Womenlines is delighted to share about Anjalika, an IITTI (CANADA) certified professional Image Branding & Lifestyle Consultant, as an Influencer for Image Branding at Womenlines. Yes womenfolk, gear up to learn the tips and tricks to carry yourself with excellence and make excellence your brand. In her sharing for this month, Anjalika is sharing about how to look fabulous at any age-

It was not until I turn older did I realise that as women, we are capable of being beautiful at any age. I love the fact that I am getting older. I embrace every change that comes with well, an ageing self. I bask in the very fact that certain qualities are only attainable after the arrival of a certain decade. I never dwell on or lament on the fact that certain parts of my face or body are never going to be the same again.

In the age of social media, women especially, are often made to feel less than; the many unattainable standards of beauty is rampant, everywhere; the smorgasbord of cosmetic surgeries, fillers, laser treatment advertisements are easily part of our lives. As though that is not enough, we are also slapped with image after image of branded handbags, shoes and clothes, adorning the body of a very blessed individual who looks like she can very well afford all the luxury while it very much seems that she is not even batting an eyelid to earn all that money to be able to afford them. If you ask me, what a stressful decade this has been!

As an Image Branding and Lifestyle Consultant, I often meet with women, who, over time lost their zest for life; especially those nearing the half-decade mark. One thing is for sure, it does not have to be that way. Feeling and looking good is a birthright. It does not have to be complicated or expensive, something that is very much misunderstood.

Having said that, there are a couple of ways to make yourself shine – a decade after decade. Here are my top tips.

* Determine your Style Personality

Once you are in touch with your style personality, it will not take much to feel and look on top of the world. Are you more classically inclined in your choice of clothes, romantic perhaps or maybe even bold? Once you know your style personality, wardrobe shopping will be way easier. You will be able to weed out what is not of interest or what will not look good on you. In a nutshell, someone with the inclination towards classic style will love classic type blazers, white crisp shirts, pencil skirts and on their feet, the classic pumps. Those who lean towards bold will opt for splashy patterns and loud colours, while our romantic counterparts, choose frills, laces and flowy fabric as part of their ensemble. Look within yourself and ask yourself questions like what makes you feel good, what kind of image you want to portray. In doubt, get help from an Image Consultant.

* Wardrobe essentials

There are a couple of essential items that I feel every woman should have in her wardrobe. Just to name a few; (1) white shirt, (2) well-fitted dress; doesn’t have to be black – choose a colour that flatters you. (3) long well-fitted trousers (4) well-fitted blazer (5) jeans; usually bootleg or straight cut ones are the most flattering for most shapes (6) white and black basic t-shirts (7) denim jacket (8) hoop earrings (9) diamond or diamante studs (10) a good pair of white sneakers (11) good quality, (does not have to be branded), roomy work bag (12) a classic clutch in black or gold

* Know the current fashion trends

Have a few of current fashion pieces in your wardrobe. Make sure you only pick those that work for you. An example will be wide-legged pants or culottes which is a current hit. Mix and match them with your wardrobe essentials and voila, you are heaps more trendy!

* Accessorize

Your belts, hats, necklaces – accessorizing create a unique look for you. Use this to your benefit. I have always been a great believer of dressing for my body and taste; never copy and always be creative. Put together outfits that screams you.

* Wear trendy shoes

Footwear can singlehandedly change the vibe. You do not have to wear four-inch heels to feel desirable. There are so many choices these days. The ballet pumps, kitten heels, mules, slingbacks – go try around and see which ones make you feel so good, you do not want to take them off!

Finally, the most important thing….

* Not too matchy

Looking too matchy or polished can age a person. Have fun with your clothes and try to mix-and-match them. I will advise a client to pair a jacket with a skirt or pants, not a matching one; like that of a suit. This will give you a more relaxed and chic look.

Bottom line is, have fun with whatever you throw on you.   Adopt a confident stride, if you have not already. With that confident walk, you have already won before you even started.

Zu Anjalika Kamis Gunnulfsen is the Editor (Singapore) for Marketing In Asia and certified Image Branding & Lifestyle Consultant. She was also crowned Mrs Singapore Globe 2017. Born in Singapore and blessed to have lived in a couple of other amazing cities in the world, Anjalika is currently expatriating in Kuala Lumpur. Follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram and blog

www.zuanjalika.com,   

LinkedIn –https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuanjalika/

https://www.instagram.com/anjalika_mrssingaporeglobe2017/

Womenlines takes pleasure to share about guest contributor  Vijayalakshmi Veluchamy, founder, Public speaking mentor @ Jump Out Kids – a venture in building a confident next generation. She is also a Senior Recruitment Consultant by profession. This month Vijaya is sharing a very insightful article on the importance of listening skills-

There is a huge difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability to perceive sound whereas listening is a skill, it’s a conscious effort by the brain to understand and make sense of what the other person is saying.

Most of the time the standard way of listening is to reply rather than to understand. Which means, instead of listening to what the other person is saying we start thinking of what we need to reply. Effective Listening is becoming a difficult task these days due to information overload and shortened attention span.

 So let’s see how effective listening can be done?

• The first step in effective listening would be to stop thinking of what you need to reply and actually listen to the person.

• Keep an open mind, do not judge the person or jump to conclusions while you are listening.

• Do not interrupt while they speak, wait for them to finish before you add on. Sometimes listening long enough, helps clear your doubts.

• Ask questions only to ensure understanding, if your questions have made the speaker astray, take responsibility to make them feel comfortable and help them get back to the track.

• Throughout the interaction try to maintain eye contact, nod, smile, give verbal cues and affirmations wherever needed assuring that you are with them.

• A short summarizing at the end assures them that their views have been well heard and understood.

• Once this is done, you can now put forth your ideas, suggestions and the points where you differ, setting the stage for a healthy discussion.

 Effective listening might seem like a lot of effort but remember that listening is a skill and it takes time, effort, patience and practice to master it.

Let’s understand the Benefits of Listening Effectively:

Builds Trust, confidence and strong relationships:

Sometimes all a person needs is someone to listen to them without judging or giving any kind of suggestions or advice. Just being there actively listening ensures that the person is important and what they say matters. This helps build a trustable relationship, be it a parent-child or peer to peer or any workspace relationship.

Better Productivity and understanding:

Good listeners are able to better follow instructions, inputs and information given to them. This helps them to clearly understand what is expected from them, ask better questions to get clarity, provide valuable feedbacks and addons where needed. So be it classroom or workspace they deliver the desired results on time or even faster!

 A Good Listener is a Good Leader, a Good Communicator:

A good listener is able to see the world from the eyes of others. Instead of repeating what you know, listening helps you to learn what you may not know.

It helps you understand different kinds of people, their opinions and point of views. This eventually helps you lead people of different personalities to work towards a common goal. Communication is effective only when you actively listen to people first and then put forth your points.

No one is born knowing how to read or write similarly listening is a skill and can be learnt. By slowing down your thoughts and being present at the moment you will be amazed to see how much you actually listen and remember.

Vijayalakshmi Veluchamy

Founder, Public speaking mentor @ Jump Out Kids – a venture in building a confident next generation. I am also a Senior Recruitment Consultant by profession. I love following my dreams and passion as I strongly believe if you can dream it, you can do it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1769851159935761/?ref=share

Womenlines takes pleasure to share about  Jahnavi Katti as Success Mindset & Social Branding Influencer at Womenlines panel. Jahnavi is an  Abundance Mindset Coach, Lifestyle Entrepreneur, #Story2Satori youtube chatshow host, and  CEO of Keykonnecct. Jahnavi creates compelling visual stories, partners with brands to reach their target audience and provides consultancy on Storytelling & Branding. She has shared a powerful article on the importance of self-discovery and how to have a clear vision about what you want–

Confusing situations outside in your external environment is a reflection of your internal environment, your Mindset. Usually confused people are not clear about what they want in life. It is also a result of a Fixed Mindset. People with a fixed Mindset think that they cannot change in fact they are not open to change, but on the other hand, they expect others to be accommodating and expect a lot of change in their lives like great relationships, joy, a healthy Lifestyle and Career growth. They don’t realize it is a result of their own Mindset that they are suffering in life. Maybe many are not at extreme spectrums of either having a Fixed Mindset or a Positive growth Mindset, In fact, many may be swayed by the circumstances of life to either extreme.

Ways to hack your Mindset

Observing the words and the language one uses when talking to others and also the internal dialogue ie the thoughts or the self-talk can show how much self-conscious you are. If you use the negative words either with others or in your self talk your consciousness is absorbing this and brings it into your reality.

Many Women have a nagging and complaining habit and this has become a way of life or attitude creating their reality. They may have guilt trips about it and about other things like what they eat, how they look or how much their weight is. Observing the feelings when they speak or eat can help them start their journey to self-discovery.

Self Discovery is the road to success and it is the beginning of Change. The only change is constant. Once you realize this you will be better equipped to deal with life’s challenges.

Create a New Identity

For experiencing new things in life one needs a new Identity. To create a new Identity you must change your beliefs about your own Self. This way you can recreate your Identity. Exercise to do is saying “I am becoming a positive person with a winning attitude “ in place of “I am a loser “ Redefine Failure: See failure as an opportunity to learn, a stepping stone to success. Bounce back by responding well to failure. Attend the Self Discovery webinar by Success Mindset Coach Jahnavi Katti. Connect with Jahnavi Katti on Facebook Page Story2Satori and DM “Success Mindset Webinar “ and you will receive the link to attend the Webinar

Jahnavi Katti CPC

Lifestyle Entrepreneur

#Story2Satori Host

Mindfulness & Abundance Mindset Coach

CEO KeyKonnecct

Two Decades of Corporate Mindful Leadership Training and Coaching Experience

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keykonnecct/

https://www.facebook.com/LifeStyleEntrepreneurJahnaviKatti/

https://www.youtube.com/c/JaahnaviKatti

Womenlines loves to get empowering and informative content for all readers, viewers and followers from across the globe. Womenlines is delighted to welcome the organisation ‘Cancer Awakens’  as a sponsor for the content related to ‘How to prevent and thrive with Cancer’ under ‘Health’ segment. Enlightening content from Cancer Awakens is going to empower people with the right mindset and knowledge to prevent cancer and to thrive with it if one is diagnosed with it. In the interview with Womenlines, Vijay Bhat, founder of ‘Cancer Awakens’ has shared incredible tips on what to take care in life to keep cancer away!

Vijay Bhat, the founder of Cancer Awakens is himself a 17-yr colon cancer-thriver. Cancer Awakens wants people to awaken, heal, grow and thrive from cancer, instead of suffering like victims or dying on schedule. Their vision is “Many millions must survive; One million must thrive”. They will achieve this through online cancer-coaching, via 10,000 trained and certified cancer-coaches (SHERPAs).

Vijay Bhat calls himself a “Wanderer-Dabbler”, a “Seeker-Learner” and a “Thriver-Sherpa”.

His 1^st career (of 25 yrs) was in Advertising. His 2^nd career (of 13 yrs) was in Leadership Consulting & Coaching. In his swan-song, he is a start-up social entrepreneur in the field of Cancer Coaching.

Vijay is himself a 17-yr colon cancer-thriver and the co-author of ‘My Cancer Is Me – The Journey from Illness to Wholeness’. He is a sought-after keynote speaker on Cancer, Holistic Health, Stress Management and Leadership. Vijay has lived, worked and travelled all over the world. He and his wife Nilima are currently based in Mumbai, India. They have 2 grown-up kids – Shravan & Shambhavi- from whom there is so much to learn.

 

Womenlines takes pleasure to share about Ms Ketki Vinayachandra as an ‘Influencer of Health’ at Womenlines panel. Ketki is sharing articles and videos related to excellence in health through Naturopathy at Womenlines on first and last Thursdays of every month. The first series ‘Flab to Fab’ is a must watch as Ketki is sharing incredible tips to reduce weight. Ketki is a trained Naturopath and she is quite passionate about creating awareness about Naturopathy across the world. Listen to Ketki in this episode 6 of ‘FLAB TO FAB’-

How much exercise is enough and quick tips!!

Ms Ketki Vinayachandra, BscM (Hons), ND, AND, Dip Nut, ( Aust), NHAA Member Naturopath, Herbalist, Nutritionist, Iridologist

“As a Naturopathic health practitioner, I strongly believe that we need to invest wisely in our health. The everyday choices we make in terms of our lifestyle and how we treat our body can either create healing or disease. While ageing is inevitable, diseases are not. Talk to me to customize a treatment plan for you today!

 Leadership can be defined as a skill of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. In a business scenario, this can mean directing workers and colleagues with a strategy to meet the company’s needs. How to be an authentic leader is a big question. Womenlines takes pleasure to share incredible insights about leadership from world’s top-ranked coach John Mattone –

• When it comes to leadership, many people feel that you’re either born with it or you’re not. But while some people might have a natural leadership proclivity, it is possible for anyone to cultivate their own innate ability to lead. Leadership, as I define it, is as simple as “being an example to others,” and this is something we can all develop.
• There are countless approaches to leadership development—books, tools, workshops, courses, philosophies—and all are valuable. But in my experiences, the leadership work that really tips the scales and leads to lasting change is the kind that focuses on what I call “the inner core.” If you want to be a better example to others, you need to develop your character, values, and mindset. Many people skip over this step at their own peril.
• One of the keys to Intelligent Leadership is making what I call “the vulnerability decision.” This is a choice that you, as a leader or aspiring leader, make to open yourself up to your colleagues, peers, or employees. Many consider vulnerability to be a weakness, but I’ve found that it’s actually a great source of strength.
• One of the most popular traits of modern leaders is the ability to “think big.” It’s a sexy term that many people throw around, but few know how to actually do it. I’ve found that the key to “thinking big” is to find a connection to your core purpose. You need to find out what it was that you were put on this earth to do to unlock your ability to think like a visionary.
• Many people who want to develop as leaders, do so because they want something for themselves—a promotion, a title, accolades, etc. But true leadership is based on a recognition that it really isn’t about you. It’s a compulsion to become a better human being for the sake of leading and inspiring those around you.

John C Maxwell defines leadership, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” 

 Yes, friends, Everybody is a leader, whether you are a CEO, a middle manager, a junior manager, a janitor, a factory worker, an entrepreneur, a teacher or a single parent. The one who walks the talk takes responsibility and can influence is a leader. Everybody can be a leader, but all cannot be effective leaders, as effective leaders have in the extra ingredients that not every leader possesses. So here is an incredible book with all the secret ingredients to be an authentic leader –

 The Intelligent Leader: Unlocking the 7 Secrets to Leading Others and Leaving Your Legacy

By John Mattone

Visit www.intelligentleaderbook.com to buy your copy now!!

There is a special promotion where all book purchasers also receive free access to John’s Mattone Leadership Enneagram Inventory (MLEI), which is a tool he’s developed for people to determine their unique leadership style, strengths and developmental opportunities (a $110 value).  

 John Mattone who is widely considered the world’s top executive coach and is globally respected for his ability to ignite and strengthen a leader’s inner self and talents. Since 2017, he has been ranked by Global Gurus as one of the top three coaching authorities in the world, alongside Tony Robbins and Marshall Goldsmith.

John is the creator of the unique, powerful, and game-changing Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching program. Using this program over the past 20 years, John has personally coached more than 250 top business leaders, including 25 global CEOs, to help them become stronger, more effective, and vibrant leaders. John served as the executive coach to the late Steve Jobs, as well as to the former, legendary CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico. In 2015, John’s leadership system was named one of the top three Advanced Leadership Development Programs in the world, alongside the work of John Maxwell and Tony Robbins. The author of nine books, John has written three bestsellers: Talent Leadership, Intelligent Leadership, and Cultural Transformations: Lessons of Leadership and Corporate Reinvention.

 In the present era, companies are having difficulty finding and grooming the next generation to handle the demand of leading others in the fiercely competitive atmosphere and lightening fast pace of change that defines our era.

John Mattone has found a solution to this paradox through an approach that cuts right to the core of what holds leaders and aspiring leaders back from greatness. It’s what has made him the world’s top executive coach and drawn Fortune 500 CEOs—from the late Steve Jobs to PepsiCo’s Roger Enrico—to seek his counsel. Fortunately, Mattone’s secrets are no longer being shared exclusively in boardrooms and executive suites, but are now available to anyone who wants to unlock their leadership potential in his newest book, The Intelligent Leader. IT ALL STARTS ON THE INSIDE

While many approaches to leadership development focus on skills like creativity, strategic thinking, and decision-making, Mattone focuses on the subtle and hard to reach territory that lies below the surface. He calls this the “inner core” and has found that the strength of this deeper dimension of your self is what drives the “outer” capacities that so many are after.

Let Excellence be your brand!

Charu Mehrotra

Founder Womenlines

Womenlines is delighted to start a series ‘Go Green Campaign’ to create awareness among womenfolk to adopt conservation of the environment as a part of their lifestyle! As a start, you can watch this video, produced by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).

MEWR has designated 2019 as the Year Towards Zero Waste. They want to rally Singaporeans to treasure their resources and make it a habit to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. You can find out more about our Zero Waste Vision at www.towardszerowaste.sg

Facts-(credit https://www.towardszerowaste.sg/zero-waste-nation/)

1. In Singapore, waste disposed of has increased seven-fold over the past 40 years. About 7.7 million tonnes of waste was generated in 2017. This amount is enough to fill 15,000 Olympic-size swimming pools!
2. Every day, about 79% of our domestic waste generated will be incinerated at one of our four waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plants. However, the more waste we incinerate, the higher our carbon footprint – this contributes to global warming and climate change.
3. Semakau Landfill is Singapore’s one and only landfill. It receives more than 2,000 tonnes of WTE incineration ash and non- incinerable waste daily. At our current rate of waste growth, Semakau Landfill will run out of space by 2035.

How will Singapore achieve  Zero Waste vision?

Singapore will adopt a circular economy approach to sustainable waste and resource management. Singapore will strive to close the waste loop, just like how they have closed the water loop by recycling water endlessly!

Womenlines wants to request the readers to have a look at the video to learn various ways to how they can contribute in Go Green Campaign!!

Let Excellence be your brand!

Charu Mehrotra

Founder Womenlines

Womenlines takes pleasure to share about Neha Dhingra Saraf, Head of Business Development APAC in Singapore, as a guest writer. She is sharing a very interesting article highlighting from her real-life experience that if you don’t allow emotions to take over the mind under challenging circumstances, things can really turn out to be ok –

Someone once told me that the minute you think of a backup plan, you admit that plan A is not going to work. We had an interesting long conversation where we agreed to disagree.

I was recently given an opportunity to deliver a presentation on social selling to a room full of forty senior executives from across the world. I was excited and prepared for the session.

Plan A

Present the beautiful deck and deliver a 1-hour session. Prepared for it well in advance and was confident that it will go well.

Twist

The night before the session I was told I only had 30 minutes and the presentation would start at 8:30 am, fairly significant changes to happen at short notice for an important senior leadership session. The more challenging part, however, was that I was asked to do something I had never done before – deliver a TED-talk style talk without slides!

Plan B

It was challenging to cover the same content in half the time but I had the whole night (with lots of coffee) to prepare. All that was need to be done was tweak the presentation, rehearse again, think of props to use in absence of slides and wake up super early after a long day and a long night. Sounds fun? Read on.

Dinner ended around 11 pm and by midnight I was halfway through BUT dozed off on my laptop soon after. Not being a morning person, woke up early to prepare (Thanks to my tired brain having the foresight to set an alarm for the next day). I said to myself – All is well, don’t panic. I rehearsed the whole thing and was clear on the action plan. Things still appeared to be somewhat under control.

Next morning from 7:30 – 8 am there was a team fitness session in the same room so I went to the venue well before that and noted my points on the whiteboards. There was another gentleman in the room who was supposed to present after me and hence I had to politely request him to not use the three boards that I put my notes on. We smiled and nodded at each other. After the session at 8 am, I rushed to my room, quickly took a shower and came back at 8:20.

Another twist

To my horror, all the whiteboards had been wiped clean!

With 5 minutes to the presentation and no visible talking points, I had two options – to be angry with the gentleman and panic OR relax, gather my thoughts and improvise.

Plan C

I chose the second option, took three deep breaths, downed two quick espresso shots and started at 8:30.

The session went well. I shared what happened with some of the colleagues over drinks later that night. Interestingly, the feedback was that they couldn’t spot any anxiety or nervousness during the session.

What to do when Murphy’s Law strikes?

Few things that helped me tackle the situation:

• Fortune favours the prepared mind – Being very familiar with the topic, had already delivered similar sessions over a hundred times ranging from 30 minutes to a whole day.
• Do it with passion or not at all – Being extremely passionate about social selling, the topic often comes up in conversations with colleagues, new hires, students and sometimes acquaintances. This helps provide diverse perspectives on the topic which actively promotes lateral thinking on the subject.
• Don’t let fear tell you that it is protecting you. Fear is a liar! – At 8:25, the worst thing I could have done to myself was panic and cloud my judgment with fear. Being given an opportunity to present to senior leadership at an offsite with a packed agenda, rescheduling was also not an option. At that moment, I had nothing to lose except facing the challenge head-on.

Getting back after being hit is a choice. It takes courage and perseverance to get back up.

Like what you read? Please feel free to share your experience in the comments section, like or share the post and reach out to me in case you have any feedback. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram.

Neha was born and raised in India and now calls Singapore home. She leads a team of business development professionals across the Asia Pacific at Oracle. Neha designs and delivers workshops, virtual training, webinars and initiatives to educate sales professionals and small businesses on how to use social tools to engage via various social channels. Intertwined in this activity, she loves to travel, make friends, drink wine and collect and upcycle glass bottles – normally empty!