Business Fit Magazine July 2021

Jul/Aug 2021

How to Retire With Millions

The Power of

8

Are sailing cargo ships the future? www.businessfitmagazine.com

e i r a M e m a D

d n o Diam

Millions n te h g li n E to y e Energ Bringing Positiv

CERTIFICATION IN

OPTIMISM COACHING

WWW.IIHWORLD.COM

Dear Business Fit readers, In this edition I would like to talk about the great team we have formed over time. Our editor Claire, our designer Leo and now we have also been joined by Malish made up of three great women. Lilli, Maike and Fati who rekindle the magic of teamwork.

This past year has been challenging for everyone, but each time we do the magazine, each time we read or post a post, the flame that teamwork produces is lit. After a super hard year, I want to remind us all of the value of fun. Little by little let us feel alive again and want to vibrate high, remembering that together is better.

We spark FUN through humour, boosting our creativity, adding more meaning to our purpose. A smile is worth more than a thousand words.

It is extremely pleasant when the clock continues to tick away the hours which for us appear to stand still because we are enjoying ourselves like crazy and that is what happens to us at BFM when we enliven the fun through humour, adding more meaning to our purpose.

A smile is worth more than a thousand words.

BFM has fun with our readers, and you have fun with BFM through the activities we carry out, promoting this concept, which enriches us and gives us added value to our ventures.

Without fun there is no life.

Without fun there is no entrepreneurship.

No fun… There is no BFM. Thanks to all the people involved and making the magic happen in our lives...the team, the collaborators and you all our readers . We love you.

Together is better!

Fun is the perfect ingredient to make life more enjoyable, it is what distracts us and gives us the positive energy to drive and enhance our creativity. Fun is not the domain of children but of all human beings, regardless of age. What would our life be without fun?

We need to have fun to be better people, because when we participate in activities which make us feel good in every one of the cells of our body, everything looks different.

In the old and intelligent civilisations of the Greeks and Romans, places were specially built for socialising and fun and were of great importance.

However, the word fun, not only refers to activities to generate great joy, but also those that benefit our health, by providing us with enjoyable, interesting and relaxing entertainment. During those special moments, we enjoy the tranquillity of doing what we like, without realising how much time we are investing in it.

Verónica Sosa Publisher www.businessfitmagazine.com

FIT FEATURES

Karry on Travel - p58 Bora Bora Karry Carrasco

Purposefully Dressing Your Personal Image Alexandra Stark p8

Adaptability Makes us Smile Viola Edward p21 Common Mistakes Made by Leaders Don Zillioux p38 Dare, You Can Do It Lennys Guerra p48

Health & Body

Navigating Unchartered Waters Maxine Golding p46

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Marie Diamond p28

5 Steps to Developing your Emotional Fitness Kiechelle Degale p52 Reaching That Next Level of Achievement, Confidence and Happiness Rebecca Jackson p62

Investing in your online presence Fatima Gorezi p6

Executive Presence Amy Throw p16 The real business success is in the ‘Follow-up’ Malish p34 Six Steps To Build Your Business Online Marjorielyn McKenzieGray p42 Retire with millions by investing 10% of your income Loucas A. Ferekides p56

Publisher & Founder Verónica Sosa Business Fit International Advisory Board Viola Edward Vikki Thomas

REACH OUT For information on advertising or placing an article in Business Fit Contact us: Email: editorbfm@gmail.com Phone: +32 472 134 230

Contributors Alexandra Stark Amy Throw Don Zillioux Fatima Gorezi Hannah Hurford Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu Karry Carrasco Kiechelle Degale Lennys Guerra Loucas A. Ferekides Malish Marie Diamond Marjorielyn McKenzie-Gray Maxine Golding Rebecca Jackson Viola Edward General Editorial Coordinator Claire Morley Art and Design Director Leo Collier-Bett

Sailing Cargo – Past, Present and Future Hannah Hurford p24

Environment

The Symbolic Power of the Number 8 for Business Women Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu p12

Graphic Designer Adverts Javier Sanchez

Copyright © 2021 by Verónica Sosa.

All rights reserved.

This Magazine or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

M-20318-2017

5

Business

How Covid-19 boosted

the power of social media

Head of Marketing and Communication at MaLish and magazine editor-in-chief, Fatima Gorezi, takes a look at how Covid-19 has impacted the power of social media and the importance of connecting more with this way of doing business.

Covid-19 has had a major impact on society, and the economy in general and has significantly accelerated the need for digital transformation for businesses.

Among other things, Covid-19 has built a new narrative of doing business by taking into account the changes caused to companies of all sectors.

Therefore, it is important to discuss the ways in

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which companies orientate towards mitigation of economic consequences of the pandemic and adapt accordingly to the circumstances to face it.

Considering Covid-19 as the main promoter of digital transformation for many businesses and online presence as a necessary process for companies to stay relevant and competitive in the market, this article addresses the importance of social media as a pillar for the future of your business.

It is worth noting that digital transformation can include areas such as digital marketing, social media, digitalisation and automation of business processes, business models, channels for sales, digital procurement, Big Data, and other similar

processes related to the multidimensional transformation of companies, however in this article, we will focus more on the power of social media.

The new reality, a new way of buying

People are gradually getting used to this new reality (Covid-19), and online shopping is one of them. After March 2020 people’s access to e-commerce around the world changed almost overnight. Fear of physical contact changed their behaviour in so-called shopping as well as the products they buy, when and how they buy these products.

When cities are quarantined, non-essential businesses are ordered to close and customers are forced to avoid public spaces, buying essentials became the new mode of shopping. In this new reality, brands were forced to reconsider the way they do business as well as focus on finding new opportunities.

But the online world has more competition than the offline, so the task of every business is to have an attractive online presence which provides security and reliability to customers.

Online reputation and social media

Social media marketing is able to connect and interact on a much more personalised and dynamic level than through traditional marketing.

A social media marketing strategy can be as simple as having a company blog, a LinkedIn account, Youtube videos, etc.

Social networks provide a place to interact with customers and allow consumers to interact with each other. This can be a great starting point for marketing to go viral and boost sales.

The more you interact with the customer, the more brand loyalty you build. Whether for your personal reputation or the reputation of your business, social media is an important aspect of monitoring and maintaining them in the online world.

When someone hears about a business or a brand and wants to know more or connect with them, they search on various social networks.

You can start a dedicated social media strategy to improve it and influence the kind of information people find about you.

3 social media rules you may not know Social media marketing should be perfect

Hire a specialist. People who have no experience in digital marketing have unrealistic expectations that every post on social media will have an immediate impact.

But organic growth on social networks like Instagram or Facebook has declined dramatically as companies enter these networks hoping that consumers will be caught with just a brief glimpse of their goods. More sophisticated tactics are needed such as compelling designs or videos that would translate into content and be appealing to people in order to have more impact.

Be authentic

Even on Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin, what matters is your value, the advantages of the product or service you offer. Post things that really interest you and your community. From the other side get to know your clients, engage honestly. Giving advice and offering suggestions will make you seem helpful, knowledgeable, and trustworthy.

Monitor and protect your brand

Respond to comments and complaints, using them as opportunities to engage, build trust, grow your brand, and face potential problems.

Make sure you regularly visit sites, resources, and sites that discuss the industry, your product or service.

Fatima Gorezi is a journalist, PR and Press Expert, Social Media Specialist, and Freelance Blogger. She is the editor in chief for Star Magazine, a national magazine dedicated to lifestyle, art, culture, and diplomacy based in Tirana, Albania. She is passionate about writing and confident at researching a topic and sharing her new-found knowledge. fatimagorezi@gmail.com

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Mindset & Emotion

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Purposefully Dressing

Your Personal Image And how it impacts your confidence and entrepreneurial success

Personal Brand Strategist, Trainer and Speaker, Alexandra Stark, explains how the way we dress makes a difference to how we are perceived, whether live or virtual, we should always be dressing for success.

Do you remember one of those days, when you didn’t really feel that good in your own skin? When you felt insecure, unhappy, doubting yourself?

We are currently facing challenging times and many people experience moments like this right now. So, let me ask you: How did you dress?

If you feel weird being all dressed up with nowhere to go since lockdown started, you are not alone. However, please keep in mind: As an entrepreneur, by now you’ve heard that “first impressions matter” and your image has a profound impact (either positive or negative) on the depth of connection and number of sales you can make whenever you step in front of an audience. And there is no difference whether you are live or virtual.

If I could guess, I would say you intuitively grabbed something which reflected your current mood and energy state. Something in darker, grey colours, something loose and not very flattering?

If you are nodding now, don’t worry. That’s what most people do.

In my training I show my female clients how to monetize their uniqueness, so they can elevate their personal brand and attract more of what they want in life and business. I believe in a method of dressing my clients that is deeply honouring their true nature, so they can show up at their BEST in front of their clients and audiences. Imagine, when your “inner” matches your “outer”, how much more authentic you feel.

I can assure you, this makes you feel a deep sense of alignment within yourself that is deeply healing and nourishing. And of course, you are much more magnetic to your dream clients.

Be authentic but be bold enough to stand out

Apart from looking amazing and feeling good, the way we dress and show up is a crucial part of our PERSONAL BRAND. And the way we feel and handle our emotions and our Little Voice, is affecting the way we dress. That’s why dressing has to do a lot with mindset and that is where I start. At the end of the day, your emotions determine how you feel. Your feelings determine how you dress and how you act. The way you act determines how others react to you. It’s a ripple effect.

Covid-19 forced many of us to make a shift to take our business from offline to online.

Showing up on Zoom and Virtual Conferences is not an option any more but a must. For many entrepreneurs it still can be challenging and so

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Mindset & Emotion

Our clothes are nonverbal communication

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is the question of what to wear. I have seen so many jogging suits and casual leisure outfits during the last 18 month… that my heart jumps for joy when somebody shows up in a nice outfit and when I feel the alignment from their looks to their business. You definitely stick out, when you show up with an attitude, well dressed and professional. In a Zoom gallery with many participants in track pants sitting in the dark, your face will grab attention if you look the part and your “setting” says “I am likable, professional and trustworthy”.

Karl Lagerfeld, the German fashion designer (Chanel) used to say “if you are wearing track pants, you have lost control over your life”. I couldn’t help but wonder what he would say today if he saw all this “casualisation” worldwide.

I think he had a point. And at the end of the day, it’s still called home OFFICE. I will never forget what Randi Zuckerberg, owner of Zuckerberg Media & Marketing Guru, told me once, when I interviewed her: “We are all in sales, all the time, whether you think you are or not.” I want to emphasise, we are also selling ourselves, when we are “just” showing up in a virtual call, Zoom, Online conference…. Our clothes are nonverbal communication, sending signals all the time. Most people are unaware of what kind of signals they are sending. Even if we are participants – as soon as our camera is on, we are selling ourselves. So, make sure you show up as your best authentic version.

So, how can you do that? Well, you could start by asking yourself every morning when you get dressed: what does my day look like? What kind of (virtual) meetings do I have today? How do I want to be perceived in these meetings? How do I want to FEEL in those meetings? Keep in mind that your next client or business partner can be only one click away.

My 3 tips to consciously use your clothes to boost your confidence in your next online meeting or Zoom call:

#1 Dress for success:

Dress for the job or role you want to have (not just for the one you already have). That helps you to picture yourself in that role already and increases your confidence. It is also a form of

respect (towards your audience AND yourself) and a sign of good manners.

Remember: When you look good, you feel good.

When you feel good, you act differently. When you act differently, people react differently. That’s the ripple effect, I mentioned above.

#2 Find your own style that reflects your brand:

Get inspired by trends but only wear what suits you. Find items that match your skin tone, body shape and your personality. Keep in mind your personal brand, and how you want to be perceived.

Ask yourself: Does your overall presence reflect you and your business perfectly? For example, if you are a business coach and you are selling high priced packages, make sure your outfit reflects that. When your customers don’t perceive you as authentic, and if, what you are saying is not congruent with how you are showing up… people will not trust you and therefore not buy from you.

#3 Dare to be different:

Be authentic but be bold enough to stand out.

“Normal” is boring. As entrepreneurs we learn to leave our comfort zones, because only then we can grow and transform into a better version of ourselves. There is no difference in dressing. If we want to get dressed with intention, it requires us to leave our comfort zones as well and to try new outfits. It requires us to have an attitude and to not care about what other people might think about us.

Apart from the business aspect, your clothes should be an area of your life that bring joy and happiness. AND YOU DESERVE TO HAVE JOY AND HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE! I believe that everything that makes us happy is also good for our business.

While comfort is important, you should attempt to get ‘all dressed up’ at least when you are on camera and visible. Remember: the way you show up tells people who you are before you even say a word. So, let me ask you: What do you want to communicate nonverbally in your next Zoom?

Saxa Stefani Alexandra Stark, has worked is a Personal in clinical, Brand HR,Strategist, psychiatricTrainer addictions and Speaker and coaching from Düsseldorf, psychology. Germany.

His accumulated She is theprofessional founder of “Branded experience

by Results”. and academic Her passion skills is ledto him support to establish female entrepreneurs ceideps in Barcelona, in building a strong specialised personal centre brand inso Social that they Psychology, generate which moreStefani visibility, presents customers as “one and success. of the most Her powerful holistic approach tools in of psychology high-quality to accomplish and authentic a deep self-presentation and multidimensional encompasses understanding both, business and and management mindset coaching. of humanhello@alexandrastarkcoaching.com behaviour.” @saxastefani @ceideps

11

Spirituality

The

Symbolic Power of the

Number 8 for

Business Women 12

Regular contributor to Business Fit Magazine, Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu, explains the importance of the number 8 in our lives, an ancient traditional symbol it represents constant movement, development and change.

The number 8 is an old, traditional symbol which represents the eternal flow. All is interlinked and in communication. Humankind and nature, human beings and animals, plants etc. are connected one with the other like a huge network. We do not always perceive it, because our senses do not detect it so easily, or because this aspect of life is not really in our main focus.

In our western culture, we are more used to concentrating on details or aspects we can isolate and investigate following the criterias of what we call “modern science“. Traditional knowledge is based on holistic researches of phenomenons.

The number 8 symbolises the philosophy – based upon concrete observations of nature - that life expresses itself as being in constant movement, development, change, following a certain inherent rythm. Constant communication allows this dynamic. We can observe it in our own body: the cells renew themselves, we become older, the cycle of life finds its own expression; on the other hand, we influence this natural process with our lifestyle and the values we put into practice. The more we are well balanced, the more we bring the natural conditions of life and our lifestyle together. The real art consists of finding a good balance, to be equilibrated in whatever we are doing. We are not the centre of the world! Going for our interconnection with broader dimensions, with others, with me, and finding an equilibrium, that‘s it!

By entering more into the detail of the symbolic dimension of the 8, we discover the message beyond. Let‘s start with a short look into the old teachings of wisdom transmitted by the so called “Tarot Cards“, the “Rider Tarot“ from Arthur Edward Waite. They transmit in a symbolic way, advising of happiness, wellbeing and joy.

Concerning the “Magical 8“, three cards are of special interest in our context.

The first card: “The Magician“

The lying 8 is floating over his head. By stretching his arm and the baton in his hand in the direction of the sky, he connects himself with the Universe.

The 8 is a frequent geometrical structure of being interlinked

The 8 symbolises the constant flow of energies which broaden his perspectives and give him inner strength. His message is to widen our capacity of receiving the impulses we could never have found alone. If we persist in our limited position, viewpoint or strategy, we are stuck fast on a narrow minded, limited path. This happens when conflicts impede constructive solutions, then, we want to “win“, to be right without aiming at the best outcome for a target or a group. “To be connected“ means to be able to create a distance regarding our own judgments. It opens a space for a real dialogue, listening and referring to each other. The “field of possibilities“ needs an open heart combined with the willingness to go for a constructive outcome. The flow between ourself and an open space enables us to be creative – creating first a distance from ourselves, reconnecting at another level.

In nature and in the universe, the 8 is a frequent geometrical structure of being interlinked. There is in the centre a point, where both waves come together and join each other. The dynamic needs this point of stillness to be equilibrated. We need it too! A lot of exercices coming from eastern practices like yoga, martial arts, tai chi, chi gong etc. and, of course, meditation aim at reaching at least partially – this point of stillness; it creates a distance to our perception of things, of the way we perceive the world. Overmore, it opens us to new, fresh impulses and perspectives. Then, the flow is continuing... thanks to this point of stillness.

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Spirituality One of the pre-conditions is not to judge inmediatelly! Let‘s try an exercice: Observe yourself, how often you judge – for example in the street watching people; or in your workplace or anywhere. The corresponding emotion is very often rejection, anger etc. Make your own list!

Then transform it into feelings which bring you acceptance, understanding and even joy. This does not mean you accept all that happens, on the contrary. It helps you to transform compulsary reactions with sometimes boring consequences – a real transformation. Then, values like respect, tolerance and humility become rooted in your personality. The “Me“ is no longer the main focus of interest; it is ready to receive a “you“, or even more, to elaborate a new “WE“ – as a result of talking in creative communication.

What we therefore really need, is to be emotionally balanced.

The second card: “Two of coins“

The two coins are interlinked by a person who is balancing them in a dynamic way with movement of the wave. It shows we are requested to handle our income and outcome, what we give and what we receive in our material world, in a smooth, flexible way. Mindfulness and flexiblitiy create a balance. Therefore, we need to be emotionally balanced. But how can we live the above mentioned values as long as we are slaves of emotions like greed, hate, jealousy or attitudes of narcissism?

How can we handle them? First of all, they are part of us, and it would not help to push them aside, or to replace them by emotions like shame or bad conscious. Just accept them and find out ways of transforming them. There is no “good“ or “bad“ in them.

They just show us where we are stuck and need to create a flow. The deeper reason of such attitudes is very often an inferiority complex which creates a need to constantly

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prove that “I am the best“. Just allow humour, good feelings and joy to flow. Little by little, you will feel a liberating happiness.

The card reminds us that we are powerful when we harmonise our energy of giving and receiving, of being active by doing and oberving in stillness or just resting. The message is: be balanced, plan your day in order that you are relaxed.

Even better: give yourself the space and time to be balanced, in harmony of your needs. No, there is no duality of work and life suggested by the expression “Work Life Balance“. Work is an essential part of life, life is work in action. Let‘s bring such flow into it, that you enjoy the flow of being creative in life in general, including your business. Both are interlinked like an 8.

Third Tarot Card: “The Power“

The card shows a woman opening widely the muzzle of a lion. The lying 8 floating over her head shows she is able to do it, thanks to her mental and physical strength. She has integrated her emotions and developed a balanced link to her mental forces. Overmore, the double harmonisation allows her to act in a courageous way overcoming fears or judgments like: “a woman can‘t do it“.

In terms of eastern teachings of wisdom and corresponding practices, she has combined the three energetical centres we have: the vital one in our belly, the heart centre as the point of stillness and door to new possibilities, our mind and third eye for consciousness. Our physical, mental and spiritual dimension is in harmony, so we can easily combine our intellectual, emotional and spiritual power. Brain, belly, intuition and action all go hand in hand.

Businesswomen should play an important role in implementing the main message of the “magical 8“ symbolised by these three Tarot cards: To be balanced and to promote processes which allow us to overcome the duality of “Me“ and “You“, creating a powerful “WE“. This has, of course, concrete repercussions on the style of thinking, feeling, acting, talking. Therefore, you may need to find out the adequate tool to exercise it. For example the “Non Violent Communication“ (M. Rosenberg), yoga, meditation, martial arts including Tai Chi etc.

Overmore, some physical exercices based on the 8 coordinate our yin/yang energies like brain and emotions, active/passive etc. I recommend you one wonderful exercise you can easily apply wherever you are: “The swinging 8“.

Cross your stretched out arms, clasp your fingers.

Swing a great 8 with your arms up and down, the whole body cooperates. Inhale upwards, exhale downwards. The changing point is at the level of your heart.

Make the same movement sidewards, starting with the left side upwards, inhaling, turning to the other side, same movement downwards exhaling.

Combine and enjoy the two aspects of this exerice as long as you wish. You may do it with music or sing swinging. You will feel refreshed and powerful – even more by visualising the balance and harmony transported by the “Magical 8“.

Just go for it!

What we really need, is to be emotionally balanced

Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu, from the University of Applied Sciences, Munich/ Germany, specialised in Intercultural Communication in Spain and Latin America and has been published in this field. She has worked with UNESCO in the field of Education. She focuses on seminars in Mindful Communication and in body-based teachings to open our heart, combined with Mindful Communication. Her message: Life is lovely. www.Irmela-neu.de

15

Business

Executive

Presence 7 Steps to Expand Your Influence and Increase Your Impact

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Award-Winning Entrepreneur and Executive Coach, Amy Throw, talks about the importance of Executive Presence for female entrepreneurs and gives us a seven-step plan to help us unlock our leadership potential and equip others to develop their own Executive Presence.

We’ve all heard the term “Executive Presence” and know it’s important but what does it mean?

Executive Presence is more than about looking good in a suit. It’s an attitude that exudes confidence, competence, and intelligence.

Executive Presence is critical for female entrepreneurs.

In 17 years of coaching entrepreneurs, I’ve seen a consistent theme. We can lack self-confidence.

We overthink, second guess ourselves and worry about how others perceive us. This can make it difficult for us to lead with confidence.

Developing Executive Presence starts with building your confidence. The 7 steps outlined in this article are based on my Full Circle 7 Method ™ of Executive Presence and will help you discover your inner CEO and become the leader you were born to be!

Step 1 - Develop Gravitas Gravitas is a word that translates as dignity and impressiveness. It is a virtue along with kindness, hard work, self-worth, and sense of humour. The weight of your dignity must be balanced with an ability to lighten up. Too dignified and there’s no fun or joy. Too light and no one listens because you are not taken seriously.

Gravitas includes knowledge, purpose, and passion - and they all work together. Leaders must know their business and be up to date on industry trends. This is a given. A leader with gravitas is also driven by purpose and passion. In Simon Sinek’s famous Ted Talk, “Start with Why,” he says others aren’t inspired by WHAT we do or HOW we do it. They are inspired by our WHY. The WHY is our purpose.

Step 2 - Cultivate Three Types of Intelligence Every person has a different set of intellectual gifts. Knowledge about your product or industry is foundational to executive presence. But knowledge isn’t enough. You must also have emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and self-awareness. These 3 intelligences are the foundation of executive presence.

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and manage our own emotions and recognise, understand, and influence the emotions of others.

Social Intelligence develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is often referred to as “tact,” “common sense,” or “street smarts.”

Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively. We develop self-awareness through reflection and introspection.

Step 3 - Mind Your Mindset Psychologist Carol S. Dweck states that those with a “fixed mindset”, believe that intelligence is static and those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. Executive Presence requires a growth mindset. A growth mindset starts by managing negative thoughts before they take control. When we model this to others, our influence grows.

Investing in your personal development and becoming a lifelong learner is part of a growth mindset. This mindset gives you an edge, unlocks potential and improves performance. Once you have mastered your own mindset you can help others develop a growth mindset and they can do the same. This creates a positive ripple effect in your business and in the world.

What we do must be motivated by purpose.

Once we tap into our purpose, the passion will flow, and passion persuades. Master gravitas and you will command respect and attracts others wherever you go!

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Business

Step 4 - Protect Your Brand Your brand is more than the clothes you wear and the colours on your logo. Brand is the trifecta of dress, decorum, and demeanour.

Leverage the first impression of others by dressing in a way that communicates your brand.

Brand also includes how well your body language and your voice communicate your brand to the world. A confident tone of voice will project brand power in any situation. Good posture, a robust handshake and eye contact are the finishing touches.

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Step 5 - Communicate with Clarity and Confidence Clear communication is a foundation of Executive Presence. Leaders must be able to engage and activate others when they communicate.

Whether you are crafting an email, a formal presentation, or leading a web meeting, mind what you say and how you say it. Leaders with Executive Presence devote time and energy to plan their communications.

Did you know only 7 percent of meaning is

communicated with our words? According to UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian, 38 percent is through tone of voice, and 55 percent through body language. Leaders with Executive Presence are mindful of tone, especially in email and text.

They make sure that their body language is consistent with their message.

Step 6 - Be Authentic A leader with Executive Presence is authentic.

Authentic leaders are aware of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions. They show their real selves to others. Their public and private behaviour is consistent. They don’t hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak.

The authentic leader knows her strengths and leverages them. Authenticity includes identifying what makes you unique. It also includes being aware of your liabilities and blind spots. There are many assessments available to help leaders discover strengths and liabilities. A few that I’m experienced with are the HOGAN, Clifton Strengths, and the Extended DISC. Authentic leaders can inspire people to pull together, work hard, and communicate. They inspire because they stay true to their own values. They know who they are, and they don’t let anyone keep them from deciding what they know is right.

Step 7 - Cultivate Equanimity Equanimity is rarely discussed and a key to Executive Presence. Equanimity is evenness of mind and the ability to stay calm especially under stress. It involves detaching from emotions to maintain your composure under pressure.

If you’re a leader, I trust that this article delivered insight into what it takes to be an effective one.

The seven steps in this article will help you tap into your inner CEO and become the leader you were born to be.

Take a moment to reflect on which step impacted you most, but don’t stop there! In the next week, make an action plan developing your Executive Presence. How will you help others develop theirs? Share it with a colleague and set up a plan for accountability. I would love to hear your plans. Message me on LinkedIn to share your thoughts. www.linkedin.com/in/amythrow Let’s keep each other accountable so we are all successful leaders together. Cheers to your growth!

To discover your areas of strength and growth opportunities, take our assessment @ www.amythrow.com/full-circle-7-assessment/

Clear communication is a foundation of Executive Presence

The leader ALWAYS sets the tone and models the behaviour in an organisation. And this impacts communication, collaboration, environment, and performance for the entire team. Equanimity cannot be under-rated.

Amy Throw is an Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Author, Speaker and Founder of the Amy Throw Group. Creator of the Full Circle 7 Method™ to Executive Presence, she helps women unlock power, ignite performance and lead with authority. With 25 years of sales, leadership, and personal branding experience, Amy has helped countless women gain confidence and unleash their powerful presence. www.amythrow.com

19

Mindset & Emotion

Adaptability makes us

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Smile

Personal and Corporate Advisor and multiawarded Mentor, Viola Edward, shows us how our ability to adapt leads us to a broader range of possibilities when solving problems and how adaptability helps us see we are not alone in the world.

Human nature has a number of distinct inherent qualities, one of which is adaptability. The I Ching, ‘Book of Mutations’, offers this interpretation giving us the essential character of Water as an image congruent with this quality: “It flows and flows and fills all the places through which it passes to its edges... it does not shrink from any dangerous place, from any fall, and nothing makes it lose its own essential nature. In all circumstances it remains loyal to itself”.

This quality enables us with a willingness to alleviate and overcome resistance to change and to persevere, to keep going, despite external and internal uncertainty and adversity. Adaptability is a versatile intelligence permitting us to adapt to different contexts, situations, environments, and personalities, transforming our convictions and our skills of interpreting reality in order to be able to respond in an agile and appropriate way.

Flexibility is an essential component of adaptability. It brings us the mental openness required to accept the new experiences, translating them into creativity. By trusting in our existing gifts and abilities, daring to transform ideas into action and assessing the resources available to initiate new activities, we can assume new responsibilities.

Flexibility is an essential component of adaptability

Flexible people are willing to consider different points of view, leading to a broader range of possibilities when solving problems. Judgments are made with caution, relativising the “shoulds” in favour of a curiosity to learn from others, while allowing for the innovation of “maybes”.

The aptitude for adaptability refers to the capacity to modify personal behaviour, by accepting new data, or changes in the environment, in order to achieve positive objectives when adversity arises. Adapting to different contexts, quickly and appropriately, counters rigidity in personal behaviour.

One of the gifts that adaptability gives us is affability, which can also be understood as generosity, benevolence, frankness, or gentleness towards others, who, like us, are in the process of adapting to the circumstances in which they live. Another virtue that is kindled by flexibility is the ability to laugh. Spontaneous laughter emerges like divine applause to oneself.

Below are three trustworthy allies of Adaptability, among many others.

1-Breathing

Conscious Breathing is a major ally of adaptability.

When we are at odds with ourselves, or our environment, we tend to breathe half-heartedly, haltingly, limiting the expansion of the self.

Awareness of how we are breathing is an important component of our capacity to deal with change. The correct choice of a breathing rhythm refreshes our vital energy, cleanses our biological organ systems, and gives us easier access to the inner self, where the answers we need are to be found.

Leonard Orr (1937-2019) the creator of ‘Rebirthing, Conscious Connected Breathwork’ explains that when we inhale, we connect with our potential life qualities of health, beauty, and abundance. The exhalation frees us from the bonds which inhibit us from experiencing the qualities that are and exist in the present.

Attention to our breath gives us clues to deep-seated emotional, mental, and physical blockages.

Through breathwork mentoring sessions, on their release from the unconscious, some of the schemas of past tensions can be safely reexperienced and clarified with the consciousness of the present.

21

Mindset & Emotion

Acknowledging the support of others is an act of love

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Also, there are several Conscious Breathing short exercises, I frequently use one of them, called “20 Conscious and Connected Breaths”, for adaptation. By taking the time to do this exercise, I get the chance to respond respectfully to the present situation. The Inhale and Exhale are through the nose, in a ‘connected’ way, with no separating pauses. keeping the mouth closed.

In the first four breaths the inhale and exhale are short, and the fifth breath is long and deep.

This sequence of five breaths (short/short/short/ short/long) is repeated four times over.

When circumstances become difficult, we may discover and develop gifts we did not know we had, which emerge as divine gifts at our mercy, such as perseverance, courage, solidarity, creativity, etc. It can also happen that we recognise gifts when we dare to do something new or different from what we know.

I do the following exercises as well in times of doubt or uncertainty. They offer us some variations related to the previous practice. For example, to release anger, breathe with the tongue between the teeth, whereas, breathing with the mouth open and the tongue relaxed unlocks blocked energy and repressed feelings.

To remove negative energy from the body, we are invited to breathe through the nose with the mouth open. Soft, almost silent breathing allows us to meditate.

3-Ask for help

2-Relying on your gifts and talents

“All that I give is to myself, no matter to whom it is given. The help I need to understand that this is true is with me now...” A Course in Miracles.

Gifts are derived from the Latin word “donum”, which refers to a talent or aptitude a person has, such as a gift for the arts, communication, or organisation, among many others. We all have gifts and talents which are our own and inherited and the best way to identify them is through seeing what we like most about ourselves, as well as what we like to do most.

In the words of Ken Robinson in his book “Element”, gifts can be identified “where the things you love to do and the things you are good at come together. The Element is the meeting point between natural aptitudes and personal inclinations. The element is what strengthens your sense of identity and enhances your wellbeing”.

This awareness of the gifts that emerge increases self-confidence, generating, like a dopamine, the feeling of being prepared to successfully overcome any event which may occur.

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened...”

Matthew 7:7-12.

One of the good things about adaptability is the realisation that we are not alone in the world; rather; the companionship, the empathy and the help of others can strengthen us in any of our fields of action. Acknowledging the support of others is an act of love. Seeking support from a therapist, a mentor, a friend, or a personal work group is a holistic movement of trust in life, in others and in the divinity surrounding us in every moment, which will allow us to shift to a more favourable and proactive outlook.

In our GRIT Academy and our GRITSTAR community we enjoy these learnings and take them out into the world in different languages.

Adaptability has always been and is one of our best alliances for survival, both as individuals and as a group. If we were to visualise the human species and life as a whole, we would see how adaptation to geographical, climatic, food or gregarious situations has always been the key to successful survival.

Viola Edward, is a Personal and Corporate Advisor and multi-awarded Mentor. Humanitarian, pioneer of Breathwork and mental health fitness in the workplace since 1993, she is convinced that the practice of Conscious Breathing is at the core of every person’s wellbeing. Co-owner of GRIT Academy and Kayana Consulting, Author Breathing the Rhythm of Success and Who Makes the Bed?, co-author of ten more books. www.violaedward.com

23

Environment

Sailing

CARGO Past, Present and Future

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CCO of EcoClipper, a shipping company providing emission free transport and travel, Hannah Hurford tells us how transportation of goods using sail ships is making a comeback and can offer an environmentally friendly alternative.

As pressure to transition away from fossil fuels mounts, the shipping and transport industry is at a crossroads. What will be the next technology to take over conventional methods of propulsion?

One solution has history on its side: sail cargo.

Sailing has been a part of human history for thousands of years. By using the wind, civilisations have explored distant horizons, fought battles, and through it all; transported goods. Yet with the development of the steam engine, and the rise in containerisation in the 20th century, sailing became a leisure activity and a luxury

rather than the standard form of transport.

Recently, with the rising awareness and demand for emission-free transport and travel, sailing ships are being viewed as a viable alternative to conventional transport. This is in the form of sail cargo, an industry with 15+ companies working together to ship cargo between ports using the most traditional and tried and tested technology available, sail power.

From the middle of the 19th Century, clipper ships were perfected for the ‘deep-sea’ trade.

Distinguishable due to their sharp lines, these vessels sailed swiftly around the world, taking part in the tea, wool, and spice trades, as well as the California Gold Rush. As they came into port, the goods would be transferred to other smaller vessels, more adaptable for coastal or inland waterways, and shipped to further destinations.

Towards the turn of the century steam-powered ships were gaining traction. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 indicated the shift in logistics, where these mechanically propelled vessels could cut their transport time down significantly by avoiding the Cape of Good Hope and the Southern Ocean. It is worth noting that these vessels were not up to the task of shipping some bulk cargoes such as grain and nitrate and so adaptations of the clippers, with over three masts, huge spreads of canvas and hulls of iron, continued to sail commercially until 1939.

History would have it that sailing ships ceased trading cargo commercially – at least at an international level. However, a revival took place in the later part of the 20th Century. S.V Kwai, Avontuur, Albatros and Sofia sailed across the Atlantic, around Europe, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

25

Environment

In 2009 the brigantine Tres Hombres was launched. The story of this vessel brought sail cargo into the public’s eye. Set up by three friends and re-built with volunteers of all nationalities, the Tres Hombres has become the flagship of sail cargo. The vessel is completely engineless and completed her 12th Atlantic voyage in 2020.

Since the launch of Tres Hombres, the sail cargo industry has been steadily growing. Sail cargo ships today are relatively small, certainly compared to containerships - the largest sail cargo ship operating today is 124 Dead Weight Tonnes (DWT), whereas the world container ship fleet includes 98,140 ships of 100 gross tonnes with 2,061,944 thousand DWT of capacity. Sail cargo vessels do not take containers, although there are some designs that are looking to accommodate them. There are companies looking to scale up the industry, such as EcoClipper, which plans to build a clipper ship capable of carrying 500 tonnes of cargo and will travel to Southeast Asia. By opening up the market in this way, sail cargo would become accessible worldwide. There is a possibility to use deep-sea trade vessels like EcoClipper’s to deliver cargo across the oceans and use smaller, more versatile vessels to transport the cargo further, much like they did in the 19th century.

The products shipped by sail are currently luxury goods such as cacao, coffee, rum, wine, olive oil from South America, North America, Spain, and

The aim of sail cargo is to reduce shipping emissions

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Portugal. As demand increases different goods are being shipped such as dried legumes, olives, salt, and cider. As the vessels grow in size and new shipping routes are explored, the variety of goods will continue to expand to perhaps lumber, electronics, textiles and produce from further afield such as pepper, spices and tea.

However, the aim of sail cargo is to reduce shipping emissions and the quickest and most effective way of doing so is to ship less. Sail cargo companies generally encourage local production of goods, and ship luxury goods that couldn’t be grown or made locally. For Northern Europe, for example, that would mean olive oil, wine, cacao, coffee etc.

What these ships lack in cargo hold space, they gain in sustainability. All are propelled by the power of the wind using sails. Simple. Some, such as the Tres Hombres and Nordlys, do not have engines at all, whilst others such as Avontuur and Gallant use small auxiliary engines to manoeuvre in port. Others are considering electric engines and many use, or plan to include, hydro-generators, solar panels, or wind turbines to generate energy onboard. These exciting developments for sailing ships are a story of our time – readjusting and developing a traditional technique with the innovations of today.

Alongside the sustainability of the vessels themselves is the idea of ‘slow food’ and ‘slow travel’. Of course, sailing ships depend predominantly on the wind and therefore the vessels can be early or late for deliveries to ports. A certain amount of flexibility must be understood. This calls into question the consumer demand for quick, cheap produce.

Sail cargo companies often work closely with producers and small businesses who want to tell the story of the product, to ensure the entire system is transparent rather than cutting corners of how the product is made and the detrimental effect it has on people and the environment.

transport which benefits the environment, businesses, and people. At this moment in time, where the future of shipping is being decided, sail cargo is an industry that can be utilised to its fullest and can encourage more transparent and ethical supply chains.

There are multiple sail cargo companies to keep an eye on, as well as the operational vessels mentioned above. Sail Cargo Inc, for example, are building a ship in the Costa Rican rainforest out of sustainably sourced wood. SV Brigantes are re-building a ship to cater for the Mediterranean market. EcoClipper will build the first sail cargo clipper ship of this century, the EcoClipper500.

This vessel will be the first in a series of clippers that will utilise four trading routes around the world. The EcoClipper500 will be able to also carry 12 passengers and 36 trainees. For further information see: https://ecoclipper.org/ or get in contact here: info@ecoclipper.org

The future of sail cargo is exciting

The future of sail cargo is exciting. Using sailing ships to transport cargo establishes opportunities with travel, education, and policy change. It encourages a simpler method of

Hannah Hurford, is CCO of EcoClipper. She is an advisor for the Sail Cargo Alliance and has worked with National Historic Ships UK. Hannah has a passion for sailing and maritime history. She is keen to use shipping methods of the past and innovations of today to influence a sustainable future. hannah@ecoclipper.org

27

Interview

Dame Marie Diamond 28

Enlightening people on their journey

We are very excited to be interviewing Dame Marie Diamond in this issue of Business Fit. The only European teacher featured in the global phenomena “The Secret” she talks to us about her life and her work.

Who are you?

My name is Dame Marie Diamond. I am a Global Transformational and Motivational Speaker, an International Bestselling Author, Feng Shui and Energy Master, a Business and Spiritual Mentor to movie and music stars, CEO’s and Top entrepreneurs worldwide.

I trained as a lawyer, a criminologist and a Safety and Environmental Expert. In the first 5 years of my career, I worked with the Belgian and European Government and started a consulting company where I introduced Meditation and Motivation to my business and political clients. I was born in Bruges, Belgium and later moved to the USA in my late thirties with my family. Now I live between Malibu, London and the French Riviera. I am happily married for more than 30 years and a proud mother of three super creative children.

In the USA, I became world renowned when I was featured in the movie phenomena ‘The Secret’ which reached more than 500 million people. I also featured in 10 other self-help documentaries like ‘Beyond the Secret ‘and ‘How Thoughts Become Things’. Over the last 26 years more than 1 million people have studied with me in person and online in my Meditation, Energy clearing, Feng Shui, Dowsing and Leadership programs.

Keep your vision clear in your mind when you make decisions

I became a serial entrepreneur with my own publishing company, my own Energy product line, as well as being a shareholder and business advisor to several IT companies. In the next couple of months, I will be co-owning several Self-Help Streaming channels. My work has been represented by Mindvalley, Learning strategies and Younity and many other local publishers.

I have done thousands of interviews on TV, Radio, Podcasts to empower people to live their most enlightened life with simple Transformational steps. For my philanthropy work and contribution, I was honoured to be knighted as a Dame by the oldest existing Knighthood organisation called the St John Hospital Knights.

What is the single best piece of business advice which helped shape who you are now and Why?

When I was 15 years old, I received a clear vision of my purpose in life ‘I am here to enlighten more than 500 million people’, after a near death experience Since that day I begin my morning contemplating on my vision and asking the Universe/God to show me the next steps in my journey to fulfil my purpose. I have mentored more than 20 billionaires, numerous multimillionaires and over 22 Oscar winning clients and what they all share in common is their clear vision and purpose about their lives and the daily actions they took to live toward this purpose.

Keep your vision clear in your mind when you make business and personal decisions, including choosing the right team around you, how you create, sell and manage your services and products, how you start or exit your business.

Your vision and purpose will be present as an energetic imprint. This is how you grow the easiest and the most effortless in your business.

I believe this is the greatest journey towards SelfMastery in being an Entrepreneur.

How do you take care of yourself on a holistic level?

I start my day with meditation and end my day with contemplation about my thoughts, feelings and actions in my business decisions. I live a

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Interview

healthy life with organic food and I avoid meat and lactose.

Several times a week I work out, I also believe that living a life of joy and happiness is part of taking care of myself, so I dance, play with my two French bulldogs, have long and wonderful conversations with my husband and friends over dinners. It all contributes to having a balanced life. I have the liberty to take off whenever I feel like it and to work four hours or 40 hours per week as I choose. I set up my business and have a great team around me who support my holistic life.

What is your favourite quote and why?

‘Love is all there is, is all we know of Love.’ From Emily Dickson Ultimately when you make a business or personal decision, you can look at the logistics, numbers, strategies and the reasons why, but I have learned that when I love something, all the logistics, numbers all work out for me. But when I don’t love something or don’t love to collaborate

30

with someone, then all the other aspects just will not matter enough to keep the project or product going.

In the long run Love is all that matters to me, even in business. I ask myself every day ‘How can I love more today?” It is my true guidance. I love who I am as a person, I love my business, I love my team, I love new projects and I love my clients.

I am not talking about a sentimental love, but a deep warm passionate love for humankind and how I can contribute to support others to grow, so they can be the most loving and successful in their own field and to live healthy, wealthy and positive lives.

How do you remember your childhood and early background?

My mother was a schoolteacher and my father a salesperson for copy machines. We had a great life until my father got sick when I was 11 years old and my mother had to retire. Our financial stability disappeared and we lived on a small budget, we feared for the future.

I decided to go to law school at 18 years old, it was a huge financial challenge but with scholarships and summer jobs, I was able to finish my Law and Criminology degree. There was a lot of stress in my childhood as my father was suffering from post-traumatic stress from being imprisoned in world war II, but my daily meditations kept me going and helped me stay positive during the daily tantrums, physical and emotional abuse.

I learned perseverance and discipline by playing piano, singing opera, studying theatre, declamation and practicing ballet. After school I would study for several hours in the Free conservatoire in Bruges where my creative spirit was kept alive amongst all the daily stress. I was loved by my parents and my family but was quite a loner at school where I was bullied, I did not have a lot of friends.

my daily meditations kept me going and helped me stay positive

After having a second chance in life, when I was hit by a truck which almost cost me my life, I became an activist for good causes, contributed to my local church, youth movements and I became a much happier teenager.

31

Interview What are you most passionate about and why?

My biggest passion is enlightening people on their journey, so they remember that they are the master of their Energy, Light and Love. Also how to manifest what you desire by living a life of positive energy and motivation.

Teaching and mentoring people is my greatest passion in life. Seeing the light and life force switch on in thousands of people when I train or do a keynote for companies, by giving them easy and profound tools in, the basics of Feng Shui and Energy, steps to totally transform their life, their business and their family. Mentoring someone and seeing them turn their life around is the best feeling, the gratitude and joy I receive back from millions is an extra bonus.

Tell us about your involvement with The Secret.

I am the only European teacher featured in the global phenomena The Secret. The Book and the movie were the start of a movement resulting in a billion-dollar industry around the Law of Attraction. The ancient principle of what you focus on, multiplies, was put in a modern context by Producer and Writer Rhonda Byrne.

She invited 24 master teachers to share with the audience easy steps to attract Money, Romance, Health and Peace. After being featured on the Oprah TV Show, it became an overnight success and went viral. More than 15 years later, The Secret is still considered a classic in the Self Help and motivational industry.

Why is Feng Shui so important?

Feng Shui is an ancient Energy system practiced for more than 4000 years in China. It was introduced to the western world around 1980.

Feng Shui literally means wind and water; it is about creating a positive flow of energy in your life by using the energy of your home and office.

Where the location of the property is and how it feels and looks like on the inside and outside, can influence your mindset, productivity, focus and wellbeing.

I started studying Feng Shui when I was 15 and was mentored by one of the seven Grandmasters in Feng Shui. I taught it at 31 years old to entrepreneurs in Belgium and used it for my safety expertise when working to enhance

32

safety and well-being with the top management of 500 Fortune companies like Amoco, Exon and Texaco.

I created the Diamond Feng Shui School and I am now considered a Feng Shui Master. I combine the Law of Attraction and Feng Shui together.

Millions of people world-wide have studied my work and programs and have been supported by my Western practical approach of this very ancient knowledge to bring harmony into their environment.

What is the Transformational Leadership Council?

This organisation was created by the International Best-selling author of ‘The Chicken Soup of the Soul’ series and ‘The Success Principles’, Jack Canfield. While mentoring him on his personal and business life, he asked me to join him as a founding member. This private organisation has existed for more than 17 years and contains the top 130 global Transformational leaders, authors and teachers.

They come together as a mastermind group to support each other and to uplift humanity.

I created the European format of this Council called The Association of Transformation leaders (ATL Europe) bringing together the top European Transformational teachers and speakers to support each other in becoming strong leaders in their field.

You are an example of “Together is Better”, what inspires you to live with this statement?

I strongly believe that the T in together stands for TEAM work. Sharing a vision, even in challenging times with people that can uplift you. It is all part of being a Human, you need family, friends, positive team members around you so you can fulfil your dreams and manifest your purpose.

Look for a mastermind group, a coach or a mentor, make time for family and friends they will carry you when you have hardships, and celebrate with you when you have wins in your life and business.

In the long run Love is all that matters to me

33

Business

The Real Business Success is in the

‘Follow-up’

34

Regular contributors Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde, from Malish, talk about the importance of the “Follow-up” and how it can give you an edge to your business if you use it to get someone to become a client.

To all business owners and decision makers reading these next lines: Who of you resonates with the following statement?

“I only want customers who are ready to work with me/us and I will not run after them, chase them and convince them to do business with my company. If it’s the right time, they will come!”

To us, Lilli and Maike from MaL!sh Consulting, this statement described our way of thinking for way too long.

Some of it may be a result of growing up in a country like Germany where you neither brag nor praise, where you do not want to be a burden to someone and most certainly you don’t want to push people or businesses. After years of international business ventures (onsite and now mostly online), we realised that the lack of knowledge about the full potential of the concept of ‘follow-up’ is widely spread or often misconceived.

What is ‘follow-up’?

hardly anyone buys at the first encounter with a product, service or sales person.

The reasons are manifold and not necessarily connected to us as vendors and our products or services. Much has to do with the fact that we are nowadays so used to comparing and consulting with “experts” and the internet and that we often get – or at least perceive to receive – better offers if we wait or negotiate the price down somewhere else. Another factor is that many of our prospects don’t see the necessity to invest now and/or later and once you are out of sight, you are out of mind.

The best approach is a) to lower the barriers to do business with you by building trust in you, your product/service and your company and b) to ensure that you and not your competitor is first in your potential’s customers mind when a buying decision is made.

In contrast to common belief, lowering the barrier does not mean lowering the price. The solution is to repeat contact with the customer where value is given, trust built, and all questions are answered.

Latest studies imply that up to 30 contact points are needed.

Follow up is something that continues or completes a process or an activity. You are doing those necessary activities to get someone to become a client.

What sounds like bad news is actually good news.

“Maike and Lilli, how can 30 contact points be good news? This means driving to the customer 30 times or scheduling 30 phone calls with the decision maker!” you may think now.

We are going to argue in this article that ‘followup’ is always worth your time as company owner, manager, sales representative, or (solo-) entrepreneur and we further will demonstrate that nowadays with automation and online systems, ‘follow-up’ of even low-priced items will make sense.

The good news is that these contact points can be conducted online and automated. We very much recommend LinkedIn as the best platform to do so. It all starts with a strategy of how you can add value and make 30 touchpoints that are authentic and not off the shelf. Once this has been laid out it is all about implementing it.

Our personal shift came from 1.) studying the world’s most successful businesses and their online sales systems and 2.) when we started reflecting our own buying behaviour – both as a B2B and B2C customer.

We would like to invite you to download our 30-touchpoint-strategy on LinkedIn at malish. global/linkedin-30-touchpoints

Instead of saying “Why is it that people don’t buy?”, we asked ourselves “How would we - as consumers – behave?” And the brutal facts are:

So simply put: your 30 touchpoints could be 30 Social Media – i.e. LinkedIn posts giving value, educating and occasionally presenting your offers. And the best part of it is: this is a strategy to reach the masses, because with one

35

Business

post you can reach a high number of potential customers. Even if you are new to LinkedIn, you can easily establish a 4-digit reach in 3 months without investing even one cent in advertising or a premium LinkedIn account. Feel free to reach out to us directly to inquire more.

Any posting strategy is accompanied by reaching out to the prospect e.g., starting a conversation via a connection request. You can increase your outreach if you work with tools that trigger automatic reactions like if ‘A’ happens, send message ‘B’, where ‘A’ could be ‘a prospect accepts a connection request’ and ‘B’ ‘send thank you message and ask a question’.

We at MaL!sh are not working with these kind of automations. As we offer personal and customised services, such as Customer Service & Follow up optimisation and set up within the company, or Marketing & Branding consultation on LinkedIn, we want all messages to be personal.

However, on our product and online sales pages we use automation intensively and can only recommend it.

Once your online process is planned out and you have a system guiding people from a free giveaway to a 2-digit-product, followed by a 3-digit product and so on with E-mails and webpages, webinars and trainings, you do not have to invest your own time on these 30 touchpoints and the break-even can be quickly achieved even if the product is a low margin one and you invest in marketing.

Let us give you a simple example: your product is an e-book priced at 10 Euro/copy with a marketing budget of 5 Euro/copy and costs for handling and setting up your online systems of 3 Euro/copy of your e-book. This means your net is “only” 2 Euro/copy. However, if you manage to sell 1,000 copies a month, you generate 24,000 Euro of additional profit a year. There is no limit to this calculation and typically the more you invest in ads, the more you will sell.

‘Follow-up’ does not only apply to online products or online sales channels. Even personal sales processes can be optimised with a systematic sales and ‘follow-up’ process. Much of what we provide in malish.global/linkedin-30-touchpoints can be applied to a more personal process because the fundamentals stay the same: Educating, giving value, offering solutions -> warming up the prospect -> product/service presentation -> making an offer -> closing the deal.

Go where no one is going

A holistic ‘follow-up’ process means going down the road less travelled. Hardly any company does ‘follow-up’ and definitely not to the extend and duration we have outlined here.

Thus, your customers and prospects will be pleasantly surprised. Instead of saying “That person is getting on my nerves and if I hear from her one more time….” prospects’ opinion will be (or become along the process) “That person is dedicated and convinced about her product. I should check them out.”

It is also important to be in your customers mind first. When a selling decision needs to be made, or better to say when the customer is ready to buy, they should think about you and not your competitor.

An example here: one of our Top products is LinkedIn profile training. We are talking and promoting it on a regular basis. And as soon as a customer is ready to work on her profile, she will get in touch with us, because she has seen regular updates, posts, and messages on LinkedIn from us about this training offer.

You see, it is very important to be on your customers mind, and this can be done with regular and constant follow up.

Looking at these figures, ‘follow-up’ does not seem a waste of time and resources anymore, does it?

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Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde founders of MaLish Consulting, an international business consultancy and coaching company. Combining their experiences and strengths in people management, financials, tools and system, communication and leadership MaLish offers a variety of services for companies and individuals. www.compagneur.com - malish.global/about/malish-business/

Mindset & Emotion

38

Common

Mistakes

Made by Leaders

Thought leader and senior advisor in effective change management, Professor Don Zillioux, Ph.D., provides our readers with some guidelines on mistakes to avoid if you want to become a good leader of your team.

Leadership is a concept and great skill that is only partially understood by many of those who have been given the profound responsibility of leading others to a common and valuable goal. It is easy to talk about the qualities of a good leader. Just mention Patton, Jobs, Roosevelt, Kennedy or Buffett and murmurs of approval will fill the room.

However, if you read any of the biographies of these and other “super” leaders, a good deal of the text will be devoted to mistakes each made on the way to their specific greatness. This article is devoted to a sample of the common mistakes made by leaders of all sorts.

•

The most precious and difficult thing for a CEO to obtain is a clear view of his world.

People may wish to flatter him, spare him unpleasantness or hide a failure of their own. Their intentions are not always disingenuous. It’s just that his power as a CEO tends to cause people to distort their message by bending their words and actions to earn favors. CEOs who don’t recognise this fact are doomed to failure.

Overbearing behavior of a Leader will inhibit openness and honesty

•

Those Leaders who rule by fear are usually the most insecure. An interesting discovery was that these individuals actually believe their employees enjoy working for them, when in fact the fear they instill fosters hate and disgust and ineffectiveness.

•

Excessive pressure on employees, combined with a single-minded focus to meet goals, will often kill initiative and creativity. The overbearing behavior of a Leader will inhibit openness and honesty; it will greatly diminish the quality of any team.

39

Mindset & Emotion •

By selecting followers rather than potential Leaders, the Leader of an organisation, a department or a team dramatically limits its potential for growth and its ability to recognise problems brewing on the horizon.

•

Many misguided Leaders have the mentality that it is their role and duty to catch people doing something wrong. Once this kind of mentality permeates the culture of an organisation, the employees become fearful.

A sword-wielding Leader will never get the best from his or her employees.

•

There is no such thing as “off the record.”

It’s simply not good practice for Leaders to show weakness to others. Celebrate publicly; Cry alone. Leaders don’t open-up to people with their inner feelings of doubt or hurt half don’t care, the other half are glad its you and not them! Nobody feels sorry for you for more than an hour, but they will never forget your moment of inappropriate vulnerability.

•

Like it or not, a judgment will be made of the leader based on who influences her, who he spends time with and whose counsel she seeks. New leaders get in trouble by creating a little inner-circle of advisors that nobody can penetrate. This inner circle often leads to ‘group-think’ and can substantially limit new ideas, creativity and growth.

•

Be very careful not to fall into the trap of cronyism. Any leader who pushes “his boys” often causes morale problems within the ranks. Practicing cronyism also can hurt the very people you are tying to help, especially if you push someone into a position before they are ready for the promotion.

•

The handling of flatterers and bootlickers is an issue related to cronyism. In all companies, there are people who are very skillful in pleasing the boss by bearing good news, false cheer and by stroking the boss’s ego. They are always looking for ways to make the boss happy, worrying about getting a lot of “face time” and serving their personal agendas and ambitions. Watch Out!

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•

Leaders should avoid bringing a substantial number of former colleagues with them when they move to a new position. A leader who drags “her team” along is likely to undermine the morale of the new company. It also will be very difficult to develop good rapport with new associates and communication channels will be harder to establish. Further, you will gain more credibility as a person of self-confidence and independent thought if you do not drag along with you a group of cronies as you move from job to job.

So, where does all this lead us to? The obvious conclusion is that leaders are not born to greatness. Great leadership requires great thought, the ability to adapt, continual curiosity and great humility and it is hard work to become, over time, an effective and productive leader.

Leaders must educate themselves, learn from their mistakes, (anyone remember learning to ride a bike as a child), involve their whole team and besides great curiosity, they must be rock solid honest.

Excerpted from our upcoming book, “The FieldGuide for Manager’s and Supervisors.” Be sure to review our recent book, “The Results-Focused Organization.”

Celebrate publicly; Cry alone

Don is a recognised thought leader and senior advisor in effective change management and senior leader and chief scientist to SDW’s Worldwide Organization Effectiveness practice. He is the author of The Results-Focused Organization, the soon to be published series of Field Guides to Organizational Effectiveness and Instrument Based Training. Don’s writings and consulting/ advisory work focus on planned change. www.sdwnet.com

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Health 1-10 OCTOBER 2021

Business

Steps to Build Your Business Online

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Social Media Marketer, Network Marketer and Coach, Marjorielyn McKenzie-Gray, works with entrepreneurs, to build their businesses online effectively, here she offers us six steps to build your online business without using paid advertising.

It is a common error to think that fruitful online marketing MUST include paid advertising straight away.

Are you someone who has tried paid advertising, but the results were less than you wanted?

Are you someone who doesn’t understand how to set up ads?

Or, are you someone who just doesn’t want to know about paid advertising?

Any of these is perfectly fine because you can establish and expand your business online organically (without paying for ads). So, let’s get into the six steps showing you how to do that:

1. Identify Your audience – your target market

This is an absolute must!

Who exactly do you want to reach? Without a clear focus or understanding in your own mind of who you want to reach, your message will either be too general or you could be sending a very good message to the wrong people. Sending a good message to the wrong people wastes your efforts.

When you are clear on your audience, your message needs to be tailored specifically to that audience. It’s tempting to think “but my product/ service suits everyone and I don’t want to miss anyone out.”

You need to be specific. Even if your product/ service does suit everyone, there still needs to be something that makes it stand out for a reason to a particular group.

In one sentence, can you answer the question “Who is your audience?”

2. What Social Media Platform(s) Will You Use?

You do not have to be everywhere on all social media platforms. It is important for you to choose

one platform first and get to understand how it works. From there, you can build and use the same material (or sometimes with little editing) on another platform.

Each platform has its own culture, feel and way of operating. Which platform do you feel comfortable with? As you grow, you may find you prefer a different platform – that is fine. The point is, do not spread yourself too thinly but take the time to find out where your people - your audience - are.

3. Be Consistent!

Why is consistency necessary?

Have you ever called a shop/business and found it wasn’t open when it said it would be? How did you feel? I’ve experienced that and it’s not a good feeling – even though the reason may be genuine, justifiable etc.

Without customers and potential customers being notified of absence, such a business just seems unprofessional and undependable. It’s the same in social media.

Consistency lets your audience know: • you are dependable, • that you do have something to say ongoing – your post is not just a great “flash-story” with nothing to back it up.

• you are a resource they can utilise and recommend.

Consistency will look different from one person to the next, but it still means the same thing: regularity.

A good strategy is to decide how often and when you will show up: once a day? Two or three times a day or per week?

In social media, just like life, things move very quickly. If you post just once a week, this is way too sparse especially if you do not yet have an online presence and audience. Even if you do, other people will be filling that week-long gap.

Conversely, posting 10 times a day can really turn people off. In addition, can you sustain preparing enough material for 10 posts a day…? If you post regularly for a week then do nothing for a week or two, you will experience a slump and will need to

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Business

build up again. Life does happen and sometimes that slump may be necessary. However, overall, once you decide to use social media to build your business, it’s best to be consistent.

If you have been on and off with your social media activity – don’t worry. Here’s how to fix that: i) Decide when and how often you will show up on social media. ii) Create a weekly schedule of when you will post and what you will post so you don’t wake up each day thinking “what am I going to say…?”

If you schedule like this on at least a weekly basis, it supports and builds your presence. Yes, it takes time to create and schedule but it is worth it!

4. Connect With People Online – correctly!

You do need to connect with people and, while this sounds obvious, the key thing is that there is a correct way to connect. It’s important to know how to connect and build relationships online without annoying people! Without this connection, your organic reach will not work.

One of the most annoying things, is when someone connects with you and their first message is to try and pitch you head on with their product or service. This is a definite turn-off and will not help you build your online connections.

The first thing to do is to establish a connection, a relationship.

5. Provide value – before offering something to buy!

Yes, you’re in business so you have something for people to purchase. However, once you have established a connection, before you present what you would like them to buy, let people know you care about them. How? Demonstrate you are a person who provides the answers they need!

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Provide the solution to their problems. Can you see why it is crucial for you to know your audience? If you don’t know who your audience is, how can you know and solve their problems?

Your very good solution could be heard by someone who has absolutely nothing to do with what you are saying. For example, someone sharing the best way to cook a beef steak with a vegan is not the best use of time and effort…!

6. Let your audience get to know you

How can you do this? Some of your posts should be general “life” posts that show you as a person; which give some insight into who you are. However, a good rule of thumb is to avoid outright negative rants about any particular topic.

Social media platforms want people to create a community, so people stay on the platform instead of running away because of negativity.

What sort of quotes inspire you? What have you learned on your journey – in business, life, relationships? People need to know, like and trust you and as you show a little of yourself, this strengthens the connection. You do not have to be perfect.

For example, I shared on one of my first Lives that I was not used to doing Lives. Most people can relate to this and it made them feel at ease – someone who was not comfortable doing Lives was pushing past their discomfort, sharing that discomfort and still moving forward! The aim is to build a connection so people can relate to you.

Take the time to find out where your audience are.

In conclusion, which, if any, of these steps are you already doing?

Building organically is always welcome news.

However, whilst it does save money, you have to compensate for that with your time! It takes time and effort to build organically but it does work – be patient and follow the steps!

Marjorielyn McKenzie-Gray is a Social Media Marketer, Network Marketer and Coach. She works mainly with Network Marketers, as well as other entrepreneurs, to build their businesses online effectively and without rejection! She uses Attraction Marketing strategies and shares resources to generate ideal clients and reps into your business i.e. a free 10-Day Online Recruiting Bootcamp. www.marjorielynmg.com.

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Body & Health

Navigating

Uncharted Waters

Qualified counsellor, transformational coach and reiki master, Maxine Golding, talks about the importance of trusting our inner compass to help us find way again, when we feel we have lost our direction, particularly in the current climate.

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Life is full of many choices enabling us to take the helm and steer our ships in the direction we wish them to go. We may feel we are now rudderless, or our courses are pre-set and out of our control or that our route is blocked and not possible. Our dreams may seem futile and unobtainable, especially in our current climate where so many of our usual freedoms are less available. Freedom to travel, to socialise, to exercise, enduring curfews and bans along with a diet of fear inducing media news.

But we are not without hope!

There are ways to navigate these uncharted waters by trusting our inner compass, our own innate navigation system, our intuition. By reconnecting to our own mind, body, spirit and maintaining our own well-being. Did you know that everything in life has life force, energy, power? Everything has a frequency, a vibration, even you.

You are powerful! Your thoughts are powerful!

How you can affect your body and life are powerful!

On a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being low vibe and 10 being high vibe) where is yours?

How do you know? How do you elevate it?

Going back to your inner compass is how you tell by how you feel, every emotion has a different vibration. Is the glass half empty or half full, you decide.

Gratitude on waking, even for the simplest of things before you reach for the phone and social media, which is what a vast majority of people do rather than connect with themselves. It is a great way of raising your energy and adding more to throughout your day. It is simple brain training, practicing to focus on more of the positives in your life regardless of your circumstances.

Choose to do one thing differently on waking, stand outside looking at the sky, a garden, or view through a window, take some deep breaths, do a few stretches, yoga postures or a short exercise routine.

Try putting one hand on your heart and the other on your stomach notice how you feel, listen to

your body, ask yourself “How are you?” “What do you need today?” Or say “thank you” to your body for carrying you through life.

Set an intention to smile more just because you can, smiling causes your body to release endorphins, the same chemical released when you exercise, a simple natural high that you can do any time, anywhere.

Say some self-soothing affirmations if you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious. “Everything is always working out for me”, “I’ll come through this, it’s ok”, “I don’t have to figure it all out today”, “I’m doing really well”. Speak to yourself compassionately as you would a young child, first you have to listen to your own inner voice acknowledging any emotions without judgement.

Find whatever works for you and gives you a sense of relief. This elevates your mind set, elevates your energy, your frequency.

Listen to your higher self, remember we are all part human and part spirit, notice these areas of yourself you may have been neglecting.

Asking for help, clarity or guidance may sound a little unfamiliar, but you will be pleasantly surprised if you are open to receiving a response.

I often receive responses, sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make me cry, but ultimately they make me feel I am never on my own. Don’t we all need to feel that right now?

Become aware of what you mostly focus your attention upon at the moment. Where focus goes, energy flows! Where is your energy going?

Are you focused on everything that is wrong, in your body, someone else, in the world?

If yes, you are literally draining your life force and energy.

It is so easy to find fault but training your mind to begin to see the positives in any area of your life, will literally change your life mentally, physically, spiritually.

The world needs radical compassion right now and it begins with you and me giving that to ourselves and others, we are powerful, and we have the freedom to choose and believe.

Maxine Golding has journeyed through life, learning to align and embody her truth learning from teachers and shamans. She has always known her purpose is to assist others in finding their own inner light. She is a qualified counsellor, transformational coach and reiki master with decades studying and practicing shamanism, offering healing card readings for alignment, guidance and insight. Maxine: @evolvingsoulz

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Mindset & Emotion

Dare,

You Can Do It!

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Life Coach, writer and International Speaker, Lennys Guerra, explains that the way to grow is to go beyond yourself, get out of your comfort zone, anything is possible, if we push ourselves to learn.

As a coach myself, I always have to empower my coachees in one way or another, encourage them to go beyond themselves, help them get out of their comfort zone, in short, make them dare. My beautiful people, it is outside the comfort zone where growth exists.

If at this moment you are comfortable in some aspect of your life, it may be that you are not growing, and by this, I do not mean that you always have to be uncomfortable to grow because sometimes we have grown so much that we can feel comfortable for a longer period of time. On the other hand, sometimes we feel uncomfortable in situations which we do not know how to solve, or in which we feel stuck, and it does not mean that we are growing.

So, you may ask yourself: Lennys, how can I really know that I am growing? When you dare to do something out of your comfort zone you are growing. Let me give you my own example.

I confess that this is the first time I have written an article in English (smile of satisfaction and gratitude to life for the opportunity) and, even though my friend “the impostor syndrome” talked to me a lot and gave me all the reasons I should not do it, as you can see, I did it. That means I am growing as a professional and that somehow, I am expanding myself.

I particularly think that life was made to be easy, but we are the ones who complicate it with our way of thinking. So, when I tell you that, when you feel uncomfortable is that you are growing, I do not mean you have to feel bad or stressed all the time, what I am saying is that when you feel a little uncomfortable you are on the road to growth.

Remember, for example, when you were learning to drive, to speak a second language, to use the computer or even a new cell phone model, do you remember? Surely you felt a little slow and lost, however, you dared and “et voila” you succeeded.

💪

I remember perfectly well when I was learning to drive, I could not even have the radio on, because it stressed me out, I felt the radio was somehow interfering with my driving, did that happen to you too?

Now, I would love for you to remember some situation, where you managed to learn, but it took you a lot of effort to achieve it, do you have it yet? Very well, do you remember how many times you thought you would not succeed, do you remember when you told yourself that it was almost impossible to learn it? However, today you can proudly prove you have succeeded. At that moment you grew, whether as a mother, father, child, professional or as a person.

Today I want to remind you that despite any difficulties standing in your way, you always can and always will succeed, if you don’t give up before your time. I fervently believe there are no impossible things only things that no one has achieved yet. Imagine, for example the people from several centuries ago, how do you think they would react if you told them about airplanes, helicopters, trips to the moon, radio, television, cell phones, operations with anaesthesia or simply that the earth is round? As you now know, all of these are possible and as the years go by technology is improving, but in the past all of this was thought to be impossible.

Think about this every time you feel something is impossible for you, moreover, analyse right now which part of your life you would like to improve, evolve, grow, change and what it is costing you.

From my experience I can tell you - give yourself the necessary time to learn. Learning often requires time, practice, and commitment. Yes, I know that in this globalised world we are always running, but slow down a little and give yourself the opportunity to evolve, you deserve it just for existing.

Trust more in yourself and in life. Allow wellbeing, peace, success, happiness, and opulence to flow through you. Dare to believe a little more in yourself every day, you are more capable than you think.

I send you Infinite Blessings.

Lennys Guerra, has a degree in Marketing and Advertising, her sensitivity and life experiences led her to become a Life Coach. She is a writer, International Speaker and Reiki Therapist. She represents SHE as Ambassador in Portugal and is Director of SHE “em Português”. She specialises in Emotional Wellbeing. Author of the Mindfulness Book “21 Days of Conscious Attention”. www.lennysguerra.com

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CREATIVE WOMEN PLATFORM

International Online Conference More than 40 female influential entrepreneurs and thought leaders from around the world, featured in Forbes & Entrepreneur and other publications, shared their strategies for career and business development and perhaps more importantly for personal growth.

In its sixth year, the conference under the patronage of the First Lady of Cyprus, Mrs Andri Anactasiades, took place online over June 11th12th and brought together several hundred accomplished female leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs worldwide.

The conference Founder and CEO, Olga Balakleets, CEO of Ensemble Productions and the Executive Director and Partner, Dr Viola Edward have established a unique women’s event welcoming women from all industry backgrounds and providing them with an opportunity to connect and develop their creativity.

Together with their team of Regional Chairs in nearly 40 countries and Honorary Ambassadors, they have developed an online conference in response to the current events, that will still encompass networking opportunities, rewarding lectures, and a chance to learn from one another.

The conference’s speakers who are influential women from diverse countries and expertise

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addressed topics around imposter syndrome, personal and business growth, burnout, and current trends in PR and Marketing all with an aim towards helping women become leaders.

The event was held on Zoom.

The speakers at the event were from all around the world, including Andri Anastasiades, the First Lady of Cyprus, with other speakers from Australia, Russia, Europe, UAE, Panama, USA and India.

The annual Creative Women Conference has been organised since 2016 by Creative Women, and this year’s online conference is supported by Grit Academy, Kayana Breathwork, IWIN, Women Section of the Russian Parliamentary Club, Polakis Sarris + CO LLC, Kypwell, Yiannos Georgiades & Associates, ARC Consultants, St Raphael Resort and Marina, Art in Fusion TV, Premiere Media Group, Business Fit Magazine, Middle East Business News and Magazine, Culturescope by Paul Lambis and Revista Level Magazine.

For more information on the conference, press inquiries, about the Creative Women Platform and its Global Membership Scheme please contact admin@creativewomen.co and visit www.creativewomen.co.

Founder & CEO of Creative Women

First Lady of Cyprus

Olga Balakleets

Mrs Andri Anastasiades

Senator at Panama National Assembly, Honorary Ambassador of Creative Women

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors AFK Sistema

Ana Irene Delgado

Dr Anna Belova

Viola Edward

Lamia Kamel

Partner & Executive Director of Creative Women

Current Assistant Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Promotion

Prathibha Prahlad

Kiera Chaplin

Pre-Eminent Artist Founder and Director of Delhi International Arts Festival. Chair of Creative Women in India.

Actress, model, entrepreneur

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Speakers included: Andri Anastasiades, the First Lady of Cyprus and CW Patron (Cyprus), Mako Abashidze, Founder and Director of the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce and CW Chair in Georgia (Georgia/UK), Dr. Haidi Badawi, Founder of Future STEAMPRENEUR and CW Chair in Australia (Egypt/Australia), Dr Anna Belova, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of AFK Sistema (Russia), Dr. Karin von Bismarck, Head of HuntingSHE and Partner Stanton Chase (Germany), Francesca Bombassei, MENA Regional Manager of Seedstars, Founder of EdTech, Co-Founder, Changemakers (Belgium/ UK), Kiera Chaplin, Actress, Model, Entrepreneur (UK/USA/Switzerland), Nadine Chammas, Positive lifestyle expert and CW Chair in UAE (UAE), Tasha Danvers, an Olympian champion and Elite Performance Trainer (UK), Suzanne Davison, Clinical hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner, Life, and Business Coach (UK), Ana Irene Delgado, a Senator at the Panama National Assembly, Partner at SOLENDEG and CW Honorary Ambassador (Panama), Wendy Diamond, Founder/CEO LDP Ventures/Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) (USA), Jill Douka, Master Certified Coach, 3 times bestselling author and CW Chair in Greece (Greece), Priyanka Gill, Founder & CEO of POPxo-Plixxo, Co-Founder & President of MyGlamm (UK/India), Jess Gosling, an award-winning entrepreneur and apublic speaker (UK), Dr Shahzadi Harper, Founder of the Harper Clinic (UK), Leila Hatoum, Founder of MENA Comms, Co-Founder of mideastwire. com (Lebanon), Noha Hefny, Humanitarian, Entrepreneur & Global Corporate Professional and CW Honorary Ambassador (UAE), , Alysia Helming, Chairman and Co-Founder, Earthindex /Founder and Managing Director, EarthStudios and CW Honorary Ambassador in USA (USA), Lamia Kamel, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Promotion of Egypt (Egypt), Dr Maria Kempinska MBE, Founder of Jongleurs Comedy Clubs (UK), Lia Key, Creator of VALENCIA KEY Jewelry (USA), Bahareh Khezr, Senior Consultant at Curzon PR (UK), Seema Kumar, Councilor (India/UK), Elena Leo, Author, Journalist and Producer (UK), Raluca Ioana Man, Executive Director of RSEVEN Ltd and CW Chair in Cyprus and Romania (Cyprus/Romania), Moses Joel Nalocca, High Performance Coach and Entrepreneur (UK), Prathibha Prahlad, Pre-Eminent Artist, Founder and Director of Delhi International Arts Festival and CW Chair in India (India), Forbes Riley, Actress, Producer and Inventor (USA), Rebeca Riofrio, CEO & Founder of Art in Fusion TV & Production Company, Chairman of the Parliamentary Society for Arts, Fashion and Sports and

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CW Honorary Ambassador (UK), Francesca Rubulotta, Founder and Co-Chair of IWIN and Professor of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and CW Chair in Italy (Italy), Farah Shammas, Managing Director at St Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol and CW Honorary Ambassador (Cyprus), Detelina Smilkova, Chief Operative Director of Skin Systems Hospital and Chairman of HPC (Human Potential Cluster) (Bulgaria), Jolynn Swafford, Founder and CEO of Beyond Brave Co (USA), Ulviyya Taghizade, Founder and Honorary President the Azerbaijani Women’s Association in the UK and Co-Founder of Movement Platform Baku and CW Chair in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan), Laura Timm, AwardWinning International Ultra-High Achievement Authority and CW Special Adviser (Estonia/UK), Carolina Tinoco, Architect, Designer and Curator of sustainable and holistic projects and CW Chair in France (France), Xania Wong, Founder and CEO of JOBDOH and CW Chair in Hong Kong and Myanmar (Hong Kong/Myanmar), Aleen Zakka, Founder of Net2work Branding, Activist in Women Empowerment Initiatives and CW Special Adviser and Chair in Lebanon (Lebanon), Mirjam Katharina Zwingli, Co-Partner and Director of International Communication & Marketing at POLIGATE and CW Chair in Germany, Austria and German-Speaking Switzerland (Switzerland/ Germany). The conference concluded with performances by an opera star Sofia Fomina and by the sensational fiddler, Habib Alberto.

Mindset & Emotion

5 Steps to Developing your Emotional Fitness

And managing your day in a Pandemic and beyond

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Personal Development expert and Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Kiechelle Degale, gives our readers five tips on developing our emotional fitness to help us manage our lives and develop an enriching and rewarding life.

1. Stay calm and stay grounded

When it feels like everything is moving faster than we are and we are losing our balance it is so important to remain focused. Tuning into the mind chatter and listening to our own inner voice and making a decision about if it is helpful or hurtful can move us to a better place. Try to develop a habit of saying something kind and positive to yourself every morning. Be gentle with yourself, remind yourself of how far you have come and just how capable you really are.

2. Check in to your emotions daily

Remember it is ok not to be ok but don’t plan to live there.

So it is a new day, a fresh start to begin again.

How are you feeling? How do you want to feel?

What is stopping you from embracing those emotions, much like reaching out and picking the ones you want. What needs to happen for you to feel what you want to feel? Or can it really be a choice? What if it was? At this point I want to acknowledge that if you are currently having a difficult time, issues with relationships, job, family life, loss of any kind, then it is ok to experience anxiety, sadness and a range of emotions which can sometimes disempower us. It is ok not to be ok. It’s part of what makes us human beings.

But the key is to acknowledge them, feel them, let them pass through us, take the lessons from then and use them to build something better.

3. Start strong – how to start your day feeling good

Make a decision to have a good day. Then put a plan into place. That conversation with yourself can sound like “Today is going to be a good day, I am in a good place, I know I have the inner resources to handle whatever may come my way.” Then trust in yourself. Know it will be ok.

If you start the day strong you are more likely to finish strong.

4. How to handle negative behaviour from others

From time to time we may have unwanted and negative behaviours from others. This can be rude or unhelpful comments or remarks.

Sometimes they can be shrugged off, other times they may hurt us. Occasionally they may sit with us for a long time. It is interesting how we can give up our power to a total stranger or to someone who barely has any stake in our lives, how we can let them crawl into our head and take up residence. I believe this can be traced back to our self-esteem, our own feelings of worth we have about ourselves. If negative comments resonate with us, we are more likely to believe them and be hurt by them. See out opportunities to build your resilience and self-esteem. If you receive a negative or hurtful comment remind yourself of who you really are and what you can really do.

It may be helpful to remember people tend to speak their reality if they don’t feel capable of something they may not be able to see why you are.

5. Reconnect with your purpose, plan for action

Managing your emotions effectively can be the single more helpful way to create positive changes and develop an enriching and rewarding life.

When we can handle our emotions, learning to have some control over what we feel and how we respond emotionally to others, it can positively impact on how we learn, how we develop and thrive in our personal and professional life.

The Pandemic has affected us all in different ways. Some have reconnected to what is really important, some have learnt new skills, and some have really struggled with their mental health.

Many have lost loved ones. I have spoken to so many who now say, “I want a job/career that gives me a purpose.” I invite you to think about your purpose, what will wake you up each day and fuel the fire within. When you discover what that is, create an action plan to achieve it. You will then develop a true sense of passion and purpose for your life, and this, aligned with your true values can move you from surviving to thriving with your emotional health.

Kiechelle Degale, has spent over two decades in the Personal Development industry creating and delivering training and bespoke programmes around Emotional Fitness and Life Management Skills for the Private and Public Sector. She is a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, a Keynote Speaker and is truly passionate about building resilience and moving people from surviving to thriving. Kiechelle@kiechelle.com

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Business

Retire with

millions by investing 10% of your income

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Public speaker and passionate entrepreneur Loucas A. Ferekides explains to our readers the importance of financial literacy, a skill which is vital for good money management and not taught enough.

Financial literacy in the UK is at 55% of the total population, meaning that the balance of 45% of the population is unskilled in understanding and making financial decisions.

While financial literacy is the most important skill in terms of people’s relationship with money management, it is not taught in the traditional educational system. Interestingly, financial literacy is much less complex than chemistry, biology, or physics as it requires just simple maths to understand.

For example, if John, earns the UK average salary of £38,600 and invests 10% of his salary annually in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index, in 40 years by the time he retires he will have contributed £158,260 whereas at an 8% annual average compound rate his retirement fund will be £1,163,812. As simple as that John will be a millionaire by the time he retires and could easily live off his £80,000 annual dividends or reinvest part of it to increase his capital and buyback more stocks and increase his long-term returns.

The aforementioned example is the simplest form of investments and requires less than an hour a month to manage your transactions and re-invest your dividends. At a more sophisticated level a young investor can divest his income in more complex financial instruments or assets.

This could be investing in companies before their initial public offering in order to generate returns at the level of 1,000+% or buy distressed real estate assets, invest 5% of the capital in fixing the property and increasing its value. Then selling them in less than 12 months at a 15-20% profit which can be significant for assets of £500,000+.

Creating different income streams is vital in financial literacy as the average millionaire has seven or more income streams. For example,

some income streams are: - Earned – income from job - Capital gains – assets increasing in value - Profit – income from buying/selling - Rental – income from renting a property - Dividend – income from stocks - Royalty – income from others using your technology/ideas - Interest – income from lending money (shortterm finance) The possibilities of earning extra income from sources other than your full-time job are endless and people must keep educating themselves and finding new ways to generate income streams.

One strategy towards enhancing financial literacy is through finding your passion and creating strategies that can lead to an extra income stream regardless of the size of the return in the short term.

For example, you may be interested in fashion and designer clothes. Therefore, you could find under-priced pieces, purchase them, and sell them in the open market or fashion exhibitions at a profit while working in your field of interest.

The question many people come across when they start creating ‘side hustles/projects’ and create multiple streams of incomes is when to quit their job and focus solely on their projects.

While there is no right answer, the rule of thumb is to shift 100% of your focus in your side hustle when it generates more income than your fulltime job and it shows signs of sustainability and increasing returns in the long-term. Also, you can always return to your full-time job if things do not go as planned.

Overall, although this is an oversimplified method towards financial literacy the point to consider is that 88% of adults in the UK do not feel confident about their own financial literacy which has a positive correlation with negative impact on health of individuals. Thus, radical change is mandatory in order to tackle lack of financial literacy.

Loucas A. Ferekides is a public speaker and passionate entrepreneur with experience in education as LeanStart’s founder; finance at KPMG deal advisory; stock trading from managing a privately owned fund since 2016; military as former aide-de-camp of the MG and travel strategies as the founder and writer at ‘Save the Traveler’. Awarded for entrepreneurial initiatives across Cyprus, UK, and the USA.

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Karry On Travel

BORA

BORA

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Karry Carrasco, founder of the Karry Carrasco Foundation, whose goal is to provide hope for children and families stricken with food, health, and/or educational poverty, starts a new column with us here at Business Fit Magazine, telling us about the places she visits. This issue, it is Bora Bora.

The most famous of the French Polynesian islands in the South Pacific, Bora Bora is a quintessential tropical paradise.

It is located on a dormant volcano and set on a crystal-clear lagoon, one of the most beautiful in the world. It is renowned for its luxury resorts and adventurous activities. It is one of the islands which make up the Society Islands of which the main and largest island is Tahiti.

Bora Bora is surrounded by sand-fringed islets on an outer coral reef. The white-sand beaches are lined with coconut trees with a backdrop of the breath-taking Mount Otemanu and Mount Pahia. Although only 15 square miles, it is easy to see why this tiny island is revered as one of the most idyllic holiday destinations.

In 1722 Jakob Roggeveen was the first European to catch sight of the island, although it is believed Polynesians had settled there in about the 4th century. It was visited by Captain James Cook in 1796 and was annexed by France in 1884.

The name Bora Bora comes from a pronunciation misunderstanding by the Europeans. Initially it was called Pora pora mai te pora, meaning “created by the gods”, which was abbreviated

Imagine catching a delicious tuna for dinner

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Karry On Travel

to Pora Pora, meaning “first born”. However, due to the Tahitian dialect, to the Europeans it sounded like Bora Bora and was adopted by Jacob Roggeveen and his crew when they first landed and has remained so ever since.

There is plenty to do on Bora Bora, although unsurprisingly most activities involve the lagoon or the ocean. Underwater the lagoon teams with colourful tropical fish and marine life, including manta rays, sharks and gentle Napoleon wrasses, a perfect environment for scuba diving, helmet diving or viewing from a glass-bottom boat.

Other activities include fishing, cruises, jet skiing, kiteboarding, paddle boarding, outrigger canoe rides, kayaking and island tours. Imagine catching a delicious tuna for dinner. Or you could explore the pearl string like motus - reef islets formed by broken coral and sand which encircle the lagoon paddling on a stand-up paddleboard. Hire a fourwheeler and explore the island or for an aerial view, take an unforgettable helicopter tour.

Bora Bora is just a 50-minute flight from Tahiti and for most it is love at first sight.

For us it has been a trip that has left us inspired by the beauty of nature, the locals and their wonderful kindness. The people of Bora Bora couldn’t help us enough and were always making sure we had the best possible time. We had an amazing holiday relaxing and enjoying this beautiful island, it really is spectacular and perfect for families and couples. We will definitely return to Bora Bora, thank you for your beautiful energy.

For most it is love at first sight

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Mother of five and wife of New York Met’s pitcher Carlos Carrasco, Karry Carrasco is a passionate activist and volunteer. She formed the Karry Carrasco foundation to help, educate, serve families, individuals, and children who suffer from extreme poverty and political injustice.

Mindset & Emotion

How to really

have it all!

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Racing driver, businesswoman, TV presenter, motoring journalist, mum of twins and mentor, Rebecca Jackson, believes every woman can have it all, part of her success is building a supportive team to help you achieve your full potential and your goals.

Rebecca Jackson, racing driver, businesswoman, TV presenter, motoring journalist, mum of twins and mentor.

How do I do all that? And how do I be present with my children? Some say there’s a big secret waiting for you and some say they woke up one day with a major epiphany. For me, it is over a decade of building, years of learning, years of teaching and sharing and mastering. And I’m still learning. We all are, and we are all on a journey. I am just so blessed to have had such an enriching journey so far that I can now share some of that with the people I love, the people I work with and of course my children.

the message the athlete hears is consistent and useful to his or her outstanding performance.

What else am I proud of? Potty teaching my twins. That really is an achievement and every mum reading this will certainly identify with that!

Being present is another joyous achievement of mine. It’s not for everyone and part of what I teach is that it takes a village to raise a child and how much of that village you are, choose to be, want to be and suits you and your family is...up... to...you.

There is no guilt for working. If it creates such bad feelings inside you though, it’s time to act and change. Stressed with the work life balance?

Feeling on the point of burn out? That’s a different story and a different matter and problem to address. I believe all women deserve to drop the guilt, have what they want, feel good about themselves and genuinely experience inner happiness. And on top of all of this, have time for themselves.

In my life so far there have been a few things that I have been proud of achieving. Racing at Le Mans is one of them. I was a club level racer, very low in the racing ranks and very new to it with just two seasons under my belt before I decided that I would race at one of the most iconic and arguably the most prestigious endurance race events in the world; Le Mans 24. And I did it. My fouryear plan was achieved in three and a half years, with dedication, alignment, positivity, realism, connections and coincidences. Now you might be thinking, ah connections, rich parents? On the contrary. Rich in emotional support maybe but not financially. Everything I have built has been self-started, self-made and self-propelled. But do we really exist in this “self” mode?

Some women might be thinking I am bat ship crazy, how is this even possible? A few years ago, I was running a successful used car business - which I started single handed and ran it for 11 years. I managed to grow it from £500 and a Vauxhall Cavalier to a multi-million-pound turnover company selling top marques. At the same time as this, I was a professional racing driver, which involved racing all over the world, raising sponsorship, maintaining sponsorship deals and their commitments as well as an intense physical training regime. On top of this - yes really - I co-hosted several automotive TV shows and did 40 brand new car reviews a year for the likes of the Telegraph and What Car? How? Did I ever sleep?

No, I don’t believe so. Your team is everything.

And it is up to you to create your team. The cleaner who you love to see and/or you love her/ his work. The PR consultant who you also grab a social wine or coffee with - government covid guidelines permitting of course. The mechanic who prepares and fixes your car that you drive on the edge of traction, and sometimes over. Yes, I put my life in your hands, trusted mechanic. Everyone in your team matters. A top athlete works with a mindset coach and guess what, every significant person in the athlete’s life also has some degree of training to ensure

Finding what drives you is a key to success and happiness in anything, not to mention the levels of productivity achieved. I am a relatively ordinary person living an extraordinary life, and we all can and deserve to do that.

I discovered something about the human brain on this journey too. You will get varied output depending on so many variables so far removed from length of time on task. The brilliant American psychologist William James stated that the average person “develops only 10 percent of his latent mental ability.” It is possible to train

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Mindset & Emotion

the brain, reprogramme it and develop greater latent mental ability. In a way it is complicated because having the awareness is part of this development yet acting on it is another layer to it as well as understanding the impact of some of the variables and how this can impact your life, goals, achievements and wellbeing.

For example, the brain needs to slow down to access greater levels of intelligence, wisdom and guidance. In its most basic form, when someone is angry, cross, frustrated, burnt out, tired, and/or tense, their brain is dipping in and out of “Flight or Fight” mode. When this mode is fully engaged, reasoning goes out of the window, which is why people find it hard to listen to another person’s point of view when they are having an argument.

It’s almost impossible to resolve anything until everyone has calmed down; brain out of “Flight or Fight”.

Take it a step further and slow the brain down into Theta waves, which are the waves most abundant in the frontal and middle parts of the brain during meditation, then ideas, relaxation, “aha” moments and more wonderful things which help us be productive, happy and aligned occur.

There are five ways you can improve your mindset and general wellbeing within a week.

Deeper work is required for those who wish to really excel and let that inner goddess step out proudly, strongly and courageously.

1. Identify any problems or pain and categorise them into “Cannot change, can change.

2. Do some exercise - even as little as 20 minutes two to three times a week 3. Create mindful moments during the day whether that is 30 seconds before you start your engine (if you are driving anywhere), drinking a cup of tea or cuddling your children/ partner/friend 4. Say no sometimes - try it! Trust yourself.

5. Analyse your bedtime routine. Could you go to bed earlier and calmer? Setting screen restrictions on your phone and going to sleep after a meditation or some pages of a good book can transform the daytime hours.

I believe every woman deserves to and can “have it all”, achieve greatness, feel lightness and fulfilment while enjoying inner happiness and having more time for themselves.

Every woman deserves to and can “have it all”

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I run three 12-week courses a year and work with six ladies each time. Courses are designed to work alongside existing commitments and enrol in July, October and January.

Rebecca Jackson BSc helps women find inner happiness, greater levels of achievement, lightness and fulfilment while having more time to do the things they love. She is a racing driver, TV presenter, motoring journalist and mum of twins. Her achievements in business awarded her a Michelin Inspirational Woman title three years running in recognition of her trailblazing progress in a typically male-dominated domain. Mentoring@rebeccaracer.com

Society of Hispanic Entrepreneurs S.H.E is an organization which functions at local, national and international levels to advance women in personal and business development. It focusses on equality for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and much more. Using SHE’s three pillars of Mindset, Body and Spirituality, we create business with amazing purpose aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the world.

Join the Ambassador program now and become a leader for Latinas in your community Connect with us. Together is Better info@hispanasemprendedoras.eu | +32 468 21 88 87 | +1 (281) 703-1135 (USA)