Written by: Aleksandr Iurev, 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. With virtual reality increasingly a part of our lives, now is the time to prepare yourself and your company for the ultimate VR experience — the Metaverse. There are many opportunities in this new digital realm, but many businesses, both small and large, are still unaware of what the Metaverse holds and even what it is. The history of human communication and social interaction goes back about 12,000 years. At that time, nomadic hunters would periodically gather in sacred public areas such as Göbekli Tepe in what is now Turkey, or Stonehenge in Great Britain. People communicated with stories and images engraved on stone. Many centuries later, they invented signs and symbols. Still, even later, humans came up with letters and texts, and then the printing press. Finally, in the modern age, we invented the telegraph, then the telephone; email and video calls. Today, we’re on the threshold of yet another revolution in communication and social gathering. This next level is the Metaverse and other Web 3.0 applications. Companies active in the Metaverse raised over $10 billion in 2021. The entire Metaverse market was worth $480 million in 2020, and it’s expected to grow to $800 billion by 2027. Big tech companies, including Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and Alphabet have joined in shaping VR/ XR spaces and investing in Metaverse startup. Here’s 7 pieces of advice for taking your first steps into the Metaverse. Concept. Just as the Internet of the late 1990s bears no resemblance to the Internet of today, no one knows the final form that the Metaverse will take. At its core, the Metaverse is a 3D representation of the physical world where you’re fully immersed. Instead of creating content based on predefined guidelines, you can create and design your own virtual world. Some of the most promising Metaverse business opportunities are in Gaming, Entertainment, VR real estate, and Non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Plan. You’re new to the Metaverse and aren’t sure where you want to go. Don’t panic. The party is just getting started and this is a great time to do your research and learn about this exciting new landscape. You can have a digital storefront for consumers to buy and sell products online, similar to a physical store. The Metaverse promises a new way of how to communicate, to promote brands, to learn and to entertain. Audience. Who is your target audience? Find out who they are and learn how they spend their time and money in the Metaverse. About 40% of the Metaverse market growth will be driven by consumers in the U.S. and Canada, which are key areas for the Metaverse real estate market. Also, let’s take another example, NFTs are selling to an older demographic — over 30 years old — and they tend to be more affluent. Then there’s the Metaverse for the fashion market, which is expected to increase in value to $6.6 billion in 2026. Selling. Sales opportunities in the Metaverse are limitless, ranging from digital goods and skins for avatars to collectible NFTs, interactive games and live concerts. By 2030, some experts think that nearly 50% of live events could also be held in the Metaverse. Similar growth statistics are predicted for tourism and education. Are you going to sell virtual products, or buy land and build a virtual store or create a new game? Cryptocurrencies allow users to interact commercially. Start your own. Create an NFT. This is easy to do and inexpensive, but there’ll be marketing costs. Invest. Similar to real estate and retail in real life, you can’t just buy virtual land or build a virtual store and then forget about it. You need to refresh it with new merchandise, displays and experiences to make sure people keep coming back. A top-notch virtual store or other major VR presence can require an investment in the millions. That’s probably not you at this stage. So, choose your virtual storefront carefully. The more virtual space you offer, the more likely you will convince customers to buy your products. Participate. Get out there and be a part of the action. Go into Decentraland, run around and explore. Create an avatar and start to feel comfortable in your new skin and this brave new world. Research the brands that are already doing well in the Metaverse. You’ll find familiar brands, and others that aren’t well known. If your target group isn’t in the Metaverse today, they’ll definitely be there in a few months or years. Security. Concerns over safety and security naturally will arise in the Metaverse. For example, how to protect people’s identity. Many users prefer not to be identified with their avatars. But what about crime and hacking? Already, many children are complaining of being scammed in games such as Roblox, and little can be done to stop the culprits. Imagine how potentially lawless the Metaverse could become. Come up with security protocols and procedures to protect yourself and your employees. For now the Metaverse is being used just for business, entertainment and fashion, but it will soon become an integral part of every aspect of our lives. The Metaverse is a new era of how people will interact. Welcome to the future. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Aleksandr! Aleksandr Iurev, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Aleksandr Iurev is a serial entrepreneur, with many years of experience in launching startups. His most recent is Pocketfied, which will radically disrupt the mobile app development industry with its highly innovative technology and service. Overall, Mr. Iurev has 20 years of experience in the IT sector, as well as in DevOps, and Information Security. He cut his teeth in Tech working in IT security for the largest banks in Russia, as well as for top IT companies. That experience protecting clients from hacker attacks is one reason why he attaches top priority to building secure systems so that users can be certain they're protected.

Regina Bauscher has worked in the clean skin space for over 20 years. It began in making "clean" products for her family while raising her children. With education in chemistry, advanced certification in Soap-Making, Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, her goal is to create products that do no harm, create for those who are sensitive skinned and help people find comfort in their skin. Regina is a Level 2 Certified Aromatherapist. Regina & Steve Bauscher, Owner Introduce yourself. Approximately 11 years ago, my husband and I moved back to the country and bought property We wanted to return to the lifestyle we had as kids. We wanted to further our interest in homesteading, gardening and get back into animal husbandry. My husband grew up with goats and wanted to be able to drink raw goat milk again, so we started with two milking goats. Besides making our own cheese, we also used the milk in our soapmaking, which cleared my husband’s skin condition. This unexpectedly later turned into our full-time business of nature-based skin care. When we aren’t creating skin care products, we enjoy professionally competing with our goats in the summertime, leisure travel, periodic camping and cooking over a campfire for fun. With our children all grown our dependents are now are six dogs and twenty seven goats. A Great Pyranees, named Porthos who is a livestock guardian dog that lives with the goats full time. We also have a senior yellow lab named Peanut and four little chihuahuas, named Gizmo, Gomez, Piper and Anastasia. We have 14 grandchildren between us and just started working with a few of them in 4-H. This was their first year and we came home with a Grand Champion and a Reserve Grand Champion. Having too much fun to retire just yet, so it’s a full life! What kind of audience do you target your business toward? Our business is targeted to anyone seeking clean, safe skin care. They are typically discerning consumers who appreciate nature-based ingredients, organic where possible and want to do business with smaller companies. They appreciate an educated staff who can answer their questions. They rely on us for safe ingredients, that are ideally sustainable, and appreciate our efforts to use recyclable, renewable packaging when possible. We target customers who have sensitive skin issues and still struggle to find answers or products that work. Many of our products have helped these consumers find comfort in their skin. What are your current goals for your business? We are engaged in a total website redesign in the near term, hoping to be complete in the next month or so. We believe we make the best goat milk soap on the market and need to get the story out there. We do not use ingredients common in many top brands and our customer satisfaction is off the charts. We are one of the most certified goat milk soaps in the industry and our farm is Certified Humane, showcasing the pampered care of our goats as well. Getting the word out on how and why we are so different is a big priority. Who inspires you to be the best that you can be? It may sound old-fashioned…but I think for both of us, it would be our parents, outstanding role models who gave us our work ethic. We’ve both achieved things in our separate lives that has proven this to us. Dedication to quality will reflect on you as an individual and will open or close doors accordingly. What is your work inspired by? We are inspired every day by the feedback from our customers, particularly those who have not been able to find relief from any other product, including pharmaceuticals. It is humbling and satisfying to know someone is no longer in discomfort because they used one of our products. Greatest career achievement so far. It is three fold for us… our products have won Bath & Body Competition Awards, International Certified Clean and EWG acceptance, our goats have won 3 National Championships and the humans won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Business Ethics in 2021. If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why? Transparency & Education for the Consumer. Companies do not have to share the ingredients in all their products and are protected under “trade secret laws” from full disclosure. Yet, they still want to be considered natural or plant based because that is where consumer demand is the highest. It has encouraged a process called “Greenwashing” where the addition of 1 or 2 botanical extracts and photos of plants and leaves on the packaging are used to leave the consumer with the impression that the product is made of natural ingredients, when in reality, the functional ingredients did not change. Taking advantage of a consumer’s ignorance is short-sighted. Being transparent and educating a consumer as to a product’s composition, engenders strong customer loyalty. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, or visit my website for more info! Read more from Regina!

Written by: Caroline Lewis, 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. I know the rugged individualist hero archetype well. There have been times in my life that I pushed through life’s challenges by pulling up my bootstraps. I participated in programs that taught me wilderness skills as a form of leadership but a neglected song, dance, ceremony, and true surrender to the power and wisdom that naturally flows when connecting deeply to the Earth in the community together. We are TOO often taught that leadership is an individual endeavor, one that prioritizes more masculine qualities, such as rationality, stoicism, aggression, strength, hierarchy, and endurance. “Leading from the feminine is bigger than leading from the heart. It includes leading from your connection to the divine or sacred as well and also from intuition and your body’s senses and awareness. I believe that women’s amazing capacity to heal, grow and strengthen each other is likely the single greatest underutilized resource we have, as a species, for transforming our world.” — Nina Simons But this current leadership paradigm is no longer serving our larger Earth community. Instead of a hierarchical model, the Earth is desperately seeking to re-balance itself which includes a call for all of us to rebalance our own inner masculine and feminine energies. Cultivating the inner courage to step forward as a leader is important, but so is working together, bringing forth all of our own unique talents, co-creating a new vision for the future that surpasses anything that we could have ever previously imagined. And this is not out of reach… Last summer, I participated in two River Trips for women and non-binary folks. On these adventures, I technically “led” and organized the trips. However, I was in awe of the grace that can happen when women come and lead together, directly fed by the divine feminine well of the River’s waters. These River Trips were a shared leadership experience. Though I may have had the vision, ALL other group members stepped forward with their own unique gifts and magic in order to create and manifest a transformative community journey of a lifetime. And I am convinced that Wildly Sensitive people will lead this way forward together. By cultivating a sensitive collective in nature, we can learn and embody leadership that is shared through reciprocity, mutual care, and a true honoring and uplifting of highly sensitive gifts such as intuition, empathy, and heightened sensory awareness. As an empath, you can learn to communicate and lead from the vulnerable places where your heart breaks for the world while remaining grounded and centered when the Earth needs sensitive and feminine leadership the most. The current paradigm of leadership is not designed for sensitive folks. Sensitive ones learn and process differently than others. Instead of prioritizing only masculine qualities, it is necessary for you as an empath to learn to lead from your inner feminine, held by your masculine. When your feminine and masculine wisdom rise directly from Earth’s source, they flow beyond the binary ‒ supporting you in emerging and leading from your wildest true nature. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Caroline! Caroline Lewis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Caroline Lewis (she,they) is a psychotherapist, energy healer, and wilderness guide. She believes true embodied joy is rooted in the courage to embrace sensitivity, opening our hearts through the necessary risks to love, grieve, hope, and transform. Through healing and sacred nature connection, Caroline guides wildly sensitive leaders with aligning with their true purpose and souls' wisdom during this time of ecological transition. She is the founder of Root Awareness which offers transformative experiences through nature adventures, meditation, process groups, and 1:1 healing and coaching sessions.

Written by: Bernice Fabi, 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 vision for our 25th wedding anniversary had always been a romantic vacation on an elegant safe cruise ship. My husband had another idea. I finally gave in from exasperation, and although reluctant, the slightest curiosity for a new adventure. Quicker than I could set the dinner table, our credit card had a deposit on it and our vacation was booked. We were going to give a toast to our marriage on a 30-foot sailboat barefoot instead. I could already imagine sending out an SOS. My husband spent a better part of his later youth testing fish in Northern British Columbia, Canada. I’ve heard memories of remote area adventures, breathtaking lakes and scenery. He loves anything that involves water including fishing, boating and recently, had developed a keen interest in sailing. Frankly, I love the water but am intimidated beyond any body of water bigger than the local swimming pool. Adding rolling waves is just another scary dimension. I had three months yet to live before I imagined being capsized in the middle of a glacial lake. On the 9-hour car drive, well actually 16 hours if you count the overnight stay in the car because we couldn’t find a hotel vacancy, I diligently studied an illustration of the sailboat sent with our introductory package. I planned to put labels around the boat and packed bright pink sticky notes and a thick felt tip marker. The instructor must have anticipated what newbie sailors might be up to as he already had the job done in professional white and black labels. I do admit the light wind on our first and exceptionally hot day was a feeling that made me take a deep breath in, hold it and let it out real slow. As I stood before the gray weathered dock, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the moored boats, sails furled, masts reaching high, majestic against the clear deep blue sky. It still looked intimidating. “This is home for the next four days.” My husband paused and continued, “Well, three actually plus an optional day on our own''. He said the last part rather quickly and quietly, but I caught it. Under my breath, I whispered, “Yes, three days!” And this is where my summer lessons started, not only in sailing, but in life. The days on the water taught me to unlearn that time is attached to the hands of a clock. Instead, I learned to follow the setting sun to sleep and the rising sun to wake. You guessed it, no power to read or write, only enough to enjoy the moonlight. I woke to glass like water that would turn into mid morning waves signaling time to sail. I focused on the rhythm of the waves rather than the urgency of “to do” alarms. The days on the water taught me to feel a sense of oneness with the water, with the wind, with the sky, with the boat. Nothing else mattered in certain moments of captivation. The experience was meditative, reflective and all consuming. There was no such thing as time, only experiencing the moment. The days on the water taught me that nature is powerful and you can neither defeat or conquer it but you can be in harmony with it and that is peace. I learned to read the direction of the wind and patterns of the water rather than restlessness driven by the busyness and expectations of society. On the water there was no expectation of where we would get to and when, only freedom. The days on the water taught me to manage risk. As a beginner sailor, I was taught to mitigate challenges and bite off what I felt comfortable with. I was taught to anticipate the unexpected. When I did I felt exhilarated and empowered to face the next challenge. I learned that I cannot control the environment around me but I can remain in calm self-control. The days on the water taught me the importance of communication and teamwork. This is especially important with a spouse despite the fact that you’re wearing life vests. I learned to rely on aids and intuition to maneuver and reposition sails, track our path and maximize the wind to get the best efficiency. So it is with the zig zag pattern of life at times. I learned the value of connecting to other humans rather than being tied to technology. At the beginning and end of each day we met other sailors or casually conversed with campers gathered by a steaming kettle plugged into a power pole. The power of connection through a quiet conversation took priority over the news or social media. I felt at ease with the simplicity of life that lifted me rather than data and demands that normally drowned me. At the end of the third day we were asked by the skipper what our plans were for the fourth day. After a sleepless night of hesitation, only on my part, I was encouraged to make the decision. “We’ll take it out.” The fourth day taught me to face fear Bareboat meant no instructor. No one to rely on. No one to guide us. I still hadn’t lost that image of capsizing the boat. Alone and a bit nerve wracked to start, myself anyway, we ventured that day cautiously but gradually with more comfort. We caught the wind and gained speed. It was an exhilarating experience to maneuver and heel with the wind, to challenge ourselves and gain more confidence. Only independence could have enabled this liberation from fear. This was freedom! I felt the wind still teasing and testing as we neared the dock and lowered the sails. There was a bit of a longing already developing within me, like something I would be missing. This adventure, and specifically the last several hours I decided at that moment, was certainly a highlight of my summer. These were the kind of experiences that taught life lessons in the most unexpected ways. As we motored the last few minutes into the marina unscathed, the wind encouraged us onward, enticing us to raise a toast and the sails again, for our 26th anniversary. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Bernice! Bernice Fabi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Bernice Fabi is a certified Life and Empowerment Coach for women. She also applies mental fitness into her programs for a truly life changing experience. Always an eager life student, Bernice brings an array of experience to her coaching practice including a lengthy financial career and as an entrepreneur in real estate investment and management. Bernice helps women overcome limiting beliefs and realize their potential. In doing so, they make choices to live an extraordinary and purposeful life.

Written by: Daniel Mangena, 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. Deck: Are you frustrated by your inability to maximize your efficiency and get things done? If you find yourself plagued by distractions and a mounting workload, this article is for you. We all want to learn how to become more disciplined. Nobody really likes that feeling of an incomplete task list, looming deadlines and unrealized life goals. So what are some ways to overcome laziness and procrastination? The first thing to recognize (and this may sound like a semantic copout) is that laziness and procrastination aren’t you ‘failing’. When you’re sat around playing video games, shopping for a new dress or making yet another cup of coffee; you’re succeeding. You’re just succeeding at the wrong things! We’re all running on subconscious programming, as much as 97% of the time. This is for a good reason. If you consider all of the bodily functions, movements and general tasks you go through in a single hour, you need those to be handled without conscious intervention. If you had to consciously choose to take every breath, you’d have a very full day! The subconscious runs all of that, but it is also responsible for our fight or flight response. Again: this is for a good reason. You don’t want to have to first weigh the pros and cons of running away from a hungry tiger. The problem is, your subconscious is actually just your prehistoric brain. It’s what our ancestors developed when they lived in caves and fought (ran away from) saber-toothed tigers. As such, it doesn’t really respond to modern, conscious thinking. This is why it’s virtually impossible to intellectualize away your laziness and procrastination. It happens every January. The same old resolutions come out don’t they? “Lose weight”, “make more money”, “drink less” etc… and do you stick to them? Well maybe, but if you did, you represent only between 9-12% of the 41% of Americans who even make resolutions in the first place. Why is this number so woeful? Because that 97% of your brain is not just concerned with day-to-day operations, it’s also tasked with keeping you safe. Unfortunately, being such an ancient machine, running on the most basic of programming, safe simply equates to: “the same”. That’s how basic your mind is. It operates on the assumption that the status quo, up until now, has resulted in your continued survival. It, therefore, surmises that it should be preserved, in order to maintain your safety. This is why you see people being emotionally addicted to scenarios, people and places that are really not serving their growth. It’s why we become so intransigent, even in the face of overwhelming intellectual evidence that we need to change. You see: it’s not that we’re ‘failing’ to do anything. We’re perfectly executing our internal programming. It’s just not programming that we consciously desire. With this in mind then, here’s how to become more disciplined: find a strong enough ‘why?’ that will give you sufficient leverage over your internal programming. As Nietzsche said: “He who has a strong enough why, can weather any how”. Or words to that effect. We can obviously understand that intellectually: “if I want something enough, I’ll do whatever I have to to get it.” But what’s more important is that our subconscious understands this too. More than simply having the ‘why’ though, is the connection to it. If that is so strong that it represents your life’s purpose, and that the thought of not achieving it feels like dying (albeit a symbolic death) then you will get your subconscious on board. Unlike your conscious mind, your subconscious developed long before language did. It therefore can’t be reasoned with using words. You have to speak to it with emotion. This is why the pull towards your consciously chosen goals has to be so strong! This is really how you instill discipline. Think of it as a life hack. With that emotional connection established, like a compass pointing due North; you’ll have no issue doing what it takes to get there. Another life hack, that will help you to become more disciplined, and overcome laziness and procrastination, is “micro-shifting”. A huge reason why you fail to ‘scale the mountain’ of your stated aims, resolutions and life-goals; is because you fixate on the summit. You can’t jump to the top of Mount Everest in one go. You have to break it down step-by-step. That’s what micro-shifting is all about. Again, it comes back to your subconscious. The reason why fixating on the summit is a problem, is that it represents too much change. Yes; you derive your emotional pull (‘why’) from it, but that must be met with practical actions that can be taken in the direction of achieving that outcome. Push your edge, not your buttons. We all have what I refer to as an “edge”. This is the line beyond which your subconscious deems to be unsafe territory, and fights back. This can be in the form of anxieties, or self-sabotaging behaviors like laziness and procrastination. These are really just expressions of discomfort from your subconscious programming. So the point is to find your edge, and then make sure that you move towards your goal in micro-shifts that expand your edge in manageable steps. Here’s an example: say you want to grow your business to $1M turnover. The first thing to do is lock in that goal and connect with it on an emotional level, truly understanding your ‘why' and who you want to become in the process. Next ‒ identify the easiest first step towards it. If you don’t have one, let me help: start a journal. It’s a vital tool in organizing your thoughts and working with your subconscious. Your first step, therefore, is to go out and buy a journal. That shouldn’t create too much resistance from your subconscious, but say that it does. In that case, go one step smaller and simply set the intention of going to the stationary store. No pressure to buy anything, you’re merely looking. Hopefully, you get the point: find ways to defuse the emotional charge of these incremental steps towards change, by focussing on the tasks that seem utterly benign to you. As you go about completing those, your subconscious will be supplied with evidence that making progress in your chosen direction is not as dangerous as it feared. Very quickly you’ll find that you are noticing new opportunities and bigger steps that you can take towards your $1M company. Congratulations: you have pushed your edge. Now your subconscious is working for you and your consciously chosen desires. It’s looking for evidence to support your new reality, just like when you get a new car and start noticing how many others there are on the road. Hopefully, now you have more of an understanding of what laziness and procrastination really are. Simply being armed with that knowledge, you’ll have a much better understanding of how to overcome them and feel more disciplined as a result. Try taking some baby-steps in the direction of a new goal today, and just observe the changes that occur within you. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Daniel! Daniel Mangena, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dan Mangena is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and public speaker. Recently named in the Wall St Journal as a "Master of Success," he is completely self-made and has spent decades perfecting his world-class coaching methodology. His books, podcasts, events & retreats continue to help captains-of-industry and private individuals alike live an abundant, joyful, purpose-driven life. He offers many unique and effective free tools via his website.

Written by: James Phelan, 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. Communication is one of the most important skills you can have to create better relationships. It's not just about being able to talk, but also about listening and understanding what other people are saying. The more we listen to understand others, the better we will get at it. The following steps will help you improve your communication skills: 1. Start talking softly, don't criticize The first step to better communication is being honest and open. You can start by simply trying "I think we need to talk about this." It's important not to criticize the other person or jump to conclusions before they've had a chance to explain themselves. Be calm and respectful when you approach them with your concerns, even if it seems like the easiest thing in the world right now. If you’re feeling frustrated, it can be tempting to start the conversation with something like, “You always do this!” or “Why do I always have to be the one who does everything around here?” But if your goal is for your partner to hear what you have to say, then it might be better to start with something simple like, “I think we need to talk about this.” This approach gives them an opportunity to acknowledge that there is a problem and an opportunity for both of you to talk about how things might change moving forward (which brings us neatly onto step two…). 2. Be clear and specific Let's say you're annoyed because your partner is leaving dishes in the sink. You might want to express this annoyance, but if you're going to use "you" in the sentence and not sit down with him or her and talk things out first, then they'll likely feel attacked and get defensive. A better way to express the same problem would be something along these lines: "I get frustrated when dishes are left in the sink. Can you put them in the dishwasher please?" This way your partner will hear what it is about their behavior that bothers you without feeling attacked by an accusatory tone. If there's one rule of thumb when it comes communicating effectively, it's this: state what exactly YOU want or need from someone else without being vague or accusing them of doing something wrong. Don't say "You make me so mad!" or "You're always late!" or "It's your fault!". When you’re upset with a loved one, it can be tempting to blame them or use harsh language. Don’t do this! It won't help your relationship and will likely make things worse. Instead of saying, “You make me so mad!” try, “I don't like being frustrated when I'm trying to get something done. Can we figure out how to avoid this from happening again?” Similarly, instead of saying, “You're always late!” try saying something like: “I would really appreciate it if we could be on time for appointments together so that our time isn't wasted waiting around for each other. How can we work on getting our calendars synced up so that this doesn't happen again? Say Instead, say something like," I'm frustrated because we hardly see each other." Describing how you feel is much better than putting blame on the other person. Rather than saying, "You never spend time with me," try using more specific language. For example, “I’m frustrated because we hardly see each other.” Also, never blame the other person or make it about them—this will only cause more arguments and hurt feelings. Communication is a skill for life that must be practiced daily to keep it in shape and avoid future miscommunication. 3. Listen with curiosity, not judgment Listening is a skill that can be learned. It’s not about waiting for your turn to talk; it’s about understanding what the other person is saying and showing that you care. When we listen to judge we move into contempt. Research has shown that contempt is the number one predictor of divorce. The opposite of judgement is curiosity. When you find yourself thinking about what you want to say next, STOP! Acknowledge the speaker by nodding or saying “I see,” “okay,” or “right.” Listen with an open mind and heart and allow them to finish their thought before responding with an open question such as “What do you mean?” It's easy to want to jump into a conversation and argue about your opinion as soon as someone starts talking. Try listening more! Don't interrupt Don't argue Don't judge Don't be defensive Don't try to explain your side of the story; just listen to what they have to say first, then you can share yours if they want your opinion or input on something specific (like a project). And if they don’t ask for it and don’t seem interested in hearing your side, maybe it's best not saying anything at all right now! 4. Repeat in your own words Finally, repeat what they said to show you were listening. It's easy to misunderstand people when we're distracted or daydreaming. It also shows that you care about understanding their point of view and will help avoid any miscommunications in the future. If there was a misunderstanding, this step allows an opportunity for both parties to clear things up and ensure everyone is on the same page with regards to expectations and desired outcomes. This can be one of the easiest and most powerful things you can do when communicating with another person. Repeat what they said in your own words so that you both know you understand each other. If there was a misunderstanding, this will allow an opportunity to clear things up. Communication is more than a conversation Communication is more than just having a conversation; it's about listening and understanding. It's about being able to talk about difficult things. It's about being able to talk about the things that are important to you, even if they're not important to someone else. To communicate effectively, you need to be able to listen without interrupting and have an open mind when someone is talking to you. You also need to understand what they're saying so that you can respond appropriately. If someone says something wrong or offensive, don't get defensive—ask them questions so that they can explain themselves better before deciding whether their statement was appropriate or not. Conclusion It's important to remember that communication is a two-way street. If you want to be heard by someone else, you have to listen as well. The best way to start improving your relationship with someone else is by listening and repeating what they said in your own words. This will help them feel heard and understood, which can lead to better conversations going forward. Visit my website for more info! Read more from James! James Phelan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jim Phelan is a leader in the field of psychology and personal transformation. Having trained with the foremost experts in the field he uniquely qualified to offer help in the areas of relationships, stress and anxiety management and sleep disturbance. Jim has studied personal development and the psychology of change since early childhood. He founded Phelan Counseling and Consulting after earning two Master's degrees in the field of counseling and psychology.

Written by: Michael Kittinger, 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. Creating a successful online business (or any business for that matter) is not easy. It takes hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Luckily, the difference between success and failure is often a few small tweaks away. Below are 3 small changes Parentpreneurs can take to grow their business and shortcut the path to success quickly. As entrepreneurs with kids (whom I affectionately call "Parentpreneurs"), we need to work smarter, not harder. We don't have the option of working 50, 60, or even 70 hours or more (not that anyone should want to do that). We have families to take care of... which means we need a strategy that gives us a bigger return for less work and effort. Keep reading to discover 3 small tweaks that can make a huge difference for your business (and life)! Tweak 1: To Quickly Grow Your Online Business: Identify a Starving Crowd Not all people (especially when it comes to potential buyers) are created equal. Let me explain. You've probably heard that you need to identify a specific audience for your product or service and this is so true. It's important to focus on helping one specific type of person (oftentimes called "your ideal avatar") solve one specific problem. This is especially true when you're starting your business or while you're still under at least 7 to 8 figures. One mistake I see a lot of entrepreneurs make is trying to be everything to everybody, thinking that's the path to success. And I get it ‒ in my first business, I tried to serve everyone. You think the broader you are, the more people you can serve and the more money you'll make. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. As the saying goes, if you try to be everything to everybody, you end up being nothing to nobody. When you choose a specific person and solve a very specific problem, you're able to better understand and connect with them in your marketing and messaging; you're able to better solve their one specific problem, and you're able to become the go-to hero for them. Even after we've identified our ideal avatar and the problem we're going to solve... there's still one small tweak we can make that will help us quickly grow our business. In our specific audience, how do we find the "starving crowd"? The starving crowd are the ones who aren't just looking for a solution, they're desperately looking for the solution. Let me give you a quick example. Two people are experiencing severe back pain. One has been dealing with back pain for 2 hours and the other has been dealing with it for 2 years. Which one is much more likely to seek out a solution? Which one is more likely to pay significantly more to find a solution? Which one would fall under our "starving crowd" definition? If you want quickly grow your business and make more money in the process, focus on serving the people who have a bigger pain and have been experiencing it for a longer period of time... these are our "starving crowds." Tweak 2: To Quickly Grow Your Online Business: Turn Your Offer Into A Million Dollar Offer If you want to sell something, anything, you have to have an Offer. Everything from the Snickers bar at the checkout counter to a $100k coaching program has an offer. Before we dive into tweaking your offer into a million-dollar offer, we must first understand what exactly is an Offer. An Offer is the combination of your core product or service plus any added value (bonuses, guarantees, etc.) Every Offer has a price (set by you the seller) and a perceived value (determined by the buyer). When the Value is Greater than the price, you have a chance of creating a buyer. If the Value is less than the Price, you have no chance of creating a buyer. And remember, the Value of something is in the eyes of the buyer ‒ it has nothing to do with the cost of raw materials and labor or what you think it's worth. Now that we know what an Offer is let me briefly touch on an Irresistible Offer ‒ as I'm sure you've heard that phrase said many times. An irresistible offer is one that is so good that it's simply irresistible... meaning that the value so exceeds the price that it becomes a no-brainer (assuming it's what the buyer is actually looking for). While I agree your offer should solve your ideal client's pain and help them achieve their desired goal, and it should certainly be irresistible with the value being substantially higher than the price you're asking, the fallacy comes when you look at your Offer in terms of scalability. A lot of the Offers I see are irresistible, but they're structured in such a way that they are simply not scalable. This could be due to too many done-for-you components or too much of a time commitment to deliver or the profitably is just not there. So what makes a Million Dollar Offer? A Million Dollar Offer is an offer that is both salable AND scalable to 7-figures (and beyond) without making any changes. Not only does our offer need to be irresistible, but we can't just throw in the farm to make it a no-brainer. We have to strategically increase the value without increasing the work or effort required. Now, you may be wondering, "how the heck do we increase the value without increasing the effort to fulfill?!?" I'm glad you asked and I'll answer that question in just a second. But first, I need to tell you the four types of products that exist. There are physical products, digital products, software and services. Physical products are the things that you can touch and feel. Physical products typically have the highest perceived value (a physical book versus a book on the Kindle), but they also have raw materials and labor associated with them (buying the physical book and someone mailing it to your client). Digital products are things such as ebooks, courses, online communities like Facebook groups, etc. These are great because you create or set it up once and you can deliver it as many times as you would like. Software is... software. Unless you're white-labeling it, building software from scratch has some startup costs. The wonderful thing about software is that it can be a great source of recurring revenue and a sticking point for clients to stay with you longer. Services are when you're actually doing the work with or for someone. Services involve time and costs and, depending on the type and structure of the service, can be a major limiting factor in scaling your business. Now that we understand the 4 types of products let's get back to increasing the value of our Million Dollar Offer. The easiest way to increase the value without increasing the time, energy, or cost is to include digital products and software access as bonuses. These two types of products are high value and only have to be created once. And on the software side, you can probably white-label someone else's software, so you don't even have to build it! Let me give you a quick example: Let's say you're a chiropractor. Instead of just offering adjustments like all the other chiropractors... what if instead, you also included a membership portal with an easy-to-understand explanation of what causes lower back pain as well as specific exercises to fix recurring back pain. And what if you also had a white-labeled app that helps track what the person does to then flare up the lower back pain? How much more valuable is that Offer than just a back adjustment? And the great thing is you only had to create the digital product and software once. When you can drastically increase the value of your offer without increasing the time or cost to fulfill, you're on the path to creating a Million Dollar Offer and quickly growing your business. Tweak 3: To Quickly Grow Your Online Business: Instead of Building Your Own Audience, Focus on Leveraging Other People's Audiences This might be the biggest lever of them all... Instead of focusing on building your own audience, focus on connecting with the people who have already gathered your ideal clients together. Audience Leveraging is the number one way to quickly grow your business and create multiple 5 to 6-figure paydays each and every month. You see, someone else has already spent the time, energy and money attracting your ideal clients together. Imagine how powerful it would be if that person not only introduced you to their audience but gave you time to provide massive value to them. Here's why that's so powerful... First, when they introduce you, you gain immediate credibility and status with their audience. You go from being "just another one" to "the one they need to speak to." Second, now it's no longer a cold lead that you have to work really hard for. You can provide your Partner's audience with massive value and then make your pitch at the end. This is the strategy that so many have used and yet so few are teaching. Being a guest on someone’s Podcast or YouTube Channel, doing a Lead Magnet Swap, or offering free training to someone else’s Facebook group are all ways to leverage other people’s audiences. The goal is to move the audience that you're borrowing into an audience that you own – while providing value and making sales in the process. Instead of trying to build your audience and make sales one at a time by creating content, sending endless messages, or running expensive ads, I recommend you start by first identifying and leveraging other people's audiences. It can be the fastest and most efficient way to grow your business. To recap, the 3 small tweaks you can make to grow your business quickly are: Don't just identify any audience. Find the starving audience within your niche. Transform your offer into a Million Dollar Offer that is both salable and scalable to 7-figures and beyond without making any changes. You can increase the value of your Million Dollar Offer by adding digital products and software as bonuses. Instead of building your audience from scratch, identify and leverage other people's audiences. Someone else has already spent the time, energy and money to gather your ideal potential clients together - all you have to do is get in front of them. If you're a Parentpreneur looking for an effective and efficient way to grow your business, schedule a call at scalewithmichael.com and let's dive into your business and develop a roadmap to get you to your goals. If you want additional free resources and join a community of other Parentpreneurs, visit parentpreneur.com Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Michael Kittinger, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Michael Kittinger is an award-winning marketer, coach and Parentpreneur who is passionate about helping other parent entrepreneurs build highly profitable businesses and live the "semi-retired" life. After struggling to grow his first few businesses (despite working 24/7), he knew there had to be a better way... one that wouldn't require him to work all the time and sacrifice his family. He has since found a way to have it all and now he helps other Parentpreneurs do the same. Michael is the owner of Parentpreneur.com and the Parentpreneur Accelerator Community, Podcast, and Coaching Programs. His mission: To help Parentpreneurs create Income, Impact, and Independence.

I grew up with very practically-minded folks - both my parents were hard-working Capricorns, dad a bank manager and mum a nurse. I can still see mum now in the latter stages of her career as a lead haematology nurse, leaving the house at 5am, heading forward, walking at a near running pace to the catch the first ferry from the Isle of Wight to go to work at Southampton General Hospital. She would work a long day before heading back across the Solent to assume her other role as carer for dad who was suffering the advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease. They had always supported each other through the biggest challenges in their lives, this one being the hardest and the cruelest, as the man she lived in partnership with slowly disappeared from her life as the disease ravaged his mobility and his personality, on-set dementia stealing his mind and his memory. Even though she tried to slow down a little as she hit the first six months of her retirement. She filled every drop of time she could with things for her to do that would take her away from the stress of caring for dad at home. Three days after dad was finally admitted to a full-time care home, his dementia having taken him away from us completely, mum was found collapsed on the downstairs bathroom floor with her loyal dog, Rosie, keeping her warm in her time of need. She was rushed to hospital, and there it was confirmed that diagnosis of cancer had started in her adrenals and spread to her kidneys. It was a rare form of cancer affecting only 1-2 people in a million. She did always say she was one in a million! Coincidently the only Adrenal Oncology Specialist worked out of Southampton General Hospital, so she was transferred over and administered a ground-breaking new drug. She was hopeful. She always had a smile for the endless stream of visitors from colleagues and friends who worked with her at the hospital. They made sure she had the best care she could possibly have, but despite all best efforts, the medicine proved futile. When she received the news that the drugs weren’t working, her body responded and within three weeks of saying her last goodbye to her husband, she was gone. We had some incredible times in the room with her in the weeks leading up to her passing. I was curious to the energies that surrounded us all as she was getting ready to transition—from her telling her sister off for being in the way of their mum who had her hand out to her, to my brother who had a vivid dream a couple of nights before she passed about his best friend who had died who visited to let him know he was OK. Mum’s mum - always ready with mischief a cheeky grin - had passed over 14 years previously, but certainly made herself known to me and my sister in the days leading up to mum’s passing. Even though my parents were practical people, mum and her side of the family were very tuned into 'something more’. She used to say to me, “You know we’re from a long line of witches, don’t you?” There were times when I very much believed it! Their particular penchant seemed to be visiting each other when they pass. In the early hours of one morning, mum’s other sister sat upright in bed in her home in Australia, thousands of miles from what was unfolding in the hospital in England. In between sleep and dream her little sister, my mum, was at the end of her bed playing the piano they way they used to do together when they were little. “Lizzie”, my aunt said in her half-wake, half-sleep state, “You’re the brightest star in the sky.” A couple of hours later she got the ‘phone call from England to confirm what she already knew—that at the time her little sister was playing the piano to her she had passed. I've always been a curious soul seeker. My gift is being highly intuitive and clair-sentient. I can be lost in a train of thought about someone, and when I get a email or message from them, or bump into them, having not seen them for year, it’s never a surprise. But for many of the years leading up to mum’s passing - and after dad’s a couple of years later - I pushed that all away, throwing myself headfirst into work. I left the Island to go back to London and focus on rising up the career ladder, becoming a clients services director in the fast-paced world of advertising. Much like my mum, I was trying to work my way through pain. I valued thinking over feeling, it was so much easier to control. As time passed, I felt a purpose calling. I no longer wanted to help people sell ‘stuff’, I was much more motivated about what made them want to be successful in their own lives, and how they could move beyond what was holding them back, so I trained as a life coach, and then went on to become a Master Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner. I was transitioning away from a full-time job and into building my own business. Life, on the outside, looked perfect, but there was something seriously missing. I had been making decisions based on logic for so long I was a walking and talking head, disconnected from the neck down, which made it impossible to feel anything - no joy, no sadness, no… nothing. I realise now, looking back, that I was suffering from a depression of the central nervous system. One weekend I was back on the Isle of Wight at a friend’s hen party. I had started to find my way to spiritual practices to try and make sense of what was going on, and maybe create an energy line where I could deepen a connection to mum and dad. What I didn’t know at the time was that what I most needed was a connection back to me. There was a tarot reader at the party. I had decided I wasn’t going to have a reading as I had an angel card reading booked for the very next day. Just as the tarot reader put her coat on to leave I found myself sat opposite her, “I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon.” she said. With every card turned, the story unfolded—water not able to flow, rivers dammed, the last two cards stuck together, the one on the bottom depicted an iceberg. “Kate, do you need any more indication that your energy is stuck?” “I know”, I said, “But how do I get it moving again?” “You’ll know." she said, “You’ll know.” So I went headlong into finding a re-connection on to my energy flow. I tried reiki, kinesiology, yoga, readings, crystals, you name it, I did it. I had started spending more time around spiritual people, I followed my curiosity to try things out. I had seen my friend Jayne doing something called Qoya, a somatic and spiritual movement practice with roots in dance, yoga, feminine wisdom, and shamanic principles based on Peruvian traditions. I had seen various pictures with her dancing in front of a gold curtain. “Qoya means Queen”, said the blurb. “A movement practice to help you remember that your essence is wise, wild and free. A connection to the divine feminine within you, and natural pulse of life.” “Divine feminine? Qoya means Queen? Dancing?” I scoffed. I loved my friend Jayne, but for me dancing was something reserved for the kitchen at parties, or a wild night out at a club, and those days had started to pass me by. One afternoon I found myself at a Qoya workshop Jayne was teaching at in London. As we moved through the pillars of Qoya to connect to remember our essence is wise, wild and free, it suddenly became true when it came to the free dance. There I was, spinning ‘round and ‘round with my arms aloft, I was that firework that Katy Perry was singing about. I felt like a kid again and was alive with a sense of joy that I hadn’t felt in years. I came away from that afternoon with a belly full of cacao, and a knowing in my heart, “This is the thing. I’ve found it, and I’ve connected back to me.” I went to as many classes and workshops as I could, although there were still only two Qoya teachers in the UK. Back in 2017 doing sessions online wasn’t really a thing yet. It was great, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was supposed to be doing something more with this in my own work. Not that I had a clue what it would all mean. I was a life coach and a Master NLP Practitioner, surely people would think I’d lost it if I started talking about the divine feminine and getting people to dance? And, more than that, the training to become a Qoya teacher was in Costa Rica. I was transitioning out of salaried work to focus on my business full time, how would I justify the expense? But it wouldn’t leave me alone— no matter how much I tried to ignore it. One morning I woke up, put my feet on the ground, and felt a full rush from the tips of my toes to the top of my head and settling into my heart. I had to go to Costa Rica. I had to train to become a Qoya teacher. It was time, my body and my heart knew. I see-sawed between this knowing and fear as I told my partner what I was thinking. Half of me wanted him to tell me that I was crazy for wanting to do it, half of me was already planning the trip. I said I’d go for the week, he said I should consider going for a month. I took the solo adventure that started with a 24 hour trip from cold, grey London to 35° heat under the Costa Rica skies, travelling on an old American school bus to get the a place called Santa Teresa to learn how to teach Qoya. But something was off as I made this journey across the tropical green wilds of this beautiful country. I felt awkward, self-conscious , clumsy and stupid. What if I didn’t fit in? What was I doing? Even as I watched the sun rising from behind the landscape it didn’t do much to lift the heaviness I had been feeling, and feeling for a long time. Like a void of nothingness inside my soul. Nothing made logical sense. We danced and moved through a journey that Rochelle Schieck, the founder of Qoya, had set out for us throughout the week of training. We danced to let go, to shed layers, we danced our shadow, we danced in the sun, I danced in the shadow of the news that David Bowie had died. For the first time in what felt like forever, I cried as I felt his loss like a member of my own family,/ Grief flowed through my body. It became a gentle, yet powerfully cathartic process, because healing through feeling was the thing I needed most. Every day we were invited to meditate and journal on what we were experiencing. I found that hard to do before Qoya, like something was trapped inside and couldn’t get out. Every morning I would wake up and head to the beach. With the waves crashing onto the shores, and the world waking up, I meditated. I kept visualising a treasure chest wrapped with rusty chains that kept the lid shut. Each day we danced Qoya to a different theme, I would see colours behind my eyes—reds, blues, a lot of purple. In my meditations the lid of the treasure chest was opening to reveal an array of colours from within. I was curious to find out more, asking Rochelle what colours related to different chakras. Not that I knew much about what they were! The colours I had been seeing aligned perfectly to what we had been exploring in our body and our energy each day through Qoya. My wild colours were returning. My energy was flowing back through me. The treasure was revelling itself. It all felt like magic had woken up within me. I returned to the UK the same person, yet so much more me. I felt more confident, more creative, more aligned to how I wanted to share my work. I had learned to listen to my intuition, which the volume had been turned down so low it was inaudible before. I followed where it whispered. I trusted the wisdom in my body, which I had been disconnected from for too many years. My work and my creativity started to soar. Ideas would rain down with the water in the shower. I had an idea for creating a wisdom deck that brought all of the pragmatic elements of my work as a life coach and NLP practitioner blended with ancient technologies of breath work, chakra activation working with energy, along with the somatic movement elements inspired the powerful wisdom of Qoya. Practical Magic was born. The Practical Magic Activation Deck - a life coach in a box - followed a year later brought to life by a crowdfunding campaign of people searching for the intuitive mind-body wisdom in all of them. Qoya and the blended melting pot of goodness that is Practical Magic has woken up something inside of me, and so many others that I work with, that will no longer sleep. Through an adventure of curiosity, creativity and somatic connection, more and more reveals itself. So too does community—I owe all of this work to the community of curious soul seekers who are on the path o discovering more through spirituality, wellbeing and self care. So when I had an idea in the ‘shower of dreams’ - as I affectionately call it - to create a festival to bring an incredible community of wellbeing practitioners together for a weekend, it felt right. I followed the feeling and knew deep in my heart and my bones that it had to be on the healing land of the Isle of Wight—the place I used to call home, and where my parents honoured me with so many lessons and so much love. I tuned in—what if - as it had started for me on that day of the tarot reading - one day could start a journey of spiritual and discovery that awakens an adventure of mind-body-soul wisdom that lasts a lifetime? What if this could be an Awakening of self care, connection and wellbeing for so many others who need it more so now than they’ve ever needed before? The Awakening Festival of Wellbeing, Self Care & Connection takes place at Northwood House on the Isle of Wight across the weekend of 24-25 September 2022. You can enjoy over 50 different wellbeing workshops on the Saturday, including inspiring talks, yoga and movement, meditation and mindfulness, conscious living conversations, holistic therapies plus an evening of soulful fun and entertainment with The Glitter Party on Saturday evening. Super Soulful Sunday takes a slower pace with restorative yoga, breath and sound healing sessions to integrate a deep sense of connection from the weekend. Tickets available from £75 for the Saturday, and £115 for the weekend from www.awakeningfestival.co.uk Find out more about Kate Taylor and her work at www.katetaylor.co

Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview Founder and Chair of the Mouratoglou Academy, Patrick Mouratoglou is the most influential coach in tennis. Nicknamed “The Coach”, he is the gold standard on the international circuit. After a successful start to his career with a number of high-level players, he became Serena Williams’ official coach back in 2012. This was a decisive moment in his career. The “Dynamic Duo” had been together for seven years, and went on to make some of the greatest history in tennis. “We are accountable for our players’ achievements, and it is up to us to take responsibility for them, both in victory and defeat.” - Patrick Mouratoglou How do we implement the ability to “unlearn something“? Two things to say, we are the creation of all the experiences we have gone through in our lives. This reveals whether we are good at something or not, a positive experience or a negative experience. An example would be if you were to give a speech, if you believe you are bad at giving a speech, you will give a bad speech, you convince yourself you’re not good at it, you verify throughout your life if you are good at something or bad at it. To create a positive experience you have to have some confidence, as a coach, it's my job to build confidence and I do that by hard work and creating little wins every day, if I exercise for 30 minutes every day I am winning, when we stop doing something we know we are failing, we have to win something every day. We go back through previous experiences but with renewed confidence. We also have to reflect on our choices and decisions. We need to change our perspective, we need to understand and listen to the self-feedback without finding excuses if we want to learn a new way. Failure gives us information which helps us learn and grow. Why is self-esteem important in the process of personal and professional growth? I think it's the key element. I love this quote: "Where talent is a dwarf, self-esteem is a giant". By Jean Antoine Petit Senn When you have self-esteem you’re not scared, you don’t find excuses, you can be reflective and have the right attitude to make adjustments and improve. Most of the people who don't work super hard don't do it because they are afraid of failing, they talk themselves out of it. People have wrong behaviours to save that little bit of self-esteem. When self-confidence is strong, you don’t have those fears which make you adopt those bad attitudes and behaviours which impact your performance. Why is “assuming we know nothing“ the best way to learn and grow? When people ask me how I have become so successful, I always say it's because I knew nothing. Successful people are those that speak little but listen the most. We all need to listen and be ready to learn and observe and understand others' behaviours. When I was a kid I was the shyest person. I couldn’t connect with people, I was very afraid, and I was listening and trying to put myself into other people's shoes because I couldn’t ask them myself. I learned to listen, look, observe, and detect things which would give me feedback on their emotions, this was very valuable and helped me a lot. When I started coaching tennis, I did not do a diploma, I knew nothing, I didn’t know how to speak to a player or what they needed, but I learned how to build trust and the importance of building trust and getting to know your player or client. Give people a chance to express themselves. We need to learn about our people and the environment we are in. How do we continue to do the right things when we don’t seem to get the right results? Very interesting question, I am in a business where the only thing that matters is the result, to either improve rankings or win tournaments and the only way to measure success is to measure the results. We need more than improvements, we need to win. We either win or lose. I believe it's the same in business. We have to have a vision, we have to give ourselves time but we also need to have signs that point we are going in the right direction. In my business, if we lose too much, it will kill you. Of course, we need to be patient but we have to win to feed the confidence and to make us believe we can win again and again, make the changes and continue to win. You have to combine both the improvement and the result of winning. We need tangible signs which say we are heading in the right direction, we need to make tweaks and adjustments and adapt our strategy when our results are giving us feedback where perhaps we need to continue to adapt. How and why is it important to “trust the process"? First, the confidence between the coach and the player needs to be strong, you can’t just give advice without first learning the needs of the player and then establishing a relationship with the player, they need to trust you 100% in order for the relationship to work, the first step has to be to build that relationship to 100% trust, then they will give themselves fully to the project and to what you re trying ti implement as a coach. It’s important to show humility and teachability to admit when you may get it wrong a coach, it's important to protect the player and that we grow and work together, that we focus on the team, when the team dynamic gets strong then it becomes powerful. We then build the strategy out of the process of knowing the player and building that trust, being vulnerable and responsible, it's easier to trust the process when we are honest in our own assessment and holding ourselves accountable for improving and achieving the desired results. For more info, follow Patrick on Instagram, Twitter and visit his website!

Written by: Jane Parmel, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. As a "chronic observer", I have watched many businesses over the last three decades, negate the importance of a plan. They almost treat the word "PLAN" like it is among the four-letter words we tend to avoid using as professionals. Having a plan should not be thought of as being restrictive; it should be looked at as a positive, foundational aspect of what is possible in the future – not something that is "locked in", but rather, a structure with opportunities to be fluid and creating a better path towards accomplishment with every review. Here are seven specific strategies you should consider when starting a new business or making an existing business more efficient. 1. Primary Aim Clarifying and promoting how you are different than all your competitors is one of the most strategies you can have when marketing your business. But you need to recognize what sets you apart from the rest. Is it attention to detail (i.e. a caterer hosting only one wedding at a time; Cell phone screen repair in under an hour; etc.) Make it clear why anyone who is shopping for the products or services you are providing would be crazy to miss out on the opportunity to work with / buy from you. 2. Strategic Objectives In the end, what do you want your final result to be? Defining what steps you need to have in place to make your customer's journey one with great benefit for them and ease of operations for you and your staff should be the focus. Expectations should be clearly defined for everyone on your staff, documented and provide for accountability as well. In turn, what do you want the final result to be for your client? If return business is a focus, what steps are you taking to ensure the customer is comfortable and satisfied along the path of your sales strategy? Clear communication, defined outcomes and a way for clients to provide feedback are necessary to hone the effectiveness of your operations. 3. Organizational Strategy Accountability is a major focus as the chain of command as to who reports this information to whom must be communicated to all members of staff, third party vendors and executives so you can reduce redundancies and wasted work time. 4. Management Strategy How managers respond to requests, communicate with those employees they are responsible to oversee and how those managers will be held accountable for the production of the team, on the whole, should be primary when creating a hiring strategy for both the managerial positions and the rest of the team. 5. Systems Strategy Who does what, when, where why, how and the costs involved must be stated and repeatable to have continuity of your service. 6. People Strategy Don't try to force a square peg into a round hole! Hire with purpose – find talent with the skills, experience and training in the areas you are trying to fill. Too many companies waste valuable time training to repurpose an employee who has no interest, and therefore, no motivation to perform at a high level when they are forced into a position, they do not feel qualified for. Company culture plays a big part in how motivated the team members are going to be. Happy employees, happy managers and vendors make for a happier workplace and, in the end, are most likely more productive on the whole. That makes for a more satisfied owner with a bottom line that makes one smile! 7. Marketing Strategy Using all the strengths of your company – the primary aim or your unique selling position, what you are looking to accomplish, by whom and how the teams are managed and held accountable and how there is comfortable continuity, even a reliability customers can enjoy when they work with you. Make sure all members of the team are on the same page – the company motto must be thoughtful, non-cliché, and heartfelt from the top, down. Rewards, incentives and a low-stress environment where people know what is expected of them, how to perform, and how they will be evaluated and rewarded are key to a smooth operation. Efficient businesses can enjoy a more eager workforce, higher revenues, lower expenses and higher profits. With repeatable and accountable systems in place, a business owner can use the time that is freed up for promoting the business, creating strategic partnerships, or enjoying free time that had not been able to do in the past. Working on your business leads to more business and more success in the process. For more information follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Jane! Jane Parmel, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jane Parmel is the founder of Cardinal Profit Strategies, and is a Business Efficiency & Profit Acceleration Specialist. She is a successful entrepreneur, holding certificates in Management Consulting and Entrepreneurship. She is a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Initiative Alum. She provides resources for business owners on several podcasts; she speaks on Business Resilience, Efficiency & Success in Business and Connections. Jane writes for several Business magazines and blogs. Her story on resilience appears in the collaborative book “Voices of the 21st Century: Resilient Women Who Rise & Make a Difference”. Jane wants to help business owners avoid the missteps that often mark a premature end for a business. Her mission is to make more businesses resilient and profitable.

Written by: Shaniece Benson, 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. Work stress is at an all-time high. No matter where you work, most jobs come with an element of stress. It is often not just hard on your mind as we struggle to keep up with the workload, deadlines, problem-solving, crisis management, and social relations. It is also hard on our bodies. Whether you are on your feet all day moving around or sitting, it puts repetitive strain on the body. Mental and emotional stress is also taken out on our body as it impacts our nervous system and impacting our physical health. 3 tips for stress management at work Work stress has several consequences, from more benign (getting more colds and flues) to more serious (metabolic syndromes and heart disease). It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and burnout which can be taken into our home life and impact our relationships with our families, friends, and self. Learning how to manage your stress and move it out of your body is key for your mental and physical well-being. 1. Start and End Your Day Calm Developing a morning and evening routine that will set you up for greater success with way less stress. When you start your day off late, scrambling out of bed, getting the kids ready, or gulping down coffee as you battle rush hour traffic. It will leave you arriving at work already stressed. Developing a morning routine where you give yourself enough time to start; with good nutrition and a positive mindset. Try starting your morning with a 10 min yoga class or a 10-minute meditation on insight timer or listen to a podcast while you get ready; you will arrive at work with way more energy. 2. Include Self-Care in Your Work Day The best self-care is when it is built into your day. It can be hard to think about adding things to your day, but instead think about just changing the way you do things that better support your well-being. Some ways you can build stress-reducing activities in your day include: Staying organized with to-do lists and avoid multitasking. Breathe with your stomach (diaphragm); this helps to regulate your nervous system, helping you to access it more calmly. You can also intentionally take 5 deep slow breaths through your nose, making the exhale longer than the inhale every time you drink some water or go to the bathroom. Speak Kindly To Yourself. Self-compassion is a key part of well-being. When you speak kindly to yourself, you also help regulate your body. Self-compassion comes from a part of our nervous system that is calm. If you are unsure of how to be compassionate with yourself, Kristen Neff has a lot of free resources and exercises to help you learn this skill. 3. Move Your Body: Stress activates our sympathetic nervous system, also known as the “fight or flight” part of our nervous system. It is okay and normal to spend some time here, but when we experience chronic stress, it has several negative consequences on our mental and physical health. When we move into survival mode, our brains shut down and our body tenses up. It is important to unwind your body from stress to prevent long-term damage. You can find creative ways to move your body that feels good to you. It does not have to be a lot of movement; 15-20 minutes a day can be enough. You can do a 20-minute virtual yoga session, go for a walk after your lunch break, get guidance from a fitness coach, gym, dance or whatever feels the best for you go with it. Need assistance, book a consultation call HERE! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Shaniece! Shaniece Benson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Shaniece is a High-Performance Fitness & Lifestyle Coach who empowers busy professionals to step into success through her 1:1 fitness training & lifestyle coaching. Featured in Southern New Hampshire University, SDVoyager, SHOUTOUT SOCAL, and Zovio for her unique and effective ways of tackling limiting beliefs and creating a new regime to feel good from the inside out. Inspired by a drive to change the narrative of familial history connected to a variety of health conditions, Shaniece began to change some habits and fall in love with fitness. In doing so, she noticed a dramatic shift not only in her physical but also in her mental health. With her energy levels soaring and confidence boosted, Shaniece wanted to shout from the rooftops how incredibly great this all felt; and how simple it could be for others to do the same. Thus, BloombyShaniece was born, a blog specifically designed to share content that would help women grow and embrace their true potential. She later began to work with professionals from an array of backgrounds in helping them not only to lose weight but also to encourage them to live an all-around healthier lifestyle. With training and coaching sessions specifically tailored to individual needs, Shaniece empowers her clients by informing, supporting, and celebrating them in making big changes as they embark on the journey of living their best lives. References: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX32D3gKXENrhOXdZjWWtMA https://insighttimer.com/en-ca https://self-compassion.org/

Written by: Dr. Don Wood, PhD, 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. Queen Elizabeth led an exceptionally long and significant life. So, why does her death at the age of 96 impacts us? It is common to feel slightly disorientated or to be experiencing some level of distress or disbelief; You are not alone. The tragedy certainly did not come as a surprise; she had been ill for quite some time and had recently missed several key events. The experience you may be feeling comes from the fact that the Queen was a symbol of “stability and security.” The human mind is deeply rooted in connecting to any form of security. The number one fear for the human mind is uncertainty. The Queen’s passing brings about a great deal of uncertainty in a time when the world feels particularly unsafe. Even though the Queen was not considered royalty in the United States, her presence did provide a sense of tradition and connection to our roots. For most people in the United Kingdom, she was the only monarch they ever connected to. Regardless of your connection to the Royal Family, her passing still surfaced feelings of loss as well as fear of the unknown. The human mind is uncomfortable with change, it craves stability, order, and certainty. This comes from the subconscious mind that handles our survival instincts. The loss of the Queen stirs primal instincts to the surface. Having things that are predictable helps us to feel safe, below our conscious awareness. These feelings may even be stirred for people who do not consider themselves as royalists. When the public experiences a collective tragedy or loss, watching others around you become emotional creates a visceral response. Our nature as humans is to be empathetic because we have all experienced some loss in our lifetime. The Queen represented our parents and grandparents that are still with us or who have also passed, bringing about memories. Some people may have mixed feelings because they felt no sense of connection to the Royal family. At the same time Queen Elizabeth was viewed as someone with a strong work ethic and sense of tradition. Her passing is an end to an era and regardless of your connection to the Royals it has some significance in your life. The Queen and the crown are not just about the government or a party, it embodies customs and history. Now, let us look even deeper into why the Queen’s passing impacts us. There are both metaphorical and symbolic elements to unpack. The Queen and the monarchy are symbols, symbols provide shortcuts for our minds. Symbols form meanings in mind and are constantly surrounding us even if we do not notice them. The symbol conveys a subconscious message that our mind understands. It is how our subconscious mind communicates. Have you ever heard of the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words,” the same is true regarding symbols. Our subconscious mind is very efficient at communicating at lightning speed using symbols. All symbols created by your mind have a purpose and they carry a vast richness of meaning and definition. Symbols are shortcuts for the subconscious mind to respond to a current situation and most of the time by-pass conscious consideration, activating deeply embedded subconscious responses. Symbols have different meanings to different people, however the Queen as a symbol has significant similarities to most people and that is why we have this collective response to her passing. Anyone familiar with the Queen and royal family have embedded meanings about them from an early age. Symbols represent a larger communication. They represent a depth of meaning that is shared amongst the vast array of individuals involved in that communication. To be a powerful symbol, it must be simple in nature while at the same time creating much deeper and more significant meaning. The Queen’s image was seen billions of times on currency, televised events, and pictures on the internet and in newspapers. Symbols are the language of the subconscious mind. The mind naturally picks up and decodes symbols whether you are consciously aware of it or not. Our world runs on symbols. Every product you buy is trying to convey the values of their product through a symbol, McDonald’s golden arches, the Nike checkmark. Every company in this world that we connect with utilizes the power of symbols. Our subconscious mind operates through this symbolic language, dominated in theta and alpha brainwave states. Now can you see why she is such a powerful symbol and why collectively we would be impacted by her passing? At the Inspired Performance Institute and our TIPP program, we use symbols in the process of keeping the mind present and in the moment. The purpose of the symbol is to engage the subconscious mind’s ability to regulate the nervous system and it forms a critical part of the success of our TIPP program. And there it is! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Wood! Dr. Don Wood, PhD, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Don Wood, Ph.D., author, speaker, Founder & CEO of the Inspired Performance Institute, and creator of the patented TIPP method. TIPP is a cutting-edge method inspired and developed through the newest developments in neuroscience and designed to clear away the effects of disturbing or traumatic events, repurpose old patterns and set the individual’s mind up for peak performance. In essence, it “REBOOTs” the brain’s stuck thought pattern, making it possible to enhance alpha oscillations with a noninvasive and effective shift in brain wave activity. Author of two top-selling books, Emotional Concussions and You Must Be Out of your Mind.