Written by: Bandana Jain, 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 businesses settle into a new reality and make plans to refocus their businesses, growing pains are a real thing – we’ve all experienced them in our personal lives, and they also exist in the world of business. They are the temporary challenges a business faces when it enters a rapid growth period or major restructure phase. While they are a normal part of any expanding business, it’s essential to keep an eye on your business’s ‘pain threshold’, to ensure that the temporary challenges don’t become permanent ones. Businesses operate in continually changing environments. People, competition, markets, laws, and technology are continuously in flux. When change takes place in one area, it has a potential knock-on effect on all of the others. Businesses should aim for agile and aligned teams, sustainable growth that is supported by strong governance, and a clear, flexible strategy that confirms the feasibility of the business model and sets the stage for its growth and development. Increased revenue, optimized costs, maturity, and new opportunities are all synonymous with growth, but these are usually linked with new risks and trials, from both internal and external market forces. By planning ahead, you can navigate these challenges with relative ease. Here are three things that successful businesses need to do well to remain sustainable and manage growth: Manage your finances In running a profitable and sustainable business today, it is a given that you need to spend money to make money. In a growing business, extra cash is crucial to keeping up with the increased demands placed on daily operations. For example, you might need to order more stock, hire additional staff, or buy new equipment. If you don’t keep a close eye on these overheads, they can spiral out of control, and place unnecessary strain on cash flow. A possible solution is to take out financing – like a working capital loan or Peer-to-Peer lending platforms – to cover immediate expenses. You’ll need to keep a tight handle on your spending though, as it is quite possible to be blindsided by fixed costs – some of which aren’t sometimes really fixed if analyzed properly. It’s important to know that banks and other financial institutions consider fast-growing small businesses risky ventures. Manage your finances well and honour your debt repayments. It will reflect positively on your record when you need additional financing. Taking out a loan is not your only option. You can also consider solutions such as negotiating better payment terms and discounts with suppliers, outsourcing, converting unused assets into cash, leasing assets instead of buying, and restructuring your debt. The main financial goal is always to maximize business value. Look beyond organic growth and find strategic partners who can help you achieve greater operational efficiency and maximise gains at scale. Manage your people and culture Having a culture that promotes collaboration, open communication, flexibility and engagement will helpkeep employees motivated, which, in turn, ensures a positive impact on their productivity and creativity. Culture, people, and environment are intricately linked and are vital to overcoming growing pains. As a business grows, change is inevitable. It is crucial to effectively manage this change because it will impact your employees, and they ultimately influence the success of your business. Teams need to be guided and supported through this change. Otherwise, they could feel overwhelmed and pressured, which may lead to internal friction and poor customer service. Planning for internal challenges is key to managing your people effectively. As part of this priority, give your people the opportunities to develop their skills, provide them with adequate training in line with business growth, and ensure your team has the best tools for the job. Setting strategic goals will help guide your management team in identifying high-potential individuals as well as likely skills gaps. Important notes on people: if you need to increase your workforce, make sure you prioritize culture first and skills second when hiring. While people can learn how to do a better job, they cannot be taught how to align with your value set and purpose. Making a bad hire often results in reduced job satisfaction across much of the business. Outsourcing to a consultant or a freelancer is often cheaper than hiring a full-time resource. Also considering modern tools like Robotic Process Automatic (RPA) help optimal utilization of human resources. It is especially applicable if you are unsure of what your future business needs are, or if you only require certain skills at specific times. Manage your processes and automate your business Many small businesses don’t immediately prioritise changing their systems and processes as they grow, which often results in inefficiencies and wasted money, time, and resources. For example, when you have a limited number of clients, manually sending invoices and following up on payments is manageable. However, when your client base grows, your accounting administration grows with it. Switching to cloud based accounting software allows you to send invoices on the fly, and automatically issue overdue invoice reminders while also giving you a real-time overview of finances. Having up-to- date access to finances means that you can respond to issues as they arise or even prevent them from occurring at all. As a growing business, you need to ensure that you have processes in place for every possible aspect of your business and automate these processes, wherever possible. In accounting, processes include using the right collection methods, outlining clear payment terms, and automating invoicing and quoting. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website Read more from Bandana Jain Singing for well-being! Bandana Jain, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Bandana Jain is a Dubai based lifestyle and travel journalist for the past two decades. She’s also a passionate lifestyle blogger, photographer and loves pursuing modelling as a hobby. One of the aspects of her journalistic life that she thoroughly enjoys is rubbing shoulders with Bollywood celebrities. Having said this, her community journalist status ensures that she loves interacting with people from different strata of the society. She loves the limelight on stage sometimes as an anchor, whilst on other occasions as a public speaker. When she is not pursuing any of the above, you can find her shopping in Dubai’s famous malls or chilling by the beach with her favorite cup of tea. Travel is her passion, creativity her morale booster and enriching conversations are enough to give her the necessary thrust in life.

Written by: Jamie Michelle, 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 face it. There’s a lot of negative chatter in every one of our minds right now. Many of us have been overwhelmed with anxiety and stress since word of COVID-19 first broke out in February (or was it January? I can’t keep up). But let me ask you something. Was the onset of this pandemic really where all that anxiety started for you? Or is this maybe just the most recent thing you’ve tagged on to a never-ending list of worries that’s been tattooed on your brain for as long as you can remember? Whether we’re aware of it or not, our minds always find something to be anxious about. It’s just the way the human brain is wired – it’s wired for survival. The subconscious part of our brain is constantly on the lookout for threats, and anything that it doesn’t recognize, anything that is unfamiliar, is identified as a threat to our survival. When there’s anything new and unfamiliar in your life, your brain automatically tells your body that you’re in danger and you’re going to die. This is how anxiety is created in the human body. Your life isn’t really in danger (at least not most of the time), but it feels like it is. If you’ve ever had an anxiety or panic attack, you know very well that it actually does feel like you’re dying. We’ve become so accustomed to feeling anxious, stressed out, and overwhelmed that we don’t know anything different. If there’s not something legitimate to worry about, our minds will undoubtedly create something to worry about, even if it’s as insignificant as spilling a drop of coffee on your shirt. (We’ve all been there.) When anxiety is your primary emotion, it takes control over your entire life. This is what’s happened in America. Our society has normalized feeling anxious so much that it’s now accepted as the standard. Anytime we don’t feel it, we immediately think something’s gone terribly wrong, which creates more anxiety and stress. Do you see how it’s a vicious cycle? The human brain is a fascinatingly complex machine. I’m not here to explain how complex it is, but I am here to help you live a better life so you can feel less anxiety and fear, and more peace, happiness, and freedom. Yes, EVEN in times of a global crisis, and even in times of mandated self-isolation. Actually, if there’s one thing you could do that would help bring all of this to an end sooner, it would be to choose to feel more happiness, peace, and love. Notice I said choose to feel, because it actually is a choice. You decide how you’re going to feel each moment. We don’t think we have a choice, but in reality, every single moment is a new opportunity for us to choose differently. Our lives are the culmination of every single decision we’ve ever made. We think that it’s only the “big” decisions that impact our life, like where we go to school, who we marry, where we work, where we decide to live, etc. But those big decisions wouldn’t have been possible without every single teeny tiny choice we made in the simple moments. Sounds dramatic, but it’s true. For example, you chose to read this article, and each second that passes you’re choosing whether or not you’ll continue reading it or move on to something else. You’re also deciding whether or not you agree with what you’re reading, or if you’re willing to learn more about the concepts presented on this page. When you’re done reading this article, you’ll make another choice, and then another, and then another… proving that our lives really are the culmination of every single choice we make. If you want a better life for yourself, all you have to do is choose it! But first, there’s one very important thing that you must decide. You need to decide whether or not you believe you deserve a better life. I’m about to drop a bomb on you that may be hard to accept at first, but please just hear me out. You are responsible for everything in your life. Every experience you’ve ever had, including your current situation & what’s around you… it’s all been created by you through your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs about yourself, about other people, about life, and about how the world works. "You decide what you’re going to accept in your life And what you absolutely will not tolerate." This is why I said earlier that the best thing you could ever do to help end this sooner is to choose to feel more happiness, peace, and love. The happiness, peace, love, and freedom, that you seek can only be found inside of you. Everything that you want… you already have. It’s inside of you right now in this very instant. It just needs to be acknowledged and chosen by you. Only you can do this for yourself, but to do so requires the belief that you are worthy of it. Even the slightest bit of self-doubt will lead to self-sabotage. Transforming your life starts with transforming your mind. You get to choose what things mean to you. You get to decide whether something is good, bad, or no big deal. You get to choose how you feel about everything, including yourself. You decide what you’re going to accept in your life and what you absolutely will not tolerate. You, you, you!!!! No one else has this power in your life except for YOU! Your best life begins with your willingness to change your mind and to choose to see the opportunities and the positives in everything. It doesn’t mean you deny the negatives, it just means that you are someone who really turns lemons into lemonade. You really don’t have to feel stressed out all the time – that’s just a big lie everyone’s been conditioned to believe. The moment you realize that your mental and emotional states are entirely up to you, you reclaim your power, which enables you to change the trajectory of your life. Even just choosing to see the positives in one situation can be life-altering. I’m not saying that you won’t ever face challenges again, but I am promising that you will be able to see the opportunities for your growth and success within those challenges instead of just seeing them as blocks and limits. Your superpower is in what you believe. Your beliefs shape your reality. If you don’t like your current reality, you’ve got to look at what you’re telling yourself. Create a new reality by identifying self-destructive or limiting beliefs that you have (trust me, there are a lot), and replacing them with limitless ones that will support you in your efforts of achieving your goals and making your dreams into a reality. I’m going to be really honest with you. This is a lot easier said than done. Changing beliefs (which are thoughts that live in the mind) challenges your subconscious survival brain – your ego, and the ego doesn’t go down without a fight. When faced with the ego’s opposition, a lot of people decide that letting go of their old limiting beliefs is too hard and give up. What they don’t realize is, had they just kept going for a little bit longer, they would have had the massive breakthrough they were working toward. "No one masters it right away, but no one ever regrets doing it." The darkest hour always comes right before the dawn. But it’s that all-too-familiar feeling of anxiety that comes in, overwhelms them, and takes them down. Remember, what the survival brain and the ego don’t know is immediately perceived as a threat. New beliefs are unfamiliar – they’re unknown – so the ego responds by initiating the stress response of anxiety and overwhelm to override your decision to transform… if you let it. It is a choice. To truly have sustainable transformation, bringing your awareness into the present is essential. This awareness is what permits you to notice and observe your thoughts and feelings, so when you feel the initial pang of anxiety, you can separate yourself from it. You’re able to identify what set off that response in your body. From this place, you approach your anxiety with curiosity, acceptance, and compassion, instead of the old default response of immediately identifying with it, fighting against it, and then shutting down altogether. This process takes a lot of commitment, patience, and discipline. No one masters it right away, but no one ever regrets doing it. The payoff of total freedom and peace is far greater than the temporary discomfort that comes with defeating your own ego. It’s important to understand that you are not your thoughts or your emotions. We can’t control what happens in the world, but we can control how we perceive what happens (or doesn’t happen). You are in control of you. Now that you know this, you’re presented with a choice. You can choose to see the many amazing opportunities that exist in this global turmoil, or you can decide this article is a bunch of bull and go back to living in a constant state of fear. Do yourself a favor and look at everything that’s on your never-ending list of worries branded on your brain. Is everything on there actually a legitimate threat to your survival? If they aren’t, may I lovingly suggest you remove them immediately, and let it all go indefinitely? Just doing that will make you feel about a million pounds lighter. Look, just because everyone else is in a massive state of fear and panic doesn’t mean that you should be experiencing extreme levels of panic. Get in touch with your beliefs. Rewrite the narrative. Be honest with yourself! What if this wasn’t so bad after all? What if this was actually your chance at completely recreating your life? What if, in this whole mess of COVID-19, was your key to everything you’ve ever wanted and hoped for? What if this pandemic is the launching pad of your limitless success? The only way to find out is to start looking for that key. What do you really want, and do you believe that you can have it? Nothing means anything except for the meaning that you give it. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future by looking at what’s happening right now from a new perspective. It’s entirely up to you. It is my sincere hope that from this moment on, you choose you . If something isn’t adding value to your life, it doesn’t deserve to be there. Now is your chance to take inventory of everything you’re giving your precious energy and attention to and take it away from the things that don’t give you any value in return. Your energy is your power. Protect it. Whether or not you choose to believe it, you are worthy of happiness, love, peace, joy, and freedom. It’s your birthright as a human to love and enjoy your life. That is Truth. That is who you are. Choose to accept this Truth and run with it. Every single second is a brand-new chance to change your mind. Open your eyes to what’s real. If you do choose to believe the Truth, you will be absolutely unstoppable. My purpose in this life is to help every human on Earth realize their innate worth and unlock their infinite power so they can live the life of their dreams. I’m telling you now that your dreams are yours for the taking… as long as you choose to believe that it’s really possible for you. So now you’re left with one more decision… …will you? Follow me on Instagram ,  Twitter , LinkedIn  and visit my website for more info! Jamie Michelle, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jamie Michelle is an award-winning Master Mindset Coach and Energy Expert that specializes in energy and performance for professional athletes. The coaching methods she employs are unconventional, yet extremely effective. Using a combination of spiritual work, energy healing, and her unmatched, award-winning mindset coaching, Jamie helps her clients become Intentional Champions so they can continually improve their athleticism and all areas of their lives. When she’s not working with private clients, Jamie's passionate about sharing her message with the world, and it is unquestionably one to pay attention to. Her obvious dedication to teaching others how to live happy, healthy, and abundant lives has led to her international recognition as a top leader in the coaching industry. Jamie Michelle is one of very few transformational coaches who visibly lives what she teaches and is quickly proving herself to be one of our generation’s greatest Spiritual Teachers.

Written by: Katrina Valente, 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. Hello May! Can you believe it's May already? More than a third into the year and what have we really done? 2020 held such promise. We were definitely not prepared for what has transpired. But I like to see the silver lining in every challenge so let's see what we can do. It can't be all doom and gloom! A virus like no other COVID-19 has definitely taken over our lives. For most of us it has come as such a shock. The old way of life has gone forever I'm afraid and it's time for us to adapt to the new normal. We are spiritual beings having a human experience and we were definitely not made to stay indoors without sunlight or exercise. Being around our loved ones 24/7 might have presented some challenges for us. It has given us time to stop, re-evaluate our lives and go within. Time For Change As I said in every challenge there is a silver lining so what has been the upshot of this unique time, unprecedented actually. Here are some things you may like to contemplate; It has given us time for self-reflection We now have more time with our family's. It has allowed more time for meditation and stillness. It has allowed time for us to really think about what is important to us. Total re-evaluation on all levels. It has certainly made us appreciate the simple things in life, like walking in the park, going out for our groceries, walking outside without a mask on. It has given us more time to read that book we never get around to reading, or that research we wanted to follow up on but never had the time. The list might go on...One thing I do believe is this...We all had an 'Ask' for this to happen...What was yours? Miracles Abound My ASK was that I wanted to work from home, online. That's exactly what happened to me. There are many people now who are confused, don't know what to do, worried about money (of course). So my Miracle Method helps to re-align your energy field in order to find the answers to move ahead with ease and grace. I don't even need to see you OR be on a zoom call with you. All I need to know is what you want to clear and I go ahead and work my magic. Even in one session you can feel 100% better, no joke. I do a specific chart for Finances and for the COVID 19 to strengthen your immune system. I have had tremendous feedback especially when I have treated the older generation. I also offer a life assessment reading through Tarot and Angel cards to help you define your next move to a brighter future. It helps clear your head and align you with the task at hand. Also online. Staying Healthy Now Some things you can do to ensure you and your family's safety and optimum health: Take Extra Vitamin supplements. Vit C, Vit D, Zinc and Magnesium are essential at this time. (Boost Immune system). Meditate, keep a high vibe. Keep a journal, write in it daily about the life you wish to create, write it in the NOW ie. I am, I have. Exercise is a must to keep the body strong and the immune system intact. Run up and down the stairs if you have to! Get into a 'new' routine it really helps you fight the boredom (if you are still home). Clean out your cupboards, re-vamp your home. It is such a fantastic way to shift energy. It makes you feel happy and instantly lighter. (I changed around my living room, I loved it!). Use sage, sandalwood, frankincense or Oud to clean out your home of negative energies, just smoke it through every area of the house and open doors and windows as you go allowing the energy to leave the space. Have a salt bath, or scrub. Salt gets rid of negative energy and makes you feel instantly better. 1-3x week. Pray for guidance, they always answer your requests ALWAYS. This is an excellent time to go on a detox, juice fast or water fast. We are at home not moving around too much so the body will have time to detoxify easily. (Seek Doctors advice first if you have any medical conditions). Moving Forward We are most certainly moving into a new way of being and doing, no question. It will help if we don't fight the changes but just accept and go with the flow. I believe we are stepping into a better world of peace, love and abundance, once the dust has settled. All we can do is remain as positive as possible and keep the light in our hearts. The worst thing we can do is buy into the fear-mongering. Don't watch so much media and don't believe everything you read or hear about this pandemic, go into your heart and feel what is right for you. Fear stops us from seeing the light and there is light at the end of this tunnel - that much I do know. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram or visit my website and join my newsletter for the latest updates and offers. I am here to serve in love and light for a better world. Blessings to you, the best is yet to come. Read more from Katrina: Inner Peace Outer Beauty - Meet Katrina Valente Katrina Valente, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Katrina Valente has been in the Beauty Industry for the past 25 years as a Holistic Anti-aging Expert as well as a Celebrity Facialist.  She has traveled the world treating the rich and famous as a Visiting Practitioner with resorts like Six Senses, Anantara and Aman worldwide She is now more interested in educating people with her wealth of knowledge in Beauty and Wellness on how to look good from the inside out...Inner Peace Outer Beauty is her motto. She has now evolved to be a Trusted Holistic Transformational & Wellness Expert.

Written by: Annie Lindmark, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Black swan events, events that are extraordinary and unexpected at the point in time they occur, such as economic recessions or pandemics, often change large parts of societies, economies and businesses, altering the course of history. With Covid-19, we are already seeing shifts in how people, consumers and businesses behave throughout almost every sector, and we can expect it in one way or another to change all parts of our lives going forward. Some of the changes are direct and short term and will probably reverse once the crisis is over. However, some of the changes will persist and create a long-term disruption that will shape our lives and businesses for decades to come. These conditions imply an urgent need for new solutions. During the last couple of weeks there have been many, if not hundreds, innovation challenges, competitions and hackathons published online in order to find those new solutions. All around the world organizations and governments are asking the public to help come up with new ideas of how we can meet the many effects that the crisis have and will have on our lives, communities and businesses. The popularity of methods like innovation competitions and challenges is often increasing in times of trouble and as governments and organizations are seeking novel ways to solve problems and create value. Innovation challenges are based on a very simple idea. The organizer identifies a problem, announce the challenge and offer a reward to the one who finds the best solution. Open innovation can be seen as an umbrella word for these types of innovation methods and is often described as “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively.” (Henry Chesbrough, 2003). Basically open innovation is based on the belief that knowledgeable and creative individuals outside your organization can contribute towards strategic goals and help you find new ways to achieve them. The use of open innovation and innovation competitions in order to innovate, is nothing new. As far back as 1714, the British government offered a prize for the person who could come up with the accurate measurement of longitude. And throughout history, innovation competition has spurred people around the world to go together and solve complex problems, often under time pressure. Today, many multiple large companies like LEGO and NOKIA, and organizations like NASA, are continuously using innovation competitions as part of their business strategy and model. It can therefore be seen as a proven method to support and accelerate change in the world. What makes this method so powerful and important then? First, it is a good way to accelerate the development towards ambitious goals and highlight a topic by giving many people a reason to prioritize solving the challenge. Since these methods often imply time constraints as well as a clear purpose, it is an effective way to produce useful results and market ready products quickly. Secondly, it is about talents and skills. As Bill Joy once said, “No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else”, and by using methods like innovation challenges you can access talent that you otherwise would not, and have them address your specific challenge. Thirdly, and most importantly according to me, it is about getting better innovations through the power of diversity. New perspectives give new ideas; therefore, diversity is one of the main reasons why innovation competitions are so great and important. Especially in times of a crisis where new ideas are crucial, we don’t have time to miss out on good ideas and new perspectives. Diversity and inclusion are essential to challenge us to look at problems differently and consider a wider range of solutions and impacts that we might not otherwise have seen. So how to best apply open innovation in your organization or context? Here are four things you should consider before getting started: Set a purpose and goals that can be measured Start off by asking yourself what the purpose and problem are that you want help solving. Is it company specific, sector specific or even larger? And can it be accelerated and developed through a competition? Continue then to set the main objectives for the activity, that will decide both your target group and desired outcomes for the challenges. Is your goal to get lots of new ideas and get the conversation going or is it to get actual new prototypes and products in place that can be launched tomorrow? Then find a way to measure and assess if the goal has been achieved after the activity. Collaboration is key Open innovation methods is about opening up and looking beyond your regular ways of doing things. Therefore, setting up an innovation challenge together with others could be a good idea. Look for other actors who would be willing to support, or that have similar challenges and want to team up. Uniting several organizations behind the initiative, helps spreading the word, organising the activity and taking the winning solutions forward after the competition. Communicate and get others engaged Effective communication is key to inspire people to join your initiative. Communicate clearly why people should contribute their time, energy and ideas to tackle the challenge you present. Think through how to motivate innovators to participate. For example, you may have a strong purpose and possibility for great impact to emphasizes, or an attractive reward such as a prize or publicity. Give feedback and take ideas further Last but not least, make sure you have the possibility to give feedback to the ideas you receive. Feedback is a crucial element of any innovation challenge. Participants should feel that they are being heard, that their time matters and that their contributions are appreciated and could have an impact. Make sure to set a plan for what the next steps should be after the challenge is over and the winners have been selected. Annie Lindmark, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Annie Lindmark is working with innovation and funding of innovative projects within companies and research. She has received the title “Innovator of the year” at Universum Excellence Award and is often a keynote speaker and a panelist on topics as Open innovation, Social innovation, Emerging technologies and Entrepreneurship. She is a Steering Committee Member for Hack for Sweden; a government mission raised to increase the awareness and use of open data. She is also the founder of the female network W.Empowerment that aims to promote self-leadership and entrepreneurship and she supports many other initiatives that aims to encourage more women in to entrepreneurship.

Written by: Maria-Paz Hornisch, 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. If you want to use Social Media for your business, it is essential to develop a Social Media marketing strategy before writing posts and sending them through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms. This Social Media marketing strategy will significantly depend on the goal or set of goals your company wants to achieve, and basically why you want to use social media to accomplish them. A Social Media Marketing Strategy can aim to accomplish the following four different goals: 1. Establish the business as an authority: Use Social Media to achieve this by sharing what your company stands for, what its mission is, and what its opinion and advice are on industry topics. Additionally, share testimonials from people who rave about your products and services to showcase the results that people can achieve. It will show social proof for your business and position it as an expert in its field. Another way to establish a business as an authority is to grow its social media following. The number of followers an account has, combined with the level of engagement on the account, is viewed by others as social proof. Remember, though, that buying fake followers to increase numbers won’t help the authority of your business because the account will be lacking real engagement, and people can tell when an account has fake followers. Lastly, use Social Media as a channel to provide excellent, engaging content that is relevant to your target audience 2. Build brand awareness and customer loyalty: Building brand awareness is vital in today’s marketplace. Given the fact potential customers have so many options to choose from out there, you want them to think of your company and your products and services. The easiest way to build brand awareness is through Social Media, because you are meeting the audience where they are hanging out, and you have the opportunity to get in front of them multiple times on multiple platforms. With Social Media, a company, no matter how small, is planted out there right next to its biggest competitors and in front of the eyes of an ever-scrolling audience. Social Media allows you to communicate your company’s brand in a positive and authentic way, which will attract your ideal customer. Once a potential client is aware of your brand and has most likely started to engage with social content being published by your business, it’s time to build customer loyalty. Social Media is a crucial driver for word of mouth and one of the most potent ways to connect with your audience: studies show that 71% of consumers who have had a good Social Media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. This could be through sharing it on Social Media or tagging others on posts published by your company or simply talking about your company over coffee with their friend. Remember, word of mouth referrals is another type of marketing channel. The best way to maintain customer loyalty is to provide above and beyond customer service through responsive and friendly engagement on social media. This could be through responding to comments or direct messages. 3. Drive leads (which eventually turn into sales): Social Media is all about starting conversations with your audience and then leading them somewhere. It is great for that first touch-point with a potential customer, but at the end of the day, you want your audience’s emails. Having their name and contact info on an email list is so important because these are the people that are considered leads. They’ve decided that they want to hear more from your business and learn more about what your business can do for them. Social Media plays such an essential role in terms of getting someone hooked onto a brand or company. The goal should be to drive that hooked audience to a free or paid offer to continue the conversation through other marketing channels and not just on social media. 4. Compliment other marketing channels: As mentioned in the previous point, Social Media marketing complements other marketing channels your business may have, such as email marketing. For example, email marketing requires you to gather a person’s contact info through a form. To complement this marketing channel, you would use social media posts to drive traffic to the opt-in form page. Using social media to complement other marketing efforts is a quick and effortless way to get in front of a target audience to provide them with smooth, digestible content and to ask them to take action. Are you interested in creating a Social Media marketing strategy for your business? Download my workbook “4 Simple Steps to Create your Social Media Marketing Strategy” here or on my website. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or visit my website. Maria-Paz Hornisch, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Maria-Paz Hornisch is the Digital Marketing Strategist behind The Digital Madl, dedicated to helping ambitious mompreneurs with branding and digital marketing strategies to create a rock-solid presence online and skyrocket sales. Maria-Paz is a bachelor in Business Administration and holds an MBA in Luxury Business from ISC Paris École de Commerce. For twelve years, she developed her career in Chile, France, and Germany, working for a Spanish multinational commercial bank and two German luxury and fashion e-commerce companies. Originally from Santiago de Chile, she now lives in Munich, Germany.

Written by: Maggie Perotin, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. With COVID-19 pandemic pushing most of the world to quarantine and social distancing, now we have more time than ever to be with ourselves, to think. Some find it annoying. For some, it's a trying time on mental well-being. Conversely, what if this was the best opportunity to create a habit that puts you in a group together with the world's most successful people? 4 T's: Take Time To Think I call this habit 4 T's: Take Time to Think. It's nothing more than spending some time alone, letting your mind wander without feeding it anything other than maybe a beautiful view of nature (when you can). Did you know that Bill Gates, founder and former CEO of Microsoft, would go off-grid twice a year for what he called a "Think Week" (1)? He would spend that time entirely alone, disconnected, reading, writing, and thinking. Such week was his planned time to think creatively, and many of his most genius ideas, including Internet Explorer, were born during the thinking time. Furthermore, if you're a parent like me, you've seen this phenomenon emerge with your kids. When my kids have free playtime, they can up with the most fascinating ideas! Some of which are amazing to watch, and some not so great to clean after. The thing is, we as adults need to allow ourselves to do the same! It's especially important when you are running a business. In the current ever-changing times, as the CEO, owner, leader, you need to be able to pivot fast and be creative, not only to keep up with the current times but stay ahead of them. Creativity and Business? Now you're probably thinking, but Maggie, the creativity it's the arts, not business. Let me then use Mary Lou Cook's definition (2): "Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." Don't you love it? I think this definition captures the essence of creativity and shows that it's all around us propelling innovation. If you think about it, innovation i.e., the ability to continually reinvent your business, is key to staying competitive in the market. That's why for you, the leader of your business, nurturing creativity should be one of the top priorities. And in case you think you don't have the talent to do it, the research shows that creativity, as we defined it here, has nothing to do with genes. As Dr. Robert Epstein (3), an American psychologist, professor, author, says: "There's not really any evidence that one person is inherently more creative than another." What's known, though, is that stress and fast pace of our daily lives kill your creative thinking abilities. In other words, days filled with stuff to do from dusk to dawn leave no room for your mind to wander and be free so that it has time to come up with new ideas. That's why now, in the middle of the COVID-pandemic, one of the exceptional opportunities we have to benefit from is a slower pace of life for most. It's additional time we have that we can now take and turn into a habit of allowing ourselves to think. Whether it's just by sitting down in your garden chair, on the couch, or in the shower, if you let your mind be, it will surprise you with a plethora of ideas you can use to grow your business. "All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." ― Friedrich Nietzsche The best way, though, to nurture your creative mind is by spending time in nature. Its not only Bill Gates who's an example of that. As a matter of fact, David Strayer (3), a neuroscientist from Utah, through his research on the psychological and cognitive effects of the outdoors, has found that time spent in nature enhances higher-order thinking, restores attention, and boosts creativity. In his 2012 study, Strayer found that backpackers were two times better at creative problem solving after they had spent four days out on the trail. All in all, all of us are creative human beings. What differs is how we express it. Some of us are great artists, some inspiring athletes or organizational leaders, and some brilliant entrepreneurs. What we all have in common is that we need time to think without the need to do something specific. We need it as kids, and we need it as adults. So tell me, do you already practice this? If you don't, then my call to action for you is to try it. Starting this week, block some time in your calendar and just do it. It's easy to remember mantra 4 T's: "Take Time To Think." And take a journal and pen with you to write down any great ideas you come up with during this time. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website! Maggie Perotin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Maggie Perotin is a business and leadership coach, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses without the overwhelm so they can live the life they want. Through her DREAM-PLAN-DO coaching model, she helps her clients reach their potential and get results while maintaining balance in life. Maggie has over 13 years of coaching and leadership experience in the corporate world in various domains. She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations, Facility Management Administration designation, and currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Jack Welch Management Institute. Maggie uses all her knowledge and experience to help entrepreneurs be strategic and creative in building a successful business and brand that attract their ideal clients. She is passionate about spending quality time with her blended family with four kids in the Canadian nature, traveling, self-development, and healthy cuisine of the world. References: 1. Wall Street Journal Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111196625830690477 2. Mary Cook. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/peace-activist-mary-lou-cook-dies-at/article_1f223a64-a66a-5e7c-aeea-0cc10e6cc182.html 3. Dr. Robert Epstein. https://drrobertepstein.com/ 4. David Strayer. https://psych.utah.edu/people/faculty/strayer-david.php

Written by: Brenda Johnston, 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 times of uncertainty, it might seem odd to some people to be talking about your wealth consciousness. However uncertain times are exactly when you should be thinking about this. Wealth consciousness is about having fulfillment in ALL areas of your life: Physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s also about recognizing that you are worthy of having wealth no matter what the situation is. Having wealth consciousness requires having a healthy mindset. When things seem uncertain, it can be really easy to allow ourselves to slip into a scarcity mindset so in this article I’m going to share with you three ways to help ensure you’re nourishing your mindset. First, we need to take a look at what a Scarcity mindset actually means. A scarcity mindset comes from the belief that you don’t have enough of something. It can create all sorts of stress and fear, it narrows your focus to what you don’t have and clouds your ability to see opportunities. It tends to show up the most in your relationship with money and success and has a lot to do with your view of your self-worth. A wealth mindset, on the other hand, allows you to see possibilities no matter what is going on. When it comes to money it helps you make decisions and feel confident with the money you have, no matter how much or how little it is at any given time. "It’s about taking your power back so you can activate that inner wealth mindset. " Here are three tips to help you shift from worry to wealth: Get grounded. When you are “grounded” it means you are living in the present moment and not worried and focused on things you can’t control. Remember, you can only control YOU. When you are grounded, if something happens around you, it doesn't influence the way you as much because you have a greater sense of peace in your life. It helps to reduce stress and increases your emotional and mental health which are key for a healthy mindset. Some of my favorite ways to get grounded are; go outside and be with nature, do a guided meditation (visit my website for some of my free meditations in my resource library) or simply move your body by jumping or dancing around. Be intentional with your money, get to know it. It’s always a good idea to get to know your money, but especially in times when you may be facing a loss of income. Sit down and take a look at where the money is coming from and where it’s going out. Yes, this can be scary but not having a clear view of things is even scarier and can cause you to be reactive. Creating a better relationship with your money will help you make more empowered choices. The most important thing to remember is that you are going to do this with NO judgment. This is not about shaming yourself or comparing yourself to other people. It’s about taking your power back so you can activate that inner wealth mindset. Celebrate yourself. This may seem so simple, and yet it’s something that often gets overlooked. We are quick to beat ourselves up for feeling like we are not doing enough or feeling guilty if we perceive our circumstances are better than someone else during a time of crisis especially. Celebrating yourself is one of the fastest ways to shift into a wealth mindset. It brings us back to the present moment, it builds confidence, it empowers us to make positive choices, and most of all it reminds us to be grateful. Not sure how to start celebrating yourself? If you’re reading this article that means you woke up this morning and I’d say that’s a great celebration to start with. Let’s get social, connect with me on Instagram, visit my website or check out The Limitless Life Podcast Brenda Johnston, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine After being chained to the same corporate job for close to 14 years and living with debt for most of her adult life, Brenda decided it was time to stop playing small. She changed her relationship with money and success (and more importantly herself) to turn her passion into profit. Within 7 months of leaving her corporate job, she had built a successful 6-figure business. As a High-Performance Mindset Coach, and the host of The Limitless Life podcast Brenda helps other driven Women tap into the power of their subconscious minds so they can access their full manifesting potential. She does this by helping transform limiting beliefs and fears that are creating patterns of self-sabotage so they can create an abundance mindset and go from worry to wealth.

Written by: Tessa Hull If you don’t know who Joe Exotic is, you’re missing out on one of the most jaw-dropping, mind-blowing Netflix series available. Imagine meth, tigers, corruption and a decade long feud between a woman dressed in leopard print and flowers and a man with a mullet and an eyebrow piercing, throw in multiple husbands and a possible murder, and you’ve got yourself the lockdown binge-worthy series of Tiger King. You can thank me later. Along with learning the value of sardine oil, and how not to run a political campaign, there’s also some hidden lessons in the series. Read on for the top five lessons in money mindset from Tiger King. “People don’t come to see the tigers; they come to see me” - Joe Exotic Lesson One - Know your value. It’s important to know your value when it come to a positive money mindset. Simply put, if you don’t believe in yourself and believe you are worthy of money and abundance, then you are holding yourself back. Understanding your value will help with self-confidence, setting boundaries, charging for your product or services, and your self-worth overall when it comes to receiving and earning money. “That was definitely a champagne and brie evening” - Howard Baskin Lesson Two - Visualize your goals and enjoy your money Visualization is all powerful when it comes to achieving goals, including your financial goals. Take the time to think about how you will feel when you are living a life of abundance. Enjoy imagining what you will do with your money, and don’t hold back. Understanding that spending money is not a negative action helps you shake off the feelings of guilt. Enjoy a life of abundance, and occasionally “act as if” - enjoying a champagne and brie evening without worry will help you feel a positive response to money, and welcome more into your life. “There is a science to getting rich, and it is an exact science. The ownership of money and property comes from doing things in a certain way. Those who do things in a certain way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich.” - Carole Baskin Lesson Three - Look at your beliefs about money What you learn about money, especially in childhood, will greatly affect your mindset. While this quote from Carole loosely references the book “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D Wattles, it goes to show how beliefs about money shape your behaviors surrounding money also. If you were brought up in a family that always worked hard and struggled for money, you will feel like money is something you must always work hard for. If you were told as a child that “money doesn’t grow on trees” you are likely to be more cautious about money. On the flip side, if you were brought up with someone that spends recklessly, you may find yourself with poor money management skills - either spending recklessly also, or becoming overly frugal. Spending time on your “money story” will help you realize where your beliefs might hold you back. “I can give you your money back, or I can give you a rain check. Why don’t you come back at another day?” -Joe Exotic Lesson Four - Turn your attention away from the negative, and plan ahead In one of Joe’s most infamous moments, when one of his employees had an arm ripped off by a tiger, he demonstrates the ability to plan ahead, offering guests the opportunity to get a refund or return to the zoo another day. He also turns attention from the negative, immediately offering a solution. For you, consider how you approach problems. Do you look at roadblocks with a negative outlook, assuming the worst? Or do you aim to see solutions? By focusing on positives, and choosing to divert attention from your roadblocks to success, you are more likely to remain motivated and achieve your financial goals. "The more gratitude you show for the opportunities that show up in your life, the more you’ll start to notice them." "I don’t pay anybody to do animal care, because people will do that for free.” -Carole Baskin Lesson Five - Recognize abundance Abundance doesn’t just come in the form of hard cash. Your salary is an obvious source of income, but what other opportunities do you have for abundance in your life? Consider inheritances, winning contests, unexpected bonuses, refunds, people who can assist you for free or at low cost, sales on items you want, even an open parking space can be considered abundance. The more gratitude you show for the opportunities that show up in your life, the more you’ll start to notice them. “I’m never gonna financially recover from this” - Joe Exotic Bonus Lesson: Keep an eye out for scarcity mindset Your thoughts dictate your feelings. Holding a scarcity mindset in regard to money, means you are always more likely to experience scarcity in your life. The mind cannot separate what is true and what is thought, so be careful with the language you use surrounding money and opportunity in your life. Your subconscious stores your scarcity thoughts and draws upon them as true experience in future situations. Learn to re-frame scarcity thoughts with thoughts of abundance and watch how your life begins to transform! There’s plenty of approaches to adapting your money mindset, including using journalling, meditation, visualization and re-framing work. Once you begin to empower yourself to believe you are worth more and abundance will flow into your life, you will begin to see changes - money mindset doesn’t just help with money, but also with clarity surrounding goals. Take these lessons and start to work on your money mindset, and as a final lesson from Tiger King - don’t ever put your arm into a cage with live tigers. Tessa Hull, Guest Writer Tessa Hull is a certified Canfield Success Principles Trainer and Success Coach helping individuals with a mind full of ideas and habit of procrastinating shake their bad habits, get their thoughts and beliefs in order and create effective and individual plans to hit goals. After several years in managerial and training roles, including working alongside high end brands such as LVMH, she now runs her own Success Coaching business No Right Way Ltd. She is based in Sicily, mainly for the good weather and the cheese, but ventures back to her hometown of Manchester every now and again for a decent cup of tea. You can find out more here

Who wants to stumble through a jungle of wires as they go up to present to their colleagues? Who wants to stress over finding the right remote in a stack of almost identical controls? The modern world moves at an astounding pace and it can seem like everything has to happen as efficiently as possible or everything will collapse entirely. While the latter is not necessarily true, technology is continuously adapting to speed and productivity-oriented lifestyles and business functions. AV, or audio visual, equipment includes audio and visual signal generating devices such as microphones and projectors. The set-up of these devices depends on the setting, but they often come as a collection of many parts that sometimes need to work as a whole- this is where an AV control system comes in. Neets.uk is a Danish company which creates intuitive AV control systems, hoping to impact the lives of professionals around the world. AV control systems such as theirs are designed to be user-friendly, manual, or automatic and serve a variety of functions. Software-based solutions are sometimes viewed as better, as they can be installed on multiple devices and have the same capabilities on each, but Neets A/S supports itself through quality and reliability. Conferences and presentations are essentially inherent to business and education structures, which means that AV equipment is commonplace and necessary. This further suggests that AV control systems are necessary. Having a system that can allow a user to control either a single piece of AV equipment or all equipment in a space in tandem transforms how practically a conference can be run or how well a presentation can be set-up. AV control system applications include dictating useful functions such as locking and unlocking doors, monitoring camera feeds, playing music, and uploading content. We need AV control systems for practical and aesthetic reasons.

What does success means to you? What makes you happy? What is your inner driving force? Everyone has different goals in life, but if you are one of those who see business and money as success, then the first step is getting the right money mindset. Here are some inspiring quotes to get you into the right money-mindset. "Money will come when you are doing the right thing." – Mike Phillips "People say ‘I want to be rich.’ The question is, ‘Are you willing to do what it takes?" - Robert Kiyosaki "To attract money, you must focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you are noticing you don’t have enough, because that means you are thinking thoughts that you do not have enough." – Rhonda Byrne "When your self-worth goes up, your net worth goes up with it." – Mark Victor Hansen "Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art." – Andy Warhol "The money you make is a symbol of the value you create." – Idowu Koyenikan "Everyday is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we’ve got 24 hours each." – Christopher Rice "What’s keeping you from being rich? In most cases it’s simply a lack of belief. In order to become rich, you must believe you can do it, and you must take the actions necessary to achieve your goal." – Suze Orman "My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time." – Steve Jobs " If you do not know how to care for money, money will stay away from you." – Robert Kiyosaki

Written by: Bandana Jain, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Let's admit it! We are going through some of the trickiest and shakiest times! Practicing healthy habits and protecting your vocal health in these times of "social distancing" is more important than ever to lift your spirits and scale down stress levels. The fact is individuals need to protect their vocal health to nurture the well- being of the entire household. Here are some practical at-home tips on how to properly use your voice for physical, emotional and social advantages! Dubai-based Opera Singer Bettina Schweiger offers practical ways of taking care of precious vocal chords, whether for moms shouting - if they get mad teaching their kids at home, reading books for their children, or for single people who have limitations on talking due to social distancing, as well as some of its health benefits during these quarantine weeks. It could be a great bonding activity for kids and the whole family! So here are Bettina's tips on protecting and taking care of your voices at home interspersed with some of the physical, health and social benefits of singing: 1. Voice training is self-care Singing fortifies health, widens culture, refines the intelligence, enriches the imagination, makes for happiness and endows life with an added zest. Singing has the potential to make a major contribution to our health, well-being and life skills. TIP: Singing at least thirty minutes per day can improve your mood and reconnect with your body by working out your vocal cords. 2. Singing is a workout Singing gives the lungs a workout. It also tones abdominal and intercostal muscles and the diaphragm, and stimulates circulation. It makes a person breathe more deeply than many forms of strenuous exercise, so a person takes in more oxygen, improves aerobic capacity and experiences a release of muscle tension as well. Singing the short-e sound, as in echo stimulates the thyroid gland, which secretes hormones that control the speed in which digestion and other bodily processes occur. TIP: Making the long-o sound as in 'ocean' stimulates the pancreas, which regulates blood sugar. 3. Singing is therapeutic Singing takes away your woes. For example, choose one of your favorite songs and sing it over a minus one or online karaoke. This way, it will bring back a lot of memories from the past that helps you calm down and relive happy memories either with your friends or family. Sing your heart out, it will instantly bring you to a more stable emotional state. TIP: A free singing tutorial is highly advisable as it will help you gain additional technical knowledge about singing and honing your vocal cords at the same time. 4. Singing strengthens your immune system Singing strengthens the immune system, according to research by scientists at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, published in the latest edition of the US Journal of Behavioral Medicine. The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional choir in the city, before and after a 60- minute rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem, they found that concentrations of immunoglobulin A – proteins in the immune system which function as antibodies – and hydrocortisone, an anti-stress hormone, increased significantly during the rehearsal. Singing releases endorphins into your system and makes you feel energized and uplifted. People who sing are healthier than people who don't. TIP: To strengthen immunity, sing the double-o sound, as in a tool. This activates the spleen, which regulates the production of infection-fighting white blood cells. 5. Singing works as an anti-depressant Sound vibrations massage your aura, going straight to what's out of balance and fixing it. It forces oxygen into the blood, which signals the brain to release mood- lifting endorphins. TIP: Singing the short-a sound, as in ahh, for 2-3 minutes will help banish the blues. 6. Singing makes you alert Improved blood circulation and an oxygenated blood stream allow more oxygen to reach the brain. This improves mental alertness, concentration, and memory. The Alzheimer's Society has even established a"Singing for the Brain" service to help people with dementia and Alzheimer's maintain their memories. TIP: To boost alertness, make the long-e sound, as in emit. It stimulates the pineal gland, which controls the body's biological clock. 7. Singing helps in online socializing Whether you're in a choir or simply enjoy singing karaoke with your friends, one of the unexpected health benefits of singing is that it can improve your social life. The bonds you form with others can be profound, since there's a level of intimacy naturally involved. TIP: Since we are on a lock-down, why not try an online karaoke battle with your friends? It could be fun! Bandana Jain, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Bandana Jain is a Dubai based lifestyle and travel journalist for the past two decades. She’s also a passionate lifestyle blogger, photographer and loves pursuing modelling as a hobby. One of the aspects of her journalistic life that she thoroughly enjoys is rubbing shoulders with Bollywood celebrities. Having said this, her community journalist status ensures that she loves interacting with people from different strata of the society. She loves the limelight on stage sometimes as an anchor, whilst on other occasions as a public speaker. When she is not pursuing any of the above, you can find her shopping in Dubai’s famous malls or chilling by the beach with her favorite cup of tea. Travel is her passion, creativity her morale booster and enriching conversations are enough to give her the necessary thrust in life. Website- www.dubaitrivia.com Facebook- Bandana Jain Instagram- @dubaitrivia Linkedin- Bandana Jain

Written by: Alec Lom During the past 17 years, leading British therapist and one of the world’s top ‘rapid-change experts’ Howard Cooper has devoted his professional life to helping many thousands of people overcome a range of anxieties and phobias, such as fear of flying, and other terrors such as dogs, cats, and spiders. Now that Coronavirus is casting its shadow over more than 180 countries, he is, not surprisingly, busier than ever helping clients with health anxiety. However, despite the current pandemic and the restrictions it is forcing on the business community, many companies continue to thrive. Physiotherapists now offer video consultations, personal trainers are hosting exercise classes on YouTube, and manufacturers of home-gym equipment are selling out. Garden centers report booming online sales of seeds to grow your own fruit and vegetables. According to a new Corona-inspired survey on LinkedIn, the time we all spend consuming online content has risen sharply, by 39 percent in the past four weeks. So, how can companies, and especially their leaders, maintain a positive attitude? How can individuals, employees in their millions now working from home, look after their mental health and develop the right mindset in the current conditions? How can business entrepreneurs, normally driven by the adrenaline surge and daily challenge of innovation, adapt to the new Coronavirus environment, where management teams converse only by Zoom and Skype, and meetings are now only held ‘virtually’? Howard Cooper is a qualified hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), who specializes in helping people create rapid shifts in their thinking. He believes that, whether you are trying to overcome a lifelong fear of dogs, whether you’re battling Coronavirus anxiety, or whether you’re over-stressed about saving your business in the face of fierce adversity, change, to your way of thinking – and to your lifestyle – can be rapid. He has a wide range of experience when it comes to engaging with the corporate sector. His experience includes supporting people across Europe and the US, and mainly in the UK, also working with many top corporates, including Deloitte, Virgin Atlantic, Slater Gordon, and the British Paralympic Association. He has coached many senior executives in high-level business positions to cope with anxiety-related work issues. Cooper, 38, who runs a busy practice on the outskirts of London, first developed an interest in helping others after experiencing his own traumas as a teenager. He was diagnosed with a severe panic attack and anxiety disorder when he was 16 and began a lengthy course of treatment. “I went through three and half years of ‘week-in,-week-out’ counseling which resulted in understanding my therapist’s theory as to why I was screwed up. The only problem was that I wasn’t really much better. Her take on it though was that at least “I understood why”. I decided that instead of focusing on methods to explore why I was like I was, it would be more prudent to focus on how to change it moving forwards.” Now a parent himself, he’s able to help people of all ages, many of them business executives and office employees who are suffering from work-related stress, an all-too-common complaint in today’s corporate sector. Video consultations: 'effective and popular' “At my practice, I’m just launching a new 12-week Corona anxiety support program,” adds Cooper. It’s aimed at helping people who are struggling with Corona worries or ‘lock-down’ overwhelm as we have all been told by our government that we must remain ‘locked down’ indoors and there are severe restrictions on our movement outdoors. “I’m also often contacted by people who are struggling to cope with claustrophobia as they have spent months training for sporting events, like running a marathon. Thousands of sporting events, such as horse racing meetings, football matches, the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, and many more have all been canceled, so if you're a runner, cyclist or cross-country trailer, people are feeling very downcast right now." “A lot of my work as a rapid-change expert is conducted by online and video consultations via my website, on Skype. They are very effective and increasingly popular. I support clients from many walks of life and here, I’ve listed a handful of mental strategies that apply to everyone from sports enthusiasts to business leaders. These are my Top 5 Mental Tips on ‘How To cope more effectively with Corona-virus Worries’. Tip No.1 STAY PRESENT What are you actually experiencing right now? Sitting at a computer, tablet or phone reading an article in your home? This is something that you have done many times before, right? Realize that If you stop adding ‘narrative’ and ‘thinking’ to this current situation there is actually nothing different for you going on than before the virus or lock-down. Take time regularly to bring your attention back to ‘being present’ and your direct experience in the moment. Tip No.2 REALIZE THE TRUTH ABOUT FEELINGS Most people get swept up in all the fear and anxiety coming from the internet and then incorrectly come to the conclusion that everything is beyond despair. However, there are also lots of positive things to focus on. Around 96 percent of people are surviving; the world carries on turning; pollution levels are down; we are all getting a gift of some time to reflect on where we are at and the choices we are making. Taking time regularly to focus on ‘what’s good’ and ‘what we are grateful for’ literally begins to wire the brain for more positivity in the future. And guess what? People who are more positive, calm and clear-headed deal best in times of uncertainty.things will be at all! Realizing this can be a great comfort. Tip No.3 FOCUS ON YOUR BODY’S NATURAL CENTRE When people get overwhelmed or anxious, they often start running all sorts of rapid internal catastrophic thinking. In other words, they are very focused on ‘stuff in their head’. They think: ‘What if it lasts forever?’, ‘When will I be able to work with office colleagues again?’, ‘How will I earn money?, and this list goes on. If you were to catch yourself running these patterns, do the following: Stop and bring your awareness to your body’s natural center (this is the area around 3 centimeters below your navel). Strangely placing your focus here tends to calm the mind, and create a feeling of being stronger, stable and more centered. Tip No.4 REMOVE PRESSURE Many people are putting pressure on themselves to be productive during lock-down, maintain perfect eating habits or exercise plans. While it’s all well and good to have a desire to do these things, remember to go easy on yourself, too. These are unprecedented times and uncharted territory, so be kind to yourself if you aren’t as productive as you’d normally be. If you tell yourself, you have to or must be perfect at all times, then you are more likely to be very hard on yourself up if you don’t manage this. But if you tell yourself that you’d like to get things done, but understand you don’t have to, that can often help alleviate the psychological pressure. Ironically, when you do this, you are likely to get more done because there is less stress in the system around doing it. Tip No.5 FOCUS ON POSITIVES & GRATITUDE It’s easy to get swept up in all the fear and anxiety coming from the internet and then incorrectly come to the conclusion that everything is beyond despair. However, there are also lots of positive things to focus on. Around 96 per cent of people are surviving; the world carries on turning; pollution levels are down; we are all getting a gift of some time to reflect on where we are at and the choices we are making. Taking time regularly to focus on ‘what’s good’ and ‘what we are grateful for’ literally begins to wire the brain for more positivity in the future. And guess what? People who are more positive, calm and clear-headed deal best in times of uncertainty. My hope for people during this time of challenge is to learn about mental resilience so that they do not just help themselves now, but that this will help them become better-armed and more resilient in the future when this pandemic is over (and by the way, it will be over at some point). Just imagine how successfully you will be able to thrive, both as a business professional and as a person in the future when you develop these mental skills and apply them to your lives even after the world has closed the chapter on Coronavirus and moved on. If you’re struggling with Coronavirus anxiety, help is available through Howard Cooper’s new 12-week Corona anxiety support program Howard Cooper is one of Britain’s leading ‘Rapid Change’ experts. A qualified hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), he specializes in helping people create rapid shifts in their thinking. For details of his work, see www.rapidchange.works Alec Lom is a journalist and media expert in the UK whose articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The Daily Telegraph. A specialist in the health and well-being sector, he also worked for many years at BBC Television www.aleclom.com