Written by: Gina Redzanic, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. This is a story about confidence. We are born confident, full of purpose and light, yet our confidence is challenged as we go through life. It could be that a parent or sibling negatively affected your confidence. Or maybe your family was amazing at feeding your self-worth, but others saw your confidence as a threat and worked to break you down. So today, I share with you a story about a suede jacket. When I was 8, my older sister, who was 17, bought me a suede jacket for Christmas. I was beyond thrilled! When I put it on, I felt so good! I felt confident. I could not wait to wear it to school after the break. The first day back to school, I walked on the bus, head held high, feeling my absolute best. That is when an older student stuck her foot out to trip me, I looked at her, and she snarled at me and said, “You think you’re so cool!” I was devastated! I was a child who did not want any conflict—ever! I sat in the back of the bus, so worried. Was I acting like I was too cool because I am wearing this jacket? Immediately my mood shifted. I was now scared of this bully and wondered what I did wrong. At the end of the school day, I prayed silently that the bully would leave me alone for the afternoon bus ride home. This time I cowered a little. I wasn’t standing up so tall and confident. Yet again, she stuck her foot out to trip me and said, “You think you’re so cool!” When I walked in the door, I was in tears. My older sister asked me what was wrong. I told her I was not able to wear the suede jacket anymore and told her what had happened. “No way!” she said. “You will wear that jacket, and if she does it again, you stop, put your hands on your hips, stare at her and say, “I don’t think I am cool. I know I am!” Oh boy! The anxiety crept in! But my sister made me practice. The next day, sure enough, the bully did the same thing! This time I stood tall, hands on my hip, stared at her, and said, “I don’t think I’m cool. I know I am!” From then on, she never bothered me, and I freely and confidently wore my suede jacket! As an adult, I remembered this story so many times. The suede jacket represents our confidence, which we should wear proudly. However, there are people who will be uncomfortable when we exhibit confidence. We may automatically shrink down to make them comfortable, and in doing so, we shrink down our potential, purpose, and even our dreams. As a child, I was ready to give up something I loved that made me feel good simply because someone else was uncomfortable seeing me shine and seeing me happy. My sister reminded me that day to stand tall, take ownership of my happiness and let my confidence shine. So today, I am reminding you! The suede jacket (confidence) needs to be worn in pride. You will not create big dreams, big success, and reach big goals by playing small. Your confidence and posture may be attacked by haters and naysayers. Nevertheless, shine your light, my friend! People are waiting to be inspired by your message and your confidence. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit my website for more info! Gina Redzanic, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Gina Redzanic is a self-made network marketing millionaire, Success Coach, and John Maxwell Certified Speaker and Trainer specializing in Leadership Development. As a busy mom of 2 daughters, Gina balances motherhood and her career through many of the habits and practices she teaches her clients and team. Gina has been featured on Yahoo! Finance, named Top 10 Leadership Coaches in Influencive, and is a contributing author in the best-selling network marketing book series, Momentum Makers. Gina is God-driven and Goal-driven and uses personal development techniques to help others break down their business blocks, take control of their future, and reach success without the presence of "burnout."

Written by: Rodolfo Parlati, 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. Have you ever thought that success and failure can depend on your mindset? It is the setting of the mind, that is, the mental attitude with which you live and interpret reality, circumstances, and emotional reactions, as well as the perception of yourself. How you observe your experiences is certainly influenced by what you lived and learned over time, as well as your culture, outcomes, and self-esteem. Furthermore, your mindset directly affects the quality of your relationships. Phrases like "That’s the way I am ", "I am not good at these things", "I don't like challenges", "I will never succeed, it is useless to try" make you understand quite clearly the mentality of an individual and their way of dealing with things. So, you can choose to take all your failures, losses, and negative situations that life reserved for you and let them completely overwhelm you, or you can decide to rebel, take all the good you can find and take action to change things. It’s up to you. Fixed mindset and growth mindset Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology and researcher at Stanford University, began to notice that students ready to get up after a failure performed better than those who broke down and faced every challenge with discouragement. It is how you face a challenge that determines your results. Based on the type of approach, Dr. Dweck coined the terms "fixed mindset" and "growth mindset" to describe the basic beliefs that people have about intelligence and learning. The fixed mindset refers to that static mental attitude in which people consider their skills, intelligence, abilities, and knowledge as hardly modifiable things. People with this type of attitude believe that only talent leads to success and, if you don't have it, you have no power to achieve it. A fixed mindset leads to mental rigidity and extreme difficulty in facing change or unexpected events and finding a solution to problems, and experiencing mistakes as irreparable failures. Leaders rooted in this fixed approach tend to demotivate their groups by stifling creativity, feeding distrust, adopting a culture of guilt, and discouraging people around them. The growth mindset, instead, opens up to change, which is lived as a reason for growth, development, activation, and improvement of all available resources, acquiring new ones, and experimenting. This mindset considers failures as a part of the change process and a further stimulus to move forward, understanding what caused them and looking for new strategies. Regardless of the situation in which they find themselves, people with this mental attitude constantly try to improve themselves. As a result, they are, on average, more successful and live a less stressful and more rewarding life than people with a fixed mindset. Leaders with growth mindsets believe that perseverance, effort, and learning from failure can improve performance. They can empower everyone to succeed and grow by instilling the culture of success in the organization, giving others confidence, and showing them the path. Today, the business world requires all entrepreneurs and managers to make quick decisions and face the change due to technologies and innovations in the best possible way. Hence, leaders must work consciously to develop and maintain a growth mindset for themselves, their employees, and their organizations. This requires an overview based on a shared culture across the company. Developing a growth mindset requires commitment, confidence, and even a little courage. But do not worry! Anyone can learn! You simply have to believe in this belief and focus on the following key points to develop leadership based on a growth mindset. 1. Get out of your comfort zone. You surely remember, when you were a child, all the people around you who contributed to creating your mindset. They tried to protect you from failures and dangers, but the result was to leave you in a “comfort zone.” If you never want to find yourself in uncomfortable situations and never allow yourself to be wrong, you won’t certainly be able to go beyond your current limits and improve. Having a growth mindset also means accepting mistakes and facing hard situations as an inevitable and indispensable part of your growth process. 2. Never stop learning. Today’s business world is changing rapidly. So, your current knowledge will soon be insufficient to face tomorrow’s new challenges. How can you cope with this evolution? You have to continue to learn. Getting and using information is easier than before, thanks to the internet. Therefore, start evaluating and preparing yourself for all that you can still learn, and don't just focus on what you already know. If you embrace a growth mindset and encourage its development among your employees as well, you will have a team of individuals able to actively increase their skills over time. 3. Focus on the process and not on the result. If you focus on the result, you will inevitably be discouraged, mostly at the beginning. Instead, try to analyze the process itself. Have you been persistent? Have you tried hard enough? Have you looked for alternative actions? Focus on your performance, and the results will come. 4. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. The problem is when you find it hard to admit them. The key is to embrace mistakes and take action. This makes a difference and not the mistake itself. Having a growth mindset means treasuring failure and considering it as an opportunity to understand, verify options and take new perspectives to prevent that mistake in the future. When employees are not stuck with fear of failure, they also tend to be more creative in solving problems and achieve better performances. 5. Embrace innovation. In today’s business world, it is essential to spread a corporate culture aimed at innovation with the adoption of new dedicated strategies. If you want to thrive with your business, you have to actively adapt to digital transformation. The risk is to remain on the sidelines of the market and slowly disappear. Both you and your team need to be willing to develop not only a growth mindset but also a digital mindset . This is a mentality capable of managing technological and digital innovation of the organizational structure in everyday life by embracing the digital era as a stimulus, not a threat. If you encourage your team members to expand into new areas of development, the whole organization will benefit. A growth mindset will allow you to take inspiration and benefit from this transformation, while a fixed mindset will only ignore the change, to go back to working "the old way." 6. Share success and inspirational stories. At times, the success of others can be scary. The first reaction can be to feel inadequate in front of the achievements of others. You feel to lose the desire to dare, fearing not to do better than others. Instead, you can learn a lot from their successes, and sharing their case histories with your team can be very useful to find inspiration. What have they done? How did they do it? What can they teach you? 7. Build a growth team. Every team is an entity that arises from the collaboration between its members and their ability to work and grow to bring an added value altogether. A growth team is not simply made up of members with a growth mindset. The achievement of results also depends on the ability to stimulate the training, growth, and collaboration of the group. To do this, you need to: Encourage sharing of ideas and thinking outside the box. Set both common and individual goals with your team members. Provide networking opportunities and training resources. The Vision of Yourself Thanks to a growth mindset, concepts like difficulties, obstacles, and efforts mean something different. In the end, the vision you have of yourself can determine your future development and the results you can achieve in your life. A leadership based on the growth mindset can be a solid point of reference for the others and, at the same time, to encourage and increase their skills, to find hidden aspirations, to bring to light skills that it was not known to possess and transmit knowledge and experiences. For more info, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , or visit my we bsite ! Read more from Rodolfo ! Rodolfo Parlati, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rodolfo Parlati is a Professional Life & Executive Coach. Always inspired by the desire to impact others positively, his mission is to help people and professionals be happy and successful by finding out their inner potential and exploring the right path to follow to "give shape" to their goals. Passionate about building connections, the key elements of his coaching strategy are creating meaningful actions to attain the clients' goals, knowing what is holding them back, and supporting them in finding higher awareness. His natural curiosity has always driven him to be an eager lifelong learner, explore new fields, and look for the answers to any question.

Silke Harvey is the writer and founder of the Inner Hippie Club, a community for women who’ve lost their mojo and want to release their Inner Hippie, that carefree teenage feeling before life got serious. A professional musician, corporate employee, and freelance translator in her former life, Silke draws on her colorful past and personal experience with burnout and surviving in stressful working environments to help women reclaim their inner joy and bring a healthy balance back into their lives. She has developed an effective method based on time for fun, nature, rest, reflection, and gratitude. Silke is a certified Reiki Master, Reiki Drum practitioner, Seichem practitioner, Chakra Dancing and Creative Mindful Meditation facilitator, and HAO animal healer and applies many of these techniques when working with clients. Who is Silke? I'm the author and founder of the Inner Hippie Club, a self-help manual and online community for women who’ve lost their mojo and want to release their Inner Hippie, that carefree teenage feeling before life got serious. I’m also the founder of Inner Hippie Books, a publishing house that provides strong and amazing women with a platform for telling their inspirational stories to the world. My online work is firmly based on my experiences as a certified Reiki Master, Chakra Dancing and Creative Mindful meditation therapist, Reiki Drum therapist, and animal healer. I’ve made it my life’s mission to empower other women to live a life full of joy in alignment with their true purpose. From bass player in a Rock’n'Roll band, music manager, and indie record label owner to financial translator for one of the Big Four and owner of a translation agency to an energy healer, online entrepreneur, and book publisher – my life has certainly been a thrilling ride so far! I live by the seaside in the north of the UK with Shawn, my lovely husband of 30 years, and our beautiful Romanian rescue dog Frunza. What is it that you do for your clients? I help women release their Inner Hippie. In other words, I help them find their joy and true purpose in life. I teach them how to let go and have fun and that it’s ok to be a little bit wild at heart, a little bit crazy, even in an adult world. My motto is “Don’t take life too seriously”. I also provide strong women who’ve successfully overcome the constraints of society and are living an aligned and purposeful life with a platform for inspiring other women to do the same. I publish the stories of these trailblazers in multi-author book projects. My latest project STRONG AND FREE – Stories of women who are living their dream after breaking up with society’s expectations is on its way right now. Who should work with you? I love working with women who’ve realized that something is missing in their lives and are determined to find their Inner Hippie again, who just need guidance to take that decisive step toward happiness, freedom, and joy. I also love hearing from women who’ve already taken this big step and now want to inspire others – women who live joyful, abundant, and aligned lives and want to leave a legacy to this world as published authors. Their stories are fascinating and never cease to amaze me and it’s my mission to get them heard! What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? My big goal is to empower thousands of women to tell their stories and to touch the hearts of millions of others. I want to leave a powerful legacy that will continue to inspire women for years to come. 10 years from now, I see Inner Hippie Books as one of the major publishing houses for women. I also see the Inner Hippie Club developing into a movement – a radio station, an app membership, and a retreat center, which I’m in the process of developing at my beautiful property in Bulgaria. The future is exciting! For more details, follow me on Facebook or Instagram, join my Facebook Community or visit my website! Read more from Silke!

Written by: Brittney Oliver, 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 world tells you that life is about YOU and what YOU want while family members and communities will tell you that your main purpose in life is your home, your spouse, your children, or your family. Who do you believe? Which is it? Okay, so here are a couple of scenarios. Scenario one : You are at the end of your life a bit too early. Your children have only just left home and while on your death bed, the only opportunity left is perhaps to share a few words. In the first scenario, you’ve devoted your life, selflessly to your children, family, and home while forgoing your personal ambitions and desires. You worked a “responsible” job to pay the bills or tended to the children and home full time. You never tried that hobby that you wanted and you surely never started that business that you wanted to but you did the selfless thing; the “right” thing. Do you feel regret? Scenario two : You are still on your death bed just as early only in this scenario you’ve been quite ambitious. You started a business that you loved and you saw it through every up and down until it made you wildly successful. You’ve been financially wealthy and people will remember you for what you’ve done. You created a large social circle and spent much time traveling and engaging with interesting people. Meanwhile, your kids spent more time with a nanny than with you and you didn’t make all that many memories with them or your partner. Do you feel regret? Bear with me here for one more question. Do you feel regret in both? And if so, which regret is greater? As a coach, I have discussed this topic with many, many men and women and it’s given me a lot of insight. I am in a valuable position with what I do because while I train health coaches, I mentor them through the creation or destination piece of their business which means that I walk them through the creation piece of their life. It is impossible to have one without the other and contrary to what most believe, I believe that you can and should have both pieces of the above-posed question. Having mentored a lot of people, I believe more strongly today that each person was created to seek purpose and fulfillment. I also believe that cultivating our children, our home and our intangible relationships is an integral part of that as well. The hard part is that the typical nine to five doesn’t lend itself well to time freedom. That time freedom is where we invest and experience life and while many people can find joy in whatever they do, why not create a life that maximizes time and joy? When I started my business, I had to build it around the hours that I spent with the kids, while their dad worked to provide, and in doing so, I learned how to maximize very small windows of time and utilize that time for fulfilling purposeful work. I also figured out how to get paid in those windows which done responsibly and with intention, allowed us to maximize the other hours of the day. If I could make money in my windows, doing what I loved than my partner didn’t have to make as much or work as many hours. When my partner could work a few less hours, we as a family had more usable time and with intentional planning, that time could be used to cultivate a bit more of my business, invest time into relationships and give more quality attention to our kids by both of us separate and individually. So, if that life is really possible, and I am proof that it is, then why do we wait so long to create it? Why do we believe that we have to choose between the death bed scenarios? For me, there were five main things that I can attribute to the life I’m blessed to live now, the life I created. Run Through the Death Bed Scenario . Know what you can’t sacrifice in this life and build a life around those foundations and convictions. Simplicity. Find the greatest joy in the simplest things so that satisfaction isn’t tied to monetary wealth or possessions. Make your wants heavier in experiences than in things. Financial Responsibility and Intention. "It’s not what you make, it’s what you spend." A lot of people say that they "can’t afford this or that" however if they were to go through what I call a "Priority Audit" I think most people could find room to afford much more than they say. Especially when it means time, education, and investing in your desired life outcome. Invest In Something You Love. If you could get paid for anything, what would it be? Start cultivating knowledge in this area and spend time creating, researching, and tossing around ideas. Time Block for Your Life. Once you have an idea of something you’d love to do or once you’ve decided that you want to make more memories with your family or seek adventure, block a time to consistently invest in this vision. Make a space for the life you want and show up consistently to see it into fruition. One last thing that I must add is to SUPPORT THOSE YOU LOVE in their NEED for PURPOSE and FULFILLMENT! There is nothing worse than talking to a man or woman who’s partner or family talks them down from their dreams or doesn’t support them. We as humans have a VOID and when that void isn’t filled with purpose, it easily gets filled with self-medication. Believe in others and allow others to believe in you. Follow the BUDDHA BELLY LIFE PODCAST on Spotify and other major platforms. Interested in becoming a Certified Gut Health and Mindset Coach visit hwcacoach.com . For more information, follow me on Instagram and visit my webs ite ! Read more from Brittney! Brittney Oliver Prendergast, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Brittney Oliver is a board-certified Holistic Health and Life Coach specializing in Gut Health and the Mind-Gut connection. After writing her first book, "Buddha Belly," she developed the Holistic Wellness Coaching Academy, where she certifies individuals throughout the world in Gut Health and Mindset Strategy coaching. Brittney, or "Coach Britt," as she is commonly known, is passionate about mental health and strives to empower others to live their ultimate life vision. She believes that through seeking purpose, we will find a passion capable of igniting our power to grow far more than willpower ever could.

Written by: Louisa Havers, 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. Do you have the confidence and vision to boost your earning capability beyond your wildest dreams? Or does achieving this sound impossible? Read on and discover how anybody, simply by tweaking their mindset, can unlock their inner superpowers and lift the ceiling in both their life and business, to achieve the six or seven-figure income they've always fantasized about. I like to think we're similar to computers. Sometimes all we need to do to succeed is install an upgrade – input a new more up-to-date internal operating system and delete all that no longer serves. Put simply, to get ahead we must re-evaluate the existing, familiar patterns we're following and examine the way we're thinking, because sometimes – despite how comfortable they may feel – these are the very things holding us back from manifesting the change or breakthrough we seek. How do I know? I've experienced this myself. By shifting my outlook and changing my thought patterns and perceptions I've manifested a successful global coaching business, working with clients to enable them to break through their upper-income level. In a nutshell, it's all about mind over money . Here are three tips to help you understand how shifting your thoughts, just a little, can boost your business and help you become a money magnet. 1. Monitor your mind. As you know, the Law of Attraction is like mirrors and magnets. Wherever your thoughts are, so are your results. Let's pause to digest that statement for a moment. Your thoughts could be manifesting the very thing you're trying to avoid or change. So, have you hit an income 'ceiling'? Are clients dwindling? Or, you're working with businesses you'd normally never consider – because hey, times are tough! I urge you to take a long, hard, honest look at the beliefs that are currently filling your mind. Does this sound familiar? I'm stuck. I can't seem to make more money. I'm working so hard, but my income isn't increasing. Why is it so difficult to attract more / the right clients? If any resonate, then you're living in the energy of difficulty, lack, and scarcity – and this is what you're attracting. Instead, why don't you try re-framing what's going on inside your head into something that feels more positive and aligned with where you'd like to go on your business journey. Say the following statements out loud: Financial abundance flows to me easily and effortlessly Money overflows for me readily I am so lucky I attract money and ideal clients speedily and with ease It feels dynamic and positive, doesn't it? It's this that will be attracted right back to you, propelling you out of your plateau. So, a useful step towards money mastery is to monitor your thoughts. It takes a little practice to catch those pesky negative feelings, but once you're in the habit of doing so, you'll be amazed at how quickly you become a ninja at swapping the bad for good, constructive, aligned beliefs. It's these that bring a new energetic vibrancy to your desires, which attracts more of what you actually want. 2. Value your value. This is also key. If you don't value yourself, who else will? Appreciate yourself and what you do and so will others. Again, it's the Law of Attraction at work. Truly understanding your worth is crucial for a fruitful business life. Do you look at your day-to-day work and feel enthusiastic, proud, and engaged? Is your desk tidy; your daily goals laser-focused; your fee structure up-to-date and reflective of your experience? Often outer things are an echo of what's going on inside. What does yours currently look like? For instance, do you work on a computer that's painfully slow and cluttered with outmoded systems? Perhaps your desk is overflowing with paper or files you no longer need? When did you last update your business offering? Does it reflect the latest / best thinking or systems? Have your fees stayed the same for a long time? You see where I'm going, don't you? Your business is attracting stagnating energy, no wonder there's no growth! I invite you to ask yourself: Does what I see around me, reflect my true value? Do my environs and my fees mirror the skills and experience I've taken years to acquire? Does my physical space reflect the love, passion, and creativity I feel for what I do every day? If the answer is no, then you are not valuing your value, so why should others? It's time to reassess your significance. What are your skills worth? Use your intuition to put a TRUE value to what you offer. Are you charging this, or are you frightened to raise your fee level for fear of losing clients? If this is the case, you're living in the energy of scarcity. It's a contracting energy. No wonder your business is shrinking! I suggest you tidy up your desk, code your papers, organize your filing system. Then, research the value others in similar industries attach to their skills, so you can make an accurate assessment, one that feels completely aligned, as to what your offering is worth. Remember, others will also be charging based on their money mindset too. It's nothing to feel scared or ashamed of. Your worth is your worth. Own it! Aligned clients will be attracted to someone who values themself. Live in this energy and you'll magnetize ideal clients effortlessly. 3. Dream your desires. Here's something that you're never told. Forget willpower! It won't serve you. There's something far more powerful out there. It's called your imagination! Your will is finite, but your imagination is infinite; limitless. It's what makes it so powerful. So, let's utilize it. I recommend you sit down somewhere quiet, with a journal, and start thinking about what you'd like to manifest in your business. It's important to be as clear as possible about what you're trying to achieve and really allow yourself to think about what this ideal life and work look like. What are your emotions when you smash through your upper-level income projections? How does living your day-to-day dream life look and feel? The sharper your imaginings, the clearer your path towards manifesting these goals. Write it down, as though you've already achieved these desires and allow yourself to feel the power of your emotions. Believe it has happened and you'll already have started to build the new positive neural pathways needed for your success – because... let me say it once more, the Law of Attraction is always working. ALWAYS! So, ask, imagine and you will receive! If any of this resonates and has whetted your appetite to know more about how you too can break through your next level upper-income goal, then why not sign up for a complimentary spot in my Aligned to Wealth Expansion Masterclass , HERE . You'll discover powerful tools you can incorporate into your day-to-day life, to springboard you to even greater success. For more info, follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and visit my websi te ! Read more from Louisa! Louisa Havers, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Louisa Havers is an internationally renowned Master Transformational Coach, Master Manifesting teacher, Master Akashic Records teacher (Soul Journeys® Method), and business mentor. She enables high achievers and coaches to unlock their superpowers, turbo-charge soul-aligned magnetism, and "lift the ceiling" in both their lives and businesses. It’s a journey Louisa knows works as she’s personally undertaken it. Years spent leading change in the highly pressurized and stressful social services sector led to shingles and chronic fatigue, compelling her to break free from the corporate matrix of overwork. It was the first step to creating her own life of freedom and dream business income. Louisa enables clients across the globe to activate quantum leaps to success in their journey to fulfillment, self-love, and a six / seven-figure income. Daring to live your life’s purpose is genuinely possible under Louisa’s loving, powerful and insightful guidance.

Written by: Betsy Kauffman, 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; It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work in your organization, such as the project task list, the endless meetings, or extinguishing the daily fires. There’s nothing wrong with checking things off your to-do list, but sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. There are five key areas to assess in organizational design when working with a new company: strategy, structure, process, people, and culture. Each of these areas lends important insights and examples on how you can work on your company versus just in your company. Strategy You need to sit down and evaluate your strategy more often than just annually. You may not have time to do it monthly or even bi-monthly, but perhaps taking a step back and assessing your overall organizational strategy every quarter will help keep you focused on the bigger picture and the mission of the company — not just the answering the emails that flood your inbox daily or joining another Zoom meeting. Structure Every company, including yours, has some semblance of an org chart or an easy at-a-glance hierarchy map to see who is in which division or department and who their direct report is. And that formal type of structure is important — without it, it would be chaotic and unorganized. However, informal structures could be just as important. There are many informal structures, rules, and processes well-known among tenured employees but aren’t explicitly explained to new hires — they figure it out after someone tells them or mistakenly break one of those unwritten rules or structures. It's important to periodically take time to look at both the formal and informal structures. Are your formal structures working well and providing the synergies your company needs to continue producing valuable products and services for your customers? Also, identify and understand the informal structures — they may be productive and healthy but could also be causing unnecessary stress or confusion, in some cases. Process What are your organizational processes? Are they clear and simple to understand, or are they complex, confusing, and ambiguous? We often overcomplicate our processes; we engineer them and create a rigid process that leaves no room for new ideas or incorporates potentially useful “lean out” processes. Additionally, we can have a knee-jerk reaction to a one-time event and create an unnecessary process, believing it will ensure that the same event will not repeat itself. The worst thing to say in defense of not changing processes is the classic line, “It’s just the way we’ve always done it.” That’s not a reason to continue operating that way — be open to adjusting and evolving your organizational processes and allot time for you and other leaders to assess and reassess these processes continually. People People are the lifeblood of any organization; get to know the people who make up your organization and their current skills and expertise — along with their untapped potential. If you want to build a great company, you need to be open to feedback from the people who work at the organization. They may have unique insights that you have not considered. Additionally, when it comes to people at the leadership level, build that team conscientiously with those who will become thought partners and help you stay on the path of following the organization's mission and vision. Culture Many organizations take for granted; they think that as long as there isn’t any major conflict, the pay is good, and the hours aren’t strenuous that they are creating a positive culture. But it takes more than that to create a positive and thriving culture. It also requires time — time by you and other leaders who know and live your company’s mission, vision, values, and ensuring the atmosphere, actions, and behaviors are positive and fulfilling for everyone in the organization. That only happens if you carve out space and time to work on the company rather than getting stuck in the weeds of the daily grind. Take a look at your company — are you in need of a shift or redesign? There’s no time like the present to put in the work on your company, not just in your company. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Bet sy ! Betsy Kauffman, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine Betsy Kauffman is a globally recognized Organizational Agility Coach with more than 20 years of experience working in Fortune 500 companies. Her company, Cross Impact Coaching, is an Organizational Design Firm focused on working with organizations to help them solve the big problems impeding them from achieving agility, collaboration, alignment, and innovation. She is a published author providing thought leadership to agile and project management communities and speaks internationally on leadership, corporate culture, and organizational agility. She just completed her first TED talk - “4 Tips to Kickstart Honest Conversations at Work” in conjunction with the TED@PMI partnership and was selected by the TED editors to have her talk brought to the main stage– check it out at TED.com!

Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview Marisa Peer is a globally acclaimed therapist, best-selling author, and award-winning speaker. She is an internationally award-winning, qualified hypnotherapist with advanced certificates in hypnotherapy from the Hypnotism Training Institute of Los Angeles. She has completed additional studies in Hypno-healing, advanced hypnotherapy, medical hypnotherapy, and Gestalt Analysis. Having undertaken further studies at the Proudfoot School of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy at the Atkinson Ball College of Hypnotherapy, Marisa has dedicated the last three decades to researching, testing, and applying the most beneficial principles of hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, NLP, CBT, and neuroscience. The result of over 30 years of careful and rigorous study, Marisa’s unique Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide to overcome their own personal challenges and lead happier, more fulfilling lives. Marisa Peer, you’re an internationally renowned motivational speaker and best-selling author with thirty years of experience as a transformational therapist. What’s your purpose, mission, and driving force for all the amazing work you do in this world? My drive is to improve lives—as many as I can—and it’s my mission to revolutionize therapy. You see, I don’t subscribe to the belief that therapy should take months or even years. In my three decades as a therapist, the number one thing my clients want is to be free of their issues as quickly and as painlessly as possible. That’s why I designed Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®), following careful and rigorous study of how the mind works and what helps my clients achieve their desired outcomes. RTT® uniquely layers the most beneficial principles of hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, NLP, CBT, and neuroscience, that when combined, have the power to spark the most remarkable breakthroughs and set people on the path to profoundly transforming their own lives. I want as many people as possible to experience the extraordinary, transformative potential of RTT®, which is why I now train other people to use the method, so they can help their clients achieve similar stunning turnarounds. When you speak with lots of female entrepreneurs, is there a common challenge that many of them face? How are you helping them to face this challenge? There is a common misconception that women can’t have it all, that something has to give, and you have to choose between having an amazing career or having children. This is something I see a lot of female entrepreneurs struggling to overcome. The truth is, it is possible to have it all. The idea that we can’t is an example of a limiting belief—a block that is stopping you from actually having it all. We tell ourselves that we can’t do something, that something is out of reach, or we are not good enough, and then it becomes our reality. Through extensive study of how the mind works, I’ve developed my rules of the mind that I regularly teach to help clients and other entrepreneurs understand how to make their minds work for them so that they can have it all. One of those rules is that your mind responds to the pictures in your head and the words you say. I teach people to use powerful, descriptive words that create a picture in their minds that is thrilling and exciting. Your mind will then lock onto these, and the more you use them, the more your mind will work to make it a reality. For example, when trying to have it all, a common belief is, “I can’t cope.” I teach people to turn that on its head and say, “I have phenomenal coping skills.” Another example is, “I can’t do this,” which becomes, “I can do this, and I’m doing it brilliantly.” You can accelerate these changes by rewiring your beliefs on a subconscious level. The most effective way I’ve found to do this is through hypnosis or by listening to a powerful self-hypnosis audio filled with positive, empowering, descriptive language to excite your mind and facilitate incredible transformation. One of your skills is that you’re finding the root cause of someone’s beliefs. How do hypnotherapy and your methods work, and why do your methods transform lives? When someone starts therapy, what tends to happen is they come in with a set of “presenting symptoms.” With entrepreneurs, this can often include fear of public speaking, procrastination, or difficulty achieving their goals. These issues are actually caused by something much deeper, and that’s what my approach to hypnotherapy is centered around. In RTT®, we use detective-like skills to uncover the root cause of the presenting symptoms rapidly. Once you know what is causing your issue and why, you can reframe that deep-rooted belief and begin rewiring your mind with new, empowering beliefs. This empowered mindset is what allows people to enjoy the most extraordinary transformations. One example I love is a lady called Sue who wrote to me saying her procrastination was so bad that initially she even struggled to start listening to my Stop Procrastination self-hypnosis audio! However, now that she has listened to it, she’s drastically improved her organizational skills, and her approach to life is much more focused. She finally feels excited by the prospect of getting things done and reaching her goals. Is there a core value that you are most passionate about? Self-belief. It is absolutely key to achieving success, joy, and fulfilment—not just in your career but in every aspect of your life. If you don’t believe you are enough or worthy of success, then neither will anyone else. I am passionate about helping people realize their self-worth and know, feel, and believe so deeply that they are enough that everyone around them feels it too. Many people are their own harshest critics, but in order to achieve success at the highest level, you have to be your own most powerful ally—your number one cheerleader. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with many super successful people, from CEOs to Olympic athletes, and I have seen firsthand the difference it makes when people feel worthy and deserving of success, wealth, and prosperity. You can start building your self-belief right now by adopting the empowering statement: “I am enough.” Repeat it every day. Say it out loud. Write it on post-it notes and stick it all around your home. Set it as your password. The more you see it and say it, the more your mind will accept it as true. “I am enough,” is a simple statement, but it holds such immense power. When you truly believe you are enough with unshakable certainty, you can achieve even your most ambitious goals. People would love to know about your story, Marisa. How did you build your name and brand to the level you are at right now? What are your five best tips on how to build a strong name/brand? When I was growing up, I struggled with the belief that I wasn’t enough. That belief followed me through my teens and right into my twenties. The turning point came when I moved to LA, aged 25, to work at Jane Fonda’s Fitness Centre. I was a personal trainer and surrounded by successful women who seemed to have it all. However, the more these women came to my classes, the more I noticed they struggled with eating disorders, low self-esteem, and imposter syndrome. No matter what they did or what they achieved, they never believed they were good enough. I could see there was absolutely nothing wrong with these women—which is when it hit me: did that mean there was nothing wrong with me either? That’s when I switched my thinking. I stopped telling myself the lie that I wasn’t enough. Instead, I repeated, “I am enough,” every single day until I came to believe it wholeheartedly. From that moment on, I made it my mission to help people like these women and myself believe that they are enough. I went on to study hypnosis with Gil Boyne—a leader in the field—whose work profoundly influenced my career. I dedicated the next three decades to researching and applying the most beneficial principles of hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, NLP, CBT, and neuroscience to help people achieve rapid transformation. When you find something that you are good at that offers immense value to others, it is the most fulfilling and inspiring feeling in the world. Every challenge becomes an opportunity to learn more. That’s what I now help others to do and it fills me with immense joy and pride. I quickly gained a reputation for the life-changing results people were often achieving from my sessions and soon had a thriving practice with a waitlist of clients. Having brought about phenomenal change in many Hollywood celebrities, CEOs, royalty, and sports stars, I was invited to speak on global stages and appear as an expert on television shows worldwide. Other therapists were asking me how I managed to achieve results where other therapeutic approaches had struggled. I knew that I had a responsibility to share my unique solution-based methods with the world to benefit as many people as possible. I created the multi-award-winning Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) to teach my transformational techniques to others and make them available and accessible to everyone. My five tips on building a strong personal brand are: Be proactive—when I was first starting out, I did my own PR. I’d read an article about depression, anxiety, or weight loss in a magazine, and I’d call them up and say, “Hey, I can help you with that...” Over time, my profile grew and people began to approach me instead, but you have to get out there and find your own opportunities. Do what you don’t want to do first—to be successful, you have to do things you don’t enjoy. Maybe it’s making a tough phone call or doing your taxes. Whatever it is that you enjoy least, do it first. Make it the very first thing you do when you start work. That way, it frees you up to focus on what you love, without worrying about having to do that thing you hate all day. Make meaningful connections—don’t show up to a networking event with a list of your credentials and reel them off like a robot. Engage in conversations with people. Make yourself memorable. The most effective way to do that is to tell them a story—whether it’s your story or a client’s success, people will remember you if they made an emotional connection with you. You don’t need to rely on the “hard-sell” to build a brand. In fact, that turns people off. Focus on sharing the results and impact of what you do rather than the details of your service or features of your product. Do something every day that takes you closer to your goals—your potential expands as you move towards it. You will never know what you are capable of until you take action. Commit to doing just one thing each day that moves you forwards. See every challenge as an opportunity to learn—the only risk you can fail at is not taking the risk in the first place. The only way you can fail is by failing to try. It is usually not the event itself that affects us but the meaning we attach to it. Reframe how you perceive “failure” as an opportunity for growth and something that gets you one step closer to what’s really right for you. So, what’s the next big goal or project for Marisa Peer? What keeps you hungry, what drives your continual creativity? My mission is to spread the message that there are simple, but phenomenally effective techniques everyone can use that can truly change your life. I love showing people how to do that. I started the ‘I Am Enough’ movement to help millions of people all over the world transform their lives through the power of their minds. When you truly believe you are enough with unwavering certainty, your life will improve in the most extraordinary and often unexpected ways. I dedicate my time to developing powerful courses and self-hypnosis programs designed to release the common blocks people face in every area of their life—from self-confidence and relationships, to career success and wealth, plus much more. I also have the privilege of having had five best-selling books, with another on the way. I simply love sharing a wealth of free content and gifts with my audience to help them create their own powerful transformations. My big love is teaching others how to use Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) to improve lives, and I’m thrilled to be back in the training room with my students again at the RTT® Live events. Over 10,000 people have now trained in RTT®, improving lives on a global scale. That’s not just 10,000 times the impact of one therapist, but if each of those people then positively impacts the lives of their families, friends, communities, and clients, we are creating a ripple effect of transformation worldwide. When you do what you love, you have purpose. When you share it with others, you have meaning. I absolutely love what I do and love helping others do the same. [FREE GIFT] If you would like to discover how to harness the transformative power of your mind to create change in your life, please go to marisapeer.com/free-gifts to choose your gift. For more info, follow Marisa on Youtube, Instagram and visit her website!

Written by: Sara Rudin, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Creating a business is a lot of work. Sometimes we become overwhelmed with the big picture causing us to forget the little things. When it comes to your brand, don’t forget these crucial first steps to jumpstart your business. Step One: Start with colors. Starting with colors allows others to identify your business easily. When it comes to your logo, website, and swag, these colors will represent your business. It’s important to pick out between two to three colors. Make sure these colors are important to you or represent something you love. Next, verify you know the RGB or Hex number associated with the color you want. You will need to remember to use these exact colors every time you create physical or digital products. If you’re asking how you would find this RGB/HEX information, I’ll show you a quick way to locate the number. Go to https://imagecolorpicker.com/ and upload a photo of the colors you like. Hover over the picture, and it will pop out the RGB and Hex codes for you. Each color, from Black to White and everything in between, has a unique associated code. Even two colors relatively close in the shade have completely different HEX numbers. If you create a style guide for your business, be sure to include these representative colors. Step Two: Determine your Business Name. Picking a name for your business isn’t always simple. Sometimes you pick the perfect business name to find out the name is taken. I have a different method when it comes to picking out a business name. I used to spend days, or even weeks, trying to come up with the perfect name. Now, I help business owners come up with a name as fast as one day. You will need three things: a pen, paper, and a timer. Set the timer for 5 mins. Write as many names, phrases, and words relating to your business for those five minutes. Don’t stop to think. Let your thoughts go onto the paper. After five minutes, check and see what words or names stick out to you. Take these words or phrases and hit up Google. Complete this practice again at least two more times. Once you have finished writing for five minutes three times, I don’t want you to choose a name yet. Relax your brain. I want you to finish your day, go to sleep, and wake up and try to finish out the day without thinking about your business name. This is usually when it will come to you. Once you determine the name of your business, make sure to Google it and verify it is not taken. You can then register your business name with your state. Step Three: Create a Website Websites do not have to cost an arm and a leg. Use free website builders like Wix to help create a perfect informational hub for your business. Once you start making money, you can buy a domain or even have someone else build the website for you. I, however, am all about FREE. Wix has many free resources for setting up your website. Check out YouTube if you have specific questions. Remember, simple is best. Ensure your website visitors know what you do, where you are located, and how to reach you for questions. Your brand is the most important part of your business. Starting with these three steps will set up your brand for success. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , or visit my website for more info! Sara Rudin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sara Rudin has been training for over 20 years in sports, arts, and Corporate America. Using her experience growing small businesses, she aims to mentor other small business owners who are just getting started. Sara is an advocate for the sport of baton twirling, and she began the first Baton Twirling Podcast to highlight the sport. And she works to bring all things twirling into the digital age. When Sara is not mentoring, training, or coaching, you can find her watching way too many movies and hanging with her family in Austin, Texas.

Rozanna Wyatt is a Life & Success Coach helping high-achievers, top entrepreneurs, and influential leaders breakthrough limitations so they can become unstoppable. Rozanna is an expert in the psychology of human behavior and motivation. She has 15+ years of experience developing human potential, both as a licensed therapist and coach, holds a Master of Social Work from Dalhousie University, and specialized training in leadership and high-performance. Rozanna is the pioneer behind "Good Girl Syndrome" and Rapid Transformational Coaching - a cutting-edge approach to coaching blending the most advanced modalities in positive psychology, coaching, neuroscience, and leadership, to stimulate transformational growth and change. Rozanna Wyatt, Life & Success Coach Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us about your childhood backstory? I grew up in London, Ontario, Canada, from humble beginnings on Cheapside Street (that was literally the name of the street). Though there was plenty of love for me, home life was quite chaotic. My father was an alcoholic and I witnessed spousal violence between my parents. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I had an adventurous spirit and was quite social. I was rarely home. If I was not spending time with my friends, I was competing in a local swim competition, attending Air Cadets, or preparing for my next adventure at a national summer camp. These activities fueled my inner spirit, though there is no denying it, they were also an escape from the day-to-day chaos I so desperately wanted to get away from. My parents divorced when I was approximately nine years old and I continued living with my mother and older sister. Struggle and financial scarcity continued to be the norm, even after my mother remarried. From a young age, I knew from the depths of my soul that I was destined for more than working endless hours to put the basics on the table. With a fierce determination and insatiable curiosity for life, I knew I could be, and do, more if I could just escape. Education was my way out, so at the bare age of nineteen, I uprooted my life and moved miles away from home. This was one of the best things that I have ever done for myself! How did you get started in your career? Upon graduating with my Master’s in Social Work, I was recruited to work in the field of forensics. Now, you might be thinking “CSI,” but my work was on the other end of the continuum. As a therapist, I provided psychotherapy to individuals who had committed crimes, such as ones that were sexual and violent in nature. I also completed forensic risk assessments and had the opportunity of testifying in court on a few occasions. Along the way, I entered into clinical leadership positions, strategic development, found myself teaching part-time as a faculty lecturer at two Canadian Universities, and eventually caught the entrepreneurial “bug.” From there, I started a private psychotherapy practice, developed my first executive coaching business, and invested in some entrepreneurial ventures. In 2020, I decided it was time to take my 15-years of experience in transforming human potential and performance to a global stage. This is when I rebranded my coaching business and expanded into international waters. What challenges have you faced in your entrepreneurial journey and how did you overcome them? In 2019, I started to experience gnawing in the pit of my stomach. You know, the type of hunger that leaves you craving for something more. This was to expand my coaching business globally. However, there was one problem. Despite my previous accomplishments, I hit what seemed like an invisible plateau that I could not break through. This was very confusing to me because, up until this point in my life, I had never held back. Almost every opportunity or goal I went after, I was able to achieve. What I did not realize at the time, was that I had a subconscious (hidden) fear of rejection. I developed this because, as I gained more success in my life, I experienced rejection from those close to me. Unconsciously, I started to self-sabotage by playing small and not following my deepest desire and passion because I was afraid rejection would happen again. To overcome this fear, I engaged in life-altering inner work and coaching, which was like walking into a sticky cobweb in the middle of the night. This process was the biggest variable in moving the needle on my success because it allowed me to resolve the issue at the root of its source, and show up as unstoppable me. This has also proven to be the biggest variable in moving the needle on my client’s success. You are known for your unrivaled ability in helping your clients achieve the results they desire, what makes you different? That is a great question! To be honest, I think the answer is multi-dimensional. First, coaching is my purpose and passion in life. There is nothing else I would want to do! I know I was put on this planet to help coach, lead, and empower individuals to reach their highest potential. My clients often tell me that my passion, genuine care, and ability to lead them where they cannot take themselves is a refreshing blend of authenticity and refined skill, that allows them to break through plateaus and achieve their goals. I think the fact that I have studied human behavior at the Master’s level, and spent thousands of hours over the last 15-years transforming human potential as a licensed therapy and coach has given me the competitive advantage. Each one of us is a unique human being and because of this, you need coaching that is specifically tailored to you and your goals. This requires a finite ability to quickly identify what is holding someone back from achieving their goals, knowing how to resolve the issue at the source, and how to masterfully coach and lead someone to achieve lasting results that truly empower them to claim success in all areas of their life. My culmination of education and experience, passion, and gifts in coaching, allow me to go deep with my clients which is important because cookie-cutter approaches to coaching do not work - especially for those looking for transformational change. Many clients come to me after they’ve already invested thousands of dollars in coaching and personal development only to find themselves still scratching the surface of what is possible - until they start to work with me. Who should hire/work with you, and what is it that you do for your clients? I mainly work with high-achieving entrepreneurs, leaders, and celebrities around the globe. They tend to reach for two reasons. For some, they feel like they’ve hit an invisible plateau that they cannot breakthrough. This is confusing to them because they’re used to being at the top of their game. They have the skills, talent, vision, and expertise but, they’re not getting the results they want. It is causing them to doubt themselves and their goals, feel out of alignment, and even burned out. Others reach out to me because they’re serious about their ongoing growth and want to stay at the top of their game. They’re real high-performers who are keen to master what is happening internally. They work on themselves from the inside out because this is the fastest way to achieving outward results and rising into their power and purpose. I take a unique approach to coaching clients which combines the most advanced modalities in positive psychology, high-performance, neuro reprogramming, and intensive coaching in a unique process I have called Rapid Transformational Coaching. Together we, uncover the beliefs that have been holding them back from their ultimate success; eliminate recurring thoughts, fears, behaviors, so they can own their strengths; heal deep-rooted emotional wounds and blockages...for good; and resolve what keeps them playing small - like fear of failure, good girl syndrome (aka imposter syndrome), and self-sabotage. This approach not only accelerates growth but also liberates my clients to be seen in all of their greatness and to achieve the outwards results they desire. In the work you have done, do you have a favorite success story? Being a coach and working with so many incredible individuals is a privilege! To pick one example is tough because all my clients have a success story that is unique to them. What I can say is that when my clients eliminate any self-doubt and internal blocks and embrace the totality of who they are, they discover boundless creativity, inspired strategy, and unbelievable performance. This is when they become unstoppable because there is no longer anything holding them back on the inside. Here are a few examples of what my clients have achieved: one of my clients 10x’ed their company in just eight months, another doubled their impact and opened a second business location, athletes have won national-level awards, and an astute leader finally found the courage to author the book they had been dreaming of for decades. What is your next big goal or project that you’re working on? If our readers are interested in knowing more, can they reach out to you? I am working on an exclusive retreat opportunity for high-achievers looking to recharge and discover the limitless opportunities that await when you are free to embrace the totality of who you are and all you can be. I am beyond excited about this because it gives someone space and time to work on themselves in an incredible setting, and supports one of the truths to success and high-performance - you need to slow down to speed up. Combine this with the fact that the global pandemic stalled this initiative, I simply cannot wait to be offering retreats! Readers can reach out to me about the retreat by sending an email to info@rozannawyatt.com with the subject line: Retreat, and I will provide them with details as they become solidified. You are a person of great influence. Can you leave our readers with a takeaway? Stepping into your greatness means letting go of everything that holds you back. When you are free to embrace the totality of who you are, there is no limit that cannot be transcended. This means true success is when, without limits, you embrace the totality of who you are and all you can be - the key to experiencing fulfillment and claiming success that genuinely satisfies your soul. Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram and visit my website for more info. Read more from Rozanna!

Written by: Liz Loizou-Smith, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. First, let’s talk about what a self-saboteur is, then let's figure out if you fall under one of these top 3 categories I see show up in my clients. According to Psychology Today, Self-saboteurs allow fear to guide their thoughts, plans, and actions . They focus on the negative and ignore the positive; they bring up the past, they settle, they may even be masters of procrastination. When I talk about self-sabotage, I feel like I need background music (dun dun duuuuuun). But in all seriousness, self-sabotage behavior is real and can create daily problems in our personal and professional lives, sacrificing happiness and relationships. The goals we choose and the approach we take widely depend on whether we’re going to sabotage those results or not. How often do you find yourself saying, “Why does this always happen to me” or “Why do I always do this?” or how about, “I knew this was going to happen anyway .” Finally, you get so close to reaching that goal, and then it just all falls apart. Something gets in the way, something or someone prevents you from getting there, you didn’t have enough time. You get the idea. All these excuses are exactly that, excuses. In a nutshell, self-sabotage is about you proving to yourself that you can’t do something; it’s a protection mechanism. You might be wondering why anyone would want to block themselves from success, and the simple answer, to avoid disappointment, fear, risk, and stress. You don’t have enough faith, confidence, or belief in yourself to get to that end goal, so instead, you literally set yourself up for failure so that you don’t have to fail unexpectedly . You already knew you would, so you might as well throw a wrench to prove it. Today we’re going to go over the top 3 behaviors I often see come into my practice. These 3 behaviors can be seen in all five life areas; relationships, family, career, health, and money. (Now’s a good time to reflect and write down any thoughts that might come to you while reading this). So here are those 3 behaviors . Think about them alongside each of the 5 life areas and see where you may need to put in some work. 1. The Doubter If you don’t believe in yourself or your ability to achieve something, you can’t possibly reach your goals. The Doubter has that little voice in their head telling them that they can’t achieve something. This often comes from deep-rooted stories that probably go back to childhood. We carry these thoughts with us through adulthood without even realizing it. Listen to how you speak to yourself and listen to the thoughts of doubt that come through. Are these your personal thoughts or thoughts that come from something someone told you? 2. The Fearful Failure When it comes to Fearful Failure, they will inherently bring on failure they will inherently bring on failure if they give themselves a reason to fail. So instead of proving themselves wrong, they prove themselves right by sabotaging their goals. This way, there’s no room for unexpected disappointment. 3. The Blamer The blamer will typically blame others or situations because they can’t do the things they need to move closer to their goals. They believe the choice is not up to them at all, and when something goes wrong, they can turn the blame on those people or instances that “got in the way .” But in reality, they’ve set up that blame by giving themselves no options to make changes. For example, the mom has a million and one thing to do . Therefore there’s no chance she can make it to the gym or engage in self-care, yet she refuses to ask for help. If you relate to any of these personas, don’t feel bad, it's actually great that you recognize this could be a pattern. This is how we fix things. Below are a few steps you can begin to put in the work to overcome these behaviors. 1. Pay attention . How often you allow negativity to creep in and consume your thoughts. When you begin to think or talk about how something isn’t working out, stop and ask yourself these questions. Why isn’t it working out? Is this even valid or the truth? What is working that I can focus on more? When we begin to switch those thought patterns, we can recognize the triggers that bring them on and course correct. 2. Welcome failure. Failure doesn’t mean you need to give up. You can always pick up where you left off. Learn from the mistake and move on. Mistakes are the only way we can grow and become better. 3. Practice daily affirmations. This is a really great habit to get into. Put sticky notes on your bathroom mirror, in your car, and anywhere that you go often. If you can remind yourself to do this enough, it will become part of your every day. I even have an affirmation to get me through hard times, “This is only temporary . I am the one in control”. This helps me relax any negative thoughts and stand in my control. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Investing in a coach who understands this behavior can help you break barriers you never thought existed. When you focus on gradual improvements, I promise they will add up and help in the rewiring process of our subconscious and default mindset. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , or visit my website ! Liz Loizou-Smith, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Liz Loizou-Smith is a leader in Human Performance Coaching. She helps individuals tap into their greatness by guiding them in rebuilding their power from within. She is a certified Holistic Health Practioner, Sports Nutritionist, and Movement Specialist. She is also a practicing Reiki Master and a highly intuitive individual. Her approach involves an integrated solution rooted in holistic health, which combines Eastern and Western modalities of nutrition, movement, and mindfulness practices. Her quantum alignment background allows her to connect with her clients' energetic imbalances intuitively . She is the founder of Rebel Instinct Coaching, which integrates physical, mental, and spiritual well-being by fueling the body, engaging the mind, and nurturing the spirit. Her belief, if one of these areas is out of alignment, than none of them can properly function. Liz has made it her mission to help others incorporate these practices into their personal and professional lives in a way that is aligned with their goals. She has also developed the Teen Rebel Mastery Program, an interactive, highly engaging mental and physical training program that helps each grasp and apply critical concepts for peak performance in both sports and life. Her passion for integrative health has inspired her to develop, The Power Plate Method and The Connected Body Method, which, at its core, focuses on nutrition, movement, and mindset.

Written by: Daniel Mangena, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. A lot of hay is made of ‘Manifestation’ these days. We see the term bandied about in all sorts of online courses, webinars, coaching books, and so forth. Like many phrases ‘du jour’ — manifesting has become big business. The cynical side of this is people trying to insinuate that they can teach you how to conjure money out of thin air. On the more benign end, it’s about getting you to focus, but what is manifestation? I’ve spent a lot of my coaching career (and the many years leading up to it) studying manifesting and unpacking it for people. The core truth that I’ve come to understand is that ‘manifesting’ as a term is somewhat misleading. Let me explain. The simple truth is that we’re always manifesting. What manifesting is at its core is the world told through your eyes. It is the input of the universe, the reconfiguration of that input within you, and the resulting output/experience that you witness. You are constantly manifesting. You do it innately throughout your day, based on various inputs and desired outcomes, the vast majority of which are subconscious. Deliberately manifesting a desired outcome requires consciously chosen inputs with consistent choices and actions. We have many tools at our disposal that enable us to do this, and while the concept is simple, reconfiguring ourselves to produce new outcomes is far more complicated. A lot of manifestation teachers seem to miss is that it’s not just one thing that allows us to manifest. Meditation or mind-maps alone will not bring you your desired outcome. That’s not to reject them or any of the more esoteric practices outright. On the contrary, I think they can be fantastic tools of manifestation when embarked upon with the correct intention. If we really want to see something show up for us though, we need a more holistic approach. I’m sure you can see sense in this. Scrunching your eyes up real tight and repeating ‘ there’s no place like home ’ isn’t going to get it done in and of itself. We need to ally it with the appropriate action and intervening steps that will get us there. Just as with anything that we want to create, manifesting must be done using the tools that make the most sense for us. In other words: the tools that align with who we are and how we create most effectively. Meditation and visualization (for example) have great utility in focussing our mindset. This is vital if we want to forge a path to success in any field of endeavor. They alone won’t create a seven-figure business or develop a clean energy program, but they can create alignment for you to facilitate those things effectively and efficiently. Everything has a frequency. We are all operating on an energetic frequency. Emotions are really how we feel those frequencies, but there are other ways to measure them. Suffice it to say: the emotional state you will feel upon realizing your vision/dreams has a frequency too! What practices like meditation enable us to do, is cultivate and hold that frequency in the now. This, in turn, creates alignment with that future outcome, enabling you to move towards it inexorably. We not only need to create that alignment but also remove the barriers that stand in our way. What is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) barriers that we face? Us! As much as we need to remain in the driving seat consciously throughout the manifestation process, we also must recognize how we obstruct our manifestations. It is very easy to get in our own way, especially when we fixate on an outcome. I know that might seem counter-intuitive, but thinking of nothing but your dream life all day isn’t helping. It is very important to do the homework of visualizing and understanding exactly what you want to manifest. Once that work is done, it can be counterproductive to spend too much time dwelling on it. This can be for several reasons. In his book, “ Reality Transurfing,” author Vladim Zeland talks about this at length, but it really boils down to creating the wrong frequency or energetic charge around your goal. One big problem with this is that it builds up your goals and places a lot of emphasis on them. “What’s wrong with that? So I have lofty aspirations, isn’t that a good thing?!” Of course, it is, but if you emotionally charge your dreams to the extent that they become all-consuming, you will subconsciously see them as unobtainable. You’ll also run into the thorny issue of unworthiness and self-sabotage. If subconsciously, you think that being a millionaire (for example) is such an overwhelmingly lofty aspiration/endgame, your subconscious will interpret that as ‘not achievable’ and/or ‘something that we are not worthy of.’ It will throw you unwittingly into a state of overwhelm, such that you are frozen and unable to take action. Manifesting requires action too! Action is concurrently the most and least important part of the process. Most: because nothing happens without it. You have to take action, however small if you want to experience something in your life. Least: because blind action produces random results. You obviously have to direct your physical actions in a specified direction to see specific results. Meditation and mind-movies are really groovy tools, but they must be seen as part of the process of preparing you to take action. This is what I meant earlier when I talked about intention. They will help hone your understanding of what action is required, such that when it comes time to take it, it’s effortless. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” - Abraham Lincoln I love this quote, and it really speaks to what I’m talking about here. You need to ‘sharpen your ax’ through mindful practices and taking care of your physical body, such that you are enabled to take effortless action in pursuit of your goal. Otherwise, you’ll spend your life hammering away at the tree with a dull ax and getting nowhere. You still have to chop down the tree, though! So what is Manifesting really? You already know the answer to it. You’ve been doing it since you were born. My encouragement to you is to recognize that, take ownership of it, and understand that you must do the work to be present in the process to start seeing new outcomes in your life. Seek out practices that will enable you to consciously choose a more abundant, joyful, and purpose-driven life. It sounds hard, but I promise you: you have it within you to manifest whatever life for yourself that you want. You have to start choosing it! For some free resources that will help get you started, please check out the link to my website below. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Daniel! Daniel Mangena, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dan Mangena is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and public speaker. Recently named in the Wall St Journal as a "Master of Success," he is completely self-made and has spent decades perfecting his world-class coaching methodology. His books, podcasts, events & retreats continue to help captains-of-industry, and private individuals alike live an abundant, joyful, purpose-driven life. He offers many unique and effective free tools via his website.

Written by: Sima Azadegan, 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. Oftentimes, we live our lives taking the easy way out. We like to create stories or scenarios in our heads to justify our position on certain issues. We can have a brilliant mind to convince ourselves and the people around us about how certain reality or a truth really is. But the question that I would like to address is whether it is the truth or just fooling ourselves and the people around us! Coming from the lineage of a Holocaust survivor, I faced my life with strength and perseverance. My grandmother was just 14 years old when she fled the persecution of Germany during World War II and came to live with her mother in Iran. She created her own life in a foreign place and lived for 30 more years even after my grandfather passed away. Not once did she ever see herself as a victim but lived her life with strength, gratitude, humility, and grace. Life is a test, and we are challenged to face our issues daily. The only way you can pass your test and reach your potential and destiny is by being strong and facing your fears every step of the way. You have to be a soldier of light and or a warrior and fight through every inner struggle and pain to survive to manifest who you truly are and at the same time be a positive contribution to the world. If you create scenarios in your head and act as victims, you will go back to your own rabbit hole and live in your own shell of darkness. The choice is yours! Do your part and act like a warrior rather than a victim. There is a beautiful world after the darkness and the pain you experience in life. Lead with strength and humility rather than fear and shallowness. We all have an assignment in our lives, and the only way to accomplish our mission is to battle our own demons and fight our own weaknesses. As long as you are on the journey, with hope and faith, your guiding light will lead you the way to the promised land. Trust your gut and lead with your intuition. There will always be resistance and doubt, but stay your own course and walk your own path. Believe in yourself and only yourself as you reach your destiny and full potential. Choose a warrior rather than a victim and see how your life unfolds and how you discover your own truth! Follow my journey on Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin. You can also visit my website for more info. Read more from Sima! Sima Azadegan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine After living a complete life, Sima Azadegan has decided to follow her passion and make her dream come true. As a young girl, Sima started her classical piano training, which led to the momentum of her life. She raised her family and, at the same time, was on the board of directors of four major charities. Her toughest challenge was going through the journey of her inner consciousness that led to her true purpose and creating her company Sima Collezione. Her brand's mission is to empower women by bringing out each woman's inner beauty and light. Her brand has incorporated all the positive forces of nature, and its ultimate goal is to spread positive consciousness for all the women around the globe. Her collection will be featured at the New York Fashion Week this coming September. Sima says," We all have a responsibility to follow our dreams, manifest our talents, and make the world a better place."