Ep#127 A RoadMap To Retrain Your Brain For Long Lasting Happiness – Zahra Karsan, Founder GetZend

0 (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you are so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host. She’s a Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach, Chef, Author, and yogi Christine Okezie.

Christine Okezie (23s):
Hello and welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast. I’m Christine Okezie. Thanks so much for listening. All beings want to be happy at a fundamental level, this is our overarching shared desire. Ironically, the pitfalls of modern day living have made the quest for happiness incredibly elusive, perhaps more so than ever before, because the vast majority of folks these days are chronically stressed, living on autopilot with less time and ability to care for their physical, mental, and emotional health. The problem is that most of us were conditioned by society’s deep messaging. That happiness comes from something in our external situation. I mean, how many of us have been checking boxes our whole life chasing more money, a bigger house, the perfect relationships, the perfect family, vacations, health, social status, et cetera?

Christine Okezie (1m 13s):
The truth is that while those things can give us a sense of joy and fulfillment, eventually they become placeholders that fall short of the real deal. At some point, the price of striving for happiness in the future becomes too high, and you’re left with the inner knowing that something is truly missing, and you’re left wondering what to do next. The problem is that we’ve never been taught that we can have happiness, even when life isn’t working out according to our plans, happiness is cultivated not by more doing and achieving, but by turning our attention inward, it turns out that we’re actually in control of our own happiness.

Christine Okezie (1m 54s):
But even better news is that it turns out that we can all learn to be happy. Ancient wisdom, teachings, and now neuroscience support this key truth. Well, today’s guest is Zahra Karsan, inspirational public speaker, executive mindset coach, and best selling author of the book, Six Weeks to Happy. She’s the creator of the Rewire System, a groundbreaking methodology that retrains our brains for greater health and happiness. Zara holds degrees in psychology, applied positive psychology and neuroscience, and she’s a certified master NLP practitioner and life coach. Zahra is a passionate, lifelong students of quantum science, metaphysics, and related fields.

Christine Okezie (2m 40s):
Through her own trials and tribulations of self-discovery and proven methods coaching hundreds of clients, Zahra feels truly honored to share her six weeks to happy system where we can learn the science of happiness and get some tools to rewire and retrain our brains and our subconscious for greater wellbeing. I can’t wait for you to listen in on this incredible conversation with Zara. And to learn more, please visit her website, get zend G E T Z E N d.com, and you can get her book Six Weeks to Happy on Amazon or wherever books are sold. I’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to visit Apple Podcast, drop me a rating and review.

Christine Okezie (3m 20s):
Share the podcast for someone you think that might else be interested in this topic. And if you haven’t already subscribed, please hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks so much for being here, everyone, and enjoy the episode. Hi, Zahra. It’s so great to meet you. Welcome.

Zahra Karsan (3m 36s):
Thank you for having me, Christine. Such a pleasure being on your show when you’re with you and your audience. And thank you for the amazing work you’re doing and the the wonderful conversations you’re bringing to the foreground. We need this.

Christine Okezie (3m 48s):
Yes. And we need your work. So I wanna dive in. So before we get into the beautiful book and body of work that you’ve put out into the world around helping people, you know, work with their habits to get more health, more happiness, one of the things that comes up for me when we do this work is helping people break this paradigm of goal achievement and happiness. Yeah. Right. And you do such an artful job of helping people kind of rewire that long standing belief. Can you just maybe use that as a jumping off point to talk about that?

Zahra Karsan (4m 23s):
Oh my gosh, absolutely. It’s such a great, great question because you know, I think most of us are not given a prescription for how to be happy in life. We’re not, we don’t really even talk about that growing up. Most of us are given this set of instructions that’s very loosely defined as a set of goals. And it goes something like this, Do well in school, then figure out what you wanna do for a career, then pick a major, pick a college or university or a trade school, get a job, work your way up the corporate ladder, get the house, get the kids, and some point happiness is magically gonna appear, right? And so I chased happiness until it made me miserable.

Zahra Karsan (5m 5s):
By that, I mean,

Christine Okezie (5m 7s):
Wow,

Zahra Karsan (5m 7s):
I chased my goal so hard, and by all accounts, you know, asking anyone else, I had a very successful life. I was a successful management consultant. I was a trusted advisor to global executives. That’s the ultimate accolade in consulting world, when the CFOs and the CEOs and the CIOs call you in directly, and you don’t even to join a consulting firm because you have built these relationships. And I was managing multimillion dollar projects like all the way up to 45 million, had a great life. I had enough money, I had beautiful property on the lake. I had vacations and adventure, everything I was supposed to have in life that would’ve defined me as successful.

Zahra Karsan (5m 52s):
But I realized I was just really burnt out every day. I just woke up tired and stressed, and I thought, it’s like I’m sprinting with no finish line. It’s like this marathon with no end. This can’t be all there is, there’s gotta be more. And so, I mean, it was partly a turning point. Like every journey has a turning point, which is why the work comes out. And it was really in my own self exploration of trying to understand what is this all for? Like what are we doing this for? What is, what is the mind? What is the soul? What does it even mean to be human? And why are we all struggling? It feels like we wake up and we do this grind, and then we do it again.

Zahra Karsan (6m 36s):
We wake up tired, we go through the motions of the day, we fall asleep, exhausted, and we start all over again the next day. And there’s no, there’s no stopping and just saying, Okay, but what is this all for? What does it all mean? And so I’ve come to realize is that goal achievement is not the same as happiness, and we are not really given those core life skills in terms of how to manage our energy, how to tune in and figure out what it is that really lights us up, that really excites us and make us, you know, makes us feel as though we’re living our best life. And what I came to realize is that happiness is not a one size fits all program.

Zahra Karsan (7m 20s):
Okay? You know, Christine, what you love to do at the gym is gonna be totally different than my type of workout. What you like to eat in a day or a week is gonna be different than me, is very, very personal. How you like to socialize is gonna be slightly different than me. How you, like your solitude is gonna be different than me. Some people like to meditate, you know, sitting in yogi positions. Some people like to chant, some people just go on long walks. Yeah. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re doing something to quiet the mind. And so I became fascinated with what is that winning formula to happiness and success? Because unless you’re living as a monk and a monastery or you know, or an ashram and you’re basically doing physical labor for your, your room and board, the rest of us live in a society where we need money to live.

Zahra Karsan (8m 8s):
That’s right. And you get to choose based on your own personal prescription, who you are as a person, what you like, what quality of life do you want? You know, are you happy with a simple life where you have a, a small cozy house and your children are happy and healthy and your bills are paid? Well, the truth is, most Americans, 92% of Americans don’t even have a retirement plan and don’t have enough savings in their account to be worry free. So living from paycheck to paycheck causes an enormous amount of stress. Yes. And so I became fascinating with fascinated with what is that perfect formula for happiness?

Zahra Karsan (8m 50s):
And where does success fit into it? Because I think you can have enormous success like I did, without necessarily finding happiness. Okay. Happiness includes physical health and it includes some measure of success. Because I think when we’re chasing wealth and abundance, we’re not chasing it just for money. We’re, we’re looking at what freedom does it bring us? Exactly. You know, freedom of worry, more time, more money, more energy to do the things we love, right? To spend time in a loving and connected way where we’re not so stressed all the time. And then it brings us a sense of certainty as well. Like, okay, I’m finally okay, I can finally get off the hamster wheel.

Zahra Karsan (9m 32s):
I can finally just recover and focus on the things I really wanna do in life. So that became my fascination. And so I studied neuroscience to understand not just optimal brain health, but like, what is the brain doing? What is the nervous system doing that had me so frazzled in my, in my success cycle, we’ll call it my stress cycle for so long, right? And how do I reset back to balance? And is it possible to be peaceful and really productive at the same time? Cause I didn’t wanna lose my edge and I didn’t wanna lose my lifestyle. And I think that’s what a lot of people are afraid of. Yes. Is it find that calm, they’ll lose that warrior spirit that drives them, and nothing can be further from the truth.

Zahra Karsan (10m 18s):
And so I wanted to understand like, where do thoughts and feelings and memories live in the brain? And how is the physical brain and body processing all of that stuff. But that wasn’t enough. It was interesting and fascinating. But then I wanted to understand positive psychology as well. What is the science of happiness and wellbeing? And what are some of the tools? And we talked about this before we, we started recording the show. Yes. When we were, when we were just having a quick chat was, you know, for years I’ve struggled to find a set of tools like the how I’ve read so many books. I go to so many weekend courses. And what happens, you get all rah ra excited, and then within a few weeks you go back to old ways of being old, thinking patterns, old feelings.

Zahra Karsan (11m 8s):
And then, you know, those goals that have been sitting on the shelf for 10 years, they’re not fun. It’s not fun to wake up the next day thinking, Oh, I didn’t get started again. This is a dream that may never live. You know? And so I became obsessed a little bit with finding what it is, like really studying people that were truly happy and studying people that were truly successful, and those that had a really, really big vision for their lives. And I started to see some overlap between the ones that were happy and successful. And I thought, this is, this is my wheelhouse. This is what I wanna unlock. I can give people the keys to do it for themselves. And I was the first Guinea pig, so that’s excellent how I started Miss Pat.

Zahra Karsan (11m 52s):
Excellent. Your biggest skeptic, like, I need results fast. I need them, I need to see the data, I need fast results, and I need it to be powerful and impactful so I can’t not see it. Right? Like, it has so obvious. And so I chose the top 18 strategies that you can start to put in place in less than 10 minutes per day. And over a six week period, you’re really starting to retrain your brain away from survival mode, away from fear and self doubt, where you’re not accomplishing your goals, and then back to balance. So you could be more focused, more productive, and really find that happiness and success you need. And all it takes is six weeks.

Christine Okezie (12m 32s):
Amazing. Thank you so much. That’s brilliant. Yeah. And you, you mentioned a couple of those key obstacles, right? If I get calm and and meditate, I might lose my edge, right? Yeah. I’ll, I’ll end up lazy, unproductive, and then I’m even in worse shape when it comes to having all the quote unquote success that I want. Exactly. So that’s, that’s a huge paradigm shift that you walk us through and gives us, give us some tools with. I also love the fact that you help people. You mentioned, you know, sometimes there’s like a chicken and egg thing. Well, I’ll have all the money and the success and the career, you know, accolades, and then I’ll be happy. And so that’s a huge shift because like you said, we’re programmed, right?

Christine Okezie (13m 15s):
That’s the roadmap we’re ultimately given. But ultimately that’s a really, it’s a, it’s a roadmap I think that more and more people are recognizing just doesn’t work. Because when they start to look, when they slow down, even just for a little bit, they come back from that vacation, that holiday, right? You come up empty and you give some great examples, which I wanna dive into in the book about people who have that realization. Now what right? Is there, is this all there is? Yeah. So I think that’s the entry point that you, you reach people in most common beliefs. Let’s start with rewire the A, I love the acronym. So R is R for rewire, R ours, Relax and quiet the mind.

Christine Okezie (13m 57s):
Okay, so we don’t need to go to an ashram. You said we can do this in 10 minutes a day. Right? So again, you’re working with high achieving people, you know, people who are on the go. How do you make this a invitation that is, you know, that’s effective?

Zahra Karsan (14m 17s):
Fascinating question. I’ll start with the fact that I am not actually one of those people that can sit quietly in yogi position and meditate. I resisted it for years. Yeah. What I came to realize is I want the knowledge and I want the benefits regardless of the technique. And so if I’m just willing to put myself in a position and suspend disbelief, okay, what I came to realize was, for example, I’m, I’m Type A, I’m very tightly wound, but that’s what made me so good at that job, right? Yeah, yeah. Oriented. And I was a strategic thinker naturally, which means I could see patterns in data very clearly.

Zahra Karsan (14m 59s):
You know, I would go in for a consulting gig, and in the interview I would already know the top three things I needed to do. And I would start in that contract, I would do my six or eight weeks of due diligence and do my full research and gap analysis. And guess what? It was always those top three or five that I identified in the first hour. And so I took this same approach with these techniques as I thought, I wanna give people the most value, the most bang for their buck and the shortest time. And as I started studying positive psychology books, and you know, Martin Seligman in his book Flourish was one of the first, he’s like the grandfather of positive psychology. Then t Ben Shahar, who was the first Harvard professor teaching Happiness 1 0 1, which overtook business 1 0 1 as the most in demand course.

Zahra Karsan (15m 45s):
Wow. Sean anchor another Harvard grad as well, Author of the Happiness Advantage, Tel Ben Shahar was happier. And so some of the common themes that they were displaying in their books, one of them was meditation as one of the top five things you can do to find your way back to good mental and emotional health. And I thought, Okay, well that’s not enough. I need to, I need to study it. I need to understand what’s, what it does to the brain, what does it do to the body? And so the benefits were shocking to me. So meditation, even five to 10 minutes per day, not only calms the mind. So it gets you in a completely different head space.

Zahra Karsan (16m 26s):
Because if you’re waking up stressed every day, it’s very hard for that to be the day when you’re gonna work towards your goals of happiness, peace, and success. Exactly. So you need to retrain away from stress. And so before we start with the rewire system, I’ll just cover a little bit. We evolved to be really good at survival. Even our brains evolved that way. So our brains evolved in three different parts. The very first one is the reptilian brain, and it houses our stress response, mainly focused on survival. So back in the day when we lived in the bush and there was a real predator, you know, threatening our being, it gave us a rush of adrenalines called the fight or flight response.

Zahra Karsan (17m 7s):
It gives us a rush of adrenaline, which was great. We could flee off to safety and find our way back to being, you know, calm. And when we were safe, our brains knew it could trigger a signal to our nervous system to say, Everything’s fine. There’s no danger anymore. It’s okay to return to calm. In today’s day and age, we are so busy, many of us are overworked. And I mean, just look at your phone, right? How many, how many different avenues do people have to reach you? Now there’s how many different phone numbers? There’s voicemail, there’s text message, there’s WhatsApp. Now on everyone in the social platform, you can text, you can call, you can video chat. So you’re always reachable and it’s always something requiring your time and your energy.

Zahra Karsan (17m 51s):
Yeah. And so I feel like every time my phone bings, it’s on quiet most of the day, because every time it goes off it, there’s a little stress response in me. And you can feel it in your physical body. Yeah. And the first step was, you know, so three parts of the brain, that’s the first brain. The second brain is the mammalian brain. And it houses all of our thoughts, feelings, memories are all encoded in that piece of the brain. And then there’s the newest part, the neocortex, the prefrontal cortex, which does all of our critical thinking and decision making. So are they working on separate teams?

Zahra Karsan (18m 30s):
Because kinda explains this inner conflict we have, right between reacting in terms of fear and self doubt, That’s your fight or flight response. That’s a reptilian brain. Then our thoughts, memories, and feelings are encoded differently in a different part of the brain. And then our critical thinking, our decision maker, our goal setter is cortex. Ok, Three separate parts of the brain. Interesting. So I wanted to understand more, and I kind of realized when you studied the subconscious, we are 5% conscious mind, 95% subconscious. Now here’s what’s fascinating. I’ll use subconscious and unconscious mind interchangeably depending on which field of study.

Zahra Karsan (19m 14s):
But for your purposes, it’s the same thing. So 5% conscious mind, 95% unconscious, subconscious, all learning behavior and change happens at the unconscious level. Most of us wake up and think we are living and making decisions for ourselves. But are, we think about it, when you wake up in the, you know, when you wake up in the morning, whatever your routine is, My routine is I wake up, I walk to the kitchen, coffee is my first thing, That’s my absolute necessity. I get into the shower, then I have my coffee vitamins and I meditate. That’s my morning routine before whatever your morning routine is.

Zahra Karsan (19m 54s):
How it normally starts is you wake up and you’re already in a cycle of thinking about your day. And what does that go like, You know, how does that go, Oh gosh, what do I have on today? Do I have a presentation at work or school? You know, do I have to do something with the kids? Do I need to drop them off? And you go through your whole schedule. And so you start having these thoughts, Am I gonna have enough time and energy to get through everything today? Do I have time to get a workout in so I can still look after my physical health? You know, what is my nutrition? Like, do have to plan a dinner for this evening. And so you start cycling. Then the feelings that go along with that thought pattern, what are they? You start getting anxious, you start getting tightly wound, you start getting a little stressed.

Zahra Karsan (20m 37s):
So now those thoughts and feelings are bundled together almost like a super highway in your brain. And this is your already always way of being. You’re already unconscious, autopilot, autopilot, right? So you wake up and you start your day almost the same way every single day. Well, if that’s the day you wake up feeling tired, is that the day you’re gonna start working towards new goals? New challenges, like starting a business or a wealth management plan for your retirement savings? Probably not. That’s probably a day you’re gonna wake up and say, Let me just get through the day. Exactly. Exactly. But then how many of those do we have over and over and over?

Zahra Karsan (21m 18s):
And so I thought, again, I’m, I’m a big value person. I, I don’t want the same thing that’s out there. I want a different message. I wanna give people practical tools that they can use. And so I thought the first part of the rewire system, and it is an acronym and it’s about rewiring the brain or retraining the brain. So if we’re an autopilot, how do you create a new reality that has you be more empowering? This one’s gonna have you go up and come right back down in the day. This one will have you go up and stay up. And how do you stay in a new zone, in a new, more empowering mindset? So how you do that is, first of all, we need some education in terms of how we’re wired.

Zahra Karsan (21m 58s):
Yeah. And each of us has a set of limiting beliefs that relate to love, money and success and how we interact with the world. And when I came to realize, so after my consulting, I, you know, I had started a coaching practice. I was always doing mindset coaching and consulting and executive coaching as part of my career, and then formally trained in the coaching modalities. And I thought, why don’t I start this coaching practice so I can really teach people The tools that I’ve learned when I came to see was that it didn’t matter if it was a global executive or a middle manager or someone just starting out, just finishing school. We all seem to fall into, and this is why I find it fascinating to study the essence of being a human being on this journey, is that there are some universal themes that we all seem to pass through.

Zahra Karsan (22m 53s):
And some of us manage to find some mastery and move beyond. But most people get stuck. And I wanted to help people get unstuck. And so I came to realize that there really were five buckets of main core beliefs that interrupt us with fear and self depth. Why are they there though? And what purpose do they serve? If we are 5% conscious, my 95% unconscious subconscious, then the prime directive of the unconscious is to keep you safe. It’s survival based. That’s right. Yeah. Right. So think about, so I, we probably don’t have time to get through all five, but I’ll give a couple of examples.

Zahra Karsan (23m 35s):
One of them is, you know, we know the one, I’m not enough, I’m not good enough, and how that plays out in so many different ways in your life. But let’s talk about another one that’s less common. This, there’s another one called I’m Alone, meaning I don’t have support in this world. So there’s this underlying story beyond your conscious awareness that’s running the show. And it says, I’m alone in this world. But it doesn’t sound like that. How it would sound is something like, you know, during my toughest moments in life, I’ve always just had to rely on myself. Yeah. I’ve found I’ve always had to do things for myself, or it could sound like if I want anything done right, I have to do it myself.

Zahra Karsan (24m 20s):
There you go. We all know people that have been in that. So there’s this limiting core belief that starts, and it impacts you in love, in your professional career. It impacts you in terms of your friendships. I mean, how many of us have that feeling of walking into a room full of people and still feeling totally alone? Right? Right. You know, that’s, it’s so unnecessary when, when you could just see past it. And so how that plays out in love then, if you have this underlying story that you’re alone and you don’t have the support you need in this world, how are you gonna approach relationship?

Zahra Karsan (25m 0s):
So when you’re in a relationship, even a loving one, there’s a little part of you running the story that says, I’m alone. I don’t really have your support even though you’re here, I don’t feel loved and supported. And the trick with uncovering these beliefs is there are fear patterns, which I call sort of patterns of behavior that get attached to those beliefs. And how it may show up for you is, let’s say you were two years old, so before the age of seven, we’re pure unconscious mind. Our conscious mind develops around the age of seven. And our critical faculty, which separates the two, develops around that age. So let’s say before that, at the age of two, something happened that made you feel, and it could have been something benign, not even something traumatic.

Zahra Karsan (25m 44s):
It could be something as easy as you were hungry, you cried out for mom, Mom was busy for a minute, she took a moment longer than you needed. But in that moment, little baby, you got so frightened, cried, and decided for itself, nobody’s here for me. Yeah. That’s it. The inference. Yes. And it’s an unconscious decision. Our animal self, that reptilian brain is trying to find meaning in the story to describe what is happening. And what is happening is no one is coming to my rescue, no one is coming to love and support me. So I guess I’m alone in this world. Okay, move on. Next time that same set of fear shows up and you get that feeling that maybe you don’t have support and maybe you’re alone.

Zahra Karsan (26m 30s):
What happens? We have a pattern of behavior that shows up, right? That pattern of behavior could be a number of different things. One example could be, the next time I feel like this, I don’t wanna feel hurt or sad again, I don’t wanna feel alone again. So I’m gonna shut down. I’m gonna push people away and I’m gonna keep them in an arms distance so they don’t have that power over me. That’s right. Yeah. Okay. So how does that play out in your relationship if you take it a step further? Right. We’ve all been in that scenario where you can catch yourself in a, in a cycle of behavior and a pattern of behavior. And you can’t, for the life of you stop that train.

Christine Okezie (27m 7s):
Right? Why do I keep doing what I’m doing? Yeah. I, I should know better, right?

Zahra Karsan (27m 12s):
Yeah. I should know better. Why is this showing up again? Oh my God, I’m doing it again. And you have to just wait until the train stops and then you have to go back and clean up and have all of those conversations of, this is why I think it’s happening. And so these fear patterns and limiting beliefs are really one of the biggest keys. First of all, they’re a barrier to your success right now and to your happiness. And number two, all it takes to unlock that is really just to see it. We need to bring what’s in the unconscious out into the light, into our conscious awareness. And once you can see your patterns, and I go through all five in this book and I know through many different permutations of language of how it can show up.

Zahra Karsan (27m 54s):
So you can’t not see yourself in this journey. And again, if you’re a human being, it’s gonna be universal. Most of us don’t have all five, but we have a couple of them. Right. And if you can just recognize what those beliefs and fear patterns are and bring it to like, because once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Christine Okezie (28m 14s):
That’s right. Right.

Zahra Karsan (28m 15s):
So once it’s in your conscious awareness, guess what, You now have power over it,

Christine Okezie (28m 21s):
Right? And it becomes a conscious choice at that point to do something different, which takes consistency, which takes again, a high level of awareness. And at the same time, it’s not just intellectual. The reason, you know, you talk about the neuroscience is we know that fight flight response is in the body, is in the physiology, right? So let’s talk about, as we move through and you can populate with different examples of the pieces of your system, right? How do you gain effective access to changing those core limiting beliefs? What needs to happen internally, not just intellectually.

Zahra Karsan (29m 3s):
Thank you. Well this is why, this is why I created the rewire system because it really happens in many, many layers, right? We have four bodies, we have the spiritual or energetic body, we have a mental body and emotional and a physical body. And so I think when you’re looking at whether it’s healing a particular injury, you have to look at the physical, but you also have to look at what were the conditions in your life that could have brought this particular change about because, So I’ll just describe the four bodies. So when you’re a spiritual body, if you are a spiritual person or a religious person, you can think of it in terms of faith or spirituality. You know, energy trickles down from source, it enters your energetic body.

Zahra Karsan (29m 46s):
If you think of it in terms of science, that’s fine too. Because guess what? This is where spirituality and science meet anyway. That’s right. We are just atoms and we are all energy. Then how do you elevate your vibration so that you’re vibrating at the right frequency for things to come to you more easily so that you’re staying in a lighter, more positive mindset. And I go deep into the science of thought is energy and vibration in the book as well. And so some of the tools, really what you’re learning in this whole book, in the rewire system in six weeks to happy, is you’re learning how to regulate your four body system.

Zahra Karsan (30m 29s):
So your mental, So it’s, I talked about the spiritual, energetic bodies, your first, the second is your mental body. This is all your thought processes. Then your emotional body where it has feelings and memories. And then your physical body, which is your, your physical body. And when most people think of health, and, and you’ll know this because your show is so relevant to this, is when most people think of health, they think of nutrition, exercise, and sleep maybe. Right? But it’s so much more than that because if you really wanna be in optimal shape, we all know the formula, don’t we? Yeah, exactly. It’s eat clean and exercise regularly, It all will be well. And so many of us still don’t get to hit our peak performance goals in terms of peak health and physical health.

Zahra Karsan (31m 15s):
So what’s the piece that’s missing? Well, here’s the piece that’s missing. If you are not processing things in your mental body, it’s gonna need some things. Your brain is gonna need a little hit of dopamine when it, it needs a hit of dopamine. So it’s gonna say, go to the kitchen and get something to eat when you’re trying to be on a diet. Right? So learning how to manage each of these processes, it happens in layers. And so if you can just understand how, which tools address each of those four bodies, life becomes much more manageable. Yes. And if things aren’t processed in your mental and emotional body, then your physical body sometimes acts like a gauge, like an alarm belt if you will.

Zahra Karsan (31m 56s):
Yep. For how you’re doing in all of the other three bodies as well. And so it can show up is chronic inflammation, high blood pressure, heart disease, autoimmune disorder. I actually cured myself of an autoimmune disorder many years ago because I started to study the mind body connection. And I thought, well, if my body’s sending me an alarm signal, cuz I had all of these, so I was diagnosed with vitiligo, which is an autoimmune disorder with the you, you get lack of pigmentation on your skin. So you get spotty skin where it’s literally completely lacking any pigment whatsoever. And how they test for that is you go into a dermatologist’s office, they shine a black light on it in the dark, and if it glows, then you have viili.

Zahra Karsan (32m 43s):
That’s how they

Christine Okezie (32m 44s):
Fascinating. Yeah.

Zahra Karsan (32m 46s):
Started reading about it and I thought, oh, okay, autoimmune, it’s an autoimmune disorder. What is an autoimmune disorder like diabetes with filled into this as well? What is autoimmune? Well, it’s your body attacking healthy cells thinking it’s toxic or unhealthy. Well, if there isn’t another parallel for inner conflict, I don’t know what

Christine Okezie (33m 7s):
It’s Right. No. And I’m glad you’re sharing this example. It’s a powerful example that you share in the book about that, this interconnection. Right? So actually please go into like, so you recognized, Hmm, okay, so there’s something going on here. How did you address that? Using this mind body model,

Zahra Karsan (33m 25s):
Using the mind body model? I, I really just, first of all, you wanna, you wanna appreciate and love your body’s intelligence for showing up in that way. Thank you. So I, I, I had a conversation and then I did a guided meditation and a visualization because I was already learning about neuroscience and, and the power of mind at that point. And I just said, Thank you for showing up. I want you to know I have other tools to heal myself right now. It’s okay for you to heal itself. My body is healing and healthy in all moments. And I just would visualize it filling up with pigment. I did this for about three weeks. Wow. That was seven years ago. And I don’t have a single spot on me anymore, which is amazing.

Zahra Karsan (34m 8s):
That’s beautiful. Yes. So long drawn story went off on a tangent, I apologize. But this is the power of the mind. And if we can just tap into that for various areas of our lives, then our physical health improves. Our mental and emotional health seems manageable, and our energetic body is finally feeling peaceful. You know, it’s that feeling of, you know that when you go on holiday and you wake up that first morning feeling where you for the next week, you have nowhere to be right except right in the moment. And it’s such a feeling of utter peace and relaxation. You literally, you feel your shoulders drop, you feel the tension in your neck and shoulders with the that feeling.

Zahra Karsan (34m 55s):
And so one of the first things I wanted to go into was how do we train the brain away from survival in fight or flight and back to balance? Because we have unknowingly like a muscle in the gym, we have strengthened that stress response. And we have never actually been taught that. We also have just a strong calm response. So how do we train back that the balance? And so in chapter one or week one of the rewire system, which is the R relax and quiet the mind, we go deep. We don’t, I don’t wait till three or four weeks in. The first thing we do is I start to give you some techniques to develop a sense of mindfulness so that you can be the observer of your thoughts and feelings.

Zahra Karsan (35m 38s):
Because if you can’t do that, you can’t shift it. That’s right. And if you can’t do that, you can’t recognize when you’re back in an old pattern. So you have to start developing that awareness. That’s number one. Number two, meditation. And you don’t have to sit there in yogi position if it doesn’t work for you. You can do a walking meditation, you can go out and ground with nature. The important thing is that you are learning to take the time, even 10 minutes per day to quiet the mind. Because if those little voices are going off in your head, chances are you’re just gonna stay in autopilot. You’re gonna stay in stress mode. And we wanna, we wanna dismantle that over time and give you a more empowering, more peaceful way of being where life just feels easier.

Zahra Karsan (36m 22s):
And then also in week one, in the rewire, in the that first R, we actually go into those limiting beliefs and those fear patterns so that you can start to observe yourself and start to recognize, and that’s a work in progress for the next six weeks. You first dive in, you figure out what your patterns are, and what it gives you is it gives you a moment to pause where instead of reacting like you would’ve in past, you get to say, Oh, I think today I’m gonna do something different instead. Yeah. There’s a lot of power in that. Absolutely. That’s all in week one. That’s the first R.

Christine Okezie (37m 0s):
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Now, you know, you talk about the four bodies and managing our energy and you use a term which I can really relate to, called your energy budget. And I, I think it’s, it’s a really useful paradigm for folks to understand because it’s an allocation, you know, and again, it’s a conscious awareness of, of where I’m gonna put my attention, my energy, et cetera. Yes. Can you give us an example? Just when you talk about there’s a whole step involved in here reviewing your energy budget, I think it’d be useful. Give us an example of, you know, how someone can bring that awareness to their energy. Yeah,

Zahra Karsan (37m 35s):
Well what, what we’re talking about here is the fact that we are energetic beings and we only have a finite amount of energy, like a battery. Most of us, you know, I’ve talked about this all during this entire session, was most of us wake up tired every day, and then we go through the, we go through the motions of the day and we fall asleep, exhausted, and we start all over again. Well, if you really wanna create some change, we need to create some space between us and that fatigue, most of us are burnt out, so let’s manage the fatigue first, Create some space so we actually can have some time and energy to make a different choice. And so we’re talking about ego depletion is what you’re talking about.

Zahra Karsan (38m 15s):
We’re talking about the fact that we are an energy being, and it doesn’t refer to ego. This is a positive psychology expression that relates to the fact that we only have a finite amount of energy and there are certain things that draw from that energy bank and certain things we have to do to replenish and recharge. And what draws from the energy bank is usually, you know, the obvious ones that we know of getting up, going to work, getting some exercise in all of the things that take time and energy. But the things we don’t think about that also drain you of energy are, for example, if you are on well or have physical pain in your body, like, you know, a back injury or ankle injury or something like that, it drains you of energy because the brain focuses partly on not paying attention to the pain so that you can get on with the day.

Zahra Karsan (39m 7s):
And anyone that’s had an injury knows at the start of the day, you’re not feeling too bad, but by the end of the day, you are worn

Christine Okezie (39m 14s):
Out. Exactly. Exactly.

Zahra Karsan (39m 16s):
You worn out because that pain has been nipping away at you all day long. And by the end of the day you are just, you are ready to crash. So that’s number one. Number two, making big decisions that takes mental energy, right? And then we think multitasking is a good thing. How many of us are so busy on our phones and you know, doing other things at the time? Well, guess what guys? The brain doesn’t actually multitask.

Christine Okezie (39m 40s):
Love that. It’s a great finding. Yeah,

Zahra Karsan (39m 42s):
Do it. Yeah. What it does is it task switches and it takes energy every time we switch from task to task and back again.

Christine Okezie (39m 52s):
Yeah. Wow. So just

Zahra Karsan (39m 54s):
Learning how to like clear away the clutter and say, Okay, I know my phone is pinging, but for the next half an hour I’m just gonna focus on this task. Right. And it takes less mental drain, less mental energy.

Christine Okezie (40m 6s):
Yeah. Yeah.

Zahra Karsan (40m 8s):
If you’re managing a team of people, let’s say you’re a boss at work, for example, just that management activity and being responsible for that many people is a drain. And so there’s this whole idea of balance, especially when you’re a high achiever, right? What is balance? These people all work really hard,

Christine Okezie (40m 26s):
Right? Just keep, just get it done. Right?

Zahra Karsan (40m 28s):
You just get it done, you don’t complain. And you know, that’s a wonderful thing. So again, if your survival story, your fear pattern is I’m alone,

Christine Okezie (40m 38s):
Right?

Zahra Karsan (40m 38s):
And you don’t have support in this world, now take that and play it out into your life and your work. So imagine you wake up on autopilot, you’re already tired, and you’re telling yourself this story unconsciously that you’re alone in this world and you don’t have support. So now are you gonna rely on your spouse to help out at home? Or are you gonna try and handle it all by yourself? Isn’t that exhausting? Then you go into the office or you’re gonna rely on your partner or your team and delegate the work, even if it won’t be done a hundred percent the way you would want, but just so you’re not exhausted trying to run around doing it all yourself. Yeah. Exhausting way to live and work.

Zahra Karsan (41m 18s):
Right?

Christine Okezie (41m 18s):
Thank you. So again, these limiting beliefs, and I like the way, you know, you connect it, it shows up in certain behavior patterns, interactions, it sets the roadmap or the, or the rules of interacting and doing my life, right? Yes. At at this granular level that’s, that’s really powerful.

Zahra Karsan (41m 37s):
Absolutely. And it’s layer upon layer upon layer. So if you can, and what I teach and what the tools that are built into the rewire system is so that you can learn each of these practical tools. So if you can regulate your energy and in week one you’ve learned to quiet your mind, then that already gives you space. The other thing is, most of us think everything is urgent. I promise you it’s not.

Christine Okezie (42m 1s):
Wow. Yeah. I gotta get a hundred things done on my to-do list, They’re all equal. Right? Right. At least that’s what the mind, the fear, again, driving. And if you don’t get it done, oh my goodness. You know,

Zahra Karsan (42m 12s):
And here’s the other part. So if you have that story running in your brain that you’re alone, guess what’s gonna happen next? It can work as a strength, right? It’s meant to, it’s survival based. It’s meant to give you strength and, and po. And so what is the positive side of that? If you feel like you’re alone in the world, well, you are gonna learn incredible strength and resilience. That’s right. You are gonna develop a way

Christine Okezie (42m 38s):
Selfsufficiency, right?

Zahra Karsan (42m 39s):
Absolutely Selfsufficiency. Because you know you’re gonna do it on your own. You don’t have to depend on anyone, You don’t have to rely on anyone. And so it makes you able to navigate the trickiest of situations. You’ll never be stuck in life. Now what is the negative? And when it becomes unhealthy, right? Is how it shows up in relationship and how it shows up in work. So learning all of these tools, just to unlock all of that and, and how much energy, So we were talking about energy drain, imagine how much extra energy it takes to run the life called I live alone and I have no support.

Christine Okezie (43m 16s):
Wow. Yeah. It’s powerful. Thank you for connecting that. So on the flip side, right, you talk a lot about positive emotions and how once we’re able to do, you know, those initial steps quieting the mind, bringing more higher awareness to those thought patterns. The good news is that when these self-limiting beliefs, these so-called negative emotions, can hold us back. The flip side is also true. The positive emotions can actually rewire the brain, change our entire experience or change our reality, right? Yes. How can we use our positive emotions? How do you teach people to use positive emotions? Again, not fake positivity, you know, all that stuff, right?

Christine Okezie (43m 58s):
Yeah. But how can we use those, bring more awareness there?

Zahra Karsan (44m 1s):
Well, great question. So I mean, you know, I think of happiness and positivity. It’s not about wearing a smile on your face all day long. It’s not about turning a sound into a smile. And it’s not even just about affirmations. I don’t really think affirmations work if you’re just use, if you’re just saying the words, it doesn’t

Christine Okezie (44m 17s):
Work. Okay?

Zahra Karsan (44m 19s):
So here’s an example. So I talked about meditation being one of the top five things that most of the, those positive psychology books had mentioned. Another thing is gratitude. And I thought they talk about journaling as as well, I’m not a fan of journaling myself, I’ll do other types of writing, but well, as you know, I’ve authored a book, so,

Christine Okezie (44m 39s):
Right? I

Zahra Karsan (44m 39s):
Was never a journal person. And if it doesn’t resonate for you, you’re not gonna do it

Christine Okezie (44m 44s):
Key. That’s really key, right? Okay. Okay.

Zahra Karsan (44m 48s):
But gratitude, I’m like, what is this thing about gratitude? I understand that it feels good to wake up and say five things you’re grateful for and end the day that way. But what is it really doing for us? What is happening in the brain when we do it? And now I understand it after studying so many different fields. So if we’re 5% conscious, my 95% con unconscious, and we are running on autopilot all day long, this thought and feeling pattern, I’m stressed. I don’t know if I’m gonna get through the day, don’t know if I’ll have enough time and energy. Oh, let’s just make today an easy day and not start on their goals. Well, if instead you can start your day with conscious intention, and again, now this is creating an integration of your 5% conscious mind, and now tapping into that 95% unconscious mind, bringing an integration between those two parts of yourself, of your consciousness.

Zahra Karsan (45m 41s):
And if you can start to do this, first of all with the fear patterns in week one. Second of all, by just creating some space where you have more energy. And by quieting the mind, these two start to integrate. And so what happens is instead of waking up on autopilot, you can say, How do I wanna feel instead?

Christine Okezie (46m 1s):
Wow, that’s powerful, right?

Zahra Karsan (46m 3s):
Yeah. So you’re starting your day instead of going, I’m tired, I don’t know if I can get through the day you’re starting the day with, How do I wanna feel instead? Well, if you can get to a point where you can create your dream life, then it’s easy to wake up in a state of on gratitude in the morning and feel really blessed. And here’s the trick, if you’re waking up feeling stressed, it’s very easy to feel deflated and all of those other negative emotions. If instead you’re waking up and choosing just to take 10 minutes to say, No, no, I’m gonna start my day and set the intention that today is gonna go easily. I’m gonna feel peaceful, I’m gonna feel calm, I’m gonna be productive, I’m gonna be happy.

Zahra Karsan (46m 44s):
Just choose three. My three were peaceful, calm, and happy. And that’s what started this whole journey is I got off the hamster wheel and I didn’t even know where to start. I just, I was sitting there with my cup of coffee that first morning and I didn’t even know what to do. I just knew I was tired of being tired. I was tired of being stressed. And a little voice inside me said, How do you wanna feel instead? Okay. And I said, I wanna feel peaceful and I wanna feel calm and I wanna feel happy. And when you’re focused on feeling grateful and blessed, it’s easy to feel peaceful and calm and happy.

Zahra Karsan (47m 29s):
You can’t feel stressed and blessed at the same time.

Christine Okezie (47m 33s):
I love that. Okay. That’s great. Yeah, absolutely.

Zahra Karsan (47m 37s):
So one of the things you can do to stay in that elevated positive state, and I go into, yeah, I go into the science of thought as energy and how the power of thought can actually change your physical reality. Like that skin condition that I, I cured for myself and I’ve worked with other clients as well. Yes. But how to stay in that powerful positive mindset where you are intentionally choosing to feel in a whole new way. And if you’re choosing to think in a whole new way, peaceful, calm, and happy, then what are the thoughts that go with that? Oh, today’s gonna be a good day. What are the other thoughts that go with that? Maybe today’s the day I’m gonna start that new diet, or maybe today’s the day I’m gonna think about planning for my future.

Zahra Karsan (48m 20s):
I’m gonna make an appointment with a financial advisor and I’m gonna start planning towards my retirement. Is that a more empowering day, I think? Absolutely.

Christine Okezie (48m 30s):
Absolutely.

Zahra Karsan (48m 30s):
Absolutely. So you’re, you’re starting to use these tools to integrate the conscious and the unconscious mind. You’re bringing all of that unconscious stuff to the light. And because you’re choosing to start your day intentionally, that’s gonna take you up and keep you higher. And then there are some tools to stay in that zone as well. It takes six weeks. And now we know with the latest FMRI scans and brain scans, the brain shows lasting signs of change at the 35 to 42 day period, 42 days, six weeks. You go the six weeks to happy program and the rewire system, because I thought we need, you know, the brain is designed to be efficient.

Zahra Karsan (49m 11s):
So if this was your superhighway before the autopilot road that takes you down the, Oh, I’m so stressed and I’m so tired, I don’t think today’s data start towards the life of my dreams. Well, just shifting that takes a little practice. Okay? And here’s what’s fascinating. If you know how incredibly powerful the brain is, the brain will actually dismantle resources from this old way of thinking and feeling. If you are creating a new one in at least 10 minutes, wow. In 10 minutes it starts to dismantle this and apply and reallocate resources to this new way of being. So if you can remember, just to suspend your disbelief, wake up every day, set your intentions just by asking one simple question, How do I wanna feel right now?

Zahra Karsan (49m 59s):
How do you wanna feel instead? Yeah. Then you’re choosing this way of being and just keep doing it throughout the day. Remember when we were little and we were, what do we do? We daydream, right? We daydream and play make believe all the time. This is the life I want, this is the house I wanna live in. And really use that power visualization to get you into the next stage. And so in the rewire system in week three, we go into the W, which is, what do you need to be happy? And this really is your personal plan because like I said at the start, most of us are given these, these marching orders, these goals, these milestones to reach in life.

Zahra Karsan (50m 41s):
But we don’t really learn the skills towards happiness. And our survival based mind and body is working counter to our goals for happiness and success.

Christine Okezie (50m 56s):
Our subconscious doesn’t care if we’re happy. And this is another realization that came through in this work, right? Is that you, you, your ego, your subconscious, you’re unconscious is just there to keep the lights on and to hold status quo. Yes. And so, because status quo keeps you alive. And really going back to your point, self survival, basic survival, right? So we can all survive. But here’s the choice that I think, you know, you’re telling us we actually have a choice. We can thrive

Zahra Karsan (51m 26s):
And

Christine Okezie (51m 26s):
We’re, and we’re designed to thrive.

Zahra Karsan (51m 29s):
We are designed to thrive. And I think that’s the inner conflict. It’s that that soul part of us, right? So where is the soul and where does it live? But when you are living a life and you have big goals and dreams, but you haven’t started towards them, the thing that’s nagging at you is the part of you that soul, that big bright spirit inside of you that knows you are meant for great things. And when you are not living in alignment with that great version of you, that’s where the conflict starts. And that where physical pain starts and physical ailment starts because it’s your body screaming, it’s time to make a change.

Zahra Karsan (52m 9s):
You know, what’s fascinating to me is when I work in, you know, in the coaching practice and when I work with lots of people and they say, Oh, I have a back injury and it started this year. And I said, What was happening in your life at that year? Oh, I was in this relationship that was pretty toxic. It wasn’t good for me. I’m like, Oh, that’s really interesting timing, isn’t it? And so now you start to connect the dots, and again, just by bringing it into your awareness starts the healing process,

Christine Okezie (52m 36s):
Right? Right.

Zahra Karsan (52m 37s):
But the most fascinating thing I found is when I was working with, you know, as a coach, you have to get into somebody’s model of the world. So if you came to me and you know, I would, I would look at you Christina, and say, Wow, she looks so put together and how is this person not achieved their goals? How are they not where they wanna be in life? So as a coach, it’s my job to get into your construct of the world so I can understand where you put the barriers and where those beliefs created some walls for you. And then it’s my job to pull them down so that we create some possibility for you to have a bigger vision of your life. Okay. Well, when we started visualizing the end state of them reaching their various goals, and then I would help them put a plan in place, what I realized is that most people couldn’t even tell me that it would bring them any closer to happiness.

Christine Okezie (53m 25s):
Wow. Okay. Okay.

Zahra Karsan (53m 27s):
And I thought, why are we doing this again?

Christine Okezie (53m 31s):
Right.

Zahra Karsan (53m 31s):
If it’s not bringing you any joy or any freedom or any certainty, who’s life are you living? Whose goal is this?

Christine Okezie (53m 40s):
Mm. Right. We’re living somebody else’s, potentially. Right. Someone else’s. Right.

Zahra Karsan (53m 46s):
Didn’t most of us do that when we studied and when we chose a career?

Christine Okezie (53m 50s):
That’s right.

Zahra Karsan (53m 51s):
If you come up in a traditional culture or you come from an immigrant family, they’re gonna have you choose the easy things, the ones that’ll bring stability. So you get to be a lawyer, a doctor, or an account. Those are

Christine Okezie (54m 4s):
Right. That’s it. Those are the options on the menu. Exactly. There

Zahra Karsan (54m 7s):
Was no such thing as trained to be a coach, decide to write a book, get out there and help people. No. That didn’t bring the bills in.

Christine Okezie (54m 14s):
Right, Right. And when the bills are paid, that’s when you get happy again for going back to that, we gotta break up.

Zahra Karsan (54m 21s):
That’s survival based thinking, isn’t it?

Christine Okezie (54m 23s):
That’s right. And the choice now that we have with neuroscience, positive psychology, quantum mechanics, all of it, is that we really do, you know, get to create a different reality if we Absolutely. How did they say if, If we so choose to? Right. If we, If we accept the mission.

Zahra Karsan (54m 39s):
Yes. If we accept the mission. Exactly. And so this is what I came to realize that my clients is that, wow, if you can’t tell me this is gonna bring you any closer to happiness, then let’s take a step back and let’s define who you are.

Christine Okezie (54m 51s):
Wow. Yeah.

Zahra Karsan (54m 52s):
What is your personal plan for happiness? What prescriptive, you know, what is your personal and unique prescription for happiness? And so I had them map out a life wheel and really document in hours per day or hours per week, how much social activity you need, how much exercise do you need to feel your absolute best? If you wanna feel you’re most alive, like you’re exhilarated and thriving every single day, what does that look like for you? Because it’s gonna be different than your kids and your partner and your colleagues and your friends. What is it for you? And so I created this tool which I now have as a free ebook that any of your audience can download if they wish.

Zahra Karsan (55m 33s):
Exactly. Because it’s such a powerful gauge when you can, when you can really look at the life wheel and say, Wow, I’m my happiest when I get one night out a week to be social with my friends, some alone time with my partner, some family time with my kids, and everything else is manageable. Right? And what if you are a highly social person and your partner is antisocial or introverted? Maybe you don’t socialize in the same way. So then you need to start having those conversations and negotiate for having both of your needs met. Because guess what? Needs are non-negotiable.

Christine Okezie (56m 10s):
Yeah. You talk about that in the book and it’s brilliant. Non-negotiable needs. When those core needs are compromised or neglected, we suffer, right? We do.

Zahra Karsan (56m 21s):
Yes. Well, you know, I really think this is what a, a midlife crisis is because over time, if you’re not having your needs met socially, you’re gonna start feeling stifled in your relationship. You’re gonna start to feel uncomfortable, uneasy, irritable, cranky, and over long periods of time, your health will suffer. Your physical health will suffer, right? Your sleep will be interrupted. You’ll start to lose a sense of yourself. And I think this is kind of where we’re getting into that midlife crisis conversation, because I think most people don’t have a clear sense of who they are to begin with. That’s right. And after relationship, and they become this we entity,

Christine Okezie (56m 59s):
Right? And

Zahra Karsan (56m 60s):
Then they have a bunch of kids and do everything they’re expected to do, and that 45 or 50 or 55, they wake up and go, Gosh, what else is there? I don’t feel excited or thrilled by my life at all. Yeah. And I think it’s the lack of not knowing yourself. And so this is a really crucial step to say, Who am I authentically and who do I want to be in this world? And what are the things that really light me up and make me feel my best? And so we cover that in week three. And so now, so imagine in week one, we’ve quieted the voices in your head. You’ve started to observe your own thoughts and feelings and patterns of behavior, the ones that work, the ones that don’t, the ones that are healthy, the ones that are less healthy.

Zahra Karsan (57m 40s):
And you can start to just course correct a little bit. You know, when, when you go into this work, most people think it’s gonna be a huge shift. It’s gonna require me to make a massive change in my life, but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes it’s making the tiniest little changes in your life make all the difference in the world to bringing passion back into your work, or passion back into your relationship, or a sense of peace every day, making you feel healthier, stronger, more able, more capable of getting through the day. And then I also, as part of that, have what I created is called the Rewired Triad, which is a specific set of affirmations that are designed to rewrite that story of those beliefs.

Zahra Karsan (58m 24s):
Ok. So it, after all five of those main beliefs that seem to be universal to all human beings. Yes. And we start to rewire that inner dialogue because language is so important. The unconscious listens to everything like a sponge. It has no filter, just except everything is true. So being conscious of what we allow into our energy and the things we say to ourselves and to each other, yes. You know, is all, they’re all part of the tools to really start that rewire and retraining process for the brain.

Christine Okezie (58m 58s):
That’s awesome. So Sarah, who’s this book for? Like, you know, can anybody do this?

Zahra Karsan (59m 5s):
Absolutely. I mean, really it’s, it’s so easy. These steps are chosen to be easy to follow and easy for anyone to engage with. I would say my audience so far has been 25 to 55 men and women. It’s really anyone looking for a sense of peace in their life. How do they find more joy? Or how do they get more on the road to success, but really success, Not somebody else’s goals, not somebody else’s life. But what are the things that really excite you and make you feel as though you’re thriving in your life?

Christine Okezie (59m 37s):
Awesome. Thank you. And if I could ask, why are you so passionate about what you do?

Zahra Karsan (59m 45s):
Well, I think because it, you know, I was going through my own journey and that’s how I went down this whole path of self-discovery and probably 30 years of study and so many different fields. I studied the subconscious because I wanted to tap into that 95%. I wanted to understand human potential and how to maximize, how to be the greatest versions of ourselves. And I wanted to understand that winning formula to happiness and success. And when I found it for myself and it was so easy, I thought, wow, there’s so much unnecessary suffering when we have relationships. And because we are in that unconscious story, if we just knew better, if we knew ourselves just a little bit better with some insight and with the right set of tools, everything could shift, life could be so much more free and joyful.

Zahra Karsan (1h 0m 41s):
We could have more love and connection in our lives. We can have greater wealth and abundance and prosperity in our lives. We can have greater success in our careers, We can have deeper relationships with our family. What’s it all about if it’s not about love and connection and finding joy and freedom?

Christine Okezie (1h 1m 0s):
Yeah, those are big questions and we wanna have answers for them and a roadmap, and that’s exactly what you’ve provided. Yes. So thank you. This has been amazing. I can’t wait to share your information with everybody. So please tell us what’s the best way for someone to start, you know, to get your book get started. I know you work one on one as well.

Zahra Karsan (1h 1m 20s):
I do,

Christine Okezie (1h 1m 20s):
Yes. Please let us know what’s the best way to kind of maybe get it get started on this book.

Zahra Karsan (1h 1m 24s):
Oh, thank you. Well, first of all, all you have to go do is go to Sixweekstohappy.com. You can download the free ebook, which is your personal plan to happiness, and just start to map that out. From there, you can access the book and the book, Six Weeks to Happy is also turning into a group coaching program where you get to go through the six weeks with me and I’ll jump on a call for six weeks with you. We’ll get to do live coaching and some fun exercises. Awesome. And then if you wanna go a little deeper, I have a few spots every month where I do individual coaching one-on-one, and it’s, it’s a game change. I mean, for me, it’s so rewarding to see someone just really come alive and to see them finally achieving those goals that have been shelf for 10 or 20 years.

Zahra Karsan (1h 2m 7s):
That sense of relief and joy and accomplishment is a really beautiful thing. To see someone transform in front of you and it really just takes 10 minutes per day, all you have to do is go to six weeks to happy.com to learn, learn more.

Christine Okezie (1h 2m 21s):
Fantastic. Thank you, Zahra, this has been wonderful. So valuable this information. And thank you for your vulnerability and your story. It’s been very powerful to talk to you

Zahra Karsan (1h 2m 30s):
Today. Thank you so much, Christine. I so appreciate you and all of the work you’re doing.