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.

Written by: Anuradha Rathore, 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. Solitude, silence, and stillness fuel me, protect my inspiration and help me stay in the creative space I need to do my best work. Summer was fun, rambunctious, loud, and hectic. After months of travel, multiple trips to waterparks, and carpools, I was looking forward to spending a quiet Friday with myself on the lake, sipping coffee, reading, and journaling. So, I meticulously planned my day off. By midnight Thursday, my email was overflowing, and the phone kept going. It felt like everyone in the world needed me. By Friday morning, there was no way I was going to step away from my computer. My day off was in serious jeopardy. But something kept nagging me. So finally, I decided to step away. Brace yourself, and this is how it went, For the first fifteen minutes, I sat down on the rocks, arguing with myself, calculating how much I would have done by now. For the next fifteen minutes, my focus shifted to others: people I am letting down, people who must be waiting to get ‘stuff’ done. For the next few minutes, I surrendered to the discomfort of sitting still on the edge of the beautiful lake Michigan. Then, with some curiosity, ‘Let’s see what happens.’ I sat there journaling my frustration, second guessing my sanity, and often questioning, ‘what’s the point? It’s not like I am enjoying being here!’. I was exhausted from this internal conflict when I slipped into the next hour. I simply sat there sipping my coffee, staring at the shimmering water, reluctantly enjoying the wind on my face, just zoning out. The chatter in my head was dying, my shoulders were not stiff anymore, and I didn’t believe I was thinking about anything. After about ninety minutes, something jolted me out of my stillness. So, I got up, drove home, and got back to work. I spent two and half hours by the lake, not quite what I had in my mind. But believe me when I tell you, I was done with all my work by mid-afternoon, with better results. I was all caught up. What I am describing here in such pedantic detail is not some magic, but you could call it a productivity hack. I am the most efficient and overtly organized human I know. I have systems and processes in place for everything. But the more I consciously slow down and put my monomaniacal designs aside, I realize I am addicted to ‘doing.’ Not to be presumptuous, but I believe many of us are suffering from that addiction to keep ‘doing.’ It’s our safe space. We now know that as a society, we have been seduced into believing that if we are constantly doing something, overworking ourselves to death, we are being productive. So, we love wearing workaholism as a badge of honor. Little do we know that this act of self-sabotage is bludgeoning our capacity for critical thinking, collaboration, and leadership. How do we break down this vicious hardwired cycle of ‘Busy being busy?’ One way we can do that is by ‘Stepping away.’ When your brain gets an opportunity to rest, your creativity, communication, and problem-solving ability increase tenfold. It only makes perfect business sense to teach, practice, and implement such an essential skill in our workforce because it will positively impact the business’ bottom line. Turns out, truly ‘stepping away’ is one of those elusive skills we don’t know how to teach or learn. It’s not a part of any curriculum. We need to inculcate this skill set into the very fabric of the organizational culture. We need to do more than just say, ‘Take a break.’ When I work with my compulsive overachievers and their teams, I help them develop a schematics for ‘stepping away and shutting down in a manner that will work for them in their professional and personal space. We focus on developing strategies that will allow them to disconnect, disengage and extricate themselves from their grind so they can show up as their best selves. If you are invested in your workforce and want to help them build capacity for renewal with action based and battle-tested ‘stepping away’ strategies., we must chat. Follow me on LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Anuradha! Anuradha Rathore, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine To solve a business challenge, you must address the human challenge. More than ever, the world needs confident, compassionate leaders and high-trust, courageous teams that foster creative conflicts and embrace disagreements to navigate complexities and thrive in the face of relentless uncertainty. Anu Rathore is a Business Performance Coach, consultant, and mentor to leaders and entrepreneurs. She works with organizations and individuals to develop and amplify their latent, ineffable skills and mindset, which are not very well defined but are increasingly important in this ever-transforming ecosystem. Her clients love that working with her allows them to show up powerfully in the world while staying aligned with their true selves. She focuses on developing leaders as holistic individuals because, contrary to conventional wisdom, you shouldn’t have to choose between success, happiness, and joyous living.

Written by: Flora Bami , 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. Positivity involves things like gratitude, optimism, and positive reappraisal. Research shows that positivity is good for our well-being. On the flip side, maybe you’ve felt annoyed, angry, or uncomfortable when positivity was forced on you. Indeed, positivity can be good for well-being as long as we’re not using it to avoid or suppress unpleasant emotions. Then, it can become toxic. Toxic positivity is defined as the act of rejecting or denying stress, negativity, or other uncomfortable experiences that exist (Sokal, Trudel, & Babb, 2020). It’s the excessive and ineffective overgeneralization of a happy, optimistic state across all situations. The process of toxic positivity results in the denial, minimization, and invalidation of the authentic human emotional experience. Toxic positivity is the belief that no matter how difficult a situation is, people should maintain a positive mindset. It's a "good vibes only" approach to life. And while there are benefits to being an optimist and engaging in positive thinking, toxic positivity instead rejects difficult emotions in favor of a cheerful, often falsely positive, facade. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish positivity from toxic positivity. For example, if someone tells us, “Look at the bright side,” we might feel like they are diminishing or denying our uncomfortable feelings. Because unpleasant emotions are tools, we use to get important needs met, we don’t just want to be shoving them away without acknowledgment. Here are a few more examples of toxic positivity: I say: “I’m having a bad day.” Toxic response: “But you have so much to be grateful for.” I say: “This job sucks.” Toxic response: “You’re lucky you even have a job.” In these examples, someone is using positivity to get rid of our true or unpleasant experiences. On the other hand, say a friend tells us, “Hey, it’s okay not to be okay.” This shows acceptance of our unpleasant emotions as well as compassion and gratitude. This approach is not toxic because it doesn't deny our emotions and force us to feel something we don’t want to feel. We all know that having a positive outlook on life is good for your mental wellbeing. The problem is that life isn't always positive. We all deal with painful emotions and experiences. Those emotions, while often unpleasant, are important and need to be felt and dealt with openly and honestly. Signs of toxic positivity Toxic positivity can often be subtle, but by learning to recognize the signs can help you better identify this type of behavior. Some signs include: Brushing off problems rather than facing them Feeling guilty about being sad, angry, or disappointed Hiding or masking your true feelings behind feel-good quotes that seem more socially acceptable Hiding or disguising how you really feel Minimizing other people's feelings because they make you uncomfortable Shaming other people when they don't have a positive attitude Trying to be stoic or "get over" painful emotions Trying to “just get on with it” by stuffing or dismissing an emotion(s) Feeling guilty for feeling what you feel Trying to give someone perspective (e.g., “it could be worse”) instead of validating their emotional experience. “Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame”, ‒ Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life How to Avoid Toxic Positivity If you’ve been affected by toxic positivity or if you recognize this kind of behavior in yourself, there are things that you can do to develop a healthier, more supportive approach. Some ideas include: Replace the word negative or bad with unpleasant or uncomfortable: All emotions are to be felt and experienced. Emotions are the language of our body, and we need to trust what our body is trying to tell us. By labeling some of them bad or negative, we automatically try to escape from them as we see them as dangerous. Changing the language, we use can have a profound impact on how we relate to our emotions. Manage your unpleasant emotions, but don't deny them . Unpleasant emotions can cause stress when unchecked, but they can also provide important information that can lead to beneficial changes in your life. Be realistic about what you should feel . When you are facing a stressful situation, it’s normal to feel stressed, worried, or even fearful. Focus on self-care, be compassionate with yourself and take steps that can help improve your situation. It’s okay to feel more than one thing . If you are facing a challenge, it’s possible to feel nervous about the future and also hopeful that you will succeed. Your emotions are as complex as the situation itself. Focus on listening to others and showing support . When someone expresses a difficult emotion, don’t shut them down with toxic platitudes. Instead, let them know that what they are feeling is normal and that you are there to listen. It’s important to acknowledge the reality of our emotions by verbalizing them and moving them out of our bodies . This is what keeps us sane, and healthy and relieves us of the tension caused by suppressing the truth. Once we honor our feelings, we embrace ALL of ourselves, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And accepting ourselves just as we are, is the path to robust emotional life. It's OK to feel sad, angry, hurt, disappointed, or any other more difficult emotion. The key is to give yourself grace through compassion. Toxic positivity doesn't make room for being self-compassionate or empathic. And not only does it not allow us to process our own emotions, but it can also create feelings of self-judgment, heightening the inner critic and negatively affecting self-esteem. Examples of Non-Toxic & Self-Compassionate Statements: From “Don’t think about it, stay positive!” to “Describe what you’re feeling, I’m listening.” From “Don’t worry, be happy!” to “I see that you’re really stressed, anything I can do?” From “Failure is not an option.” to “Failure is a part of growth and success.” From “Delete Negativity” to “Suffering is a part of life, you are not alone.” From “Look for the silver lining.” to “I see you. I’m here for you.” Emodiversity: a mix of emotions is healthiest? Emodiversity is defined as the diversity of emotional experience; a rich palette that dynamically spans joy, sadness, love, and anger that is more closely linked to happiness than the common myth that happiness equals a perpetual state of enthusiasm and cheer. Whatever the case, cultivating self-awareness and allowing yourself to express your authentic emotions can be beneficial. No emotion is built to last. What matters is having mild positive emotions frequently. Branch out of your routine and do something new that might make you feel awe or pride and in tough situations, allow yourself to feel shame or guilt or jealousy rather than what you “should” feel. Emodiversity contributes to happiness and better health and wellbeing. The bottom line Being a healthy human being involves being conscious of ourselves and how we show up in the world. If you recognize yourself as a transmitter of toxic positivity, it’s time to cut it out. You’re hurting yourself and the people you care about most by insisting on this monochromatic mindset. Instead of practicing toxic positivity, aim for balance and the acceptance of ALL emotions rather than all-or-nothing thinking. At the end of the day, it's really all about balance. The balance between positivity and being honest with yourself; gratitude and grief; and finding the silver lining without rushing the healing necessary when we're hurting. Being able to stay positive in times of trouble is great and can help with resilience, but the truth is, that processing and integrating tough emotions builds resilience, too. Happiness is not a happy-go-lucky state without unpleasant emotions, where all our needs are met, and we experience constant satisfaction. Let go of the expectation to feel happy all the time, it's unrealistic. Unpleasant emotions are natural and help us understand ourselves, what we value and what we may change in our life. Let go of wanting to feel happy all the time. The happiest people are those with a wide range of emotions. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Flora! Flora Bami, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Flora Bami is an optimist, an experienced and passionate integral coach, with expertise in life, mindset, relationships, and wellbeing coaching. Her main focus is on making your relationship with yourself healthier and reframing your inner voice based on self-love, acceptance, and compassion. Her mission in life is to support people in their life journey to reach their potential and feel better and happier through individual coaching and setting up wellbeing programs in big organizations. Better people, better world! Happier people, happier world! After going through a deep transformation herself and turning trauma into a gift, she dedicated her life to supporting people reconnecting with their true selves.

Written by: Craig Stanland, 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. Our priorities change as we approach the early stages of the second half of our lives. We begin to understand that our constant pursuit of money, prestige, and status does not provide the feelings we want. If anything, we understand they're taking us further from who we want to be and what we want to create. We desire meaning and fulfillment; we want our lives to mean something. We want to reinvent our lives with purpose. So now purpose becomes our focus, and our focus gets cloudy because of these 5 common mistakes. Pressure: When I find my purpose, it will fix everything. The idea that everything, your entire life's happiness, hinges on finding your purpose is far too much pressure to put on oneself. What happens when you chase a dog? The dog runs away; it thinks it's playtime. What happens when you become intentional, stop chasing and stand still? The dog comes to you. We don't find purpose by chasing it down like a dog. Instead, we find our purpose when we become purposeful. Drop the pressure and watch what happens. Over Consumption: Far too many people fall into the content trap. There's more information available to us than at any other time in history, and it's easy to go down the "How to Find Your Purpose" rabbit hole. Videos on YouTube like "Find Your Purpose in Only Five Minutes" are rampant. Ask yourself this: If one of them worked, then why are people still making them? Stop looking externally for the answer that lives internally. Ignoring Fear: "The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for." ‒ Joseph Campbell "What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do." ‒ Ralph Waldo Emmerson "Where your fear is, there is your task." ‒ Carl Jung These quotes aren't lip-service; they're the truth. Whatever scares you the most demands your inquisition; it requires excavation and exploration. Through this exploration and excavation, you will learn more about yourself than any book or video could ever teach. Fear is a beacon lighting your path to purpose. Automatic Pilot: At our cores, humans are efficiency-seeking machines. It's part of our survival wiring; the fewer calories we burn, the better our long-term survival. A life set to automatic pilot is the essence of efficiency. It's also the antithesis of a life of purpose and meaning. Expecting something new (like your purpose) to spring from the mundanity of your status quo magically is like expecting snow in the Sahara. Break your pattern, change your life. Financial Anxiety: "How am I going to replace my salary with my purpose?" "How can I make a living from my purpose?" Yes, there are bills to pay, roofs to maintain, and mouths to feed. This is a reality of life. But in the nascent stages of cultivating one's purpose, worrying about how you will pay your bills is antithetical to the cultivation of purpose. The cultivation of purpose is akin to the cultivation of a seed. The seed, and your purpose, need nurturing to grow, and they need space to grow. Financial anxiety crushes purpose. Let it go and give yourself the room you require. Our purpose, calling, life's task, personal legend, whatever we may want to call it, is our path to a life of meaning and fulfillment. It's also a journey, and it's a journey that takes time, patience, courage, and resilience. You'll move further and faster when you avoid these 5 mistakes. You'll also discover one of the secrets of cultivating your purpose: The journey is the reward. Let's talk if you're ready to invest in 1:1 support so you can write your extraordinary life story. Join me for your Free Reinvention Clarity Call. My best-selling book, "Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison," is available on Amazon. My book is for Gen X-ers who want to reinvent themselves with a new, empowering mindset so they can cultivate joy, purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in the second half of their lives. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Craig! Craig Stanland, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Craig Stanland is a Reinvention Architect & Mindset Coach, TEDx & Keynote Speaker, and Best-Selling Author. In 2012, Craig Stanland made a choice that would cost him everything. After exploiting the warranty policy of one of the largest tech companies in the world for almost a year, the FBI finally knocked on his door. He was arrested and sentenced to 2 years of Federal Prison, followed by 3 years of Supervised Release, and ordered to pay $834,307 in restitution. He lost his wife, his homes, his cars, his career, and even his identity. He wanted nothing more than to die. A well-timed prison visit from his best friend of over thirty years turned his life around. Craig rebuilt and reinvented his life from rock bottom to a life of meaning and fulfillment. As a Reinvention Architect, Craig leverages his experiences and personal reinvention to work 1:1 with clients so they can re-architect their lives with freedom, passion, purpose, fulfillment, and meaning. Craig's mission is to help people cultivate the courage to pursue their calling so they can live meaningful lives. His book, "Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison" is available on Amazon.

Written by: Richard Hilton, 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. What is reframing? It is a technique/s that is used to change a mindset about a particular problem and the thought process of thinking about a problem that has become distorted. It could have started out as something quite small and insignificant, then turned into something that now appears to be big when in fact, all along, it is the same little problem. You might be looking at a situation in your life and thinking to yourself, how do I overcome this obstacle? And how “stuck” I am in that situation. This could be something obvious to someone looking at the problem from the outside, but to you, it makes little sense. In my case, a friend of mine was telling me to run online groups and to have a different subject each week, which made sense (I hadn’t got anywhere with running them). Someone explained about getting caught up in the tyranny of “How,” which is exactly where I was and all the time thinking about “How” do I do this thing instead of getting on and doing it. This other person said that you could run groups in person face to face which is something that I had forgotten about as well. What is the use of reframing? And how can you use it in situations in your life? For example, if you have a roof that has fallen in, you’d have a roof light, or a leaking pipe could be a new water feature. Admittedly these are not very useful, but if you start looking at situations differently, then it could help to resolve the situation that you are in. How can you do this yourself? Through such aspects as the second or third-person point of view, what is being said? How is it being said? What is the body language like? What is the interaction between before and after? You could physically take up a different position and act as a child would. Instead of standing up or sitting down, you could, for example, stand in a different way when thinking about the problem, or turn to one side and then the other what would that particular situation be like then for you? As you take up these different positions, what does it feel like in your body? Is there more tension or less tension in a body part compared to where it is usually found? Are there emotions and feelings coming up that weren’t there before? How about looking through the situation and using an imaginary set of binoculars and or a microscope to give very different perspectives of that situation as you look at it through a broad picture and then look at it in finer detail? A bird’s eye view and getting above the situation and being able to swoop and glide around with a sense of freedom what would that sense of freedom be like as you easily move about the problem or situation that you are currently facing? Useful ways to reframe for yourself: Write down your thoughts, which will bring them to your awareness, and as it is now on paper, you can begin to figure out how to change that thought process. Is what you are saying to yourself factual? As I mentioned earlier, thoughts over time can get severely distorted. Where can I find the evidence behind this thought? What is the evidence behind this thought? Is this thought useful for me? Or is there a better way of thinking about my situation? Would I say this to a friend if they were facing the same problem? We generally tend to be kinder to our friends and are more self-critical. What would happen if you were kinder to yourself? Are you being positive for the sake of being positive? When it could be that you are facing disaster and living in a “Pollyanna” world. What would a more realistic approach to the problem be like? Where is the meaning in this situation? Will you be more compassionate towards yourself or others? What little things can you be grateful for? Turn thoughts into actions which can then turn into deeds, and that can help you to feel better. Where energy flows, attention goes. What is it you are currently focusing on and is it useful? Finally, know when reframing is useful and when it isn’t. If you are in the middle of an important meeting or in a physical altercation, reframing probably isn’t the best thing to be doing at that point in time. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Richard! Richard Hilton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Richard is a former member of the British Army. Upon leaving the military he studied extensively in self-defense, Conflict Management. Due to going through a difficult period on leaving, he realised that he needed to make major changes in the direction of his life He then began to study NLP and Hypnosis. He is now helping veterans and first responders with the difficulties and challenges that they are facing on a daily basis. He has also self-published his first book "Whispers over Windermere"

Written by: Alice Dartnell, 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. Busy entrepreneur, is this you? You love your business, but you also love to do other things with your time. And as much as you love what you are doing and it is your passion, you’re currently finding that your focus is always on the business, and it is getting to the point where the other important values in your life (maybe friends, family, your health, etc.) are starting to be neglected. If so, let me help you. As a coach specialising in time management and energy management for busy business owners, this is something I see all too often, and I want you to reclaim the balance in your life and with your time with these five top tips. Before you read any further, though, let me add a little caveat here because this article is not going to contain your usual tips such as ‘don’t take your work home with you' or things like ‘put your laptop away when you are not working.’ I trust you already know this, and maybe you are already implementing these tips yet are still struggling with the balance. 1. Define what balance means to you in the first place … Balance in the traditional sense means 50/50, but I don’t think this works when it comes to balancing running a business and the other things in your life. It is highly unlikely you are going to be splitting your waking hours with 50% work and 50% non-work. Furthermore, we are all different and are going to need ‘balance’ in different areas of our life, depending on what matters to us. Balance might mean spending quality time with the kids after school and hitting the gym once a week for someone, but to another person training for a marathon, balance is found in 5 hours of training a week. This question of “what does balance mean for me?” also might trigger another, and maybe even more complex, question… what does ‘work’ mean?! There is often a blurred line in entrepreneurship between working from home or coffee shops, working with friends, enjoying what you do, or doing work outside of conventional hours or parameters as an entrepreneur. This was certainly something I struggled with when I first started my business. I had to define what work meant, as I didn’t know if things like networking, writing articles, or connecting over social media were ‘work’ (by the way, there is no right or wrong answer, it is totally up to you!) 2. Define how much time you want to dedicate to each area of your life If I asked anyone, “do you spend enough time on [insert something they love or value, like time with family, reading, hobbies, etc.],” the answer is always likely to be a big fat “no.” We all want MORE. Therefore, looking at this as a criterion to determine whether you have balance with your business is the wrong approach. Instead, define how much time you want to dedicate to each area of your life outside of work and business, and use that as a guideline and benchmark to aim for. This will also help you determine if you really can achieve that balance. For example, if you are aiming for ‘balance’ with doing three hours of reading a day but that physically can’t happen with business, kids, and demands of daily life, then you are not going to achieve that ‘balance’ ever! 3. Plan your downtime As an entrepreneur, I have no doubt you are great at strategy and planning in your business but are you applying this to your downtime too? As Laura Vanderkam writes in her excellent book ‘168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think’, “these days, when most of us have an hour to go lie in the grass, we turn on the TV, check email or peruse Facebook instead. Then we complain of having no time to think. In a distracted world full, even fallow hours take discipline” I am a big on this one – the only way to achieve balance in your life is to schedule your downtime in your diary! Plan in the workouts, reading, time with family, drinks with friends, that exhibition you want to go see etc. As I always say, if you want to have time for something, you need to MAKE the time – you will never find the time! 4. Diarise everything Most busy business owners are great at keeping an organised diary when it comes to their appointments and meetings but don’t stop there. One of the ways to find balance in your busy life is to diarise everything! This helps with tip 3 of planning your downtime. Don’t just diarise your work, appointments and meetings but also diarise your workouts, time with family, personal admin time, your commute time into the city or office, when you are taking a break… I mean everything! This helps you on SO many levels, including: Being in control of how you use your time, so you own your day rather than the day controlling you! You have a great visual of how you are spending your time in the days and weeks ahead You can be realistic if you can fit it all in – there is no point just “aiming” for balance without taking proactive action to achieve it As Emily Aborn explains in her Brianz Magazine article Don't Manage Your Time – Befriend It!, you need to go through each thing and ask yourself why you’re doing it. She recommends taking a good hard look and being honest with yourself. What on that list do you really love and value? She also suggests that there might be items you can delegate to someone else and things that you might be able to part ways with altogether. 5. Be aware of the mental energy that you are spending on work This might be a harsh truth to hear if this is you but if you are not in the workplace, but you are still thinking about work, you technically are still working! Getting the balance right for you will mean you also take into consideration your mental energy too! Balance won’t be found if you are on a family day out or you’re playing golf with friends… but you are mental “not in the room.” You have to be present at the moment to really achieve balance. Be focused and in ‘work mode’ when you are working, and don’t be fretting and worrying about work when you are using your time for the other stuff! Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Alice Dartnell, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Alice Dartnell is a time management and energy management coach, trainer, speaker, and author, who is passionate about empowering people to create a life by design, not by default! Known as an expert in time management and energy management, Alice doesn’t teach time management in the traditional sense. Instead, she focuses on the importance of energy management and mindset as the way to improve time management. Alice believes that time management actually isn’t about managing time! Instead, it is about managing you, other people, your tasks and most importantly, your energy! She works with individuals on a 121 basis, as well as through programmes, workshops, and courses. Additionally, she delivers training to org

Written by: Christelle Deblon, 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. Every year it's the same story. By mid-September, everyone realises that there are barely 12 weeks left before the Christmas holidays and that you still have a lot of objectives to achieve. The emails are flying; the meetings are piling up, and each department is asking for your participation in this or that project that is not in your priorities but is so important to them or the organisation. If you have young children, there are also parents' meetings, notebooks to cover, the pale green outfit required by the ballet teacher for tomorrow evening and the return of the weekend taxi mode. In short, it's mid-September, and you feel like it's been three years since your last holiday! Yet, no matter how great your talents are, one thing is immutable: a day is 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. Not one more. If you want to achieve a few key goals in the next few weeks without falling apart, it is urgent to establish some good habits and (re)develop some skills. In this article, I want to share with you a structured approach in three main steps: three questions to ask yourself, three good habits to develop, and three skills to deploy. Plus, one last step to maintain the whole thing over time. Three questions to ask yourself. It may seem obvious, but increasing your knowledge of the situation and yourself can dramatically improve your efficiency. 1. What are your priorities? Normally you should know your professional priorities. Hmmm… can you name your top three must-do for 2022? I often observe that most of you have a list of priorities as long as a list of to-dos! A quick reminder: no, not everything is a priority! Having priorities means ranking them from the most important to the least important. This allows you, if you must arbitrate resources (and time is a resource), to give priority to the objective with the highest priority. It may seem obvious when you put it like that, but practice shows that it is far from being that simple. The last dimension to consider is that this applies to your professional life AND your private life. If we are more or less aware of our professional priorities, which are punctuated by the objectives/evaluation cycle, this is rarely the case for our private life. If you had to choose between cleaning your house and going to the gym, what would you do? 2. What are your needs? Once you know your priorities, do you know what you will need to achieve them? Time of course, but probably also materials, support, budget? And what about your physiological needs? How much sleep do you need to function well? How many hours of sport do you need to keep your body in top condition? Our bodies and brains are not machines. Both need time to rest, pause, relax and enjoy. Take an honest look at your schedule. When do you recharge your batteries (and I'm not talking about collapsing in front of the TV and binge-watching any debilitating series)? When do you give your body some movement? When do you keep your eyes away from a screen? When do you take care of your relationships? Forget these needs, they will remind you of them at some point, which may be painful. So plan ahead, and set aside time to take care of yourself. In fact, this should be your top priority! 3. What are your favourite pitfalls? Are you more of an empath who will take work from colleagues because they are overloaded? Or the perfectionist who can spend an extra two hours on that presentation just to get all the shapes right? Or the dreamer who has trouble deciding whether to end a sentence with a full stop or an exclamation mark? Identify those little phrases that go around in your head and plague your effectiveness. Those limiting beliefs convince you that to be loved, you must please or be perfect. Those irrational fears prevent you from simply asking for help or refusing an extra task. Put yourself in a state of self-observation (called meta-positioning) as often as possible to track down all those thoughts that prevent you from unfolding. Three habits to get into urgently. Do you ever feel at the end of the day that you've accomplished nothing, even though you've been running the whole time? One of the main reasons for this feeling is that we confuse busy with efficient. Here I share with you the three tools that I believe are essential to greatly increase your productivity and free up time. 1. Work on what is important. What is urgent is what needs to be taken care of without delay. An emergency that is not dealt with can lead to a problem in the short term. What is important is what will contribute to your goals in the short or long term. The interesting thing is that it is often because someone has not dealt with something important that it suddenly becomes an emergency. And the worst thing is that the emergencies that fall on you are not always your own... Let's take a simple example (it's real life!), and you'll understand: you asked your spouse to fill the oil tank. Busy with other priorities, he/she forgot to do so. It's 3 p.m. on Saturday, the weather is grey, ten friends are coming over in two hours, and ... no more heating. All that's left is to run to the petrol station and fill up a few jerry cans to keep you going until Monday when you call your delivery man urgently. An emergency you could have done without! To differentiate between urgent and important and improve your efficiency, I present the Eisenhower matrix. How to use it? The area you want to see empty, but which you must take care of as soon as it is no longer empty, is 'urgent/important'. If you don't take care of it, you risk a crisis or a problem in the short term. For example, there is that offer that your important client asked you for this morning as a matter of urgency because he is meeting with his management tomorrow and wants to pass the budget. Or that appointment you must make at the dentist for the son's toothache. Or of course, the warning light that has just come on in your car. The area where you should spend the most time is 'non-urgent/important'. Working here will allow you to plan your tasks better, do more quality work, and reduce your stress. As we have seen, it is also a good way to avoid loading the 'urgent/important' zone. The 'urgent/non-important' area is most often polluted by other people's emergencies! It's your colleague who forgot to ask you to validate a report for this evening, your neighbour who comes to pester you with unsolvable problems, the Xth call from that telephone company, ... It's not easy. Still, you'll have to refuse to devote any time to this area or delegate the task to someone for whom it's important. This is about setting limits and inviting everyone to take responsibility for themselves. The 'non-urgent/non-important' should simply be removed. This is when you waste time wandering around the internet for no purpose, changing the shape of that slide for the 42nd time when your presentation is already more than perfect, or attending a meeting where you have no added value. Don't hesitate a second; pull the plug! 2. Set your priorities the day before This is a simple but highly effective habit: plan your day the night before. Establish an end-of-day ritual: before you close your computer or your office’s door, take a moment to think about what will really move you towards your goal tomorrow. Finish reading that report? Call Stéphane to decide together on the next step in project X? Keeping that lunch with that potential client at all costs. Or take an hour with your daughter to discuss her future? Set yourself a maximum of 3 priorities per day, the 3 things that will make you say tomorrow night that you have made significant progress. And write them down somewhere! We often underestimate the power of writing, but there are two immediate gains: you don't have to make an effort tomorrow morning to remember what you had planned, and you make a form of commitment to yourself to achieve these three priorities. Personally, I also list other tasks that I would like to do the next day but which are of lower priority. Depending on how much time they will take, my energy and my pace, I do them quickly between two big blocks, or I postpone them if I haven't had the time. 3. Never start your day with your emails! This is probably the hardest habit to keep in our hyper-connected world but, combined with the previous one it will make a huge difference to your achievements. I guarantee that by 10am you'll feel like you've done a day's work! Do you know why we behave like this? The cause is found in the famous FOMO ('Fear Of Missing Out'). The fear of missing out on (information) drives us to scan social networks and emails at all hours of the day and sometimes night. I know former colleagues who read their emails as soon as they wake up, still in bed! By doing this, you put your brain into automatic mode. It will start to process information, classify, and work on it. So it's not you and your choice of priorities that will decide your priority tasks for the day, but your mailbox. Chances are that you will start working into the ‘urgent/non-important’ zone and leave the important to later. Hence the feeling of having done nothing at the end of the day. The circle is complete. Three skills to (re)develop. Laura, one of my coachees, mastered everything I have just explained and even more. She knew the right habits and tried to apply them. But it didn't work. Why? Because tools are nothing if you don't work on what defines you. We've already touched on this a bit in the pitfalls above, but it's basically certain limiting beliefs that will slip banana peels under your good resolutions. Let's look at three beliefs that might be useful to unravel in this case. 1. Saying no efficiently For a long time, I was one of those people for whom saying no is simply rude. You must please if you want to be loved, even if you get yourself into trouble. This led me into many unsavoury situations until I realised the weight this bad habit was putting on my life. On the other hand, saying a real NO opens up the possibility of saying a real YES. Because what happens when you say yes to everything without really meaning it? You run the risk of doing things by halves or not being able to keep your word. While giving ourselves time to reflect and allowing ourselves to refuse puts us in an active and involved position. We become more autonomous and give an image of greater reliability. Two pieces of advice if you are struggling with saying no: Find your 'no mentor.' Look around you; you probably have a friend or colleague who says no easily. Observe them, or have a chat with them. How can they inspire you? He or she will certainly tell you some things that will make your skin crawl, but think further, identify the beliefs that are sticking, and look for some tips to put in place Say no to the situation and yes to the person. Your friend asks you for help, but it's completely impossible for you. Formulate a response that shows empathy for him and his situation while explaining that you can't help him. Help him/her to look for other alternatives. 2. Put responsibilities in their place. "Yes, but if I don't do it, no one will.” How many times have I heard this phrase during coaching? It's very positive and great to be involved in your work, and it's a value that is highly appreciated by your hierarchy. Yes, but to what extent? Because while you are doing a job that is not yours, who is looking after your work? Who is advancing your priorities? And, sorry to disappoint you, but unless you are the CEO, you are not responsible for everything that happens in your company! I see this kind of sentence as an indicator of inconsistency. Either the priorities are not the right ones, or the means are not aligned with the objectives. In both cases, the situation should be rediscussed and decisions should be taken. Just a remark: I'm not saying that you should never help your colleagues, especially in certain circumstances - imagine a nurse saying that it's not her patient and therefore, she doesn't intervene when the person is becoming unwell. I'm talking about situations that are recurrent, even structural, in some organisations... or with certain personality profiles. 3. Cultivate a sense of letting go. Let's get one thing straight right away: letting go does not mean giving up! The notion of letting go is in fact, strongly linked to the previous point: focusing on what is under your responsibility, or more exactly in your control zone. Think of a student preparing for an exam. If he wants to put all the chances on his side to succeed, he will have studied well, of course, will have gone to sleep early the night before after having done some sport and eaten lightly. And that's it! He has no impact on the questions he will be asked nor on the teacher's mood. His result, therefore, depends largely on him, but not only. He must put his energy into preparing well and then let go of the result. Cultivating a mindset of letting go has two essential components: understanding what is in your control and accepting that the end result is often beyond your control. Because trying to control what you can't is like pouring water into a bottomless pit: a waste of energy. Worse, you're only creating stress for yourself. And the tenth key? We are all fallible, or rather we are all learning. We make mistakes, we are imperfect, and that's fine: it creates space for progress in a spirit of development. So my final key is to look at yourself with kindness, embrace your imperfection, and keep doing your best. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Christelle! Christelle Deblon, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine "For Christelle, joy is definitely the greatest emotion one can feel. She dreams of a world where everyone wakes up in the morning anticipating the joy of the working day to come. Not only she dreams of this, but she puts all her positive energy and broad skillset into action to make this vision become reality and to impact the professional world. Before being a coach, she worked in marketing, communication and direct sales. She then had the chance to become a people manager. That's when she discovered her mission: helping others to become the very best version of themselves in their professional life. In 2011, she decided to make her dream come true: she learned coaching, and started her own business. For the last 10 years, she provides hundreds of days of training, facilitated work sessions in sectors as going from banking to semi-conductors sales, helped teams and individuals to improve, led projects, and enjoyed every single day! Living in Belgium, her mother tongue is French, and she works in English and Dutch as well. She successfully completed her Coaching training in 2013, and kept on developing herself continuously ever since. She is certified in Stress & Burnout Coaching, Prosci ADKAR change management and Appreciative Inquiry (Case Western University). She contributed to two chapters of 'Le grand livre de l'Appreciative Inquiry' published in 2021."

Written by: Shamala Tan , 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. What are psychological blindspots? They are parts of us on the mental and emotional levels that we are not able to see or we are not aware of. Simply because we are too close to the subject matter, or we are just not able to see clearly due to our past and societal, family, and religious programming. So, for example, we have a habit of saying some things, or we have a habit of doing some things and we are not aware of them because we do them so unconsciously. And we can only see them if someone else points them out to us. We need someone else standing outside of us to tell us exactly what our blind spots are. If you had a cake and the cream landed on your nose and you cannot see it, there is no way you can see that yourself unless you are standing in front of a mirror. So people around you act as mirrors. They tell you what's on your face. The thing is, we have no problem having people tell us what's on our faces because we don't want to appear silly with cream on our noses, so we don't mind when people tell us this. But, we have a big issue when someone tells us about our mental or emotional blind spots. We get all worked up and are like: 'who are you to tell me this is how I am or this is how I behave' and so on. On the route of personal development, we need to be a lot more open to people telling us what our blind spots are. Here's a suggestion: You could have a friend you trust to do this thing with you. Create a buddy system where you meet each other once a week or once a month to do this exchange where you share with each other what you think are their blind spots. Now the trick with this is not to take anything personally because by giving permission to someone to tell you your blindspots, they are doing you a favour so do not attack them back in return! Talk about the blind spots in a very factual way without attacking and without blaming, simply addressing them by saying something like: 'you know when this happens, you say that and I believe this is a blind spot, so you decide if this is something that you want to be more aware of or if this is something you want to work on. The decision is yours , and I'm not here to teach you, I'm not here to blame you I am just here to share. An example of a blind spot I want to share is my experience. You know how you get into spiritual beliefs and spiritual teachings that tell us that everything we say has to be positive. So my thing at the time, some 20 years ago, was that I had to say 'yes' because yes is a positive statement. So in my mind, I thought saying yes would be a good thing. However, I kept saying yes to the wrong thing! That was a teaching of spiritual belief gone wrong. It taught me the wrong thing, it taught me not to say no to the right thing. What happened was that I kept saying yes to the wrong things and eventually, I was burdened with too much to do, too much on my plate, not knowing how to say no! What a blind spot! What do these psychological blindspots do to our psychic bodies? What are psychic bodies? Our psychic bodies are basically our energy bodies. Our energy body holds our emotions and our thoughts. When we have blindspots guess what happens? There is a very high chance that if we are not taking care of the blind spots, they become like stubborn stains. You know the stains we have in our bathroom, or on our clothes, over a period of time the stain is going to change colour , and it is going to look worse and maybe bacteria or mould will build up around it? The same thing happens to the stains in our psychic bodies. If we allow personal development and consciousness work to take a back seat and we lack awareness of our blind spots over a period of time, there is an accumulation of these mouldy energies. And the interesting thing is that the more of these energies you have in your psychic field, the more of it you will attract and you will go into a psychological loop with these things. Over time, these energies become psychic tumours. And eventually, from psychic tumours, they become physical tumours. A psychic tumour is like a physical tumour, it becomes cancerous on the emotional and mental levels. These tumours get lodged within the chakras and the energy body . They also find their places within the energetic level of the liver, stomach, the reproductive system (this is one of the most popular places where tumours find their home). Psychic tumours also create holes in the aura, thereby allowing even more of these energies to enter our system! This is why it is so important to address our emotions and not suppress them, avoid them or believe they will go away. They do not go away on their own, they will remain in the system until we facilitate them through our bodies! I hope this information will inspire you to truly take care of your emotional and mental health. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Shamala! Shamala Tan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Shamala Tan is an author, spiritual entrepreneur, and healer. Her work focuses on transforming the lives of others on the spiritual, emotional, mental, and earthly levels. Shamala’s clients include small business owners, holistic practitioners as well as those seeking to find more significant meaning and value in life. Shamala offers laser coaching to her clients on a one-to-one basis or in a group environment, offline as well as online.