Business Fit Magazine September Issue 2

Sept/Oct 2021

Brain-Friendly Strategies to increase performance

Lessons learned from a Baboon!

Karry on Travel visits Petra

www.businessfitmagazine.com

o t r e b Ro

a d a r Cer

Using your monthly cycle to your

ADVANTAGE

rds o w t s ju n a h t ore m is e g a s s e m A

Dear Business Fit readers, WELCOME to another issue of Bizzfit magazine.

Every two months, we gather the best content so that you, dear reader, can nurture, grow and expand your business to the next level.

But what does the next level mean?

In these last two months, this phrase has come to mind over and over again, seeing that S.H.E., the Society of Hispanic Entrepreneurs, achieves goals and grows in the number of volunteers and members who live an integral lifestyle. This makes me feel full and wanting to move on, even though, from time to time, I feel scared that I’m not ready for it, to that blessed next level.

Many times I support myself by compliments, testimonials from satisfied clients, by emails, text messages ... This makes me feel a great responsibility to be consistent and practice what I think, feel, say and do ... Although it is not always So. So that’s when I understand that the next level is the one for which I will never be ready. The key is to stop practicing imposter syndrome and learn, spread my wings and fly.

Has it happened to you? Have you felt that you are not ready for that next level, indeed, that you do not want to go to any level? It does happen to me.

This is why I work hard on myself and on my well-being, both physical and mental, because being the guide of my two entrepreneurial works, although I can allow myself moments of weakness, I must stand firm, as a good support for them.

I know this year has been a tough one for everyone. It was also for my businesses, because we had to juggle to face economic changes and in other areas, looking for alternative ways in order to adapt to this new reality and, as I said before, to move to the next level.

Both in BFM and in my other company SHE, we are a group of people who have worked to stay together despite the storm, in the best possible way because we have a vision that together everything is possible. And it is when giving opportunities to everyone within the community, we have those small achievements that become true learning jewels, which continue to lead us on this beautiful path of entrepreneurship.

In the SHE community we have written a book, our first book and, although everything looks brilliant, sometimes the work that follows is immense and intense, which causes me to feel fear, fear of not being able, perhaps fear that everything that has been built, can also go down.

This is why this magazine and all the work that I do, help me to sustain myself, to believe in myself and in what I do.

Along the way you will find people who are willing to believe in you, others to ignore you and, even worse, others who will try to bring down what you have done with love. That is why I tell you to always work on yourself, on your growth, on what you love, so that even if you are afraid, continue and join those who can see in you what you still cannot see. That famous phrase, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” applies and is the one that I will follow.

I have not always been an example for myself and that is why the main thing is to love you and know when it is time to change, to move towards that change. I am eternally grateful to the wonderful people around me, although today I want to send a message that becomes a self-message: “Hey… Look at yourself, love yourself! Yes, love yourself and expand! YOU ARE VALID!

Verónica Sosa Publisher www.businessfitmagazine.com

Health & Body

Sync Your Business with Your Cycle Sara Jager p20

Connecting Business with fitness Maria Gomez p54

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FIT FEATURES

Karry on Travel - p56 Petra Karry Carrusco

Malish p28

Roberto Cerrada p48

Optimism And Good Humour - The Nourishment of Relationships Viola Edward p14 Mindset And Mentoring Nelson de J. Rueda Restrepo p24 The priceless lesson I learned from a baboon Antonio Bonilla p42

9 Brain-Friendly Strategies to Deliver Peak Performance Rachel Bamber p6

Executive Assistants in Business Paula Harding p16 Help Your Business Excel with Data in Your Marketing Simon Cox p34 Why Passion Is More Important than the Idea Arian Adeli Koodehi p50

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 Antonio Bonilla Arian Adeli Koodehi Ghislaine Bouskila Hannah Hurford Karry Carrusco Malish Maria Gomez Nelson de J. Rueda Restrepo Paula Harding Rachel Bamber Roberto Cerrada Sara Jager Simon Cox Viola Edward General Editorial Coordinator Claire Morley Art and Design Director Leo Collier-Bett

Environment

Breathwork is on everyone’s lips! Eh! Almost!

Ghislaine Bouskila p38

Can Maritime shipping become Planet Friendly?

Hannah Hurford p10

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

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Business

Brain-Friendly

Strategies to boost peak performance at work

6

The Brighter Thinking Expert, Rachel Bamber, provides Business Fit Readers with 9 strategies to help us work with our brains rather than against them and become more productive and less stressed.

Would you like to get more done with zero stress?

Do you think that you sometimes get in the way of enjoying a satisfying, productive day?

Do you frequently move items on your to-do list to the next day (and repeat this pattern throughout the week)?

If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more of the questions above, you are not alone. Here’s how you can work with your brain rather than against it!

Declutter

Your brain is easily distracted. Everything competes for its attention and most of the time your brain is filtering out thousands of stimuli from its awareness. Scientists believe that we would go mad if the brain did not do this! Clutter depletes energy as your brain has to work hard to not focus on all extraneous stuff. Therefore, limit distractions and clutter in your work and home environment to enhance your productivity and general wellbeing.

Thinking Time

Everyone probably requires some specific time thinking to help them complete their work and this is especially important for business owners.

However, not one client has initially included dedicated thinking time in their weekly schedule before my suggestion. Creating a time for reflection, perhaps combining with a walk away from the usual place of work or choosing to visit an inspiring place nearby enables the brain – and you - to relax and switch off. This change in brain state makes solving challenges by insight much more likely which is faster than analysing the problem.

Hence, including thinking time in your schedule saves time, energy and possible stress as projects can be completed more swiftly, without unnecessary deliberation.

Commit to completing

Some clutter will not be actual physical stuff but tasks and projects that you (or others) have started... and remain unfinished. Sometimes these incomplete chores or things can hang around for a week, months or even years.

Unfinished tasks drain your energy fast and tend to be what people describe as “hanging over me”. This is how they feel: like a heavy weight is bearing down from above, sapping their spark and vitality. Is this you? I have yet to meet anyone who has no incompletions, however there are certain personalities who are more likely to have a lot of them (i.e. not the Completer-Finishers in a team!).

Unfinished projects deplete energy and focus because they are stuck in your conscious, utilising precious attention and occupying valuable cognitive space in the very limited capacity of the brain’s working memory. Feeling overwhelmed? Your brain is alerting you that you are overloading it.

Breaks

Humans are not machines (yet!) and therefore cannot keep going without adequate rest. Like a car though, your brain and body are a system that benefits from the occasional experience of an idling state (the brain’s Default Network) throughout the day. Having regular breaks increases your creativity and enables memories to be formed, stored and hard-wired in your brain. A sure sign that your brain needs a break is if it becomes sidetracked e.g. you find yourself looking out of the window at nothing in particular.

Stop denying yourself fun!

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Business Get it out of your head

If you feel overwhelmed by your endless todo-list ensure that you are not creating extra stress by holding everything in your mind and enjoy having a tangible ‘container’ to hold your thoughts, projects, and ideas instead. Get them out of your head and onto paper or a whiteboard, pretty journal – whatever you love to use. This will support your brain’s Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC) to help you to focus and lowers stress immediately as you will refrain from worrying that you will forget something.

Talk it through

Business owners and senior leaders tell me that it is lonely at the top. You may not have someone to confide in because you cannot share everything with your team or want to burden your family with constant discussions or new ideas about your company. Having an objective sounding board helps you to reflect on your thinking, increase confidence, take action and make decisions faster. Whether this is a professionally trained accredited coach, mentor or trusted and non-judgemental friend or family member ensure that you have someone you can ask to “run things by” with. This will maintain momentum and avoid the potential for a decision traffic jam which hampers progress.

Make that Bottleneck decision

Recognise that if you are stuck it is likely there is a decision required or another task that needs accomplishing before you can progress.

Left unattended, these cause blockages in your thinking (the pre-frontal cortex part of the brain) and lower productivity: they literally stay in your brain’s tiny working memory and slow the rest of your performance down. Remove the bottleneck and discover how your productivity (and energy) bursts through. Not to mention the psychological relief. It takes more energy and attention to think about working (or not) on a task than actually doing it!

resources and attention high, remove any rival obligations (close down email etc.) and focus on completing one thing at a time. Your motivation will naturally increase as actions are finished faster and your productivity will soar!

In addition, you may find that you are able to get a lot more done when you batch key activities and tackle them in specific chunks of time. For example, schedule all your meetings or client appointments on the same days or block out dedicated hours / mornings / afternoons / days to creating content or working on the business. This will mean that you are not constantly swapping to assignments that require different levels of focus or energy and is therefore more efficient.

Focus on fun

I am constantly surprised at how many people do not allow themselves to incorporate into their life what makes them feel good. Stop denying yourself fun! You have full permission to allow space and time to crank up the top tune, express your creative talents (or ahem, “talents-inlearning”), laugh at the silly animal video and enjoy other pleasurable activities – daily, if you feel like it plus, you know that it generates so much joy in return. Your brain’s neurochemistry will thank you and adjust itself accordingly, helping you to be more likely in the optimum state of arousal for high motivation and peak performance.

Include thinking time in your schedule

Mono and batch task

Your brain cannot multi-task: it switches attention from one cognitive activity to another instead.

This uses a lot of energy. Therefore, to keep

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Rachel Bamber helps leaders to work with their brain to get what they want, faster and with zero stress. Among the pioneering adventurers who have worked with her include people in the public eye, corporate leaders and super-ambitious small business owners. Rachel is the first person in the world to be awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in the Neuroscience of Leadership. info@rachelbamber.com - www.rachelbamber.com

Environment

Can Maritime shipping become

Planet

Friendly?

10

CCO of EcoClipper, Hannah Hurford, thinks it is possible for maritime shipping to clean up its act and move towards more sustainable shipping solutions, here she tells us about technologies already being assessed.

Type ‘shipping emission-free technologies’ into your News search engine and you will get a plethora of positive articles declaring how oil and shipping companies are putting time and money into emerging technologies. Electric engines, hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels, windpower, solar energy, nuclear energy… You come away feeling that the shipping industry is just muddling through, is being pulled in different directions and that there are pros and cons to each technology. You wouldn’t be far off.

Maritime shipping accounts for 90% of global trade. It also accounts for around 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and emits around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

Under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, maritime shipping emissions could increase by between 50% - 250% by 2050.

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Environment

Something must change for shipping to be part of a society that is moving forward. Shipping needs to adapt for the planet to survive.

Due to the vast size of the ships, the volume of cargo carried and amount of fuel used, maritime transport is technically more efficient than road or air transport. But here’s the reality: the environmental effects of these vessels are irreversible. Invasive species in water ballast, underwater pollution, sound pollution, dredging, air pollution and the issues around constructing and scrapping these vessels after only 10 - 15 years of commercial service, have all contributed to environmental devastation and global warming.

Despite reports detailing the problems with chugging such large vessels around the world, the industry has been slow to make any significant change. It is notoriously conservative. Only in the last few years has the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) set targets. In 2018, the IMO stated the intent to cut CO2 emissions caused by maritime shipping by at least 40% to pre-2008 levels by 2030. They also targeted a reduction of

EcoClipper Graphic Rendering

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total annual GHG from international shipping of at least 50% by 2050 when compared to 2008 (note that the industry is focusing on tackling GHGs over other environmentally destructive effects of these vessels).

Whilst these targets are a good step forward, consumer and governmental pressure has forced shipping companies to reduce emissions more immediately. Indeed, from 1st January 2022, shipping will be included in the EU Emissions Trading System where essentially the polluter pays. So, we reach the point where alternative fuels and methods of propulsion are finally being assessed. Money is being poured into trialling suitable ‘new-age’ technologies.

Alternative fuels – biofuels and nuclear

One of the most prominent areas which is being researched and tested is the use of biofuels.

Biofuels in the transport sector are gaseous or in liquid form. They come from the breaking down of biological waste products and can be produced from plants. Whilst there are a range of biofuels

being tested, the words you’ll see around are biodiesel, ammonia, liquified natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen which have the shipping industry’s attention. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “Global transport biofuel production reached a record 162 billion litres in 2019, or 2.8 million barrels per day.” Production fell recently, however, through the global pandemic.

Whilst using biofuels does reduce the amount of GHGs emitted, to produce them requires a huge amount of energy. Take hydrogen, for example.

The IEA stated that 6% of global natural gas and 2% of coal goes into hydrogen production. Sure, if hydrogen was produced using renewable energy sources, you’re looking at a low-carbon fuel, but there’s not much point in using fossil fuels to produce it and that’s where the technology is now. Despite the exciting prospects, biofuels are expensive and are a long way off from being truly emission-free.

Within the ‘alternative fuels’ category lies nuclear energy. It’s controversial, powerful and can be dangerous. Nuclear has some huge admirers, including Bill Gates who started an initiative that looks solely at nuclear energy in commercial maritime shipping. On one hand, producing nuclear energy doesn’t require fossil fuels, and the energy density is hugely different (no refuelling necessary). But as my physicist friend points out, “nuclear fission is an extreme technology. It can cause both extreme positive and extreme negative consequences, and our world already lives with both. It is an ethical, (geo-)political, sociological and sometimes even theological issue of great importance. But suffice to say, if an industry can avoid nuclear, it will enjoy greater ease, greater freedom, and greater confidence from the public.”

Renewable energy for batteries and propulsion

Rather than producing the fuel to power shipping vessels, why not harness the energies that are constantly around us? Ships are being retrofitted with wind propulsion technology, designed around solar panels and are being plugged into hydropower generators when docked.

With renewable energies, the likelihood is that they couldn’t be used exclusively for generating electricity. For example, there are companies

working on solar power sails. Set the sails and collect the sun’s rays as you move along. Of course, you may need quite a lot of sun to power the engine, so the ship may require wind turbines on the back too. And what if there is no sun or wind for a period? Are you happy using a diesel auxiliary engine? Or is there a way to store hydropower collected at the shore for such an emergency? These are the questions that are being put to naval architects today.

As history has taught us, the wind can be used to effectively power an entire shipping industry.

It may seem archaic or romantic, but it is still possible. Wind technology has, over the last few years, come on in leaps and bounds. There are lots of options: soft sails (such as innovative company EcoClipper), rotor sails, kite-sails, hard sails (Oceanbird has garnered attention recently) and turbines. From small and medium companies to large international corporations, the idea of moving products using the wind has captured the public’s eye.

Sail cargo is an industry within the wind-power sector with a particular emphasis on ethics and the environment. Vessels are being re-purposed or, like sail cargo company EcoClipper, purposebuilt to transport cargo and passengers between countries. These sailing ships rely predominantly on the wind for propulsion and continue to use and share maritime knowledge developed over thousands of years.

Whilst other maritime shipping options are being tested, the sail cargo world has been continuously working to provide emission-free transport to those who care more wholly about the environment.

Is there a way, perhaps, for the conventional shipping industry to look more closely at this comparatively small sail cargo industry and to see the potential it has? Can consumers stop to think about how products are shipped and whether the emissions are worth it, before clicking for the quickest, cheapest delivery option online? Can we work together, as businesses, individuals, governments, and industries to really try to reduce the impact we are having on this planet? I think we can. After all we all have a part to play, whether we like it or not.

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

13

Mindset & Emotion

Optimism and Good

Humour The Nourishment of Relationships

14

Personal and Corporate Advisor and multiawarded Mentor, Viola Edward, takes a look at good humour and its relationship with optimism and how together they can be used to expand what is possible.

In Hippocratic medicine, the human body contains four basic regulating energies called humours, these are associated with the four elements; Nature, Water, Air, Fire and Earth. If the combination of these four energies results in a pleasant mix, the person is said to be in a good mood. Unbalanced combinations of the same elements create bad moods, most commonly referred to as stress.

Beyond the images we may have about good and bad moods, we can broaden the formula, as outlined by the ancient Greeks, with an inclusive holistic view. Today, linked to our species, the concept of humour is associated with the senses, such as sight, sound or touch and certainly related to smiling, a wonderful human capacity.

As everything we are emanates from within, so does the smile. Nobody ‘puts a smile on our lips’. Others can provoke it, but it is from within us that it emerges. Good humour is a language that communicates using gestural complicity, the crossing of glances, the sounds of rhythms and volumes and the particular energetic intensities of each person in a transversality that includes all the senses.

Its best-known symptom is laughter, which we can observe as a healthy characteristic of the social nature of our being. For children, laughing is as important as eating for their organism.

Laughter and good humour nourish each other.

When laughter appears on a regular daily basis, humour improves and with it comes optimism.

Optimism is one of the outstanding features of good humour. Optimism, which I conceive as an attitude towards life, is a willingness to start afresh, to try again, to trust, re-analyse and then continue. On this pathway, optimism opens our access to self-knowledge and acceptance.

Optimism is a rewarding and creative way of living together.

Given its social nature, humour is a quality that is shared, appreciated and enjoyed. We have all provoked or felt those touches of humour, that positive sentiment of laughing at oneself or at some annoying, everyday situation that can then dissipate like a fresh breeze. We can celebrate this nature with effective social and emotional intelligence, helping us to resolve problems in an optimistic way.

Out walking with the family or chatting with someone while waiting to be attended to,

Laughter and good humour nourish each other

greeting, thanking or sharing with friends, these are strategies which feed good humour. This energy in turn nourishes positive relationships with the people and the circumstances among which we live.

Humour is a current that draws drawing us towards a greater mental, emotional and intuitive openness. Humour facilitates our capacity to adapt to new experiences. Its great ally is creativity. The creation of humour is the ability to associate different and unexpected ideas, capable of ‘breaking the mould’ of perceived “logic” and producing a twist to the situation, whatever it may be.

In many creative companies, brainstorming is used to create wonderful solutions which are loaded with good humour. This and other strategies assume a conscious and intentional mindset to expand the possible, the optimistic vision that facilitates building positive interactions, minimising tensions and conflicts.

Resilience is another quality very much about humour. It has little to do with naivety or selfdeception; rather, it involves an attitude towards life which includes the confidence that things will work out. Resilience comes to the surface when one actively intervenes, finding humorous ways out of negative situations and building positive relationships., Good humour and smiling, in any of its intensities, releases endorphins making us feel happier and it is also considered a cardiovascular exercise because when we laugh, we bring more oxygen to the brain and body, which counteracts stress and bad humour.

It is such a shame that so many people have the habit to only connect with this joy of laughter, feeling lighter and making jokes after having a few drinks, while there is a naturally healthy, powerful and cost-free way always available to us through the awareness of breathing.

Conscious Connected Breathing, especially when we concentrate on relaxing into extended exhale entices the emergence of joy, lively positivity and that personal sense of good humour which we all naturally possess.

Let’s breathe for it…

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

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Business

Steps to Elevate Your Business with an Executive Assistant

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Executive Assistant, Paula Harding, explains how the intuition, trust, loyalty and commitment between an Executive and their assistant can result in the freedom, time and energy to focus on the big picture and bring about greater success.

I once worked as an Executive Assistant for an executive who to the outside world was difficult to manage. I saw his unique qualities and how he made a difference to the world, I knew that he had a heart of Gold.

When he left the organisation, we remained friends and continued to help and support each other.

His daughter got married a few years later and he flew my partner and I to India for eight days to attend the wedding ceremonies.

We were treated like royalty, as precious friends.

We wanted for nothing, we had clothing tailor made for us, given access to an interpreter and a chauffeur driven air-conditioned coach and every day we were taken somewhere magical and somewhere very special every evening.

My executive was proud of me and proud of what we had achieved together.

An assistant can transform your life, so much so, that you will remember and cherish them always.

Why is that? It is difficult to explain, it is a relationship that can’t be measured in facts and figures, it is more of a feeling. A feeling of intuition, trust, loyalty and commitment and when the relationship is a partnership, the result is powerful.

Being an executive can often be a lonely, difficult and stressful role, you have the amazing ideas, the passion to succeed, a dream to build.

The reality is that you can’t be in two places at once, you don’t have an infinite number of hours to work, rest and play. Your life can become all about work, deadlines, regulations and commitments and you find yourself not enjoying what you set out to achieve, weighed down by all the intricacies of running a successful business.

You spend less time with your loved ones, less

An assistant can transform your life

time on the world outside of your business. You become tired, frustrated and potentially fail.

The difference you need to change all of this is an Executive Assistant.

An assistant is a dedicated professional who is passionate and committed to being the number two in your organisation, an enabler who makes whatever needs to happen, happen.

When Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon in July this year, his team were beside themselves with joy and happiness for him. Their faces turned Red as they shouted and applauded their man.

It reminded me of working as an assistant, the feeling when the executive is a success, knowing that you made a difference.

An African Proverb states “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

Working in partnership with your assistant will give you freedom, time and energy to focus on the big picture, the reason you started your business. The Assistant is the catalyst to enable the success of the mission.

Lucy Brazier OBE, CEO of Marcham Publishing and one of the world’s leading authorities on the administrative profession, advocates that an assistant used properly will give an executive 80% of their working day back. What would that look like for you?

More than anything, an assistant is an extension of you, a confidante, sounding board and trusted ally, who doesn’t need one of those in the world of business?

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Business

If you want to go far, go together

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Here are five practical tips to make the most of your partnership:

Assistants are leaders in their own right and have influence in many areas.

1. Share

4. Respect

To be the most effective assistant, the executive needs to share everything. Their vision, strategy, plans, ideas, excitement, passion, worries and problems.

Only when an assistant understands you and your business inside out can they work out where they can add the most value.

Believe me, the role of the assistant is tough and can be a lonely place. Acting as a trusted advisor and confidante means that there is no one to turn to, no one to share worries and concerns.

An assistant will give you everything to make you a success. Respect them and in return, an inspired, motivated and appreciated assistant will be a powerful asset in your business.

2. Communicate

5. Value

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Acknowledge and promote the value your assistant adds in your business. Richard Branson is well known in the administrative profession for shouting about the value his EAs have added to his life. He is quoted as saying “two heads are definitely better than one and by sourcing ideas from each other, you have a better chance of coming up with a strategy that will allow your business to overcome a setback or challenge”.

You may think you don’t have the time to communicate with your Executive Assistant, but you have to spend the time to gain the time.

Daily communication is a must and should be the most important time in your day. Your Executive Assistant needs to know what is going on in your world and what your top priorities are. By doing this, your assistant will gain a sixth sense and by talking with you they can tell what is really going on.

An assistant who feels valued will move mountains for you.

3. Invest As with any relationship in life, by investing time in what you both need will determine whether there is the chemistry that will be the bond to make it work. There is no other partnership in business like it, get it right and the difference can be transformative.

You also need to invest in the development of your assistant. The role of an assistant changes all the time in line with business requirements, changing workplace cultures and trends. Ensure that you bring your assistant with you on your journey and invest in them as a person.

The reality is that you can’t be in two places at once

This can be through training programmes, mentorship, sharing business knowledge, involving your assistant in organisational decisions, asking for input and opinions and agreeing challenging objectives. The more developed the assistant, the more success for you and your business.

Paula Harding is Executive Assistant to Sid Madge, Founder of Meee. Paula is an advocate of the Executive Assistant profession and is passionate about networking, collaborating and sharing knowledge. Meee inspires people to excel through workshops, courses, books and other resources. By creating engaging, energising and effective experiences, Meee equips people to perform at their very best. www.mee.global

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Body & Health

Sync Your Business with

Your Cycle

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Start by tracking your cycle

Holistic Performance and Embodiment coach, Sara Jager, explains how women can maximise business productivity by aligning their work activities with the different phases of their monthly cycle and using it to their advantage.

How is your menstrual cycle connected with your business? At first sight it may seem that these two areas couldn’t be further away from one another, but in reality, they are much more interconnected than you might think. Actually, as I will be presenting in this article, syncing your business with your cycle might just be the secret ingredient to your success as a woman entrepreneur. Most of us haven’t been taught much about our menstrual cycles and how to work with the ups and downs of energy, emotions, mental clarity and desire to connect with others. More often the messages we got about the menstrual cycle came with a negative connotation as something to be ashamed of as it makes women moody, lazy, unreliable and crazy.

If you’ve directly or indirectly received the message that your cycle is a burden you simply need to carry as a woman and your best option is to just deal with it in silence, you’re not alone.

Even though the menstrual cycle is recognised as a vital sign of health for women, this topic still doesn’t get much attention.

Why is that? Well, the world we live in operates in a linear way. We are expected to show up the same and perform the same duties day in and day out. Also many productivity gurus preach about having a strict schedule and a disciplined approach to manage our days, where every working day follows the same routine. While this approach may be working for men, whose energy rises and falls with the sun and has a 24-hour cycle, the same principles cannot be applied to women who follow the lunar cycle which is spread over 28 days (or however long your cycle is). We need to become aware that women have a cyclical nature consisting of four very distinct phases which are as different as the yearly seasons.

Common sense tells us to adapt to the seasons by changing our clothes, the way we eat and what we focus on, so it only makes sense that we adapt all our actions with our menstrual cycle, including our business activities. If we don’t do that, we are

21

Body & Health

working against ourselves, are alienated from our source of power, inspiration, creativity, wisdom and intuition and we are unconsciously blocking our way to success.

Let’s walk through the cycle and what you can focus on in your business as you go through the four phases:

Menstrual Phase

The best thing you can do for yourself during the menstrual days, especially the first two, is to rest as much as possible. If you don’t rest in this phase, it’s as if you wouldn’t sleep at night, it’s that important and it will affect your energy and wellbeing throughout the whole month.

Don’t plan important meetings, events and practice saying No. Don’t panic - that doesn’t mean you won’t get anything done; on the contrary this resting phase can be really productive when you focus on the tasks that will naturally flow. Menstrual phase is a great time to take a step back and do an evaluation of your business to see what is working and what needs to be adjusted, so you stay in alignment with your bigger vision and long-term goals. It is also a good time for writing content as when you allow yourself to rest, the creativity will start flowing naturally and you may

The secret ingredient to your success

22

emerge from your resting days with a new offer, updated website copy or a book chapter. If you have any important decisions to make, rely on your intuition as it is at its strongest at this time.

Follicular phase

After the bleeding period, you probably feel more energised and lighter and it’s time for some outward action! This is the No Excuse phase, when it’s time to be bold, plan big and take steps or leaps into the direction you want to go. Use this energy to push yourself out of your comfort zone towards expansion. Whatever it is you have been wishing and planning to do, now is the time to do it. Launch that project, publish the post you have been resisting to put out, send that email which has been in your draft folder for so long, hire support, start new ventures and go full speed ahead in your business.

Ovulation phase

With the energy still high, you are at the peak of your performance when ovulation comes.

Your feminine magnetism is making sure that everything is in flow and all the right opportunities, people and support effortlessly line up for you.

Communication is easy and your confidence gets an extra boost, that is why this is the perfect phase for sales calls, raising your prices or asking for a promotion, having important conversations, networking, collaborating, launching new offers, speaking on live events and recording videos. It’s also a great time to celebrate your success as big or small as you may think it is and check in with your big vision.

Luteal phase

or journal. Knowing where you are in your cycle and observing how your energy and work dynamic changes will bring you awareness about your patterns and enable you to navigate through the month in a smooth way. Once you know where you are in your cycle you can start planning your activities, so they are most aligned with the phases as outlined above.

Note that you might experience your cycle differently than described here. Every woman is different and how you experience your cycle depends on many factors, so approach this process with patience and curiosity. As you start this journey of aligning your lifestyle with your cycle, you will find it’s actually a blessing, not a burden.

This phase is the longest of all and can actually be divided into two parts. In the first part you still have quite a lot of energy and it’s a great time to finalise projects and wrap up errands as your mind is very detail oriented during this phase.

The second part, the week before the period, can bring overwhelm and anxiety. Mix in some cravings and you got yourself the perfect PMS combo that can throw you off the track. Doubts and fears surface and the inner saboteur kicks in, but this is not all bad news. This phase is about releasing what isn’t serving you, so when you recognise and look at what is coming up, you can make empowered choices and decide what you want to let go. Also, if you are conscious about your cycle and have been adapting your activities, resting when needed and taking care of a balanced diet, you won’t be overwhelmed in this phase. Use this phase to slow down, minimise interaction with others, so you have enough space to process and decide what you want to carry on into the next cycle and what you’re leaving behind.

How to start synching your business with your cycle? First of all, start by tracking your cycle. You can use an app, specially designed spreadsheet

Sara Jager is a Holistic Performance and Embodiment coach, Yoga Teacher, Cultural Anthropologist and Menstrual Cycle Educator. Her mission is to empower conscious leaders by showing them how to unlock their holistic performance and reclaim their personal power and purpose, so they can enjoy sustainable success without sacrifices and create a legacy they love. hello@sarajager.com

23

Mindset & Emotion

Mindset &

Mentoring

24

President of the Red Global de Mentors, Nelson de J. Rueda Restrepo, explains how we can change our thoughts and attitudes with a positive growth mindset and how mentoring can lead to the appropriation of new skills and abilities.

“You are destined to create something great.

That is the only thing you need to know. Only you maintain the opposition. Choose, declare and be consistent with the destiny you want.” Juan David Arbeláez Let us begin this reflection on Mindset and Mentoring with a Zen story about “Silence”.

“Four monks decided to meditate together in a retreat of absolute silence for seven days and seven nights in a remote temple high in the mountains.

The first day passed without adversity. However, as the night approached, the youngest monk became impatient, as he noticed the monk in charge of lighting the fire sat motionless, as if nothing was happening and as if he was not aware he had the responsibility of lighting the heating lamps to face the coming cold.

When the cold set in, the impatient monk couldn’t contain himself any longer and burst out.

-”Friend, light the lamps at once! “ -The second turned to the first and exclaimed, “Brother, you have broken the silence!... Why do you talk instead of being dedicated to silence?”

“Fools!” interjected the third”, looking at the other two.... “We are supposed to be in a silent retreat!

I wonder why you are talking instead of keeping silent as we had agreed!” ... he concluded vociferously Then the fourth monk looked at his companions with pride, and with a grimace of satisfaction that he could not conceal, he said smugly, “Well, well... it seems that I am the only one who can keep silence!”

What are your conclusions from this story...?

What lessons can you draw from it?

How often, unconsciously, do we hold inner dialogues in the face of the actions of others...? losing touch with ourselves!....

Dialogues we then externalise, verbalising them, to judge and condemn others, while we blame them, without realising that we are part of the problem and therefore part of the solution.

Mindset

Mindset is a reference to mental programming

Mindset is a reference to mental programming, a suggested set of thoughts and attitudes which support our point of view and influence our behaviour. When consolidated into beliefs, mindset becomes our truth, an immovable fixed mentality, which is evidenced by expressions such as “that’s just the way I am”, “I can’t change”, “I lack talent and intelligence”. Since we materialise ourselves through our actions and the results we produce from them, we then appear as insecure, pessimistic people, who need the praise and recognition of others and are lacking in initiative and creativity.

Becoming aware of this, we can reverse the situation, overcoming and transcending it through a positive growth mindset. We recognise our intelligence and talents have been

25

Mindset & Emotion

developed with dedication and effort and will naturally manifest themselves through the skills and abilities we have incorporated as part of our learning and life journey.

Mentoring Einstein stated ‘’Our theories are what determine our observations’’.

Various helpful human support disciplines can come to our aid, such as psychology, coaching, counselling and among many others, mentoring.

Mentoring implies a philosophy of accompaniment and support for human and organisational development. It is an operational methodology leading to the appropriation of new skills and abilities, which are born from the connection of experience and future projection, between the Mentor and the Mentee.

The operational method of Mentoring is generative in nature, capable of producing and originating. It is based on the assumption that the problems of human beings are created due to their interaction with reality. Therefore, the most important thing is not to know why the problem exists, but to know how the problematic reality works and what to do to solve the problem within it.

Mentoring is based on an open, inductive method, which makes it possible for the Mentor to ‘mobilise’ the guidelines so they can be transformed into collaboration. This is achieved by technical instruction through demonstration, guiding and accompanying the Mentee in his or her effort to understand and comprehend in a different way, by working on reality, possibilities and by acquiring new skills and abilities.

concept, in a process of self-correcting discovery, until they arrive at the construction of the guiding principles of an action transforming problems into opportunities and provides the Mentee with the necessary tools to create momentums.

They work simultaneously at the perceptual, emotional and behavioural levels, to develop skills and abilities making it possible to get going, in a different way, and keep moving by their own inertia.

So, when you feel in a situation of vital stagnation, look for a Mentor, so you can evolve in your perception-behaviour. From there, with your Mentor, build answers and alternatives in the direction needed for the solution of problematic situations, developing new skills and abilities to face them successfully.

When you feel in a situation of vital stagnation, look for a Mentor

Knowing that every explanation is a hypothesis, Mentor and Mentee move forward in the recognition and empirical demonstration that it is possible. To do this they move from proposition to proposition, from practical concept to practical

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Nelson de J. Rueda Restrepo Dr. C.E. is President of the Red Global de Mentors - RGM. Mentor by profession and heart and accredited by FICOP coach ontologico. Specialising in couple transpersonal therapy. Diploma in experiencial education and the art of professional facilitation. International speaker. International consultant in Grow Management and transpersonal Mindfulness. presidente@rgmentores.org www.rgmentores.org

Interview

MaL!sh

A change is always a chance 28

We have been proud to have Lilli and Maike from MaL!sh contribute to the magazine for the past couple of years and are thrilled to feature them in an interview for this issue of Business Fit.

Who are you?

Maike: I remember growing up, I always asked “why”, said “but” if I had an opinion and wanted to travel the world on my own. That curiosity has taken me to Australia, Canada, Brazil, Ireland and Egypt where I lived at different stages of my life. Back in Germany, I started my corporate career as a pricing manager which was a great job, but I felt that I wanted to dig deeper and do something more meaningful for me and my surroundings.

I love entrepreneurship because I can combine it with my passions for travelling the world, being creative (painting, taking pictures, video editing), public speaking, teaching and leading an active and ever-changing lifestyle. At home in Frankfurt, I like to bike, swim and practice yoga and fitness classes.

Education is a big driver for my business activities. Four business degrees from three different countries, continuous learning and the entrepreneurial journey allow me to share my experience and knowledge and give back.

I am a university lecturer, mentor, coach and consultant.

Lilli: My name is Lilli Rohde, I grew up in a little village, not even mentioned on the map, in the middle of nowhere, in Siberia, Russia. My parents migrated to Germany when I was seven years old. I grew up with two cultures and languages and was independent from an early age. I have always been very career-driven and started to work at 16 - climbing the corporate ladder in Customer Service and Sales with global responsibilities. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Sales part-time.

I love travelling (have been to almost everywhere except Asia), acting and dancing (which I currently do in a Russian theatre group here in Frankfurt).

supporting businesses and individuals to reach their (business) goals. Developing strategies together and seeing them being implemented, is a total boost for me.

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

Maike: “No white space on the calendar”. This advice refers to proper planning and execution and assumes that with a full calendar you have purpose and drive, you know where you are going, and you will not bore-out (the contrary of burn-out). For me it has always felt most rewarding and fulfilling if I had things to do – not just in business. I remember well a six-week backpacking trip through Brazil where every day was planned out to the last detail.

Lilli: “Your network is your net worth” this is a piece of business advice I heard the first time when we started as entrepreneurs. For me it was a game changer. In the past, I always thought: “if you want something from me, you have to approach me.”

I now realise how much potential I have missed out on. With the deep understanding of this advice, I now have a powerful network (online and offline) and I know how to nurture it.

Balance is the magical state everyone wants to achieve

My professional driver has always been around

29

Interview

Does “Balance” in life exist for you? If so, how do you achieve it?

attitude to life and a drive to change your situation if you don’t like where you are or where you are headed. That does not only apply to individuals, but also to companies.

Lilli: Balance is the magical state everyone wants to achieve. From my point of view, it is important to do what makes you happy. And this changes from time to time. There are periods where you work 24/7 because it gives you satisfaction and a push.

Then there are periods where you want to spend more time with your family, friends and hobbies.

So, listen to your body and mind because they know what a healthy balance is.

We had been best friends for some time when in early 2018 we realised that we had to change professions to be true to ourselves. Working for the same employer in the Food & Beverage industry, we saw so much unused potential in the areas of Customer Service on the one hand and People and Management development on the other hand and we realised this is a field where we wanted to become active and help other companies. Thus, the idea of founding our own company was born. The name was the easiest decision. I had worked in Cairo, Egypt during my study time and the saying “Malish” had left such a profound impact on me, that I have used it ever since in situations where I cannot change the past and better focus on the future.

Maike: Absolutely true. For us as entrepreneurs, balance is not a state like ‘going on vacation x times a year’ but being creative and spontaneous about work and leisure. What do I mean by this? We always allow for leisure time while on business or are on the lookout for business even on vacation.

It often happens that after a great meeting or a successful negotiation, Lilli and I decide to take the rest of the day off and do something fun or rewarding. The other way around works similarly.

Once we were on a North America vacation trip but paused for an interview at a Canadian TV station to talk about our business.

If you were in the jungle, what kind of animal would you be?

Lilli: That question reminds me of the “Jungle Book” and my favourite animal was Bagheera the black panther.

Maike: I have been to the Amazon twice and am still amazed about the diversity and different “skill sets” of animals and plants. I was very fascinated by the electric eel that uses electric shocks to hunt prey, to navigate or in self-defence. The voltage is so high that the eel can even send electricity into a tree on the shoreline, so it will drop its delicious fruits into the water.

You are the founders of MaL!sh, how did the company start?

Maike: The foundation is our friendship, a positive

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Lilli: Yes, and since this Arabic concept was exactly what we had brainstormed for our business values, it was clear that we would be called Malish. The attentive reader might have already combined that it has also Maike and Lilli inside.

Utilising this, we write it with a capital L. We changed the i for a ! to make a statement, which has become our logo.

From this initial idea it took some time – actually much longer than anticipated - to structure the company, re-focus, communicate clearly, get known and make money. This journey with many ups and downs is also one of the biggest teachings which we now use to help our customers to fast track their success.

What is a Compagneur?

Maike: We are proud to say that we invented this word. It is a mix of the terms company and entrepreneur.

Lilli: Yes, and in a nutshell it’s a positive statement to all walks of life. It unites the best of both worlds the corporate and entrepreneurial. It encourages learning from one another and to profit from both. It is a non-judgmental word acknowledging that firstly there is no right or wrong approach to (business) life and secondly there is always

an option to change your position if you are not satisfied. We live by and believe in this concept and take our strength out of this mindset.

Maike: And secondly it is our Coaching programme for employees, start-ups, sidepreneurs and entrepreneurs with exactly the before-mentioned motive.

Our Compagneur coaching helps our clients to develop their career plan or work on their business idea, re-engineer their business, bring it to the next level, market and sell online or go international.

Customer Service serves customers not the company

If you like to read more about it, please refer to our four Business Fit articles from May to November 2020.

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Interview What do you find is the area your clients tend to neglect in business?

Maike: Getting known and being present when your prospect finally makes the buying decision.

In order to achieve both things, companies need to be known, trusted and have a proven track record. All that can only be achieved with Marketing & Branding. I would wish for our coaching clients to focus less on certificates, finished homepages and do more to get their name, brand and products out there. I am not saying this to neglect the first half, but I’d like to encourage our entrepreneurs, solo-preneurs and sidepreneurs to invest more resources and early on into “how to get known and how to get customers”.

Lilli, what would you say for our consulting clients from the small and medium sized companies?

Lilli: From our experience, many companies do not have a proper Follow-Up System in place and do not see the full power of a Customer Service department. For example, 65% of all companies don’t nurture leads - even if they paid to get the data. If you then consider that the most money is made in the follow up and with repeat sales then it becomes clear: no follow up costs money.

Looking into Customer Service, 85% of customers are dissatisfied with the Customer Service experience. Companies have to understand that the customer is getting in touch with Customer Service to save time and to resolve problems.

Customer Service serves customers not the company. If these mindsets and systems are established, it becomes a real game changer for the whole organisation and business.

What impact has the pandemic had on you and how have you coped?

Maike: Being a fairly young company has been both an advantage and a disadvantage.

To our advantage was the fact that when we founded MaL!sh, we implemented digital structures from the start and learned how to

32

build an online business, leverage all digital means like sales funnels and LinkedIn: This we implemented in our portfolio, especially in our business pillar of Compagneur coaching and LinkedIn Business Development courses.

On the downside: we weren’t an established company when Covid hit and had no stable customer base, which put us in a high-pressure situation in March 2020 as we could not open our rolodex and ask our power base for business.

Lilli: And without a stable customer base, we of course had some financial struggles. Having a joint business as best friends is amazing, but you have to earn double. Sometimes you also have to make new decisions to bring your business to the next level.

That is why - in line with the Compagneur spirit of combining both “worlds”, I have decided to go back to the corporate world. It happened that I have an amazing opportunity to support a company to develop a Customer Service department from scratch. Customer Service was and is my passion and to have the opportunity to create and leave an impact in this area is pretty exciting.

That is certainly big news, Lilli. You returning to the corporate world.

What does this mean for both MaL!sh and your new employer? How do you feel?

Lilli: I know it sounds like a big step and everyone may ask “will that be the end of MaLish”. But we can assure you that this is the step for further growth and expansion for MaL!sh and I hope this inspires more people to be brave and “wander” between the two “worlds” as a Compagneur.

Maike will take over main responsibilities as CEO of MaL!sh, but I will always be part of MaLish, working strategically and more in the background. Being back in the corporate world gives us a chance to increase our network to decision makers. Also, my employer knows about MaLish and my activities and I think it is correct to say that this was a major factor in hiring me.

Companies nowadays are desperate for people like me who have built up their own company,

know how to run a business, handle challenges and manage time in the most efficient way. That’s what some companies call intrapreneurship! So you could call me an intrapreneur by day and a sidepreneur by night. Of course, there will be challenges for all sides, that is why open and transparent communication is key. Maike and I recently laid out a Code of Conduct; it holds our values, mission, vision, commitment to MaL!sh and our friendship and it will guide us through the coming months and years.

Lilli, you make it sound very positive… but Maike how do you feel about it, and does it reflect your company values?

Maike: Lilli returning to the corporate world was not the initial plan. But whoever has followed us for the past three years on LinkedIn, our YouTube show, on Instagram or read our 15 Business Fit Article has always heard us say that we believe in our Compagneur spirit of entrepreneurs and companies networking, exchanging and doing business together. Now we can finally walk the

talk and prove that it is not just lip service but our core company value.

Lilli will live the Compagneur spirit and prove that a successful side business is possible and I will keep my promise of the MaL!sh mantra “learn from the past, live now, form the future” and transform our company into a bright future.

You are regular contributors to our magazine, and we are looking forward to your next article in the November issue.

Lilli: Thank you, Claire, for this interview and we are looking forward to publishing our 16th business article with you. Who knows, I might already share some insights from my Compagneur Sidepreneur journey, too.

You can find Lilli, Maike and MaL!sh here: www.malish.global www.linkedin.com/company/malish www.linkedin.com/in/maike-benner-malish www.linkedin.com/in/lilli-rohde-malish

33

Business

Help Your Business

Excel

with Data in Your Marketing 34

Marketing Manager of Poppy Design Studio, Simon Cox, takes a look at how marketeers should be looking at data and how to use Excel spreadsheets to record results to measure marketing activity success.

Have you considered how recording data in your business marketing activities can help you grow?

Without you reading any further, data has been around in business for years, but can data help predict our futures when it comes to marketing?

Think about sport and the performance of racing drivers, footballers, athletes etc, their growth and future performances include historical data to help key decision makers make interesting and more relevant decisions to what they are looking to achieve. It’s the same for business….. and you can start this almost immediately with a simple Excel spreadsheet and an analytical mind.

Here I look at some ideas for you to consider with your marketing and how monitoring data can help you help your marketing going forward with a simple Excel spreadsheet.

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Business

1. Monitor Your Competition You could start a spreadsheet and identify your competitors in business. Nothing complicated, but list down your competitors on a sheet and record what they are doing. This could be the number of social media posts they put out across the month, how many testimonials they have visible on their social media accounts and how do they rank in search engine searches.

You could rank your competition with a points scoring system and produce a league table.

Maybe 1 point for each social media follower they gain in the month, maybe a further point for the number of Facebook likes they gain on their posts throughout the month and maybe an additional point for each post they put out.

Whatever you decide, this will give you an idea of what activity they are involved in with their social media marketing and would give you a focus to start and drill into the details of your competition.

You could measure all this on a set day of a month and compare their activity which means you would be able to increase your activity to still be ahead of them in line with your marketing.

2. Export Your CRM Data and Analyse the Output Exporting your data from your CRM into Excel can lead to interesting results. You could look at your customer data to spot missing data, analyse out where your customers are located and even the last time they bought from you if you know where to look with the various tables and fields.

By exporting the data into Excel, you could link this to a product such as Power BI which is a free solution and great for analysing data. In the past, I have used Power BI to visually show where customers are located in the UK meaning that we have visibility of their geographic location which can be updated with a future export.

There is also nothing worse than receiving correspondence in the post and it is half addressed to you as someone hasn’t input all the full data into a CRM. By exporting your data, analysing out the customer addresses and contact data, you can gain a quick focus on missing data, meaning your customers won’t

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Tracking testimonials is a great way to increase your marketing activity

feel the “lack of care” feeling when receiving marketing literature or mailshots from you.

3. Short Cuts to Key Websites Have you joined a number of Small Business Facebook groups and no idea how often you post in them? Why not list them all down in a spreadsheet with the relevant link to the group and then complete dates of when you post in those groups? You could then measure the engagement from those posts to record if your post is engaging and gaining traction.

You will also be able to market your business with a consistent approach in social media groups by simply entering the date of when you posted in the group and then monitor your activity going forward.

4. Testimonial Trackers Tracking testimonials is a great way to increase your marketing activity. You supply your customer and ask them for a review or testimonial. Why not enter the customer details on a new Excel spreadsheet with the date of when you asked them for the testimonial.

In a month’s time, look at your social media accounts and update your spreadsheet with any increase in new testimonials or reviews. If you’ve seen an increase, then great. If you haven’t, by entering the date, you have a decision to make – ask the customer again or maybe review for the next month.

5. Hashtag Analysis Do you monitor popular hashtags in your industry? We know hashtags can play an important role in digitally marketing a particular market, but how popular are they?

You could identify the growing hashtags in your industry to help you decide whether they are worth targeting with future posts or whether you should consider targeting different hashtags.

A simple search of a specific hashtag on Instagram (for example) will show how many posts have been posted with that hashtag. Maybe monitor this for one month at a set time and date and repeat going forward on a monthly basis. If you see increasing trends, is it worth considering posting with this hashtag? Maybe another option to consider.

6. Measuring Your Return on Investment

you in 10 enquiries, £2,000 of income and cost you £500.

You could also use the data to not market or advertise your business or brand in the future if you record the data and performance of the marketing activity.

Finally, with all this data, you could move your business forward. Use the data to create graphs and charts so it’s visible and colourful and also easily understood by key decision makers who don’t understand statistics and facts, but can understand a graph.

Whatever you choose to do, by monitoring your data, measuring regularly and making decisions based on the data, you can certainly grow your business with little financial investment and a more scientific approach.

ARTICLE RESOURCES 2 – Power BI - powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/

Measuring your return on investment in your marketing activities is critical. How do you know what is working and what isn’t?

Look at all your marketing spend, your social media advertising costs, church magazine advertising, exhibition costs and list them down in spreadsheet. You could give a specific advert or exhibition a code (eg EXPO2410) which you could use to monitor all activities and then when you receive an enquiry, ask the person enquiring where they found you or heard of your business.

Once you’ve asked, add the code and measure this against the expenditure so you could have a cost of £500 for an exhibition stand on 24th October (EXPO2410) and when you receive 10 (for example) enquiries and have asked the prospect where they had heard of you, this could be attributed to the exhibition stand and lead to a cost of £50 per enquiry. (£500 divided by 10 enquiries).

Measuring your return on investment in your marketing activities is critical

If one of these converts to a sale of your product or service worth £2,000 (for example), then you know your EXP2410 exhibition stand has brought

Simon Cox is Marketing Manager for Northamptonshire based Poppy Design Studio who specialise in WordPress websites and graphic design. He is also Leader of the Kettering Business Network, founder of the Kettering Business Awards, Vice Chair of the Kettering Town Centre Partnership, 2020 FSB Champion for Small Businesses in Northamptonshire and leader of the North Northants Business Network. www.poppydesignstudio.com

37

Spirituality

Breathwork

is on everyone’s lips!

Eh! Almost!

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Therapist, blogger, workshop facilitator and author, Ghislaine Bouskila, looks at how full, conscious and connected breathing helps us to connect to our spiritual self, allowing your body to relax and sensations, thoughts and emotions to emerge, develop and integrate.

It’s definitely on the lips of the upcoming generation of leaders. Those who understand that in order to be performant, creative, resourceful and adaptable, one needs to be connected to her inner resources. They also understand how to connect to the law of nature, of creation and of regeneration and how to activate them within.

The power of the breath: Breath is at the source of Life. Breath connects us to ourselves, to others and to the world at large.

Breath is the way we connect to the Earth and Breath is the way we connect to the Heavens.

It is with Breath that we can be a clear channel allowing heaven and earth to connect through us.

Breath is the most ancient, indigenous and shamanistic way to heal what is out of balance within and without. It is with breath that we find our way back to Life. Breath is an intrinsic part of our detoxification process. Breathwork clears our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies from interferences which are in the way of health, wellbeing and creativity.

A clinical study, “How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on PsychoPhysiological Correlates of Slow Breathing” published in “Frontiers in Human Neuroscience” highlights the effects of slow breathing on our behaviour. They found that slow breathing promotes changes of the autonomic nervous system leading to increased comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigour and alertness; and that it reduces symptoms of arousal, anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion.

They also note that “In the millenary eastern tradition, the act of breathing is an essential aspect of most meditative practices, and it is considered a crucial factor for reaching the meditative state of consciousness, or “Samadhi”.

The breath is called “Prana,” which means both

“breath” and “energy” i.e., the conscious field that permeates the whole universe.”

Reference - www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6137615/

Consciousness is our innate spiritual state.

Breathwork, the practice of full conscious connected breathing has the effect, amongst many others, to deeply connect us to the ethereal realm of super consciousness and spirituality.

What is Breathwork?

The art and the science of Breathwork made its entry back to our modern civilisations, when Leonard Orr (1937-2019), as a result of a close to reaching a panic attack state while taking a bath, had the experience of a total remission in anxiety when he started breathing consciously. He came out of his quite long bath, totally changed and cleansed! People around him noticed the change and asked him to teach them how to reach the same state of profound wellbeing and expansion.

The Rebirthing Breathwork movement was born in San Francisco in the late 60’s. Other schools of Breathwork emerged from that movement, some recently, with a more physical focus like Wim Hof’s method, others with a more transcendental/ spiritual connection like Stan Grof’s Holotropic breathwork in the 70’s.

In the words of Leonard Orr: “RebirthingBreathwork aka intuitive energy breathing, or

Breath is at the source of Life

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Spirituality conscious breathing is the ability to breathe energy as well as air. It is the art of learning to breathe from the breath itself. Rebirthing is perhaps the most valuable self-healing ability that humans can learn.

Your breath feels like it is “breathing you” and you are in perfect unison with the Universe. In this state of spiritual awareness, you connect with your Higher Self, your inner teacher, the altruistic and creative part of you.

We can’t have disease and relaxation in the same space at the same time. Relaxation is the ultimate healer. Every breath induces relaxation; therefore breath is the basic healer. Conscious energy breathing is the most natural healing ability of all. This ability involves the merging of the inhale with the exhale in a gentle relaxed rhythm in an intuitive way that floods the body with Divine Energy”

You receive answers, guidance and energy. You discover solutions and see a new way of being with yourself, of interacting with others and the world which you would not have been able to access in a more mundane state.

This spiritual intelligence is today as essential of a component in leadership than was the emotional intelligence of the 80’s.

Connecting to our spiritual self: To connect to our spiritual dimension, we need our autonomic nervous system to open the door for us.

Full, conscious, connected breathing does exactly that; your muscles untighten, your brain gets oxygenated, your cells detoxify. The breathwork session focused on breathing fully and consciously, from your navel to your chest, to your upper chest, without forcing or pushing the breath, is preparing you to reach your spiritual state because the physical, mental and emotional blockages are being transformed.

It’s always good to give yourself time in a session for this process to happen, especially if you are a new student. Becoming connected to your body is essential, being grounded in your body will allow you to reach for the stars! It might feel heavy, your body will definitely feel relaxed giving you “permission” to integrate a system of being that you didn’t know existed.

Relaxation is the ultimate healer

Your breathing mechanism which was impaired by stressful events frees itself of the tension that was keeping it contracted and limited. This physical/mental/emotional contraction is at the base of our spiritual disconnection and of our human’s limitations. As your body relaxes, your sensations, thoughts and emotions will emerge, develop and integrate, leaving you free to connect with the All that is!

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Ghislaine is a therapist, blogger, workshop facilitator and author. She has made it her mission to share how the gentle power of the breath together with the unconditional force of Love are essential for the healing, well-being and creativity of a person. Her motto is: Now is the time to heal and Love is the way! www.consciousenergymedicine.com

Mindset & Emotion

The priceless lesson I learned from

a baboon

42

Founder of [r] revoluciona Consulting, Antonio Bonilla explains how words from Rafiki -the wise baboon from The Lion King - taught him that sometimes we need to be hit on the head for us to react.

More than 25 years have passed since its brandnew international premiere, and it seems like yesterday that our seasoned child’s eyes yearning for fantasy were for the first time dazzled by Simba’s passionate adventure.

The good (and the bad) of having children is that there is a time when the only thing you go to the movies is to watch Disney or Pixar movies.

I say that it’s the bad thing because you end up hating the song of Frozen from the so many times that you hear it. And the good thing because those movies are full of wisdom that may go completely unnoticed by children. But we adults can taste as if they were a good hot tea.

CREATIVELY STRATEGIC.

One of the phrases that made me think was the

RUTHLESSLY FLEXIBLE. one that Rafiki -the wise baboon- says to Simba, the Lion King, after hitting him on the head.

SIMBA: WhyEFFICIENT did you do that?

SMOOTHLEY RAFIKI: It doesn’t matter why, it’s in the past.

SIMBA: Yes, but it hurt.

RAFIKI: Oh yes, the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can run away or learn from it.

We are dedicated to your success. To look beyond Work INofyour what is right in front you. company, and To carving out a path that, not guides FOR your while ambitious, company you and pushes you and your business to become more, to become what you are destined for.

•

How many of us don’t get stuck mulling over something that happened a long time ago without progressing into the future?

•

How many of us are blocked by the “what if it happens to me again…”?

•

And how many of us say, “This has always been done like this”?

The way I see it - and the way Rafiki sees it sometimes we need to be hit on the head for us to react. So that we make the decisions we need to make and move on.

We are all animals of customs, and we do not usually like to be changed ..., in the same way, organisations are generating their processes and customs and create the basis of their culture. But sometimes we wonder if there are other options, other ways of doing the same, but minimising efforts and resources.

Many times, the habit enters our lives and does not allow us to see further, but for that we must realise it and ask for help.

Customs are difficult to change, but it isn´t an impossible task.

• • •

What customs would you like to change in your organisation?

What others do you think are really the essence?

SERVICES

It´s important to look at your company with perspective ...

GAP ANALYSIS & METHOD As an expert Mentor in Strategic Business [r] Growth, I suggest that you work IN your company, and not FOR your company and thus find the CHANGE MANAGEMENT changes that must occur in your business for you to become the Lion King, really contribute to the herd that follows you and scale your sales.

ETHICAL Doing this, it’s veryPERSUASSION likely, that you will sing “The show must go on” and leave behind everything that is gripping you now.

EXCELLENCE & ECOMMERCE

Antonio Bonilla, is the founder of [r] revoluciona Consulting. He has a Master Sales & Marketing from ESADE University with more than 25 years’ experience Expanding International Markets, he specialises in Business Growth Strategic. Believing the turbulent environment surrounding us hides multiple opportunities he created his consultancy to help [r] evolve to professionals and companies. www.revolucionaconsulting.com

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Interview

Roberto Cerrada

BEING is more important than HAVING

With his slogan, Message, not just words, Roberto Cerrada shares his life story so far, which at 50, he claims he is halfway through and still has much more to give, helping people find ideas worthy of being shared.

Who are you?

I am one of the atypical baby boomers. Due to my curiosity about technology and computers from a very young age - I was barely 18 when I had my first computer in 1980 - I was always at the forefront of the revolution that brought the digital age in a 1.0 dominated world of that time dominated by radio, television and paper newspapers .

After failing several times in my ambition to enter the academy to become a fighter pilot, I landed in the world of economics more for studying an easy career than for having any passion for business. However, those first years in business school and the last in marketing school, together with my curious nature, made my passion for communication and business grow into the obsession it is today.

Entrepreneur from the start, I never consented to working for others - although I did for short

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periods of time - I have been participating in business for more than 30 years with experience as an entrepreneur, businessman, business consultant and finally mentor of speakers, which has led me to develop a varied experience of successes and above all of failures, my own and those of others, which has undoubtedly shaped my character and the identity for which I am now recognised: “El Maestro Cerrada” I have had 35 years of continuous learning and I hope that will continue for as long as I live. 35 years of learning which has resulted in three books - a fourth being written; hundreds of conferences, seminars and trainings in 23 different countries, from Chile to Japan, through almost all of Latin America, the United States, Central Europe and of course my native Spain where I have almost always lived and more than 300 clients who have gone through my business mentoring programs.

What is the single best piece of business advice which helped shape who you are now and Why? If I had to highlight a single lesson from the 35 years of my exciting journey, perhaps it would be that the difference between business success

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Interview

and failure, the difference between businesses that succumb or those that barely survive has nothing to do with marketing, sales or communication, but rather with The Message…

For me, the message is what makes it possible for a company, a professional or an entrepreneur to easily dominate the market and have a future in the market. Because people no longer buy products, they don’t buy services, they don’t even buy benefits ... What people want to compare is something that, in addition to being useful to them, provides them with being part of something bigger than themselves, that is, being part of a movement , or a tribe. And to become a tribe one has to have a message worthy of being shared.

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

Something that I discovered not long ago although I sensed it - is that if you want to achieve anything in life, you have to stop trying to influence what is outside and begin to deal with influencing what is inside yourself.

The exercise of introspection, of sincere dialogue with oneself through meditation, has allowed me not only to be aware of the limitations, but also to begin to believe in my potentialities, in

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my capacities, making my beliefs little by little, transforming and increasing my capabilities.

And to make this become a habit, there is nothing better than scrupulously following some rituals. Meditating every day, writing my daily acknowledgments, fixing the bed as the first activity of the day or writing down my five successes before going to bed, it has undoubtedly helped me and continues doing so to become the being I aspire to reach before my final day catches me by surprise.

What is your favourite quote and why?

“In today’s world, stop selling products or services to start selling your idea is the best way to get people to want buy everything you have” It’s my own quote. More than a quote it is my statement, my mantra, the central axis of my worthy idea that changes the way we understand business and sales, makes it more human and frees us from the fierce competition, stress and tension of having to persuade anyone to buy our products.

And this excites me so much, because I clearly see a promising future where we have definitely stopped competing as a way of life that only

historians talk about in their history books. And a feasible future because I firmly believe this future is not only possible, but is very close. Because I believe in the new generations of men and women with new values where BEING is more important than HAVING. Because I firmly believe in those professionals, male and female entrepreneurs, businessmen and women who are replacing the values of the ego with the values of love, because we all have the right and the privilege of being able to live with tranquillity, calm and peace, enjoying every moment of our existence.

And this future is about to be a great reality that will change the way we understand and relate to the world.

How do you remember your childhood and early background?

I think I was a pretty happy kid. I had a childhood any child of this time would envy. Living in the countryside, within an aerospace research centre, in a protected community, gives one possibilities of play and therefore of enjoyment that a city boy would only have in his best dreams.

And although that is the friendly side of the coin, there is a sour side that has to do with the feeling of absent parents due to demands or decisions of a society where they had to make a mark and that it has undoubtedly taken me years to recognise, forgive and overcome.

But it is precisely that balance between the limits and the empowerment which is necessary and allows us development to find the balance where everything grows better.

What are you most passionate about and why?

I’ve always been more passionate about things than people, don’t ask me why. Perhaps education, the environment, what one breastfeeds as a child or the culture in which they grew up is leading us in one way or another.

To become a tribe one has to have a message worthy of being shared

But maturity also has its advantages over youth, and as the years go by, fortunately your values change and you realise what really matters. And what matters has more to do with people than with things. Thus, in the equator of my life, when

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Interview I turned 50 - yes, the equator because I have already decreed that until I will live until I am 100, then we will negotiate - well, in that equator when you take stock of achievements, balance of successes and errors, of successes and failures, you have the opportunity to learn and from that learning the change occurs - which is not easy to focus on people and not on things, because - even if it is selfish - it will always take more effort than doing it the other way around.

Things give you experiences, yes. They make your life easier, too. But only shared with other people, family, friends or a partner, is when these experiences can really be lived with real intensity.

And now my passion is transitioning: Passionate about BEING and being has to do with other beings as well.

How has COVID changed your way of working?

A result of COVID was that people had to work from home, to live at home and not just sleep in it. However this was not a novelty for me, since 2006 when I sold my traditional company I decided to do my business online to have the freedom to travel, to live in other places, to be aware of new customs and cultures and to learn from them.

Despsite the fact that this was the goal, I had never made the decision to make it real and

Ideas have to be created from our Genius Zone

although I worked from home, I continued to live in Madrid all my life, postponing that dream until later, when everything was perfect. Does this style of thinking sound familiar to anyone?

It was the COVID experience that made me realise that my dream of beginning to live for long periods of time in other lands could not wait. And this was the great learning of COVID for me. As soon as lockdown finished, I took my books, my clothes and my virtual office and they came to live in one of the most wonderful places in the Mediterranean - Mojacar - on the coast of Almería, where the weather is pleasant all year round and one can get up and look at the sea letting yourself be filled by a unique light only found in this western Mediterranean, where life happens at a different speed.

And this is just the beginning of a stage that in the next few years will take me from Spain to Latin America, the United States, Asia and perhaps Australia to return to my beloved Europe again.

Remember that I still have half my life ahead of me!

In this latest professional stage you are known as Authority Speakers Mentor ... Why mentor speakers?

I have spent years helping businessmen and women develop their marketing, improve their sales, and achieve greater profitability from their businesses. And in all that time I realised that the best value that a product or service can bring is not helping people solve a problem or achieve a dream. That is something that every good product or service has to fulfil.

The true value of a company, of an entrepreneur or female entrepreneur, a professional is the value of transformation. Products and services help us to achieve external achievements, but as I discovered in my own transformation, true satisfaction occurs when there is an internal transformation. And one of the best ways to help people develop that transformation has to do with beliefs.

But beliefs are ideas, which are installed and accommodated within us and become our truths. With these truths we perceive, interpret,

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act and relate to the environment. It is the world of ideas where transformation begins and what better place to activate that transformation than with an idea that I can convey in the best space: The stage.

What is your vocation?

My vocation has come from helping people achieve and now I am helping them do as I have done, create an IDEA WORTH BEING SHARED that accompanies their products and services, we can accelerate the dream of a future where frustration only appears in history books.

We all want to belong to something bigger than ourselves and our accomplishments.

Businessmen and businesswomen, male and female entrepreneurs and professionals made it possible for humanity to have a simpler life, But now we have the responsibility of creating those movements where people feel fuller, where they can perform better and for that. we need a MESSAGE, an IDEA WORTHY OF BEING SHARED that makes our businesses more human and gives them a greater purpose.

And hence my mission and my obsession to help these professionals, entrepreneurs and businessmen and women to create their idea, shape it and transform it into a speech, in a

conference that allows them to travel the world with authority, to disseminate those ideas. that will make the life of your clients more fulfilling.

Hence my conversion from business consultant to Authority Speakers Mentor.

How do people know whether or not they have that idea to share?

Our message, our idea, is nowhere to be found, it does not exist, because if it existed it would no longer be ours, someone would have created it and implanted it in our little heads.

Ideas have to be created from our Genius Zone and that’s where you have to dive. The good news is that we all have that zone of genius where we can dive to create a unique, genuine idea worth sharing.

And this is the first step, learning to dive to discover where we can create that unique idea.

You can follow Roberto here: www.instagram.com/robertocerrada

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Business

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Investment technology company Rivo Trading founder, Arian Adeli Koodehi, believes your career path should be about your passion, not just a means to make money, he explains to readers why and how you can achieve it.

We’ve all been told to follow our passions by many of the most successful people in the world.

However, some of us still think that a good business idea or a fancy job title beats following your passion every time. This is simply not true.

A large percentage of people don’t follow a career path they love, choosing the most profitable one instead. In fact, according to recent studies, only 20% of Americans feel passionate about their jobs, and over 50% aren’t even happy with them.

Out of all the assets money can buy, time is not one of them. If you feel like you are aimlessly wasting your life away, it may be time for you to spend your time doing something you truly love.

Out of all the assets money can buy, time is not one of them

Why Should You Follow Your Passion?

1. You can be more creative Creativity requires focus. When you are working in a job you don’t like, your mind is always focused on what you wish you were doing. You lose your train of thought. When you love what you’re doing, you pay attention to every little detail and put all your focus on the task at hand. This enables you to come up with better ideas and be more creative in your work environment. You would also be more likely to act on those ideas as you came up with them through passion.

2. Work doesn’t feel like a burden When you value money above all else, work will become an obligation for you. You will have no reason to work or follow a better career path other than money. This will drain you.

Imagine waking up every day, doing something you don’t love, only so that you can enjoy your time on the weekends or during retirement.

Wouldn’t it be so much better to spend your days doing something you love which gives you a reason to do better every day? You can still find success in what you love. You will be more inclined to work harder and smarter, therefore you will find ways to move forward in your career.

3. You are willing to go a step further Chasing your goals isn’t always easy. You sometimes need to take that extra step to reach the level you need to be at to achieve your goals.

Doing something you love gives you a reason to wake up every day and go to work. While, normally, you would feel exhausted after working extra hours, you would feel fulfilled after putting in more effort in pursuit of your dreams.

4. You can overcome obstacles easier No matter your line of work, there will be highs and lows. There will be times when everything is going wrong and you don’t know what to do. You need to be motivated to fight through and find a way out. Monetary rewards might seem like a good motivation to keep going, but trust me, they are not.

When you love what you are doing, deep down, you want everything to work out, no matter what; however, when you are working solely for money, you don’t really care if everything goes wrong, as long as you get your money. Therefore, being passionate about your career makes you more willing to work hard to overcome challenges and obstacles.

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Business

5. You are happier Last but certainly not least, you are happier when you love what you are doing. There is nothing worse than waking up every morning and knowing you have no choice but to do something you hate. We are only given one chance at life, it would be a shame to waste it.

Get started today. Remember, it’s never too late to live a better life. We, as humans, spend the better half of our lives chasing our careers, so we might as well enjoy the process.

How to Find Your Passion You are passionate about something when you truly like doing it or you find something about it that deeply excites you. Many people struggle with finding their passion, but it’s quite a straightforward process. It’s rare to be born with a passion. You might develop a passion for something when you are young, but you are rarely born with one. You find your passion by trying out new things. You might hate the first nine things that you try, but the tenth thing might hit the right spot.

You are happier when you love what you are doing

You can surf the internet, listen to podcasts or talk to the people around you to discover their passions, and possibly find something new for you to try. It is important to keep trying out new things and stay committed to finding your passion. Rome wasn’t built in a day. All great things require some degree of patience and commitment. After all, you are searching for your passion and not just a short-term temptation to try out something new—so take your time with it.

You can also start paying attention to how you spend your time on a daily basis. You might be passionate about something and not even know it. Asking yourself the following questions might help you find your underlying passion: • • • • • •

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What do you spend most of your time reading about?

What do you already love doing?

What are your favourite movies and series about?

Doing what really excites you?

If you could be successful doing anything, what would it be?

What do you admire most about people?

At a young age, Arian Adeli Koodehi founded his first company, Rivo Trading, an investment technology company which was nominated for the Best Trading Technology in 2020 and 2021 by Benzinga. After gathering a great deal of knowledge about the fundamentals of finance, he wrote his first book, “The Quantified Fortune”. You can visit him online at www.arianadeli. com.

CREATIVELY STRATEGIC. RUTHLESSLY FLEXIBLE. SMOOTHLEY EFFICIENT

We are dedicated to your success. To look beyond what is right in front of you.

To carving out a path that, while ambitious, guides you and pushes you and your business to become more, to become what you are destined for.

www.mas-connections.com

SERVICES GAP ANALYSIS & METHOD [r] CHANGE MANAGEMENT

ETHICAL PERSUASSION EXCELLENCE & ECOMMERCE

info@mas-connections.com

Body & Health

Connecting Business with Fitness

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A professional with extensive experience in the commercial area internationally, Maria Gomez, tells our readers how important it is to exercise, as it will inevitably improve our work and health in many ways.

How important is exercising during Covid-19?

During this pandemic, being active has proved many health benefits, both mentally and physically. Keeping our bodies working helps us to keep healthier and live longer. Exercise offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of our lives from inside out.

Exercise can improve brain function

Whether we practice a sport or follow a 30-minute guideline of activity per day, we will inevitably improve our work and health in many ways.

Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills, helping us to be more productive at work.

Regular physical activity can increase the production of hormones making us feel happier and even more attractive by generating a larger number of endorphins. And it will definitely help us to sleep better.

Interestingly, it doesn’t matter how intense our workout is. It seems that our mood can benefit from exercise no matter the intensity of the physical activity. It can also improve our skin’s appearance, help us to lose weight and keep it off, lessen the risk of chronic disease and improve other areas of our life.

Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms in people suffering from anxiety and depression, especially now during the lock down.

It helps to be more aware of our mental state and practice distraction from our fears.

Finally, engaging in regular physical activity can increase our energy levels at work and home.

Connect business with fitness and you will perform better!!

Maria Gomez is a professional with extensive experience in the commercial area internationally. Ability to do implementations, resolve conflicts and negotiation, and helps with financial and business performance to maximize potential. Maria’ studied accounting at the University UCAB in Venezuela and Melbourne University in Australia. In Spain, she completed the PowerMBA .

Maria has three kids.

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Karry On Travel

The Ancient City of Petra

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Continuing in our series of Karry on Travel, Karry Carrasco and her family visit the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, it was one of the most lavish cities in history and was lost to the western world for centuries.

In 2007 along with the Great Wall of China, the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Taj Mahal in India, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan became one of the seven New Wonders of the World.

Carved directly into vibrant red, white, pink, and sandstone cliff faces, this prehistoric city was “lost” to the Western world for hundreds of years until 22 August 1812. Swiss traveller, geographer and orientalist, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt disguised in a Bedouin costume, was able to infiltrate the mysterious locale and became the first modern European to lay eyes on the ancient Nabataean city of Petra.

These days Petra, whose name is derived from the Greek for rock, ‘petros’, is approached through a 1.2km-long, high-walled Siq – a crack in the rock, torn apart by tectonic forces.

At the end of the Siq, is the breath-taking view of Petra’s most impressive sight, the Treasury, known locally as Al Khazneh. It was carved from iron-laden sandstone to serve as a tomb, the Treasury gets its name from the misguided local belief that an Egyptian pharaoh hid his treasure in the top urn.

Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabataean caravan-city, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, was an important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who established Petra as a major regional trading hub, possibly as early as 4th Century BC. At its peak, ancient Petra’s population was about 30,000 and archaeologists have discovered that it was a sprawling city of lush gardens and pleasant fountains, enormous temples and luxurious Roman-style villas. It was half-built, half carved into the rock, surrounded by mountains, full of passages and gorges.

Karry and Carlos Carrasco

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Karry On Travel

Through controlling the water supply, the Nabataeans created an artificial oasis. Harnessing the water from flash floods, they used dams, cisterns and water conduits, many of which are still used today by the Bedouin, enabling them to store water for prolonged periods of drought and allowing the city to prosper from its sale.

They were also able to grow wheat, cultivate fruit, make wine and stroll in the shade of tall trees.

At its peak, ancient Petra’s population was about 30,000

It is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture, and it was one of the most lavish cities in history. Due to their nomadic existence, the early Nabateans had no significant building traditions and so built using styles ranging from Greek to Egyptian to Mesopotamian to Indian, which is why the columns of the Great Temple are topped with Asian elephant heads.

By the fourth century A.D., Petra was entering its decline. The sea trade to the south pulled business away and rival caravan cities to the north such as Palmyra challenged Petra’s dominance by land. On May 19, A.D. 363, a massive earthquake and a powerful aftershock destroyed nearly half of the city. Despite this, archaeologists have found abundant evidence that Petra remained inhabited, and even prospered, for another three centuries or so.

It is estimated that to date, only 15 percent of the city has been uncovered, with a further 85 percent remaining underground and untouched.

In 1985, the Petra Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, but remained relatively unknown until it gained public attention through its appearance in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade in 1989. Several scenes from the movie were filmed in Petra, in the climatic final scenes, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery burst forth from the Siq walking deep into the Treasury in their quest to find the Holy Grail.

Ever since, Petra has become the most visited tourist attraction in Jordan and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world.

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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.

Launching of “Juntas es mejor.

Female resilience in times of uncertainty”

On August 13, 2021 the online presentation of the book “Juntas es mejor. Female resilience in times of uncertainty ” was held. It is an initiative involving more than 60 people working for the common good, bringing us closer to that whole we make up and that we are.

This project, already beginning its path, is an original idea of ​​our very own Publisher, Verónica Sosa, founder of the Society of Hispanic Entrepreneurs, SHE, who had been planning the idea since 2017. After having collaborated on a collective book “From Fed-Up to Fabulous” and with active participation in different motivational events including other collective books, the dream of “Juntas es Mejor” waited active, calm

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and observant until its time came in 2020.

When Verónica shared her dream book with the poet, writer and artist Eva Ramírez, founder of Tu Voz en Mi Pluma, her eyes shone. Thus, with that brightness, the two came together to give life to this wonderful collective book.

The two women joined forces in this endeavor to lead this great international project with representatives from 16 countries and with the participation of a total of sixty souls whose stories are inspirational and educational: each problem is an opportunity to learn, improve and grow and if we dare to do it as a team, everything is simpler.

“Together is better. Female Resilience in Times of Uncertainty ”is a pioneering book in its style standing out for its inspiring content and for the enhancement of its exclusive design, thanks to the artistic quality and extreme sensitivity of the photographer Lourdes Serra i Novo. She manages to capture the feminine essence which permeates the almost four hundred pages of this work. The book was designed, and published by the Hakabooks publishing house, under the publishing label Your voice in my pen.

It was a very intense and emotional event for all the attendees. The fifty-eight co-authors shared their experience and were able to express and convey their feelings to the audience.

The live broadcast, hosted by the presenters Diego Otero, Kena García and Perla Montiel, showed excellent teamwork during the almost four hours of the event, which was carried out by the Merkatail company.

“TOGETHER IS BETTER. Female resilience in times of uncertainty ”, looks like a book, but it is a beautiful gift, a great work of art, a set of sensations and auditory, visual, plastic emotions with which to connect with yourself, with deep inspiration, with your purpose. vital.

It looks like a book, but it is a space of subtle beauty and sensitivity in which to immerse yourself, recreate yourself and enjoy the magic of life.

It looks like a book, but it is a web woven with so much love that its knots span continents full of history, resilience, and wisdom.

It looks like a book ... but it just looks like it.

Contributors to “Juntas es mejor. Female resilience in times of uncertainty” Abigail Silva, Alexandra Ramirez, Ana Goffin, Ana Yael González, Anabella Arroyo, Ángela Kohler, Angela Simo, Angelica Cifuentes, Ariana Onno, Bárbara Sarmiento,Beatriz Bron, Carmen Castrejón, Celinda García , Danny Zapata, Deyanira Martínez Diana Alí Ocaña, Dolores Villaescusa, Eline Pedersen, Estela Barrachina, Esther Masdeú, Eugenia Dinares Archs, Eva Medina, Fernanda Ferreira, Greta Aguilar, Hatiche Ozalp, Irene Morillo, Irene Salvador, Juanita Guerra, Karry Carrasco,Kimi Turró, Layla Edward, Lidia Monzón, Lina Londoño, Lourdes Serra i Novo, Lucia Allende, Lya Martínez, Martha de Armas, Maryann Thompson, Merling Sapene, Montse Baró, Mylene Fernström, Nancy Bravo, Norma Camero, Paula Dinaro, Rebeca Rodríguez, Rosa De Vincentis, Rub Díaz , Sandra Ontiveros, Saskia Harcela, Silvia García, Susi Velasco, Teresa Egaña, Urania Yanes, Verónica Antunez, Viola Edward, Vivian Watson, Viviana Toro y Zureya Queipo.

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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)