It’s National Renewal Day – Hacks to reinvigorate us and help us start fresh this Spring!

May 4th is National Renewal Day! Who doesn’t love a good spring cleaning and new beginning? The best part of springtime (besides the weather) is the fact that we are all given a fresh start. In honor of this, we have compiled a list of hacks to help inspire you to promote your own personal springtime renewal. We all need a little help when it comes to starting fresh in our careers and personal lives and spring is the perfect time.

Brain Hack: Create a Vision Board

This brain hack gives a personalized look into what it takes to unlock your deepest desires and goals. To create a vision board you should post inspirational sayings and pictures to initiate self reflection each day. From these boards we can stimulate a sense of self-belief. When you believe that you are capable of achieving something, you are more confident in yourself, creating stronger end results to achieve success.

“Do something towards your vision. It’s just that simple”– Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman is an international speaker and author of The Little Book of BIG Behavior Interventions, and the award-winning book The Secrets To How NOT To Throw Mama From The Train. Her most recent articles are published in the September 2018 edition of Global Achievers Magazine and the February 2019 issue of Women Entrepreneur Magazine where she was listed as a female entrepreneur to watch in 2019.

Brain Hack: Be Grateful

This brain hack is something that a lot of us seemingly tend to forget. Being grateful for the opportunities and the individuals that you have within your life is often taken for granted. This brain hack inspires positive thinking, which is a key element in reaching success. Sometimes all it takes is a quick reflection on the great things in life that we have now, in order to think about the great things that are sure to come in the future.

“Make a list of 10 things, people, or circumstances you are grateful for and post them inside the cupboards, closets, drawers, and places you open frequently” – Norma Nikutowski

Norma Nikutowski is the Author of Turn Your Happiness ON: How to Light Up Your Days and Fill Your Life with Joy. She spent several decades counseling patients with anxiety and depression on how to focus on the positive aspects of their lives. After coming to the U.S. as an adult, she has also worked as a special education teacher helping students and families focus on achieving their yearly and long-term goals.

Brain Hack: Keep Hope

Maintaining hope can steer us away from those pesky negative thoughts. Negative thinking is often the driving force to self doubt, and poor performance. It is important to stay hopeful that a positive force of change is coming your way when things are looking bleak. This is an effective brain hack that mentally inspires you and even others around you. Again, this may seem simple, but we all know how easy it is to get carried away with a pessimistic mindset.

“The only constant is change, so stay hopeful and look out for how things are changing.” – Leah McCullough, Speaker, Author & Fibromyalgia Recovery Coach.

Affectionately known as “The Fibro Lady”, Leah is an International wellness speaker and Author of the critically-acclaimed book  Freedom from Fibromyalgia: 7 Steps to Complete Recovery, a self-help guide where she discusses the symptoms of fibromyalgia, her own story of recovery, and a method others can follow to recover too.

Brain Hack: Contribute

This brain hack places a strong emphasis on the simple things we can contribute to benefit others. Whether this is making a drastic change for the greater good, or just simply supplying someone with a simple tool they may need. This act of giving certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. Others will instantly see that you are reliable and ready to help at all times, especially when the contribution you bring is not for your own personal benefit.

“You may not have what you need to achieve a goal but you can be a part of it and make a contribution to where you want to go.” – Jane Jenkins Herlong

As a best-selling author and former Miss America contestant, Jane is now the author of four books including Indie Book Award-winning Rhinestones on My Flip-Flops. She is also a popular speaker who was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Jane believes that the key to success is being mentally fit and learning how to change the word “no” into the word “next.”

Brain Hack: Listen to Your Inner Voice:

This brain hack explains that focusing on your inner voice and inner career goals is the most simplistic way to clear out your mind. When we pay attention and stay engaged in what we personally want, instead of what others want from us, we can reach our best ideas for success. The term ‘selfish’ should not be seen in a negative light any longer, it’s more than okay to personally reflect on your own goals and be a bit selfish to get the results you want.

“The first hack is to listen to her inner voice and tune out the rest of the distractions. Focus on where you are headed.” – Suzette Webb

An accomplished, author, speaker and “mompreneur”, Suzette Webb, left the comforts of her corporate job more than fifteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. In her second book, Blues to Blessings, she helps her readers move from complacency and dissatisfaction to fulfillment and transformation. Suzette holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She and her husband have three sons and currently reside in Chicago.

Brain Hack: Be An Effective Leader

Leadership is an element can make or break any company or relationship. This brain hack emphasizes that the strongest leaders are the ones that are not too prideful or too afraid to perform any task or job of any level that lies within their company. This, in turn, creates more receptive and engaged employees. This sense of community can stimulate stronger communication and cooperation for the business as a whole, which is vital for lasting success.

“The leader should be willing to do any job in the company. When the staff sees you willing to get in the trenches it gives them energy and loyalty when you jump in and help.” – Nicole Black

Nicole is a motivational speaker and corporate trainer that focuses on employee productivity and effective growth. For the past 20 years, she has played a key role in assisting some of the biggest brands in the hospitality and entertainment industries to grow sustainably through the development of their people. Her work includes the likes of, The Ritz-Carlton and Twentieth Century Fox.

Brain Hack: Take Action

Act upon those brilliant ideas that lie within your head, or you may never know what could come from it. This brain hack stresses the importance of not being afraid to express your creative and professional ideas with the world. Taking action is the first major leap of faith that stimulates the creation of something special. Don’t ever hold yourself back and be the person that missed out on a great idea.

“Realize we all have a voice and you need to use it. Even though you may feel not important but the fact is you can.” – A’shanti F. Gholar

Founder of The Brown Girl’s Guide to Politics, a place for Black and Brown girls in and interested in politics to come together, share our experiences, and grow our ranks.

A’shanti currently holds the title of National Political Director for Emerge America. Previously she served as the National Deputy Director of Community Engagement and Director of African American Engagement for the Democratic National Committee. She is the host of the BGG Podcast and  leads conversations with women changing the face of politics. Episodes include interviews with politicians, candidates, and influencers.

Brain Hack: Don’t Dive Into New Relationships

This brain hack stresses the importance of finding yourself before you commit to a personal or professional relationship if you want it to last long term. After we find ourselves, it is equally as important to uncover the raw truths of the other person before we decide to commit to them. This process takes time, but it is an important skill that everyone should implement into their personal and professional lives.  

“It takes time to learn what it ingredients go into a successful long lasting relationship. Read and grow. And learn.” – Beatty Cohan

Beatty Cohan, is a nationally recognized psychotherapist, sex therapist, columnist, national speaker, national radio and television expert guest, and author of For Better for Worse for Better: Discover the Path to Lasting Love. Beatty is also currently the host of the ASK BEATTY SHOW on the Progressive Radio Network. Along with all of this, Beatty still operates a private practice that can be located within New York City and East Hampton.

Brain Hack: Trust Your Intuition

The well known saying “go with your gut” is proven true by this brain hack. Often times our intuition can aid us, whether it’s telling us to give the green light to an idea, or telling us to back away from something that doesn’t quite feel right. Intuition exists for a reason, and those that can learn to tap into it, and trust it, are the ones that are going to be successful and confident in all of their decisions.

“Start trusting your intuition. Work it use it and practice it.” – Kim Chestney, International best-selling author, founder of mystic studios + IntuitionLab, artist, mom, creator of the create! festival, scorpio, die-hard intuition advocate.

Kim Chestney is an internationally-published author, Intuition expert and Founder of IntuitionLab, a global school with a mission to change the world all with the power of Intuition. Kim’s work has been published and featured around the globe as she is continuously celebrated for her unique perspective on Intuition as an innate cognitive function that can be developed and mastered for personal and cultural evolution.