In 2025, the most-watched TED Talks moved far beyond motivation and self-optimization. Instead, they reflected a global curiosity around power, technology, trust, and what it means to stay human in an AI-driven world. Photo: Jason Redmond / TED, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 1. This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like By Carole Cadwalladr Cadwalladr exposes how democracy can be quietly undermined through data manipulation, targeted misinformation, and opaque algorithms. What made this talk resonate wasn’t fear, it was clarity. She helped audiences understand how digital systems shape public opinion without most people realizing it, turning abstract threats into something tangible and urgent. Watch Carole's TED talk here! 2. How to Spot Fake AI Photos By Hany Farid Farid delivers one of the year’s most practical talks, breaking down how AI-generated images deceive the human eye. He explains the subtle inconsistencies most people miss and why visual literacy is becoming a core skill in the age of misinformation. Watch Hany's TED talk here! 3. The Art of Reading Minds By Oz Pearlman Blending entertainment with psychology, Pearlman shows how body language, micro-signals, and human intuition reveal far more than words alone. The talk stood out for turning human behavior into something both fascinating and immediately relatable. Watch Oz's TED talk here! 4. The AI Arsenal That Could Stop World War III By Palmer Luckey A bold and polarizing talk that explores AI as a potential deterrent rather than a weapon. Luckey challenges traditional thinking around defense, raising complex questions about ethics, power, and technological escalation. Watch Palmer's TED talk here! 5. Meet NEO, Your Robot Butler in Training By Bernt Børnich One of the most-watched demonstrations of the year, this talk offers a real-world look at humanoid robots entering daily life. Practical, concrete, and surprisingly grounded, it made the future feel much closer than expected. Watch Bernt's TED talk here! 6. The Next Computer? Your Glasses By Shahram Izadi Izadi reframes how we think about computing itself, suggesting that spatial computing and smart glasses could replace screens altogether. The talk sparked conversations about how invisible technology may soon become our primary interface. Watch Shahram's TED talk here! 7. Why Climate Action Is Unstoppable and “Climate Realism” Is a Myth By Al Gore Gore counters skepticism with data, momentum, and real-world progress. Rather than focusing on fear, the talk emphasizes solutions already in motion and why climate action is accelerating, not stalling. Watch Al's TED talk here! 8. The Catastrophic Risks of AI and a Safer Path By Yoshua Bengio One of the most serious talks of the year. Bengio calmly outlines the long-term risks of unchecked AI development while proposing realistic, collaborative approaches to safety and governance. Watch Yoshuas TED talk here! 9. The Science of Making Fruits and Veggies Last Longer By Jenny Du A quietly powerful reminder that innovation doesn’t always look flashy. Du shows how small scientific breakthroughs can significantly reduce food waste and improve global sustainability systems. Watch Jenny's TED talk here! 10. How AI Will Answer Questions We Haven’t Thought to Ask By Aravind Srinivas This future-facing talk explores how AI may not just respond to human questions, but expand how we think, explore, and discover, reshaping curiosity itself. Watch Aravind's TED talk here! Takeaway: The most popular TED Talks of 2025 weren’t about inspiration. They were about awareness, who holds power, how technology shapes truth, and how humans stay grounded as systems accelerate.

Written by Katie Simons, PharmD, BCPS, CCHT, Transpersonal Hypnotherapist and Coach Dr. Katie Simons, PharmD, BCPS, CCHT, is a clinical pharmacist, transpersonal hypnotherapist, psychedelic medicine facilitator, and coach specializing in nervous system regulation, personal transformation, and holistic healing. She is the founder of The Holistic Apothec, a resource for coaching and education on healing through altered states of consciousness. You know those days when nothing technically goes wrong, but you still feel off? Your chest feels tight. You’re snappy with people around you. You feel like you need something, but you have no idea what it is. Everything feels like too much and not enough, all at once. Most of us chalk these moments up to mood swings, hormones, weather, or what we ate last night. It’s when these days start to stack up into a pattern that we can no longer brush them off as anomalies. We lose motivation and can’t seem to get things done. The people close to us begin to wonder if we’re okay. And we start to wonder, “What is wrong with me?” Well, technically, nothing is wrong with you. Technically, your body and nervous system are doing exactly what they were evolutionarily wired to do to keep you safe. It’s just that the “threat” is not always as obvious these days as a tiger stalking you. Sometimes the challenges to our nervous system are so subtle and pervasive that we live in a slightly dysregulated state for years, all the while never quite being able to put our finger on what’s wrong. To understand why this happens, we need to look under the hood at how the nervous system actually works, and why it’s so easily thrown off by things we don’t consciously recognize as stressful. The science of safety Here’s what most people don’t realize. Your body processes around 11 million bits of information every second, from light, sound, temperature, posture, internal organ function, and more. But your conscious brain can only process about 40 to 60 of those bits at a time. That means your body is aware of vastly more than your conscious mind. You might not be able to name why you feel off, but your body already knows something is misaligned. This is why you often feel something before you can think it. It’s also why you can’t logic your way back into calm. The part of your nervous system responsible for this background surveillance is the autonomic nervous system, or ANS. It’s divided into two key branches, the sympathetic, which governs fight or flight, and the parasympathetic, which supports rest and digest when regulated, and freeze when dysregulated. These systems are designed to help you respond to life’s demands and then return to a baseline of safety. When these systems are balanced, you exist within what’s known as the “window of tolerance,” or more intuitively, your “window of safety.” Within this window, you feel present, grounded, alert but calm, and capable of connecting with others. You can think clearly and respond skillfully. This is what nervous system regulation feels like. Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, helps explain these shifts. It describes a hierarchy of states your body moves through based on its perception of safety, regulation and connection, mobilization through fight or flight, and immobilization through freeze or shutdown. These responses happen fast, often without your conscious awareness. The takeaway? Dysregulation isn’t random. It’s your body’s intelligent response to subtle cues of challenge, even when your thinking mind can’t name them. And understanding this is the first step toward reclaiming your sense of internal stability. The everyday nervous system hijack So what does it really mean to be outside your window of safety? It means your body has detected something, even something small, that it perceives as challenging or threatening, and has shifted into a survival response. When you’re pushed outside that window, maybe by a harsh comment, a jarring noise, a packed schedule, or even subtle social cues, your system shifts into a stress response. You may go into sympathetic activation, such as anxiety, tension, or irritability, or parasympathetic collapse, such as numbness, fatigue, or withdrawal. It’s easy to think of triggers as being linked to trauma or dramatic events. But often, the things that throw us off are subtle. A tone of voice. A delayed text. Too much noise. A messy house. A smile that doesn’t quite feel real. These micro-signals can all cue the nervous system that something’s not quite right. And they tend to fall into five main categories, the hidden stressors that quietly challenge our sense of internal safety, physical safety, the unknown, incongruence, internalized expectations, and change. Understanding these helps make sense of why we feel “off” more often than we’d like, and shows us where we can start to shift to re-establish safety. Silent stressor 1: Lack of physical safety This one may seem less silent and more obvious, but you don’t need to be in immediate danger for your nervous system to feel unsafe. Sometimes, it’s your environment quietly sending cues that it’s not quite right. Loud or chaotic spaces, cluttered rooms, flickering lights, blaring notifications, or even tight clothing. These might not seem like a big deal, but your body can register them as micro-threats. They keep your system on alert, preventing it from fully settling. Other times, the lack of safety shows up in your posture, hunching your shoulders, crossing your arms, clenching your jaw. These are subtle signs that your body is guarding itself, preparing to react. Even how you breathe, shallow and high in the chest versus low and slow, signals to your system whether it’s time to stay ready or rest. This doesn’t mean you need a perfectly quiet life or minimalist home. But it does mean noticing which environments and conditions support your body in feeling more at ease. That might mean soft lighting, clean spaces, boundaries around noise, or clothing that lets you breathe. When your body feels safe physically, it can begin to loosen its grip, and that’s when regulation becomes possible. Silent stressor 2: The unknown Few things spike the nervous system quite like uncertainty. And since the only two certain parts of life are birth and death, we certainly have a challenge on our hands. We are wired to anticipate and prepare, so when we face the unknown, our nervous system often fills in the blanks with memories. Sometimes those memories are our own, but other times they’re inherited through stories, media, movies, or even generational history. The body pulls from any available data to predict what might happen, because predictability equals safety. This is why uncertainty, even about small things, can feel so triggering. Waiting for test results. Speaking up and not knowing how the other person feels about it yet. Moving to a new place. Being between jobs. These moments create an internal gap that feels vulnerable, and the nervous system desperately tries to close it. And when it can’t, the body may default to anxiety, controlling or compulsive behaviors, hypervigilance, or shutdown. It doesn’t matter if the unknown isn’t dangerous. What matters is that your system can’t predict it and therefore can’t feel fully safe. Ironically, the stories our minds weave to try to fill in the blanks are often worse than reality. Yes, catastrophizing is somehow more comfortable to our subconscious than the unknown. Learning to recognize when you’re in this state is powerful. It helps you pause and breathe before reacting, and reminds you that the discomfort isn’t always about what’s happening. Sometimes, it’s simply about what hasn’t happened yet. Silent stressor 3: Change Closely related to the unknown, change is another major disruptor to our sense of internal safety, even when it’s welcome or positive. New job? Moving to a better home? Starting a relationship that feels aligned? These are all good things, and they still challenge your nervous system. Why? Because change requires adaptation. And adaptation demands energy, focus, and a temporary loosening of your internal map of how things are. Even positive changes bring a period of unfamiliarity, where your system isn’t quite sure what to expect yet. That liminal space, the in-between of what was and what’s becoming, is often where dysregulation arises. This is especially true when multiple changes happen at once. Starting a new job while moving, changing routines while parenting, shifting roles in a relationship. Even if everything is moving in the right direction, your system may register it as too much, too fast. It’s important to name this so you don’t confuse resistance with misalignment. Just because change feels hard doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It might simply mean your body needs more time, space, and care as it integrates the new. Understanding that change, even good change, is a stressor helps you meet yourself with more patience and support instead of judgment. It’s not about avoiding change, but about learning to move through it with awareness, regulation tools, and grace. Silent stressor 4: Incongruence There’s a particular kind of stress that comes from sensing something is off, but being told everything is fine. Your friend smiles and says they’re doing great, but something in their voice tells you otherwise. You walk into a room and the conversation stops, but everyone insists “nothing’s going on.” You tell yourself you’re fine while your body tightens in protest. This is incongruence, when the signals don’t match the message. Humans are wired to detect inconsistencies in our environment. Our nervous systems are finely tuned to subtle shifts in tone, facial expression, and body language. When these cues don’t line up with the words being spoken, your system senses the falseness and doesn’t feel safe because it can’t accurately predict what’s happening. This mismatch between perception and information creates internal dissonance. And it doesn’t only come from others. We create incongruence within ourselves when we bypass or override our emotions. Telling yourself to “just get over it” when you’re still hurting, pretending to be happy when you’re actually exhausted. These inner contradictions confuse your system just as much as mixed messages from the outside world. Incongruence makes it hard for your body to settle because it keeps scanning for what’s real. It needs the environment, both external and internal, to make sense. When things don’t add up, it stays on alert, waiting for the other shoe to drop. One of the most regulating things we can do for our nervous systems is practice congruence, letting our outer expression match our inner experience. That might mean being more honest, more nuanced, or simply more willing to say, “I don’t know how I feel yet.” Because clarity, even messy clarity, helps your body exhale. Silent stressor 5: The “shoulds” and unmet expectations We all carry an invisible rulebook of how life is supposed to go. Who we should be by a certain age. How we should feel, act, parent, work, or look. These expectations, often inherited from family, culture, or social media, create an internal pressure cooker. When reality doesn’t match the ideal we’ve internalized, our nervous system feels that gap. It registers as a kind of failure or danger, even if nothing external has gone wrong. And because the danger is internal, it can be even more confusing and insidious. We get caught in loops of self-judgment and shame. We hustle to meet unrealistic standards. We perform for approval, then feel hollow inside. The nervous system, sensing this inner conflict, goes on high alert or checks out entirely. What’s worse, we often mistake these internalized “shoulds” for truth. They’re not. They’re adaptations, often ones we made in childhood to secure belonging or love. But continuing to live by them as adults keeps us disconnected from our actual needs, desires, and rhythms. The antidote is self-inquiry and self-permission. To question the “shoulds,” to trace where they came from, and to ask, do I still choose this? Is this true for me now? Giving yourself permission to rewrite those scripts, to want what you want and to need what you need, is one of the most regulating and liberating things you can do. When your inner world becomes a place of honesty and acceptance, your nervous system can finally stop bracing. You return to yourself, not as you should be, but as you are. Where we go when we’re chronically stressed When the nervous system remains in a state of dysregulation for too long, the survival responses that were designed to be temporary start becoming chronic. Instead of mobilizing for a short burst of energy and returning to rest, your system stays stuck in high alert or collapse. This isn’t just a feeling, it’s physiological. Prolonged sympathetic activation keeps cortisol and adrenaline pumping, which wears down your body over time. You might feel chronically anxious, be reactive and irritable, suffer from insomnia, have panic attacks, or even experience physical symptoms like muscle tightness and pain or heart palpitations. On the flip side, if your system tips into parasympathetic shutdown, you may feel emotionally flat, depressed, disconnected, unmotivated, dissociated, overwhelmed, or like you’re watching life from a distance, unable to engage. In both states, it’s difficult to be fully present. Your attention narrows, your breath shallows, and your ability to think clearly or connect meaningfully becomes compromised. This affects everything from your work to your relationships to your sense of purpose. The longer this dysregulation continues, the more "normal" it starts to feel. People often adapt to these states without realizing it, until something breaks down. The body speaks louder through chronic tension, digestive issues, migraines, insomnia, mental health issues, or burnout. Recognizing these patterns is crucial. Not because you need to fix them all at once, but because awareness offers choice. And with choice, you can begin to relate to your nervous system with more clarity, compassion, and skill. How to return to nervous system regulation By now, I'm sure you have recognized yourself in at least one, if not multiple, of these explanations. So how does one unwind these patterns and return to a regulated state that we all crave? Here are some simple steps: Step 1: Awareness – Identify and acknowledge The first and most crucial step to shifting your nervous system state is awareness. Start by naming which challenge is present. Is it the unknown? A change? A sense of incongruence or unmet expectations? Awareness brings the unconscious to the surface and gives you the power to respond rather than react. Awareness doesn’t have to be profound. It might sound like, "I’m feeling anxious because I don’t know how this situation will play out." Or, "I’m exhausted and irritable because I haven’t felt physically safe all day." Just naming the stressor begins to lower the intensity of its grip. Step 2: Expression – Let the body complete the cycle Once you’ve named what’s happening, your body needs a way to complete the stress response. Animals do this instinctively. After a threat passes, they shake, tremble, yawn, or stretch to release energy. Humans often suppress this natural release, which keeps stress locked in the system. Letting yourself cry, sigh, shake, or move can be powerful. You don’t have to intellectualize it, just allow the body to do what it’s built to do. This might mean: Letting tears come when they arise Dancing or shaking out your limbs Taking a brisk walk to discharge energy Screaming into a pillow (yes, really) Doing some breathwork Emotion is energy in motion. Giving it an outlet, in a safe, intentional way, allows your system to reset. Step 3: Shift – Tools for regulation Once expression has moved some of the stress out, you can support your return to safety and regulation with intentional tools. Think of these like bridges, they help you cross back into your window of safety: Boundaries: Knowing where you end, and others begin, then using that information to set limits around what you allow into your space, physically, emotionally, or energetically, protects your system from unnecessary input. Meditation: Quieting the mind gives your body space to be heard. Even a few minutes of stillness can help recalibrate your system. Breathwork: Conscious breathing, especially slow, deep belly breaths, directly signals your nervous system that it’s safe to relax. Hypnotherapy: For deeper or recurring patterns, exploring subconscious belief systems can reveal what’s keeping you in a dysregulated loop. Gratitude practice: Shifting attention to what’s already safe and abundant right now roots your awareness in the present, counterbalancing threat perception. Surrendering expectations: Letting go of how things should go and focusing on aligned effort rather than control can relieve immense internal pressure. Each of these tools invites your system back into coherence. They don’t force regulation, they allow it. They remind your body of what safety feels like and give it permission to return there. These tools also expand our window of safety when we use them as practices. It’s like going to the nervous system gym, the more we practice awareness, expression, and these conscious lifestyle tools, the more capacity and flexibility our nervous system builds. You don’t need to do all of these every day. Pick what resonates. Trust your body’s feedback. With consistency and care, these small choices compound, and over time, they rewire your baseline for safety. Your body is innately intelligent You were never meant to be on high alert all the time. Your body is wired for safety, regulation, and connection. It just needs the right conditions. When you begin to notice the subtle stressors, name what’s happening, and support your system with small, consistent choices, you build a relationship of trust with your body. You move from reacting to responding. From bracing to breathing. From coping to choosing. From wondering "what's wrong with me" to feeling free and sovereign. This isn't about fixing yourself. It’s about understanding yourself. Because once you understand how your system works, you stop fighting it and start working with it. And that’s when everything begins to change. If you’re ready to explore this work more deeply, or need support identifying and unwinding your own hidden stress patterns, I invite you to book a free Strategy Call.  Together, we’ll explore where you’re stuck, what your nervous system is really asking for, and how to move forward with greater alignment and ease. Follow me on Instagram , and visit my LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Katie Simons Katie Simons, PharmD, BCPS, CCHT , Transpersonal Hypnotherapist and Coach Dr. Katie Simons, PharmD, BCPS, CCHT, is the founder of The Holistic Apothec, a platform for coaching, education, and healing transformation through altered states of consciousness. A clinical pharmacist turned transpersonal hypnotherapist, psychedelic medicine facilitator, and coach, she blends neuroscience, somatic practices, trance techniques, and spiritual wisdom to guide clients in creating lasting change. Drawing on a decade in academic medicine and years in holistic healing, Katie’s programs focus on nervous system regulation, trauma recovery, overcoming limiting beliefs, and medication tapering. Her work bridges science and mysticism, offering a grounded, accessible path to deep healing, authentic living, and personal freedom.

Written by Britt-Mari Sykes, Career Counsellor Britt-Mari Sykes, Ph.D., CDP, is a career counsellor and founder of CANVAS Career Counselling, working remotely with clients across Canada. Burnout affects both employees and leaders across all sectors of the workforce, at different ages and stages of their careers, and the numbers seem only to be increasing with each passing year. Burnout remains a hot topic, and as a Career Counsellor, I hear about clients' experiences with burnout regularly. Framing each of these experiences is a pervasive “burnout narrative” that centres on the individual and on adaptive strategies for coping with, managing, or recovering from it. This narrative ignores broader systemic factors that contribute to burnout, as well as workplace environments, policies, and attitudes, all of which can contribute to burnout. Without addressing the multiple contexts that underlie burnout, we will continue to see the numbers rise. It bears repeating that burnout requires a much broader collaborative approach. The misplaced burden of responsibility Too often, the burden and responsibility for burnout are disproportionately placed on the individual employee, significantly undermining their confidence, self-perception as a professional, and their assessment of their skills, abilities, and work ethic. This also reinforces the perception that burnout can and should be “fixed” by the individual through lifestyle changes, a mindset shift, a strategy, or better boundary-setting and management. Of course, any of these approaches, used singly or in combination, can be useful. However, the person experiencing burnout still faces contextual factors, especially an unchanging work environment, that do nothing to “fix” burnout. On the contrary, they can exacerbate it. The intersectionality of burnout What does burnout sound like? Consider the following six examples: “I took some time off due to burnout. The time off certainly improved my well-being and helped me reconnect with other important areas of my life. But I am returning to the same work environment and the same entrenched issues. Even if I return with a different attitude, I still face the same unchanging issues every day. I am worried I will slide back into burnout.” “I was thriving in my last role. I got promoted to a role I am not suited for. Being told I need to challenge myself or step out of my comfort zone is so shallow and misplaced. I’ve gone from thriving to struggling every day.” “The responsibilities in my current role are constantly changing with little warning, support, guidance, or time for questions. I am floundering and never feel I am on top of what needs to be done every day.” “I love what I do, but I feel I can’t bring my full self to work. It’s emotionally exhausting not feeling authentic day in and day out.” “I am exhausted and struggling to manage my responsibilities at work. Is anyone else going through this? I don’t feel I can talk openly or confidentially about this with any of my colleagues.” “I value the quality of our work, but it seems that those around me don't share the same commitment. This difference in professional values wears me down daily.” What did you notice in each of these examples? Each experience is compounded by unchanging and unresolved workplace issues, mismatched roles and responsibilities, and a lack of guidance and clarity. This speaks to poor communication and management, an environment that does not cultivate trust, shared values, and personal safety. Ignoring burnout leaves work environments vulnerable to it Work environments that ignore the reality of burnout or its systemic causes, or that classify addressing burnout as time-consuming and expensive, are less likely to review and evaluate themselves, their workplace policies, the environment they have created, and how employees experience both the workplace and their work. Work environments that ignore the impact a particular culture has on employee experiences and on how employees react to, engage with, and commit to these environments are laying the foundations for burnout. This foundation also contributes to lower productivity and retention, higher employee disengagement and isolation, and unhealthy and disrespectful dynamics among leaders and employees, as well as within employee teams. Left unaddressed or ignored, burnout's manifestations in the workplace do, in fact, become expensive and time-consuming. 10 common workplace contributors to burnout The internal culture of a workplace, discriminatory, disrespectful, and/or toxic, creates sustained, unhealthy levels of mental, emotional, and physical stress among employees. This is a recipe for maintaining burnout in the workplace, not resolving it. Inadequate and/or unsafe training or supervision. A consistent lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities. Mismatching employee skills and experiences with roles leaves them floundering, guessing, and feeling lost day to day in their tasks and responsibilities. Roles and responsibilities that leave little room for encouraging and accommodating professional growth and development, leaving employees feeling unfulfilled and bored in their careers. Unrealistically high or overly low expectations are placed on employees without guidance or clarity about those expectations. The workload on employees, long hours, and little or no flexibility for employees to address personal health, child-care, or eldercare issues. Few, if any, guidelines or supervision for assessing collegial and team dynamics, and no established mechanisms to implement changes. Poor, unassessed management and leadership practices, irregular feedback, sloppy agendas, unclear directives, or even the sanctioning of employees who ask questions. Leaders and managers who neglect or ignore their own burnout send a message that burnout won't be met with understanding, support, or collaborative change. Each of these examples hinders the growth and intentional cultivation of a work culture rooted in an awareness of burnout and mutual support for those experiencing it. 7 shifts work environments can make Recognize and acknowledge the reality of burnout. Burnout exists across professions, workforces, workplaces, and career stages. Recognize and acknowledge that leaders and managers experience burnout. Burnout isn’t limited to employees. Recognize and acknowledge that burnout is multi-contextual and therefore requires a creative, supportive, and multi-faceted response. Be open to assessing and questioning the work environment. What may be contributing to burnout among employees, or, conversely, what supports and resources are in place that may need revising? Work collaboratively with employees. Work towards developing an integrated approach to burnout that combines positive workplace policies, supports, and resources with the needs of employees experiencing burnout. Integrative, collaborative, and creative approaches that focus on the dignity of individual employees build healthier, more vibrant workplaces with lower burnout rates and higher employee satisfaction and retention. With open acknowledgement, the regular monitoring and assessment of all facets of the workplace becomes not only possible but also a cultural value. They are considered an integral part of business practice, not a waste of time and resources. It bears repeating, until attitudes shift and a commitment is made toward collective solutions, rates of burnout will continue to rise. Britt-Mari Sykes, PhD, CDP, is a Career Counsellor and Consultant. Contact here  to start a conversation about burnout. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Britt-Mari Sykes Britt-Mari Sykes, Career Counsellor Britt-Mari Sykes, Ph.D., is a Career Counsellor and founder of CANVAS Career Counselling, working remotely with clients across Canada. Britt-Mari offers a reflective and strategic process to clients, one that integrates their lived experiences, values, and aspirations. This experiential approach to career counselling helps clients gain greater clarity and perspective and design practical steps towards a more meaningful relationship with work and career.

Written by Dilan Abeya, Mindset & Life Coach Dilan Abeya is the founder of a company that builds Bespoke AI Persona's, having previously been an Investment Banker and model-based in the UK. Abeya also has a mentoring company that uses an AI version of himself, "AI DILAN," on its platform. Duccio Calamai does not talk about vision boards or brand energy. He talks about Tuesday mornings. About what happens when the lights are already on, the staff are halfway through their shift, and nobody is posting on Instagram. That alone tells you almost everything. Born in Florence, a city that understands proportion, craft, and patience, Calamai’s professional education came far from museums and marble. It came in Bali, inside one of the island’s largest nightlife venues, where nothing works unless everything works: staffing, security, supplier logistics, crowd flow, compliance. All of it live. All of it unforgiving. “Atmosphere,” he learned early, “is not a vibe. It’s an outcome.” Nightlife is often misunderstood as chaos dressed up as glamour. In reality, it is operations at full volume. You don’t get to miss details. You don’t get to fix things tomorrow. Systems either hold, or they don’t. And when they don’t, the consequences are immediate. What’s interesting about Calamai is not that he left nightlife, but why. He didn’t burn out. He refined. Where others chase intensity, he began paying attention to endurance: how long a system could last, how consistently it could perform, and how quietly it could support people without demanding attention. That curiosity carried him, almost inevitably, into wellness. Today, Calamai operates in a sector that loves aesthetics but quietly collapses under weak foundations: gyms that open strong and fade fast; wellness spaces that look immaculate but bleed through staff turnover, inconsistent service, and operational fatigue. He approaches all of it with the same lens he honed after midnight in Bali: calm is engineered. “A gym doesn’t succeed on opening week,” he says. “It succeeds on a Tuesday morning six months later.” Across Southeast Asia, Bali, Bangkok, Singapore, and now Vietnam, Calamai works behind the scenes of gyms and wellness spaces, designing the parts nobody photographs: staffing structures, cleaning schedules, onboarding flows, peak-hour member movement, retention systems, daily performance metrics that reward consistency rather than hype. Wellness, in his view, is not soft. It is exacting. People notice when things slip: a late opening, a dirty changing room, a front desk that doesn’t remember your name. Expectations are higher precisely because the promise is better living. There is nowhere to hide. Southeast Asia adds another layer of complexity. Labour markets shift by country. Cultural norms reshape service expectations. Regulatory environments refuse to be standardized. Calamai is blunt about it: you cannot import a Western gym model and expect it to survive intact. “Operations have to be built for the reality on the ground,” he says, “not the idea of it.” What emerges from his work is not expansion for its own sake, but discipline: fewer locations, better run; less noise, more performance. He predicts consolidation, not explosion, a maturity phase where wellness finally grows up and starts behaving like a serious industry. Technology will help, he admits, membership systems, performance tracking, data visibility, but it won’t replace judgment, presence, or leadership that understands how systems behave under pressure. Calamai doesn’t romanticize any of this. His work is quiet. Almost invisible. And that may be the point. In nightlife, energy is consumed. In wellness, it is conserved. Both rely on systems. The difference is whether you burn them fast, or build them to last. In a sector obsessed with how things look, Duccio Calamai has made a career out of how things hold. And in an industry built on well-being, that kind of durability may turn out to be the rarest luxury of all. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from  Dilan Abeya Dilan Abeya, Mindset & Life Coach Dilan Abeya is the founder of a company that builds Bespoke AI Persona's, having previously been an investment banker and model-based in the UK. Abeya is also the founder of a mentoring company that uses an AI version of himself, "AI DILAN," on its platform. He was born in London with Sri Lankan heritage. He did his schooling at the University of Leeds, gaining a joint honours degree in Japanese and Economics. Abeya has been credited as the UK's top model and financial personality by Entrepreneur and Forbes. He’s an ex-JPM, having started his career at Merrill Lynch as a trader, working in London and New York.

Written by Millah, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn Millah Barbosa, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn, is a wellness innovator dedicated to elevating consciousness through sound and frequency. She bridges science and spirituality to help people and organizations achieve clarity, balance, and transformation. Every year begins the same way. A moment where we look at our lives and feel the desire to live differently, more present, more aligned, more whole. Every December, millions of us sit down with a notebook (or a hopeful wish in our minds) and declare that this will be the year. The year we finally break old habits, build new ones, get healthier, meditate every day, launch that dream, or become the best version of ourselves. We call these desires resolutions, but most of the time they are not resolutions at all. They are longings. And longings don’t respond well to pressure. By February, nearly 80% of New Year’s resolutions dissolve into guilt, frustration, and self-judgment. By February, many people feel discouraged because the way we are taught to change rarely honors how human beings actually evolve.   The 3 reasons most resolutions fail Most resolutions fail for three core reasons:   We set goals based on who we wish we were, not who we are becoming: We create unrealistic expectations overnight: go from zero to perfect in 24 hours. But the brain does not transform on command. It transforms through repetition. We rely on willpower instead of wiring: Willpower is a temporary state. Without understanding how your brain forms habits, you end up fighting against your biology. We focus on outcomes, not identity: “I want to lose weight.” “I want to meditate every day.” “I want to stop overthinking.” These are outcomes. Resolutions built on outcomes crumble. Habits built on identity, who you decide to become, are sustainable. Most resolutions fail because they are created from the mind alone. They are ideas about who we should become, rather than listening to who we are already becoming. When we decide to change by ignoring our nervous system, our emotional rhythms, our seasons of energy and rest, the body quietly resists, not out of sabotage but out of protection. The brain does not open to change when it feels threatened. It opens when it feels safe.   Why your brain resists change and how to rewire it Your brain is not a fixed machine. It’s a living, evolving organ constantly forming new neural pathways. Every thought, emotion, and repeated action strengthens a pattern. Every new intention creates a possibility. Motivation is an emotional spark, not a stable ground. Some days it is there, some days it is not. Life doesn’t pause because January began. Work continues. Emotions arise. Fatigue visits. And when motivation fades, the old habit of self-judgment steps in. To create real change in the new year, you must work with your brain, not against it.   How neuroplasticity actually creates lasting change Small steps create strong pathways. Tiny, repetitive actions build lasting habits. Meditating for 3 minutes daily creates a stronger neural circuit than meditating for 30 minutes once a week. Consistency beats intensity. The brain rewires through frequency. Doing a habit five days in a row matters more than doing it perfectly. What truly creates change is not doing more, but doing less, more often. Small actions, repeated gently, signal safety to the brain. They say, we are not in danger, we are learning. And the brain listens. Neuroplasticity is not activated by intensity; it is activated by frequency. By rhythm. By return.   Why sensory-based practices accelerate transformation Your brain doesn't change through logic alone; it changes through experience. And the most powerful experiences are sensory. When you combine sound, breath, visualization, and frequencies, you activate multiple neural networks at once, making it easier for the brain to create and strengthen new pathways. Frequencies shift your brain into states where change is easier. Specific frequencies can guide your brain into specific states, each associated with different mental functions: relaxation, creativity, emotional release, subconscious learning, heightened focus, insight, and problem solving. When your brain enters these states, it becomes more plastic, more receptive to new patterns, behaviors, and beliefs. Sound and frequencies lower the “mental noise.” New habits fail when your mind is overwhelmed by stress, overthinking, or emotional tension. Frequencies regulate the nervous system, lowering cortisol and calming the amygdala. A calm brain learns faster. A regulated nervous system adopts habits more easily.   Visualization becomes more effective when the brain is in a receptive state. When paired with frequencies, visualization activates both the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain. The brain begins rehearsing the new habit as if it’s already real, strengthening the neural pathway before the behavior even happens. This is why athletes and peak performers use mental rehearsal with sound stimulation, the brain doesn’t differentiate between imagined practice and physical practice. Repetition plus sensory immersion equals faster rewiring. The more senses involved in a ritual, the stronger and faster the neural networks form.   Regulation before transformation Change is emotional. We don’t abandon habits because we are lazy. We abandon them because, underneath, something feels unsafe, overwhelming, or unsupported. When the inner environment is noisy, when stress hormones are high, and the mind is racing, the brain prioritizes survival, not growth. This is where regulation becomes essential.   Sound, breath, and frequency work not because they “fix” you, but because they bring you back into coherence. They quiet the excess mental noise. They soften the alert systems. They create a state where the brain becomes receptive again, where learning, imagination, and new identity can gently take root. When the nervous system is calm, consistency stops feeling like effort. It becomes a natural extension of self-care.   Why tools like YouTuneIn make this process easier Platforms that integrate binaural beats, 8D sound, affirmations, and guided practices create the ideal neural environment for transformation. They help your brain: Enter the right brainwave states Reduce resistance and stress Reinforce new beliefs Anchor new behavioral patterns Accelerate the neuroplasticity process   Your brain operates through electrical activity called brainwaves. These waves shift throughout the day depending on what you’re doing, feeling, or thinking. Each frequency corresponds to a different mental and emotional state. In the app, you can find 7 different frequencies for different purposes. But for this purpose, we should focus on Theta and Delta states, the brain’s critical filter quiets. This allows affirmations to bypass conscious resistance and directly influence the subconscious, where habits, self-image, and emotional patterns are formed. So with customizable routines, daily reminders, and a full library of binaural frequencies, you can build a habit system that adapts to your lifestyle and keeps your transformation consistent and sustainable.   Let’s plan a different way to meet the new year Instead of writing resolutions, I invite you to try something softer and far more powerful! Set aside ten quiet minutes. No phone. No pressure. Just presence. Begin by placing one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Let your breath slow down and allow yourself to arrive. Then ask yourself a different question than usual. “What kind of relationship do I want to have with myself this year?” Choose one small action, something so realistic that it feels almost too easy. Instead of attaching this action to a future outcome, attach it to an identity. “I am someone who pauses and listens to myself.” “I am someone who returns even when I drift.” Finally, make one quiet agreement with yourself, “I will practice this action with kindness, not perfection.” The new you is not created on January 1st The version you are becoming was not created on January 1st. It is created quietly, in ordinary moments, repeated with care. One breath. One pause. One choice to return to yourself. This is how identity shifts. This is how habits last. This is how life changes. Not through pressure. Through presence. Watch this video with Millah  about this article. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Millah Millah, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn Millah Barbosa is the Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn, a wellness innovation company pioneering advanced sound and frequency solutions for emotional balance, clarity, and resilience. With two decades of experience as a creative entrepreneur and coach, she bridges science and spirituality to help people and organizations align with their highest potential. Her work empowers leaders, teams, and individuals to live with greater purpose and consciousness.

Mark Mathia is a renowned business strategist, executive coach, and profit acceleration expert who has spent over 30 years building, scaling, and leading high-performing businesses across industries, with a particular depth in healthcare and entrepreneurship. A Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC), and Certified Positive Psychology Coach, Mark combines brain science, proven strategies, and energy alignment to help driven owners and executives break through plateaus and achieve sustainable dominance. Through his proprietary CatalX PSE™ framework, fusing Psychology, Strategy, and Energy, he empowers clients to uncover hidden revenue (often $100K to $1M+), amplify their unique strengths, eliminate burnout, and create systems that deliver what he calls Triple Margin Freedom: dramatically higher profits, reclaimed personal time, and thriving relationships without constant grind. His clients, ranging from CEOs of growing enterprises to visionary founders, consistently report transformative results, doubling revenues, restoring passion for their work, and building legacies that extend far beyond the balance sheet. Mark is also the host of the Essentially You podcast, author of practical guides to profitability, and a sought-after speaker who believes true success isn't just about working harder, it's about leading smarter, living fuller, and leaving a meaningful impact. Mark Mathia, Chief Catalyst Officer & Business Strategist Who is Mark Mathia? Introduce yourself, your interests, what you love outside work, and something unique about you. “I’ve summited mountains both literally and figuratively.” After three decades in boardrooms and corner offices, scaling businesses, leading teams, and making high-stakes decisions that impacted hundreds, I know what it takes to win at the top. But outside work, I'm a devoted husband and father who draws deep joy from my faith, family adventures like hiking the Rockies, and mentoring the next generation. Something unique? I've summited mountains both literally and figuratively, turning startup struggles into profitable exits. That's why I founded Mark Mathia Coaching & Consulting, LLC, as a Business Strategist and Coach. My mission: Help ambitious leaders refuse success without soul, unlocking Triple Margin Freedom, skyrocketing profits for bold impact, reclaimed time to live fully, and high-trust relationships that fuel partnerships. Blending my Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach expertise, Integrative Enneagram practice, Positive Psychology coaching, and John Maxwell Team insights with my proprietary CatalX™ formula (Psychology × Strategy × Energy), we rewire mindsets via neuroscience, activate hidden revenue, and shift grind to grace. The result? Effortless domination, burnout-proof cultures, and legacies blending excellence and joy. What pivotal moment in your career inspired you to shift from corporate success to empowering others through strengths-based coaching? “Watching leaders transform was electric.” Like many of my clients, I too hit peak success – skyrocketing revenue, explosive growth, industry accolades, but inside, I was grinding to exhaustion, teetering on collapse. Like most entrepreneurs, I’ve also led through the economic downturns. I like to say I’m an entrepreneur at heart and have the scars to prove it. Given the extreme differences between success and failure, I found that traditional systems that fixated on "fixing" weaknesses felt backward, like building on quicksand. During the peak success moments focusing on weaknesses killed momentum, and during the hard times, the wrong focus guaranteed failure.  Then, Gallup's strengths research and Marcus Buckingham's insights flipped everything: Potential explodes by amplifying natural wiring, not patching flaws. Watching leaders transform, ditching deficits, boosting engagement, igniting productivity and joy, was electric. That fire led to my CatalX PSE™ framework. This shift reclaimed 20 hours a week for me personally, now, I help clients do the same. How do you help business owners and leaders stop “grinding” and start dominating with more ease? “The secret isn’t harder work, it’s smarter, intentional systems built around natural gifts.” My own grind-to-thriving journey forged this path. Via CatalX PSE™, Psychology × Strategy × Energy, we uncover subconscious blocks, align vision with high-leverage systems, and optimize energy. Clients double revenues while cutting hours, building aligned teams that thrive. Can you explain your CatalX PSE™ formula and how it accelerates profit and performance? “Think of it as a three-legged stool: Remove one, everything topples.” Psychology (80% of our Success): Rewire mindsets with CliftonStrengths®, Enneagram iEQ9, NLP. Builds bold confidence, ends self-sabotage. Strategy: Proprietary playbooks uncover $100K-$1M+ revenue via high-impact moves. Energy: Seals leaks, fuels long-term wins. Multiplicatively, it accelerates 2-3x margins. Gallup shows that strengths-based teams hit 17% higher productivity. In today's fast-paced world, what hidden challenges do leaders overlook, and how does your CatalX PSE™ framework turn them into opportunities? The most overlooked challenge isn't external, it's the subtle, internal ceiling many leaders unknowingly place on their own success, fulfillment, and impact. Deep down, we each carry an invisible threshold for how much abundance, joy, and sustained high performance we believe we truly deserve. When things start going exceptionally well, revenues climbing, teams thriving, personal life aligning, we often unconsciously create drama, overcomplicate decisions, or drift into exhaustion to pull ourselves back to a "safer," more familiar level. This self-imposed limit fuels subconscious blocks, an exhausting fixation on fixing perceived weaknesses, and chronic misalignment, manifesting as burnout and disengagement (Gallup reports only 15% of employees worldwide are truly engaged). CatalX PSE™ transforms these hidden barriers into profound opportunities by systematically dismantling that inner ceiling. Through Psychology, we uncover and release those limiting thresholds, expanding your capacity to embrace ever-greater levels of success without self-sabotage. Strategy redirects energy away from weakness-chasing toward amplifying your unique strengths and operating in your zone of true genius, the activities where your natural gifts ignite effortless flow, creativity, and fulfillment. Energy then aligns your team and culture around this elevated state, creating momentum that feels abundant rather than forced. The outcome? Leaders reclaim vast amounts of time and vitality, accelerate profits sustainably, and build resilient, high-engagement cultures where everyone thrives. I've guided clients to double revenues and retention rates within 12 months, not through grinding harder, but by stepping fully into this expanded space where success compounds naturally and joyfully. What makes strengths-based coaching and positive psychology different from traditional business coaching? “Traditional coaching patches leaks in a sinking ship. Strengths-based amplifies gifts, unlocking exponential potential.” It’s asset-oriented, neuroscience-grounded, and holistic, delivering Triple Margin Freedom beyond siloed tactics. How does integrating faith and family values into your coaching help clients achieve holistic success? “It’s success with soul, honoring the whole person.” Faith and family are core anchors in my own life, and I bring that perspective into my coaching as a foundation for living and leading with integrity. Importantly, my personal faith never imposes on a client’s beliefs, coaching is always respectful of whatever spiritual or values framework they hold (or don’t hold). Instead, we gently explore what they  truly believe, why it matters to them, and how clearly their daily actions align with those values. When leaders live in alignment, when their choices consistently reflect their deepest values, they experience flow, sustained energy, abundance, and success that feels meaningful and lasting. When actions drift outside those values, it often leads to burnout, moral compromise, leadership fatigue, and eventual breakdowns. Through tools like the Enneagram and strengths assessments, we clarify those core values, build healthy boundaries, reclaim priority time for family and personal renewal, and create leadership habits rooted in integrity. One client, for example, reclaimed his Sundays to be fully present with his kids, and in the same season, his revenues soared. The result is holistic success: thriving professionally without sacrificing the relationships and inner peace that make it all worthwhile.  What's one underrated tool in your arsenal that consistently delivers 'aha' moments for clients? The Profit Elevation Audit: The hidden revenue revealer most leaders never see coming. While many coaches focus exclusively on mindset, values, and communication, all important elements of emotional intelligence (EQ), I’ve discovered the profound truth that separates struggling businesses from unstoppable ones: profit is the master domino. When profit accelerates, it knocks over every other obstacle, hiring becomes effortless, cash flow stress vanishes, team engagement soars, innovation flows freely, and personal freedom expands dramatically. That’s why profit acceleration and business mastery sit at the absolute core of everything I do at MarkMathiaCoaching.com . We don’t just elevate EQ, we sharply raise business IQ, strategic execution, revenue optimization, and operational intelligence, creating the complete intelligence required for sustainable, high-velocity growth and what I call Triple Margin Freedom: dramatically higher profits, reclaimed personal time, and a thriving marriage and family life. The underrated tool that consistently triggers the biggest “aha” moments is my proprietary Profit Elevation Audit, a rapid, deep-dive diagnostic that uncovers hidden revenue, untapped margins, and overlooked opportunities already sitting inside the business. When paired with the CatalX PSE™ framework, these discoveries become immediate, high-leverage action plans that transform insight into cash flow fast. One founder walked in feeling stuck at seven figures with constant overwhelm. The audit revealed $500K in annual revenue hiding in pricing, process, and positioning gaps he couldn’t see. Within months of implementing the fixes, that money was in the bank, without adding headcount or working longer hours. It’s not just analysis, it’s revelation that directly translates into bigger profits, greater freedom, and the kind of business mastery most leaders only dream about. Can you share a real success story where your work changed a business’s results or a leader’s life? “I actually like my team now, and they love working here.” A CEO was forced into micromanaging amid plateaued revenue and regulatory risks. We redesigned her role around her Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking strengths. In 12 months: revenues and donations improved, engagement soared up 40%, and she cut her hours down to 45 per week. Triple Margin Freedom in action! How do you help clients grow profit, reclaim time, and build teams that run without burnout? “Your organization will never outpace your current level of thinking.” We uncover talents via Enneagram and CliftonStrengths®, then build “strengths partnerships.” Result: Profit grows, time is reclaimed, burnout becomes rare, clients report 2-3x margins, and renewed vitality. But we don’t stop at that, we must raise our IQ as well as our EQ, and my proprietary coaching offers educational tracks that help business owners expand their knowledge to actually grow their business. For this, I offer courses in finance, a virtual MBA, and you get full support all along the journey. Your organization will never outpace your current level of thinking. Expand your knowledge the business always follows. What emerging trends in leadership do you see, and how does your coaching prepare clients for them? “Leading well in a world with smart computers, remote teams, and people who want work to feel meaningful.” Right now, three big changes are happening in how leaders do their jobs: Smart computers (AI) are helping with work, like doing boring tasks fast or giving new ideas. Good leaders use AI to make their teams stronger, not to replace people. They keep things kind, fair, and human. Teams working from home or different places is now normal. Leaders have to be really good at making everyone feel connected, even when they’re not in the same room. They care more about what gets done than who’s sitting at a desk. People want work to matter. Workers are tired and stressed. They want bosses who care about them, give them purpose, and help them avoid burning out. Great leaders build teams where people feel valued and happy. My coaching helps leaders get ready for all of this. Using my CatalX PSE™ method, we work on three things: Mind – Helping leaders stay calm and flexible when things change fast. Plan – Teaching them how to use AI and new tools the smart way, so they can grow their business while focusing on what they’re best at. Energy – Keeping leaders and their teams strong and positive, even when life is busy. We build workplaces where people feel connected and excited about their work. The goal? Leaders end up ready for the future. They can use new technology, lead teams that aren’t always together, and create places where people love working, and the business does really well too. My clients say they don’t just feel ready, they feel excited to lead in this new world! What are the first steps someone should take if they want to work with you or transform their business? Self-Assess: Grab free Profit Acceleration Trainings at markmathiacoaching.com Discovery Call: Book a 45-minute no-obligation session Dive In: Join private coaching or programs “No progress in 90 days? The next 90 are free, I’m that confident.” What do you want your ideal clients to know about the value and long-term impact of working with you? “I want you to know that this isn’t just about growing your business, it’s about reclaiming the life and legacy you started this for in the first place.” When you finally step fully into operating from your unique strengths, doing the work only you can do with the gifts only you have, everything shifts. Decisions become clearer. Energy stops leaking. Growth feels natural instead of forced. And success starts to feel deeply fulfilling, not just impressive on paper. But the real impact goes far beyond the bottom line. My deepest desire for you is that you rediscover the passion that made you start this journey, the fire that once kept you up at night dreaming big. I want you to become the present, fully-engaged spouse, parent, and friend you long to be, without the constant pull of guilt or unfinished work. And I want you to build a business that runs with strength and independence, one that serves your life instead of consuming it, one you can proudly pass on as a thriving legacy. This work is life-changing because it touches every part of who you are: the leader, the visionary, the family member, the human being hungry for meaning. Years from now, my clients don’t just look back on bigger revenues or smoother operations. They tell me they look back on regained time with their kids, restored intimacy in their marriage, renewed energy for what matters most, and a profound sense of peace knowing they built something sustainable, values-driven, and truly their own. If that’s the future you want, one where success serves your whole life, not the other way around, I’m here to walk with you every step of the way. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Mark Mathia

Written by Karol J Krupa, Breath and Transformation Coach Karol Krupa is a certified Breathwork Therapist and Functional Health Coach specialising in nervous system regulation, stress resilience, and peak performance for athletes, leaders, and everyday individuals. Welcome back, my friends. Let’s cut to the chase. The first article was fast and straight to the point. This one is different, more personal, more raw. This is me and my ADHD. Maybe not the best opening, you might think. But this is exactly how my brain works, fast, scattered, intuitive. So instead of fighting it, let’s zoom out and look at things from a timeline perspective. Why am I here, talking to you about breathing? Many people have spoken about it before, that’s true. Breathing isn’t new. But maybe my way of telling this story will resonate with just a few of you. And if you feel my flow and energy, I invite you to stay. The best therapists are often those who have been through something themselves. People who, due to a lack of help from the outside world, were forced to look inward, into their bodies and minds. My story is no different For years, I experienced unexplained dopamine spikes. I constantly started businesses, shut them down, started again, without understanding why. Each cycle led to more debt, more pressure, and more chaos. So I pushed harder, faster, and kept getting the same result. Eventually, the consequences became obvious, no sleep, poor concentration, weight gain, chronic stress, snoring, sleep apnea, and more. I tried meditation and mindfulness first. Today, I know why it didn’t fully work. My mind was never really there. Then I discovered breathwork, pranayama. And suddenly, eureka. I found something calming. Something powerful. Something we all have access to every single day, for free. My mind finally went quiet. I began regulating my stress levels instead of being ruled by them. That alone was life-changing, although it would’ve worked even better if I had changed my environment too. Still, this was step one. Then came the issue of snoring and light sleep apnea. Pranayama felt a bit too meditative for me, so I started looking for something more therapeutic, more grounded, something my “masculine” brain could accept. That’s when I found Oxygen Advantage Techniques rooted in the Buteyko method. Purely therapeutic. No fluff. And they worked. My snoring disappeared. My sleep apnea was gone, confirmed by the best sleep tracker I could have, my wife. “Karol, you’re not snoring anymore.” One thing led to another, and I began training to become a certified Breathing Instructor with Oxygen Advantage. And honestly, the teachings are incredible. When you realize how much control you have over your body using nasal breathing alone, on a biochemical, biomechanical, and psychophysiological level, your entire perspective shifts. Did you know that to get more oxygen into your cells, you actually need more CO₂ in your blood? It’s real. It’s called the Bohr Effect. Don’t take my word for it, Google it. That’s when I found my purpose I can teach people how to breathe, and they get better. In my case, no pills. Just breathe. Try this now: Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds. Breathe out through your nose for 6 seconds. Repeat this 10 times. This is the simplest biohack in the world. Six breaths per minute signal safety to your brain. Your nervous system shifts. Your heart rate slows. A chemical cascade begins, and relaxation follows. We may not be able to control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we respond. And once you know how to regulate your nervous system, you take your power back. Clients, however, were a different challenge It’s not easy to say to someone, “I’m going to teach you how to breathe for your health or sports performance.” But I did it. I worked with everyday people like me, ultra runners, and even martial artists. And then there was one client I’ll never forget. I call him the Jewellery Man. During one session, I noticed something strange. While doing the 4/6 breathing, he either started falling asleep or tears began rolling down his face. I panicked. I had never seen this before. We sometimes wear masks to show the world how strong and successful we are, just to be accepted. And that’s a mistake. I started researching what was happening. I learned that when someone carries stored emotions or unresolved trauma, breathwork lowers the guard. And when the guard drops, emotions surface. Now I see how beautiful that is, how much can be released. When you truly desire something, when you feel it, when you emotionally connect, "it" eventually finds you. My desire was to help people release stored emotions because I knew where unprocessed emotions had taken me, excessive drinking, dark places, and losing myself. But I’m back. It cost me a lot, it’s for another piece of work. And then "it" found me, through endlessly repeated Facebook ads. 9D Breathwork Boom. My first session was The Origin. Looking back, I would never offer that as someone’s first experience. Fifty-six minutes of deep somatic breathwork, with sound completely surrounding your head. When it ended, and I walked back into my living room, I was in a state I still can’t fully describe, even now, more than a year later. Since then, I’ve never looked back, especially after completing the 30-Day Mental and Spiritual Transformation Challenge inside the 9D app. I was the last person to have vivid dreams or visions. That changed completely. I cried. I shouted. I shook. I wept, again and again. Yes. A 44-year-old man who had spent years wearing masks and destroying himself from the inside just to live up to a toxic belief. “Boys don’t cry” That belief has created depression, addiction, broken families, and suicides. For me, this is one of the deepest roots of male depression. Men are taught not to feel, not to express, not to release. So please, let your children cry. Let them get angry. Because bottled emotions don’t disappear. They wait. And one day, they erupt like a volcano. And if something inside you feels stuck, tight, or choking, reach out. Especially if you are a man. Convincing men to try these therapies is the hardest part of my work. But if you think your children, or you, could benefit from a safe, gentle modality, click the link and see what the BBC is saying about 9D Breathwork. See you on the other side. The side with more joy, more smiles, and far less worry. Contact me for details about 9D Breathwork sessions. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Karol J Krupa Karol J Krupa, Breath and Transformation Coach Karol Krupa is a certified Breathwork Therapist and Functional Health Coach specialising in stress resilience, nervous system optimisation, and human performance. Combining Oxygen Advantage, 9D Breathwork, and modern somatic science, he supports individuals, teams, and athletes in building emotional stability, mental clarity, and peak physical function. Karol delivers workshops, corporate programs, and transformational experiences across the UK and Europe, helping people unlock their full capacity through evidence-based breathing strategies. His mission is simple, to teach people how to breathe, recover, and live with stronger foundations.

Written by Alesha Marie Lange, Transformational Healing Coach Alesha Lange is a recognized leader in the healing and self-development space and co-founder of Divine Time Healing, a heart-centered wellness business. She uses her clairvoyant gifts to channel messages from clients' spirit teams, helping them gain clarity and reconnect with their true selves. In a world that constantly encourages self-improvement, many people are chasing transformation without understanding what true transformation really means. Real change doesn’t come from surface-level fixes or quick affirmations; it comes from deep, compassionate healing. That’s where the work of a Transformative Healing Coach begins. Transformative Healing Coaching is not about simply motivating someone to think positive thoughts. It’s about walking beside them as they uncover the emotional wounds, subconscious beliefs, and energetic patterns that have shaped their life. It’s a process that merges psychology with spirituality, empowering clients to not just “feel better,” but to become whole again. What makes Transformative Healing different Traditional coaching often focuses on setting goals, building habits, or developing strategies for success. While those tools are valuable, they don’t always reach the root of what holds someone back. You can’t build new foundations on unhealed pain. Transformative Healing Coaching bridges that gap. It integrates emotional awareness, cognitive reframing, and spiritual alignment to create change that lasts. In my work at Divine Time Healing, I combine intuitive insight with therapeutic techniques like DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) principles. These methods help clients identify self-sabotaging patterns, challenge limiting beliefs, and build emotional regulation skills. When paired with intuitive guidance, they create a powerful path toward inner transformation. Healing the subconscious, not just the surface Most of our behavior stems from subconscious programming, beliefs we absorbed in childhood or through painful experiences. These subconscious imprints quietly influence how we see ourselves and how we react to the world. Transformative Healing Coaching works by bringing those hidden beliefs into the light. Through practices like Subconscious Emotion Body Release, clients learn to release trapped emotions and rewire the energetic pathways that keep them repeating the same cycles. For example, someone who struggles with self-worth might discover that they’ve been carrying unprocessed shame from a parent’s criticism or a failed relationship. Once that emotional energy is acknowledged and released, it no longer drives their choices from the shadows. They begin to act from awareness instead of old pain, and that’s where real transformation happens. The role of spiritual awareness What makes Transformative Healing Coaching truly unique is its recognition that healing isn’t just emotional or mental, it’s spiritual. We are not just minds and bodies; we are souls having human experiences. When we bring spiritual awareness into the process, healing takes on a higher meaning. It’s no longer just about fixing what feels broken; it’s about reconnecting with divine guidance, intuition, and purpose. During sessions, I often use intuitive tools such as tarot or energy readings to help clients see what their spirit is trying to communicate. This insight often confirms what the client already feels deep down, that their soul knows the way forward. My role is simply to help them remember it. Transformation is an inner rebirth Transformation isn’t about becoming someone new; it’s about returning to who you were before the world taught you to doubt yourself. It’s peeling back layers of fear, guilt, and conditioning to reveal the truth underneath: you’ve always been enough. In transformative healing, we don’t run from our shadows; we integrate them. Every emotion, even the uncomfortable ones, carries wisdom. When clients learn to embrace their emotions instead of avoiding them, they reclaim their personal power. That’s when the shift happens, from surviving to thriving. Why it works Transformative Healing Coaching works because it honors all parts of the human experience, the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual. It doesn’t isolate the problem; it connects the dots. Someone may come to me feeling lost, anxious, or disconnected. But as we work together, they begin to see that their symptoms are not random, they’re signals from the soul. The anxiety may stem from ignoring their truth. The exhaustion may come from carrying energy that’s not theirs. Healing begins when awareness takes root. This process is not instant, but it’s sacred. Every breakthrough, every release, every moment of self-recognition brings you closer to alignment with who you’re meant to be. Closing reflection At its heart, Transformative Healing Coaching is not about changing who you are, it’s about coming home to yourself. It’s the art of healing the mind while awakening the soul, reminding you that every part of your story, even the painful chapters, has prepared you for this moment of rebirth. Healing doesn’t happen in isolation; it happens in divine timing, through the guidance and support of those who see your light even when you can’t. And when you finally reconnect with that light, your intuition, your truth, your divine essence, you realize that transformation isn’t something you chase. It’s something you allow. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Alesha Marie Lange Alesha Marie Lange, Transformational Healing Coach Raised in a challenging and often chaotic household, Alesha Lange experienced parental divorce at a young age and grew up with emotionally immature parenting. She faced childhood bullying, neglect, and trauma, including deep feelings of abandonment, and later encountered narcissistic abuse in both family and romantic relationships. As a neurodivergent individual, she has navigated life with CPTSD, depression, BPD, and anxiety. Today, Alesha is dedicated to breaking generational trauma cycles and transforming her pain into purpose. Her journey of healing has inspired her to help others reclaim their power and live more authentic, liberated lives.

Written by Alex Vitillo , Money Breakthrough Business Coach Alex Vitillo is a Leading Shamanic Priestess of Wealth and Well-being, also known as the Money Breakthrough Coach for spiritual entrepreneurs. She helps heart-centred business owners heal their relationship with money so they can serve from overflow rather than depletion. You do not need another year of white-knuckle manifesting, overflowing vision boards, and a diary full of “busy” that does not translate into money in the bank. You need a prosperous year Prosperity looks and feels very different from “pushing harder.” Prosperity is that combination of financial growth, emotional peace, and spaciousness in your calendar that lets you enjoy the life you are working so hard for. As a Money Breakthrough Coach with a background in high-level finance and years of working with heart-centred entrepreneurs, I can tell you this with certainty: Prosperity is not an accident. It is built, on purpose, by people who are willing to review, recommit, and realign. If you want 2026 to be your year of prosperity, you cannot simply light some incense on January 1, write a bigger number on a Post-it, and hope the universe does the rest. You are the co-creator. Your decisions, focus, and investments matter. Here are three powerful ways to activate prosperity and wealth in 2026, without fretting more and without adding confusion to an already full mind. Tip 1: Close the old year with courage, clarity, and gratitude Before you start anything new, you need closure. Most people try to leap into the new year while still dragging a tangled ball of half-finished projects, unprocessed disappointments, and “maybe one day” ideas behind them. That energetic clutter leaks into their calendar, bank account, and nervous system. Instead, give yourself the gift of a prosperity debrief. Take time before 2026 begins to explore three key dimensions of your year: 1. Money: Return on investment Which offers, products, or services actually generated cash, not only busyness? Where did you spend money that did not generate a meaningful financial or emotional return? Which investments, even if they stretched you, opened doors, improved skills, or increased your income? 2. Energy: What nourished you and what drained you Which clients, collaborations, or activities left you feeling energized and expanded? Where did you feel resentment, dread, or exhaustion, even if on paper it “made sense”? Which parts of your business or career are clearly misaligned with who you are becoming? 3. Time: How your calendar reflects your priorities Where did your time actually go in 2025? Into revenue-generating activities, or into endless tinkering? Did you spend more hours in overthinking than in decision and implementation? What stole your time without giving you joy, growth, or money back? From this honest audit, decide: What needs to be consciously closed before the new year begins? Let it go with gratitude, even if it did not work out as planned. The lesson is part of your prosperity. What you choose to bring forward into 2026, strengthened and simplified. Where you need to course-correct so you do not repeat the same pattern in a shinier notebook. And please, do not only celebrate the planned wins. Make space to honour the surprises: the clients you never expected, the opportunities that “came out of nowhere,” the inner shifts nobody sees on Instagram. These are signs that your work is already landing and the universe has been collaborating with you. Prosperity begins with acknowledging where you are, with clear eyes and an open heart. Tip 2: Define a deliberate investment line in money, energy, and time Prosperous people do not wait to see what is left over. They decide how they invest. Once you have completed your prosperity debrief, the next step is to define a clear line of investment for 2026 in three areas: money, energy, and time. Money: Stop dabbling, start investing Ask yourself: Where am I committed to investing in my growth this year? What specific support does my business or career truly need to reach my income goals? Where am I still in “free content and low-ticket” mode, hoping that somehow it will add up? Maybe that looks like finally hiring a business mentor, getting a money breakthrough coach on your team (ahem, that would be me), or joining a programme that helps you package and price your work properly so your income is not left to chance. You are already paying a price for not deciding. That price often shows up as undercharging, inconsistent income, constant worry, and a very expensive loop of “I will figure it out alone.” Energy: Direct your focus with intention Prosperity requires clean focus. Your attention is one of the most powerful currencies you have. Reflect on: Which two or three priorities will receive the majority of your focus in the first quarter of 2026? What emotional states are you willing to cultivate on purpose, so that you become a match for the prosperity you say you want? What chronic worries, comparison spirals, or dramas are you no longer available for? This is where energetic hygiene matters. If you constantly feed your fear, scarcity, and self-doubt, no amount of strategy will feel safe to implement. Direct your energy toward what you are building, not what you are afraid of losing. Time: Become the leader of your calendar, not the employee of your to-do list Time is a non-renewable resource, yet many treat it as if it were infinite. To activate prosperity, you must: Reserve time for revenue-generating activities: outreach, sales conversations, refining offers, serving current clients at a high level. Protect time for deep work and creation, not just reacting to messages and notifications. Create pockets of spaciousness for rest, integration, creativity, and joy. A burnt-out nervous system does not feel safe receiving more. There are powerful tools to help you master time rather than be a slave to it, but it begins with a choice: to design your calendar in alignment with the prosperous life you are calling in. Tip 3: Craft a prosperity plan that is uniquely yours The third key to a prosperous 2026 is deeply personal: make your plan uniquely yours and centered on what you can actually influence. Too many brilliant people pin their happiness and prosperity on what they cannot control: “I will feel safe when clients finally start saying yes.” “I will raise my prices when the economy is more stable.” “I will invest in support when my income is more consistent.” “I will trust myself when someone else validates my vision.” This keeps your power outside of you. It turns your year into a waiting room. Instead, shift into the role of creator. Ask yourself: What do I control right now that can increase my prosperity this year? The clarity of my offers and pricing The number of conversations I initiate The way I speak about my work The boundaries I hold with my time and energy The support I choose to receive How can I partner with the universe, my guides, my inner wisdom, instead of outsourcing everything to “divine timing” while I stay passive? What am I willing to try, refine, and try again, even if not every attempt becomes a viral success story? When you design a prosperity plan that reflects your values, your nervous system, and your dreams, you switch from waiting for life to change into actively shaping it. You also make space for mystery. Not everything will work as you imagine. Some ideas will fall flat. Some launches will feel quiet. And then certain opportunities will arrive that go far beyond what you dared to write in your journal. Your job is to keep showing up, learning, and adjusting, with a heart that is open and a strategy that is alive, not rigid. Where most people get stuck, and why support matters By this point, many readers feel inspired, then quickly overwhelmed. They realise: They have never really calculated the financial return of their offers. Their calendar is full but their cash flow is not. Their “abundance rituals” have not been matched with courageous decisions about pricing, investment, and visibility. Their relationship with money still carries shame, fear, or confusion. If this is you, there is nothing wrong with you. You are not “bad with money” or “not spiritual enough.” It simply means you have reached the edge of what you can do alone with the tools you currently have. This is the gap I fill in my work. I bring together: The rigour of my corporate finance background The depth of money energetics and subconscious work Practical strategy on pricing, packaging, and business models So that heart-centred entrepreneurs can create businesses that are both profitable and nourishing, without abandoning their values. A prosperous invitation for 2026 As you close this year and open the next, I invite you to: Complete your prosperity debrief with honesty and compassion. Decide, in advance, how you will invest your money, energy, and time. Create a prosperity plan that reflects who you are and the impact you are here to make, instead of who you think you should be. And if you sense that your next level of prosperity requires clearer pricing, cleaner money energetics, and a strategic partner who holds you to your brilliance, reach out. You deserve a 2026 where prosperity is not a distant affirmation but a lived experience in your bank account, your body, and your calendar. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Alex Vitillo Alex Vitillo, Money Breakthrough Business Coach Alex Vitillo, the Leading Shamanic Priestess of Wealth & Wellbeing, bridges the material and mystical worlds to help visionaries and heart-centered entrepreneurs unlock their financial potential. With over 15 years in Finance and a deep journey into energy healing after personal loss, she created a powerful methodology blending financial strategy with spiritual alignment. As an expert in Sacred Money Archetypes, Alex guides clients to achieve abundance with ease and purpose. Her mantra, “Grow Yourself, Grow Your Business," embodies her mission to shape soulful, impactful, and rich leaders. A published author and international speaker, Alex shares her insights on wealth, wellbeing, and conscious leadership worldwide.

Written by Darlene Danielle Ricabo, Marketing and Business Development Strategist Darlene Danielle Ricabo is a PR, marketing & digital media producer, specializing in casting, influencer, and brand partnerships. If you’ve ever worked on a marketing campaign, you’ve probably heard people throw around the terms influencer and talent like they’re the same thing. Spoiler: they’re not. And knowing the difference can save you a lot of confusion (and money) when you’re planning partnerships. Let’s break it down. What’s an influencer? An influencer is someone who’s built an audience online and has the ability to, well, influence them. They create content in their own style, have a community that trusts them, and brands love working with them because they bring reach plus authenticity. They come with their own audience. When you hire an influencer, you’re not just getting content, you’re getting access to their followers. They speak in their own voice. Their posts feel personal and authentic, not like scripted ads. They’re measured by engagement. Think likes, comments, shares, clicks, conversions. Example: A fitness influencer posting their morning workout routine featuring your new protein shake. What’s talent? Talent is a little different. These are people you hire for the role they play in your campaign, not for their follower count. They could be actors, models, athletes, or even “real people” cast for a shoot. They’re chosen for skills or image. It might be their look, their voice, or their performance. They don’t need to post. Their job is to show up, perform, and let the brand handle distribution. Usage rights matter. With talent, you’re usually paying for how long and where you can use their image or performance. Example: A model in your TV commercial or a chef you hire to cook in a branded YouTube ad. The big differences Here’s a quick way to think about it: Influencer Talent Brings their own audience Relies on the brand’s distribution Creates content in their own voice Works under the brand’s creative direction Paid for reach, engagement, and content Paid for time, performance, and usage rights Deliverables: Posts, stories, videos Deliverables: Ads, photos, campaigns Where they overlap Here’s where it gets fun: sometimes someone is both. A celebrity might be cast as talent in a commercial and post about it to millions of followers. Or an influencer might be hired as talent for a shoot where they don’t post at all, they’re just acting or modeling. Why it matters for marketers Mixing up influencers and talent can lead to misaligned contracts, budgets, and expectations. If you want authentic reach, go influencer. If you want a polished performance in your brand’s voice, go with talent. And often, the best campaigns use both. These examples highlight why marketers need to be clear about whether they’re hiring an influencer or talent. The distinction shapes: Contracts: Influencers need agreements about posting, audience engagement, and usage rights for their content. Talent needs agreements around how their image or performance can be used. Budgets: Influencer fees cover their reach and community, while talent fees usually cover their time on set and how long the brand can use their likeness. Strategy: If the goal is awareness through authenticity, influencers make sense. If the goal is polished storytelling in controlled media, talent is the way to go. Final takeaway Influencers = audience + authenticity. Talent = performance + polish. Both are powerful in their own ways, but they’re not interchangeable. Knowing when to use each (or both together) is what separates an average campaign from a great one. Think of it this way: Influencers bring their audience along for the ride. Talent shows up to help you tell your story. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Darlene Danielle Ricabo Darlene Danielle Ricabo, Marketing and Business Development Strategist Darlene Danielle Ricabo's journey began as a talent with 10 years of experience in commercial modeling, which is the foundation of her position in the casting space. She has built a network of peers and understudies alike, founding & leading the LA Fashion Show's Talent Network Program. Madhaustudio, founded by her, is the evolution of talent and brand partnerships, creating talent and brand ecosystems within marketing & PR.

Written by Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, Dermal Clinician & Body Contouring Specialist Dr. Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, is an expert in body transformation, metabolic performance, and longevity. As the founder of The Elite Hub, Dr Os helps high-performing individuals achieve visible, lasting results through advanced diagnostics, personalised recovery strategies, and specialised body contouring therapies. In endurance sport, the default response to stagnation is almost always the same: train more, push harder, add intensity. Yet when athletes plateau, burnout, or underperform on race day, the root cause is rarely a lack of effort. More often, it is a failure of recovery capacity. Recovery is not passive. It is an active physiological process, and one that can be measured, trained, and optimized. What recovery capacity really means Recovery capacity reflects how efficiently the body restores homeostasis after stress. This includes: Autonomic nervous system balance Hormonal regulation Cardiovascular recovery Muscular repair Metabolic reset In metabolic testing, recovery capacity indicates how quickly the system can return to baseline after exertion. Athletes with low recovery capacity may have strong VO₂ max scores but struggle to repeat quality sessions, adapt to training, or perform consistently. The high-intensity trap One of the most common mistakes I see, across all levels of endurance sport, is excessive high-intensity training layered on top of inadequate recovery. Athletes chase fitness through intervals, tempo sessions, and race simulations, believing intensity alone drives improvement. In reality, adaptation occurs between sessions, not during them. When recovery capacity is compromised, the body remains in a chronically sympathetic state. This leads to: Elevated resting heart rate Suppressed heart rate variability Reduced fat oxidation Impaired sleep Declining breathing coordination Over time, performance regresses despite increasing training volume. Why VO₂ max can improve while recovery declines A common paradox appears in metabolic testing: VO₂ max improves, yet recovery capacity deteriorates. This happens because VO₂ max reflects maximal oxygen uptake under stress, while recovery capacity reflects how efficiently the system resets afterward. An athlete can increase peak output while simultaneously accumulating systemic fatigue. Without adequate recovery, this creates a fragile athlete, fit on paper, inconsistent in reality. Recovery as a performance multiplier Elite endurance athletes do not treat recovery as an afterthought. They design it with the same precision as their training. High recovery capacity allows athletes to: Maintain higher training quality with less fatigue Sustain Zone 2 adaptations Preserve fat-burning efficiency Improve breathing coordination Execute race-day pacing effectively In short, recovery determines how much training you can actually use. Training the recovery system Recovery capacity improves through deliberate strategies, including: Consistent Zone 2 training to lower sympathetic load Breathing reconditioning to enhance parasympathetic activation Structured low-intensity days following hard sessions Sleep optimization and circadian alignment Metabolic conditioning that avoids chronic carbohydrate dependence Importantly, recovery is not synonymous with doing nothing. It is about applying the right stress at the right time. The longevity connection From a longevity perspective, recovery capacity may be more important than VO₂ max itself. Poor recovery accelerates biological aging through chronic inflammation, hormonal disruption, and autonomic imbalance. Athletes who recover well train longer, compete longer, and maintain performance deeper into life. The shift that changes everything The most successful endurance athletes are not those who tolerate the most suffering, they are those who adapt the fastest. When athletes stop asking, “How much more can I do?” and start asking, “How well am I recovering?”, performance follows naturally. Understanding your recovery capacity requires objective data, not guesswork. At The Elite Hub, advanced metabolic and VO₂ max testing allows us to quantify recovery capacity, identify limiting factors, and design training strategies that maximize adaptation while protecting long-term health. Because in endurance sport, progress is not dictated by how hard you train, but by how well you recover. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Osvaldo Cooley, PhD Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, Dermal Clinician & Body Contouring Specialist Dr. Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, is a leading expert in body transformation, metabolic performance, and longevity. A former athlete, his promising career was cut short by injuries that sparked a passion for understanding recovery and performance optimisation. Drawing from his personal journey and extensive research, Dr. Os developed proven techniques to help men and women transform their bodies, improve fitness, and boost long-term health. As the founder of The Elite Hub, he empowers high-performing individuals to achieve visible, lasting results through advanced diagnostics and personalised strategies.

Written by Nicolas Grebenkine, CEO of Aetsoft Nicolas Grebenkine is CEO of Aetsoft, an emerging tech software services company. As an investor and an entrepreneur, he’s launched 10+ products across AI, blockchain, fintech, and sustainable energy. Recognized in international accelerators, he now helps startups attract venture capital and scale globally. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably noticed how much payments have been in the news lately. Not because there’s something suddenly wrong about payments, there have always been issues. High card fees that eat out your margins or bank transfer delays are nothing new. But now there is a solution: stablecoins.   Stablecoins can sound like something built for cryptobros. But they may become more important to your local café or a small online shop.   You don’t need to become a finance nerd or call a   stablecoin development company  to benefit from what’s changing. You might not even realize the stablecoin rails that run payments.   But soon you might notice that payment providers offer lower fees.   So what is a stablecoin? A stablecoin is a digital token tied to a regular currency (mostly the USD).   While bitcoin price can go up or down, a stablecoin should always convert to the regular currency 1:1. A stablecoin is tied to a real-world asset. How is that possible?   In a way, it’s similar to how a bank works: some people deposit money in the bank, then the bank loans most of it to other people.   With stablecoins, when people deposit money, the issuer buys the US Treasuries. In other words, they loan money to the US government (though different stablecoins are tied to different assets). The issuer gets to keep the yield from treasuries, the consumer gets to use a powerful instrument for free.   In 2026, stablecoins will show up in more places and more products, especially for cross‑border payments and faster settlement. So here are some   stablecoin use cases  for small businesses:   Faster money in your hands Think about how long it takes for a payment to reach you today. Card payments can take a day or two to settle. Bank transfers may take even longer. There are bank hours, weekends, holidays. So much of the time, the transfer is basically on hold.   Stablecoins are designed to move quickly because they transfer over blockchain networks that run around the clock. In practice, that can mean funds arriving in minutes, including nights and weekends. Imagine invoicing a client on Friday evening and seeing the money show up before you open on Saturday morning.   This can solve a surprising number of arguments with your spreadsheet.   Lower costs, less friction When you get paid by a credit card, the payment can go through 6-8 intermediaries, and most of them cut a piece of the transaction. That’s why Visa and Mastercard have to charge up to 3% from each transaction, most of that goes to the card network.   Every small business owner knows the sting of fees: processing fees, FX spreads, wire fees, and the mysterious miscellaneous line item that nobody claims responsibility for.   Because stablecoins can move directly between wallets (a wallet is just an app or account that holds and sends these digital dollars), they can reduce the number of intermediaries involved in a transfer. That creates room for lower costs, especially for large-value transfers or cross‑border payments.   This doesn’t mean free. Networks can charge transaction fees, and providers can charge for conversion or custody. But the cost structure can be different than cards and wires. If you’re doing high-volume transactions, even small savings per payment can add up to real money.   Opening doors to new opportunities Stablecoins make certain workflows simpler. Take international sales. Maybe you sell online to customers abroad, or you invoice overseas clients. Today, you might juggle exchange rates, wait for international transfers, and lose time to bank cut-off windows. With stablecoins, you could receive a digital version of a major currency quickly, then choose when to convert it back to your local currency (or convert immediately).   Supplier payments are another example. If you order inventory or services from abroad, paying with stablecoins can mean fewer delays and less uncertainty about when the supplier will actually see funds. Sometimes speed is the difference between “your order ships today” and “your order ships after three reminder emails.” What to expect from stablecoins in 2026 Stablecoins aren’t the standard payment method for most small businesses today. That’s partly because regulation, consumer protections, and bank integrations vary by region, and partly because many business owners have better things to do than learn new payment rails (like running the business).   Still, the direction is clear: more payment providers are experimenting with stablecoin settlement, more companies are adding stablecoin options for cross‑border transfers, and more regulators are defining how these products should work.   You may also see stablecoins used behind the scenes in more specialized products. For example, an   STO platform  (a system used to issue and manage regulated, token-based securities). Even if you never touch that world directly, the same plumbing can influence how fast and how cheaply money moves.   The useful stance for a small business isn’t to become a crypto business. It’s to understand the tool and the trade-offs.   If you’re evaluating a provider that offers stablecoin payments or payouts, start with the basics:   What currency is the stablecoin meant to track, and how is it backed? How do you convert in and out of your local currency, and what does it cost? Who holds the funds, and what protections exist if something goes wrong? How does accounting and reporting work for your business?   Stablecoins won’t replace every payment method. But for certain use cases, especially settlement speed and cross‑border transfers, they can be a practical option in a world where 2-3 business days” still somehow counts as normal.   And if nothing else, knowing what a stablecoin is will make the next payments headline slightly less annoying. Follow me on LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Nicolas Grebenkine Nicolas Grebenkine, CEO of Aetsoft Nicolas Grebenkine is an entrepreneur, blockchain pioneer, and CEO of Aetsoft. Starting as an Investment Manager, he built expertise in spotting opportunities for emerging technologies: AI, blockchain, IoT. He has overseen the creation of 10+ in-house products, several featured in international accelerators. He now leads Aetsoft, a software company that delivers complex emerging tech solutions for enterprises and startups.