Written by Komninos Chatzipapas, Founder of Omicron AI Software Komninos Chatzipapas is a technology entrepreneur and software engineer focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. He writes about how AI is changing business, leadership, and the future of work, with an emphasis on practical, real-world applications. AI agents are rapidly moving beyond answering questions and into taking action. They can send messages, update databases, write code, process documents, manage workflows, and interact with business systems without someone manually directing every step. This makes them far more useful than traditional chatbots, but it also changes the nature of the risk. Many companies try to make an agent more capable by giving it more tools, more data, and more freedom. In practice, an agent should have only the access required to complete its assigned work. From answers to actions The term artificial intelligence (AI) agent is being used increasingly broadly, but the distinction from a conventional AI assistant is important. A chatbot primarily generates a response. An AI agent can determine what actions are required to achieve a goal, select tools, perform those actions, observe the results, and continue until the task is complete. Once AI moves from recommending actions to performing them, errors can have direct operational consequences. If an AI assistant produces a poor answer, a user can usually discard it. An AI agent connected to a customer relationship management (CRM), email account, code repository, or financial system can turn a poor decision into a real action before anyone intervenes. OpenAI's practical guide to building agents emphasizes guardrails and human intervention for sensitive or irreversible actions, which is a useful starting point for thinking about how much authority an agent should receive. This creates a practical governance problem. Organizations are giving AI systems increasing authority over business processes while the controls around that authority are still developing. Permission design, therefore, needs to become part of agent architecture rather than an afterthought added once the system is already in production. Access changes the risk Discussions about AI risk frequently focus on model accuracy. Once an agent can interact with external systems, however, its permissions determine how far an error can travel. Consider an AI system whose job is to summarize customer emails. It needs permission to read those messages. It usually has no reason to delete emails, forward attachments, or modify account settings. An accounting agent designed to identify overdue invoices may need access to financial records without needing permission to initiate bank transfers. An engineering agent reviewing a codebase may need repository access without being able to merge code or deploy directly to production. Every additional permission increases the range of actions available to the system and, therefore, the possible consequences of an error. Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) describes this problem as excessive agency and identifies excessive functionality, excessive permissions, and excessive autonomy as common causes. A typical example is an AI tool that only needs to read information from a database but receives credentials that can also modify or delete records. This is a familiar access-control problem applied to a new category of software. The cybersecurity principle of least privilege provides a useful foundation for agent design. Users and systems should receive only the permissions required to perform their function. The same principle works well for AI agents. An agent that reads a calendar should receive read access. An agent that drafts emails for human review does not necessarily need sending privileges. An agent that analyzes invoices does not automatically need the ability to authorize payments. Restricting access reduces the potential impact of mistakes, compromised instructions, or unexpected behavior. This becomes especially important as agents gain access to multiple systems simultaneously. A single agent may interact with email, cloud storage, a CRM, internal databases, and external application programming interfaces (API). Each integration can expand what the system is capable of doing and increase the consequences of misconfiguration. Permission design should begin with the workflow itself, identify the actions required to complete the task, grant access to those actions, and exclude everything else. Designing the right boundaries One of the most practical improvements businesses can make is separating the ability to read information from the ability to change it. An agent that can search a CRM carries less operational authority than one that can modify customer records. Repository access can be separated from merge permissions, and calendar visibility can be separated from the ability to create or cancel meetings. These permissions are often bundled together for convenience during development, but production systems require more deliberate controls. Read and write functions should be exposed separately wherever possible, while destructive or financially significant actions should receive additional restrictions. Deleting a record carries a different level of risk from editing one, just as calculating a payment carries a different level of risk from sending it. Human oversight should follow the same risk model. Requiring approval for every routine action can eliminate much of the value of an autonomous system. Low-risk and easily reversible actions can often happen automatically, while expensive, sensitive, or irreversible actions can require human authorization. A customer-service agent might categorize support tickets and prepare responses independently while requesting approval before issuing a significant refund. A scheduling assistant might arrange routine internal meetings while requiring confirmation for certain external invitations. An engineering agent could prepare a production deployment while leaving final authorization to an engineer. These boundaries can evolve as organizations collect evidence about how reliably an agent performs. Increased autonomy should follow observed performance, incident history, and the consequences of failure. Effective oversight also requires visibility into agent activity and a reliable way to interrupt a workflow when something looks wrong. External data creates new problems Permissions become especially important when agents process information originating outside an organization. Consider a customer-service agent that reads incoming emails and can perform actions based on their contents. An attacker may try to place instructions inside an email or document in order to influence the model. This kind of prompt-injection risk is one reason untrusted content should never be treated as sufficient authority for a sensitive action. The same concern extends beyond enterprise software. Consumer AI products can also handle highly personal conversations, preferences, and behavioral data. Whether the product is a productivity assistant, a health-oriented chatbot, or an AI girlfriend, developers still need to think carefully about what information the system can access, retain, or act on. Humans can often recognize that a strange instruction embedded in an email or document is unrelated to the task. A model processing natural language from multiple sources may have more difficulty consistently separating trusted instructions from untrusted content. Careful permission design limits what an attacker can achieve even if the model handles a malicious instruction poorly. A support agent without database deletion privileges cannot delete the database. An agent without payment authorization cannot transfer money. Controls implemented around the model can, therefore, remove entire classes of harmful actions from its available toolset. Visibility is equally important. Organizations need records showing which agent performed an action, which tools it used, what information influenced the workflow, whether a human approved the action, and what happened afterward. Logging, monitoring, and traceability should be designed alongside the core workflow so failures can be investigated and recurring problems can be identified. Design for failure Most AI demonstrations are designed around successful execution. Production systems also need defined behavior for failure conditions. An agent may misunderstand a request, receive incomplete information from an API, repeat an action, encounter manipulated external content, or lose access to a model halfway through a workflow. Multiple agents operating in the same environment can also take conflicting actions. These cases should be treated as normal engineering considerations rather than exceptional scenarios. Every sufficiently complex software system eventually encounters unexpected conditions, and agentic systems introduce additional uncertainty because some decisions are generated dynamically. Practical controls include retry limits, spending limits, restrictions on tool calls, permission boundaries, and escalation paths for high-impact actions. A production agent also needs clearly defined stopping conditions so that it can hand control back to a person when the workflow becomes uncertain or exceeds its authority. Autonomy in a business system is largely determined by architecture. Teams decide which systems the model can access, which functions are exposed through tools, which credentials the agent receives, which actions require approval, and what activity is recorded. These choices define the practical authority of the agent, regardless of how capable the underlying model becomes. Building reliable agent systems Organizations deploying AI agents should treat permissions as a core design decision from the beginning. Every integration should have a clear operational purpose, with access limited to the functions required by that purpose. Read, write, and destructive permissions should be separated where possible, and sensitive actions should have appropriate approval mechanisms. Teams should also maintain logs of important agent actions, define clear escalation paths, and test failure scenarios before expanding an agent's responsibilities. Additional permissions can be introduced gradually as the system demonstrates reliable performance in real workflows. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Komninos Chatzipapas Komninos Chatzipapas, Founder of Omicron AI Software Komninos Chatzipapas is a technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and writer focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. His work sits at the intersection of technical innovation and practical business application. He writes about AI adoption, entrepreneurship, leadership, and the future of work, making complex ideas accessible to a broader audience. He is particularly interested in how new technologies reshape the way people build, work, and make decisions.

Written by Mohamed Ahmed Fouad Amin, Owner of Alfouad Group Al Fouad Group is a leading real estate consultancy specializing in valuation, development advisory, and investment strategies, alongside City Creek Contracting. The Group provides expert guidance to investors and developers across luxury and high-growth real estate markets. At an auction of North Coast land organised by the Ministry of Housing, two plots went to Mohamed Al-Amin. Two others, in the same auction, went to Mansour Amer. Four plots, two buyers, and an unremarkable day in a market that had no idea what it was looking at. The four plots were later combined, and Porto Marina was built on them. I stopped at that episode for a long time while writing Mohamed Al-Amin: The Architect of an Empire, and I came away from it with something larger than the book: the real estate investor is almost alone among men of capital in having a record no one can erase. This article is not about the book. It is about that idea. A man who walked out of a closed door The story does not begin on the North Coast. It begins at the Faculty of Engineering in Alexandria, with a young graduate who finished with very good marks and hoped to be appointed a teaching assistant. He was not appointed. The post went to the daughter of one of the professors, and he was passed over. He recounts it in a newspaper interview without any visible bitterness, summing it up with the old Arabic proverb: the winds blow where the ships would rather they did not. He left Egypt more than thirty years ago for Kuwait, where his sister, a physician, was living. He started as a site engineer. Then department manager, then general manager, then a partner in the Joint Group for Management and Contracting, which he headed until 2005 and in which he remains a partner today. One detail here is usually skipped over: the company began in infrastructure and public utilities. Which means the man spent the first years of his working life laying the roads and services that turn empty ground into land people can live on. He did not read that equation in an investment book. He executed it with his own hands. A man who knows in practice, not in theory, what actually creates the value of a plot will buy differently from everyone around him. What cannot be erased? In other industries the ledger gets closed. Companies are dissolved, papers shredded, headlines pulled from websites. Land does not work that way. The two Marina plots are still exactly where they were. They did not move. They cannot be hidden or denied, and anyone standing on the shore at Porto Marina today is standing, whether he knows it or not, on a decision taken in an auction room years earlier. That is the peculiarity of property: it documents its owner whether he likes it or not. Stone is a witness whose verdict cannot be appealed. It testifies for the man who built well and against the man who did not, and it flatters no one. From a transaction to a school Plenty of people in Egypt have made money in property. The ones who changed how property itself is understood can be counted on one hand, and Al-Amin is among them. Before his generation, land in the Egyptian mind was a container for savings: you bought it, left it, and waited. What he and those who followed his path did was treat land as a development instrument whose value is manufactured rather than awaited, planned, serviced, built around, until a line on a map becomes a district with a name. The North Coast we know today did not exist before that reading of it. When one man’s approach becomes the method an entire generation copies, what he leaves behind is no longer a portfolio. It has become a school. To his grandchildren in particular Let me close with a message to his family, and to his grandchildren above all. One day those children will stand somewhere they never saw begin, and they may not know that decades ago it was nameless sand. Someone will tell them: your grandfather built this. In that moment they will understand something no ledger teaches, that a man who builds does not bequeath money alone. He bequeaths an address people point to. I suspect the young man who walked out of that appointments office in Alexandria, wounded, never imagined the reply would arrive thirty years later in the form of a map that had changed. The lives of great men last a long time, not because anyone is guarding them, but because of what they are made of. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Mohamed Ahmed Fouad Amin Mohamed Ahmed Fouad Amin, Owner of Alfouad Group Mohamed Ahmed Fouad Amin is a real estate expert, author, and investment consultant with extensive experience in valuation and development advisory across the UAE and MENA region. He is the founder of Al Fouad Real Estate Valuation and a member of FIABCI and ACAMS. Mohamed specializes in guiding investors, analyzing developers, and identifying high-value opportunities. He authored “Sell a Property to Billionaires” and “Please, Don’t Buy From This Developer,” empowering investors with clarity and confidence.

Kim van Dijk is the founder of MindCastle Creations, an ADHD Systems Expert, entrepreneur, and author of It's Not You, It's Your System. Drawing from her own experience with ADHD, burnout, and entrepreneurship, she has developed a practical approach that helps neurodivergent people replace self-blame with systems that work with their brains. In this interview, she shares the personal journey behind her philosophy, why traditional productivity advice often falls short, and how changing your systems can change your life. Kim van Dijk, Founder of MindCastle & ADHD Systems Expert Looking back, what experiences led you to realise that the biggest challenge was not your ADHD, but the systems you were expected to fit into? I started strong, and then stopped the moment I fell behind. Missing a few days turned the planner into a guilt object. Starting over became a pattern, and shame followed every attempt. I knew I was capable. I knew I was smart, but my systems kept assuming I would be consistent, linear, and energized, and my brain simply isn't. The turning point wasn't a dramatic moment. It was realizing the same loop kept repeating, I'd get motivated, make a “perfect” plan, life would happen, I'd fall behind, and I'd decide the problem was me. That's when it clicked, this wasn't a motivation issue. It was a system issue. Around the same time, I started watching my child struggle with many of the same things I had, including overwhelm, forgetfulness, and falling behind in systems that weren't built for an ADHD brain. Seeing it through their eyes made something very clear to me, this wasn't a personal failure. It was a design failure. I didn't want the next generation growing up believing their brain was the problem too. That's when this stopped being just about me and became about creating something that actually supports ADHD brains, gently and practically, from the start. Your book is called It's Not You, It's Your System. What inspired that message, and why did you feel it was important to challenge the way people think about ADHD? The title came from something I kept hearing and kept telling myself, “If I just tried harder. If I was more disciplined. If I wasn't so scattered.” The implication was always the same, I was the problem. I was exhausted from believing it. I realized I'd spent years trying to run Windows software on a Mac and then blaming myself when it didn't work. I wasn't broken. The systems I was using were designed for a different operating system entirely. So the book exists to challenge that narrative. Not because ADHD isn't real, it absolutely is, and it's neurobiological, but because most of the shame and struggle comes from using tools that were never designed for how ADHD brains actually work. Planners that assume you'll check them daily without reminders. Productivity advice that treats motivation like an on/off switch. Systems built for linear, consistent energy, when ADHD brains are anything but. What I wanted people to understand is this, your brain isn't the problem. The systems are. Once you stop blaming yourself for things that are wiring, not character flaws, everything shifts. You can start building a life that actually fits your brain instead of spending all your energy fighting it. You can learn your operating system's features, not just the bugs everyone points out. That's the permission this book gives you. I felt it was important because too many people are drowning in shame when what they actually need are different tools. How did that idea grow from a personal realization into MindCastle Creations and the work you do today? At first, I honestly thought I was creating a planner. I had already built a web design agency, so I understood business and scalability, but I was thinking about passive income, something that didn't require the same one-on-one time investment that client work demanded. That's when MindCastle started as an idea. The real catalyst came from my son. He suggested the planner concept, something designed specifically for ADHD brains, not a generic productivity tool. We built it, listed it on Amazon, and it took off. That success showed me something crucial, there was real demand for tools designed for ADHD people, not at them. Once the planner started working, I looked at everything else I'd already created for myself and my family, including the systems, templates, and tools that had changed how we lived. I thought, "Why keep these to ourselves?" I already had them. They worked. So I started selling them too. The brand grew because the tools actually solved real problems. People weren't just buying a planner, they were buying something that finally worked with their brain instead of against it. Here's what I noticed, having the right tools wasn't enough. People needed support. They needed to understand why these systems work. They needed accountability, community, and someone who understood the ADHD experience guiding them through implementation. That's when MindCastle Creations became what it is today, not just selling tools, but building a complete ecosystem where people can learn the philosophy, get the practical systems, and actually implement them with real support. The eight-week program exists because people asked for the next level, “How do I actually build this into my life?” MindCastle isn't about selling more stuff. It's about creating a castle people can actually live in, not just buy a blueprint for. Why do you believe so many people mistake struggling with poorly designed systems for a lack of motivation or discipline? ADHD masking is invisible. People see someone who appears functional, who shows up, and who gets things done, but they don't see the elaborate systems running in the background. They don't see the extra energy being spent just to appear normal. So when someone with ADHD struggles, the blame lands in the wrong place. It's not “this system doesn't work for their brain.” It's “they're lazy,” “they lack discipline,” or “they're not trying hard enough.” Here's the brutal part, people start believing it about themselves. You buy another planner. You download another app. You promise yourself this Monday will be different. You create elaborate systems that would make a project manager weep. Then you can't stick with them, which just confirms the lie you already believed, something is wrong with me. Here's the truth, your brain isn't broken. It's wired for improvisation, not factory settings. You handle crisis incredibly well and routine incredibly badly. You need external structure where other people rely on internal habits. That is not a personality defect. It is a design mismatch. Most people don't understand this distinction. They think willpower is the problem, so they blame themselves. They try harder, buy more planners, download more apps, and the cycle continues. What they actually need is different design, a system that works with their brain instead of against it. Once you realize that, everything shifts. You stop trying to fix yourself and start building systems that fit. Traditional productivity advice often encourages people to change themselves. What do you think becomes possible when they start changing their systems instead? Everything. Seriously. When you stop trying to become someone else and start designing for who you actually are, the relief alone is transformative. Traditional productivity advice is built on a lie, that if you're disciplined enough, motivated enough, or committed enough, you can do anything. So you internalize the message that your failures are personal failures. You're not organized enough. You're not focused enough. You're not trying enough. Here's what actually happens when you shift to systems, you stop wasting energy on self-improvement and start building things that work. Instead of “I need to be more disciplined,” it becomes “I need a system that works without relying on discipline.” Instead of “I should be able to focus on boring tasks,” it becomes “Let me design tasks in a way that doesn't require my brain to generate dopamine for something it can't.” Instead of “I'm lazy,” it becomes “I need external structure and accountability, and that's just how I function best.” When you make that shift, suddenly you're not fighting yourself anymore. You're not burning energy trying to be someone you're not. You can actually live instead of constantly trying to fix yourself. Here's the beautiful part, systems scale. A system that works for you can work for your family, your team, and your business. You're not building a life around willpower, you're building a life around design. That's sustainable. That's actually possible. Most people spend their entire lives trying to be different. What becomes possible when you finally stop? Your philosophy has evolved into a book, practical tools, and educational programmes. How do those different pieces help people turn ADHD knowledge into systems they can actually use? Knowledge alone doesn't change lives. I learned that quickly. You can understand intellectually that “your brain works differently” and still feel like a failure when you can't stick to a system. You can know that ADHD isn't a character flaw and still spiral into shame when you forget something important. Understanding and doing are two completely different things. That's why the different pieces exist. They're designed to work together. The book gives you the why. It's grounded in real examples from my experience, but it's really about your systems and how to build them. It helps you stop blaming yourself for things that are wiring, not character flaws. It shows you that you're not broken, the systems are, but knowing that intellectually isn't enough. That's where the tools come in. The planner and the workbooks are designed to get you out of your head and into something practical. They're not generic productivity tools. They're built around how ADHD brains actually function, with external structure, flexibility for chaos days, and permission to not be linear. Here's the thing, even the right tools don't work if you're using them alone. That's why the eight-week program exists. It takes the workbook, the backbone of everything, and adds the layer that actually changes behavior, accountability, community, and someone who understands ADHD guiding you through implementation. Less fixing. More understanding. Less forcing. More building. That's not just a tagline, it's the architecture of how everything works together. The book rewires how you think about yourself. The tools give you something practical to do. The program gives you the support to actually stick with it and build a life that fits your brain. For someone who has spent years blaming themselves for struggling, what is one practical change that can make everyday life feel more manageable? Stop separating “I failed” from “this setup doesn't fit how my brain works.” That sounds simple, but it's everything because most of the shame people carry isn't actually theirs to carry. School was designed for kids who self-regulate easily and thrive on routine. Work assumes you'll self-motivate on boring tasks without external structure. Your planner assumes you'll check it daily without reminders. You've spent years collecting evidence that something is fundamentally wrong with you. Here's the truth, your brain isn't broken. Most systems just aren't designed for how ADHD brains actually function. When you start asking yourself the real questions, “Was I actually lazy, or was I trying to use a tool that doesn't work for my brain? Am I unmotivated, or is this task boring in a way that my brain literally can't generate dopamine for?” something shifts. You realize that struggling with a mismatched setup isn't the same as being broken. That distinction changes everything. Once you separate those two things, you can actually do something about it. You can stop wasting energy trying to become someone else and start building systems that fit who you actually are. You can stop blaming yourself for needing external structure, reminders, and flexibility on hard days because needing those things isn't a character flaw, it's just how your brain works. The practical change isn't complicated. It's this, the next time you struggle, ask yourself, "Is this a me problem or a system problem?" Most of the time, it's a system problem, and system problems have solutions. Your problems don't. That one shift, from blame to design, makes everyday life feel manageable because you're finally working with your brain instead of against it. Building multiple businesses while navigating ADHD and burnout has shaped your perspective in unique ways. What has that journey taught you about creating a life that works with your brain instead of against it? That you can't scale something unsustainable, no matter how good it is. My first burnout happened right after I finished my HBO in web development, a four-year degree compressed into two years while I was a single mom with a job. On paper, I was succeeding. In reality, I was surviving. I didn't find my calling until I was 32. Web development was it, but I was learning it while surviving, not thriving. Starting my own company, Dutch K Design, changed things. The autonomy was better. I could finally breathe a little, but then life threw curveballs. When my mom passed away, it collided with the exact moment I was starting MindCastle. I was grieving, launching a business, and trying to figure out how to do it all while navigating ADHD, single parenthood, and the weight of loss. That's when I realized something crucial. You can't build a sustainable business on an unsustainable life. The turning point was asking myself hard questions, "What energizes me? What drains me? When do I actually do my best work?" And then, this is crucial, designing around those answers instead of fighting them. For me, that meant being intentional about the work I take on. Through Dutch K Design, I do work that plays to my strengths, creative problem-solving and systems, but MindCastle, that's my dharma, as Jay Shetty would say. It's the passion project close to my heart because I genuinely believe I can make a difference in how people see themselves and their ADHD. That's what drives me. That's the real lesson. Your business model, your daily schedule, and your systems should all be designed around how you actually work, not around how you think you should work. That's what I help people do through MindCastle because every ADHD brain is different, and every toolbox looks different. There's no one-size-fits-all system. My job is to guide people in building their toolbox, the one that actually fits their brain because if your life doesn't fit your brain, you'll burn out no matter how successful you are on paper. I learned that the hard way. If readers remember just one idea from this conversation, what do you hope it changes about the way they see themselves or someone they care about? That struggling doesn't mean broken. I want people to stop separating their ADHD from their worth. To stop believing that needing help, needing structure, or needing things to be designed differently are character flaws. They're not. They're just how your brain works. If you're reading this and you've spent years thinking something is fundamentally wrong with you, I want you to know, it's not. You're not lazy. You're not unmotivated. You're not broken. You're just using the wrong systems. If you're reading this and someone you care about has ADHD, whether it's your kid, your partner, or your friend, I want you to see them differently too. Stop asking them to try harder. Stop wondering why they can't just stick with it. Instead, ask, "What system would actually work for their brain?" Once you make that shift, everything changes. Your brain isn't the problem. The design is, and the beautiful part? Design can be changed. Systems can be rebuilt. You don't have to become someone else. You just have to build something that fits who you actually are. That's the permission I want to give you. That's the difference I want to make. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kim van Dijk

Written by Clio Bushland, Courageous Living and Leadership Specialist Clio Bushland is a specialist in Courageous Living and Leadership. She combines her background in Marriage and Family Therapy, neuroscience, and over two decades of business leadership. She helps people transform fear into useful data and energy while aligning their actions with their goals. The Greeks are losing. Ares is raging across the battlefield with the Trojans, and the Greek soldiers are falling. Hera has a problem. She and Athena made a promise to Menelaus that he would not return home until Troy had fallen, and it was not looking good for Menelaus. Hera appeals to Athena for help in turning the tide against Ares and the Trojans. Athena prepares for war. She puts on the tunic of Zeus and arms herself. She puts on a helmet and takes up her spear. Finally, she puts on the aegis. The aegis is a terrifying thing. Descriptions differ on whether it is a shield, breastplate, or cloak, but whatever it is, it inspires awe and fear. It belongs to Zeus, but Athena is carrying it into battle. The aegis has the monstrous head of the Gorgon. Homer also describes four more forces such as fear, strife, pursuit, and Alke. Alke, ἀλκή, doesn’t translate neatly into English, but some of the better words are courage, prowess, defense, resistance, strength, and might. One Greek lexicon defines it as “strength displayed in action,” which is my favorite definition. Not strength visualized or declared, but strength in action. Homer personifies Alke as a divine figure, and I cannot stop thinking about her. We have plenty of words for what we lack We have developed an impressive list of words to describe the qualities needed for success, confidence, motivation, discipline, resilience, grit, and self-belief. Books, podcasts, courses, and morning routines are devoted to these topics. There are also planners, masterminds, and probably even supplements. All of these qualities are good qualities. All of them are useful, and a big part of my professional life is helping people to unearth and increase these qualities. The problem is that the emphasis on becoming can create the illusion that there is a version of ourselves we must achieve before we can go after what we want and fully inhabit our lives. It goes something like this, when x happens, then I will y. When I am more confident, I will start my business. Once I am less afraid, I will pitch that speaking engagement. After I believe in myself, I will start posting on social media. I’ll have the conversation, make the offer, write the books, leave the job, make the ask, say yes, and say no after I have reached an internal place where I can do that without the fear and uncertainty I feel now. The problem is that the relationship between those internal qualities and external reality is complex. There is no straight line. Strength displayed in action The ancient meaning of alke is richer than our modern idea of bravery. It can be defensive or offensive. It involves prowess, mettle, courage, and spirit. In all meanings, it is a word that resists cleanliness. It is a word with dirt under its fingernails. It isn’t about how you feel. It isn’t asking who you think you are or what you think your limits are. It is asking, “What will you do?” Not, “Do you have what it takes?” Not, “What does this say about you?” Not even, “Are you brave enough?” “What will you do?” You don’t have to prove anything. You just have to participate. Unfortunately, it’s more complicated than “just do it!” It would be convenient, and lucrative, if I could tell you the secret is simply to stop thinking and act, but I can’t, because I don’t believe it. My background in Marriage and Family Therapy makes me professionally incapable of believing that humans, and the systems they build, are that simple. Who we are affects what we do. What we do affects who we are. What we think affects what we do. What we do affects what we think. We used to believe that emotion and logic were separate systems. Neuroscience has challenged that. It looks like logic and emotion are more like related parts of one system we use to make sense of the world and decide what to do in it. Remove either piece, and decision-making suffers. So there is no single, simple answer. Sometimes we need to trust ourselves and act fast. Sometimes we need more information before we act. Sometimes we need to calm our nervous system so we can think clearly. Sometimes we need help. Sometimes fear is something to move through. Sometimes fear is a warning we would be foolish to ignore. Eventually, we do something. Something happens. We learn. We gain a skill, or information, or humility. Maybe we gain a spectacular story of something we will never do again. Maybe we succeed. Maybe we don’t. Either way, it shapes who we become and how we think, feel, and act. That relationship is one of the most powerful and challenging things about being human. The world gets a vote There is a version of agency that is sold to us that sounds wonderfully reassuring, you create your future, choose the life you want, and make it happen. We can influence what happens next. Sometimes enormously, but it is also true that we are not omnipotent. Courage does not guarantee the outcome. Neither does hard work, intelligence, talent, or preparation. We can have all of that and still fail. We can make the best decision possible in the moment and still later discover we were wrong. We can build something wonderful that nobody buys. We can say what needed saying and still lose the relationship. We can train and still lose. We can even make a terrible decision and get lucky. Obviously, the outcome matters. If you start a business, you want it to succeed. If you work to repair a relationship, you want it to improve. If you apply for an opportunity, you want the answer to be “yes.” We care deeply about what happens. We work hard for it, and the moment we act, we encounter everything we don’t control, other people, markets, bodies, timing, systems, weather, and chance. We send a proposal, but someone else decides whether to accept it. We say what we mean, but someone else interprets it. We build the thing, but the market decides what happens next. We control what we do, but we don’t control what happens next. That is terrifying. It is also beautiful. Courage doesn’t guarantee victory. Courage changes what becomes possible. We don’t need to be fearless Which brings me back to Athena. Homer put Alke in a martial battle because she belonged to the world of battle. Even though that is not my world in the literal sense, I still love the image. Athena does not carry Alke into a peaceful world. She carries her into the fray. Not after the terrifying part is over. Not as a way to fend off the terror. Into it because no amount of confidence, wisdom, or self-belief makes the world stop being scary. It isn’t supposed to. That’s why we have courage. Alke. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Clio Bushland Courageous Living and Leadership Specialist Clio Bushland is a specialist in Courageous Living and Leadership who helps people move through fear with clarity and intention. Her background spans Marriage and Family Therapy, neuroscience, nonprofit leadership, and more than two decades of hands-on business management. She teaches people to transform fear from a barrier into useful data and energy, making it possible to align their actions with their goals in both work and life. Clio is known for blending research with real-world practicality, supporting leaders and individuals in building the resilience and skills needed to navigate today’s complex and rapidly changing world.

Jonathan Shanks works with trauma, nervous system dysregulation, inherited patterning, and disconnection from the self through a blend of somatic, energetic, ancestral, and systemic approaches. At the core of his philosophy is the belief that acceptance is the gateway to authentic healing, and that meaningful change cannot occur without first including the parts of ourselves that have been rejected, suppressed, or disconnected. In this interview, Jonathan shares his journey from a successful career in advertising and digital production into healing work, the principles that guide his practice, and why he believes genuine transformation begins with honesty, embodiment, and a more cohesive relationship with the self. Jonathan Shanks, Healer, Facilitator, Energy Worker How would you describe what it is that you do? I help people reconnect to themselves. That means connecting back to the body, recalibrating their relationship with the mind and belief systems, and opening the doorway to spirit. Spirit, in this context, is the sense of being part of something much greater than the self. It’s not about fixing anyone. It’s about helping to remember what was never lost. At its heart, my work is about helping people come back to the reality of themselves. Beyond trauma, fear and stuck-ness, towards freedom, liberation and authentic self-expression. How did you get involved in this line of work? I spent the best part of 30 years bypassing my own complex trauma, overwhelm and nervous system dysregulation. Like many people, I was functional on the outside but disconnected internally. Eventually, life forced me to stop and confront what was unresolved. Those moments of collapse were also the beginning of transformation. In my 30s I went through two pivotal traumatic experiences which completely changed the trajectory of my life and forced me to start looking deeply into myself to try and understand why these things had happened to me. I call them my big red stop signs. They were forced opportunities for waking up. Did you do something else before this? Yes. I worked for over two decades in advertising, digital production and product development. I travelled extensively and operated in environments that demanded constant output and high performance. It was unfeasible and unsustainable. The contrast between that world and the work I do now couldn’t be more stark. Still, what I learned about business and systems continues to inform how I structure and hold my healing work today. What’s it like retraining later in life? The biggest challenge is psychological. You have to confront the internal voices that say “you’re too old, it’s too late, or that you’ll never manage it.” These are fear responses, not truths. Once you meet them enough times and change your relationship to them, they start to lose their grip on you. Financially, the shift was just as tough. Going from disposable income to none at all was a challenge. But like everything, it brought its own teachings. How did you choose what to study and train in? I was initially drawn to Osteopathy. A tutor at nutrition college was an osteopath, and he taught in a deeply embodied and intuitive way. That seemed to stay with me. From there, my path unfolded through direct experience. I followed what felt alive in my body. I studied Naturopathic Nutrition, Yoga and Embodied Movement, TRE and Nervous System Regulation, Family / Systemic Constellations, and later began focusing heavily on energetic and shamanic practices, to tie together evidence-based work with wider-lens modalities, rooted within belief. Why do you call yourself a healer? It’s the word that best describes what I do. I’ve explored many ways to name my offering, but healer remains the most accurate. One of my mentors once suggested the term ‘Energetic Transformation Coach’, but it felt like too much of a mouthful. Healer is simple and truthful. I also refer to myself as a Facilitator and an Energy Worker as the reality is that I’m all of these things. What kinds of modalities do you work with, and how do they integrate? My work brings together a number of different approaches. I use energetic awareness, shamanic principles, somatic regulation tools, Family / Systemic Constellations, and re-programming of the conceptual and subconscious aspects of the mind. In some sessions, elements of Physical Mediumship may also arise, depending on what the client’s system is ready to work with. These modalities don’t sit side by side. They blend and respond intuitively to what’s present in the session. Some work happens in the body, some through the energetic field and some through ancestral connection. My role is to track the intelligence of the client’s system and follow what it reveals. Unlike traditional talk therapy, my work moves beyond the mind to engage the body and energetic field, enabling shifts that happen more deeply and often more quickly. What kind of issues do people bring to you? I work with a wide range of challenges, but most clients are navigating unresolved trauma, nervous system dysregulation, long-term fragmentation from the self, and inherited patterns that sit beneath conscious awareness. Many clients come after trying talk therapy or coaching and finding that it hasn’t reached deep enough. The work I offer is experiential. It allows the body and the field to reveal what’s ready to be seen and included. Clients often describe feeling more embodied, clearer in their purpose and more able to move through life with greater ease after just a few sessions. What does a session with you usually involve? Every session is different, but we always begin with grounding and sensing into the body. I do this by allowing my energetic system to regulate the client’s body, then guiding them into simple nasal breathing. This activates the primary breathing muscles and starts to shift the nervous system into a parasympathetic state. From there, I follow what emerges. This could involve energetic transformation, somatic release, ancestral connection or embodying a hidden aspect of the psyche. I act as a translator, reflecting back what I sense and feel in the client’s system, allowing unspoken or subconscious material to surface and be looked at. It’s not scripted. It’s about meeting what’s there, honestly. What do you think drives someone to do this kind of work? It’s not something you choose in the traditional sense. It's something that’s moving through you. My whole life I felt connected to everything and everyone, without understanding why. Eventually, I realised that life itself had been preparing me. Training with elders has helped me see that this path is less of a career and more of a calling. How do you look after yourself while holding complex trauma, personally and ancestrally? I have daily non-negotiables. I regulate my nervous system, practise TRE, and use energetic hygiene to clear what’s not mine. I go regularly to a traditional Banya sauna, which helps me release and reset on a physical level. I also find restoration in sound, especially deep electronic music. I’m a nudist and so being naked outside, close to the elements reminds me how small and insignificant I am in comparison to the vastness of the natural world. It’s grounding and it brings me directly into reality. Comedy also plays a big role. I watch stand-up live or via YouTube regularly. It helps keep things light. It’s a polarity practice. A way of balancing the depth and tenderness of the work I do. Who and what inspires you? My close friends who are walking similar paths and developing meaningful work in this space. My teachers, old and new, who remind me to stay humble and continue excavating the parts of myself that are still hidden. Gabor Maté’s early work, especially When the Body Says No, had a strong impact on me. Neville Goddard opened me up to the power of imagination and the importance of a faith-based practice. More recently, Joshua Schrei of the Emerald Podcast has been a profound source of insight and inspiration, thanks to the depth and nuance within his teaching. I’ve just begun reading William Blake. I have a sense he will provide a significant amount of creative nourishment over the latter part of this year. What values do you hold yourself accountable to? I try to live by these words, integrity, honesty, transparency, and practicality. It’s my mission to redefine how this kind of work is spoken about and delivered. So much of the world I move within can be overcomplicated and jargon-filled, with fluffy language and overly conceptual frameworks trying to explain what’s happening. That’s why people glaze over when you mention the words psychic or medium. They often associate these things with airy, untethered or ungrounded people. I deliver all my work from a place of unconditional love and radical acceptance of what arises. But I’m also incredibly direct, honest and transparent about what’s unfolding and why clients may be stuck or not seeing shifts. It’s not my job to do the work for them. I point and show the way. It’s then up to the client to walk the new path. It’s possible to work with esoteric or indigenous healing frameworks, whilst delivering them through a modern lens. That’s my exact intent for how I deliver my work. How do you find new clients? I work mostly by word of mouth. That has been the foundation of my practice. I also send a newsletter through my website, where I share reflections, updates and case studies. I’ve resisted traditional marketing and social media for a long time. This partnership with Brainz is my first step toward more traditional forms of visibility and promotion. Who do you work with? As a gay man who spent years struggling with authentic expression, I have a deep desire to work with the gay population. There’s so much trauma in this group, often rooted in early childhood experiences, abuse, neglect and rejection. The epidemic of chemsex and addiction isn’t about pleasure or freedom. It’s a direct response to unresolved pain and abuse. That said, I work with everyone. My one-to-one client base is evenly split between men and women. As I begin to move more into group settings, I’ll offer spaces specifically for gay men, as well as mixed and gender-specific groups. What’s coming next in your work? Over the past 2 years I’ve focused almost entirely on one-to-one sessions. That period was about refining the work and allowing it to mature. Now I’m beginning to focus more on group offerings, with a new brand that will launch in 2026. This will include workshops, retreats and week-long intensives that allow for deeper transformation and more communal healing. I also plan on collaborating with other practitioners whose work complements my own. What do you think is the biggest issue in the wellness or healing industry? The difference between healing and self-improvement. Most of the wellness industry offers self-improvement, not healing. Healing begins with complete acceptance of the self, through all layers of the mind and body. You cannot truly grow or evolve until you’ve met yourself fully and accepted what is. It took me more than 40 years to fully understand and embody this. I spent thousands of pounds and countless hours trying to improve myself whilst still rejecting who and what I was. This is the ultimate dance of delusion. I’ve written an article about this, using my personal experience to communicate the point. What would you say to someone who is curious about healing but unsure where to start? Be open and curious. Choose a practitioner who feels safe and whose language resonates with you. Healing doesn’t require you to be fixed. It only asks that you’re willing to meet yourself more honestly than you have done before. Try to find someone who can work with both the mind and the body. Go with what you feel. Let your decision come from intuition or body wisdom. That initial response in your gut often carries more truth than the endless spin of the mind. Many people also wonder whether energy or somatic work is right for them. I encourage openness, because this kind of healing is accessible to anyone. How can people find out more about you and your work? The best place is through my website, but I’ll list below the ways that you can get in touch with me: Email: js@jonathanshanks.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 7967 075377 On my website, you can also sign up to my newsletter, where I write about the themes I’m exploring in my work, share reflections and case studies, and offer ways to connect. I offer a free 20-minute video call to anyone interested. It’s a chance to connect and see whether we’re the right fit. So if you’re ready to dive in, you can go ahead and book your session here. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jonathan Shanks

Written by Joseph Arabi, Author & Founder of Fiklyn Press Joseph Arabi is an author, storyteller, and founder of Fiklyn Press, an independent publishing house dedicated to cross-cultural narratives. He is the author of Roots Across Borders, Fikayo Saves the Playground, and the novel The Callin Divide. What happens after the suitcase is unpacked and the excitement of arrival fades? Joseph Arabi’s memoir, Roots Across Borders, explores the less visible side of migration, rebuilding a career, learning unfamiliar systems, raising a family, and discovering that belonging is not simply something we find, but something we build. What does starting again really involve? Immigration is often discussed through statistics, visas, and policy, but behind every number is a person making decisions about work, housing, family, identity, and the future. Roots Across Borders brings those questions into everyday life, the workplace, supermarket, school gate, public transport, and family home. Its central message is simple, crossing a border can mean having to prove yourself again, even when your skills and experience are real. 1. Your qualifications may not travel as easily as you do A skilled immigrant can arrive with education, professional experience, and ambition, yet still face rejection or uncertainty. Starting again may mean rebuilding professional credibility and learning how a new labour market works. The lesson is not to mistake an early setback for a final verdict on your ability. Your experience may be real. Your ambition may be real. Your ability may be real, but when you cross a border, you may still have to prove yourself all over again. That is one of the hidden costs of starting again. 2. Knowing the language does not mean knowing the system Everyday English can feel very different from the language of forms, regulations, applications, and official correspondence. Banking, healthcare, housing, and employment can introduce unfamiliar processes and acronyms. Learning the system becomes part of the migration journey, and patience becomes as important as determination. One missed instruction can become another delay. One misunderstanding can become another expense. One rejection can become another blow to confidence. That is where Roots Across Borders becomes particularly compelling. It takes the immigration conversation away from the abstract and brings it into the kitchen, the supermarket, the workplace, the school gate, the bus, the train station, and the family living room. The book's stated focus is the experience of a skilled immigrant worker and his family navigating post Brexit, post COVID Britain, exploring resilience, cultural adaptation, family bonds, career stability, and the search for belonging. It is, in other words, a story about immigration, but it is also a story about being human. 3. Small expenses can carry big emotions Some of the most powerful immigrant stories are not found in dramatic events. They are found in supermarkets, at checkout counters, on buses, in conversations, and in the quiet calculations people make in their heads. Can we afford this? What does that cost in the currency I know? Am I spending too much? What will this mean for the family budget? The memoir captures this emotional side of migration particularly well. The adjustment to British currency and living costs becomes more than an economic exercise. It becomes psychological. The book explores what it calls “Conversion Fever”, the instinctive habit of mentally converting British prices into the currency of one's home country. Suddenly, a seemingly ordinary purchase can become an emotional event. A meal is no longer simply a meal. It becomes a calculation. A supermarket bill becomes a reminder that everything has changed. Slowly, the immigrant has to learn a new financial reality. This is one of the book's strengths, it finds the extraordinary inside the ordinary. 4. The biggest barriers are not always visible An accent, surname, foreign qualification, lack of local experience, or unfamiliarity with workplace culture can create friction. The book avoids reducing every difficulty to discrimination, recognising that bureaucracy, economics, culture, perception, and unfamiliarity can overlap. The immigrant experience can contain both disappointment and opportunity. Roots Across Borders does not suggest that every difficulty is caused by discrimination. Instead, it presents a more complicated picture in which bureaucracy, culture, economics, unfamiliarity, and perception can combine to make integration difficult. That distinction matters because the immigrant experience cannot always be reduced to victimhood, nor can it honestly be reduced to triumph. It is often somewhere between the two. There are disappointments. There are opportunities. There are people who help and people who misunderstand. There are moments of loneliness and moments of profound connection. There are days when simply getting through the day feels like an achievement. 5. Community can turn survival into belonging Neighbours, colleagues, mentors, friends, charities, and fellow immigrants can make an enormous difference. A recommendation, an explanation of a form, or simply hearing “I have been through this too” can restore confidence. Networking, volunteering, and mentorship also create a powerful shift, the person who once needed help can eventually become someone who helps others. The book describes community as a source of practical and emotional support, particularly when navigating employment, healthcare, and cultural barriers. There is something profoundly universal about that. Most people, regardless of where they were born, understand what it feels like to need somebody. The person who explains the form. The colleague who recommends you for an opportunity. The neighbour who checks on you. The friend who says, “I have been through this too.” For an immigrant, those seemingly small acts can become enormous. They say, you are not alone. 6. Children often become bridges between worlds Migration changes the whole family. Children may adapt quickly to a new culture while continuing to encounter their parents’ traditions and expectations at home. Rather than seeing identity as a choice between two worlds, Roots Across Borders suggests that different parts of identity can coexist and even enrich one another. That idea gives the book relevance to anyone who has ever felt caught between cultures, generations, or expectations. 7. Belonging is built through ordinary moments Perhaps the deepest lesson is that belonging rarely arrives in one dramatic moment. It grows through conversations, friendships, work, community, family routines, and shared experiences. A Christmas trip, a new friendship, or simply realising that you are creating memories in your new country can mark a quiet turning point, the place that once felt unfamiliar begins to feel like home. Then there are the moments when life stops being about paperwork, applications, money, or uncertainty, and becomes simply life. In one of the memoir's later chapters, the family takes a Christmas trip to Glasgow. After the relentless rhythm of work, school runs, deadlines, and everyday responsibilities, they decide they need to pause. They board the train. They arrive in Glasgow. There are Christmas lights, markets, music, laughter, food, children discovering new things, a Ferris wheel, and the River Clyde. There is also an elderly couple, kind strangers who offer to take a family photograph. It is a beautiful reminder that the immigrant story is not supposed to remain a story of struggle forever. There must also be room for joy, discovery, ordinary family memories, and the moment when you look around and realise, we are actually living here now. The journey is not simply about arriving Roots Across Borders ultimately moves beyond the question of immigration and towards a universal question, "What does it take to belong?" The answer is neither complete assimilation nor permanent separation from the past. It is the ability to carry your roots while growing in new soil, to question your own assumptions, to contribute to your community, and to remain open to change. Roots Across Borders does not read like an indictment of Britain. Nor does it present Britain as a perfect destination where every dream comes true. Instead, it occupies the much more interesting territory between those extremes. Britain can be difficult. Britain can be welcoming. Systems can be frustrating. People can be kind. Cultural differences can create tension, but they can also create learning. The immigrant can feel like an outsider. The same immigrant can eventually discover belonging. That complexity is precisely what makes the story relevant to readers from different races, religions, nationalities, and social backgrounds. You do not have to agree with every political argument surrounding immigration to recognise the humanity of an immigrant family. You do not have to have migrated yourself to understand sacrifice. You certainly do not need to share the author's background to understand the desire to give your children a better future. A story worth continuing In an era when immigration can become an abstract political argument, personal stories restore the human dimension. Joseph Arabi’s memoir invites readers to look beyond labels and recognise the hopes, pressures, sacrifices, and contributions behind the word “immigrant”. Discover Roots Across Borders and explore the human story behind starting again. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website for more info. Read more from Joseph Arabi Joseph Arabi, Author & Founder of Fiklyn Press As an author and the founder of Fiklyn Press, Joseph Arabi writes to explore how shared human experiences can heal cultural and emotional divides. His published works range from deeply personal non-fiction capturing the immigrant family journey to inspiring children's books and contemporary fiction. With a craft honed through formal creative writing studies at Teesside University, Joseph combines personal experience with compelling storytelling to spark meaningful conversations. Explore his author profile to discover his books, articles, and latest literary projects.

Written by Valerie Priester, Self-Trust & Clarity Guide for Established Women Entrepreneurs Valerie Priester is a Self-Trust & Clarity Guide who helps established, heart-centered women entrepreneurs build unshakable self-trust. She supports them in moving forward with clarity, courage, and consistent action. You may already know what needs to happen next. The question is whether you trust yourself enough to move. There comes a point when clarity is no longer the thing you are waiting for. You have reflected, gathered information, considered the possibilities, and looked at the decision from every angle. Somewhere beneath all of that thinking, you already know. You know the conversation that needs to happen. You know what is no longer working. You know what wants to change, even if you cannot yet see exactly where that change will lead. This is often where clarity becomes uncomfortable because once you know, the work changes. The question is no longer simply, “What do I want?” It becomes, “Do I trust myself enough to honor what I know?” Clarity is not the finish line We tend to think of clarity as the breakthrough. If we could just get clear, then everything else would fall into place. Clarity matters. It helps us separate what is true from what is expected, familiar, or convenient. It reveals what still fits and what no longer does. But clarity alone does not create change. There is a space between recognizing what is true and actually living from that truth. That space is where self-trust becomes essential. You can know an offer no longer fits your business and continue delivering it because it is familiar. You can recognize that a boundary needs to change and still postpone the conversation. You can feel drawn toward a new direction and keep researching because you want proof before you begin. That does not necessarily mean you lack clarity. Sometimes it means clarity has done its job and is now asking something more of you. It is asking you to move. More information will not always make the decision easier There are times when more information is exactly what you need. Research, data, trusted counsel, and thoughtful conversation can sharpen a decision and reveal what you may not yet see. There is also a point when gathering more information becomes a way of delaying the vulnerability of choosing. We keep looking because we hope the next conversation will remove the risk. We ask one more person because we want confirmation of what we already sense. We revisit the decision because we want certainty to arrive before we move. The problem is that many meaningful decisions do not come with that kind of certainty. Leadership rarely offers a guarantee. Self-trust is not believing you will always make the perfect choice. It is knowing you can make the most honest decision available to you and trust yourself to respond to what unfolds. That is a much more grounded kind of confidence. You do not need the whole path Indecision often grows when we confuse the next step with the entire journey. We think that before we act, we should understand exactly how everything will work out. If we change the offer, we want to know what will replace it. If we say no to an opportunity, we want to know when another will appear. If we choose a new direction, we want proof that it will succeed before we begin. We try to solve the future before responding to the present, but clarity often arrives in layers. You may not know what the next version of your business will look like, but you know what you can no longer continue doing. You may not have every detail of a new direction, but you know what feels more honest now. The next aligned step does not need to answer every future question. It only needs to be true enough for where you are today. Movement creates the clarity that thinking alone cannot. Hesitation deserves discernment Hesitation is not something to ignore, but it is not always a stop sign either. Often, hesitation is wisdom. It asks you to slow down, gather more information, or acknowledge that something is not right. Other times, hesitation shows up because a decision requires more of you. It may ask you to become more visible. It may challenge an old identity. It may require you to disappoint someone, change your mind, or move without the reassurance of consensus. Feeling stretched does not automatically mean you are moving in the wrong direction. The more useful question is not, “Why am I hesitating?” but “What is this hesitation trying to tell me?” There is a difference between genuine misalignment and discomfort with growth. Self-trust develops as you become more capable of recognizing that difference. Self-trust is built in motion Many women wait to feel completely confident before making the decision, but confidence often comes after movement, not before it. Self-trust grows through evidence. You make a decision and discover that you can handle the outcome. You set a boundary and realize the relationship survives. You share the idea and learn something from the response. You change direction and see that evolution does not make you inconsistent. With each experience, you learn that you can rely on yourself. Not because every decision turns out exactly as planned, but because you become more confident in your ability to navigate what happens next. This is why self-trust is not something you simply think your way into. At some point, you have to practice it. Aligned action is not forced action Moving forward does not mean pushing yourself into constant action. There is a meaningful difference between stretching and overriding yourself. Aligned action can still feel uncomfortable. It may ask for courage, visibility, investment, or the willingness to leave something familiar behind, but beneath the discomfort, there is often a sense of congruence. Something in you recognizes that the move is yours to make. Forced action feels different. It is often fueled by urgency, comparison, proving, or the belief that you must disconnect from yourself in order to succeed. The goal is not to eliminate discomfort from decision-making. It is to become discerning enough to know when discomfort is part of growth and when pressure is pulling you away from yourself. Self-trust allows you to move without abandoning yourself in the process. The right support brings you back to yourself Self-trust does not require you to do everything alone. Sometimes support is exactly what helps you stop circling a decision long enough to hear what you already know. The right coach, mentor, advisor, or community does not replace your authority. They help strengthen it. They offer perspective, ask better questions, and reflect what can be difficult to see from inside your own experience. Support should not make you more dependent on someone else's answer. It should make you more capable of recognizing your own answers. That distinction matters because the goal is not to become better at following direction. It is to become more deeply connected to your own discernment. What if you already know? There may be something in your business or life that you have been trying to get clearer about, but sometimes the search for clarity continues long after the answer has already begun to take shape. In those moments, the more useful question may be, “What do I already know that I have not yet allowed myself to act on?” Often, what keeps us still is not confusion but the desire for reassurance. We want to know if the decision will work, that others will understand it, or that we will not regret it later. Yet self-trust asks us to loosen our grip on certainty and become more willing to honor what feels true now. That does not mean acting impulsively or forcing movement before we are ready. It means recognizing when clarity has already arrived and allowing it to influence how we lead, decide, and move forward because clarity becomes transformational when it stops being something you understand and becomes something you are willing to live. Ready to trust what you know? If you are clear that something in your business or life is ready to shift, but you find yourself circling the decision, second-guessing what you know, or waiting for certainty before you move, I would love to support you. You do not need someone else to hand you the answers. You may need the space to hear your own answers more clearly, trust what is already emerging, and identify the next aligned step. The Next-Level Clarity Session is the first step. It is a space to explore what is true now, uncover what may be keeping you in hesitation, and reconnect with the self-trust needed to move forward with greater clarity and intention. Click here to schedule your Next-Level Clarity Session. Designing your victory is a choice. Start today by trusting yourself enough to take the next honest step. Follow Valerie on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or visit her website for more info. Read more from Valerie Priester Valerie Priester, Self-Trust & Clarity Guide for Established Women Entrepreneurs Valerie Priester is a Self-Trust & Clarity Guide who helps established, heart-centered women entrepreneurs build unshakable self-trust so they can move forward with clarity, courage, and consistent action. As the creator of The Confident Clarity Pathway, she blends reflective depth with grounded planning to help women expand without overworking or abandoning themselves. Her work centers on one belief, "When women trust themselves deeply, they move boldly."

Written by Tara Swann, Emotional Empowerment Coach & Author Tara Swann is an Emotional Empowerment & Embodiment Coach and three-time author who guides women to alchemise emotional patterns and reclaim their inner power. She helps women manifest a life that reflects their deepest truth. As someone who struggled with anxiety for most of my life, I thought confidence was just something some people were gifted with. Anxiety was something I identified with, and something I thought I had to live with forever, until I discovered that the doorway between my anxiety and confidence was feeling. You don’t have anxiety When I was diagnosed with anxiety in my early 20s, I thought it was a life sentence. I’d think to myself, “I have anxiety now, and it’s just something I have to live with,” but what I wrote in my book, You Don’t Have Anxiety, is that anxiety should never be a diagnosis, it is a symptom, a symptom of something deeper. Eighteen months into my coaching business, I announced a free online training and immediately felt consumed by anxiety. I paced my house thinking, “How can I do this? I can’t speak to people,” and I almost cancelled. My coach at the time offered a perspective that changed everything, “Your thoughts are attached to feelings. If you release the feelings, the thoughts will disappear as a byproduct.” I sat quietly, breathed into the tightness in my chest and throat, and let myself feel it without judgement. Eventually, I cried, and with that release came unexpected clarity. I realised my fear of speaking stemmed from childhood, years of feeling criticised and challenged by my sister led my younger self to believe it wasn’t safe to use my voice. Those unprocessed emotions had quietly shaped my ability to speak for most of my life. Once I released the shame, worthlessness and inadequacy attached to those experiences, I showed up to that training with confidence, certainty and clarity. I remember thinking to myself, “If I can overcome a lifelong fear of speaking in 15 minutes, what else can I do?” Claiming your potential I always wanted to become a writer and published author, but a voice inside me told me I didn’t know enough and wasn’t good enough to write books. That voice stopped me from sharing my writing for years. Once I knew I could overcome these voices and fears, I used the tools to propel myself forward and not only write one book but publish three in the space of six months, as well as land some incredible speaking opportunities. When you claim what you desire, your internal voices and fears will inevitably arise. You can either let them control you, or you can observe them and allow them to lead you to what it is that you’re holding in your body as well. This is the doorway to your confidence. 3 steps to release your fears 1. Acknowledge the voice in your head Each time you try to claim your desires, whether it be writing a book yourself, going for a more challenging but exciting job, or maybe starting that business that lights you up, you have a voice that jumps in, telling you you’re not good enough, you need to know more, or maybe it’s better to stay where you are. That voice immediately attempts to talk you out of it, and if you’re reading this, you’ve likely listened to it a lot in the past. What if, instead of listening to it, you observed and acknowledged it? Thank that part of you for trying to keep you safe, since that’s ultimately its intention. 2. Feel what’s beneath the surface Once you’ve acknowledged that quiet but persistent voice in your mind, move your attention into your body and feel what’s there. You may feel a tightness in your chest, a knot in your stomach, or a sensation somewhere else in the body. Sit with that, place your hand on it, and just be present with it. After a moment, you may feel it shift or move, you may even want to cry or express and release your emotion in some other safe way. Allow it to move as it wants to, without judgement or pressure. Just observe and move with it. 3. Make your new choice Once you’ve felt the energy move through your body, take a few deep belly breaths. If you haven’t felt it move, that’s okay too. Just keep acknowledging it and breathing into it, without needing to fix or change anything. Whether it has or hasn’t shifted, you can still make a new choice. Your new choice may be that you are good enough. Your new choice may be to start your passion project and keep using this process whenever fear arises. Your new choice may be to raise your standards for yourself and how you show up. Whatever it may be, move forward in a way that honours that new choice. This is how you create self-trust and lasting change. Igniting your confidence The only thing standing between you and your confidence is the voice of fear. That voice of fear is likely a younger version of yourself, basing your ability to achieve your current desires on past experiences that simply aren’t relevant now. Using the 3-step process above to observe that voice and feel what’s there is how you begin to take back your power, show up differently, and truly claim what you want for your life. Some will say confidence grows when you do the thing that scares you, when you put yourself out of your comfort zone, and I don’t disagree, but what if you could also nudge your nervous system instead of stressing it? I found that stepping out of my comfort zone often meant my body went into a freeze response, which wasn’t at all helpful for my confidence, but allowing myself to become familiar with all parts of myself let me observe my responses instead of being overtaken by them. Command what you want You can command what you want for your life without wavering and allow life to show you where you’re still holding yourself back. You can do this before you “get out of your comfort zone.” By commanding what you want and raising your standards, you’re going to stretch yourself and your nervous system’s capacity to hold what you want, whether it’s a more fulfilling career or business, a deeper, more connected relationship, or more wealth and abundance. For me, that looked like stating to myself, “I am an author.” Then I showed up differently, wrote the book, and with each fear that arose, I stayed with it instead of trying to push through it, that process has led me to where I am now. Self-led liberation Life is going to continually show you where you’re not yet free, where you’re still living out of alignment, where you’re not showing up as your higher self, and where you’re not living up to your potential. This is a beautiful thing. This also means you don’t need to go digging for where you’re lacking confidence, but instead ask for what you want, start moving in that direction, and allow life to show you, through your thoughts and emotions, where you’re still internally blocking yourself from being a match for that. You get to liberate yourself, moment by moment, by observing what life is showing you instead of becoming a victim to it. At the end of the day, you have the confidence to create whatever it is you want, you just need to stop telling yourself you don’t. If you would love to learn other ways to activate your confidence, get your copy of You Don’t Have Anxiety, available in paperback, e-book, or audiobook. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Tara Swann Tara Swann, Emotional Empowerment Coach & Author Tara Swann is an Emotional Empowerment Coach, Author, and Speaker known for helping women alchemise emotional patterns into personal power. She guides women into deeper confidence, clarity, and self-connection through her unique blend of emotional mastery, feminine embodiment, and manifestation work. Tara is the author of You Don’t Have Anxiety, Becoming Her, and The Ocean Is She, and is currently deepening her expertise through formal Tantra Practitioner training. Her mission is to help women remember who they are and consciously create lives that feel aligned, expansive, and unapologetically alive.

Written by Dr. Moniek Garside, Mental Health Expert Dr. Moniek Garside, LCSW, is a mental health expert, licensed psychotherapist, speaker, educator, and author dedicated to helping people move from autopilot to awareness. Through her work in therapy, education, and wellness, she empowers individuals to prioritize self-care, set boundaries, and create space for intentional growth and healing. Suicide is complex. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is rarely the result of one circumstance or event. Many factors can increase risk, but there are also factors that can offer protection. These include support from family and friends, feeling connected to others, and having meaningful connections within our communities. Perhaps that is one of the most important places for us to begin the conversation during Suicide Prevention Month, connection matters. Suicide prevention isn't only a conversation for therapists, crisis professionals, or the month of September. It is also about how we show up for one another in our homes, friendships, workplaces, faith communities, schools, and everyday lives. We often hear the phrase "check on your people." It's an important reminder, but what does checking in actually look like? How do we create relationships where someone feels safe enough to tell us they aren't okay? When someone does open that door, can we stay present with what they're sharing rather than immediately trying to fix, minimize, or change what they're feeling? The CDC emphasizes that suicide prevention begins before a crisis. Our everyday interactions and relationships matter. The communities we create can help people feel connected, supported, and less alone. Breaking the stigma starts with safe conversations Stigma can show up through the negative beliefs, assumptions, or judgments we attach to certain experiences. When it comes to mental health, those beliefs can make an already difficult experience feel even more isolating. Someone may hesitate to talk about what they're experiencing because they're afraid of being judged, misunderstood, treated differently, or becoming a burden to the people they love. Others may simply not have the words to describe what they're feeling. Some of these beliefs are deeply rooted. They may have been passed down through families, cultures, communities, or generations. Perhaps you grew up in a home where mental health wasn't discussed. Maybe difficult emotions were something you were expected to "get over," keep private, or simply push through. We have an opportunity to change that narrative. Breaking stigma doesn't require us to become mental health experts. It can begin with compassion, empathy, and creating environments where people don't feel they have to hide what they're experiencing. Those conversations can begin early. No one is too young to need space for their emotions. When children learn that sadness, fear, disappointment, anger, and uncertainty are feelings they can talk about, we help give them a language for emotional well-being that they can carry into adulthood. Imagine what could change for future generations if asking for emotional support became as normal as asking for help when we are physically unwell. It's also important to remember that there is no single personality, diagnosis, experience, or circumstance that tells us who may experience suicidal thoughts. Someone can appear to be doing well and still be struggling beneath the surface. Rather than trying to determine who "looks" like they may be struggling, we can focus on creating relationships where people feel more comfortable talking honestly about how they're doing. Learn to notice when something has changed Sometimes supporting someone begins with knowing them well enough to notice when something feels different. A person who normally engages with family or friends may begin withdrawing. Someone may express increasing hopelessness, talk about having no reason to live, describe themselves as a burden, or begin saying goodbye in ways that seem unusual. Other warning signs can include significant changes in mood, sleeping or eating patterns, increased alcohol or substance use, giving away meaningful possessions, taking unusual risks, or making plans related to suicide. One change alone doesn't necessarily tell us what someone is experiencing. But new, concerning, or increasing changes deserve our attention. There is also an important difference between solitude and isolation. Solitude can be intentional and restorative. Someone may choose time alone to think, rest, pray, create, or recharge. Isolation can look different. It may involve pulling away from relationships, activities, or sources of support, particularly when that withdrawal represents a noticeable change from someone's usual behavior. Instead of assuming someone is "just keeping to themselves," we can become curious. A simple statement such as, "I've noticed you haven't seemed like yourself lately. How are you doing?" may create an opening for a conversation that otherwise might not have happened. Holding space doesn't mean having the perfect response One reason people may avoid conversations about suicide is the fear of saying the wrong thing. You don't have to have the perfect words. Holding space can be as simple as listening without judgment, resisting the urge to immediately problem-solve, taking someone's concerns seriously, and giving them room to speak honestly. It doesn't always require a formal sit-down conversation. Sometimes holding space happens in the car, while taking a walk, over coffee, or during an ordinary moment when someone begins sharing something deeper. We don't always have to bring attention to the moment. Sometimes we simply need to give the person our attention. Put the phone down. Listen. Ask another question. Allow silence. Try to resist immediately responding with "You'll be fine," "Don't think like that," or "Look at everything you have to be grateful for." These responses may come from a place of love and a desire to make things better, but they can unintentionally close the door someone has just worked up the courage to open. Instead, we can say, "I'm glad you told me." "I'm here with you." "Tell me more about what you've been experiencing." If you're concerned that someone may be thinking about suicide, it is okay to ask directly. Research summarized by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) indicates that asking someone whether they are thinking about suicide does not increase suicidal thoughts or behavior. NIMH recommends five actions, ask, be there, help keep them safe, help them connect, and follow up. You don't need perfect words to be a safe person. Sometimes presence is more powerful than advice. At the same time, holding space doesn't mean taking sole responsibility for someone's safety or well-being. Know your capacity and recognize when additional support is needed. Helping someone connect with a mental health professional, healthcare provider, crisis counselor, trusted family member, or another appropriate resource can also be an act of care. Creating communities where asking for help feels normal Suicide prevention isn't only about what happens between two individuals. We can also think about what we're creating collectively. What would change if emotional check-ins were a normal part of family conversations? What if "How are you really doing?" wasn't reserved for moments when something was obviously wrong? What if workplaces made conversations about mental well-being and available resources part of their culture rather than waiting until someone reached burnout or crisis? What if friends felt comfortable saying, "You've been quiet lately. I just wanted to check on you." What if parents gave children permission to name difficult emotions without immediately trying to fix or dismiss them? Creating supportive communities doesn't mean every conversation needs to center on mental health. It means creating enough openness that when someone does need to talk, the conversation doesn't feel unfamiliar or shameful. The CDC's approach to suicide prevention includes strengthening healthy connections, developing coping and problem-solving skills, improving access to care, and creating supportive environments. We aren't only watching for crises. We're building connections before a crisis occurs. 5 ways we can hold space for one another Ask beyond "How are you?" Our everyday questions can sometimes produce automatic answers. Try going one step further, "How are you really doing?" "What's been weighing on you lately?" or "How have you been feeling?" Then give the person enough space to answer honestly. Listen without rushing to fix. Not every difficult feeling requires an immediate solution. Sometimes people need an opportunity to say what they're experiencing without being judged, corrected, or rushed toward positivity. Pay attention to meaningful changes. Notice significant changes in someone's mood, language, behavior, relationships, sleep, substance use, or level of engagement. You don't have to diagnose or determine exactly what the change means. You can acknowledge what you've noticed and check in. Ask directly when you're concerned. If you are concerned that someone may be thinking about suicide, it is okay to ask, "Are you thinking about suicide?" Asking directly does not put the idea into someone's mind. Instead, it can create an opportunity for honesty and connection. Help connect and stay connected. Support doesn't have to end with one conversation. When appropriate, help someone connect with professional or crisis support and continue checking in afterward. A text, phone call, visit, or simple "I've been thinking about you" can remind someone that they don't have to navigate a difficult season alone. Final thoughts: Be a safe space Suicide Prevention Month reminds us that we all have a role to play, not by becoming therapists to the people we love, but by becoming more intentional about how we connect with one another. We can listen more carefully. Ask questions openly. Notice meaningful changes. Create homes where emotions can be discussed. Build friendships where vulnerability isn't treated as weakness. Encourage professional support without shame. Most importantly, we can remind the people around us that they don't have to wait until they're in crisis to say, "I'm struggling." Most of us will experience seasons when life feels heavier than usual. Normalizing honest conversations about those moments can help create communities where reaching for support feels less like an exception and more like something we are allowed to do. Sometimes holding space begins with something as simple as, "You don't have to go through this alone. I'm here, and I'm listening." This month, consider one small way you can help create that space. Check in with someone you haven't heard from. Make emotional conversations more normal in your home. Learn the warning signs. Share a mental health resource. Or simply become more intentional about listening when someone tells you how they're really doing. We may not always know what someone is carrying, but we can help create communities where they don't feel they have to carry it silently. If you or someone you know needs support If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or having thoughts of suicide, support is available. In the United States, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Support is available 24/7, and you can also contact 988 if you are concerned about someone you love. If there is an immediate life-threatening emergency, call 911. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Moniek Garside Dr. Moniek Garside, Mental Health Expert Dr. Moniek Garside, LCSW, is a mental health expert, licensed psychotherapist, speaker, educator, and author dedicated to helping individuals move from autopilot to awareness. With over two decades of experience in social work, psychology, healthcare, and education, she brings a practical and integrative approach to self-care, boundaries, and personal growth. Through her work, she creates space for reflection, healing, and intentional living. She's the founder of FitLife Wellness, LLC, where she supports clients, professionals, and communities in prioritizing their well-being. Through her writing and speaking, she empowers others to live with clarity, purpose, and self-awareness.

Fertility yoga teacher and reproductive wellbeing practitioner Alessandra Taylor supports individuals and couples navigating the emotional and physical challenges that can come with trying to conceive. Drawing from her experiences with motherhood and personal challenges, she explores how yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness can complement clinical fertility care while helping people reconnect with their bodies during uncertain times. In this exclusive interview, Alessandra shares how her journey into fertility yoga began, how practices can be adapted throughout fertility treatment, and the importance of self-compassion, communication, and emotional wellbeing along the path to parenthood. Alessandra Taylor, Yoga & Wellbeing Instructor What first led you from general yoga teaching into fertility and reproductive wellbeing? After having my children, I learnt that not everyone has the smooth-running fertility path that they should have. When a couple of my clients came to speak to me about whether yoga could help, it got me thinking, and I became curious to learn more about blood flow and how yoga can support lower cortisol levels. I realised yoga had so many benefits for supporting Fertility, so I delved deeper into finding out more. A lot of my clients were in stressful jobs that felt overwhelming. They also felt they couldn’t share if they were having Fertility treatment, therefore adding to their stress levels, which didn’t put their bodies and minds in the best place for conception to take place. I was pleased to explore further, as it has helped so many individuals and couples. How do you adapt a fertility yoga session for someone trying naturally compared with someone going through IVF? First, it is important to take a history from each person and understand whether there are any other symptoms that could affect their yoga practice. For someone trying to conceive naturally, the approach is similar to that of those who are undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Gentle hip-opening poses are good to get blood flow to the pelvic region, as well as a focus on the abdominal area to encourage a sense of connection. During IVF, the poses are adjusted according to each stage of the IVF cycle, from egg stimulation/collection to post-egg transfer, to factor in lethargy and tenderness in some parts of the body. Everyone has a different experience, so adapting the yoga practice is required here. Why do you encourage partners to be part of the fertility journey rather than focusing only on the person undergoing treatment? I believe conception is a shared journey, and it’s not just about the person who carries the child or who gives birth. When you feel an emotional connection with your partner, it ignites a spark and makes you feel that you are both in it together. It also helps the partner who is not carrying the child feel part of the experience. It is important to support each other every step of the way, which is why I encourage partners to be involved too. Now, I am a realist, and not all partners are willing to participate. I get that, and I am not here to make someone do something they don’t want to do; that defeats the objective. Like anything, the partners need to want to be involved, not just for their partners but for themselves. Some give it a go and realise it’s not for them, and others enjoy it and feel invested. I have found myself having to talk to couples where it is not working together and suggest focusing on the one having the treatment so they get the most out of the practice. Where do you think yoga and other wellbeing practices can genuinely support someone alongside clinical fertility care? Yoga, as well as other wellbeing practices such as meditation or breathing techniques, can help find inner peace and calm. When you want something so much, you can become fixated on it, which means it consumes your mind. You become anxious waiting for your period to come, and when it doesn’t, you become disappointed; the same happens when embryo transfer doesn’t work or when your body doesn’t collect enough eggs. This does not provide good balance for the body and mind. Gentle yoga practice and breathing can help the body and mind calm down a little. It doesn’t need to be a lengthy practice, even just 10 minutes per day to set your intention and provide clarity. Positive affirmations are also good, as well as being kind to yourself during this time. It helps prepare you to be in the most optimal state to receive. How has motherhood changed your understanding of pelvic floor health and the way women may need to adapt their yoga practice over time? I became a mother at the ages of 36 and 40. I have always been healthy and active, aware of my body and what it needed. So, when I did pregnancy yoga and Pilates, the instructors spoke a lot about the pelvic floor, how to engage it properly to support lower back pain in pregnancy and the importance of doing your pelvic floor exercises during and after pregnancy every day. I soon realised the relevance of this after giving birth naturally and noticed that I needed to work harder on my pelvic floor to avoid any issues later on in life. Thankfully I did, and I have a strong pelvic floor. I also recommend going to see a women’s health physio post-childbirth to test how strong your pelvic floor is. I managed to regain mine thanks to the exercise and knowledge I was given. What practices are most useful when fertility treatment starts to feel physically or emotionally overwhelming? It is important not to get yourself more overwhelmed than you already are. I think listening to a Fertility meditation helps calm the nervous system. I created one, based on the sacral chakra, which is focused around the abdomen area and helps restore calm and connection. Focusing on breathing techniques supports your inner peace; I am a big fan of the humming breath, which has supported me through difficult periods and reduces anxiety. I also like the cat and cow stretch to move the spine like a wave to reduce tension, and it doesn’t require you to think too much about holding a pose or breathing as you move. Sometimes you just need to flow and do what your body needs at that time. Undergoing Fertility treatment can be so stressful, mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. Treat yourself with the care you deserve during this time. What can couples do to stay connected when fertility challenges begin to place pressure on the relationship? Honest and open communication is key to the success of any relationship. Talking to each other about your feelings and worries helps share the load and makes you feel like you’re not alone. Having a deep understanding and appreciation for the other person’s feelings makes them feel seen, valued and heard. Having someone to hold you through your toughest days strengthens your connection and love for each other. It also helps you move closer to your shared goals and takes the pressure off. This is a great foundation to lead with into parenthood; it is also important to talk about how you would parent your children, as everyone has different upbringings and approaches to parenthood. Again, this all comes down to good communication and having the difficult conversations, even when you don’t want to. What has your own experience of grief taught you about finding the inner peace and calm you now encourage in others? Grief comes at different points in your life, whether it be the passing of a loved one or a relationship breakup, but acceptance of a situation helps with the healing process. We can all be prisoners to our minds, asking ourselves questions constantly and trying to make sense of why something has happened in the way it did. All that does is send your nervous system into a tailspin, and you feel vulnerable. I have sat with my feelings through difficult times. When I feel sad, I let my emotions come like a wave; I sit with them and don’t try to understand why it is happening. I allow myself to stay still with my thoughts and protect my peace. I tell myself this moment will pass, and I will be ok. Being kind to yourself during moments like this and telling yourself you are enough and that one day things will look brighter helps keep your body safe and still. What would you most like someone facing an uncertain fertility journey to understand about caring for themselves along the way? I would like them to feel that they are enough and to be kind to themselves. There is a tendency during these times to ask yourself why it is you who is experiencing such uncertainty, and I understand that way of thinking. However, flip it on its head and consider that this is only a chapter in your story and it is not the end. It is a moment of uncertainty, but consider that things can change and manifest the life you want to have, which includes children. This helps reset your focus and provides light and hope that you need to move forward. We always think we have a lot of time, but time doesn’t stand still, so use your time to focus on what you want and how you will set out to get it. Choose yourself, love yourself and give yourself permission to rest when you need to. Spend more time getting plenty of sleep, at least 7 hours and try to limit doomscrolling. Give your body the attention it deserves. For me, a walk in nature, moving my body each day for 20 minutes, and a good night’s sleep are the best remedies for self-care, which cost nothing. Follow me on Instagram for more info! Read more from Alessandra Taylor

Written by Connie Ng, Holistic Practitioner, Quantum Healing Facilitator & Transformational Coach Connie Ng is an international speaker helping people overcome chronic pain, mobility issues, and complex health challenges, especially when conventional approaches fall short. Integrating Five Elements philosophy, vibrational medicine, and mind-body coaching, she empowers clients to reclaim their health, reconnect with who they truly are, and create lasting transformation. In my previous biohacking article on Tissue Salts, I ended up asking a rather ambitious question: what if the real future of biohacking is not simply better gadgets, but becoming so biologically literate that we recognise imbalance earlier and prevent far more disease in the first place? I still like that idea enormously, but there is another side worth exploring: what happens when the desire to understand and optimise ourselves becomes so intense that health turns into another thing to control? I am very much pro-life in the literal sense. I want as many healthy years as I can get, and I suspect most biohackers do too. Why else invest so much time, money and attention in extending healthspan? Yet I am even more pro-living, because extending life and being sufficiently healthy, free and present to actually enjoy it are not quite the same thing. Spending those additional years auditing every meal, workout, supplement, glucose reading and sleep score rather defeats the purpose. It reminds me of the distinction between being fit and being healthy. They often overlap, but they are not automatically the same thing. Neither are longevity and living well. There comes a point where I have to ask whether we are still pursuing health or becoming increasingly anxious about our mortality. Can you really out-biohack a nervous system that still believes it needs to stay on guard? When longevity turns into mortality management An emerging phrase, “longevity fixation”, describes what can happen when trying to extend life becomes so consuming that the pursuit begins interfering with the life somebody was supposedly trying to preserve. It is not a formal medical diagnosis, but the behavioural pattern is interesting: increasingly rigid eating, obsessive tracking, elaborate supplement regimes, fear of missing workouts and experimentation with interventions that promise another possible advantage. Someone can look exceptionally disciplined from the outside while becoming increasingly preoccupied with illness, decline and death, until a pursuit that began with wanting more life quietly turns into an obsession with mortality. We can discuss endlessly what someone is eating and how they are training, but if mortality has become an obsession and every health decision is being made from fear, I would be keen to measure what that is doing to the nervous system. There is something wonderfully ironic about monitoring every conceivable marker of health while overlooking the anxiety generated by the monitoring itself. Most longevity enthusiasts presumably began because they wanted more life. That is precisely why pro-living resonates with me far more than merely accumulating years. What future are we training the nervous system to expect? Neuroplasticity means repeated experiences can shape brain function, while chronic stress can affect systems involved in threat processing, emotion, decision-making and autonomic regulation. That makes the story we repeatedly tell ourselves about our health rather important. A disappointing sleep score can remain useful information, or it can colour the entire morning because someone decides they have recovered badly. Missing one workout may be inconsequential, unless that person genuinely believes every skipped session is stealing something from their future. Even eating can become strangely joyless when every mouthful is mentally assessed for glucose response, inflammation, macros and longevity credentials. Growing older then stops being a stage of life and starts becoming an opponent. Nocebo research gives us another reason to take expectation seriously because negative expectations and learned associations can influence symptom and pain experiences. I explored neuroplasticity from another direction in What Future Has Your Diagnosis Quietly Persuaded You to Stop Imagining? For the longevity-minded reader, I would turn that enquiry around, "If we spend every day anticipating decline, what future are we training our nervous system to expect?" The need for control is already information This is where Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Five Elements theory gives me another lens through which to explore longevity fixation. I would never assign obsessive biohacking neatly to one element. What catches my attention is the increasing need to control food, sleep, exercise, supplementation and health metrics simply to feel okay. Through a Five Elements lens, that need for control immediately makes me curious about what is really driving it. Water is traditionally associated with fear, which may include fear of ageing, illness, losing capability or mortality itself. Earth brings themes of worry and overthinking, where looking after one's health can turn into an endless mental audit. Metal may show itself through rigidity, perfectionism and difficulty letting go, while Wood can become decidedly irritated when real life has the audacity to disrupt a beautifully organised protocol. I explored these emotional relationships more fully in When the Body Speaks: Decoding Mental Health with the Five Elements. When a longevity routine becomes rigid, compulsive and fear-driven, I would therefore look beyond whether the protocol itself is technically effective. The need to control it so tightly may already be an outward sign of emotional or psycho-spiritual imbalance, with the nervous system trying to manufacture safety through increasingly strict external rules, which is rather different from genuinely feeling safe within ourselves. Biohackers have become extraordinarily sophisticated at measuring the chemistry and performance of the body. I wonder whether the next frontier is becoming equally sophisticated about the emotional state of the person inhabiting it. If fear, worry, rigidity or another emotional pattern is helping to drive the need for control, another performance protocol would not necessarily be my first port of call. In my own practice, Plant Essences are among the quieter tools I may use alongside Five Elements Coaching and holistic counselling when exploring the emotional and psycho-spiritual terrain underneath what somebody is experiencing. I explored this more deeply in The Ancient Elixir Powering Quantum Performance (But No One’s Talking About It). Within vibrational medicine, we speak about emotional and energetic frequency, which may be a very different language from the metrics familiar to a biohacker. Yet the underlying question feels relevant: if we are prepared to optimise glucose, sleep, oxygen uptake and cellular health, why would emotional health sit outside the optimisation conversation? Plant Essences appeal to me in much the same way Tissue Salts do. Both are comparatively humble, low-tech systems centred on restoring balance rather than simply pushing the body towards another performance target. When a “gold standard” becomes everybody’s protocol Longevity culture understandably becomes excited when research identifies an intervention that improves an important marker. The Norwegian 4x4 is one example. It uses four high-intensity, four-minute intervals and has been studied for improving maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max). In one study involving healthy men averaging about 39 years of age who had not previously undertaken structured high-intensity training, the group using the 4x4 protocol improved VO₂ max by around 9% over six weeks. Cardiorespiratory fitness matters, and higher VO₂ max is strongly associated with better cardiovascular outcomes and lower mortality risk. Useful research, however, does not automatically become the right prescription for every person. Someone who sleeps beautifully, recovers quickly and genuinely enjoys hard interval training is starting from a very different place from somebody depleted, chronically stressed or dragging themselves through another session because they are frightened of losing fitness. That is why I resist the universalisation of a protocol. Research can tell us what happened within a studied population; it cannot tell us how you woke up this morning. TCM longevity also asks what we preserve Traditional Chinese Medicine brings another longevity concept into the conversation through Jing (精), or Essence. Pre-Heaven Jing is traditionally understood as our inherited constitutional reserve, associated with growth, development, reproduction and ageing. The Huangdi Neijing, the foundational classical text of Traditional Chinese Medicine, describes human development in age-related cycles. For women, the body is described as reaching a physical prime around 28, with decline beginning around 35 in the Yangming channels, referring here to the Stomach and Large Intestine meridian systems traditionally associated with abundant Qi and Blood. Men are described as reaching strong physical maturity around 32, with Kidney Qi beginning to decline around 40. Within that worldview, moving further through adulthood makes preserving deeper reserves, rather than continually testing how much we can expend, increasingly relevant. That gives repeated high-intensity training an interesting counterpoint. TCM certainly does not ask us to become sedentary and preserve ourselves like museum exhibits. Movement remains fundamental because Qi needs to circulate, and stagnation within the traditional framework is associated with imbalance. The more useful question is how we move. Taiji and Qigong combine controlled movement, posture, attention and breath without requiring every exercise session to become a contest with the body. Yoga brings its own traditions of Prana and breath, while Pilates approaches controlled movement, alignment and core strength from another lineage. Their philosophies differ, but they all remind us that movement can build strength, stability and vitality without necessarily needing to be punishing. VO₂ max matters, but HIIT does not own the patent on oxygen Modern research makes this contrast with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) even more interesting. A meta-analysis of 24 studies in older adults found that regular Tai Chi practice improved several measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, including VO₂ max, oxygen pulse and vital capacity. Qigong research offers another angle. One study comparing older Qigong and Tai Chi practitioners with sedentary controls found higher oxygen uptake and oxygen pulse among Qigong practitioners, as well as greater tidal volume, with diaphragmatic breathing suggested as one contributor to improved breathing efficiency. Another study found that three months of Qigong improved abdominal breathing, heart rate variability (HRV) and anxiety measures in college students with anxiety. Traditional Chinese internal practices often direct breath and awareness towards the Dan Tian (丹田) in the lower abdomen, understood within those traditions as an important centre for cultivating and storing Qi. Qi and VO₂ max belong to very different explanatory systems, but the overlap still intrigues me. Modern physiology can measure oxygen uptake, breathing efficiency, cardiorespiratory fitness and autonomic regulation, while traditional practices have spent centuries working with breath, movement and the cultivation of vitality. Perhaps modern research is starting to provide physiological language for some benefits that older movement traditions have observed experientially for a very long time. Seen from that perspective, modern biohacking's enthusiasm for breathwork suddenly looks rather less revolutionary. Hormesis, peptides and the increasingly long longevity laundry list Modern longevity medicine is increasingly interested in hormesis, adaptive stress and cellular ageing, which has inevitably created an expanding catalogue of interventions. Peptides are now firmly on that list. Approved peptide medicines have legitimate clinical uses. A rather different market has also developed online for unapproved injectable peptides promoted for anti-ageing, muscle growth, recovery and performance. Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has been particularly vocal about this lately. In August 2026, it seized more than A$120,000 worth of illicit peptide and anabolic steroid products, including retatrutide, CJC-1295 and BPC-157/TB-500 combinations. The regulator has also reported serious adverse effects associated with unapproved peptide products and warns that many sold online have not been assessed for safety, quality or effectiveness. If fear of ageing eventually persuades somebody to inject an unapproved product purchased through social media or an overseas supplier, I think it is reasonable to ask whether that remains a genuinely pro-life decision, or whether fear of mortality has quietly taken over the steering wheel. This also brings the discussion neatly back to the cellular foundations I explored in the article preceding this one. The basic idea that healthy cells matter is hardly new. Wilhelm Heinrich Schüssler was exploring mineral constituents of cells and tissues through Biochemic Therapy in the 19th century. In Can 12 Mineral Salts Change How We Think About Cellular Optimisation?, I explored that older framework through mineral relationships, absorption, dose, body intelligence and cell health. New does not automatically mean better, and old does not automatically mean wiser. What matters to me is whether we understand the basics before allowing the increasingly lengthy longevity laundry list to fry the nervous system we are supposedly trying to preserve. If the body is the temple, the Heart is the sovereign This brings me back to one of my favourite TCM ideas. The Huangdi Neijing describes the Heart as the sovereign ruler of the body and associates it with Shen (神). Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shen is commonly translated as Spirit, mind or consciousness. In broader Chinese usage, Shen (神) can also mean a god or deity. That linguistic overlap intrigues me. We often hear that the body is our temple. If Shen resides in the Heart and the same character can also carry the idea of deity, there is a philosophical connection here that I cannot resist. The modern biohacker is already trying, in a sense, to play God with their own biology. I am not taking the mickey out of biohackers here. Taking responsibility for our health and refusing to leave our future entirely to chance can be deeply empowering. In fact, that impulse is very close to the provocative idea I explored in the Tissue Salts article: perhaps increasingly sophisticated health technology should ultimately make us more biologically literate and more capable of recognising imbalance early. But sovereignty over our own health requires something more intimate than collecting information. We have to know the kingdom we are attempting to govern, and that means being able to 'feel' it. Can we notice our mood, tension, breath, digestion and energy well enough to distinguish genuine vitality from adrenaline? Can we tell whether today really feels like a day to sweat, or whether walking, Taiji, Qigong, Pilates, breathwork or an unapologetic rest day would serve the body better? A wearable can add information, but it cannot inhabit the body on our behalf. If the body is the temple and the Heart its sovereign, our emotions and physical sensations are not inconvenient noise interfering with the data. They are part of the information itself. This is what I have meant throughout this series when I talk about biohacking wiser. The Tissue Salts article asked whether modern tools and older systems of observation could help us recognise imbalance earlier, understand cellular health more intelligently and become better custodians of our own biology. This article adds another condition to that vision: we cannot become genuinely sophisticated custodians of the body while remaining frightened and disconnected from it. Optimisation should help us become more present and at home within ourselves, rather than more suspicious of every fluctuation. That is also why I keep distinguishing between being pro-life and being pro-living. I am all for extending healthspan, but I am even more interested in being well enough, free enough and present enough to enjoy the years I have worked so hard to preserve. Otherwise, we may succeed in biohacking the lifespan while completely missing the life. After all, life is for living. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Connie Ng Connie Ng, Holistic Practitioner, Quantum Healing Facilitator & Transformational Coach Connie Ng is a Multi-Disciplined Holistic Practitioner and Quantum Healing Facilitator who specialises in helping clients overcome chronic physical and emotional conditions by addressing their root cause at the energetic level. Blending Five Elements wisdom with Star Magic Healing, vibrational medicine, and holistic counselling, she facilitates deep transformation for those who feel stuck despite trying everything. Connie is the founder of The Salt Therapy Clinic & Sanctuary and works with clients both in-person and remotely.

Written by Vinitha Edward, Life Transformation Coach Vinitha Edward is a Life Transformation Coach and Founder of Transform & Thrive, empowering women to build meaningful habits and shift their mindset through journaling. She inspires women to embrace personal growth and create lasting transformation. What if you don't need a completely different life to feel more peaceful? What if you need to learn to see your life differently? We often tell ourselves: “I’ll be happy when…” When I reach my goal, have more money, my children grow up, I get the job, and life becomes easier. We keep waiting for something outside of us to change before allowing ourselves to feel peace and joy. But gratitude offers us another way. Gratitude is the practice of intentionally noticing and appreciating what is good in our lives, while still acknowledging what may be difficult. When gratitude becomes a daily practice, it can influence how we think, what we notice, and how we experience our lives. Gratitude shifts your mindset Our minds can easily become focused on what is wrong, missing, or not happening the way we want. The more we repeatedly focus on negative thoughts, the more familiar that pattern can become. Gratitude gives our attention another direction. Instead of constantly asking, “What's wrong?” We begin asking, “What's good?” Instead of, “What am I missing?” We begin noticing, “What do I already have?” This doesn't mean negative thoughts will never appear. It means that with consistent practice, gratitude can help create a more positive mental habit and reduce the amount of attention we give to negativity. What we repeatedly choose to notice can influence the mindset we carry through life. Two ways to practice gratitude There is a simple gratitude practice I love because it goes beyond appreciating what we already have: 1. Gratitude for what you already have This is the gratitude we naturally understand. “I am grateful for my family.” “I am grateful for my home.” “I am grateful for my health.” “I am grateful for the people who support me.” “I am grateful for another day.” But take it one step deeper. Don't just list it. Pause and feel it. Notice the ordinary things you may have started taking for granted. The morning conversation with your child. A peaceful cup of coffee. A friend who checked on you. Your ability to walk, work, laugh, learn, and begin again. Sometimes what we are praying for today is something we once prayed for years ago. 2. Gratitude for what you are calling into your life This is where gratitude can become a powerful mindset practice. Instead of only being grateful for what has already happened, you can also express gratitude for the future you are working toward. For example: “I am grateful that I am living a healthy and energetic life.” “I am grateful that I have created financial abundance in my life.” “I am grateful that I am confident and courageous.” “I am grateful that I have built a fulfilling career.” The idea isn't to pretend something has already happened when it hasn't. It is about connecting your mind with the possibility of the life you want and approaching your goals from a place of belief, appreciation, and possibility rather than fear and lack. You are not saying, “I don't have it.” You are choosing to focus on, “This is what I am becoming, creating, and working toward.” That shift can change the emotional experience of pursuing your goals. Gratitude doesn't mean ignoring difficulties Gratitude is not toxic positivity. You can be disappointed and grateful. You can be tired and grateful. You can be going through a difficult season and still find something meaningful to appreciate. Gratitude doesn't erase your problems. It simply reminds you that your problems are not the entire story. Something difficult can be happening while something beautiful is happening at the same time. A one-minute gratitude practice You don't need a complicated routine. Every day, take one minute and ask yourself, "What am I grateful for today?" Then ask, "What am I grateful for becoming?" Write one answer to each. For example: Today: “I am grateful for my daughter's hug this morning.” Becoming: “I am grateful that I am becoming a calm, confident, and courageous woman.” Do this consistently. Over time, you may notice that your mind starts looking for things to appreciate instead of automatically searching for what is wrong. That is the beauty of gratitude. You don't need a perfect life to experience joy We cannot control everything that happens in our lives. But we can become more intentional about what we focus on. Gratitude lets us pursue more without believing our present life has no value. We can have goals and still be grateful. We can want change and still appreciate where we are. We can dream about tomorrow while being present today. Perhaps peace doesn't begin when everything finally falls into place. Perhaps peace begins when we learn to appreciate what is already in place. Perhaps joy isn't always something we have to find. Sometimes, we simply need to slow down enough to notice it. Gratitude changes the way you look at life, and when you change the way you look at life, you may begin to experience life differently. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Vinitha Edward Vinitha Edward, Life Transformation Coach Vinitha Edward is a Certified Life Transformation Coach and Founder of Transform & Thrive, a platform that empowers women to create meaningful habits and mindset shifts through journaling and conscious living. She helps women overcome obstacles, build confidence, and find balance through intentional growth. Blending practical strategies with emotional awareness, Vinitha guides clients to move from feeling stuck to thriving with purpose. Her mission is to transform lives one step at a time.