Written by: Nicole M. Augustine, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Learning how to be a successful business owner is an ever-evolving process. There are always new skills to learn, obstacles to overcome, and mistakes from which to glean wisdom. As the year comes to a close, I realize I have learned a lot! I'm sharing two lessons (so far) that have helped me grow my business and achieve some significant milestones. My disclaimer is that I have no formal business management education. I share these lessons from the school of the lived 'experience.' If you're an entrepreneur, I hope you find these lessons helpful too! Sharing lessons and offering others the gift of vicarious learning is essential. Lesson One: Create a business, not a job. I first heard this phrase in the audiobook: Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back by David Finkel and Jeff Hoffman. I immediately recognized that I had created a job, not a business. Like so many social entrepreneurs, I started my business from a place of heart and passion. My business was my side hustle for the first six years of existence (2015-2021). In the summer of 2021, I decided to quit my job and take the leap of faith toward building a business. This decision was not made lightly or without massive amounts of support. I had been the recipient of mindset and business coaching since Fall 2020, and both my coaches were simply waiting for me to leap. So in July 2021, I left the W-2 world and entered the unknown journey of being a business owner. In those first six months of solo operation, I booked as many gigs as possible, and truly I was everywhere! I essentially scaled my side hustle into a full-time job. As I contemplated the authors' words, I knew I had done what so many other entrepreneurs do: I created a job for myself under the umbrella of building a business. The true test of this reality is whether the business stops when you aren't working. I remember reading the following reflection question: If you lost the ability to work, for how long would your business survive? The answer was dismal, and I knew something needed to change. I began to take a critical look at what I was doing and what I wasn't doing. I needed to build a company that was not owner reliant, which became my mission for the 2022 calendar year. To start, I had to take a look at the tasks I was doing daily and identify those that were not directly contributing to my bottom line. This came down to web development, social media management, graphic design, and even email management. These skill sets are invaluable for any business owner, yet should be outsourced whenever possible. This shift in perspective is what led me to the second lesson I learned. Lesson Two: Outsource as many tasks as possible. The book that really seeded this lesson was Life Leverage: How to Get More Done in Less Time, Outsource Everything & Create Your Ideal Mobile Lifestyle by Rob Moore. This book really started to change fundamentally how I think about the "need" to do everything myself. I started my business journey as a solo entrepreneur. I worked as a solo entrepreneur running every aspect of my company until June 2021. It was at this time that I quit my job, hired a virtual assistant, and decided to apply Lesson One in my life. My first experience with outsourcing was initially nerve-wracking. I struggled to 'let go' so my assistant could assist me! I could not imagine trusting someone to manage my business email. What if they missed something important? What if they sent an email with a typo? What if I'm judged for having an assistant? My mind was racing with fear, anxiety, and limitation. Through my lived experience, I realized that outsourcing was the best decision for my business. As I began to trust and take the leap of faith, I was able to focus on what really matters: creating high-quality products and building the business instead of working in the business all the time! How can you ever create time for strategic thinking if you're responsible for every aspect of business operations? This shift has been revolutionary. I have gone from one virtual team member in July 2021 to a team of nine virtual team members who are foundational to my success. I am because WE are! Shout out to the RIZE Consultants virtual team. Thank you! Running a business is a labor love, and the rewards when successful are priceless. I encourage any other entrepreneurs out there to take your own leap of faith. The leap is different for every person, so don't judge your experience by what someone else is doing. Be courageous, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how it turns out. There's a quote I lean on from Wallace D Wattles, "Desire is possibility seeking expression." Your desire to do a particular thing is the only evidence you need for what is possible. Look around you. The world is full of inventions that were merely in someone's imagination. Inventions that were said to be impossible. Inventions that even the inventor's family and friends did not believe were possible. All it takes is a leap of faith and the desire to make something new. Once you take that first step, no one can hold you back. 2021 vs. 2022 Business Net Income Comparison ‒ 411.916% increase As reported by the P&L report in QuickBooks Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Nicole! Nicole M. Augustine, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nicole M. Augustine is a social entrepreneur, public health professional, and social justice advocate. She was born in Inglewood, CA, in the early 80s during the decade in America known for the "crack epidemic ." This was her first experience with social injustice, racial inequality, and the roots of trauma that plague many people. Her tale is one of resilience and opportunity, as her grandmother relocated the family to moved Edmond, OK, in the early 90s. After experiencing the stark contrast of both living environments, she became intrigued by the core reasons for differences in community outcomes. Nicole found herself studying sociology and public health and was drawn to understanding the root causes of health disparities. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Cornell University and her Master of Public Health from The George Washington University School of Public Health. Throughout her career in public health, she has focused her work on understanding health disparities and social inequality. Her personal life mission is to drive community and societal change while creating generational shifts in community wellness outcomes.

Written by: Jill Witte, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Muscle memory is what our body uses to perform repetitive tasks that we do every day. Not all muscle memory is good and sometimes we need to replace old ones with new ones. This may be hard to do because our body and brain have gotten used to performing certain everyday tasks. Here are a few ways you can change and build new muscle memory for both the body and the mind. The Body: When we start to exercise we need to make sure we have proper form. If we don’t then we create poor muscle memory that can lead to weak muscles and injuries. Poor form can be causing your issues. Listen to how your whole body is responding to the exercise and make sure the appropriate muscle(s) are being used. Every time you perform the exercise, listen and feel what the body is doing so that the new muscle memory can become stronger and override the old one. Notice how the other muscles around the muscle you are working can be used to help support you while performing the exercise. If the weight you are lifting is too heavy and you feel that the muscle you are supposed to be working is not being worked, go down to a lighter weight. Stay at a lighter weight until you can feel that muscle working again and then gradually go back up. Be careful not to fall into autopilot. If we don’t recognize that our form is poor it can lead to injuries and weak muscles. As we get older our bodies change. We should always be listening and reacting to how our body is moving during an exercise. Finally it is very important after coming back from an injury, illness or surgery to create a new muscle memory when exercising. The body may not be as strong as it was and may not function like it used to. Create muscle memory to fit the new you. As we go through life we have had negative experiences and have heard stories of other people's injuries. This can create a negative muscle memory and can stop us from doing activities or tasks. As we get older and a negative muscle memory is activated, it has the potential of crippling us. The brain starts to make us anxious which causes the rest of the body to do the same. The Mind: When the brain and the body start to become anxious we have to calm the brain before pursuing the task or activity. If we don't, our potential for falling and/or hurting ourselves becomes greater. Once the brain is calm, assess the situation. If the task is getting from one place to another, see if there is an easier option. If there isn't, visualize what you are going to do before you start. Take your time because rushing can lead to accidents. When you have accomplished the task, take the time to create a positive muscle memory which will help you get through future situations without issue. The more positive muscle memories we create the more confident we become. Just be careful with becoming more confident because like being on autopilot while doing an exercise, negative muscle memories can be formed. We are always changing and learning new things. Take the time, listen and create new muscle memories so that we can have healthy, balanced minds and bodies. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jill! Jill Witte, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jill Witte, is the founder of True Fit Balance. She is a personal trainer who is certified as a Senior Fitness, Cancer Exercise and Clinical Exercise Specialist. Jill also has certifications as a Nutrition, Brain Health and Life Coach. She created True Fit Balance because of her past experiences of trying to find what exercises and foods worked for her. Now, Jill helps her clients find what works for them by connecting the brain, body and nutrition to create a healthy balanced body. Jill also hosts "Can You Relate Fit and Health". A podcast were she talks with people about their stories of overcoming injury or illness.

Written by: Clare England , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The new year is here. Resolutions, diets and resolved plans to eat in a certain way are everywhere. Here are four reasons to reject all the pressure of a strict diet and instead try going plant-based in January. Plant-based eating can improve your health. Eating a whole food plant-based diet can offer a well-balanced, healthy, nourishing dietary plan. We know that eating fruit and vegetables is good for us. Eating fruit and vegetables in abundance is even better for us. Swapping out meat and dairy has positive health implications. It offers the option to reduce cholesterol and saturated fat intake, both responsible for cardiovascular disease, stroke and type II diabetes. It also boosts our fibre intake. Fruit and vegetables are packed full of fibre. On average, each person in the US consumes 10-15g of fibre per day. That is well below the recommended daily amount of 25-38g. Eating more fibre is linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, type II diabetes and certain cancers. ( https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/should-i-be-eating-more-fiber-2019022115927 ). Our bodies thrive when given all the vitamins and minerals they need to carry out the complex work of breaking down and building up cells. Eating plant-based is an easy way to introduce more fruits, vegetables and legumes into your diet, packing it full of fibre and supercharging your health. Plant-based eating can help the environment. Eating a plant-based diet is very likely to reduce your CO2 emissions. Removing meat consumption and switching from dairy to non-dairy are two of the biggest things people can do to reduce their carbon footprint. At a time when we all need to do our bit to help our planet, going plant-based is a winner. Studies show that over 80% of humanity's land footprint is devoted to livestock. ( https://earth.stanford.edu/news/could-going-vegan-help-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions ). By reducing our consumption of meat and meat products we can give the land back to mother nature and help to reverse the damage done to the planet. Similarly, swapping from dairy to non-dairy milk can massively cut our carbon footprint. In a study in 2022, 1 litre of dairy milk produced 3.15kg of greenhouse gas emissions through the whole process of manufacture and distribution compared to 0.98kg per litre for soy milk, 0.9 kg per litre for oat milk, and 0.7 kg per litre for almond milk. ( https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks ). Plant-based diets offer an opportunity to live more in harmony with nature. When eating more fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds you often want to know more about where they are from, how they are grown, whether they are organic, and how they change with the seasons. You might well seek out your local green grocer or farmers market and become enchanted with the array of varieties available. Suddenly, a lettuce is no longer a lettuce, it is a way to help the planet and leave green footprints for the next generation. Eating a plant-based diet can be cheaper. The cost of living is increasing. Food prices are rising. We are all looking for bargains, two-for-one offers, and 25% discounts, but there is one section of the grocery store that will always look after us financially – the fruit and vegetable section. Seasonal fruit and vegetables offer a cheaper way to live, especially when combined with store cupboard staples such as rice and beans. Simple, nourishing recipes don't need to cost a fortune. Feeding a family on a budget can be very hard but plant-based recipes offer the opportunity for tasty, healthy, cheap meals. We must also recognise that there is a hidden cost to cheap, fast food. It doesn't look after our health. Health is our most prized possession. It allows us to work, exercise, spend time with friends, have energy for the kids, to enjoy life. Without health, life can become very hard indeed. What we eat has a direct impact on our health and our longevity. Plant-based meals offer the opportunity for low-cost AND healthy options. Here are a couple of recommendations for simple plant-based recipes to inspire you: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/ https://deliciouslyella.com/recipes/categories/savoury/ You can still eat chocolate on a plant-based diet. Dark chocolate is nearly always in the plant-based category. It makes sense as chocolate is made from the seeds of a fruit. Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and minerals which means that it can legitimately be part of a healthy, balanced diet. Look for chocolate high in cocoa solids (65% and above), enjoy the different flavours of cocoa from around the world and watch out for the addition of dairy milk or butter oil. Choosing a plant-based diet is not necessarily an easy choice. At first everywhere you turn you are faced with cheese and every label you read has milk on it. It quickly becomes clear that packet foods often contain things that perhaps they shouldn't. It becomes easy to look to whole foods as friends. They are pure, with no hidden ingredients. With planning and simple cooking, whole foods taste incredible and do incredible things for our health. Good luck giving plant-based eating a try. If you need further help, Veganuary is a non-profit organisation that encourages people to try going plant-based for one month. Last year more than 620,000 people signed up to try a month of plant-based eating. Their website is full of tips, tricks and support ( https://veganuary.com ). Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Clare! Clare England, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Clare England MSc is a Registered Associate Nutritionist specialising in plant based nutrition and living. She is a talented recipe developer with specialist knowledge in chocolate, vegan, and non-dairy innovations. Clare takes great pleasure in sharing the joy of chocolate and educating people in the art of plant based living. A lifetime learner, Clare is always seeking to improve her knowledge and skills through continued research and education. She has a passion for sharing this learning and does so with warmth and integrity.

Written by: Karen Peddie, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Plan – Noun an intention or decision about what one is going to do. Verb decide on and make arrangements for in advance. We plan for all kinds of events, births, marriages, moving home even holiday itineraries so why not Life Planning? Probably because many people resist talking about death and dying until they really have to. Sadly, in some cases this is too late and others will then make decisions for you. Medical staff always have the final decision unless you have written documentation in place, stating your wishes. Is that what you want? Making a plan for the future is NOT just for people with a terminal or life-shortening diagnosis. It is for ANYONE who wants to make sure their affairs are in order, should they be taken ill or die suddenly. Think of it in terms of insurance – we take out policies for our vehicles, homes even lives, but hope we never need it. But, should we ever need it, it is there to support us and help us through difficult times. In my last 2 articles we talked about having the conversation with our loved ones and the benefits of doing so. If you missed them, click the links to read them and help you get started. To get you thinking about creating your own plan, here are some questions for you to ponder on… Who would you want (and trust) to make decisions for you, should be unable to yourself? Do you have elderly parents or young children who depend on you? Who would look after them? Do you have any pets and who would care for them? If you already have a Will, Power of Attorney or an Advanced Care Directive, where are they kept and would your trusted person know where to find them? Do you want a funeral, if so, do you have any special religious or spiritual requirements? Do you have online bank accounts, social media profiles or cloud storage that would need to be accessed? These questions are not exhaustive, more are likely to pop up as you begin to work through them. Don’t be overwhelmed and take your time. It might help you to journal on your thoughts and feelings as they come up. As part of my Facilitator training, I am offering my help at a reduced cost until the end of January 2023. So if these few questions have encouraged you to make a life plan of your own, please email me at karen@karenpeddieholistics.co.uk or message me on Facebook and we will work together to Know Loose Ends! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Karen! Karen Peddie, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Karen is a natural, intuitive Energy Healer who uses Reiki, Emotional Freedom Techniques, and Meditation to help her clients improve their health and well-being. She works with them to identify and heal the root cause of any dis-ease which could be blocking the flow of energy either physically, mentally, or emotionally. As someone who suffered from anxiety, stress, and depression for many years, Karen's experience makes her a genuine, empathetic therapist who creates a safe, calm space in which to start the healing process

Written by: Vince Morales, Senior Level Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. “Self-motivation is the only kind there is” I was reading a book when I came across this statement and had to pause to think for quite a while because it spoke against everything I believed until then. I had been watching many motivational speakers and had become what I could call a ‘motivational speaker junkie,’ so this odd statement took a considerable toll on me. The irony of it coming from a book I would classify under motivational non-fiction made this pill even harder to swallow. It was not long before I saw and began to appreciate the truth in the above words greatly. Motivation, just like self-image or self-worth, comes from within yourself. Indeed, other people may help you become aware of certain good things about you, but it is only when you fully accept them yourself that you begin to live up to them and exhibit them to an even greater extent. Inside of you is a switch no one else has access to by which you can power on and off your positive energy and make decisions that will help you get on in life. Of course, it is crucial to listen to inspirational talks, watch sermons, and read good books, but what is more important is what you do after gathering the complete information meant to help you. People who say their life trajectories changed by a book they read are usually not telling the whole story. Behind the scenes of that miraculous change of mind, change of attitude, and change of behavior was a lot of inside work. Changing one’s schedule does not happen with no inner battle to fight. There is always a need for a significant effort to make a plan for change and stick to it even when it is not convenient or fun. We often wait on other people or demand that they make us feel good. As a disastrous approach to life, it weighs down on the other person who also has struggles and sets us up for major disappointment. Your partner, spouse, friend, or parent cannot fully carry the responsibility of validating, complimenting and making you feel good. They were not designed for that because inside of you are the necessary tools to do that; you only need to look hard enough. Here is a funny thing I have observed concerning human behavior: People tend to want to help those that seem least likely to need it. Be needy and see how people flee from you. A disabled person, for example, who takes it upon himself to do the best he can despite the handicap tends to get people wanting to sponsor him and help him get along, while he who turns to beg for the same does not get much of the pity he desires. It is the same thing when it comes to being overly needy for validation from other people, and you make them reluctant to give it to you. What, then, should you do? Own your self-confidence, peace of mind, and happiness in general. These things are too expensive to outsource. You are who you believe and say you are. Raise the standard, and believe you are more robust, powerful, and successful than others think you are. Only you know your big dreams; when you tell them to others who do not believe in them as much as you do, they will only hinder your progress. So why give them that particularly significant role of telling you what you can and cannot achieve? Maybe your parents did not give you the love, affection, and affirmation you believed you deserved as a child. Know this: people can only give what they have. Why do you not let it go and realize that they probably did the best they could under the circumstances they had (most parents do)? With that same understanding, allow love to flourish in your heart and get on an intense self-development program to empower yourself and your loved ones with the love you missed. “The problem with letting others define you is they cannot even define themselves yet. French-born American writer, Anaïs Nin, said, ‘We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.’ So, there you have it. People’s definition of you will always run through the filter of ‘as they are.’” – Vince Morales Life should be lived forward and not backward. If you decide to take charge of your life today, no matter how old or deeply scarred you are by people who did not love you as they should have, you can begin to make a difference in your life. Decide whether you will live up to your definition. You will see life through your lenses. They will not give you compliments when you look good. Well, look at yourself in the mirror and give them to yourself! You are worth it, and you are not here by accident. For more info, follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and visit my website! Read more from Vince! Vince Morales, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Vince Morales is a mindset, self-image, and resilience coach. In addition, he is skilled in leadership consultation and development. From April 2016 to June 2017, Vince was a homeless veteran in San Diego, CA. While homeless, he made a powerful decision to change his thinking and mindset, launching into life coaching. He developed a niche for resilience and mindset coaching. The growth of his business ultimately led to the end of his homelessness. Vince is the Founder of Validus Coaching & Consulting, formerly Zoe Transformation. His story has been featured in online articles and online news outlets all over the U.S. He is a certified John Maxwell Team Coach, Trainer, & Speaker, as well as a motivational speaker. In 2021, Vince earned his Master's degree in Psychology of Leadership from Penn State University and is currently a doctoral student pursuing a Ph.D. in Performance Psychology. He is a 2020 inductee into The National Society of Leadership and Success.

Written by: Prof. Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr., Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. This article continues my discussion on “Growth Mindset," the “G” in A.G.I.L.E.—the first quality of “The Agile Leadership Framework™”—which requires seasoned and aspiring leaders to become flexible. The first article overviewed the ten growth goals for developing a Growth Mindset. The article shared snippets of the first six (6) of the ten growth goals to provide nuggets to growing yourself. Once you become a leader, your value is measured by how well you grow others. Here I will focus on the final four (4) growth goals to help seasoned and aspiring develop others. Recall my motto “Leaders Are Born to Be Made!" Achieving the responsibility and accountability of becoming a great leader requires character, awareness, courage, and communication. Character is the infrastructure. It is the backbone of agile leadership built on trust based on various attributes. Awareness is insight. Here emotional intelligence (EQ) is vital. EQ awareness is self-awareness and then others' awareness. In other words, to empathetically connect with others, you must fully "know thyself" before you can come to know or connect with others. The list of things many people don't understand includes: Why they behave the way they behave, react the way they respond, or believe what they believe; Why do people annoy and rub them incorrectly, or why do they care about specific issues and not others; Why do they feel comfortable in particular environments but not others; Why do they feel frustrated, stressed, angry, anxious, nervous, and uncertain in certain situations where others do not; and Why do they need help staying focused, disciplined, consistent, and sustaining self-control on those things they say they are committed to. Most will find that upon self-assessing themself; they don't know themself at all. Courage is initiative. To quote Aristotle, “Courage is the first human virtue because it makes all the others possible.” Leaders must have the will, strength, and confidence to go outside their comfort zone. And finally, communication is the influence demonstrated by having the ability to connect and move people into action. Developing these pillars of outstanding leadership [character, awareness, courage, and communication] start with individual growth, specified in article one, and then translates into the individual growing others. In focusing on growing others, this article emphasizes “Leader of many” in the following phrase: “Leader of one; Leader of many; If you can’t lead one; you can’t lead any.” ‒ Dr. Frank L. Harper, Jr. Help Grow Leaders By Teaching Individual growth to become a leader requires achieving the first six (6) goals discussed in the first article: understand the terrain, seize the opportunity, find a mentor, radiate zeal, work with tenacity, and give mind-boggling service. Once you have become a leader, your role is to grow others. Great leaders accomplish this by achieving the final four (4) goals: build a team, do more with less, notch it upward and onward, and give back to your community. These are the focus of this article. The more these goals are present in a business and life, the more the practitioner develops. The following presents snippets of information about each. A detailed discussion of each appears in my book, "A.G.I.L.E. L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. with a G.R.I.P.™: A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY JOURNEY: From Street Hustler to Strategic Hustler™.” Growth Goal No. 7 Build a team Objective: Create a high-performance, results-oriented, and customer-driven team that consistently deliver value to the customer. This type of team can only be created by a leader who demonstrates the previous pillars of outstanding leadership. As an athlete, you learn the value of being a great teammate and having great teammates. As a coach, you understand the importance of building a team that does the job. Having been both, I confidently argue that successful leaders/entrepreneurs thrive on the experience of others. We all lack some of the deftness required to maneuver expanding enterprise, so enlisting cohorts to fill in the voids—and in some cases, straddle the chasm. You must be a super team builder who can quickly put the puzzle pieces in place. This means finding players with compensating talents, enthusiasm for teamwork, and fervor for the startup environment. Bringing in strong team members early, then sharing the credit and rewards is critical to getting new ventures over the inevitable humps of being an entrepreneur. Leaders who hold on to everything and try to do it all themselves usually sputter and then tumble. Through teamwork, a good leader delivers solutions through effective delegation. Here are my thoughts on teamwork. 1. Only some people will take the journey. Some people don't want to go for personal reasons. For other people, the issue is their attitude. They don't want to change, grow, or conquer new territory. They hold fast to the status quo. All you can do with people in this group is kindly thank them for their past contributions and move on. 2. Only some people should take the journey. Other people should not join a team because of their agenda. Where you're going isn't the right place for them. They have other plans. The best course of action for people in this category is to wish them well and, as far as you are able, help them on their way so that they achieve success in their venture. 3. Only some people can take the journey. For the third group of people, the issue is ability. They may need to be more capable of keeping pace with their teammates or helping the group get where it wants to go. How do you recognize people who fall into this category? Well, they are relatively easy to identify. Often they: Can’t keep pace with other team members Don’t grow in their areas of responsibility Don’t see the big picture Won’t work on personal weaknesses Won't work with the rest of the team Can’t fulfill expectations for their areas If you have people who display one or more of these characteristics, you need to acknowledge that they are weak links. If you have people on your team who are weak links, you have only two choices: train them or trade them. Refer to my book to read and learn more about building a team. Growth Goal No.8: Do more with less Objective: Become effective, then become efficient. Effectiveness is achieving your goals; efficiency is doing it with as few resources as possible. When delivering technical training on designing/architecting effective and efficient computer software applications, I would quote Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-American architect. He sought a rational approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design and was known for using the aphorism “less is more.” The architecture of all digital transformation projects adopts this aphorism as one of the benefits being drive efficiency and cutting costs. Growth Goal No.9: Notch it Upward and Onward Objective: Continuous Improvement. The one word that brings home this goal is transformation. In today's bumpy environment, a leader must be able to adjust and move forward. Here's what happens repeatedly. First, small and attainable goals are set. Second, a simple plan is devised for accomplishing the goal. Third, the plan is executed with zeal and tenacity. And fourth, the objective is achieved, and the thrill of success is enjoyed. This process provides experience, new contacts, increased confidence, and energy to tackle something a little more challenging. The cycle begins again as the same sound principles are applied at a higher level: objective, plan, work, and success. Influential leaders cycle through an upward spiral of incremental steps, each building upon the last; these propelling events thrust the leader forward following each success and as new opportunities arise. The forward movement comes in two flavors. First, leaders continue to expand what they are already doing—notching it upward. And second, they extend into new products and services outside the business—notching it onward. Adaptive design thinkers constantly monitor their customer’s changing needs and stay attuned to notching it upward and notching it onward. Companies and individuals who fail to make this transformation are doomed to failure. Blockbuster and Starbucks are a couple of examples. Blockbuster lost market share and eventually went out of business because it refused to embrace this goal requiring them to change. Netflix created a digitally enriched business model, and then Redbox kiosks and the whole digital disruption eliminated the need for consumers to go to a different DVD store. Starbucks has rapidly lost market share to Whitbread, McDonald's, Dunkin, Subway, and Costa. Growth Goal No.10: Give back to the community Objective: Use your God-given gifts to create a better world. I take pride in living my life under the motto "Pay it forward." Earlier I mentioned my high school experience working with kids to prepare them for the Connecticut Special Olympics. A record number of these athletes won a record number of medals. I not only taught these kids valuable lessons, but they also taught me a precious lesson—never give up! My years of volunteer work with at-risk youth, Sunday school, computer literacy advisor and teacher, and various not-for-profit institutions are attributed to my never-ending thirst to give something back. Oh yeah, "until it hurts"; I've invested thousands of dollars of my own money and thousands of hours of my time reaching back to uplift my community. Giving something back provides a reason to contribute to something bigger than you. One only has to look at the many professional organizations in business, and sports whose community outreach programs contribute resources—people, money, facilities, etc.—to benefit others less fortunate. The discussion of “Growth Mindset” is now concluded. The next article will begin a multi-part series discussing topics associated with the letter “I” in A.G.I.L.E., “Intelligent Mindset.” Excerpts from the book: A.G.I.L.E. L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. with a G.R.I.P.: A Twenty-First Century Journey from Street Hustler to Strategic Hustler; available on Amazon, Amazon.India, Createspace, and Pakistan Representatives. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Prof. Dr. Frank! Prof. Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr., Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr. is the founder and world champion of agile leadership concepts. He is President ‒ UBTS International Corp having strategic affiliates in over 55 countries, Provost / Associate Professor ‒ Cambridge Corporate University, having branches in over 25 countries, while serving on for-profit and not-for-profit advisory boards. He is an award-winning IT leader and published author who is adept at influencing and teaching strategic transformations across multiple countries, industries, disciplines, and technologies for businesses having global revenues ($1+ Trillion); savings/growth ($10+ Billion); with budgets ($4+ Billion). His favorite motto is, "Leaders Are Born To Be Made."

Written by: Marja West, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The Holiday Season officially began post-Thanksgiving with Black Friday, followed by Cyber Monday. Kicking off the shopping preprogrammed madness were the countless email adverts in our inboxes hijacking our attention through cleverly crafted headlines whose sole intention is to engage our click-baited and scroll-away fingers to press the FOMO button and eventually commit egregious retail exploits. Fortunately, although I adore shiny, beautiful objects, I’m not a shopper and am impervious to manipulative marketing ploys. As a former 1980s “Yuppie,” I’m not a fan of being all that you can be and Hustle Culture in any form, shape, or fashion, nor the coercive falseness of mass-consciousness programming of willfully going against Nature at this particular time of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, with Mother Nature calling us to slow down, go within to rest, get cosy and hibernate—metaphorically and literally. In the Southern Hemisphere, 21 December kicks off the Summer season, leaning toward less work, family vacations, and more enjoyment. Still, regardless of which hemisphere we reside in, somehow Pop Culture has brainwashed our society to step it up, rev it up, go in the opposite direction of Nature, and go into overdrive—not just workwise so we can end the year with a productive bang, but onboard with the Holiday Season hysteria of obligatory shopping, gifts, celebrations and gatherings. Cultivating The Art of Saying No As a Trauma DeActivator of over three decades, the Holiday Season is my busy time for last-minute emergency sessions, handholding men and women all over the planet who are feeling bullied, anxious, guilty, and overwhelmed by helpless frustration regarding how they are doing it all again—and hate themselves because They Don’t Want To! The palpable intensity driven by habituated seasonal insanity gives us the green light to bulldoze our sensitivities and exhaustion and do the things we’d rather not but are afraid to say. We overextend ourselves, over-eat, max out our credit cards, endure the nightmares of long shopping lines for gifts and groceries, party-prep, travel locally and abroad during the busiest travel season, and indulge our codependency by steamrolling over our basic needs for boundaries and practising The Art of Saying No without losing our shit. I feel the over-the-top collective energies of that Hallmark-style of mind control beckoning the masses to holiday comply, in overt and beguiling means to go there with gusto. The tension of this toxic empathy is enough to make my heart pound and go into a panic attack filled with social anxiety hell if I’m not vigilant about staying conscious and away from the fray. Ready or not, Christmas and New Year’s Day are underway. I call it The Holy Haze Daze Craze because I’m a tongue-in-cheek bah-humbug person, recovered from years of raising kids and getting caught up in the whirlwind of allowing myself to be bullied by the automaton holiday cray-cray of doing it all. I quit a decade ago. Many of my friends did NOT like the new Me and desperately wanted her back. Of course, they did. If I could’ve cloned myself, I would’ve: I bought cool and thoughtful gifts and wrapped them artfully and festively. I’m also a great cook and entertainer. I’m the hostess with the mostest, and I delight in my guests enjoying themselves, but then they eat and run, leaving me alone to deal with a huge mess to clean up. The nerve of them all leaving without offering to help sort out the aftermath. Yeah, I know, my bad and my responsibility to own up to and ask for help. We learn through contrasting experiences. My studies of the Abraham-Hicks Law of Attraction teachings made this infinitely clear. I was a hot mess after hosting my final holiday soiree. The mixture of tears, exhaustion, anger, years of silent resentment, and hunger was a lethal emotional cocktail to swig down and digest. I sobbed for hours while putting leftovers into their properly-sized containers, picking up trash and dishes left behind strewn all over my home, scrubbing away the baked-on food from my numerous heavy Le Creuset pans, sweeping the floors, and then letting Roomba loose. My self-talk was not very nice; the expletives ran wild and free in various languages. Suddenly, as I sipped the last bit of holiday cheer, Madonna’s rendition of Santa Baby skipping in the background made me laugh my ass off and spew my beverage, thankfully on the tile floors, not on my white carpet. The absurdity and poignancy of that moment of epiphany made my processing and decision-making clear: A new strategy was being birthed! Permission to Opt-Out Although opting out of the Holiday Season isn’t for everyone, I’m encouraging all introverts and those who feel bullied and anxiety-ridden by the saccharin-ness of “Tis the season” to allow yourselves the option NOT to participate. That means if you’re tired of cooking for everyone or travelling or the holidays stress you out– don’t do it anymore. Simple. Open to the possibility of doing something different, like accepting an invitation to be an honoured guest, or plan a staycation and enjoy being home in your own space, alone or with select beloveds. “Yeah, but.” I hear, “I can’t do that; they expect me to do it yearly.” Okay, I understand, but what you do is dishonest, NOT sustainable, and unhealthy for you and everyone else. Squares Journalling Exercise Here’s a simple journalling strategy offering to process your anxiety of feeling bullied and burdened about the Holiday Season obligations so you can get clear next time around to either make a change or continue with a better attitude from a place of love, acceptance, and enjoyment: General directions: Using one page of paper per heading, write down the title of each heading on the top of the sheet. Under each heading, write down everything that comes to mind and write, write, write until you feel complete-- do not censor or second guess or be concerned with grammar; let it flow in one word or phrase--a stream of consciousness-style, you may fill a page or two, allow whatever unfolds. Move on to the next heading and repeat the same process. Be curious and have fun playing with this. Once you’ve completed all the headings, with your right hand on your heart and left hand on your belly, recite this Blessing/Prayer asking for the integration of all that you’ve written: Mother, Father God, Essence, Great Spirit, All that Is, I recognise these polarised states that exist in my mind and ego patterning. I offer them up and ask that they be merged into a place of oneness and clarity so that I may see who I really am more clearly and live my highest truth. I ask this with gratitude, knowing that my prayer has already been answered. ~ So mote it be. Here are two Squares to consider or make up your own. Square 1 Headings Desire to Opt-out of the holidays. Fear of Opting out of the holidays. Desire to NOT Opt-out of the holidays. Fear of NOT Opting out of the holidays. Square 2 Headings Desire to Say No. Fear of Saying No. Desire to Not Say No. Fear of NOT Saying No. You can utilise this brilliant exercise on any topic. The point of the exercise is to unpack and excavate all the polarities and possibilities/thoughts/outcomes onto the page; in writing, you will discover something interesting without labelling them as positive or negative/good or bad. This exercise illustrates the Totality of Human Experience as a thought moves from your mind, activating your writing and dumping it through your hand-via pen/pencil onto a page, releasing it from your mind. Let us affirm the following to realign with Mother Nature and empower greater self-awareness and self-compassion during this emotionally loaded time: I align with Mother Nature and honour her cycles as my own. It is okay for me to say No to Hustle Culture. I give myself permission to Opt-out of any activity that makes me feel bullied and anxious, especially during the Holiday Season. I appreciate and honour my sensitivities as an invitation to deepen my self-care. I enjoy discovering what is right and true for me. I reexamine automated obligations and update them accordingly. And so it is. Thank you so much for reading along. I trust you’ve found this article helpful. For video How-tos and Do-It-Yourself Reality Creation and Self-Clearing processes, please visit my LoveTruth&Beauty YouTube Channel. Click here for the playlist. Blessings to you this Holiday Season! Until next time, here’s to Love, Truth, and Beauty, Marja (mahrrr-ya) Important Reading links: The Art of Saying No Book by Damon Zahariades The Marriage of Spirit: Enlightened Living In Today’s World by Leslie Temple-Thurston and Brad Laughlin Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Marja! Marja West, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Marja (pronounced Mahrrr-ya) West is an author, mentor of The Hermetic~Natural Law Principles, and a leading expert in Energy Mastery, Reality Creation, and Trauma-Based Mind Control DeActivator focusing on handholding survivors of Human Trafficking, Rape Camps, Satanic Ritual Abuse, Cult/Tribal, and NSP Abuse (Narcissistic-Sociopathic-Psychopathic), to evolve from Victim to Victorious. Well-known for her zero-filtered-laugh-out-loud humour and disarming, electrifying presentations, Marja is the author of the book F'd Wide Open: The Rude Awakening of the Heart-Based New Humanity. She is also a medical intuitive, martial artist, singer, multi-instrumentalist-musician, dancer, and plant lover.

Written by: Agnes Chau, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. My magical journey to discovering Divine Mercy happened on a flight to Washington D.C. a few years ago when I sat next to a nun, who encouraged me to visit the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, MA. Throughout my Catholic upbringing, I had not learned of Divine Mercy. I had not been to a church in many years as I no longer felt the stories of fear, sin, and sacrifice resonated with me. However, I kept an open mind and decided to embark upon a journey that also led me to the Divine Mercy Shrine and Basilica in Krakow, Poland. Sister Faustina (the first saint of the new millennium) had received visions of Jesus in her dreams in the 1930s to have a portrait of him made with his heart pouring forth water and blood, symbolizing light and love. The portrait shows Jesus with one hand raised in blessing and the other hand touching his heart with red and white rays of light pouring forth. By his feet are the words “Jesus, I Trust in You”. Divine Mercy represents the compassion and love that God has for humanity. In both of these churches, the portrait of Jesus was featured prominently at the front of the Church, by the altar. This was surprising for me as I had only been to churches where the cross was the most prominent. This portrait of Jesus symbolizes the path forward. Even God and Jesus evolve. It’s not about fear, sin, and sacrifice anymore. The message is about love, hope, and peace. This is a symbol of God’s infinite mercy. This is a message that all sins are forgiven and that we are worthy of God’s love. The rays of the heart symbolize the forgiveness of sins and the promise of salvation for all who come to God with a contrite heart. Every day during the hour of mercy between 3-4 pm anywhere in the world, one can ask Divine Mercy for anything, and it shall be granted. There is a special way to pray the rosary and make it more powerful. One can cast problems to Divine Mercy within us and outside of us. One can ask Saint Faustina for her intercession (if you ask for her help she will give it to you). While some people have experienced physical miracles at these churches, leaving behind wheelchairs and crutches, many others have experienced miracles of faith, learning to forgive themselves. In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he has come to bring mercy and forgiveness to the world. He tells them that if they believe in him, they will receive eternal life. This is the basis for the belief that God is merciful and forgiving. The devotion of Divine Mercy is based on the idea that Jesus is the Divine Mercy of God and that he offers us the opportunity to receive his mercy and forgiveness. The devotion includes prayers and devotional practices such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Novena of Divine Mercy, and the veneration of the Divine Mercy image. The feast of Divine Mercy, also known as Mercy Sunday, is celebrated the Sunday after Easter and is open to people of all faiths who gather at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy. Each of these practices helps to deepen one's relationship with God and to experience his mercy. Divine Mercy is about how to forgive ourselves and others. It’s about how to love ourselves and others. It’s to know that we are worthy. It is to know that the light is within each of us and it burns brightly. While some of us may not believe that we are deserving of forgiveness and salvation, our inner child, that 7-year-old within us, is deserving. We are now at an age where we can be the parent to our inner child. Doesn’t that inner child deserve the compassion understanding, and love that you have to give? During this Christmas season, gift your inner child with compassion, understanding, peace, and love. Gift it freely, without condition. When you gift it to yourself, you can gift it to others too, so we can live in a more compassionate society. Fear can be replaced with love. Despair can be replaced with hope. The war within can be replaced with peace from within. Sin can be replaced with forgiveness. The violet flame that is protected by Holy Saint Germain can be invoked for forgiveness. The violet flame represents the highest frequency in the visible light spectrum and can transmute any negative energies into positive energies. The violet flame is the fire of the Holy Spirit. When we invoke forgiveness for ourselves or others by calling upon spiritual fire of the violet flame, we can experience a peace within our hearts. Even if Divine Mercy or the violet flame doesn’t resonate with you, then start with Ho’oponopono, the Hawaiian mantra for forgiveness. It starts with “I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” Ask your inner child for forgiveness for whatever comes to mind. Imagine giving your inner child, the 7-year-old you, a big hug. This is the start of a magical inner journey to self-discovery and self-compassion. In summary, one can experience the gift of forgiveness of oneself and of others through Divine Mercy, through the intercession of Saint Faustina, by invoking the violet flame, or through Ho’oponopono, or other methods. May this Christmas season be a time when we meditate, contemplate, and/or reflect upon God’s love and infinite mercy. By learning to forgive ourselves and others, we are receiving God’s gift of Divine Mercy. When we breathe into our Divine Hearts to tap into the Divine Intelligence within, we can connect with Divine Source (God, Divine Mercy, Divine Sophia, Dear Universe) within us and outside of us. May we all experience peace from within. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website to learn more. Read more from Agnes! Agnes Chau, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Agnes Chau is a Transformational Life Coach and Private Consultant. With her training in various life-transforming modalities and her prior experience as an Engineering Executive, Agnes helps clients succeed in all aspects of life. Agnes enjoys helping people tap into their Divine Intelligence to identify the most effective path forward for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. She specializes in PSYCH-K®, Tong Ren tapping, and other modalities for wellbeing. Agnes has received many awards, including, Connecticut Woman of Innovation for Large Business Innovation and Leadership, the Manufacturing Institute’s STEP Ahead award, the Society of Women Engineers’ Advocating Women in Engineering Award, and several patents. Agnes is also the President and Founder of The Empowered Heart, Inc. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit https://www.theempoweredheart.org. She volunteers her time as a certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Women Empowered Instructor.

Written by: Sasha and Daniel , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We believe so! But all hope is not lost. From our combined 14 years of personal development and coaching experience, we recognise both people contribute to marriage breakdowns and the problems experienced in an intimate relationship. Women are the forerunners of the personal development industry, and many men are left lagging. The effect on an intimate relationship can be devastating. What goes wrong? The couple knows deep down that something is wrong, evidenced by the lack of connection, intimacy, communication breakdown, and a whisper inside that won't quieten. The couple behaves more like housemates than a loving partnership. As the relationship erodes, the distance between them grows. Resentments build, blame and justification become a daily occurrence. More often, women seek personal development to find what's missing or why she feels the way she does. Conversely, men tend to shut down their emotions and keep pressing on with work or exercise, and some indulge in distractions like porn, gambling, or drinking to numb the pain. As the woman grows and develops through her personal development journey, this widens the gap in the relationship even more. We have seen this many times with our clients. According to an HBR study, women take the lion's share of the personal development market by purchasing over 70% of self-help books and programs, propping up the majority of this $11B industry. Men must face their demons For relationships to thrive, two people need to grow together. Men must reclaim their power and go on their personal development journey. There are many reasons why men might not choose to go down the personal development route: It is hard to face demons, especially when they haunt us daily. Men are taught to work it out on their own. Some won't even go to the doctor unless they have a broken leg. Work and busyness can be a welcome distraction from what's going on deep inside. Men's family, friends and coworkers can be very judgemental if they start to change. Avoiding issues can be easier than dealing with them, so they sweep them under the rug and soldier on. Too many men are not living the life they desire, languishing in a sea of doubt and unrealised potential. Men must rise However, the world needs confident men who know their place in the world. These men are mission-driven with a clear purpose, have intention and direction, and are decisive and confident. People feel his presence. He inspires those around him. Rawness, passion and creativity give him great depth. He is courageous, disciplined, and fierce and faces his fears and stands for what he believes in. A devoted man holds love in his heart and is open with his feelings, leading to deeper intimacy and connection. Women need strong men by their side, and men need their wise sage goddess to guide them. Why personal development? Personal development benefits us all, men, women and even children. Learning about yourself and healing the parts of you that have been keeping you stuck, and unfulfilled allow you to do things differently and better. In addition, it can help create awareness of why you feel the way you do. Through awareness, we can change anything, and while some may say they don't need to change - all humans need to grow to feel satisfied in their lives. Personal development offers this opportunity and can result in more profound and loving relationships for you to meet your needs and others' needs ‒ including your intimate partner. While it may feel scary at the start, we don't know anyone who didn't benefit positively from having someone in their corner to work through the things they can't or won't tell their friends. We all crave support at our core, and very few people receive it. The job and passion of coaches are to provide that. Together as ONE One of the reasons we created our program, Together as ONE, is that Daniel works with the men in the King program first and Sasha with the women in Goddess, so you go on your journey before we all focus on the relationship. This helps each individual take responsibility and ownership of their behaviours and heal wounds, triggers, past hurts and patterning from previous relationships or parents. Doing this work first creates a neutral ground and a new foundation from a more healed place for the next chapter of your relationship. For a relationship to be deep, loving and intimate, it takes two people committed to their own personal development and enriching the relationship. We return couples to being each other's number ONE. Download our 14 Guiding Principles for a deeper, more intimate connection with each other. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Sasha and Daniel! Sasha and Daniel, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sasha and Daniel specialise in relationships, human behaviour and experiential healing. Their collective 14 years as coaches taught them that patterns from previous relationships and upbringing could adversely affect their connection, even knowing they were soul mates. So from day one, they consciously designed their relationship by creating 14 principles to guide their behaviours and focus. Sasha and Daniel aim to heal the world with their love by showing couples how to turn towards each other again for fulfilment, intimacy and connection. Sasha and Daniel offer exclusive 1:1 coaching and retreats for couples that are at 80% and want that extra 20%. They teach simple, actionable principles for partners who love each other but have lost their way.

Written by: Daniel Van der Pluym , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. For many, the mention of anxiety brings to mind debilitating episodes that render them unable to leave the house or perform everyday tasks. However, there is another form of anxiety that is often overlooked ‒ high-functioning anxiety. This type of anxiety can be a driving force for success and productivity in some individuals, but it can also have negative consequences if not managed correctly. In this article, we will explore what high-functioning anxiety is, how it impacts people's lives and what strategies can be used to manage it. By implementing the strategies to manage high-functioning anxiety, you will learn how to thrive in your daily life. What is high-functioning anxiety? As it is not part of the diagnostic criteria, it is often called "hidden anxiety." High-functioning anxiety is, simply put, when someone has anxious thoughts but still appears to manage day-to-day life smoothly. As an umbrella term, high-functioning anxiety is often experienced by some individuals in highly demanding work roles. It is characterized by feelings of unease, restlessness, and heightened emotions that can cause an individual to become overly focused on their performance, or strive for perfectionism. High-functioning anxiety is usually part of an overactive stress response, due to highly demanding conditions in career and other life areas. High-functioning anxiety is not the same as stress associated with high performance, as it can be present in people who are not actively seeking to perform at a high level. The difference between severe anxiety and high-functioning anxiety High-functioning anxiety can be mistaken for generalized anxiety disorder because people who experience it often experience it over a prolonged period. However, generalized anxiety disorder is often present in non-threatening circumstances. The difference is, high functioning anxiety is based more on challenging circumstances. These circumstances require a high level of energy, which becomes nervous energy and translates into excessive anxiety over time. The difference between stress and anxiety High-functioning anxiety can be a difficult condition to distinguish from stress, but there are certain differences between the two. Stress is an integral part of our lives and can be beneficial if managed correctly. It helps us stay alert and focused while allowing us to cope with challenging situations. On the other hand, high-functioning anxiety is an excessive form of stress which becomes a default way of operating to manage essential tasks. The difference between high-functioning anxiety and an anxiety disorder? The official diagnosis of an anxiety disorder is based on the severity of anxiety symptoms and their duration. High-functioning anxiety can become an anxiety disorder if it interferes with normal day-to-day activities, such as sleeping, eating, or socializing, or when it continues for months or years without any improvement. Symptoms of high-functioning anxiety People who have "high-functioning anxiety" often appear to be successful and perfect. However, below the surface they are afraid and constantly critiquing themselves. Other common symptoms of high-functioning anxiety include: Difficulty sleeping or feeling restless; Feeling overwhelmed by tasks and always busy; Excessive worrying about the future; Avoidance of social situations. How does high-functioning anxiety impact individuals? According to research by the University of Adelaide, high-functioning anxiety can be both a benefit and a detriment to those who experience it. On one hand, it can give individuals an advantage by increasing performance through an enhanced sense of focus. This focus can help drive creativity, productivity, and ambition in the workplace or other areas of life. On the other hand, high-functioning anxiety can lead to negative consequences like physical and psychological health issues such as exhaustion, insomnia, irritability, depression, and anxiety. The physiological, mental and emotional impacts of high-functioning anxiety High-functioning anxiety has an impact on individuals' physiology, and their mental, and emotional state. The impact of stress on the nervous system has been broadly researched. Several studies have found that in the presence of prolonged, heightened stress the sympathetic nervous system becomes over-activated, leading to exhaustion and general fatigue. The mental impact of high-functioning anxiety can leave individuals feeling overwhelmed as they try to juggle multiple tasks at once or worry about the future. This can lead to feelings of overwhelm, fear, and anxiety that leave people feeling anxious and stuck in a cycle of negative thinking. Additionally, the emotional impact of this over-arousal results in feeling constantly on edge, and an inability to relax. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed, isolated and irritable in social situations. Over some time, this can lead to emotional fatigue, depression, or burnout. Causes of High-Function Anxiety There are many possible reasons why someone might experience anxiety, including genetics and environment. Some people may be more susceptible to high-functioning anxiety than others, for example, those who have been successful in a short amount of time may become quickly overwhelmed by increased responsibilities in workplace settings. The role of adverse early life experiences Much research has also identified the impact of adverse family experiences on performance and success. Many adverse and disadvantaged circumstances in early life, such as financial challenges, addiction, abuse, and neglect can be the cause of struggles with staying motivated and on track throughout later years. Children born into disadvantaged circumstances, often remain disadvantaged throughout life and may also not believe in their ability to perform and reach success. Or, if they are to reach success, it will come with much struggle and sacrifice. This struggle can often result in high-functioning anxiety, due to the underlying fear of failure which serves as motivation. Why are some people, high performers? Most people who are high performers reach their ability through hard work and dedication. Usually, people have learned to work hard through the work ethic instilled in their upbringing. Often, high achievers have been taught that they can achieve their goals through a combination of motivation, with the right systems and strategies. What is the difference between a high performer and a high potential? A high performer is someone who is already achieving success. They are often experts in their field and have achieved a high level of performance over an extended period. A high potential, on the other hand, is someone who has not yet achieved success but is likely to if given the right opportunity or situation. High potentials may be unfulfilled or unmotivated at some stages, but show signs of their potential at other times. High-performing employees are often those who can handle increased responsibilities, but also those that can healthily manage their high-functioning anxiety. High-performing employees manage their anxiety by allowing their stress to drive them towards a suitable action, while also maintaining their well-being. Get help for anxiety It is important to know how to get help for high-functioning anxiety, to prevent it from escalating into an anxiety disorder. There is a range of supports and helps that can be relied upon to address stress and anxiety. Some of the help available includes seeking therapy, stress management coaching, and self-help guidance. Sometimes, it may be necessary to see a doctor or psychiatrist who may provide medical support or anti-anxiety medications. Preventing mental illness and anxiety disorders To prevent high-functioning anxiety from becoming an anxiety disorder, and to manage mental health, there is a range of treatment options and interventions available. One of the most important factors to manage high-functioning anxiety is coping strategies and overall wellbeing. What is well-being? Wellbeing is a state of overall health, happiness, and success. It is the result of an individual's physical and mental health, as well as their emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Wellbeing does not necessarily mean the absence of stress, but the ability to implement a range of strategies to maintain healthy balance across different life areas. The 5 areas of wellbeing Wellbeing can be divided into five core areas: Physical wellbeing refers to maintaining good physical health and well-being by engaging in regular exercise and eating a balanced diet. Psychological wellbeing involves developing a sense of purpose, meaning, and skills to enable an individual to better cope in difficult situations. Social wellbeing involves the establishment of healthy relationships with friends, family, and colleagues. Financial wellbeing is the ability to make sound financial decisions and manage money wisely. Spiritual wellbeing focuses on connecting with a higher power or belief system, which can provide an individual with guidance and purpose in life and use holistic strategies that incorporate physical. Therapists and coaches can work with individuals to provide tools, strategies and support to establish and maintain wellbeing across the different life areas, and in turn addresses the difficult aspects of high-functioning anxiety. The role of a therapist in helping with high-performing anxiety A therapist helps to identify the underlying causes of anxiety and suggest ways to manage it. For high performers who are anxious, therapy can be really helpful to address the underlying causes of anxiety, such as fear of failure, or lack of motivation. A therapist can help to address those issues and provide strategies and tools for managing high-functioning anxiety. The role of coaching to manage high-performing anxiety Coaching is another effective tool to help manage high-functioning anxiety. A coach works with the individual to identify their triggers and create tailored strategies and routines to better manage stress levels. Coaches also provide accountability and guidance throughout a period during which the individual can address their anxiety issues. Routines for managing high-functioning anxiety High-performing anxiety can be managed in a variety of ways, through the implementation and maintenance of specific routines. Routines help to provide structure and order to life, which is especially helpful for those struggling with high levels of stress and anxiety. Creating a morning routine that centers around calming activities such as yoga or meditation can set the tone for the rest of the day, and support the individual's nervous system when taking on different challenges Therapeutic approaches to help: Schema Therapy can help with anxiety by helping an individual identify underlying patterns of thought and behavior. It involves the use of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral strategies to reprogram old patterns, into new ways of thinking and behaving. Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) can also help with anxiety as it teaches individuals to accept their thoughts and feelings, rather than trying to fight them. This can help high achievers to find balance and be able to approach their goals in a healthier way. Eye movement desensitization reprogramming (EMDR ) therapy can also help to reduce the impact of difficult memories and experiences that may create patterns of high anxiety. EMDR helps individuals process the impact of traumas and early life experiences in a new way. These approaches can be used to manage high-functioning anxiety and help high achievers to reach their goals in healthy and sustainable ways, without sacrificing their wellbeing. Summary If you’re a high performer struggling with anxiety, know that you’re not alone. Many people who achieve great things also deal with high-functioning anxiety. While it can be beneficial in some ways, it’s important to manage it so it doesn’t become damaging. One way to do this is to develop routines that focus on calming activities such as yoga or meditation. Therapists and coaches can provide tools, strategies and support to establish a level of wellbeing and safety to help reframe and stabilise anxious tendencies. This can allow anxious tendencies to be transformed into successful outcomes, in a more balanced way. Seek help to manage your high-functioning anxiety so you can make success more sustainable. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Daniel! Daniel Van der Pluym, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Daniel Van der Pluym is the founder of Deeper Potential Coaching and part founder of A DHD Ambition . He is a psychotherapist, certified Life Coach and mindfulness teacher. Through his work, he focuses on helping people overcome their life challenges to create a new story of meaning and fulfilment. His work as a psychotherapist coach and part developer of ADHD Ambition is geared towards helping people overcome uncertainty and rumination, so they can live with more clarity and fulfillment.

Written by: Morgan Williams, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. 1. There is an invitation to evolve into my next level, in my pain and discomfort. It is an opportunity to lean into self-intimacy and vulnerability, and to deeply get to know and love myself. Avoidance of these feelings leads me farther from myself and my true essence. 2. Pain and discomfort have been a huge catalyst in my soul’s evolution and my bigger purpose in this world. I couldn’t work with women the way I do today, without all my personal and sometimes painful and uncomfortable experiences. 3. In the depths of my pain and discomfort l was able to acknowledge that no one was going to “save me”. I am fully and radically responsible for my life, the path forward, success or lack thereof, and actions. 4. We cannot avoid pain and discomfort, rather we can create a toolbox for how to navigate these feelings and care for ourselves when they show up because they will. 5. Emotions aren’t good or bad; they just are. Pain and discomfort show up to teach me something. I get to sit with these feelings and invite them in. When I do that, I get to know them, and I can fully enjoy and be present with the full range of human emotions. If you are interested in coming to a neutral place with your pain and creating what your desire with confidence and clarity in 2023, join me for my FREE workshop Manifest Your Desires in 2023! on January 11, 2023, at 7 PM est. Register here: Manifest Your Desires in 2023! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Morgan! Morgan Williams, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Morgan Williams wear many hats and titles; however, it is the work with her own personal healing journey, which led her to the path of coaching and energy work. Morgan was a professional educator for 16 years, while running a small business for the last five. She is a single mom, to the BEST kid around, and she found herself totally burnt out. Something had to change, and it started with coming back to herself. She found yoga and coaching during this time. She remembers vividly, sitting there, paralyzed with a broken heart, and realizing that if her relationship with herself was better, no one person, could hurt her that deeply. It was her wake-up call and self-love, and true self-care was the first step and a total game-changer in her journey.

Written by: Griffin Smith, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Many people are unaware of what social workers actually do, and particularly what we know. The truth is that what we do represents some of the noblest pursuits in humanity; we broker essential supports that folks need to live and to thrive, we connect and reconnect loved ones, and we guide others through mental health journeys. My career in social work has been of a clinical nature. I work as a mental health therapist with a focus on helping others improve their interpersonal wellness. Through my education in a clinical social work program, work experience, and continuing education, I have learned invaluable tools to help others in this way. And, I have absorbed principles that I believe hold as much value to being human as our most venerated philosophical and dogmatic wisdom. Appraising all of my knowledge in this area, I feel the concept of ‘meeting a person where they are’ is the most important to our unimaginably diverse and nuanced world. Do We Actually Believe There is Natural Equality? On the surface, this phrase can sound simplistic and vague, which may be true. But, some of our greatest ideas do have a simplistic yet profound elegance about them. I believe that what makes the idea of meeting a person where they are so important is that it directs us to reflect on what it really means to know someone, what it means to know others… sure… but also ourselves. Most importantly, this expression leads us to either accept or reject the notion that there are indisputable differences between people due to their nature or environment ‒ it forces us to consider whether we all, in fact, stand on equal footing amidst the myriad and often untold challenges that life offers. We are compelled to decide not only whether there are real differences between us, but what it would require for us to live in a universally beneficial and unified way. What Exactly is Mentalizing? So, what does it mean to meet a person where they are, and how do we do this? First, it’s important to bear in mind that we all navigate our social lives with a built-in mechanism to help us do this. Think of this mechanism like a tuning fork. Just as tuning forks are tools to help us verify musical pitch, there is a mental mechanism we use to verify feelings and thoughts. We use it to infer mental processes that give rise to what is observable, our actions. We do this to make sense of not only other people’s actions but also our own. Several terms describe this process in one way or another, like empathy, self-awareness, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence. However, only one term, in my view, fully brings all of them together. That term is mentalization. There is a catch to this tuning fork analogy, however, which is that our mental tuning forks register pitch differently from person to person; for some, the pitch can be slightly or wildly off. Many forces impact the quality of our mentalizing. I hope you like metaphors because here is another one! Like a car, the systems within our minds can falter, which in turn throws the functionality of the whole system out of whack. At times, these systems can get so out of balance that we completely lose our ability to mentalize; in other words, empathy and self-awareness are lost entirely. It is like a car stalling out. Many of us may know what it looks like when a car stalls out, but what does it look like when we aren’t mentalizing? What makes our mentalizing stall? Just like a car, there are many different causes of our mentalizing stalling. One cause is our emotional systems taking complete control, which is perhaps the most familiar to us. This manifests as emotional outbursts, where our rational mental systems are woefully underperforming. You may already know these states to be very unstable and quite destructive. But, you may not be aware that in these moments strange things happen within our minds. When our emotions are kicked into overdrive, the force can be so powerful that what we feel becomes synonymous with what we believe to be true. A great example is paranoia. With paranoia, fear is the predominant emotion, and if this emotion becomes strong enough we can no longer appropriately distinguish between rational and irrational threats; our thinking systems are crippled. However, stalled-out mentalization can take other modes. One other such mode is when our thinking systems are overworked and our emotional systems are turned down. This creates pretend-like, fantastical experiences, those that can sound like we’re talking about something that holds meaning, but we aren’t really talking about anything at all. Rhetoric from politicians can often have this flavor ‒ you know, things that sound nice, but are obvious to those that are more aware that all of the dots aren’t connecting. Think about someone being performative, pandering, or virtue-signaling…often people doing this convey sentiments or ideas that sound nice but do not comport with reality and lack emotional awareness. A third mode is when we only attribute what is tangible (i.e. what we can see, feel, taste, smell, measure, etc.) to what we consider to be real. We know that human life means to live in the abstract, the intangible, and the cerebral, yet we can fool ourselves into believing that only what we can see is reliable and/or valid evidence of reality. Have you ever had a loved one accuse you of not loving them because you forgot to text or call or because you neglected to hug them the last time you saw each other? Have you ever felt this way toward someone else? Without a doubt, none of these things in and of themselves are proof that a person doesn’t love us, nonetheless, we can be convinced of it under the right circumstances. It may be helpful to think about characteristics that underpin all of these modes to make non-mentalizing more identifiable when you encounter it or experience it within yourself. Tell-tale signs of non-mentalizing include a disinterest in actual mental states (our own or others'), absolute certainty in our perspective or constantly changing our perspective, emotional flooding or emotional detachment, preoccupation only with actions, a disconnect between feeling and thinking states, and inauthenticity. Is it Possible to Live Without Resentment? You may have a specific person in mind that embodies these qualities. You may have struggled with this person time and time again until resentment reaches intolerable levels. Maybe you cut off communication with them or are considering it. This is a phenomenon I’m seeing more and more of these days. Before you go no contact or if you have already done so, I implore you to consider this: none of us are immune to poor mentalizing. It’s a hard thing for all of us to accept, but this is the nature of being human ‒ we are susceptible to emotional forces, and we can rationalize just about anything when framed in the right way. There is also a natural learning curve with any new challenge…just pick the subject ‒ riding a bike, playing an instrument, performing math, learning to walk or talk ‒ for any of us that can do these things, we had to undergo a rather slow and deliberate learning process, full stop. So why do we hold exceptions for social skills? Unquestionably, working with someone to help them better these skills is an immense challenge ‒ it will work you on every level. No one is obligated to undertake this responsibility, and it should only be accepted under circumstances of informed consent. This is especially important under circumstances where there is a risk of harm. One should always place their safety and the safety of others first. But, meeting someone where they are means accepting a person’s social qualities as the limit on what they can do at that moment. For some, there exists a likelihood that the quality of their social functioning will never move from where it is. However, I believe for the majority of folks, this setting is adjustable, and continued exposure to good mentalizing is the key to moving the needle forward. Good mentalizing necessitates meeting a person where they are, at first, and then helping them slowly develop or scaffold skills from there. How To Meet A Person Where They Are… So with that, let’s end with describing qualities of good mentalizing/‘meeting a person where they are’ to guide you in forming a mental image of what this looks like: Express validating curiosity ‒ Not-knowing isn’t the same thing as knowing nothing. We may have a lot of knowledge in many areas, but what none of us ever knows is exactly what is going on in the mind of someone else, even those we have known the longest. Lean into your curiosity by remaining open and interested in someone else’s mind. Let them know that you value what goes on in their mind; It’s OK to ask questions ‒ The mind is perhaps the most complex thing we know of. We can be befuddled and angry at people that harbor views that do not comport with our own, but for every belief, every view, there lies an internal logic for that person, which enabled them to arrive at that belief. Be inquisitive about this so you can understand for yourself; Be authentic ‒ Authenticity does not mean spouting off the first thoughts and feelings that occur to you. It means that if you hope for others to be more open and reflective, you should be striving for this yourself, with equal measure. Search yourself ‒ What are you really feeling? How did you arrive at the thoughts or beliefs you did? Strive to make these necessary internal connections for yourself and be transparent about them with others. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Griffin! Griffin Smith, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Griffin Smith is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, specializing in treating interpersonal dysfunction amidst various mental disorders and environmental contexts. In addition to his clinical practice, he lectures, writes, consults, and supervises other clinicians, organizations, and the general public on improving relationships and engendering interpersonal wellness through mentalization-based interventions. Griffin founded Totus Intuor Counseling & Consulting with this relational vision in mind, not only for the benefit of people engaged in therapy but for the broader cultural contexts in which we all live.