Written by: Angelina Threadgill, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Yes, that’s what you want, and no, it is not rude. I see it almost every day and even more frequently this time of year. Parents tell their toddlers that they are being rude or bad for talking back. But let’s take a look at what talking back actually is. It is a response to something that someone else, in this case, the parents, tell their kids. And mostly, what they hear is a demand or punishment. Naturally, that’s something we as adults would question, or we’d at least be trying to explain ourselves. In children, though, this is considered rude or disrespectful. But why is that? Aren’t children allowed to have an opinion or disagree with us? I mean, we question everything, schools, political decisions, medical treatments, the cars others drive, the way we raise children, the way we wash clothes, how we dress. Why do we tell our children not to question what we decide for them? And why do not more parents teach their toddlers to talk back? It’s simply because we don’t know it any different. It is understandable that many of us still feel like talking back is rude, and something a toddler isn’t supposed to do. We feel that way because that’s how we were raised. We were taught that one does not talk back. So, it’s not surprising that many of us use it as a parenting tool. But I’d like you to think about what it does to our toddlers when we use it. Firstly we teach our toddlers that we have power over them and the strongest wins, even though that might not be the one with the best arguments. Our toddlers learn that their opinions don’t matter and that they are not being heard or understood. We simply tell them we don’t want to hear what they have to say. That makes our children feel like they don’t matter and they don’t learn how to stand up for themselves but rather surrender to their fate. This might sound harsh to you, and it should because we all want the best for our children, and that’s why it is so important for us to understand how our behavior can affect them. We take away their chance to learn how to argue in a sophisticated way and verbalize their arguments and emotions. Have you ever wondered why your toddlers choose you to fight and argue with the most? Because you are the person they feel most comfortable around, and that loves them no matter what. Talking back is a big step in a toddler's mental and social development. They learn that they can change an outcome by using words and arguments. Talking back helps children to get their point across, boosts their vocabulary, and teaches debating skills. A child that is encouraged to speak their mind from an early age will most likely form healthy self-esteem, know how to express feelings adequately, and doesn’t simply follow the rules but checks to what extent they are useful. And that is the reason why you want your toddler to talk back, why you even want to encourage that behavior. It’s only a small shift in how we talk to our toddlers that can turn the disadvantages into positive traits that benefit them even as adults. The hard part is to find out what things we do or say to our children and how it makes them feel. To make this more relatable, I often tell the moms I have the opportunity to work with to imagine being in a similar situation. By imagining a similar situation, you have the possibility to feel the way your toddler feels, which makes it so much easier to empathize because you understand what’s going on with your child. So talking back is an opportunity—an opportunity for you and your child to connect and learn from and with each other. For more information, visit my Instagram and website ! Read more from Angelina! Angelina Threadgill, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Angelina Threadgill is a German educator, parenting consultant, and mother dedicated to supporting moms of toddlers to achieve a less stressful everyday life without feeling overwhelmed by showing them how to get a better understanding of not only their toddlers but their own behavior and guiding them to a mindful way of parenting without punishment. Over the last decade, Angelina has been working successfully with parents and children between the age of 1 and 6 years in different countries and from different cultures. Her focus is always on finding behavioral strategies that are individually tailored to the needs of the mothers and their toddlers. Angelina has a German degree in education and further education as a practical guide for prospective educators and fluent in German and English.

Written by: Eva Medilek, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. As an American citizen, I’ve been looking closely at the leadership in this country. These last 4 years have seen a different type of leadership than we’ve grown accustomed to in the past, and this last year has seen this country suffer as a result. Leadership has changed, shifted, and is being looked at more closely than ever. We are all leaders. Some of us are leaders in our homes. Some of us are leading teams. Some of us have followers on social media platforms that look to us as role models and influencers. To say that you are not a leader is selling yourself short. You are a leader, and people are watching you. But what type of leader are you? Are you a leader that connects or a leader that divides? Is your leadership based on courage or fear? Leaders rise in times of adversity and turmoil. Leaders stay focused on the Vision. But there is another component of leadership that lays the foundation for showing up in times of adversity and turmoil. That component is the ability to have the intimate conversations that go deep and peels back the layers of protective armor that keeps us comfortable in the level of leadership that we have been practicing to date. Leadership that makes us look all-knowing. Real leadership takes intimacy. Real intimacy takes courage. The courage to look in the mirror at your own blind spots. The courage to help others see their blind spots. The courage to feel the shame, guilt, and embarrassment of not getting it right and the courage to keep moving forward until you do. Until you can have the conversations that allow you to go deep, your leadership cannot be fully effective. Sustainable Transformation and change will not happen if you are not willing to feel the feelings of discomfort. Being worried about what others think of you, being worried about perfection, having that looking good conversation will not inspire people to believe in you, buy from you, invest with you or follow you. Leadership is changing. Courage is the new fashion in the leadership wardrobe, and intimacy is a closet where you get to hang your cloak of courage. Now is not the time to hide. Be present to the discomfort, the fear, and the pain that people are experiencing. Acknowledge it and seek to understand it so that you can show up in a way that has people feeling seen, heard, and respected. Lean into the feelings of compassion, understanding, and a deeper level way of being so that you can be the role model of intimate, courageous leadership for sustainable connection and transformation. For more details on how to be influential at home, at work and in your communities, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and visit my Website. Read more from Eva! Eva Medilek, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Eva Medilek is a Certified High-Performance Coach and a Relationship Success Coach. She has coached both men and women in personal development, leadership, and mastering habits for success. She specializes in helping powerful and successful women have happier, healthier, more intimate connections in their relationships without giving up their power. Eva knows firsthand how a driven personality type can leave you feeling lonely, disappointed, frustrated, and resentful. You can achieve higher levels of success without sacrificing your health, well-being, and relationships. She uses her personal experiences along with her leadership, transformational, and high-performance training to teach you the pillars of high performance as well as showing you how to communicate in a way that fosters intimacy, influence, and connection in your personal and professional life. High performance is succeeding consistently over the long term while maintaining a healthy life full of positive emotions and relationships.

Written by: Adelina Stefan, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. As a Professional Coach passionate about personal development and continuous improvement to catalyze individuals’ potential, I was curious to try Personal Agility System to help me better organize my work and achieve and maintain a balance between work and personal life. Living in an uncertain, volatile environment and holding different hats every day, including the coach, entrepreneur, mother, wife, and ex-pat hat, I often feel overwhelmed having too many things on my plate and limited time to do everything I intended to. My recurrent thought was, "How could I become more effective, getting everything done and still maintaining a healthy work-life balance?" The Start of My Personal Agility Journey I came across The Personal Agility System (PAS) during my Scrum Master Certification with my trainer — Liviu Mesesan (liviumesesan.com), who presented PAS as a simple framework to keep your personal and professional life on track while reflecting on your goals and moving in the right direction. In other words, Personal Agility can be seen as Scrum used on an individual level, where instead of working with an entire team, it’s only you and yourself who is in charge of your journey. Using the Personal Agility framework daily made me realize that, as the sailor of your own boat and to navigate, apart from sailing skills, you also need to adjust the sails properly to ensure that you are moving towards a more balanced and fulfilled life. Hence, when I feel that I’m not going in the right direction, by asking myself powerful questions such as: What really matters? Which possibilities do I have? What brought me value last week? What could I achieve this week/today? Which things are important, and which are the urgent ones? What can I start working on immediately / soon and which later?, and last, Who can I delegate it to make it better and faster?, my state of mind started changing, creating and working more towards my goals and vision, and keeping my motivation constantly high, while continuing sailing towards my target destination, without getting my energy lost into unnecessary tasks and details. 5 Tips How Can We Embrace Change and Make Personal Agility a Daily Habit: 1. Be present and calm when something is not working the way you would like to. Validate your emotions. Remember that you cannot change the circumstance itself, but you can change your perception of it and your prioritizations using simple visualizations such as the Personal Agility System. 2. Redefine your dream destination and revisit the What Really Matters list. Identify the red flags and think about how much time you spent on things that are not so important. Reflect on what may have caused this deviation. 3. Ask for help. You will realize that there are many people around you, and, even if at the beginning you may think that you can complete a task faster than others you may help you, remember that in time, you can achieve more than you have initially thought. Get a mentor or coach who can help to validate yourself and implement new healthy habits. 4. Avoid procrastination. If you aren’t taking any action quickly, the chances are that your goals will become even more distant. Adjust the sails, change your boat's direction so that it navigates towards what really matters, removing any obstacles or unnecessary details that may delay your work. 5. Celebrate small wins weekly to achieve big goals. We often tend to focus on the outcome, ignoring any important steps along your way that contributed to our success. Remember that big achievements don’t happen overnight or in a few days, but you need to work constantly towards your vision. Rewarding yourself for small goals regularly will help you acknowledge that you are on the right way and increase your self-esteem. Using Personal Agility will unearth your higher self-potential, empowering you to take control over your own personal and professional life and do what is most effective for you. Follow me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Adelina! Adelina Stefan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Adelina Stefan is a Professional Certified Coach & Intercultural Facilitator specialized in Career Development, with a deep expertise in international HR recruitment and selection and Training and Development. Having worked for 10+ years across cultures, Adelina seeks to catalyze individuals’ potential, helping them create and implement their unique career blueprint and, at the same time, achieve a healthy work-life balance. She specializes in working with ex-pats and mid-to senior-level executives dealing with challenging work environments that can affect their performance and well-being. She supports organizations in building a corporate coaching culture by highlighting individuals’ maximum potential and engagement to become dedicated and highly successful employees. Her practice includes Career, Life, Executive, and Agile Coaching for individuals and developing and implementing corporate Human Resources practices for improving intercultural relations.

Written by: Holly Mosack, 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 that time of year again when you’re either asking others what gifts they would like for the holidays or people are asking you, and you’re just drawing a blank. So, I thought I would make it a little bit easier for you and give you some ideas of what to get the “woman who loves CrossFit.” I polled 100 women, and they gave me some great ideas: gift cards for healthy restaurants or nutrition stores (don’t pick out any random supplement or protein powder, though), and pain relief stocking stuffers such as ibuprofen, Epsom salt, or creams like RockSauce Fire Relief Cream (which comes with a roller ball applicator). Services like manicures/pedicures, massages, or one month of meal prep are sure to be splurges she would appreciate. One unique idea was a fitness photoshoot so she can be proud of the gains she has made. And, of course, anyone would appreciate you paying for her gym membership for a month or two. But if you’re looking for a specific idea that you can buy online, look no further! I’ve compiled a list of 10 gift ideas for you, ranging in price. 1. Ring Bandit Lifting weights and doing pull-ups can wreak havoc on rings, but women don’t want to take them off and lose them either. Ring bandits are cloth bracelets and watch bands with a hidden zipper pocket in them to protect your ring. They’re thin and stylish and come in a variety of colors. 2. Jump Rope After a few months of CrossFit, one of the first investments an athlete typically makes is a jump rope. Having to sort through the ropes at the gym and find one the right length can be frustrating. Double Under Wonder offers custom ropes. You pick out the colors of the rope and the handles and can either enter your height or choose an adjustable rope. 3. Socks Not your average socks, socks with some pizazz! Many lifts involve rubbing the barbell up the shins, so socks provide a little added protection. I love the socks at The Sox Box . They have holiday socks, hero socks and will even customize the socks. Plus, they have donated nearly $100,000 to charities this year. 4. Jewelry Women who lift weights or do CrossFit are usually proud of it, too (check their social media feeds). A tattoo is a great option, but if you don’t want to go that permanent, jewelry might be the next best thing. There are plenty of cute options on Etsy, including this “Strong is Beautiful” pendant for $20. 5. Leakproof Apparel Did you know 1 in 3 women leak when they are exercising? And if they’re not a part of that percentage, there is a high probability that they would prefer not to have sweat soaking through in that region of their body or could use some added protection on their heavy period days. Moxie Fitness Apparel has a patent-pending liner that wicks moisture into a center, absorbent layer, trapping it from the outer shell. Wear, wash, repeat. 6. Grips It can get hard to do many pull-ups or other hanging repetitions when your hands are constantly either getting torn up from the friction or just too damp from sweat. Bear Komplex offers a variety of grips to fit different sizes of hands. So, if you’re sick of her showing you all of her callouses or blood blisters, do her a favor and buy her some grips. 7. Tank tops You can never have too many tank tops. These days they come in all sorts of styles (crop, muscle, etc.) and have too many funny or inspiring sayings to count. Again, plenty of Etsy stores out there for you to support small businesses. FitMissLifestyles has some cute holiday-inspired tanks that she probably won’t buy for herself but would love as a gift. 8. Knee Sleeves These have been a blessing for me. They give me support when I’m doing squats and a little added protection when I’m doing burpees, slamming my knees onto the gym floor. There are many knee sleeves out there, but I definitely recommend paying a little more for higher quality like Rehband . And while I’m talking about knee sleeves, I’ll mention wrist wraps. The Rogue Fitness wrist wraps are my favorite, providing great stability. I won’t work-out without them, and they last a long time. 9. Massage Gun I don’t think any CrossFitter would be mad at receiving one of these this year! Like the ones offered through Theragun , these handy-dandy tools are great at deep muscle treatment without having to get a professional massage. These are the most expensive of all the gifts on this list, but you can always make a DIY drill massager out of a jigsaw, too, if you want to save a few bucks. 10. Stocked Gym Bag If you think the woman in your life already has all of the above, why not get her a new gym bag with some staples like natural deodorant from the women-owned small business, The WholeSoul Company , hygienic liquid chalk , ShowerPill’s individually wrapped wipes, and Gym Hair’s sweaty hair solution (for when there’s no time to shower). Throw in some 100% natural Rockin’ Green detergent to get the funk out, a new blender bottle, and some rip fix , and you’ll have her set for months with no worries of any returns! Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Holly! Holly Mosack, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine When Holly ended her career in the United States Army, she struggled to find her purpose in the civilian world (outside of being a mom) until she and her husband started a CrossFit gym. She quickly found a new passion in helping women become stronger, both physically and emotionally. She wants to empower women to stay active by removing barriers, which is why she founded a line of leak-proof apparel, Moxie Fitness Apparel, to help the 1 in 3 women who experience stress incontinence. Holly is an executive-level communicator with 15 years of manufacturing experience in talent acquisition strategy, service quality, and continuous improvement. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and is a CrossFit Level I Trainer.

Written by: Kimberly Schehrer, 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 sad reality about our education system is that it teaches our children “what to learn” but not “how to learn.” This results in our teens failing in their studies and outside lives. If parents play an active role in making sure their teen develops executive function skills, this will not be the case. What are Executive Function Skills? Executive functions are self-regulatory skills that enable people, in this case, teens, to achieve their goals and ambitions. Most teens with ADHD have executive function disorder, but so do many people without attention deficits. For teens to become effective learners, they need to learn to: Pay close attention Follow instructions Plan and prioritize Keep on track Manage time Control emotions Organize their thoughts Start and finish tasks efficiently, etc. We are living in an era where our teens report feeling more stressed than their parents. With their executive functions not well developed, they are likely to succumb to all that life throws at them. Learning to learn can make all the difference with getting great grades, self-confidence, motivation, and even is a staple for college preparation. How does Poor Executive Functioning Affect Your Teen? Poor executive functions are often at the root of poor academic performance—specifically, poor planning and organizational skills. As time goes by, their self-esteem declines due to missed assignments, slipping grades, and lack of flexibility to handle setbacks. They start to become unmotivated or, worse, non-compliant. They are more likely to turn to rebellion and substance abuse to numb the pressure and pain of believing that they are worthless and have no direction or purpose in life. When really, they haven't been taught the skills to learn effectively and efficiently for better grades, resilience to setbacks and pressure, and to regulate their emotions. Some teens struggling in school begin to believe that they are stupid (They often say this in the initial session of working with me) or "not cut out for college." This shows you how important executive functions are to your teen’s success in school, work, and life. The Three Most Important Executive Function Skills for Teens The brain develops from the back toward the front. So, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions, is last to fully develop. In fact, the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until the approximate age of 25. Parents often assume their teen’s skills will develop as they role model effective executive functions. While parents do serve as their teen’s “external drive,” the objective should be that teens internalize the skills and strategies to become self-directed, independent learners. Your role as a guide is critical in giving your teen “brain-building tools” that will help them in school and beyond. Here are 3 important executive functions you can help your teen develop: Organization skills Organization skills help your teen to efficiently organize or arrange thoughts and materials in an orderly manner. Being organized is essential for your teen since it helps them to: Have mental clarity and improved focus Set and achieve goals Keep track of assignments, and improve accountability. And reduce their stress levels. Students are often bombarded with lots of homework and extra-curricular activities (at least before COVID), but they are not taught the fundamentals of being organized. It is never too late to evaluate your teenager’s organization skills and develop the necessary strategies to be successful. Time Management Skills Our second executive function skill is time management, which helps your teen: Start and complete tasks Set priorities Submit work on time Plan effectively for the short and long term And break down a complex assignment into manageable chunks. When assignments are turned in by the due dates, your teen learns the importance of dependability and the positive impact on their academic and work performance. Acknowledge your teen for completing their assignments and turning them in according to the due dates. Refrain from expecting a perfect or high score, at least initially. They need to meet deadlines and understand schedules first. This may seem counterintuitive. Yet, aiming for perfection can lead to not finishing assignments in a timely manner, and points are taken off for not meeting the deadline. However, if your teen completes homework with a reasonable amount of effort and meets the deadline, they can receive a higher score. Accountability Teens need to know that any action, also known as a choice. They decide to take has a consequence—an important life lesson. The third “behind-the-scenes” skill you need to teach your teen is being accountable. Your teen possessing this skill will ensure that they are trusted and respected. Teaching your teen to be accountable is easier said than done. This is the reason they should see you do it first. You need to breed a culture of personal accountability in your home. For example, make sure everybody knows and abides by the house rules. Let them know that privileges are contingent upon effort and follow-through, which impacts their performance. However, be willing to listen and negotiate in special circumstances. Teens with ADHD, and certainly for middle school students, develop a weekly check-in with their teacher. I have seen many times where the student completes homework, needs a prompt to place their homework in their backpack, and then they forget to turn it in. Students may think they’ve turned in their assignment with remote learning only to find out later that they didn’t upload it correctly. By being in communication with their teacher, you can ensure their homework was turned on time. Teens need encouragement to check their online student portal each week, independently, to ensure all their assignments have been accounted for by their teacher. Let your teen know that checking their grades and assignments weekly is as much about their responsibility as it is to verify that their teacher hasn’t overlooked an assignment. They need to know that teachers make mistakes too. By checking the system each week, they are holding both themselves and their teacher accountable. If there was a mistake, it is more easily resolved while still fresh in everyone’s mind than after significant time has elapsed. Personal accountability not only keeps your teen’s conscience in check, but it helps them to feel more empowered and in control of achieving their goals. Mastering executive functions is the key to unlocking your teen’s potential. Once they have these fundamental skills, they can more easily apply accelerated learning techniques to learn more effectively and achieve better grades with less effort. Every teen is brilliant in their unique way. If their light isn’t shining bright, it just means they haven’t mastered executive function skills and effective learning strategies. For more information, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Kimberly Schehrer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Kimberly Schehrer is a Teen Breakthrough Expert, International Bestselling Author and Founder of Academy for Independence. For over 20 years, she has been working with teens to accelerate their learning strategies, improve their executive function skills, and increase their self-esteem. Parents love how Dr. Kimberly helps their teens succeed with remote learning and adapt to today’s unprecedented times. Teens love how Dr. Kimberly is easy to talk to and helps them to believe in themselves to get results they’ve never imagined. Through individual coaching, tutoring, and group programs, she teaches tweens/teens how to improve their grades and have a competitive advantage for college. Check out her podcast, Raising Unstoppable Teens.

Deni Van is a Hypnotist and Trance-formational mentor, helping individuals accelerate their personal, professional, and spiritual growth. She is the CEO of Heartfelt Awakening Media, publishing books, meditations, videos, and Podcasts. Deni is also the owner of Sycamore Hypnosis, about 65 miles NW of Chicago, providing one-on-one custom programs in-person locally and internationally online. And she is the creator of personal, professional, and spiritual development training, including CE approved continuing education courses. Today we’re chatting with Deni Van, CEO of Heartfelt Awakening Media, Owner of Sycamore Hypnosis, and CE approved Instructor. Thank you for being with us Deni, I’m curious to know. What is your most common request for using hypnosis? Hypnosis for weight loss. If you do a Google search how many times people type in ‘hypnosis for weight loss,’ you’ll find it’s in the hundreds of thousands. So yes, people are looking for that thing to help them achieve their goals and weight loss is at the top of the list. I started my healing journey in 2001, I was 35 years old at the time. On the outside, I looked very successful and had it all together. I remember the day I was diagnosed with a very fast-spreading form of cancer, my kids were six and 12 years old. Feels like yesterday. When faced with that kind of diagnosis, you're pretty much told what to do next. So the doctor is going on about how they’re going to inject me with radioactive dye to trace and decide if they’re going to remove one or several lymph nodes to help determine if I was going to get chemo with my radiation. As the doctor was going on, there was a tiny little voice inside that said, “That's not for you.” I understood the meaning of ‘time stood still’ in that moment. I said no to all of it except for removing the tumor. They pretty much retorted, “What! Are you crazy? You could be dead in two years!” This year, 2020, I celebrated 19 years since that day. Starting my journey from that day to now is about creating inner space. This inner space is a state of being. That's what hypnosis is. Another word is ‘trance.’ And it's so natural to us that when people tell me, “Oh, I can't be hypnotized!” I'll ask them, have you ever experienced watching TV and all of a sudden 30 minutes went by and you don't know where the time went? Or, have you ever experienced driving along a regular route and then realize you can't account for the last 15 minutes? If you've experienced these things, you've experienced hypnosis. In the state of hypnosis is where the change work happens. The challenge can be getting into this state to do the work. If you're on a journey of weight loss wanting to know about nutrition and what is best for your body, connect to this inner state of trance. One of my mentors Dr. Upledger called this inner space the Inner Physician. This inner knowing and intelligence that we all have access to and it has everything we need. This is where the change works begins. But we have to get our mind, our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs in alignment with the goal of weight loss. You may have experienced this. You set a goal to lose weight as a new year's resolution, you're committed and ready to go. And then, next thing you know, you're eating all of the things you're not supposed to be eating. You’re right in the middle of a self-sabotaging episode! Hypnosis goes deep, and it finds the parts that are creating self-sabotage. These parts wake up and react with, "What do you mean you're gonna lose weight? You're not worthy of that! That’s too big of a goal. You can’t do that. Do you remember what happened when…?” Have you experienced this type of inner dialog? This behavior is a defense mechanism and it’s easy to use as a learned way to protect oneself. This defense behavior can cloud your judgment. Next thing you know, you're eating things or behaving in ways that are exactly opposite of what you want to achieve. There is a part of the Mind that I like to call the gatekeeper. It will allow in information that it feels is beneficial and let go of the rest. We know the brain has a limit of so many bits of information that it's capable of focusing on at once. Through hypnosis, we are able to bypass the gatekeeper of the mind and then the unconscious is open to receive the change work. I really don't like to call it unconscious. I like to call it superconscious. This is the larger part of us. We are Human Beings. The Human is the seen physical part. The Being is the unseen metaphysical part. This part of us is intelligent. I don't like to call it unconscious. However, within ourselves and within our own wholeness of consciousness, we are only consciously aware of a small percentage of everything that is happening. Everything else is in the dark, so to speak, unless we put our focus, attention, and awareness on it. What is the unconscious? I love to use the analogy of a big mansion. Imagine it's completely dark inside and It's huge. There are so many rooms, floors, sections, yards, and terraces. As huge as you can imagine. What we're consciously aware of is what we can shine a light on. What's in front of us? This is how I like to explain what's unconscious. We all have unconscious programs running in the background. For example, I want to wear a size six, and I want to wear a two-piece bikini and travel the world but there is a part inside that says, “Oh really? You're not good enough for that! Who Do You Think You Are? You’ve failed so many times in the past. You’ll fail this time.” These parts begin to wake up and protect us from failing again and will pull us back into our comfort zone. This part of us can't be tricked, forced, or coerced. We go through a hypnosis process to integrate these parts, some are thoughts and experiences, past emotions that were suppressed, and now they're waking up as you react to your reality. All of these parts have to come to the point of willingly integrating all of their knowledge, wisdom, and understanding with the wholeness that you are. At the same time, this super consciousness is taught how to do the rewriting and reprogramming of all the parts at the same time releasing the emotions, beliefs, ideas, programming, and suppression that no longer serve right now. This integration process is so beautiful because it happens within your healing team. So I can't tell you what to do because your gatekeeper is going to not let it in. We utilize this natural state to do the change work. What are your tips for those who want to use hypnosis for weight loss? I have 4 tips you can start with right now for just about any goal. First, check out guided self-hypnosis meditations. Try different ones. See what works for you. These are our best sellers. Then, become aware of when, what, and how much you’re eating. Know when you are releasing those feel-good hormones. Next, know you are worthy of your goals. The biggest reason people turn to hypnosis is because there is something inside preventing them from receiving what they want. Finally, get the help and guidance you need. It’s time to get selfish in the right way. Just like the analogy of if you're on a flight and the oxygen masks come down in the cabin. if you're busy trying to help everybody else put their mask on and you don't put yours on first, you're going to be the first to pass out. Who's going to help you? Shift your mindset on what it means to be selfish. Not taking care of yourself is self-sabotage. For more information, follow Deni on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit her website!

Written by: Alina Machita, 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 Emotion Code is the perfect healing modality for working with unprocessed trapped emotions from childhood or, more specifically, ‘Inner Child’ work from the ages of conception to around 6 years old.a Before we can explore if you have a wounded inner child, it helps discuss what that is. From conception in your mother’s womb until around the age of 6, your subconscious mind is making decisions about what and how you ‘should’ be (act) to fit in and be seen as okay and looking for ways to ‘feel safe.’ All your memories from this time are stored in your subconscious mind. And they will continue to have a huge impact throughout your entire life and if you bear children in their life (lives) as well. Once they are released, you will be able to give and receive love more with healthy boundaries. Your parent’s emotions and lifestyle habits at the time of our conception and up to the age of 6 affect how your ‘Inner Child’ sees itself now. Their stress levels were, how excited or resentful they felt about you being born – everything they ate, drank, thought, and did play a huge role in how safe you felt even before you were born. Dr Bradley Nelson suggests that it is typically the 3rd trimester where these emotions show up, and there can also be inherited emotions passed on from past generations. Your mother’s emotional stability and the early infant care you received from her, your father, other siblings, if there were any, extended family and/or other caregivers greatly affect the impact of your early years. The key thing here is that the subconscious stores these memories forever! Any negative associations or feelings formed in your first six years will be hiding there. They will be impacting your life every single day without you being aware of it. You can even inadvertently pass them on to your own children. Is My Inner Child Damaged? The signs of you still having a ‘wounded inner child’ will show up in various ways. They ultimately, if not released, will continue to show up in more unhealthy ways of being. Take a good look at your relationships, and this may indicate how much of a wounded inner child still exists in you. Feeling like you’re the victim. You feel like bad things always just happen to you. You have no control over it, and it is not your fault. Low self-esteem. Nothing you do is ever right. You’re useless. How could anyone ever love you? You feel ugly. Like self-esteem problems above, but this focuses on your body. You’re fat, ugly, your skin is awful, your hair is a mess etc. You have problems with addiction. You’re trying to make the pain go away with drink or drugs or food or sex, but you don’t know where the pain is coming from. Problems with sex. You may find sex unsatisfying. You don’t get much pleasure out of it and don’t feel you’re connecting with your partner. You value “things.” You need to gather more and more things. You store them up because having them makes you feel safer or more secure. You’re a bully. Maybe you’ve heard the expression “the best defense is a good offense”? Your trapped negative emotions are urging you to hit first and hit hard. That’s the best way to never be vulnerable. These characteristics can show up in addictions, poor relationships, commitment issues, emotional and physical imbalances in the body, and on and on the list goes. How The Emotion Code Helps The Wounded Inner Child The Emotion Code healing process can finally uncover these ‘Inner Child’ trapped emotions and release them during several sessions. Otherwise, you will continue to create your same life drama over and over and over and then repeat repeat repeat. You will not change the script by just talking about it or by consciously trying to tell yourself a different story. Many people live their existing life in a grown-up's body but with a child’s mind. As an adult, your inner child is yearning for attention, recognition, understanding, care, and support that it never received as a child. Not receiving help to remove these trapped emotions impacts every single decision you make in your life – good or bad. If you no longer want to attract the same negative situations, relationships, finances, health issues, etc., you need to change and release your inner child's story! Take time to examine what you have been telling yourself and why otherwise, the same drama just continues. Many Addictions Are A Result of Unresolved Inner Child Emotions The longings that you still have for acceptance, love, support, and understanding are a direct result of these submerged negative trapped emotions. You may try to silence these deeper longings with drugs or alcohol, being sexually promiscuous, gambling, becoming a shopaholic, binge eating, becoming anorexic, or overeating to an unhealthy degree. It may also show up if you are a workaholic – anything that allows you to avoid the real and deeper needs may indicate you have unresolved inner child emotions. Start Your New Life Today Let today be the day you decide not to live like this anymore. That it is time to let go of your negative emotions and start living a life full of love, happiness, and success. Click here to book a free session and make a commitment to start healing yourself now. Expect miracles! Book your free session today! For more info, visit my website & follow me on Instagram! Read more from Alina! Alina MaChita, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Hi, I’m Alina. I’m an empath, a transformational healer and a Subconscious mind Specialist. I have an unshakable passion and gift to help women stop self-sabotage, unlock their subconscious mind, release trapped emotions and subconscious blocks, keeping them from living in love, accomplishments, and balance. Most of my work is done directly within your Subconscious Mind where your Power is; utilizing muscle testing is a way to communicate with the subconscious mind and sophisticated systems like Emotion and Body Code and Raising levels of consciousness, removing physical and emotional blocks and stored trapped imbalances that can keep you from abundance, creativity, emotional balance and lightness of being.

Written by: Aimee Teesdale, 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 Whenever I think of people using positive affirmations, I am reminded of the scene in the movie American Beauty, where the realtor is affirming to herself: “I will sell this house today, I will sell this house today” - all whilst tears are streaming down her face, appearing to contradict the very words that are coming out of her mouth. Indeed, I come across many people who try to use positive affirmations in order to make themselves feel more confident, happy or positive - only for it to often have the exact opposite effect. After all, the typical reason why people tend to use affirmations is because they don’t actually believe what they are affirming. So whenever they say the affirmation, they are simultaneously met with the voice that whispers: ‘But we both know that’s not true’. And yet, at the same time, our words ARE powerful. Our words CAN create states of being that then give rise to our actions and results in the world. So how then can we use our words to create positive and powerful states of being without making us feel worse? The answer lies in diagnosing the counter belief that is the cause of our desire to use an affirmation in the first place. Feel the need to affirm that you are a confident person? Ok, great, let’s look at why you don’t already believe that you are. It’s by diagnosing the limiting belief that we are then able to delete it, effectively making space in our minds for a new belief to be created, or declared, and downloaded into our mind. These are the first 4 steps in my signature 5-Step Framework, the simple yet powerful method I use with myself and my clients to reprogramme our mindsets and thus reprogramme our lives for success: Diagnose, Delete, Declare, Download. The reason why affirmations don’t work, then, is because people are essentially attempting to skip to step 3 (Declare) without having done Step 1 (Diagnose) and Step 2 (Delete) first . So you might be wondering, well, how exactly does one delete a limiting belief? By forgiving themselves for having believed it in the first place. When one can see that the belief was never actually true to begin with, and that it was simply a false interpretation of events based on a limited perception and level of consciousness, it becomes easier to let go of it. Then one can create a new belief - the equivalent of an affirmation - and declare it to be true without ‘the voice’ insisting otherwise. The fifth step in the 5-Step Framework? It’s ‘Do’ - in other words, to ACT from this new state of being and a new mindset. And that’s how you create results you’ve never created before and reach new levels of success. If you’d like more information about The 5-Step Framework, you can download my free ebook where I explain it in more detail plus The 3 Pillars that are necessary for it to be effective, or listen to me using it in real-life coaching sessions to transform the lives of entrepreneurs and change-makers around the world by subscribing to my podcast, Next Level Success. Tipped to be the next big name in the coaching industry, you can connect with her via her website or Instagram ! Aimee Teesdale, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Aimee Teesdale is an international six-figure success coach, speaker, author, podcast host and digital nomad who is living her dream life whilst enabling others to live theirs. Using her signature 5D Method™, Fearless Framework™ and Love.To.G.I.V.E Approach™, she enables service-based business owners and entrepreneurs to accelerate towards six-figure success and create financial security, freedom and prosperity from doing only what they love faster than ever. Her ability to create such rapid transformational results with her clients is due to her personal experience overcoming 20 years' of struggle, fear and severely limiting beliefs and discovering what the secret to success - both for individuals and humanity - really is: less fear, more love.

Written by: Henrik Pettersson , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We are where we are because of our habits. Let us state that. Whether good or bad, they control our lives. And it is only when you acquire good habits — when you start thinking and doing things that you know are right. You begin to become satisfied with yourself and focus on your positive qualities and benefits rather than your shortcomings. The previous boundaries are being pushed forward; the picture of success is becoming increasingly clear. You begin to visualize things that have been in your dreams, but which now can become a reality if you just practice them, the positive images. It's like working out in the gym, the same things over and over again. In this way, mental training has great similarities with physical. You act depending on what image you have. Possible or impossible? It determines what - and how you visualize the change, based on three cornerstones; Intention It all starts with an intention. Whatever it is, lose weight, get rid of an addiction, become debt-free, take a few steps in your career, become self-employed. And so on. An intention strengthens your will to action, and which is so powerful that you become independent of other people's opinions. You just say to yourself: no matter how tough it gets, I'll fix it! Inspiration Inspiration is the fuel that keeps the passion alive. In spiritus, "in the spirit," an inner journey that makes you on fire. From Intention to inspiration to passion, when the flames of passion are strongest – it creates drive towards the third cornerstone; Initiative Trying to make a change without taking the initiative is like sitting in front of the fire and wishing for warmth, without having either matches or firewood. But when you have the Intention to do something, Inspiration that enables you to do it and take Initiative, then you will most likely get what you want. That's the good news. The bad things are that the things you do not want - come along when you surround yourself with people who say that the project is impossible while taking your thoughts in an active direction. You cannot get thin by just thinking that you hate being fat. Take action on the target, and visualize how you look x kilos lighter. You cannot get rich by thinking about how much you hate being poor. You cannot be successful by looking at yourself as a loser. At the same time, you rarely get what you want - if you only focus on what has been. In summary: Possible or impossible — it is determined by your attitude, your mental image. It will be the way you think if you constantly visualize your successes - and take action on what you really want. It is not the strongest, nor the smartest, but the one who best adapts to change who is the winner. Charles Darwin stated that more than 150 years ago. Use the three pillars of Intention. Inspiration. Initiatives. And you can become a winner in the spirit of Darwin. So take action! That is always what separates people. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and connect with me on LinkedIn ! Read more from Henrik ! Henrik Pettersson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Since 2004, Henrik has been working as a coach, educator, and motivational speaker around Europe. Life is about growth. The challenge to growth is to gain boldness to handle our fears and vulnerability. To strengthen your spine - to be able to handle your challenges towards stronger results. Life’s tough at times, and the formula for gaining more boldness, and dig deep into, is: Faith – Energy – Focus. His new book is built on the three pillars above and is called: program yourself to success. Henrik is frequently hired by large companies like Volvo, H&M, and Avis.

Written by: Ellie Shefi, 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. Social media offers endless, invaluable opportunities to expand your audience and solidify your brand. With so many possibilities, it can be overwhelming to determine how to use social media to most effectively grow your business. There are now more social networks than ever before, and algorithms are always changing. Great news though! The main social networks available today offer incredible marketing opportunities for your business and so much of it can be done at little to no cost! As your go-to expert for practical, easy-to-implement, results-driven tools and strategies, I’m here to help make your journey as simple as it is successful. These five actionable tips focus on using one key tool that is a “must deploy” if you want to really grow your presence, your visibility, your business, and your impact. What’s this supercharged tool, you ask? YOU!! Yep, your authenticity is the key to connecting with your audience, building your brand, and paving the pathway to success. When what you are communicating is truly and authentically you, you will generate long-term relationships and establish loyalty with your target audience in powerful ways. Here’s how: 1. Always Remember Your “Why” and Use it to Differentiate Yourself Nearly everyone is on some social media platform these days. If you want to cut through the noise, connect with your ideal clients, and create a high-converting marketing machine, you’ll need to clearly define your brand values, your brand voice, and your brand identity so that you can craft connective content that speaks directly to your target audience in a way that is authentically and powerfully you! How do you do that, you ask? Start by getting crystal clear on your why! When I’m working with my coaching clients, this is always task number one. Your why is your ultimate driving force. It is both your fuel and your anchor—it propels you forward, and it keeps you centered. Being clear on your core why not only allows you to create connective content that speaks directly to your ideal client, but it also gives you an inexhaustible, replenishable, on-demand source of strength, resolve, drive, and focus, which will come in handy on your journey of entrepreneurship. To find your why , pause and reflect: What drives you? What’s most important to you in life? Why is that thing so important? Do you know? If you haven’t yet done so, take time for introspection. Dig deep and gain clarity. The clearer you are on what drives you, the easier it is to define your brand values, your brand voice, and your brand identity—all of which are critical for creating high-converting connective content. Your why is also the foundation on which you differentiate yourself from competitors with similar skills, knowledge, passions, products, and services as you. So think about it: Why do you do what you do? Why do you offer what you offer? What makes you different from the competition? Why are you the best person to help your clients solve a problem, alleviate a frustration, meet a need, or make their lives better, easier, or more convenient? Why should clients choose you? As a great mentor of mine says, “Carve a niche so tight that only you fit in it!” When your business is a true reflection of you—your values, your voice, your mission, your passion, and your why—then your audience will feel an authentic connection to you and to your brand. They will connect to the principles, values, beliefs, and priorities that your brand was built upon and reflects, and they’ll eagerly and excitedly do business with you! 2. Share the Person Behind the Brand We’re constantly flooded with ads and promises from companies, which can start to blend together and look the same. Who is offering what? What’s the difference between products and services that are virtually indistinguishable? In this case, it’s YOU! Show the you behind your business. That’s right! Pull the curtain back on your life a bit. Let people journey alongside you in your day-to-day activities, as well as in your business endeavors. Letting people see the real you will help people connect with you on a deeper level, build relationships, and establish trust. On my own social media channels, I love to give my followers a peek into my personal life when I know it’s something relevant and relatable. Because I intentionally cultivate my social media accounts to be supportive and authentic spaces, I know my followers will connect when I share both my victories and my challenges. If you’ve done the work to clearly identify your why and reflect your authentic self in your brand, then it should be easy to find personal stories that your followers will connect with. While ads can be a key strategy to build your audience, your clients and potential clients will connect with your stories much more than just a product ad, and your stories are far more memorable. Just make sure that the glimpses you give in to your life align with your brand voice, brand values, and brand identity so that you remain congruent and your clients and potential clients can connect you back to your business! 3. Offer Free, High-Quality Content (That Works For Each Platform) Social media can help take your business to the next level and grow your client base — and it’s not just because it provides a chance to advertise your services and increase your name recognition. It’s also a chance to educate and inform and to show that you’re a valuable resource. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by offering free, high-quality content on social media. This is not only a fantastic way to generate new leads and interest in your business, but it also builds your credibility and authority and it allows you to add value from a place of service first (all of which increases your “know, like, and trust factors” exponentially!). Get creative with the free content you offer! You can offer tips and tricks, checklists, resource lists, customizable templates, and any other piece of content that provides value, is relevant to your brand and your business, and is something that your ideal clients would actually use and benefit from. As you know, each social media platform is different. Be sure to offer free content that is tailored to the platform on which it appears. After all, what you post on Twitter won’t be the same as what you post on Facebook or Instagram, and none of those will be the same as what you post on LinkedIn or Pinterest. Before tackling all the platforms, first identify where your target audience is. Meeting your ideal clients on their preferred platform means that clients are already waiting for you, which enables you to connect and build relationships that will ultimately increase your client conversions. Once you’ve identified the platform where your target audience is most prevalent, align your content and it’s delivery with the platform. LinkedIn allows you to deliver longer-form articles that establish credibility and authority and can position you as an industry leader. Pinterest remains important for your business because it allows simple, direct click-throughs to your websites and other social networks. Twitter lets you post announcements and engage in quick conversations. Facebook lets you post longer messages, so it’s great for delivering casual, but more detailed, content. Facebook and Instagram are both great platforms to amplify your content via images and videos. Facebook and Instagram Lives are powerful ways to deliver content that establishes authority and fosters connection. Facebook Live also offers a great opportunity to host webinars or discussions with other experts. Besides showcasing your expertise and putting a face (and voice) to the name, videos often net greater engagement, so using videos is a powerful tool! When providing content to your clients on your various social media platforms, remember to hone in on your target audience, ensure that you are offering content that is fitting to the corresponding platform, and continue to show your value by educating and informing. If you put these keys together, your clients will benefit and your “know, like, and trust factors” will continue to grow! And, if you’re new to managing social media for a business or it’s just not your strong suit, I go into even greater depth on this topic in my book, Unlocking Your Superpower: 8 Steps to Turn Your Existing Knowledge Into Income. My book comes with a free downloadable workbook with activities and worksheets to guide you through these strategies step by step! 4. Engage, Listen, and Respond When you post connective content, your followers will engage with you. Take the time to engage with them! Start conversations with them. Ask questions! Comment on their posts. People love to feel like they’re part of a community, and you're in a position to create one where everyone feels like a valuable member. Part of fostering a community where everyone feels valued is to ensure there are avenues where they can provide feedback. Listen to feedback from followers and clients alike and respond to their comments — whether they express concerns or praise, and whether they are expressed via email or social media. Everyone wants to feel heard and respected! And you will empower your clients and your business by showing that your clients’ thoughts and needs matter. 5. Be Enthusiastic People are drawn to passion and energy, so make sure your social media presence captures your enthusiasm for your product or service, your company, and your clients! I’ve already mentioned the importance of developing an authentic brand voice and brand identity, so ensure that your voice comes through in your content. Tone, voice, and word choice matter. What words and phrases do you regularly use that create an authentic connection with your audience? Do you greet your followers in posts or videos with, “Hi there,” or “Hello My Friends,” or “Hey Tribe!” Remember, your following wants your authentic you, and while enthusiasm looks different for everyone, as long as your excitement is genuine, it will be contagious. If there’s one thing to remember, it’s that while social media is always evolving, there are some things that will never change. People will always crave brands built by real people, solving real issues — people they can see and learn from. People will always want authenticity, enthusiasm, and practical, tangible, easy-to-implement tips and content that helps them grow. By following these steps, you will continue to build your following (and therefore your potential client pool!) in organic ways. Social media is a powerful tool to help you connect with your clients—the key is to be authentically you! Remember, I’m always here to help and provide guidance along the way. Visit my website to connect with me and learn more about upcoming workshops, events, and coaching opportunities. I’m honored to help thousands of people globally reach their goals while making a positive impact in the world. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn ! Ellie Shefi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ellie Shefi is the very definition of tenacious. Having overcome a lifetime of adversity, including abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, cancer, and a myriad of other health issues that have seen her fight for her life for over two decades, Ellie has mastered mindset, resiliency, and resourcefulness, and she has dedicated her life to the empowerment of others. Ellie is an attorney, entrepreneur, coach, business strategist, keynote speaker, and award-winning author; featured contributor to publications, podcasts, and television shows; teacher, trainer, philanthropist, and engaged community servant. Ellie’s mission is to impact lives. A master problem-solver and opportunity creator who's determined to change the world, Ellie is the go-to expert for practical, easy-to-implement, results-driven tools, strategies, and resources that equip and empower you to take control and create the authentic, abundant life of your dreams. She is the creator of You Are Not Your Scars™, a movement that provides resources to empower women; Unlocking Your Superpower™, a program that provides resources to empower entrepreneurs; Creating An Impervious Mind™, a program that provides resources to empower the mind; and Made 2 Change The World™, a movement that provides resources to empower the next generation. Ellie is also the creator of Amplify Your Story Now™, a program that provides resources to authors and aspiring authors, and Sisters Rising™, a book series that provides women with a platform to tell their stories, showcase their businesses, and raise awareness of their work. An award-winning author, Ellie's books include: Unlocking Your Superpower: 8 Steps to Turn Your Existing Knowledge Into Income; Sisters Rising: Stories of Remarkable Women Living Extraordinary Lives; and The Authorities: Powerful Wisdom from Leaders in the Field (which she co-wrote with Les Brown, Bob Proctor, Marci Shimoff, and Raymond Aaron). Ellie is also the author of the upcoming book SuccessOnomics, which she is co-writing with Jack Canfield.

Written by: LaToya Larkin, 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. A leader has a significant impact on the life of the people they lead and an extraordinary impact on the people who aspire to be like them. I consider a PACTful leader to be an amazing leader. What is PACTful leadership? P is for “Passion.” Where the person is passionate about their purpose and reason for doing what they do. A is for “accountability.” The willingness to hold their followers with the same standard of accountability as they hold themselves to. C is for “Caring.” There’s a deeply vested level of caring genuineness of how they care about the people they lead and taking things to the next level within the organization. Last, T is for “Tactful.” The way a leader carry themselves and deal with the adversity that will come. Will they take the graceful road and go high when someone says mean, low things about them, or will they distastefully respond and handle things in a petty manner? Four Characteristics of a Leader To be taken seriously in a leadership position, exemplify certain characteristics and qualities. Without the following four things being fulfilled, then you can believe that no one will follow someone who doesn’t make a difference, isn’t credible, that has no values of commitment, or doesn’t admire. 1. Making a Difference Leadership is accessible to anyone who has a passion and purpose of changing the way things are. The leader who has the most influence over your desire to stay or leave, your commitment to the organization’s vision and values, your ethical decisions and actions, your treatment of customers, your ability to do your job well, and the direction of your career, to name but a few outcomes, is your most immediate manager. 2. Credibility If you are not credible in what you know, commitments, actions. Then you would be known as someone that can’t be trusted. In leadership, there has to be a level of trust because no one will follow someone they can’t trust. 3. Values Drive Commitment You cannot fully commit to something that isn’t important to you-no one can. You can’t fully commit to something that doesn’t fit with whom you are and how you see yourself. To devote the time, expend the energy, and make the sacrifices necessary, know exactly what makes it worth doing. 4. Admiration The primary reasons for admiration in leaders in leadership positions are positive and fair. No matter what, engage and interact with your employees and make them feel important as they count regardless of your title and status. Get to know your employees on a personal, relatable level. When you walk past your employees, always smile, speak, or ask how their day is going. Versus walking right by your employees, lock eyes and not say one word. For more information, follow me on Instagram and visit my website ! Read more from LaToya ! LaToya Larkin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Chef LaToya Larkin, CCE, is the Program Coordinator of the Culinary Arts Program at Spring High School while being the first African American Female Chef in the district (Spring ISD) in Spring, TX. Her 20 years of expansive knowledge and culinary passion have led to lifetime achievement opportunities. She received her MBA (Nonprofit Management) from Springfield College, BS (Culinary Management) from The Art Institute of Atlanta, and AAS (Culinary Arts) from The Art Institute of Houston. Besides the education field, Chef Larkin operates three businesses that reflect her passions in life. Tamale product line “Black Girl Tamales” of signature fusion tamales, Not Enough Thyme Personal Chef Services, a personal chef/catering business, clothing line Divah Chef Apparel of shirts & aprons, and It’s Thyme 4a Change, is a non-profit organization catering to at-risk youth to mentor and guide while planting the positive seed to exemplify the vast opportunities of culinary. She’s devoted to inspiring the youth to be all they can be so that everyone can connect to eternal love, which is the reason for our existence, and reach their full potential. Sharing her wisdom, knowledge, life experiences, and triumphs commits her to making a difference in the lives of others. She’s happy to embrace the opportunity to take part in the uplifting and happiness of others.

Written by: Debra Abraham, 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, a client has just informed you that they will no longer require your services. How does that affect you mentally and emotionally? Let's analyze some of the reactions and emotions many of us, business owners go through when a client decides to 'break up' with our business. Hurt. This is probably the most common of emotions felt. That pang right in the middle of our chests as we think about the injustice of our clients turning their backs on us. This may at times evolve into anger, once again as we think about the injustice of it all, and as we question the audacity of them walking away from the top-notch services we have rendered. At times, some of us may walk down the road of self-doubt and start analyzing if we are good enough at our skills, questioning and re-questioning if there was something we could have done to have stopped our clients from terminating their business relationships with us. Here's the thing- we have got to accept that clients are going to come and go! It is a natural process and occurrence in a business. But how do we deal with it? Especially if the client who has decided to leave is a huge account and their absence will cause a noticeable dent in our bottom lines? Here are 5 Steps on How to Deal With Clients Saying Goodbye 1. Envision the Future Yes, I am asking you to become a clairvoyant. Look into the future and know that at some point in the future, there will come a time for you and your client to part ways. Don't get me wrong, I am not asking you to be a paranoid, overthinking business owner. All I am saying is, keep in mind that the client you just signed will one day move on. This realization and acceptance will help you manage your emotions when the time comes. Clients may leave for a myriad of reasons i.e, their goals have been achieved, their expectations have not been met, a change of direction in their lives or businesses, contrasting ideas, budget issues etc. However, your purpose in their lives is to fulfill their current objectives and hopefully also their future objectives if the opportunity is given to you. Otherwise, make sure you are on top of your game, provide the best quality of work, be proud of your contributions and let go. 2. Balance Ensure that you have a variety of account sizes. If you find that one client is contributing the biggest portion to your earnings, it is time to balance it out and find a mix of small and medium sized clients to equal or surpass the value of your biggest client. Having one client contribute the biggest percentage to your earnings is a risky situation and will cause you much anxiety. You will bend over backward and perform somersaults for that one client even when it is not fair to you and your business just to make them stay. I will put it plainly again, at some point, they will leave and imagine the mental, emotional and financial stress you will have to deal with. Always remember to assess your business income- will your business be able to survive and stay profitable without that huge account? Ensuring that you have enough accounts to keep your business in operation, even if your biggest client walks away, will alleviate the stress of the situation when it happens. 3. Don't Take it Personally Speak with the client to find out if there is anything they were unhappy with and see if you can remedy the situation. If the client still maintains the decision to move on, accept the decision, wish them well and move on. At times, clients may also be experiencing private struggles they may not want to fully disclose to you. As long as they are abiding by the exit policy stated in your business contract when you were hired, all is fair. Let them go. 4. Analyze and Improve It is always good practice to have a feedback form for clients to voice out areas in your business that needs improvement and even state areas of your business they are happy with. Once they have made the decision to exit your fold, check in with them and take note of their feedback so you can improve your business services. 5. Make Room for the New There is a verse in the Bible which is apt: "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins." Mark 2:22 As your business grows and evolves, you will have changes in direction, new product offerings and updated prices. These changes may not always resonate with your old customers. Some may understand and continue to journey with you, but some may decide to disembark. Bid them bon voyage graciously as they have been a part of your business journey and may decide to come on board once again in the future. Notice this- an open palm signifies not only the release of the old but also the readiness to receive the new. Have a meaningful Christmas and a wonderful 2021! Follow Rockstarzstudios on Facebook, Instagram and visit Debra's Instagram! Read more from Debra! Debra Abraham, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Debra Abraham, founder of Rockstarz Performing Arts Studios, has been coaching students of all ages to find their identities and be empowered through music. She leads a team of instructors who are skilled at providing music education in a nurturing & student-centered environment, allowing students to boldly express themselves. Currently working on building her online singing community, she believes in empowering people to pursue their dreams, free themselves of limiting beliefs and inspire others through their journey. She aspires to inspire small business owners in the areas of mindset & personal development, which will lead towards positive transformation of themselves and their businesses.