead of writing 1,000 words, write 500. Set a timer for 30 minutes, then write as many words as possible no matter how it reads. During that time, you’ll learn that “failure” isn’t fatal. Rather it’s either a perception you can change or a misstep from which you can grow. Forgive yourself. As a perfectionist, we ruminate over every mistake. Doing so can stress your mind. Instead, we must practice forgiving ourselves. That typo in your blog post? No big deal. Forgot to do a spell check? It’s not the end of the world. Your new favorite phrase should be “it’s okay.” Make failing a game. Perfectionists fear failure. They take great pains to get everything just right, so we don’t fail. Make it a game to see how many mistakes you can make by trying new things more often. Practice fooling yourself. If your perfectionist tendencies make you prone to procrastinate, find ways to kid yourself into starting. Tell yourself you’ll write for five minutes or that this isn’t the “real” draft but a “practice” one. Set a timer and don’t let your fingers leave your keyboard until it goes off. Managing perfectionism is a lifelong process. Your perfectionism most likely won’t go away. It’s alright. To limit its potential destructiveness on your writing time, try changing just one habit each day. Baby steps are key to gradually allowing yourself to step away from the need to be perfect and get closer to “good enough.” Overcoming perfectionism isn’t a linear journey. You’ll have ups and downs, get frustrated with perceived failures and wonder why you should even bother. Don’t let the struggle defeat you. Unlearning harmful mindsets and behaviors takes time. At first glance, it might be difficult to recognize your progress but hindsight is 20/20. Keep fighting. Keep celebrating your successes, and most of all, keep writing. Your best writing life is yours for the taking. For more writing tips, visit my website. Join my Facebook Group and follow me on Instagram! Read more from Mary! Mary Yamin-Garone, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mary Yamin-Garone is an award-winning writer, editor and book/writing coach. In her 36 years, she has seen most every facet of the writing world as the featured guest writing expert on a weekly radio talk show; the recipient of numerous writing awards and accolades; and the coach and editor for several best-selling authors. One of her proudest moments came after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mary received the Communication Concept 2002 APEX Award for Publication Excellence for Magazine and Newspaper Writing for her work after 9/11. She recently launched her signature coaching program, Bring Your Words to Life. Mary will help you improve your writing and turn your most important life experiences and knowledge into your best-selling book.

Written by: Maggie Robinson, 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. You’ve sorted out your website, filled it with SEO keywords, tagged all your photos and followed all the other ‘rules’ – so why aren’t you getting the results you expected? The answer could be a voice search. As more of us use virtual assistants such as Alexa or Google, either through devices in our homes or on our phones, the way we’re searching for information is changing. Google estimates that 1.6 billion people will be using voice searches by the end of 2021. Google continues to work on Google Glass and Amazon is introducing Echo Frames, both pieces of technology which look like normal glasses, but include the latest voice-activated assistance. While they’re not mainstream yet, it’s likely that this will increase the number of us using and wearing this technology and increase the amount of time we use it as we ask it to complete tasks and answer questions wherever we go. What’s different about voice searches? Traditionally, when we type into a search engine, we tend to use short search terms such as ‘best office desk’, whereas when we speak our queries, we use sentences – for example: ‘Alexa, what is the best office desk?’ or ‘Hey Google, what’s the best desk for my office?’ It’s already changing the way that Google displays its results. You may have noticed the ‘People Also Ask’ box on the first results page. This shows you actual, full-sentence questions that other people have searched for and displays the highest-ranking information for that search – you don’t even have to click on the link to the website. It’s all held within the search results page. It also influences when we search and where we are when we do it. With voice search available on our phones, we ask questions when we’re out and about and are more likely to be interested in the things geographically close to us – something that is likely to increase even more as wearable technology becomes more affordable and more widely available. This change in the language we use when we’re searching for information means that search engines are looking for different answers. As people talk in a more conversational manner, search engines believe that the most relevant results for the query are those which reflect that tone. Combine that with machine learning, which is getting better at learning how we speak, such as interpreting synonyms and understanding colloquialisms, and you can see why the SEO game is changing. If someone searches using a virtual assistant device, they may not even see the results. They’ll simply hear them – if your product or business isn’t top of the list, it won’t be heard at all. How do I rank highly in voice search results? The information on your website needs to directly answer the questions that your customers are asking. So, going back to our desk example, simply having the words ‘office desk’ on a webpage isn’t going to be enough to answer the question about the best office desk. You need to have a human response. This might mean that you find your keywords growing too, to include those common phrases. You might discover that a good keyword phrase is now ‘best desk for a home office,’ for example, and that long keyword phrases like this need to be woven through your content as well as the more traditional, typed search terms. What questions do people ask when they search? We’re using the ‘Five W’s’ more often – who, what, why, where and when, so making sure your website directly answers the questions your customers are likely to ask will increase your chance of being that magic answer selected by the search engines. And while the questions might be getting longer, the answers need to be brief. The average length of answer in response to a voice query is just 29 words on Google, so keep those key points short and sharp to increase the chances of coming top of the list. Putting all of this in place is more likely to get your information into the elusive ‘Featured Snippet’, another relatively new feature of Google’s search pages, which displays some text which directly answers the question you have asked without you having to leave the search results page. It’s also the piece of information Alexa or Google Home will read aloud in response to a question. Google finds these snippets by looking at the content of your website pages, not just the behind-the-scenes tags and URLs which boosted content previously. This makes it even more important to make sure your content is relevant to the search terms and helpful to the searcher. By including lots of relevant, succinct information that answers the questions your customers are asking, you’ll stand the best chance of ranking highly when it comes to voice searches. It’s always been the case that if your website has well-written, relevant content that your customers want to read, your website is more likely to rank highly – if you know what you’re talking about, your website content is going to be relevant and interesting to your customers. As search engines are continuing to develop their technology to help their users get the most relevant results in the fastest possible time, imparting useful information in an easy to read (or hear) manner is going to be even more critical for those businesses who want to claim the top spot in search engine results. If you need help and advice about writing clear, relevant website content which ranks well with search engines, contact Smart Thinking Consultancy or email Maggie@SmartthinkingConsultancy.co.uk Follow me on Twitter & LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Maggie! Maggie Robinson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Maggie Robinson is the founder of Smart Thinking Consultancy and works with businesses across the UK, supporting their digital and traditional marketing needs. Maggie’s all-round approach allows businesses to benefit from her knowledge and experience of all aspects of marketing, rather than being tied to just one activity. From website health checks to Google ads, brand awareness to marketing campaigns, Smart Thinking Consultancy can help your business achieve its goals. Whether you need one-off assistance with a single aspect of your marketing or a full, cohesive strategy, Maggie has the knowledge and experience you need. Maggie is a former South West board member and current Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She has worked with well-known household brands as well as many small to medium-sized companies.

Written by: Tanja Malovrh, 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 could say it is easier to spend money than earn it when developing your own business. You can turn around your offers endless ways, but if nobody is buying it, where is the point of doing it? While going about our daily routines, we occasionally experience lightbulb moments that lead to brilliant ideas applicable in various life spheres. However, we often lack sufficient knowledge and means to promote it. So, before you grab all your money, trade down to a cheaper car, get a couple of more credit cards, and set to give notice at work, you should most definitely double check your idea and create a simple plan to have the big picture in front of you. You can go through some checkpoints on how to set strategy the right way at one of our previous articles. But now let’s get to the other side as well, discovering the most common mistakes we make each day running our business. Focus on The Money-Making Activities. To grow your business faster, focusing on money-making activities is the key. You will never be done with all the work and having it all sort out perfectly. There are thousands of daily tasks keeping us from doing the real work. Let’s be honest; we are oftentimes busy being busy. What we can do is eliminate the activities that are keeping us from achieving better results. Taking one project at a time and planning ahead – which is already creating the step-by-step action plan choosing the right tactics. Here are the crucial elements to build a successful business long-term: Check your daily activities – Write down the entire business process, observe yourself what you usually spend time on and check all your to-do lists. Put everything out on paper, and you will instantly see where you are at right now. Green dot, red dot system – Once you have your daily activities written down, put a green dot next to the ones that are bringing in the money if they are finished and a red dot if it’s just something that has been there for a long time, not even that important at this moment. Find the right “who” – You DON’T need a bigger office and bigger team, but you need to outsource the right “who” that will do the work for you. Consider outsourcing people to do some of the most time-consuming activities that are important to bring in sales. Get back to the basics – Having a thousand items on your pricelist or always looking to offer more is not always the smartest decision. Make your business simple to understand for everyone that wants to buy from you. Check what is selling best, work on it and ditch the rest. Create a system that works for you – Once you know what your core strength is, it’s time to put everything into a system that works for you. That means looking for solutions that will automate your business and put the burden of admin work off your shoulders. This is just the beginning of the letting go process. Remember that it is more costly to do it yourself than hiring someone else. You must invest time and money to learn how to do it. That is a cost as well – we call it opportunity cost. Stop holding up to things that are around just to keep you busy and giving you that feeling you are doing something. You are now moving from the role of business owner to becoming the CEO of your company! Let us know what you are working on, and reach out to us booking a short 20-minute Clarity Call . Let’s work on moving your business from chaos to clarity together. For more information, follow me on Facebook and visit my website ! Read more from Tanja ! Tanja Malovrh, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Tanja Malovrh works with professionals within different industries that need support with their business growth and setting strategy the right way. As a Business Strategist, her job is to assess the current set of resources, find the most effective way to use them, and build working business models for her clients. She gained her knowledge being part of the corporate world, holding different positions, building up her own diagnostic clinic from ground zero, and now supporting others with her expert knowledge to scale their business. She is active within European funded projects and having her own research team covering different scientific fields of work.

Michele Ogston is a meditation & mindfulness teacher and a certified intuitive life coach specializing in life purpose & mindset. She works with her clients to empower people to never feel stuck in life. It is her belief that by breaking the patterns that have been holding you back and rebuilding with self-love, purpose and mindset, you can live the life you were intended. After experiencing her own loss through the death of loved ones and a painful divorce, she decided to turn her pain into passion. I'm Michele Ogston, and I am a certified intuitive empath coach. My coaching story begins with when I was stuck! I was unhappy and depressed. I tried everything I was "supposed" to do to make myself happy. I read, worked out, ate healthy, drank plenty of water, spent time with loved ones, but nothing was pulling me out of the downward spiral. It wasn't until a day that started like any other ended with a realization that saved my life. I had dropped my kids off at school and went home to start work and clean up. My depression was robbing me of any motivation. I sat on my bed and started going through my emails. A mass email had gone out from the school. A mother, someone we all knew, had dropped her kids off at school and drove up to a local mountain top and killed herself. I sat there in disbelief! So many thoughts went through my head. What happened? What was going to happen to her kids? Why would she choose that option? She must have been so sad and lost. And then it happened. What if that were me? Could I slip so far into depression that I would leave my kids and choose to die? I had lost someone to suicide 20 years prior, so I was familiar with how quickly depression can take hold. Suddenly, I saw myself in the mother's shoes. I could see it happening around me. I thought of my kids and the pain I felt when suicide took a loved one from me. It was in this moment that life shifted. I picked up the phone and texted a friend who I knew was seeing a therapist. I booked an appointment and my journey to self-healing began. Through the healing process, I realized I never wanted anyone to feel stuck in their life. I wanted to spread the word that we are all one decision away from changing our whole lives. I am happy to say, since that moment, my life has changed drastically. I went through a painful divorce and I did a lot of healing and learning. I can honestly say the peace and security I found within myself after my divorce allowed me to attract the people who were meant for me in my life and allowed me to let go of those who weren't serving me. I became more in touch with who I really am. I strengthened my spiritually and dove into being an empath. I realized some of the patterns I had made in my life were due to the fact that I was not serving myself as an empath. I now use my abilities to have balance and purpose in life. Vibrating at this level enabled me to meet my current husband. I would go through it all again to obtain the level of fulfillment I have now. We live a quiet, loving, peaceful life in Northern California. We have 4 kids and fur babies. I'm no longer stuck. Life is good! What is it that you do for your clients? I help empaths break the habits that hold them back to be able to live an authentic life with purpose and meaning. I turned my pain into my passion by offering clients several ways to work with me. I run a monthly support group for empaths offer 1:1 support. I recently started a weekly life coaching group for empaths to go a little deeper than the monthly support group. This group offers the opportunity to have the camaraderie of a group setting and the depth of 1:1 coaching. Who should hire/work with you? People who feel drained and overwhelmed or people having trouble setting boundaries. People who are looking to empower themselves and have a deeper understanding of their strengths, gifts and abilities. How do you create a purpose-based life? You begin to create a purpose-based life by asking yourself these 4 questions: What is your story? = this is the key to creating intentions. What do you value? = helps you establish boundaries and your non-negotiables What are your natural abilities? = allows you to take the strengths you naturally possess and use them to serve. How can you use your natural gifts to serve you and others? = when you use your natural gifts, you are living the life that was designed for you. This enables you to serve others. This is where your purpose lies. What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now? My big goal is to be able to empower empaths earlier in life, so the pain, loneliness, and patterns don't allow them to just survive life. It is time to heal. 10 years from now, my husband and I will be traveling and touring and speaking to people about being an empath and how to enhance their lives. I hope to write a book and hold classes as well as work in my groups and with my 1:1 clients. You can connect with Michele on: Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn or visit her website ! Read more from Michele !

Melitta Campbell is a Business and Communications Coach who guides women in confidently building profitable businesses through her step-by-step programs and coaching. She started her entrepreneurial journey 12 years ago following the birth of her first child. She didn’t know if she had what it took to succeed, but found it a wonderful way to engage in meaningful work and create the flexibility and balance she wanted in life – but not without making a few mistakes along the way… When did you start your first business? Officially, I started my business twelve years ago, when I set myself up as a communications consultant and corporate writer. But I actually ran two businesses as a child, so maybe entrepreneurship has always been in my blood. Aged 14, I ran coloring competitions in a pony magazine, raising more than £200 for a donkey sanctuary. Then aged 15, I ran a Tuck Shop with four friends at school, selling sweets and drinks at break times. We won a Young Enterprise Award for our achievements and made £100 profit each, which felt like a lottery win! How much do you feel your business education has enabled your success? That’s a great question. I gained my first business degree from an art school, which has enabled me to look at business problems with curiosity and challenge myself to consistently find new and better ways to deliver results. Seeing things differently and being able to create innovative solutions has definitely been an asset over the years. Five-years into my career, I gained my CIM postgraduate diploma in Marketing and Communication. This gave me a robust insight into what it takes to build a solid market position and build a business that’s connected to real client needs and desires. I feel this is critical knowledge for all business owners. Having said that, the real learning comes from the experience of putting the theory into practice, pushing its boundaries, reflecting on what works best and refining your thinking and processes accordingly. Then your new knowledge becomes a practical tool. Do you think entrepreneurs need a formal business education? Not necessarily. There are plenty of MBA graduates who have failed in their start-up and business owners who have succeeded without any formal education. Knowledge is great, but success in business is all about action and momentum. If you want to by-pass ‘learning the hard way’, then learning what works through courses, books or a coach is the best way to go. Even if you already have some business knowledge, I believe that success and growth is all about mastery through incremental improvements, so it’s important to embrace life-long learning. How did you know the time was right to start your own business? While I loved my corporate career and I had worked hard to build my position to a leadership level, when I had my first daughter, my priorities changed, and I wanted more flexibility. I had no clue if I could succeed in my own business, but I knew I had to try at least. It’s been an extraordinary journey, which has been incredibly tough at times, but twelve years on, I’m so pleased I took that leap of faith. What has been your biggest challenge since starting your business? My first business was actually quite easy. While I worried about everything initially, I had a good network and a solid reputation within the communications community, so I found my first clients quickly and, through referrals, networking and public speaking, I was able to consistently attract a steady flow of interesting and well-paid work. What I learned, however, is that not all clients are the right clients. As demand for my expertise grew, instead of using that opportunity to refining and elevating my offer for my best clients, I said ‘Yes’ to everyone. This caused me to fall out of love with my work, and I found myself close to burnout. Thankfully I caught myself in time and was able to make changes before the inevitable happened. I took a step back and refocused on my strengths, purpose and what gave me the most joy – which was creating value, meaning and connection through authentic marketing and messaging. That’s also when I decided to use my skills, knowledge and experience to coach small businesses rather than consult for large corporates. Why do you only work with women? In my corporate career, when I landed a promotion that saw me move into a prominent leadership position, I wanted to use that opportunity to inspire more women to move up the career ladder. Typical of most Swiss banks at the time, my company was male-dominated and so my aim was to give members (male and female) access to inspiring female role models, run workshops to help women explore their natural leadership abilities and host panel discussions to find solutions to common challenges. I loved this network and the way it started to change the company culture for the better, making it stronger and more inclusive from the inside out. But when I started my own business, I couldn’t find an equivalent network for female entrepreneurs and that was always in the back of my mind. When I moved into business coaching, I saw my opportunity and created the Driven Female Entrepreneur Club, a free online community to promote networking and discussion amongst female entrepreneurs. I also started a podcast with the same name to give business owners access to inspiring role models. To help more women build a profitable business that feels like their own, I created the ‘Dream Clients Blueprint’, a group business-coaching program that provides clear step-by-step guidance through learning modules and live coaching. I also include regular live sessions with other leading business experts to drill down deeper into topics such as sales, visibility, mindset and pricing. Although this group is exclusively for women, I do work with a handful of male entrepreneurs on a 121 basis – business best practice works the same for men as it does for women. What’s the future for your business? My Dad once gave me this advice: “Whatever decisions you make in life, make sure they result in choices,” and I feel that that’s where I am right now, facing a range of choices in terms of what direction to take my business and community next. I will definitely continue with my existing community and group-program as they are getting fantastic results, often in just a matter of weeks, and having access to a supportive and caring community is more important than ever in these challenging times. In terms of how I plan to deepen the support I offer to Female Entrepreneurs, you’ll have to watch this space. I have some exciting ideas and collaborations on the horizon! What are your top three tips for business success? It’s so hard to narrow success down to just a few tips as there are so many dimensions in play. But these are three aspects I feel are often overlooked: Be Authentic – It’s crucial to know who you are and what’s important to you. Without this, you can’t share your vision and value with the confidence needed to connect with your tribe, and establish a meaningful position in the market. Linked to this will be knowing who you most want to serve and how you want to show up for them. Stay in Action – Nothing happens if nothing happens. That said, it’s important to remain focused on those actions that will take your business forward in ways that are aligned to your vision and values. As I mentioned earlier, consistency and momentum are key to success. Get Support – It takes courage and conviction to launch and thrive in business and it’s hard to achieve this alone. Build a network of inspirational and supportive people around you who get your vision and want to see you succeed – and for whom you want to do the same. I’d also recommend getting a business coach too. I know I’m biased on this point, but having a customized business education (that pays for itself), accountability and ongoing support will help you achieve success faster, and in ways that not only ensure you build a stable and profitable business, but that support your desired lifestyle too. For more information, follow Melitta on Facebook, Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn and visit her website!

Written by: Natalia Nicholson , 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 You may be surprised to learn that, even in 2020, less than 35% of all SMEs in the UK are female-led. Even more surprisingly, just 5% of these organizations have someone from an underrepresented group at the helm. Worse of all, only 9% of start-up funding for UK businesses is given to businesses led by a woman. It couldn’t be more obvious that something has to change. That is why the Women in Digital Business crowdfunding campaign , backed by NatWest, has been established – so the world of digital enterprise can become more diverse and, in turn, more vibrant and exciting. What Should I Know About The Women in Digital Business Crowdfunding Campaign? Backed by NatWest, this initiative has been set up to raise funds to support women from ethnic minorities and underrepresented groups interested in joining the Women in Digital Business mastermind group to launch or scale-up an online business of their own. The 12-month program consists of a full training day each month for the participants so they can learn how to set up a sales funnel, use social media to its best advantage and create a digital marketing strategy. Participants also benefit from a weekly call during which they can get helpful advice and ask questions so they can keep on track with their new enterprise. The initiative is designed to give a vital boost to women from underrepresented groups who wish to become entrepreneurs in the digital sector but require some additional support and nurturing to help them excel. Raising Money To Support Digital Businesses Individuals and businesses donating to the crowdfunding initiative can rest assured their investment will be going to a worthy cause. Initially, the money will be put towards investment in 10 UK businesses led by women who have participated in the Women in Digital Business program and whose enterprises have been proven to be viable. The funds will help them to start trading effectively and also to help them scale up their operation so they can achieve maximum profitability. Each one of the eligible businesses will receive an award of up to £10,000 so it can make progress towards achieving its goals. Surplus donations will help underrepresented women join the Women in Digital Business mastermind, enabling them to start their own entrepreneurial journey. Donations to the campaign will help to further the overall mission to boost diversity in the sector and work towards a more vibrant online digital world. For those who want to support this campaign, you may send your donations here . Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and Twitter ! Read more from Natalia ! Natalia Nicholson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Natalia Nicholson is a Serial Entrepreneur, Business and Digital Marketing Coach, and Professional Public Speaker. Natalia has over 20 years of experience working as a digital serial entrepreneur and has had plenty of her own failures as well as success stories. This has perfectly placed her to be able to offer insight and advice to other women aspiring to become digital entrepreneurs, together with those who have already launched their own businesses. Through her mastermind group Women in Digital Business, Natalia teaches them the best way to leverage the potential of digital marketing and helps them to learn the best ways of overcoming the challenges that they are facing when it comes to becoming a successful online businesswomen. Her passion for online business coaching and digital marketing has inspired her to bring inspiration to women from largely overlooked underrepresented groups.

Written by: Thokozile Eunice Mahlaola, 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. Every individual has a right to live a life full of peace and happiness, and the way to achieve such a life is through expressing peace from within us. Yet how can we express peace when we are faced with so much negativity? One way of expressing this inner peace is through forgiveness because it cleanses away the negativity that stands in the way of what we believe we can do with our lives. I have come to find that forgiveness is expressed in three ways. 1. Fore give “Fore” means before; therefore, the “fore” in “forgive” means before we give. We need to do this before we can give whatever it is that we want to give to the Creator, ourselves, our children, our spouses, our clients, and all of humanity. What causes unforgiveness might not be between us and those we want to give to, yet if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts, it affects everything else in our lives. This is because unforgiveness is tied to negative emotions that bring heaviness such as sicknesses, addictions, and death to the soul. Giving before we forgive is a waste of time, energy, and resources because our gifts carry all that negativity from us to those who receive us. This is because we do not just give physically but from our spirits and souls also, and if we are burdened by carrying unresolved issues, heaviness gets attached to those we serve. 2. For give The “for” in “forgive” indicates that we give for the sake of giving or we give for something. In other words, it is a reason for doing something. Now the first reason we give is because our Creator first gave us life; the second reason is that we are created to be like Him, so it is our God-given nature to extend ourselves and our gifts to others in service. The thing with giving is, it fills our hearts with goodness, and it benefits us because the more we give, the more we receive. Yet, we should not give with the aim of gaining because giving needs an open spirit and an open heart. Therefore, we should give as if we have never been hurt or rejected before. We should understand that giving does not mean the receiver is perfect but that our gifts can help them. 3. Forgive To forgive means to pardon; to give another chance, or to grant a do-over. It is about going back to the beginning and sorting out whatever issues we have so we can give freely. It means to stop feeling the negative emotions and let go of whoever or whatever incident that brought those emotions about. When we realize that we are not angels but human beings, life starts to be better because we start to accept that we all have faults. We can then treat each other with kindness rather than with judgment. When we give each other chances to do better, we help each other to be better. This shows that forgiveness demands us to shift our focus from how people treat us to how we process their treatment because that is the only thing we can control. Most times, when we consider forgiveness, we think of it in terms of other people. Yet, we also need to forgive ourselves for the bad decisions or mistakes we make. We need to forgive ourselves when we doubt ourselves and believe that we are not enough; for thinking that we are perfect while seeing others as imperfect, for what others did to us and for what we did to others, and many other incidents in our lives. All this may sound like it is nothing but the void these unresolved incidents cause stays with us until we deal with them. We need to realize that forgiveness opens our lives up for abundance to flow in while unforgiveness closes us off spiritually, soulfully, and physically. Whatever we do with a heavy heart does not bear healthy fruit; instead, it makes us bitter and robs us off our inheritance. It also keeps us locked up in the past instead of allowing us to experience the possibility of a new day. It causes us to hurt others because we are hurt. It causes us to think that everyone and everything is against us when they are not. It makes us hold on to the hurt to remind us to protect ourselves from perceived future dangers. But the answers to our healing, breakthroughs, promotions, success, happiness, marriages, pregnancies, businesses are tied to our forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice. We do not forgive and immediately step into happiness because it is a decision we continuously take until we are fully freed from the heaviness. The good thing about forgiveness is that it takes away the heaviness and gives us peace of heart and mind; healing and happiness, freedom and restoration, as well as abundance and fulfillment. Also, remember that forgiveness does not mean that we are right and others are wrong. It only conveys that we are done with holding on to this hurt or disappointment and that we are ready to allow healing, peace, and freedom to flow into our lives. This is important because healing happens when we declutter our spaces just as the sun shines the brightest through a clean window. Now let us empty our loads and spring clean our hearts, minds, spirits, and lives to experience lasting peace and happiness. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my YouTube-Channel! Read more from Thokozile! Thokozile Eunice Mahlaola, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Thokozile Eunice Mahlaola is the founder of The CherryBlue House, a consortium where they deal with career development, personal development, content writing, and music entertainment. Since 2015 she has self-published three books and has two books and a music album coming out in 2020. Her online courses have changed the lives of people from different parts of the world. She has studied Creative Writing and Editing through the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism and Language and Literature and Public Relations Management both through the University of South Africa. The eighteen years of combined corporate and entrepreneurial experience she has gathered has prepared her to work with individuals, employees, and new entrepreneurs who want to know their life’s purpose; align their priorities with their values and be more productive in their lives, work, and businesses.