Written by: Laurence Nicholson, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We have all done it. And most likely still do. What am I talking about, and can we learn to understand how to deal with this more effectively? Let’s define this by considering an all too familiar scenario: You have been given a new department to manage, and are on your way to your first meeting to put forward your thoughts on improvements to the Executive Team. You are unsure where the room is, so you ask for directions from another member of staff you pass. As you start to follow the directions, your phone rings, and it is a supplier who is looking for an update on a proposal, and you have to tell them they have been unsuccessful. You realize you have not been paying attention to where you have been walking and are lost, not knowing where the room is, and you rush to end the call, and after getting your bearings, eventually arriving 5 minutes late, and annoyed with yourself. You make your apologies and join the meeting. A few minutes in, and your phone vibrates (you feel you have to be ‘always on’ after being promoted because you worry you might miss something urgent if it is turned off) with notification of an email from the successful bidder, needing the contract meeting rescheduled, and you reply immediately, half-listening to the current meeting. You feel a little anxious and sick, trying to do both activities. Your brain is showing signs of struggling. The supplier sends a response quickly, to which you type a quick reply, only to realize the room has gone quiet, and the execs are looking at you, waiting. The CEO has asked you to give a brief introduction and a summary of your initial thoughts around how you might improve the department you have taken over, and is waiting. You stumble out some vague introduction, already concerned about how this is looking as you are a typically a clear and concise speaker. Your first meeting has not gone well! So, what is going on here? Firstly, your pre-frontal cortex limitation has been the culprit here. There is a limit to how much information you can hold in your focus at any one time, but also a limit in what you can do with that information, and stretching these limits will result in reductions in the accuracy and quality of the outcome. You can hold several ‘chunks’ of information in your mind at once, however, you can only perform one conscious process on them at a time, without a serious performance impact. In fact, your pre-frontal cortex performs the following conscious processes: Understanding This involves new maps being created in the pre-frontal cortex of the new information and connecting these to existing ones. Deciding This requires the activation of a number of existing maps and selecting between them. The number of maps involved is in the billions, if not trillions. Recalling This requires searching billions of maps involved in memory, in order to bring the correct ones into mind. Memorizing This requires these maps to be held in your pre-frontal cortex long enough to embed them into long-term memory. Inhibiting This energy hungry process involves preventing certain maps from getting activated and wasting vital energy and space. Think of this as the security guard, keeping unnecessary thoughts and information out, to avoid interruptions and overloading. Each of these 5 conscious processes involves complex manipulations of billions of neurological circuits, and generally, you have to finish one process before you can begin the next, because each uses an incredible amount of energy and, many of the same circuits. Now, this is all getting a bit technical, so to bring this to life, let’s think of the brain as an operations room, overseeing the factory floor workforce, and we will apply this metaphor regularly, as we go through the rest of this topic. The operations room (your pre-frontal cortex) takes a lot of energy to run, is powered by battery units that run down quickly, and can only hold a handful of ‘operators’ who can only carry out one scenario at a time. You will recognize this, when you consider the act of driving; you find it easier to talk with a friend in the car if the route is well known and you don’t have to pay attention to it. Try this on a new route across the city, and you will either struggle with the conversation or find yourself lost. Your pre-frontal cortex is overwhelmed with trying to maintain a conversation, at the same time as paying attention and focus on a new route. From a scientific aspect, in the 1980’s Harold Pashler showed that when he set people to doing two cognitive tasks simultaneously, their cognitive capacity dropped from their being university educated professionals, to that of an 8-year-old! This is known as ‘Dual-Task Interference.’ A further study by the University of London, found that constant use of digital messages with no break, reduced normal mental capability by an average of 10 IQ points, which is similar to the effect of missing a night’s sleep. Not a fun prospect and a little ironic, considering digital messaging is widely considered as a so called ‘productivity’ tool, yet it can actually reduce your IQ, if not used in an appropriate manner to support or be sympathetic to your brain’s way of working. In addition to this IQ drop, the concept of ‘always on,’ touted as another hyper-productivity tool, is not actually productive either, because you are forcing your brain to be ‘alert’ for far too much time, increasing what is called your ‘allostatic load,’ which is a measure of your stress hormones relating to a sense of threat. The resulting constant feeling of crisis or threat perception, by being ‘always on,’ has an inevitable impact. Consider also the fact that as a concept, accepting being ‘always on’ into your operations room, is easier, or sits easier on your anxiety meter with regards to potential perceived consequences, than switching off digital messaging for periods of time. In actual fact, the impact of a 24/7 always on behavior, is a highly negative effect on your mental performance, exacerbated by the higher number of messages you will receive, as people realize you are always available, thereby worsening the impact. This extended, almost never-ending, day for your brain, and the above compounding effect of increasing messaging and activity, typically trends towards what people consider as ‘multi-tasking’ (which is actually mentally impossible, because of the previously explained conscious processes limitation), which is really rapid constant switching of focus, which uses up additional working memory as you try to hold all the things not being focused on, in the background, thus reducing any energy and resources for the thing you are focusing on. In our metaphorical operations room, imagine having 4 shifts of ‘operators’ constantly running in and out, each shift working on a different activity, with ‘handovers’ on the way in and out. Clearly not efficient and burning through those battery packs rapidly. Something will have to give. So, what can you do to improve this? You could: Automate more of what you do. This is like getting menial, repetitive tasks to be carried out by the factory floor workers, so this is removed from the operations room. An example is setting up email response templates that are linked to key-strokes and can be issued rapidly, such as “I have received your message and am looking into it.” This will become a habitual response when trying to focus, and so will be embedded as a reaction in your system 1 limbic brain, which uses very little energy and has huge resources available. Get the information into the pre-frontal cortex in a better order, allowing it to be there when needed and then released from using energy when not in use. This is scheduling your operators to be in the operations room only when they are needed and on shift, thus optimizing the way your pre-frontal cortex and conscious processing works (which is serial, not parallel), to avoid the bottleneck. The sets of unfinished connections an unprioritized system creates, takes up mental energy as they wait for all prerequisite information to be available, often coming from other decisions not yet made. Use dependency mapping to determine decision order, to ensure data is readily available for those decisions as they need to be made. Those ‘operators’ can then leave the operations room after their input has been delivered, keeping it uncrowded and free-flowing. Mix up your attention, to consciously limit the time you spend across a number of activities, deciding how long you can split your attention before returning to a primary focus. An example is having a set period(s) when your email/messaging is on, when you would not schedule any activity which would require focus. This would effectively be like having a break on the factory floor, when operators can come in and out of the operations room, without impacting any focused factory floor activity. Basically, don’t allow distractions whilst concentrating. Replaying our original scenario using these techniques would see a different outcome; the call whilst looking for the meeting room, could have been left to voicemail, enabling you to be on time for your first executive meeting. You could have looked at the meeting agenda to work out when, if it was absolutely necessary, you could split your attention and check messages whilst keeping a partial focus on the meeting, switching off devices again for those agenda items which need your full attention, such as presenting your introduction and improvement plan to the executive team, creating a much better initial impression. In short, Notice when you are trying to do too many things, and consciously slow down, focusing on the prioritized things. Get as many repetitive tasks embedded as a habit, moving them into your powerful system 1 limbic brain, to move them out of your energy hungry, limited resource system 2 pre-frontal cortex. Prioritize and get decisions to be made in the right order to avoid bottlenecks. If you have to do multiple task switching, combine heavy cognitive load ‘thinking’ tasks with those less demanding reactionary tasks, like checking email and messaging inboxes. Next time we will look into how to survive the morning email avalanche. Follow me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Laurence! Laurence Nicholson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Laurence Nicholson is the CEO and founder of the N Cubed Group, My Better Life – Mind Coaching, and Exec Mental Health Solutions, through which he works with both Corporate clients and individuals to improve and optimize mental health, performance, and resilience, to realize measurable improvements in business and personal productivity and decision making. A Mind Coach, certified as a Corporate Mental Health Facilitator, holding 'Distinction' grade certifications in Life Coaching, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Depression Counselling, Anger and Aggression Management Counselling, Criminal Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Corporate Wellness Coaching, Laurence is also trained in Corporate Coaching and Mentoring, Behavioural Analysis, and to the expert level in non-verbal deception detection and analysis. He had spent over 35 years working across corporate environments as both a consultant and leader, and when he was first sent abroad for work way back in the 1990s, he became fascinated by how different people and cultures think and behave in different ways under the same conditions, and quickly became addicted to immersing himself within local environments, to get a true experience of thought processes and event-behavior associations. Human psychology and behavioral patterns became his passion, and he used his corporate consulting work as a way to enable him to travel extensively and to study wide and diverse behaviors, and investigate the ‘how and why’ of our brain’s processes, and more importantly the impacts of stress and change on people, universally. His business education and experience as an advisor and consultant in procurement, finance, law, information technology, organizational change, and executive management, combines with his life experiences and numerous culturally immersive experiences from working in over 14 countries around the world, to provide what his clients consider as a unique appreciation of their individual circumstances. Laurence aligns himself with Jungian psychodynamic theory, with its spiritual element, supporting this as a certified and attuned Reiki Master Teacher and a Certified Meditation Teacher.

Written by: Gurpreet Kaur, 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. Let’s start with this question. Why is it even important to assess if our pride level is healthy or not? Let’s find out. The research indicates that there are two types of pride: of course, healthy and unhealthy. We will go through the examples in a bit so hang tight. Let’s first talk about how pride can actually hurt you and keep you away from your goal of living each day to the fullest. I know it is a sensitive topic, and I will do my best to be as gentle as I can when pointing out “unhealthy pride” that can get in the way of your emotional freedom. And I also know that a lot of us wear pride like a badge of honor, but would you really have that badge or peace of mind? That really is the purpose of this episode. I want you to be really honest with yourself as we go through the examples so you can decide what is really serving you or not. So, what is pride? By definition, it is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements or someone closely related or associated. It’s to be proud. As I mentioned earlier, there is healthy and unhealthy pride. As you can imagine, healthy pride is grounded in being proud of your achievements and successes but yet with humility. And humility is being free of pride or arrogance. Unhealthy pride is what research mentions as hubristic or excessively proud or confident. The unhealthy pride is based on low self-worth and is shame-driven. And that’s when you would be critical or judge others to feel better about yourself. Now, most of the time, we think of arrogant or haughty people when we think of being prideful. Not so easily, my friend. Pride gets us all, and it can really ruin your positive state of mind, especially when you are trying to be easy, loving, and non-judgmental towards yourself. First, I will share my own example here to make the point, and then we will review the subtle ways pride is keeping you away from being the authentically confident person with high true Self-worth. Most of the time, I consider myself a humble person, especially because I am aware of the dangers of being prideful at the back of my head. So, I would consciously be mindful not to sound arrogant or obviously prideful. But it still was present in my behaviors so subtly. I consider myself a very quality-oriented person. I do things with depth, and you can expect high-quality work from me, whether I am counseling, writing a blog, or cleaning the bathroom. I still can feel pride in this quality and unconsciously hurt people or drive them away. For example, cleaning the bathroom. My husband can clean the whole house in 2 hours, and I can easily spend more than 2 hours just in a bathroom. Sure, enough I do a really thorough job, and I am proud of that because I don’t have to do it often because it lasts longer. A thorough, excellent job done lasts a little longer than just an okay well-done job. Right? First of all, I now realize that it should not take 2 hours to clean a bathroom. But more than that, I was hurting my husband’s feelings each time I would throw that “excellent job done” in his face. Actually, the true realization was when I realized that I am not any less of a person if I didn’t do an excellent job. That felt freeing. I could just do an acceptable amount of work for the bathroom to be cleaned. It doesn’t have to be sparklingly clean. All this was coming from my perfectionist tendencies. Yup, our good old friend perfectionism. It is good to be proud of who you are and what you become, but it is not good to base your self-worth on what you have achieved. That type of pride can ruin relationships. It hurt my husband to hear that he would not do as thorough of a job as I can. He is just simply not built that way. He is not less of a person if he doesn’t have the eye for that quality. And I am not more of a person if I can. This pride has shown her ugly face in other areas of my life where I felt pride in “doing everything on my own and not asking for help.” I drove myself crazy because I felt I only could do that job that way. Who can relate? So, your pride is not doing you any favor, my friend. It is not healthy for your emotional well-being. You will have to learn to let go of your pride if you want to sustain a healthy and happy mind. Here are some subtle signs of pride ruining your life: Being too proud to ask for help. Being independent is different than feeling hurt and not asking for help. Or, yet worse, letting your loved ones or kids suffer because you don’t want to ask for help. Disregarding the advice. If you consistently disregard others’ advice, that might be a sign that you are prideful. Your behavior shows that you are uncomfortable living or adapting to the information you are receiving. That can be dangerous for your mental health. Being critical. If you are being too critical of others or judging them so you can feel better about yourself, that means pride is present. Now all this could be unconscious, but it still is impacting your emotional health. In reality, what you are judging others with is really your own judgments of yourself. So, pay attention to that. Need attention. If you constantly need others' attention or need others’ affirmation, you don’t have a good base for true self-worth. If you need others’ paise or attention for all that you are doing, that means you are not really content and satisfied with who you are. Not teachable. By this, I mean when you assume you already know something when someone is teaching you. I feel this type of attitude is present in people when they are afraid of being vulnerable. They don’t want to admit that they are wrong because that is going to highlight their limitations, and they are already not comfortable with what they already know. When this happens, try to be open-minded about it. Can’t receive constructive criticism. We all can struggle with receiving constructive feedback or criticism, but individuals with high pride can be extra sensitive because their sense of worth is based on pride. Similar to the last point, when someone struggles with receiving feedback, they don’t want to face the unknown. When you struggle with other people providing you helpful feedback about your life, you immediately shut them down by saying, “you are not in my shoe.” Or “I already know this, but I can’t do it because of _____.” Fill in the blank. Just becoming aware of this can be very helpful to notice low self-esteem. Obsessing over physical appearance. If you are constantly obsessed with your physical look or, in general, what others think of you, pride is there in the form of you obsessing over yourself. The point here is that you are still thinking about yourself because you feel you are not enough just the way you are. Blocking communication. If you blow people off and do not respond to them, you are in your head minimize the importance of this person, thinking you can’t waste your precious time on this person or conversation. Yes, in today’s world, we all are busy, and time is a real commodity, but you have to be really honest with yourself here about the reason you were not responding. If you dig deeper and be honest, you might find fears you are not ready to face. Instead, work on overthinking, self-criticism, and negative self-talk to overcome repressed emotions. There you have it! Some subtle ways how pride is keeping you unhappy. And it is grounded in perfectionism. I am guilty of it. Recently, I had to let go of a lot of the things I used to be very proud of that did not serve me well to be happy in life. I don’t need to be the quality controller if it’s not helping me be happy or move towards it, at least. It is doable to let go of these things with being a little open-minded towards the process. I had no idea pride was hurting me instead of helping me. Not accepting help from others. Thinking you can do it all. Feeling you don’t want anybody to pity you. All that is not serving you well. It really isn’t. Here’s the thing, you are only one of you, and you happen to be a human. Humans have emotional, physical, and social needs. So, you too have those needs. However, you would like to think that you are a superwoman, but you really are not because you are struggling. You can be! Absolutely! But for that to happen, you have to take care of yourself. You can’t be waking up at 5 am and going to bed at 11 pm and working every minute in between. You have to learn to call out sometimes. It might feel counterintuitive to you but trust me on this. You feel irritated, frustrated, and overwhelmed when you are burning your candle on both ends. It’s not sustainable. Feeling irritable, frustrated, overwhelmed, exhausted, and not happy despite all that you do are the signs that you need to let go of your pride and change some things in your life. Now, before I let you go, I want to give you the antidote to pride. And it is Humility. Being humble is the antidote to being prideful. By that, I mean, don’t measure your self-worth with your achievements. Don’t compare yourself with others for good or bad. Don’t judge or criticize someone else to make you feel better. Catch yourself when you are doing it and make every effort to stop it right there. You can also practice Attitude of Gratitude, and it is very helpful. You are a beautiful human being just the way you are. No achievements are needed for you to be humble. You are loved no matter what. Be proud of that, not just the achievements. Fill up that void with true self-love, not just the achievements that you end up fearing being taken away. Follow Gurpreet on her Facebook, Instagram and visit her website for more info! Read more from Gurpreet! Gurpreet Kaur, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Gurpreet Kaur is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Life Coach, Speaker, and an Author. Dr. Kaur is very passionate about self-love, self-empowerment, wellness, reaching the full potential, and applying quantum mechanics principles to daily life. Dr. Kaur teaches a step-by-step self-care process to live a mentally and emotionally healthy life.

Written by: Richa Chandra, 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. Even though it seems like social media makes it easy to build your personal and business brand fast. One still has to follow the 7 laws of branding to building personal and business brands. It can take years, if not decades, to build a brand that people love and are loyal to because it takes time to build trust. I follow all the laws, and I teach my clients to follow the 7 laws of branding for a steady and fast growth; The Law of Contraction The Law of Publicity The Law of Advertising The Law of Decision making The Law of Credentials Law of Consistency and Singularity Law of Meaning and Mortality In the last article, I covered the first law. Let’s look closer at the second law: 2. The Law of Publicity Publicity is the birth of your brand. The moment you make your brand public, you are declaring your values and your vision. When people can resonate with the values or the vision, they start caring about the brand. Also, trust is built. The focus of publicity is to create awareness around the brand. Publicity is the activity of providing information about a business, service, product, or individual to make it popular. That could be done by using the traditional media, as being featured in magazines, published in papers, or reviews by customers. Or the new media sources like podcasts, blogs, emails, and websites. Publicity is not paid promotion, and it is not for a targeted but for a broader audience. It is a way for mass communication to a larger audience for the main purpose of visibility. Publicity can both be negative and positive since that is something that the company does not have entire control over. It can break or make the brand's credibility. That is why I don’t agree with the statement that “All publicity is good publicity.” A negative review and bad publicity can do a lot of damage, and it usually takes a lot of effort to correct it or rebuild the trust. The best way to build and keep the trust is by having as many testimonials as possible. Good and positive testimonials can often be the best publicity you can have. But this is often limited to the services or products the customers have tried and gotten good experience or results with. When it comes to testimonials for the brand of a company or individual, you have brand ambassadors or experts in the field or industry. There is no direct connection between sales and publicity, but it is a strategy to build good public relations. Good public relations build trust, awareness which in return created raving fans and loyal customers. Another intent of publicity is to create awareness of opportunities and possibilities for collaborations. This is often achieved by a brand story or clearly talking about the company’s goals and vision for what need you are filling in the market or what demand you are meeting. This makes it easier for other companies to relate and to express the desire to collaborate. In conclusion; Publicity is an action taken to create awareness or get visibility so a larger audience can understand and see the brand, being a business or personal brand. There can be many ways to communicate and many various media that can be used to communicate the message in order to build trust for the brand. It can come from the company itself or can be done by a third party depending on the message, the marketplace, and the intention of the publicity. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Richa! Richa Chandra, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine ‘Fears don’t define us, but how we face them, does that!’ This is the mantra of Award winner ( Most aspirational businesswomen, Norway 2019) Richa Chandra lives by. She is actually the driving force and face behind the success and visibility of many coaches, entrepreneurs, and workshops. In 2015, Richa faced a hostile takeover of her company and lost everything, but in just a few months, without any hesitation, she started 3 new businesses. She has written 3 books that have become the main Norwegian textbooks in teaching Indian Dance and Proven benefits of Meditation (2019).

Written by: Sarah Jones, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The mindset from which we operate has an immense impact on every aspect of our lives—our health, relationships, careers, and most importantly, our sense of self-worth. The beliefs we harbor about ourselves create a filter, influencing our perception and affecting how we react and respond to challenges. Your mindset is detrimental to achieving life goals, managing relationships, and becoming well-rounded, self-assured, and successful. We naturally develop either a fixed or open mindset in childhood, consisting of subconscious beliefs which ripple out throughout the course of our lives. One way to look at this is through the ‘Gifted Kid Burnout’ phenomenon. Children who show innate talent in a specific area often see low results in other subjects. It’s not because they’re incapable, but because they have developed the belief that they can only excel in subjects that come naturally to them. They often give up without trying or at the first sign of difficulty. These children struggle to adapt to challenges later in life, as they have developed a fixed mindset. They have learned to measure their success by the degree of natural talent instead of effort and hard work. In contrast, children who don’t excel naturally in a specific area are much more likely to learn the value of working hard and carry this mindset into the rest of their lives. They know that it takes effort to succeed. They embrace the learning curve and approach failure as an opportunity to develop themselves. They learn to learn, take risks, try new things, and don’t judge themselves on fixed personality characteristics. This reflects an open mindset, a habit every single one of us can cultivate. The mind is a muscle like any other— strengthening it just takes a little practice. The Fixed Mindset A fixed mindset is resistant to change. It knows what it can and can’t do and won’t be told otherwise. If a task takes too much effort, it is deemed a waste of time and energy. People will this mindset are fear-orientated, making them much less likely to take risks, dream big, and learn new things. Failures become a personal judgment, with self-esteem becoming prickly, defensive, and reactive. A difficult place from which to pursue success. If you find yourself full of doubts, constantly try to prove yourself, or judge yourself purely on traits such as intelligence and creativity, you are operating from a fixed mindset. What many fail to realize is that the mind is a muscle we can control. With a bit of effort, a fixed mindset can be transformed into an open mindset. The Open Mindset An open mindset is primed for growth, development, and transformation. There is less emphasis on natural ability and an understanding that human beings are built to learn and adapt. Those with an open mindset view personality traits as mutable and value the learning process as much as the outcome, if not more. They view challenges, setbacks, and failures as opportunities for growth, and are more likely to take risks, master new skills, and dream big. They are more receptive to feedback, seek continual improvement, and have a way of finding the silver lining to any setback. These are the creative problem-solvers, the quick thinkers, the adaptable, and the optimists, and they are much likely to achieve success and realize their dreams. How Mindset Helps Across Life Cultivating an open mindset is the gateway to a life of continuous development and self-mastery. You’re guaranteed to see a fast improvement in mood, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. With an open mindset, you are less likely to suffer depression and chronic stress, as you will have learned to lower expectations of yourself and others, becoming less judgemental in the process. You will understand that the goal is not perfection. The goal is growth. An open mindset will vastly improve your relationships as you release impossible standards of perfection and instead commit to doing the work through communication and compromise. By reframing challenges as opportunities for growth, you will no longer succumb to fear of failure as you being to operate from a relaxed and curious space. You will also find yourself much less concerned with what others think of you. Techniques to Change Your Mindset Countering the inner critic: Identify the inner critic—those nasty, nagging doubts that creep in. Narrow down the thought. Identify the root—the limiting belief. Counter the limiting belief. Question it. Transform the negative belief into a positive belief, even if it feels forced or wrong. Practice this every day. You are re-wiring your mind. It will soon become second nature. Transforming your general mindset: Find one positive side to every negative situation you encounter. Learn to see the silver lining. Embrace all your failures. Practice gratitude for the lessons learned. Lower expectations—for yourself and others. This takes the pressure off and frees you to take more risks and try new things. Speak to yourself the way you would a loved one. Try something you always thought you could never do, and see what happens… As the famous Buddhist quote says, ‘Mindset is the Ground of Everything’ Ask yourself where your mindset is – are you generally open or closed. Where do you tend to have more success in life – is your mindset different in that situation? Whilst I coach and help my clients with careers and leadership – so much of what I tackle is around self-belief, confidence, and Mindset. With the right mindset, you will overcome setbacks, learn new skills, continue to believe in yourself, and push yourself forwards despite circumstances. You will change relationships and results in your life. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Instagram ! Read more from Sarah! Sarah Jones, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah Jones - Published author, speaker, accredited personal & executive coach helps motivated, ambitious professionals & executives improve their career, find a new career, and help teams accelerate success & performance. Due to significant early challenges in her own life, Sarah has always been tenacious, entrepreneurial & unafraid to speak her mind. At times being the only woman in the boardroom amongst international corporations in her early 30s, she is a beacon of strength for leaders and individuals. In Sarah’s former career, she was a leader in corporate affairs but founded Sarah-J Coaching to help individuals & leaders become their personal best in life and their careers. She is dubbed the phrase 'regroup, reboot, and reinvent' - a three-step change process - having helped pull out individuals from the trenches & into their own spotlight through her transformative and action-based coaching approach. Her book ‘From Vulnerable to Invincible’ helps readers identify how to step into their challenges, reframe & learn, to launch themselves to success. She also regularly contributes to the media such as BBC, The Guardian & Sky. She regularly speaks and has delivered empowering talks for Pearson Business School and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

Written by: Lisa M. Kindle, 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. In high school, I had a teacher who would ask me every day, “Lisa, why don’t you smile?” When I didn’t answer, he would continue to get after me and ask again, “why don’t you smile?” I didn’t feel like smiling. I wasn’t really happy or confident in who I was yet. I didn’t feel well-liked by my peers or feel like I fit in. I was an artist, I liked school, and I spent all my free time practicing the cello. I’d see those golden girls radiating their smiles and wonder, “why not me?” What I’ve discovered nearly forty years later is that their “golden glow” came from within. The kind of glow comes from confidence in oneself. I would say I used to be more of a blue person in the sense that I was more introverted, quiet, and not very confident. I also went through periods of depression and panic attacks over the years. I now realize that I can be a shining light for others. You can employ colors in a way that promotes positive change in your life, just as I have over the years. I now thrive on leading groups and connecting with others around the globe. I have learned... I am a leader. I am a mentor and coach. I am an artist. I play my cello because it is part of who I am. I create art with special meaning. I am an encourager of others; I shine in knowing who I am. I have unique gifts to offer the world. I have a story to tell. I love inspiring people. I master at connecting people. I enjoy learning from others. I am a supporter of women. As an artist, I see things a little differently. People often ask me how I see certain things in nature when I’m out taking photos. Now, think of when someone asks you if you’ve ever heard of “such and such,” or a certain model of a car, or type of food. Suddenly, you notice it everywhere! It’s been like that for me with color. When I started to learn about the psychology behind color, it opened an amazing resource for me. In this article, I am focusing on the color yellow, the most attention-getting and brightest color your eyes can see. What is Yellow? The color yellow stimulates and promotes feelings of energy. Yellow is believed to stimulate areas of the brain that are directly linked to logical and analytical thinking. Yellow is also said to speed up metabolism. A Yellow Person Reflects…. Sunshine, happiness, fun, optimism, joy, friendship, creativity, laughter, an active nature, energetic, femininity, vivaciousness. Yellow descriptive words: radiate, glow, shine, light, warmth. Golden shades of yellow promise good times. Wear yellow when you need to pay attention to detail or maintain alertness. Feel happier when you wear yellow. When you think of yellow, think of all the possibilities of who you are and who you want to be. Be mindful of how the colors found in natural elements also provide a link to your well-being. The sun appears yellow and is known to provide us with vitamin D, which can boost our mood. The sun shines on us and warms our skin. The sun also feeds plants and makes them grow. Tilt your face up to feel the sunshine sometimes. Smile and enjoy the moment. This is yellow. Art Application: Use the color yellow to create an affirmation card. Take a 3x5 or 4x6 piece of heavy paper and gather some art supplies. Create an image using only hues of the color yellow. You don’t have to make any concrete shape, thing, or scene. Allow yourself to create shapes and play. On the back of your card, write an affirmation as you reflect on your “art.” Take a moment to reflect on this composition and ask yourself, “what does this say about me?” “What message does it have for me?” Start your statements with the words “I am.” Use the present tense. State it in the positive. Keep it brief. Make it specific. Include an action word ending in -ing. Include at least one emotion or feeling word. Make affirmation for yourself, not others. Use this exercise to transform the narrative around who you are, your mental health, bring healing, and overall well-being to your life. You have the ability to leverage the power of color to bring more joy into your life while improving your confidence and self-worth. I believe that each of us has a little bit of every color of the rainbow that makes us who we are. A unique and wonderful human being. To learn more about color and how it can help you, consider my signature workshop, Empower Yourself with Color: Create Your Own Color Affirmation Deck™. This is a 3-hour workshop. You will learn your life path color and its associated number while being provided with exercises and tools to dive deeper into how you can use color in your life to manifest your best self. You will also have the opportunity to work with Lisa to create your own Color Affirmation Deck.™ It is an amazing tool that inspires positivity and encourages you to reach your full potential. The Color Affirmation Deck™ has been created by Artist and Therapeutic Art Life Coach Lisa Kindle. Get more information at www.artsoulliving.com or contact her directly at lisa@artsoulliving.com. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram Read more from Lisa! Lisa M. Kindle, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Lisa Kindle, a therapeutic art life coach and leader in building a creative community that inspires people worldwide, is dedicated to a creative lifestyle with a personable approach and an artsy twist! She now coaches one-on-one and in group settings, including retreats and workshops. With over 25 years of professional experience as a corporate designer, photographer, graphic designer, small business owner, and all-around visionary, Lisa's creative spirit shines through connecting people and ideas.

Written by: Michael Neill, 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 do Stress, Pressure, and Deadlines Really Have to Do with Productivity, Performance, and Results? Over the past 20 years, I have written and/or contributed material to a dozen bestselling books and over 1000 blog posts. And until a few years ago, there were two things I could absolutely guarantee would be part of my process. First, I knew I would make my deadlines. While I often would cross the finish line with less than fifteen minutes to spare, the book or blog was always where it needed to be on or before the last possible minute to be ready for publication. Second, I knew it would be stressful. Not continually and sometimes worse than at other times, but what seemed like the inevitable pressure of creating to a deadline created sufficient stress in my life and world that my wife would have to steel herself each time I accepted a new contract, knowing that when push came to shove she could kick me out of the house so I could go through the worst of it in a hotel instead of lying next to her in bed. The most extreme example of this came, ironically, when I was working as the developmental editor on a book about how to control stress. I took on the assignment with only six weeks to get the book from a puddle of possibilities to something tangible, coherent, and helpful; by the time we finished, I wanted to take not only my own life but the lives of most of the people around me. But as I gained more and more experience as a writer, I came to see that neither the pressure nor the stress that I associated with the process was coming from the deadline or the task at hand. Sometimes I would feel stressed months in advance of a deadline; other times, I would be coming down the home stretch with no feeling of pressure whatsoever. This insight came to a head a couple of years ago when I began working on the manuscript for a new book called Creating the Impossible. I had run public and corporate versions of the program for close to a decade, so I felt confident that this would be a relatively easy thing to write. I didn’t freak myself out at all as the delivery date approached, and even my wife commented on how calm I seemed. And then, for the first time ever, I missed a publication deadline. My publisher very kindly moved the release of the book back by a couple of months to give me more than enough time to finish. And then I missed the second delivery date as well. I felt oddly liberated, finally understanding the words of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, who said, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.” It was around that time that my agent phoned me to check in on how it was all going. “Great,” I replied. “I’ve never felt so chilled and at peace around missing a deadline.” “That’s wonderful,” he said with quiet humor in his voice. “How’s the book coming?” And that was the moment where I fell down the staircase of insight and bumped my head onto a couple of simple truths about the relationship between productivity, performance, results, stress, pressure, and deadlines. Our common cultural memes around performance are that what we do or don’t do is a huge determinant of how we feel, and how we feel in turn determines what we do. We feel pressure, stress, guilt, and shame when we’re not doing what we think we should, and we attempt to use those feelings to compel ourselves into action. But what I saw as clear as day was that what we do and how we feel are two completely independent variables. I’d had plenty of experiences of feeling stressed out and taking action; I now had an experience of not feeling stressed out and not taking action. But that didn’t mean that the two things had a cause-effect relationship. Here was the first truth: When it comes to productivity, performance, and results, pressure and stress are independent variables and the result of my own thinking, not the result of any external deadline. The more I caught myself pressuring myself and stressing myself out with scary thoughts about imaginary futures where I failed to meet my deadlines, the less real those scenarios began to seem. I recognized that there had been any number of times where I felt great and got a ton done and an equal number of times where I’d felt stressed and pressured and gotten a ton done. And while in this instance, my inactivity coincided with a feeling of ease and comfort, I had no shortage of examples of inactivity accompanied by feelings of discomfort. At some level, I already knew this. For over twenty years, my go-to move as a coach when a client complained about putting off a task as a symptom of procrastination was to ignore their complaint and tell them to call me back when the task was done. Inevitably, things that had previously seemed impossible for them to get themselves to do, like paying bills, having a difficult conversation, or getting started on a big project, found themselves getting done without anything having to change in my client’s psychology. But because I hadn’t seen the principles behind it, I thought of it as a cool trick — a way of getting people into action when it worked and annoying the heck out of them when it didn’t. I could now see a second incredibly practical truth: What gets done has pretty much everything to do with what we do and almost nothing to do with how we feel. So while conversations about getting better at managing the stress and pressure we see as being inherent in deadlines might be interesting, in and of itself, they won’t really help us get the job done. Whether our job is writing a book, hitting a golf ball, building a house, or building a business, our results will be largely a function of the writing, hitting, and building that we do regardless of how we happen to be feeling while we do it. Don’t get me wrong. I love the feeling of ease and flow that often accompany my work and would choose it ten times out of ten over the feelings of stress and pressure that sometimes show up in my scary and insecure thinking instead. But I also love that when it comes to getting things done in the world, I can do what there is to do regardless of how positive or “enlightened” I happen to be feeling from day to day. So if you’re struggling trying to meet a deadline or stressing out about the fact that they just keep “whooshing” past, here’s a simple rule of thumb you can follow: Every hour you put your energy and attention into the project itself will move the project forward; every hour you put your energy and attention into your thoughts and feelings about how the project is going will cost you time, energy, and attention (and generally contribute to feelings of stress, pressure, and discouragement). Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or visit my website for more info! Michael Neill, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Michael Neill is an internationally renowned leadership coach, author, speaker, and thought leader. He has worked with executives and teams from Disney, Google, Netflix, Pixar, Public Health England, and more, challenging the prevailing mythology that stress and struggle are prerequisites to creativity and success. His TEDx Talks, bestselling books, podcasts, keynotes, training, and retreats are designed to unleash the human potential with intelligence, humor, and heart and have inspired and impacted millions of people at the United Nations and on six continents around the world.

Written by: Sarah 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. As an Intuitive Business Coach, a big part of my work with my clients is about helping them grow their business and market themselves in a way that feels aligned. A very helpful tool to do this is using Human Design, which basically gives us your unique energetic blueprint and a lot of useful information about how you can market yourself effectively, according to your Human Design type, strategy, and authority. Today I will mostly focus on your Human Design type, which you can find on www.jovianarchive.com/get_your_chart with your date, time, and place of birth. So first of all, why should you care about this and why is this important? Your marketing is meant for you to connect with your audience, to give them value, to position yourself as an authority in your field so that ultimately you can stand out online and attract soulmate clients consistently. And I’m sure you’ve heard countless times that it is so important to be yourself in your marketing, show your personality, and shine your own unique light. This takes a whole new level with Human Design because we go even deeper and look at your soul’s blueprint, how your energy works, and how you can use that to your advantage. Human Design shows you more about who you -your soul- came here to be, what you came here to do, and how . Human Design helps you align yourself on all levels and use that power in your marketing so you can truly stand out for who you are. Not using Human Design in your marketing can make things harder. When you don’t align yourself this way, it doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. Of course, traditional principles in business and marketing still work, but sometimes they may not be the most adapted for your Human Design type and for your energy. This can lead to: Burn out Overwhelm Not attracting the right people or anyone Doing all the things and not seeing results Truly you have this incredible tool that gives you so much insight into you, so make the most of it! Now, let’s look at the different types in Human Design with what marketing strategy works best for each. Manifestors Manifestors are here to initiate. And they are actually the only ones in Human Design who are truly meant to initiate. Generators Generators are here to respond, not initiate, which can be hard for them because they have so much energy and tend to want to initiate. As a Generator, you are always responding - to external things, questions, options, ideas, to your gut, intuition, etc. Focus on this in your marketing too. Manifesting Generators Manifesting Generators are also here to respond, similar to Generators. One exception is if you feel it is a hell yes , you may initiate (like Manifestors). Projectors Projectors are meant to wait for the invitation. In your marketing, as a Projector, focus on positioning yourself as an expert/authority, which will lead others to invite you in. Reflectors Reflectors have the strategy of waiting 28 days before taking action regarding a big decision. It may sound scary, but the good news is that you can align yourself with your cycle or with the lunar cycle and play with that in your marketing. When you are doing your thing, you truly are so magnetic. What is your type? Let me know by getting in touch on Instagram or my website ! Read more from Sarah ! Sarah Lewis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah Lewis is an Intuitive Business Coach and a leader in the online space. She specializes in helping heart-led, mission-driven women entrepreneurs build thriving online businesses in a way that is aligned and authentic. She merges her unique approach to heart-centered marketing and soulful selling with her intuitive gifts, energy healing, and subconscious reprogramming to help her clients quantum leap in their business and create the income and impact they are here for. Sarah has clients from all over the world and helps them create heart-centered 6 figure businesses and beyond.

Tamara Mendelson is an Internationally recognized writer, a sought-after wellness coach, and an educator with many years of experience teaching Business English – online and in the classroom. Tamara teaches and coaches using humor, compassion, and empathy, which is her students' and clients' favorite superpower. When asked about why she started coaching, Tamara laughs, “I have been coaching all my life, being a good friend, an involved parent, and an empathetic teacher. I just didn’t call it coaching until 10 years ago.” Tamara received a Master’s Degree from Bar Ilan University in creative writing and English literature and has a certificate in Positive Psychology from UPENN. Tamara writes a weekly blog called “This Way Forward” and runs a Facebook Page with the same name where she does exactly that – helps people move forward. She is also a member of the CREA Awards of 2021. Hello Tamara Mendelson! Please introduce yourself to our readers? Sure, thank you. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, one of four children, the daughter of a pediatrician and a pediatric nurse practitioner. I graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Political Science and communications. I lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco for about ten years working in retail, politics, and marketing. I was happily divorced in 2010 and I now live in Israel with my partner of 10 years in a country house which is surrounded by a beautiful garden he has cultivated for me. We each have two fabulous millennials. We also have a 25-pound cat that we rescued as a tiny kitten. The cat is not fat; just big-boned. I spend a few months every year in the United States. I am a wellness coach. What did you do before becoming a wellness coach? Well, I think I’ve always been a coach. People have always felt safe with me and told me their stories and I’ve always been helpful, supportive, and non-judgmental. I’ve also overcome many serious challenges in my own life that have uniquely prepared me for helping others. But before coaching professionally, I was a poet, writer, editor, and educator. I have a master’s in Creative Writing and English Literature. I taught college for seven years. Did you enjoy being a college professor? Definitely. My favorite part of teaching was helping my students learn and grow and become more confident with a little support from me. Although English was the subject, the object was always modeling life skills in a diverse society. One of my proudest moments as an educator was handing out diplomas to my first students four years later upon their graduation. You said you are a writer. Have you written anything that we might know? Maybe. A few years ago I published a very well-received book called “Divorce Poetry.” It is a collection of poetry and some prose, organized using the five states of divorce that I’ve defined in my practice: Breakdown, Break Up, Broken, Break Through and Break Free. It is a roadmap to the process. I’ve had many clients who have used the book to helped them through their emotions during their divorces. I also published a companion workbook based on the five stages of divorce with exercises. A do-it-yourself program. My clients have found it helpful. Both “Divorce Poetry” and its workbook are on Amazon. Wow! How did you become a wellness coach? Well, officially I started ten years ago as the divorce guru for my community and then, through word-of-mouth, branched out. My ex and I had the same circle of friends and lived in a smallish town. Our main concern was for the children and their well-being so that carried on and was an example to others. Then I became certified by UPenn in Positive Psychology, which is useful for those who want to do the work to help people live emotionally healthier lives by identifying and using their strengths. What is your main message to those getting divorced? Even through the pain, everyone must remember that some relationships fail. Even though there is some stigma around divorce, it doesn’t make you a failure. That message is key to people going through a separation and divorce. It is an often painful learning experience. And with children involved it is always more complicated. I try to make sure that people do not make bad choices. So you specialize in helping people who are getting divorced? Yes, those getting divorced are approximately 25% of my clientele. Although I still coach people through divorce, my practice continues to evolve as each person has a different set of challenges that need to be explored. The world is a complicated and demanding place, and everyone can use a little help now and then, single, married or otherwise. How do you coach your clients? I meet them – where they are emotionally – and I help them get to where they want to be. We work through their pain, especially by recognizing unhealthy patterns. I help clients develop a personalized toolbox to look at their trauma in a different way and hopefully move forward to more balanced joyful lives. I don’t believe you need to wake up in pain every day and knowing that pain is not a final destination is a relief for most people. Modern life is always getting more complicated and everyone needs a little help to cope. Is there a common thread running through your therapeutic process? Yes. I teach resilience and that savoring life can be a choice. Having a different kind of life can be a choice. Living without shame should be a choice. Certain experiences we bury are very toxic. Revealing them to someone who is objective and non-judgmental in a safe environment brings relief and release from the grip of those things we have bottled up for too long. Letting go of fear and pain promotes post-traumatic emotional growth. What are the typical issues you try to resolve for your clients? First, of course, nothing is ever typical. But some clients have lost jobs, changed occupations, and started new professions with me. I have dealt with family struggles, care of aging parents with children still at home, relationship issues, questioned or clarified their sexuality. Others have called off engagements, moved across the country or the world, and had healthier divorces. Some have grieved loved ones or persevered through health crises, got well, and carried on. Are results measurable? Often, yes. When people feel strong and centered enough, they move on. My clients become better parents and kinder people to themselves. Individuals and companies that want to do the work to help people live more emotionally stable lives. We don’t have to live in a cycle of trauma and drama. The world is a challenging, difficult place, and everyone can use a little help now and then to be more grounded and comfortable and find their place in this world. I create a safe space for people to understand and overcome their difficulties. Have you found that people have been more distressed since the pandemic? I believe we are more stressed as a global society. Sheltering in place upset our social order on a global scale. Many lost their jobs and the people they loved. We all need to learn how to be with people again. Social Media as it turns out can be more isolating than connective. Being able to engage in simple discourse without anger and rage may need to be modeled behavior that can be taught. And in many places, COVID 19 isn’t over yet. Do you also work with younger adults? Yes. For many younger folks without much life experience, the imbalance of suddenly not having friends and school life was devastating. Feeling like this crisis would never end caused a lot of depression and anxiety. The relationships we rely on for our emotional well-being were not accessible in a physical way and it was and continues to be a global challenge. A text message does not replace a hug. Do you only see your clients in person? No, my clients are spread out over ten time zones, so we use Zoom. Even before the pandemic, I began tele-coaching. It is more practical emotionally for my clients, as well, because they are in their own environments and don’t need to spend hours commuting and in waiting rooms to find constructive help. I’ve virtually accompanied people on walks, bike rides and mediated a fight in a car. I was even the support person on a flight across the US. Amazing. Can you tell me a breakthrough story? Sure. I had a client who was molested as a child by a teacher. This horrifying experience led to lifelong PTSD, which brought a lot of anxiety and self-doubt. He didn’t receive the support he needed from adults around him. We spent a year processing how his childhood abuse was still influencing his life, both as a husband and as a parent of two little girls. He was eventually able to let go of the anger and speak about his pain. Now he enjoys a fulfilling life. Today he is thriving, mostly by being kinder to himself. We occasionally have mental health check-ups. And, as a bonus, he was able to seek and find justice vis-à-vis the molester and the institution that employed him. Do you ever turn down clients? Well, I don’t exactly turn them down, but we can agree not to work together. When working with any kind of coach or counselor you have to open up and get to the heart of the pain. There must be basic honesty and trust. It takes some guts to get out of your comfort zone and to tell the stories of your life and examine the decisions you’ve made and to get to a more centered and peaceful place you have to wade through some pain and unpleasantness. Some people just aren’t ready; staying stuck in their pain is all they know. What are the three things you want your clients to gain from working with you? First, the only thing we can control is ourselves. We certainly cannot change the things that have happened and sometimes we cannot change the things that will happen, but we can always try to control how we react to them and be responsible for our own actions. Stand up for what we feel strongly about. Today, with social media, there is a tendency to lash out or hit back without thinking through the consequences. We can’t control what other people do, but we can control how we respond. And we can also be the model for calm clear thinking for our children and our society, the model of considered and rational and generous, and truthful behavior. Second is kindness. Being kind does not need to cost anything. Being kind is not a weakness. But being kind can make a huge impact on the people around you. Open a door for someone. Help a stranger. Be slow to cast judgment. Resist gossip. Engage others in positive ways, in stores or online, or in-house. Treat everyone like you would wish to be treated. We are not “us” versus “them,” but all together. Third, we all have pain. Life can be painful. It doesn’t help to compare pain. But we all have it. It is never too late to find the cause of your pain, to eliminate or ease it some. We can change our behaviors, leave toxic relationships, work on ourselves, become better parents, partners and friends, and citizens. And we can live life in healthier and more fulfilling ways. Do you have a social media presence? Yes, I have a Facebook group too called “This Way Forward,” which is what I do in my practice to help people move forward. I have a website, tamaramendelson.com, and am on LinkedIn and Instagram. Finally, Tamara, what is your big goal? I strive to appreciate the world that is mine. We as people need to be thankful for what we have and not always need more. More does not necessarily make us happier. I would like to be a part of a sustainable planet movement with each decision I make. Aside from the happiness of my children and partner, family, and friends, I want to help my clients live happier more fulfilled lives. Thank you so much for this opportunity. You can reach Tamara through email, website, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Read more from Tamara!

Written by: Jennifer Sharp, 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. So, what are some top traits that leaders possess? Why are we inspired by them? What is the true essence of leadership? There is one trait, I believe, that makes for strong leadership. That is confidence. Without it, what do you have? In business, you will self-sabotage at every opportunity. If you flail with a negative mindset, you will lack the self-confidence to lead you and your team. Being confident in yourself as a leader enhances so much potential for you and your business growth. Here are 7 tips that I’ve discovered on my journey that have enabled me to stand strong, grow, and be vulnerable all at the same time. 1. Push those boundaries. Mistakes are good. You learn from them. If you are learning, you are growing. Be a trailblazer even when you are faced with fear. Go where no one else has. It’s okay to walk into the abyss. By taking risks and pushing through the boundaries, no matter the outcome, you will always gain from it. The only time you will fail is if you give up trying. 2. Let negativity drive you. A negative can always turn positive. Think of those mistakes you made and what you learned from them. Admit to them, admit to what you learned and watch yourself gain a little more control each time. As this grows, so does your confidence in expressing yourself. Negative energy can turn positive if you channel it correctly. This is when you need to make a choice. Stay negative and self-sabotage or learn and grow and create beauty. The more people say to me, “you can’t do that,” the more I say, “watch me.” 3. Be an action taker. If your self-esteem is low, you are more likely to self-sabotage, consequently taking no action. Do you ever see leaders in your field doing this? What makes them leaders is their drive and passion, and with this comes a high level of confidence. Taking action is taking risks, and to do this you need to be confident in yourself. Saying “I Can” rather than negate allows space for each small step of action to be taken. Each step is magic that leads to a result. 4. You don’t have to know it all. And it’s okay to admit to it. When I first opened my business, there was so much I didn’t know, but this was only known by a few people close to me. I didn’t want to admit this to potential clients. I didn’t want to admit I had no idea what I was doing. Hello Imposter Syndrome! I felt like a fraud most of the time and didn’t want to admit to it. I struggled through on my own. But I soon learned that moving forward this way was so much harder. There is no place for ego in being a confident leader. 5. Observe everything. Observe everything about your niche, your business, and those who have been in it longer than you. Learn. Use your eyes and ears, and voice to mentally and physically collect all the information you need to grow. Ask questions. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t jump to conclusions, and don’t compare. Good observers are even better listeners who learn to filter out what they don’t need and to act on the right information for them. 6. Know your vision – Short and Long Term. If you are a confident leader, you know what each step taken will accomplish for each week, month, and year that passes. You will lose more and more of the ego, acquire more skills and grow as a person along with your business. Visualize success daily. Know what the best outcome is for you. Make your vision measurable. On those days when the negativity does creep in, and it does, use these measurements to remind yourself of how far you have come. 7. Emotional Intelligence goes a long way. I admit that once upon a time, I saw red at almost everything that didn’t go right. As soon as I perceived something as going wrong, the ego would rise. I struggled to admit that maybe I was the one who was wrong or that I didn’t know. But by learning to take ownership of them, the big and the small, I continually grew. By taking a breath and letting go, accepting the situation as it was, then moving on, the path opens and flows more freely. Actions become clearer and stronger. I stopped withdrawing, and my self-esteem grew. When I learned to manage my emotions and switch the light from red to green, I could plan positive outcomes for myself and my business. With a positive mindset, I also had a confident one. As a leader in my business, I haven’t always known the way or gone the whole way, but I’ve always tried to show the way. By doing. By taking action. By listening and learning. I’ve learned the way and have grown along with it. I am still learning, and I am still growing. I’ve learned to push the boundaries. And I still keep pushing. I’m not afraid to show my strengths. Some things I do really well; some things I do really poorly. I’m not afraid to admit this anymore nor show my vulnerabilities. Do I know the way? No, but I’ve learned it's okay to step into the abyss. I don’t have to know everything. Do I go the whole way? Yes, I give as much as I can each day, but with boundaries. Do I show the way? Yes, daily action, no matter how small, gives great results. Through these, I have learned to be confident in myself. I have given myself permission to hold a certain fierceness inside me, so when times get tough. I can sit back, reflect on my journey not only as a leader but in life itself, and acknowledge how far I have come. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , Daisy Lane Publishing , or visit my website for more info! Read more from Jennifer ! Jennifer Sharp, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jennifer Sharp is a leader in the publishing industry, having founded an award-winning publishing press. She has assisted many with telling their success stories globally, whether it be in business or life. She has created coaching and mentoring programs that develop the writer's confidence in themselves and strategies that help them stay confident within themselves in all areas of their lives authentically. She is the founder of Daisy Lane Publishing and Mindset Magic - Confidence Coaching. Jennifer is on a mission to support as many as she can with living their life fully with positive intentions and to assist them with publishing their story along the way. Jennifer is also passionate about children's picture books and poetry, bringing to life stories that deal with trauma, displacement, homelessness, separation, domestic violence, and language learning.

Written by: Meghan Patiño , 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. These past couple of months, I have worked with clients to declare and fulfill on new relationships, business opportunities, career shifts, and being their own boss. Before the bold declaration, there is a universal hesitation. I recognize it within myself and my clients. Clients shine in their possibility and somewhere that glimmer fades with thoughts of “What if I fail?” or “What if what I do doesn’t work?” There’s an imaginary cliff we edge ourselves up to, look down when it comes to taking action, and decide it’s safer to stay where we are rather than leap toward the other side. Any transformed future is a leap. So how do we fulfill new possibilities in our businesses, relationships, and personal lives when we really do not know if our leap will be successful? How do we hold onto our goals with both steadfastness and flexibility, because not every leap will have us landing on our toes? Most people, most of the time related to achieving their goals as external validation of who they are. Within this story, if you fail, then you are a failure (one of the fallacies of white supremacy culture is that there is no grace for mistakes, for learning, or for our humanity). Often, we aren’t aware of how much we place our legitimacy in the results. We establish a brittle relationship to our goals, that leaves us bankrupt. We’re either hell-bent on achieving the results at all costs to ourselves, our loved ones, or anyone we consider “other;” or resigned to the probable future that nothing will change (a good way to not have to be vulnerable). But there is a way to generate breakthroughs and results without placing your value in external validation. It looks like relating to your goals from your highest commitments. A high commitment relates to your core values and is an organic part of who you are. You may have a commitment to start a business, but from a higher viewpoint, you may see that essential to who you are is being a creator or builder. Declaring goals from this place gives access to bold leaps, confidence amidst rocky waters, and the ability to adjust our stride when needed. This is the sweet spot to return to as we take necessary action toward manifesting results. Get curious about what your higher commitments are and search for how your goals are already embedded within these commitments. By doing this, you heed to the wisdom of the Sufi proverb that says: “Blessed are the flexible, for they never get bent out of shape.” Taking aligned action from your highest commitments allows for both steadfastness and flexibility that’s needed on the journey of manifesting your visions, projects, and goals. Want to learn more from Meghan? Follow her on Facebook and Linkedi n . You can also visit her website to get in touch. Meghan Patiño, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Meghan Patiño is a leader in coaching women to trust themselves as they create a positive impact in the world of organizational leadership, business, and community change. Her clients are entrepreneurs, leaders in tech companies, non-profit executives, public servant managers & parents transitioning to work. All her work is dedicated to the journey of belonging to yourself and to boldly revealing the essence of who you are as you lead your life. Inclusion, self-compassion, anti-racism, and integrity are values she leads by. She utilized her Master in Social Work from St. Louis University to design and implement leadership programs for over 10 years before graduating from Accomplishment Coaching, where she was trained in over 200 tools and distinctions to use with individuals and groups to create deep, sustainable shifts. She lives in Seattle with her partner and three kids and is always up for embracing the chaos, beauty, and adventure of life.

Written by: Leandre Larouche, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We all have a message or knowledge we can share in a book, but we often overthink the process. Most growth-minded people want to write and publish a book before they die. There’s sound logic behind the proposition: Individuals committed to their personal development read voraciously and accomplish amazing things. It’s only natural they would want to give back by imparting their knowledge in a book. The problem, though, is the dreadful writing process. Before you can proceed to publish your book, you need to have a publishable manuscript. For many people, putting thoughts together coherently into a book is intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be that hard. There are only three things to write a successful nonfiction book. An Audience—Or a Community Anyone who knows anything about writing will tell you that you need a target audience. But what does this mean concretely? The best way to think about it is to think of your audience as a community you are having dinner with. Every community is bound by interests, pains, desires, and problems. The mistake most people make when writing is trying to talk to more than one community at once. You can’t attend two dinner parties at once without breaking the laws of physics. Likewise, you can’t write for more than one community without breaking the laws of writing. Once you know which community you want to have dinner with, you need to figure out what conversation the community is having. Sure, you can start a new conversation, but you are less likely to pique your audience's interest. A safe bet is to enter the conversation that’s already happening. Concept—Or a Good Idea Well Packaged What makes a book memorable isn’t the content so much as how the content is packaged. How you package your content is your “concept.” Think of bestselling books like Robert Kyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad . Kyosaki’s book is memorable because it shows a clear image. To find a concept that suits your ideas, you need to think conceptually. Relate your ideas to stories, objects, shapes, colors, etc. Think of a concept as the overarching theme to the metaphorical dinner party. As a matter of fact, the idea of a “dinner party” to talk about writing is a concept. By thinking about your ideas from a more conceptual level, you can find ways of expressing your thoughts that stick to your audience. A book concept is not simply what we see on the cover page. It’s also what we find inside. Make sure you are congruent with your concept at every level of your book. There are two common mistakes an aspiring author can make. The first mistake is to write content that does not live up to a promising book concept. The second mistake is to write none-to-second content for a poor book concept. While the former disappoints readers, the latter kills sales. Questions—The Right Place to Start Writing can be difficult because we try to find all the answers before getting started. If we don’t have the answers we’re looking for, we feel stuck and unable to make progress. But being the author of the book doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers right away. You are on a journey just as your reader is. It makes sense to start with questions. If you think about it, you can turn any sentence into a question. Furthermore, you can turn every argument into a question. For example, I could turn this article into the following question: “What are the three things you need to write a successful nonfiction book?” In fact, that’s how I began writing this article. I asked myself a question readers might have, and I answered it. If you start with questions, you’ll never run out of things to write about. Of course, your book must end at some point, so you can’t write to no end. Early in the writing process, you need to figure out the one big question you seek to answer and which smaller questions contribute to it. Get the right questions in the right order, and you will never worry about writer’s block again. The Fun Can Start Once you have your audience, your concept, and your questions, you are ready to write your book. With these three elements, you are unlikely to ever meet writer’s block because everything is laid out in front of you. Moreover, you won’t feel as much pressure and confusion because you’re not trying to find the answers without precise questions while writing. The reality is that writing isn’t difficult in and of itself. Most people have the same ability to write, thanks to their executive functions. (These are different mental skills required to perform such a task). However, for many people, the writing process triggers negative emotions (through the limbic system). These negative emotions restrain our ability to focus and to perform a writing task effectively. To beat the negative emotions, you need to outline its elements, namely, your audience, your concept, and your questions. From there, whether you complete the book is a matter of habits and accountability. Still, you have one less obstacle in your way. You can finally start writing your book without the overwhelm. Want to learn more from Leandre? Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit his website. Leandre Larouche, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Leandre Larouche is an author, speaker, and writing consultant based in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of Hétérochrome (2017) and three upcoming nonfiction books, Write a Book That Matters, Architecture of Grammar, and The End of Nonsense, all of which are scheduled to come out in 2021. Though he grew up in French in Saguenay, Québec, Leandre has been writing in English for the better part of the last decade. He studied English literature and professional writing at Concordia University, where he also worked as a writing assistant and developed a unique writing methodology. Léandre Larouche was a 2019-2020 Fulbright fellow at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. Upon coming back to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, he founded Trivium Writing Inc., a consulting agency that helps thinkers get their wisdom out in a book through innovative writing frameworks.

Written by: Pin Cher, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Many people experience a "quarter-life crisis." Luckily, it can be a motivation to make a positive switch to reinvigorate your career. I was at the end of my 20s and beginning of my 30s. Everything in my life seemed upside down. I was having a “ good and successful” career on paper, but my corporate job was no longer exciting me, my tasks were mundane and I was drained at the end of the day. That’s what happened to me. There was actually nothing wrong with my dream of wanting to work in a big corporation and climbing up the corporate ladder. I had a strong academic background and I assumed making lots of money and having a cool, exciting job would automatically lead to happiness. It never occurred to me that happiness comes from the work you do, the people you surround yourself with and most importantly, how you feel about yourself. The problem was I didn’t enjoy the actual work, nor did I like the management and I didn’t like the person I had become. I started asking myself, do I really have the success that I thought I would have? Am I actually creating an impact on the world? Am I happy? The point is, if you’re consumed by questioning the direction of your career, relationships, and overall life purpose—don’t worry. It’s actually more normal than not. A quarter-life crisis is a period of intense soul searching and stress occurring in your mid 20s to early 30s. The typical sufferer is “highly driven and smart, but struggling because they feel they’re not achieving their potential or feeling they’re falling behind,” says Nathan Gehlert, Ph.D., a Washington D.C. psychologist. A quarter-life crisis comes about when you’re faced with the reality that your life is not what you thought it was going to be. It’s an emotional crisis of identity and self-confidence. You’re faced with the feeling that maybe you’re not being true to who you are, but you’re not quite sure who you’re supposed to be, either. If you’re going through a quarter-life crisis, you know it all too well. But no need to panic. While it may feel stressful and overwhelming in the moment, a crisis is the perfect time to re-evaluate your life and start making better choices. According to The Guardian, the quarter-life crisis affects 86% of millennials, who report being bogged down by insecurities, disappointments, loneliness, and depression. Millennials, it’s less of a question of if you will experience a quarter-life crisis than it is a question of when. So I did some soul searching, and I set out on a quest that taught me quite a few things about myself personally and professionally. Frequently in a state of self-reflection, I asked myself the following questions that I think will be valuable for you. 5 QUESTIONS THAT WILL GET YOU OUT OF A CAREER SLUMP (AND QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS) 1. What Makes You Happy? What Doesn't? People, places, things. I made lists and described why and how they made me happy, and why I was so blessed to have them in my life. The expressions of gratitude were extremely beneficial and important . I realized I was in a much better position than I realized. Likewise, I questioned why I did the things in my life that were not contributing to my happiness and well-being, and removed them immediately. 2. What Are You Really Good At? What Do You Have A Natural Talent For? I love to help people, train and mentor them. So what are you good at? What do you like to do as a hobby? Have you ever considered trying it as a vocation, or can skills from another venture help you grow in your current role? Write it all down—even the so-called "silly" stuff. 3. How Can You Actually Earn Income From Your Talent? See above and connect the dots. Freelance work is becoming more and more in demand, and there are tons of ways you can market your skills to make some side cash—maybe eventually turning it into your full-time job. Pro bono work is also an excellent way to gain additional experience until you're comfortable asking for what you're worth—and can help you earn recommendations in the meantime. 4. What Are Your Biggest Dream(s)? No boundaries. Have you ever dreamed about winning the lottery, and exactly what you'd do with the 20—no—50 million dollar prize? Use the same approach with your personal and professional goals. The catch? With effort and motivation, this one can actually come true. The key is to pick your biggest goal and put an action plan into place to make it happen. 5. What's Stopping You From Achieving It? This step requires a lot of ownership. You will have to face any fears you might have about failing and recognize that it takes a lot of accountability. Any goal, no matter how large and looming, can be divided into smaller, doable tasks that set you on the path to achieving success. HOW THESE QUESTIONS ACTUALLY HELP YOU? These questions were my road map for digging myself out of the dark and out of confusion I had fallen into during my mid-career crisis. The questions were relatively simple, and sometimes that's the interesting thing about these slumps or perceived setbacks. Sometimes life is just waiting for us to open our eyes and realize things for ourselves—we just need to use our common sense. Focusing on yourself and taking the time to consider what you really want will cause you to take the positive actions needed to change your life. I quit a toxic job that was making me miserable, I ‘ve signed up for a business mentor to continue my education, and most of all, founded my own company that I absolutely love—and I'm nowhere near finished. I set new goals regularly and have no intention of slowing down. Needless to say, I'm expecting (hoping) to be better prepared for when 45 rolls around. Not everyone fits into a perfectly square box. In fact, some of the most interesting people don't. Don't worry if you don't fit the "norm," be it your age or your career path. Focus on what makes you truly happy—and work backwards to forge your path to fulfillment. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Pin! Pin Cher, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Pin Cher is a personal development & career coach and comes from a diverse and international background. Her passion lies in working and coaching with corporate professionals and high performers to achieve even greater success. She helps them unlock their professional and personal potential and create an intentional, meaningful life that lights them up. In the past, Pin herself felt stuck and lost in her career direction. This painful experience has taught her valuable lessons and insights, and now shares her experience & knowledge in helping others achieve their own success and unlocking their hidden genius. Pin's coaching is a powerful combination of head and heart, reflection and action and her goal is to help others find their North Star to lead a life with more meaning and purpose. She brings to her clients' experience and expertise gained from multiple global careers in different industries and working with top-tier global firms. Pin is a certified coach with the Jay Shetty Certification School and holds a B.S degree in International Management & Business Chinese and an MBA from the National University of Taiwan.