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Over 40 Shred Icon Funk Roberts Reveals Top 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Lose Weight

Editor @ Global Man April 13, 2022 No Comments

Over 40 Shred Icon Funk Roberts Reveals Top 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Lose Weight

Former professional athlete turned Certified MMA conditioning coach, master metabolic trainer and entrepreneur, Funk Roberts, is now helping thousands of men over 40 transform their bodies, health, and lives for good.

When Funk Roberts contracted a rare lung disease over 3 years ago, he never would have imagined being on a journey that led him to the revolutionary discovery that his fitness programs could help other men over 40 get into shape.

This life event changed the trajectory of his life forever.

At 52, Roberts is the powerhouse entrepreneur behind Funk Roberts Fitness and Funk Supplements. He is a best selling author, former professional volleyball coach, and the mind behind the effective workout program for men called The Over 40 Shred Nation.

Roberts has spent most of his career obliterating assumptions that your “glory days” are reserved only for the younger generation.

Using his 20 plus years’ worth of knowledge and experience he has helped men lose weight, burn fat, build muscle, improve athleticism, increase energy and better their overall health and fitness levels to become elite.

The multi-talented King of Athleticism has shared his knowledge of hormones and health tips with thousands of people worldwide. His Shred app is the #1 workout app specialising in HIIT, and Metabolic training workouts, while Roberts’ books have even hit number one on Amazon’s must-reads.

Roberts has created communities of people who support each other through their journey. “We have men all over the world, all religions, all shapes, sizes, everything everybody under the sun. We don’t talk about politics or pop culture. We focus on helping each other,” says Roberts.

But when it comes to helping his fan base of over 690,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel alone, there are a few things that Roberts feels his clients or future workout enthusiasts are glancing over when it comes to shredding that extra weight.

Here are his Top 5 Mistakes Men Over 40 Make When Trying to Lose Weight:

1. Experimenting With Various Nutrition Plans

“Not All Nutrition Plans Are Marketed To Men”

Naturally, increasing your testosterone levels is essential for knowing where to start. One of the most prominent mistakes men over 40 make is choosing the right diet plan specifically to support their testosterone levels..

Genetically, men tend to have more muscle and less fat mass than women due to higher testosterone levels, so they need to eat more calories than women to maintain the same weight. But this also differs in age, especially when it comes to men.

People diet for all types of reasons as there is no shortage of reasons for wanting to live a healthier life. However, there are such a wide variety of options for selecting a diet that many people don’t often know where to start in today’s world.

From Paleo to low-carb, Keto to Veganism, there is the general consensus that because there are so many different types of bodies, there is no one diet or one lifestyle that fits all. But Roberts believes that following what he calls ‘feminising diets’ is a no-go when choosing the right plan for older men.

Instead, he recommends following his Over 40 Shred program, where he discusses proven ways to increase your testosterone levels naturally. Alternatively, by visiting your local doctor, they can provide you with a class to work with.

Not all nutrition plans suit the older male body.

2. Following Standard BodyBuilding Workouts

“Men Need To Remember That At Our Age We Are Built Different”

A funny thing happens on the way to 50 and beyond; your body doesn’t respond to exercise as it did earlier in your life. Fatigue, muscle and joint aches, along with increased injuries seem to happen with greater frequency.

Men over 40 need to cater to their bodies and not follow everything they see. For example, instead of focusing on one muscle group at a time or doing ‘leg-day’ or ‘arm-day.’

Roberts’ solution is to do complete full-body workouts or have multi-range movements in your routine. “As we get older, our body doesn’t recover as fast,” he says. “We need to be metabolic and move from one exercise to another with little rest in between to help out our growth hormones and help us build muscle while we burn fat during and after sessions.”

3. Exercising To The MAX.

“You Need Balance And Plenty Of Time To Let Your Muscles Rest”

On the other side of the spectrum is doing too much exercise. Doing too high-intensity circuits i.e. CrossFit could lead to severe injuries, which could, in return, direct you back to the beginning of your fitness goals.

When we plan to start a workout or write down our targets for weight loss training, our minds can sometimes spiral into overdrive, thinking that we need to do everything we can to succeed.

As many as 10% of high-performance runners, and possibly an equal number of bodybuilders, have an exercise addiction.

A set plan or routine with moderate physical activity is enough to help prevent things like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion and even depression. It can also cause lasting physical harm.

Following a healthy balanced exercise routine and then giving your body time to rest is the key to reaching your goal.

4. We Are Not Focusing Enough Time On How Much We Sleep.

“People Don’t Realise That Getting Enough Sleep Is Vital For Your Journey To Success”

If you’re trying to lose weight, the amount of sleep you get may be just as crucial as your diet and exercise. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about 35% of US adults sleep fewer than seven hours most nights, which is not enough. Experts say that between seven-eight hours of shut-eye per night is ideal.

Not many people connect the two, but sleep is associated with shedding weight. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite. Your body also decreases the production of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full.

Together, it could be a dangerous combo for late-night snacking. Not enough sleep could also lead you to be more stressed, which leads us to the final mistake – stress.

5. Not Dealing With Chronic Stress.

“We May Not Ever Be Stress, Free But Dealing With It Helps”

The fifth biggest mistake that men over 40 tend to forget is not dealing with stress.

We need to give ourselves time to take a break and work on our breathing, whether it’s meditation, yoga, or recovery, things that will keep our cortisol levels down and keep our chronic stress down.

Whether it causes weight loss or weight gain can vary from person to person — and even from situation to situation.

Stress may lead to missed meals and poor food choices in some cases. For others, stress may cause them to lose the desire to eat altogether. Often, this change is only temporary.

By dealing with stress and ensuring that we live our healthiest versions of ourselves, our mindset shift will change to help us succeed at our goals faster.

Final Thoughts

By employing the five suggestions above, these mistakes and misconceptions on your weight journey can ultimately lead you to success when recognised. The power in these five suggestions is using them in combination with each other and having the discipline to operationalise these ideas in a meaningful way.

“Your best body, health and LIFE is ahead of you!” – Funk Roberts

Omkar Mestry: A Bright Future with Sustainable Cooking

Editor @ Global Man April 8, 2022 No Comments

By Sujany Baleswaran

Omkar Mestry’s culinary journey began as a young boy, circling his mother and grandmother, entranced by the flavours and aromas of his favourite dishes. Weaving flavours and creativity onto a plate, Omkar has led kitchen brigades at some of the most renowned restaurants in London, with his recent culinary takeover of Novotel London. We spoke to the esteemed chef about lockdown recipes, sustainability, veganism and the bright future of cooking.

I started missing the adrenaline rush in the kitchen, meeting different customers, the camaraderie of my team, and the feeling of being in my element..

Where did your passion for cooking begin?

My journey to becoming a chef wasn’t a deliberate or calculated choice but something that came very naturally with ease. I have always been a foodie, and even when I was a little boy, food was the most exciting aspect for me at any special occasion or festivals. I had (still do) certain favourite dishes, and every time my grandmother or mother would make them, I would loiter around the kitchen anxiously waiting to be the first one to taste them. Such fond memories!

The pandemic had a major impact on restaurants, with many restaurants creating a takeaway system to stay afloat. What changes did you have to make to adapt to these changing rules? Did it give you more time to experiment with new recipes?

In this industry, we work such long hours, it’s difficult to keep that work-life balance and quality family time is something that we all crave. I did too, immensely. So in the first few weeks, I found the time off as a welcome break. But then, as the days passed, I started missing the adrenaline rush in the kitchen, meeting different customers, the camaraderie of my team, and the feeling of being in my element. Slowly it started getting difficult as the lockdowns continued, and then came the redundancy which was a big blow to my spirits. But what kept me going was the immense positivity and support that I got from my family and friends. I decided to find solace in going back to my Indian roots and started re-learning and making authentic curries, stir fry, snacks, biryanis – I can now say that I have become a far better and grounded chef than I was before Covid started.

Creativity and cooking go hand in hand. What does your recipe creating process look like? What are the key aspects you consider when creating a new recipe?

For me, the process starts by looking at the trends, what’s available in season and locally, what can you experiment with and how different can the presentation be.

There has been an increase in veganism, with many restaurants providing at least one vegan option. What is your take on veganism? What does the future of cooking look like?

I have a lot of respect for people who make conscious lifestyle choices. It takes immense self-control and determination to abstain from animal by-products, not just in food but in everyday living. Restaurants have such a wide customer base that it becomes difficult to have 100% inclusivity to cater to every single choice. But with increasing awareness, there seems to be a clear paradigm shift towards more local, sustainable produce, and I think as long as we continue to adapt and change with time, the future of cooking is very bright.

Many businesses, including restaurants, are embracing sustainability, setting them apart from other businesses and attracting more customers with their eco-friendly approach. How do you think restaurants can implement sustainability in their business, whether that’s reducing their carbon footprint or food wastage?

There are so many simple, small yet effective steps a restaurant or any food business can take to make an impact on the environment. We can start with re-designing our menus by limiting or reinventing the recipes that contain red meat and substitute with poultry, controlling portion sizes to reduce food wastage, sourcing locally and focusing more on the seasonal produce, making imperfect vegetables in a perfect way, rather than throwing it away, have meat-free days, limiting the use of plastic, starting their own herb gardens or rooftop veggie rooms, and we can start using more energy-efficient appliances. There is so much, we just need to start somewhere.

What is your signature dish? Which dish do you enjoy creating the most?

I don’t believe in signature dishes, as everything I make is made with equal love and passion and comes straight from the heart onto a plate. However, one dish I particularly enjoy making is a dessert fusion – Coconut Barfi, Mango Passion Curd, Mango Caviar, Creme Chantilly, Pistachio Dust And Gold Leaf.

What should we all know about money?

Angela Azuar March 16, 2022 No Comments

Global Woman held a Financial Empowerment conference that included a Men’s Panel, where they discussed their knowledge of money and their support of women’s financial independence.

Global Woman hosted an event about empowering women financially for International Women’s Day in Richmond, London, on 8th March 2022. Women from all backgrounds and generations celebrated this special day together, with some men attending as well. Stepping on stage, women shared their journey and the lessons that they have learned. Sharing a different perspective, Global Woman hosted a Men’s panel session talking about their knowledge of earning money in a world that often favours men.

Why were a group of men speaking to women on International Women’s Day, about financial empowerment? Because their voice is important too. Events like these are not only about women supporting women, but they are also inclusive for anyone supporting women empowerment.

John Hassard, Baiju Solanki, Allan Kleynhans, and Tre Lowe at Global Woman Financial Empowerment Conference, London 8th March 2022

John Hassard, Baiju Solanki, Allan Kleynhans, and Tre Lowe (pictured above from left to right) all had views from education and academia to spirituality and culture. For example, Baiju shared an interesting thought about the relationship between working hard and luck. His parents believed that everyone works hard, but some people are simply lucky in money. He explained how that belief is limiting and untrue. It is not about luck, it is about “your money mindset” and how willing you are to work hard and to “look for opportunities”. Get out there, meet people, go to events, “you never know where your wealth will be”.

Baiju Solanki and Tre Lowe at Global Woman Financial Empowerment Conference, London 8th March 2022

Another example of a powerful insight was from Allan. He boldly told the audience his wrecking story of how he lost all his money and his family and had to spend a night in a train station, nowhere to go. That’s when he realised that money didn’t make him happy, and he had “to learn to be happy without money”. Allan explained that in order to attract money, you need to fall in love with yourself. Once you value yourself, you learn how to keep and manage your money.

They also commented on their view about men who feel intimidated in dating women who earn more than them. They all agreed that women earning more than their partners should be irrelevant and that they loved a powerful, financially independent woman. John added “Without trying to give dating advice, if you meet these men, you should just dump them!”. Adding “They are not worth it, and this world doesn’t need people like them”.

Mirela Sula and John Hassard at Global Woman Financial Empowerment Conference, London 8th March 2022

A woman asked a question from the audience; “What could she tell her teenage son, growing in a world where the future is focused on women?”. The answer was clear for Allan: “The future is for human beings. Women are not trying to overpower men in this world but to have equality in every aspect of life. There is still a gap between genders, but we are all working hard towards a world where that gap is gone. A world of human beings”.

John Hassard, Baiju Solanki, Allan Kleynhans, Tre Lowe and Enas Daeki at Global Woman Financial Empowerment Conference, London 8th March 2022

The audience learned that the men might not have had the same obstacles as women, but they have faced other obstacles. And it is important for women to hear what they have to say about earning money in a male-dominated world, and how to keep it. It is not only women’s fight for equality; it is also theirs.

Two Worlds, One Sound – Combining the World of Music and Business

Editor @ Global Man February 16, 2022 No Comments

By Sujany Baleswaran

Two worlds, one sound – Oli Rose has experienced it both, a world on stage as one half of the musical duo iAm1 and behind the scenes turning the toggles of the music industry. From the intricacy of songwriting to the strategic nature of social media marketing, from music to business, Oli was presented with a 360 perspective to the industry. Joining forces with the Lang Lang Foundation as Global Development Director, Oli is on a path of territory expansion around the world, overseeing everything from program creation & development, to media and PR, and everything in between.

From a musical education at the University of Westminster to Creative Director of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, what was the catalyst that led you into the music industry?

As a teenager, I started learning the guitar without any particularly serious intentions. My mum is a poet and she did a local radio version of Dessert Island Discs, where one of her song choices was James Taylor’s You’ve Got A Friend. I’m pretty sure I had heard it before but, for some reason, this time it just hit me on another level. Maybe it was in the context of my mum choosing it, or maybe I was going through a typical teenage slump and needed to hear it – who knows! Not too long after that, knowing I was a bit of a fan, my guitar teacher kindly offered to take me to see James Taylor live in concert (I was about 15). Long story short, it was like nothing I had ever experienced. I was totally mind blown, and from then on my life fully revolved around music.

You made your musical debut after graduating from university, after being discovered by legendary music producer Cameron Mcvey as part of music duo iAm1. The duo is often described as two different styles, backgrounds and influences. Can you tell us more about this contrasting nature of iAm1?

My musical partner Jamie and I were put together by complete chance as part of a performance module at the University of Westminster (we were doing a commercial music degree). It was the two of us and about four other musicians. I was a singer-songwriter, and Jamie was a rapper/MC, and we just clicked, simple as that. Clicked as artists, clicked as friends, and suddenly this unique combination of musical worlds became something that felt very unique, especially for the time. Everything about our musical influences was different, but somehow the way we channelled them came together effortlessly. It was an incredible and life-changing time.

You were the singer-songwriter of the two – what does your songwriting process look like? Where does your musical inspiration come from?

Our musical influences growing up were completely different genre-wise. However, I think we both connected to certain emotive elements in music, where genre actually doesn’t make any difference to the actual feeling. At the very beginning (2007/2008), I used to come up with a chord progression and singing part, mostly chorus ideas, and due to our lack of recording equipment/ knowledge, I literally used to play the chord progressions on a loop for as long as it took for Jamie to write his verses, to the point where often my fingers started to bleed. I barely even noticed most of the time! Years later, we scrapped that process for more conventional recording methods, which of course, had its benefits, but there was a certain vibe when we wrote like that which we would never be able to replicate doing it another way. The energy was so contained it was impossible to not be fully present in it.

Still in the music industry, however a very contrasting role, you went on to manage the social media on X-Factor, and later worked in social and digital marketing. What led to this transition in your career?

It wasn’t a particularly conscious change in my career as such – I was still very young and super open to new experiences. When I took on the X Factor job in 2011, the importance of social media as a marketing tool was still in the process of becoming more widely recognised in the mainstream. Back then, we had to really persuade people that it was important! The show wanted someone who had experience working with artists on a creative level to come in and connect with the contestants more personally in order to get the best out of them on social media. It was quite a dramatic shift of environment for me, but it felt like it could be a unique and interesting place to be, and more than anything, a crazy learning experience, which it most definitely was. I then continued to work in both areas simultaneously, working with artists in studios making music and working on the business side within digital and social marketing. It could be slightly conflicting at times, but I look back and realise how the combined paths have created quite a unique perspective and approach to everything I do.

Social media, marketing and brand presence are apparent when reading about artists or scrolling through Instagram and Twitter. How vital is digital marketing to an artists’ career and development?

Digital marketing is essential for artists, as it creates a window into everything they do. If you break down how a fan base is recognised right now, it all stems back to social media. If you hear and love a song whether on the radio, on Spotify, or at a festival, the first thing you will do is go to the artist’s socials. If you like what you see and their page seems engaging enough, you’ll follow, and if the content is good enough to keep engaging with, the more you and subsequently others will see of that artist. That, in a nutshell, is pretty much how an artist-fan base grows in today’s world. Artists need to continually “feed their fans” in order to stay present. The key for any artist is to try and create an as honest and organic representation of themselves so people can connect with who they are. That side of being an artist hasn’t changed. The way in which fans have the ability to connect with artists is forever evolving.

You are currently the Global Development Director of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. How did this opportunity come about? Where do you see the foundation in 5 years?

I had actually been working with Lang Lang for a couple of years already as part of his digital team, managing his social strategy. He then asked if I could help out the foundation with the promotion of a virtual gala they were doing in late 2020. I then oversaw the promotion surrounding the virtual gala, which was a beautiful event, but alongside that, I developed an amazing relationship with the foundation CEO, Lukas Barwinski Brown, and the rest of the team there. By the time it was all finished, it was a no-brainer that I became part of the team, and the idea of taking all of my experience and channelling it into something so positive and impactful filled me with a different kind of energy and drive. So, in January 2021, I took on the role of creative director, where I created and lead the new initiatives here in the UK, such as the partnerships with Child Bereavement UK, Richard House Children’s Hospice, as well as opening doors for us to be able to start implementing our education program (Keys Of Inspiration) into UK schools. By the end of the year, it made a lot of sense for me to put even more focus on program and territory expansion, not just in the UK but around the world, and so I took on the role of Global Development Director. Motivating and empowering others within my work has always been a massive part of my drive, so to be able to do a job where that is the prime objective, specifically for children that really need support, feels like the right place to be. Our plan for the next 5 years is simply to keep creating and growing impactful and innovative program initiatives and to keep expanding our global reach in order to bring education, opportunities, and inspiration to as many children as possible around the world.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to make their mark in the music industry?

My advice to anyone wanting be get into the music industry would be first, throw yourself into as much as you possibly can, wherever you possibly can. Immerse yourself in it, and don’t be afraid to jump in the deep end, whether it’s an opportunity that already exists or whether you need to create the scenario yourself. Secondly, following on from that, respect the journey. It doesn’t matter if some pathways lead to success or if they completely flop, you are always learning and growing, and that’s the most important thing. Lastly, specifically for artists and musicians, always try and remember why you wanted to get into the music world in the first place and stay true to those values.

Kelmendi – Bringing You a Piece of Home

Editor @ Global Man February 11, 2022 No Comments

promotional feature

By Sujany Baleswaran

From the Balkans to the heart of your home – Kelmendi GmbH global products have become staple products in millions of households, from Kosovo to Finland. The name Kelmendi is stamped with the approval of customers, a guarantee of freshness, delectability, satiety, quality and a taste of home. Stepping back from the jars of delicacies lined on pantry shelves, Kelmendi is the intricate concoction of business and traditions.

Starting with a small single shop in Essen, Germany, Kelmendi products were born and has now developed into an international company and a market leader in Europe. Valdet Kelmendi, a German entrepreneur with Kosovar roots is the man behind the global brand. Born in the village of Ruhot, to a large family immersed in Albanian traditions, Valdet tasted the beauty of secret family recipes. He learnt the first steps of his business, from those very steps, watching his father manage a grocery store in the 1970s, expanding the business further out in the Municipality of Peja until the 1990s.

When struck with the aggravated political situation and the persecution of hundreds who worked for the good of the country, Valdet was forced to leave his roots behind, emigrating to Germany. Uprooting his life came with challenges, days questioning the future but the thought of surrendering to those obstacles never crossed Valdet’s mind.

As a persecuted refugee, he worked as a clerk cultivating vegetables but it was in 1992, when he was employed in an international factory engaged in wood processing, DERIX, Valdet’s path began to change. Although a world away from his Kosovar roots and the comfort of food, his skills, tireless work and leadership rewarded him with the position of Manager of the Sales department, a foundation for the future.

The team behind Kelmendi GmbH, Valdet, Blerim and Oliver

An entrepreneur’s journey is always filled with the ups and downs of failure and success, but with determination and perseverance to create this business in Germany, Valdet rose from all the obstacles he faced. After repeated success and great will, Valdet turned to his dreams that began in Kosovo, sealing the deal in 1998 with the success of the Kelmendi company, with products not only being sold in Germany, but all over Europe. Touching upon every sector of food products from dairy to meat, Kelmendi products circle back to one thing, the unique taste of traditional and modern family recipes.

From the launch of products inspired by Albanian recipes, the food empire has branched out to numerous other societies and culture, creating your taste of home. The Kelmendi network has expanded to Germans, Baltics, Turks, Arabs and African and many others who have formed the pillars of success.

‘Preserving the spirit of cooperation without distinctions.’

Supplying products for over a quarter of a century, Kelmendi has grown immensely as a business, maintaining a leading position in the overall European ethnic food market. With growth at the forefront of the company, Kelmendi has not stopped at KELMENDI products, they have continued launching a stream of success stories such as NAKJA, ALBINA, BOSNA, Öz GURBET, KRISTAL, FUNDAM and MARRAKESH. Kelmendi food products have become synonymous with quality and tradition, achieving a high level of international recognition. With success after success and the increasing demand for products, Kelmendi GmbH, established their new company in 2018, Kelmendi Lebensmittel Ratingen, a symbol of growth. ‘In the business world there is always a target and always room to grow,’ says Founder Valdet Kelmendi. In 10 years, this food empire hopes to bring products closer and closer to customers all over the world. With goals set high, Valdet leaves us with the secrets of success, ‘believe in yourself, have a desire to work, value precision, and try not to work for money, instead find a way to make money work for you.’

Re-Wired: A Life on the Circuit

Editor @ Global Man February 9, 2022 No Comments

It’s quite a leap to go from electric guitar to electric car, but then again, Adam Kelbie is no stranger to remaking his career to suit his positive drive for happiness, as Yassin El-Moudden finds out.

The innovative founder of marketing firm, A Hand Online, and KLB Global Solutions opens up – on challenges he’s faced, why young men need direction and how he found himself playing Jackson Maine in a stage show adaptation.

And when the conversation turns to tech, the former All Together Now TV judge takes the chance to wax lyrical on his plans to bring the digital and social together: from cryptocurrencies and NFTs to tackling expensive fuel bills and building 8-minute homes!

All befitting for the Herts man who once set out on tours with his band, ready to “take on the world”!

“You just have to act and believe”

Take us back to a young Adam Kelbie in the early 2000’s music scene – what was the story behind you joining a band? Which groups influenced you and was there an element of you “finding yourself” through this musical journey?

Our music was a mixture of The Prodigy/Kasabian meets Madness. We were a very laddie band and I think that best describes this moment of my life. I really learnt how to write good songs with the team and there was no bigger rush than being up on stage performing them. We were just 6 lads taking on the world and it felt amazing.

I definitely found parts of myself that I liked and also discovered areas that really needed work. I learnt that you have to be persistent to achieve your goals. There are a lot of promises made in the music world. A lot of hype that sometimes doesn’t live up to what you expect. You could get down and disillusioned, or dust yourself off, believe in yourself and keep on battling.

Talk us through how you moved from travelling across the country on music tours to travelling across the world promoting the Formula E circuit. The last 2 years have seen any number of people switch and make radical career changes. How did you cope with adjusting and what advice would you give others?

For a couple of years after the music finished, I really did not know what to do with myself. I was stuck in some dead-end promotional work – giving out free samples of products and the like – and I noticed I was starting to get very low. I had NEVER actually thought about what I would do apart from music. In fact, I really did not know what I could do. All I knew was that I’d begun to get frustrated with myself, feeling as if I was not amounting to my true potential.

During this period of my life, I struggled with some mental health issues – having no direction can do that to a person. Still, I refused to give up on myself and when I was offered the chance to join the Formula E PR team, it really brought me back to life! All of a sudden, I had purpose. There were goals to achieve and I became part of a networking circle that you could only dream of being in. This really kick-started my corporate career and encouraged belief in myself.

I have seen many people, including my own brother, restart their careers during the last couple of years. I believe the pandemic gave everyone a chance to reflect. Are they happy doing what they are doing? Do they look forward to getting up and working on their own goals? Could they do something else? The answer is YES. You just have to act and believe. Then, you really can achieve what you want.

You moved into the world of business, with a focus on communication. You say that you helped CEOs out with improving their on-screen persona and networking at events. I note that you featured as a judge on a primetime BBC One talent show. To what extent would you describe yourself as an extrovert and does that stem from your touring days? Would you describe it as innate, or did you have to take steps to build your confidence?

Well, I am an entertainer at heart and I just can’t help but bring that into my social and business surroundings. I like to know what’s going on in the room and I like to build a happy environment. Does it make me stand out in a room because of my entertainment traits? Most certainly.

During lockdown, I asked myself “what is the best value that I can offer people?”. I took for granted how nervous people can get in front of crowds, peers or in face-to-face business meetings. For me, it’s always been a skill that I had to put aside or I would never have got up on stage or in front of the camera. I had no choice if I wanted to succeed in this career.

In modern times, I believe that the CEO’s and top execs are the rockstars of the business world. This is something they might never have trained in and may find it very uncomfortable. A good CEO knows he has to break through his comfort zone, and so I help them to believe in that side of their persona. That may involve working a room at a networking event, standing up on stage and giving talks or doing a piece to camera. It’s amazing how great these individuals are once they believe in that side of themselves.

“I’m an entertainer at heart and just can’t help but bring that into my surroundings”

At Global Man, we’ve recently been setting our sights on the future, from ecological sustainability to developments in new technology. As someone who has been involved in Formula E, the world of cryptocurrency and describes themselves as “a big campaigner for world energy solutions” (Hertfordshire Mercury), could you tell us some more about what draws you to this particular sphere, in addition to what you’re currently working on?

There are a lot of technologies out there that can really help the planet but unfortunately, they never see the light of day. They get swallowed up by the big boys or ridiculed, as it goes against what the bigger companies’ plans are. However, I believe that the tide is turning and with the introduction of raising money through cryptocurrency, a lot more of these projects will soon come to fruition.

As for me, I’m now working on modular homes that can help with the UK’s housing crisis and reduce carbon footprint – and it’s amazing technology! They can literally put up a house in 8 minutes, I kid you not.

Another project that I’m currently spearheading and raising finance for, is an NFT project involving real estate. Now, real estate is quite a stable investment but you need to have a lot of money to get involved in it. My project will ensure that anyone can invest in real estate and receive the gains, whilst also putting extra emphasis on building out social and affordable housing.

Banks don’t need to rebuild our nations and shouldn’t be the only ones to gain. We, the people, can both rebuild and reap those rewards.

In the past, I also raised money for waste-to-energy power plants. This is great technology and also should be paramount in helping to reduce the rising energy costs we’re all facing.

If I could pick up on your work and focus around affordable, social housing. Why did you decide to concentrate on the housing crisis as a matter to address? You’ve also used some profits to donate to the Red Cross. In light of post-pandemic developments, do you believe there needs to be a closer connection between business enterprises and social awareness, that they can’t be divorced from their surroundings?

Social and affordable housing is important to me because everybody needs and deserves a home. Home life is so important and there really is a shortfall of housing in the UK and across the world.

Raising money for the Red Cross is actually something I have been doing. I have been helping with an app along with some amazing guys over at a crypto currency platform. They are giving 10% of all proceeds to charity. Good on them.

There is definitely a responsibility that business leaders need to take on their shoulders in how we shape the world for the better. That’s to say, it should always concentrate on what’s good for the collective and not just for personal gain, as I believe some huge greedy companies are doing.

Like nearly everyone, you were adversely affected by disruption brought about in the pandemic. You were cast in a stage show that was brought to an early end. How was time during lockdown for you? Was it a time of reflection and how difficult (or otherwise) was it?

Yes, the tour was brought to an abrupt end as the pandemic spread and shows were cancelled. So, I used lockdown to reflect on how being on stage made me feel, and why I had built up these stupid beliefs that I had to do one or the other. Either be a performer or a businessman. Rubbish! I can do both and I will do both.

Founder of A Hand Online, Adam Kelbie, puts his hand to acting in a new theatre adaptation

Looking to the future, your stage show “A Star is Born This Way” – a theatre adaptation of “A Star is Born” – is ready to hit the roads again and go back on tour. You’ve said that you no longer have to choose between business and music – now it looks like we can add acting to the list! Where do you hope this path will take you and what can say to those who feel that they have to choose?

Although I do like acting, the stage show I was involved in, playing Jackson Maine, only featured songs from the famous movie. It was something I never expected to do again but when you are offered an arena tour and it’s a chance for your little nephews to see old Uncle Adam – you take it.

All we want in life is to be happy and I am happiest when helping others and being on stage myself. Why I ever thought I had to choose, is only because I allowed other people’s opinions to influence mine. Finally, I’ve realised that me being me – doing what makes me happy – is the only thing that brings the best Adam out in all walks of life.

Performance and Results Coach Alec Jiggins Explains Five Ways High Achievers and Leaders Can Overcome Self-Doubt

Editor @ Global Man February 3, 2022 No Comments

This “all in” coach helps clients become the fullest version of themselves, one conversation, one relationship at a time!

It is powerful when a human being steps into the work for which he was born and begins living his dream with authenticity and transparency. At the core of almost every role since high school, Alec Jiggins was coaching others in some capacity. It was as natural as breathing to him. Although he was employed in various positions as a writer, journalist, teacher, principal, and school director, and his pursuits took him all over the world, coaching continued to call to him. After completing coursework and gaining certification as a coach in 2017, Jiggins established his own coaching business.

“As a coach, I can only take somebody through to the level of breakthrough that I’ve experienced myself,” he says. “I have been working with coaches on and off for the last 10 years. I hired a team of five coaches this year, each of them with a different speciality, each of whom takes a turn at digging into me. I have had some powerful breakthroughs! It is because I have been coached that I am able to show up for others with excellence as a coach.”

“For me, in coaching, it’s about the quality of relationships. I’m a believer in going slow. I want my clients to get the best out of me,” says Jiggins. His wife – an asset in his coaching business, is a psychologist and counselor. Together they have created programs for relationships and teens. “I don’t aspire to do events for thousands of people,” he says. “That’s not where I see my business going. It’s about one conversation at a time, one relationship at a time. All of my clients have my cell phone number. When they are really, really, really stuck, they can pick up the phone.” Jiggins does have some small groups, but he tries to keep the size to 12 or less so that in a 90-minute call, each person gets individualized attention.

Jiggins has some helpful advice for overcoming self-doubt, which will be beneficial to everyone, especially high achievers and leaders.

No. 1 – Become aware of negative self-talk, and stop it!

“What we believe about ourselves and our capabilities, and the reality we live in, we created through language. Imposter syndrome comes from negative self-talk, which comes from feeling insecure. Insecurity stems from not being authentic. When we are truly ourselves, we don’t engage in CCJ: comparison, criticism, and judgment.”

No. 2 – Turn limiting beliefs into affirmations and goals.

“Negative self-talk is four to seven times more powerful than positive self-talk. That is why affirmations are so helpful and effective! Affirmations retrain the brain. If your self-talk is, “I’m not as good as that person; I can never achieve that; I’m too old; I’m too young – you are calling the negatives into reality, making them real and powerful. When you flip it around and turn your limiting beliefs into affirmations, you start to supercharge your reality. You have been telling yourself a story based on past beliefs about yourself, which is not the whole truth about you. Flip the story! Write the opposite. Describe how amazing your life is in the new reality. This is re-writing the script, creating a new reality based on the real truth about you, minus the limiting beliefs.”

No. 3 – Create the time and space to ask yourself hard questions.

“When you catch yourself in stories from the past, believing something about yourself based on experiences that happened long ago, take a time out. Create the space to ask yourself questions like, ‘Why do I find it difficult to trust people?’ Or, ‘Why am I terrified of public speaking?’ Your answers are buried in the past. Perhaps someone betrayed your trust or someone laughed at you when you presented an assignment in grade school. I ask my clients to make a two-column list on paper. On one side, I have them write down all the objective facts about their accomplishments and proven capabilities. On the other, they list their limiting beliefs from the past. In my own case, my issue was comparing myself to others and thinking they were better than me. I didn’t believe I was living up to their expectations. The reality was that I was doing an amazing job. My results were outstanding. It was the language I was using about myself that shaped my reality, which led to my self-doubt.”

“Eighty percent of the population say they’ve experienced imposter syndrome at one time or another. If the other twenty percent could get past ego and allow themselves to be vulnerable, they would admit they’ve suffered with it too. It is part of being human. We all need to learn to speak to ourselves with self-compassion. A great starting place is awareness of the language we use in speaking to and about ourselves. Ask yourself why. Recall what happened in the past. Make your list, and examine facts versus fiction to uncover what you have falsely believed about yourself.”

No. 4 – Visualise the outcomes you desire.

“If you can picture what you want in your mind and see it clearly and vividly enough, you can make it happen. Top athletes and performers all talk about how they have already created a win in their minds. Personally, I create a vision board and review it throughout the day. I write visualisation affirmations on my vision board too. It’s on my mind 24/7!”

No. 5 – Become aware when you are not living in integrity, and start now!

“When I’m working with a client, I coach them to get into ‘integrity.’ Integrity in this context means that people are whole, complete, and responsible for everything that goes on in their lives. If they say they will run a 10k in three months, but they don’t have a pair of running shoes, they are not living in integrity. When I am in integrity, I keep my word. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. If I have a step goal, I keep going until I get all of my steps in. If you are living in integrity, you are being conscious in creating your life. At the same time, you are being vulnerable and authentic. As a coach, it is my job to call clients out when they are not being authentic.”

Alec Jiggins believes in his clients. He says, “They are whole and complete. They don’t need fixing. They are not broken. As a coach, it is my job to help them become the fullest expression and best version of themselves, and to help them get out there and live this amazing life!” To tap into more of his advice and find out more about his coaching services, visit Alec’s website.

5 Ideal Gifts for Valentine’s Day

Editor @ Global Man January 29, 2022 No Comments

Valentine is near! It is an opportunity to express your love with gifts. And when these gifts are made with good taste, even better for your loves. What do women want? What makes them happy? What is that precious memory that they want to carry with them forever? Of course a precious piece of jewelry. We are recommending you 5 gift ideas that for this Valentine will surprise you your partner. For your convenience, you can find 5 of these gifts at Markis Jewelry, now also online.

Necklace

Make her have you in her heart with a diamond heart. This necklace will be ideal for this Valentine. She is in your heart, so this heart can now be in her neck.

Ring

Rings are a great gift, perhaps the most special and important. If you choose to propose on Valentine’s Day, be careful to choose the right ring. Be sure that no one can resist the precious brilliance (nor the desire to say YES)

Earring

Give more finesse and color to this accessory that will make your girlfriend even more charming. The earring are accessories that can be easily combined. And if they have precious stones, the more precise this gift becomes.

Emerald Necklace

If your girlfriend loves gemstones, this ring with emerald stones is ideal. Make her love the color green again and give the feeling that she is special, as much as this stone.

Rings with multicolored stones

Who said the ring should always have a proposal behind it? Maybe your girlfriend will be disappointed when she see that you’re not proposing her, but be sure that she will fall in love with the ring, as much as with you. So give her the ring she deserves.

Find these precious gifts and more clicking on this link

https://shop.markis-juwelier.ch/

Arif Anis: The Global Influence Magnate

Editor @ Global Man January 28, 2022 No Comments

Mr I’MPOSSIBLE to Exploring the Art of Possible

Arif Anis is an influence magnate. If you are in London, Dubai, New York or some other cosmopolitan European capital and moving in the circle of movers and shakers, then it is hard to escape the James Bondish charm of Arif Anis. You might notice him rubbing shoulders with the titans, royalty and newsmakers to Forbes richest alike; from the US president Bill Clinton to the British prime minister Boris Johnson and Pakistan’s premier Imran Khan, HRH the Prince of Wales to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Malala Yousafzai, Donald Trump to Richard Branson, Deepak Chopra to Tony Robbins, George Clooney to Angelina Jolie, Maria Sharapova to David Beckham and Amir Khan, Arif Anis might be visible everywhere uplifting people, businesses, organisations and inspiring lives for better. Heads turn when Forbes winner of the highest-earning woman in music and Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet” Katy Perry is found cooing along with him ‘I am Katy Perry, and I am possible.’ I’MPOSSIBLE is one of his ten mega-bestselling books that got translated into multiple languages.

Anis has been voted “Brain of the Year 2020” by the famous Brain Trust UK, a trophy previously awarded to the likes of Professor Stephen Hawking, astronaut and Senator John Glenn, former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. The tale becomes further intriguing when we find how he started his life as a shepherd in Pakistan’s Soon Valley some four decades back and then became a success story by following and living his dreams. Anis’s tenth book and an anthology, “Habits of Success”, recently became a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller. I should not forget mentioning Arif Anis won the ‘Global Man of the Year’ award in 2019 at the Global Woman Summit. Anis was also praised by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Boris Johnson for founding the ‘One Million Meals’ campaign during the first lockdown in 2020. Anis is the president of Akhuway UK, part of the world’s largest interest-free microfinance loan provider Akhuwat with an over 1 billion dollars portfolio. Power100 placed him among the 100 most influential trailblazers in Europe in 2018. His initiatives have been featured by BBC, ITV, Sky, CNBC, The Telegraph, Yahoo, and many other global platforms.

Arif, what a fascinating story! How do you see all the dots connecting together when you look back?

It doesn’t interest me

how old you are

I want to know

if you will risk

looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.

“The Invitation,” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I was born in the small village Anga in Soon Valley, a craggy and mountainous valley in the North-West of Khushab District, Punjab, Pakistan. Soon Valley is beautiful, with many lakes, waterfalls, jungles, natural pools, and ponds. Since ancient times, the Valley has been settled, including by the Awan tribe, whose descendants still live in the Valley. I was raised in a family of five. My father was a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who had served in the British and Pakistani army. My mother was a typical housewife who looked after her kids and nurtured them with love.

In Anga, the school was located miles away from home around a treacherous path. The roads were not paved, and the village did not have electricity. The environment was more conducive to games, hunting, and fighting. Nerds were looked down on as a bit feminine. I found a treasure of a library in a neighbour’s deserted house and fell in love with books. The fantasyland of One Thousand and One Nights and other stories helped me survive the otherwise tough terrain and hostile environment of my early years.

Books became my refuge while growing up. These books introduced me to a world of fantasy, magic, and surrealism where anything was possible. I dreamt of being a warrior leading a pack of knights. Sometimes I was the Aladdin on the flying carpet. At the same time, the stories of the great men and women who left their fingerprints on history inspired me. The conquerors, adventurers, dreamers, fighters inspired me to become more than my circumstances. Due to the prevalent misery around me, I imagined being someone who could inspire lives, uplift people, and change them for the better with some magical, healing touch. These ideas kept transforming from a warrior to a career in the armed forces, a teacher to a counsellor, and a civil servant to an international speaker.

Well, you seem to have come a long way from being a shepherd to being endorsed by Katy Perry, the most influential artist of our times. How do you make sense of your journey?

A burning quest to find my purpose aided me to weather the storms on the way. I used to question the meaning of existence. Gradually, I realised that even if there might be no divine purpose for ordinary lives, ordinary lives could still serve some divine purpose. Consistency and perseverance were the main keys. It was not easy, but it was very much worth it.

In my teens, I was merely a spectator to the events of my life. It felt like I was tossed in the giant whirlpool of life with no rudder or oars. I slowly worked out my tenacity muscle to get hold of myself, growing it daily by going a few extra feet out of my comfort zone. When I looked back, I had travelled hundreds of miles by doing it, living it every day.

In those early days, books were just an escape from reality. But when I stumbled upon books from Jim Rohn, Paulo Coelho, Napoleon Hill, and Tony Robbins, they introduced me to another kind of world where my intentions could invoke some law of attraction and that could create miracles. The idea of personal development that one can write one’s fate was a game-changer.

I have met many twists, turns, and surprises during my journey. In February 2020, after a meeting in London with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, I was seated at the table with singer-songwriter Katy Perry, one of the greatest music icons alive, where I introduced her to my book I’MPOSSIBLE, and she was thrilled. “I am Katy Perry and I’MPOSSIBLE.” The “Firework” girl beamed at the camera while endorsing the message of possibilities. But she was not the only one. “I Am Possible and The Time Is Now” became a battle cry at thousands of places among the personal development junkies, at boot camps, seminars, and stadiums. Several heads of state and influencers endorsed this message. It is a One Thousand and One Nights tale for someone who was born a shepherd.

It was not smooth sailing. Every time I would fail and fall, I would hypnotise myself with the most powerful and inspirational quotations. I gradually found that obstacles led me to find my way; I must not resist the pain of discipline or struggle but rather find meaning in it.

One of your first books was ‘Follow Your Dreams’. How much of luck has to do with following and achieving one’s dreams?

Somehow, most of my craziest daydreams came true. They included a dinner with a US president, a toast with Ms World, and an official Buckingham Palace invite. I discovered that the harder you work, the luckier you get. You earn it by sweat and blood, by walking out of the comfort zone, by challenging yourself and shedding your old skin and habits. It is a GRIND, my friends. Luck can be a break or a chance, but that is it. Once, I conducted research and wrote an exclusive on the winners of the lottery. I discovered most of their lives got worse after the win. They became lost to addictions of various types and lived fractured lives. You will have your fair share of rising and falling, success and failure, applause and curses; no one is exempt. In my life, I have not come across anyone lucky enough not to be scarred by life. No one will come out alive, as they say. Higher awareness, compassion, and love are luck, and I have been lucky enough to receive them in abundance.

At the release of your ‘The New Psychology of Love’, we heard of how you found the love of your life. How did it happen, and how did it impact your life?

Well, as a hopeless romantic, I wear my heart on my sleeves. In my early twenties, I fell in love head over heels. It was a breathtaking place full of colours, songs, and sunshine. It still is. That time I was utterly broke and just starting on the ladder of life. Naturally, her family demanded a settled life and a career that was non-existent for me at that time. Culturally speaking, I had to throw a big fat wedding that I could not afford. However, through a strange series of events, somehow similar to the movie A Slumdog Millionnaire, I managed to win a million rupees jackpot in a TV quiz show after competing with over 50,000 participants. The top reward enabled me to follow my heart. It is still one of my most significant breakthroughs. After becoming my life partner, my wife Uzma impacted my life profoundly. We are a happy family of four with our two sons Sarosh and Fariqleet. My family means the world to me. They are also the biggest reasons for whatever I achieved or accomplished in my life.

You seem to have met some incredible people along the way. Who really influenced you?

Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Chopra, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Ashfaq Ahad, the legendary British writer and creator of Mind Mapping Tony Buzan, all mentored me. Buzan and I travelled together to many countries to speak to big audiences. Buzan was one of the most intelligent minds I came across. Armed with a sheet of white paper and a fistful of coloured pens, he would sit in his office overlooking the Thames at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, “mind mapping” his day. An affable figure who always looked crisp and dapper, he had a rockstar persona. I still remember a critical lesson from him explaining “contact” and “connection.” He said, “It is not important whether you are in contact with someone or not; the most important thing is having a connection. Without having a connection, contact is merely a waste of time, energy and emotions.” He used to define “attention” in the simplest form as “staying there where you are.”

As an author and a thought leader, in your view, when is the best time to take off and live the life we deserve to live?

A human’s success is determined by the number of uncomfortable conversations the person is willing to have. We may not know the outcome of a choice we fear. The unknown road to the known destination paralyses us. We are petrified to even think about the time and the effort it may take to get to our final point. Heck, we are not sure if we are going to reach the end or not. It is a necessary risk we have to take. Our future is wrapped up in uncertainty. There is no amount of insurance that could cover it. When you gotta do it, screw it – just do it!

As Kurt Hahn says, “There is more in us than we know if we could be made to see it; perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.” You can’t fathom yourself exactly, and there is much more in you than you think. You are stronger, faster, and abler than you think you are. So don’t be afraid to give your fullest and roar with your might.

The words of Sven-Göran Eriksson offer great insight pertaining to personal desire: “To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.” Indeed, comparing ourselves to others is rarely a positive or productive experience; most of us have a tendency to idealise other people while undercutting ourselves. Partly due to this negative bias, many individuals end up concluding that they are years behind where they “should be” in life. Remember, you will arrive at your destination in your own time. You don’t need to spoil your journey thinking of your speed because this journey is more important than the destination.

I have heard your mantra of ‘walk your own damn path’? Isn’t that a tough choice to make in life?

What I learnt in life is that it is essential to walk your own path. Make your own path. Walk your own darn path. Don’t toe the line because it’s easy. Don’t copy your parents or significant others for emotional reasons. It must spring from your own being. Also, you must not be deceived by the trap that you are walking your own path while you are trudging along with societal norms. However, there is no harm in conforming to the norms but not because you cannot walk out of your comfort zone. Unfortunately, you will never embrace the essence of your existence until you walk your own darn path.

Life is not a straight road. There are bends here and there. However, a bend in the road is not the end of the road. Sometimes you will try so hard to accomplish something. Sometimes you can be so prepared and still fail. You will sweat, toil, labour, bleed, and it will amount to nothing. And every time you fail, it’s painful. It breaks something within you. It is a dark and lonely place. However, this is the place most visited by all the champions. A man’s character is not judged after he celebrates a victory but by what he does when his back is against the wall. So, no matter how great the setback, how severe the failure, you never give up. You pick yourself up, you brush yourself off, you push forward, you move on, you adapt, you overcome. Just never give up. You only lose when you give up. You are not beaten until you give up. So, never, never give up!

How do you see fear impacting our lives, and how we can outrun it? How o do it and who can help us do it?

There are two ways to live. You continue running or ducking away from what scares you. This will make a small bugbear grow into a monster. Or you face your fears, eyeball to eyeball, and in one second you realise that it’s the most blissful experience of your life. There’s zero fear. You realise that the point of maximum danger is the point of minimum fear. It’s bliss. Why were you scared in your bed the night before? What do you need that fear for? It just ruins your day. The best things in life are on the other side of terror, on the other side of your maximum fear.

Most of us waste too much time frozen by the fear of failure, fear of being judged, fear of everything. All it takes is one first step forward. No matter how small. You’re the tallest wall to climb. The longest bridge to cross! Because of your mental stoppers, you fail to reach your full potential and you betray your dreams every day. You can overcome all this by finding your true self, and tuning into the positive, hopeful voice in your head that’s pointing towards the light. Follow the light.

The truth of the matter is that no one else can do pushups for you. It is you, yourself, who has to run that mile, stay up that night, smile at that fear, face those demons, and walk up that road to your heart’s calling. No one else, however close to your heart, may determine your route.

Follow your heart, and walk that road. Others can walk with you, but nobody can walk it for you.

Giving seems to be a big part of your life. Tell us more about your ‘One Million Meals’ campaign.

Giving is a substantial part of my existence. I have mentored thousands of leaders in various industries. My protégés include coaches who have inspired countless lives, world champions, Olympic athletes and ordinary people with extraordinary dreams. Around one-third of my time, efforts, and resources are dedicated to charitable campaigns.

On 13 May 2021, the British Cabinet Office announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had awarded the Points of Light award to the One Million Meals campaign, acknowledging the four of us (Arif, Suleman, Bilal & Momin). I had co-founded and named the campaign on the outset of the Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. The campaign was initiated to feed the National Health Service doctors, paramedics, keyworkers, and vulnerable people during the lockdown. Through June 2020, we had supported 203 locations across the UK, including 47 NHS hospitals. The campaign was recognised by Her Majesty The Queen, HRH the Prince of Wales, David Beckham, Amir Khan, and many others. We were thrilled when I managed to get backing from the world-famous band, ‘The Proclaimers’ who are a Scottish rock duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie ReidI. They dedicated their world-famous song, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” to the campaign to raise funds.

I am a trustee and lifelong supporter of Akhuwat, the world’s largest interest-free microfinance organisation with around a billion dollars turnover that has changed more than five million lives in Pakistan and abroad for the better.

You are among the top-notch coaches on the art of influence and impact building. You have helped prominent businesses and individuals in scaling up their impact. How could the readers benefit from your expertise in this area?

Noise is defining our current existence. Attention span has shrunk to a couple of seconds, with the world’s top corporations vying for their ‘nano seconds’ of the attention pie.

Power and influence are both used synonymously. However, these both are distinctive, and they work in widely different ways. Power is a zero-sum game as the more we give it, the less we have it. However, contrary to that, influence spreads and multiplies as it is distributed. Plato famously argued in The Republic that a tyrant, however powerful, ultimately suffers in the end by corrupting his own soul. Power is forced, while influence is voluntary. Power makes use of one-way dialogue while influence creates a conversation.

I help businesses and individuals to gain influence in their respective fields of choice through reputation management. Due to the shorter attention span, reputation management is the effort to influence what and how people think of a brand or person when viewed online. Put another way, a character is who you are, and reputation is who other people think you are. The world’s best brands use reputation to forge strong relationships between customers and communities. Through an extensive network of partnerships, collaborations and expertise and alliances, businesses and individuals are offered a one-stop-shop to position them in the respective markets, build their narrative and story, enhance their digital footprint and transform feedback from reviews, likes, listings, comments and clicks into their competitive advantage.

So what is next for a person of your dreams, calibre and ambition?

It is living to the fullest, creating more success stories, harnessing the fullest potential of individuals, institutions and organisations and enabling a world of influence where the hope is bigger than the fear. As an executive vice president of Tony Buzan Global, one ambition is to reach out to more than 500 million mind mappers, dreamers and practitioners globally to make this world a better place through mental literacy.

In my view, COVID-19 is not just a medical challenge, but a spiritual challenge too. To defeat COVID humanity need to follow the path of self-purification, compassion, nonviolence, God and Nature. This pandemic raises serious questions about the way this world has been run in the last hundred years, by using greed, power, lust and obnoxious use of privilege. This pandemic has laid bare what was already obvious, but we buried our heads in the sand like ostriches.

We have a chance to do something extraordinary. As we head out of this pandemic, we can change the world. Create a world of compassion. A world where we are kind to each other. A world where we are kind no matter what class, race, gender, creed or the job tag we have. A world we don’t judge those at the food bank because that may be us if things were just slightly different. Let love and kindness be our roadmap. If the world after coronavirus is not going to be a much more greener, much more environmentally friendly, much more vegetarian, much more just and equal, then human beings will deserve a much worse virus than coronavirus.

Throughout the centuries, an earthquake or a volcano or a pandemic or a tsunami shake the world. There is always a message in the shake-up. Wake up! I am sure we would get rid of coronavirus. Say, in a year, or two or three. But I fear what comes next. We go back to our routine stupidities, namely the wars, supporting the dictators, fueling divide through extremism, voting for politicians without integrity or character, destroying the forests, killing earth’s climate etc. This is worse than the pandemic itself. Let’s finally wake up.

Corey Berrier: From Knocking on Doors in College to Becoming The Sales CEO

Editor @ Global Man October 26, 2021 No Comments

Tired of seeing businesses struggling to make sales, Corey Berrier entered the business coaching world in 2009. After creating the foundation for his sales career, knocking on doors in his college days, Corey built the ability to sell anything. As well as working with business owners, coaches and sales professionals helping them create 7 figure sales teams, ‘The Sales CEO’ began the ‘Successful Life Podcast’ with the mission to inspire.

Let’s go back to the beginning – who was Corey before sales?

The truth is I’ve always been a salesperson. Before I launched my personal training business in 2009, I had a bit of a rocky start. I was a heavy drinker and was heading nowhere fast. So I decided to quit drinking over 12 years ago because I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve the success I wanted while drinking. To be transparent, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

When did you realise you wanted to take it one step further, transitioning from sales to business coaching?

My sales career began selling door to door in college, and it was brutal, but it gave me a solid foundation to sell anything. It also gave me the motivation to step into a more rewarding role. It gave me the experience I needed to excel in the future.

In the sales industry, you’re working with customers who are most likely thinking ‘snake oil’ when they answer the phone. How does someone get past that barrier?

After selling my personal training company and buying a medical spa, I realized that my heart was in sales. I sold my medical practice and began working with business owners, coaches and sales professionals helping them create 7 figure sales teams with unbreakable confidence.

I always label what the other person may be thinking. For example, “Hi, this is Corey Berrier, The Sales CEO, now you might be thinking I’m just another guy trying to sell you snake oil, you also may be thinking I’m just calling because I want money, you also may be thinking I’m just like the rest of the salespeople online, you also may be thinking I’m not trustworthy or that I’m going to take advantage of you?” The reason I label what you may be thinking is so you can relax and not feel threatened.

What are three key traits someone should work on if they want to be successful in sales?

The three key things you want to in a great salesperson is empathy, the ability to communicate from your customers’ point of view. The second thing is showing the customer you are different from everyone else. The way you show up online and in-person should be the same. Finally, every salesperson should have is the ability to read body language and micro-expressions. Why? Because you can have a poker face, but you can’t have a poker body.

I always see salespeople as confident people who excel at public speaking. How much of your pitch is prepared beforehand, and how much is an in-the-moment speech?

Preparation always wins. The reason preparation always wins is because it gives me the confidence going into the sale that I need to be effective and not waste anyone’s time. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes some unknowns come up, and it’s your job as a sales expert to pivot like it’s part of the plan.

You began the ‘Successful Life Podcast’ at the end of 2019, and since then, you have hosted numerous successful entrepreneurs. What inspired you to create your podcast, and what does the future hold for Successful Life Podcast?

I started my podcast so I could share important stories from people that have truly changed peoples lives, and have a positive impact on the world. I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in their industry, and selfishly, it’s also given me first-hand experience through the lens of these amazing people. I’ve learned so much by interviewing over 100 business owners, influencers and thought leaders over the past two years. I have just started another podcast called The Market Disrupters Podcast, where we discuss industries that are disrupting the current market. As for the Successful Life Podcast, I’m going to continue helping others through impactful stories.