

MINDSET ZONE
Ana Melikian
Our mindsets determine the way we see the world, as well as, the way we behave and who we are as people. It’s very easy and normal to stay stuck in fixed mindsets – limiting beliefs about our abilities and skills that prevent us to learn new things. We can intentionally cultivate a growth mindset that allows us to stretch our minds and amplify the realm of possibilities of what we do, and who we are. Amplifying our mindsets is one of the secrets of success, for most entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals out there.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 10, 2023 • 30min
The Death of a Workaholic with Jenny Lynne
“The difference between hard work and being a workaholic is consciously choosing what gets your energy, and when it’s done, putting it down and getting to rest.”
- Jenny Lynne Erickson
Jenny joins me today to share how she became aware of her workaholism and consciously made steps to move away from it. She explains how workaholism can be a blindspot and how to recognize the cues and red flags of being a workaholic.
She describes why workaholics can’t seem to hire the right employees and struggle with delegating tasks and working with coaches. Jenny also outlines the steps everyone can take to address their workaholism and underscores how having a clear life purpose can help alleviate the symptoms of being a workaholic.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Jenny’s self-discovery journey
Workaholism and its symptoms
The internalization of workaholism
The progression of workaholism’s symptoms
The cultural impact of workaholism on teams
The difference between work ethic and workaholism
The importance of having a life purpose
Focusing on your strengths and delegating your weaknesses
Why workaholics struggle with delegation and working with coaches
Finding a kill switch, creating boundaries between work and self-care, and working smarter
Guest
Jenny Lynne is a keynote speaker on work-life integration, hustle culture, and leadership. Jenny is on a mission to guide entrepreneurs and leaders beyond workaholism and reorganize their businesses. In addition to her work as a speaker, Jenny serves as the Idea Activator behind ACThoughtful Consulting LLC, an organization that changes the odds for micro-businesses and helps them start and sustain their impact. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Management and Communications from Concordia University, St. Paul.
Connect with Jenny Lynne:
Jenny Lynne Website
ACThoughtful
Podcast: Death of a Workaholic
Jenny Lynne on LinkedIn
Jenny Lynne on Facebook
Jenny Lynne on Twitter
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Mar 3, 2023 • 34min
Inner Game of Success with Joanne McCall
“The inner game of success is where it all begins. Anything you want to put, do, accomplish, or make happen out there will all start with the inner game.”
- Joanne McCall
Joanne joins me today to discuss why success starts with the inner game. She explains why people repeatedly set goals that they fail to reach. She describes how limiting beliefs stop people from reaching their goals and aspirations and outlines the three steps to take when your inner game is off and you can't achieve your goals.
Joanne also highlights the three buckets of media and underscores the value of embracing the beginner’s mindset.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
The inner game of success
What it looks like when your inner game is off
Rewiring your neurology and addressing your limiting beliefs
The “expert-beginner” infinite loop and the value of always learning something new
Why goals don’t work for many people
Identifying and confronting your mindset blind spots and limitations
“You” media and its importance in building your visibility
The need to prove your expertise in earned media
Using social media to amplify the other media buckets
How to overcome impostor syndrome when writing a book
Embracing the beginner’s mind when promoting a book
The three kinds of mindset and their relationship to mastery
Guest:
Joanne McCall is an author, speaker, media trainer, and visibility strategist. She is also a publicist and PR coach dedicated to helping authors and influencers gain media attention and become “media darlings.” Her clients include business consultants Brian Tracy and Ken Blanchard, radio host Dave Ramsey, and NLP founder Dr. Richard Bandler among others. In addition to working with entrepreneurs, consultants, and coaches to get top-tier, national media attention, Joanne serves as an adjunct faculty member at Marylhurst University, where she teaches social media.
Connect with Joanne McCall:
Joanne McCall Website
Book: Media Darling: Shine Through Every Interview
Joanne McCall on LinkedIn
Joanne McCall on Instagram
Joanne McCall on Facebook
Joanne McCall on YouTube
Joanne McCall on Twitter
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Feb 24, 2023 • 33min
Overcoming Brain Fog with Monica Tarr
“[Cognitive decline] is possible to reverse—and it’s preventable. The reversal works best when you catch it early, and there’s not really too soon a time to start.”
- Monica Tarr
Monica joins me today to discuss the pillars of overcoming and preventing brain fog and cognitive decline. She shares her experience with brain fog and describes her initial tendency to push through it despite her body’s fatigue.
She outlines her journey toward enhancing her brain health and describes how long it took before she started seeing results on her cognitive sharpness, mood, and weight. Monica also recounts how she became inspired to help others navigate brain fog through health coaching and highlights the role of food in maintaining cognitive health.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Monica’s experience with debilitating brain fog and the changes she made in her professional life
The “chemo brain” and our tendency to push through tiredness
Ignoring health symptoms glaring at our faces
Dr. Dale Bredesen’s protocol to prevent and reverse Alzheimer’s
The power of food in reducing brain fog and cognitive decline
The seven pillars of enhancing cognition and reversing cognitive decline
How Monica’s work on her brain and cognitive health also improved her emotional state
Why rest and breaks are essential to health
How working on their brain health gave Monica’s clients courage
How the keto diet helped me recover faster during cancer treatments
The Guest:
Monica Tarr is a national board-certified functional medicine and health coach. She is the founder and Chief Health Advocate of Restore and Renew, where she helps high-performing professionals preserve and improve their brain health. Monica also served as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies looking to grow their customer base and develop high-performing teams. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton.
Resources Mentioned:
Book: The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline by Dale Bredesen
Book: The End of Alzheimer's Program: The First Protocol to Enhance Cognition and Reverse Decline at Any Age by Dale Bredesen
Connect with Monica Tarr:
Restore and Renew
Restore and Renew on Facebook
Restore and Renew on YouTube
Monica Tarr on LinkedIn
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Feb 17, 2023 • 31min
Antidote for Quiet Quitting with Anne-Claire Broughton
“Keep your purpose, vision, and values front and center, and they shouldn’t be just words on a wall. Build a culture and get buy-in.”
- Anne-Claire Broughton
Anne-Claire joins us today to discuss quiet quitting, its factors, and its antidote. She explains how a changing workforce demographic, corporate culture, and the pandemic impacted quiet quitting.
She discusses the power of employee engagement and highlights why companies need to intentionally cultivate organizational culture. She also explains how companies impact communities and the world and underscores why leaders need to maintain transparency amid uncertain times.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Why quiet quitting is prevalent today
The dimensions and causes of quiet quitting
Why companies need to intentionally cultivate culture
The importance of focusing on purpose, vision, and values as a company grows
Open Book Management for transparency and engagement
Maintaining a culture of collaboration and engagement in the face of crisis
Believing in the good of human nature
What B Corporations are and why they’re important to Anne-Claire’s work in employee engagement
Expanding human possibilities through leadership
The Guest:
Anne-Claire Broughton is the Principal of Broughton Consulting, LLC, a certified B-Corp that helps organizations engage employees at all levels for business success. Broughton Consulting supports companies in building thriving workplace cultures of engagement, accountability, and results through open-book management, employee ownership, and healthy organizational cultures. In addition to her work at Broughton Consulting, LLC, Anne-Claire is the founder and Board Vice Chair of the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center, which serves as the central hub for employee-owned businesses in North Carolina.
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Connect with Anne-Claire Broughton:
Broughton Consulting, LLC
The Great Game of Business
Broughton Consulting, LLC on LinkedIn
Anne-Claire Broughton on LinkedIn
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Feb 10, 2023 • 33min
The Innovation Mindset with Natalie Turner
“If we think about human history, we’ll see that innovation is and has always been our survival skill.“
Natalie Turner
Natalie joins us today to outline “The Six ‘I’s of Innovation.” She describes what it takes to infuse, motivate, and drive innovation in organizational life.
She explains how organizational culture can increase or stifle innovation in a company and discusses the role of creativity in innovation.
Natalie also highlights the need for different skill sets and mindsets to cultivate innovation as a holistic journey and emphasizes how everyone has something to contribute.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Defining innovation and its different aspects
The value of human-centered innovation
Purpose-driven, people-driven, and planet-driven innovation
The Six ‘I’s of Innovation and its background
Applying the Six ‘I’s of Innovation to our everyday, personal lives
The multi-layered nature of purpose
The Guest:
Natalie Turner is the founder and CEO of The Entheo Network, an innovation and lifestyle company. Natalie has been serving as a corporate innovation director, business consultant, and entrepreneur for the past 25 years. She has helped the world’s leading organizations grow their teams, businesses, and capabilities and build innovation systems, culture, and capabilities. She has collaborated and consulted with organizations such as Cisco Systems, GSK, and Leo Pharma Asia. She is the author of Yes, You Can Innovate and the inventor of The Six ‘I’s of Innovation—a model that helps people evaluate their innovation strengths to harness diversity and create greater impact.
Connect with Natalie Turner:
Natalie Turner Website
Book: Yes, You Can Innovate: Discover Your Innovation Strengths and Develop Your Creative Potential
Yes You Can Innovate
Six ‘I’s of Innovation
Natalie Turner on LinkedIn
Natalie Turner on Facebook
Natalie Turner on YouTube
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Feb 3, 2023 • 34min
Fear of Speaking with Linda Ugelow
“When you look at fear as a pointer to past experiences asking to be resolved or healed, the fear of speaking becomes an opportunity through which we can clear up what holds us back in unseen ways.”
Linda Ugelow
Linda joins me today to discuss speaking with confidence and delight. She explains how society and the modern educational system program us to fear speaking. She describes the relationship between feelings of belonging and confidence in public speaking.
Linda also highlights why it’s essential to heal and resolve past experiences to overcome speaking fears and underscores the importance of finding our places of flow and connection.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Linda’s background in public speaking
Our basic need to belong and why the fear of public speaking is common
Why Periscope was a scary experience for Linda in the beginning
Tools to manage the fear in public speaking
Storytelling and human potential in communities
Creating safe spaces to speak and tell stories
Why public speaking fear is not the villain
How having a guide or coach can accelerate working through public speaking fears
Inner freedom and transforming the inner critic
Cultivating the ability to understand yourself and be your own best friend
Watching yourself on video without cringing
Learning to balance positive and negative emotions
Finding and highlighting flow and connection
The Guest:
Linda Ugelow is a speaking empowerment coach, keynote speaker, and the author of Delight in the Limelight. Linda has over four decades of experience as a performing artist and has spent years helping people get comfortable in their own skin. Using groundbreaking approaches, she helps entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, teams, authors, and overcome their dread of the limelight. She graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology/Psychology and holds a Master’s in Movement, Mind-Body, and Expressive Therapies from Lesley University.
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Boiling Energy: Community Healing among the Kalahari Kung by Richard Katz
Connect with Linda Ugelow:
Linda Ugelow Website
The Speaker Preparation Checklist
Book: Delight in the Limelight: Overcome Your Fear of Being Seen and Realize Your Dreams
Podcast: Women Inspired
Linda Ugelow on LinkedIn
Linda Ugelow on Instagram
Linda Ugelow on Twitter
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Jan 27, 2023 • 34min
Power of Commitment with Frank Wagner
“Commitment requires believing in something you care about—whether it’s your family, your nation, or your profession—and acting consistently with that belief.”
- Frank Wagner
Frank joins me today to discuss the power of commitment. He shares why he’s passionate about commitment and describes what makes a great leader. He outlines the five areas of commitments a leader should leverage and explains the importance of support and improvement.
Frank also reveals the common ground between great leaders and managers and offers advice on how the commitment framework could be applied to self-leadership.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Commitment to customers, organization, their people, and results
The power of commitment to values and oneself
The relationship between commitment, beliefs, and integrity
A framework for maintaining commitments
Focusing on what’s important and leading by example
Connecting your behavior to what’s important
Rewarding success and managing disrespect
Challenging expectations and taking risk-making changes
The Guest:
Frank Wagner is a behavioral coach who specializes in leadership behavior, commitment, teamwork, organizational influence, coaching, and leadership development. Frank is a co-founding partner of Marshall Goldsmith Partners, where he oversees the training process of Marshall Goldsmith’s behavioral coaching method. He holds a Ph.D. and Master of Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, where he also served as a postdoctoral scholar.
Connect with Frank Wagner:
Marshall Goldsmith
Book: The Power of Total Commitment: A Leader’s Legacy
Marshall Goldsmith Partners on LinkedIn
Frank Wagner on LinkedIn
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Jan 20, 2023 • 29min
The Godfather, Loyalty, & Business with Lou Bortone
“Coppola presented in The Godfather that crime and business are essentially the same thing, but even among thieves there is a code of honor. What’s missing in today’s business world is loyalty and trust.”
Lou Bortone
Lou joins me today to discuss the lessons we can learn from The Godfather and how we can apply them to business. He shares why he was captivated by The Godfather at a very young age and how it impacted him.
He points out the importance of not letting emotions cloud decision-making in business and explains how the rise of ecommerce has given customers more power. He also describes the challenge of building customer and employee loyalty in the post-pandemic world and highlights the value of relationships in an organization.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Applying the lessons of The Godfather to business and life
Trust, codes of honor, and how The Godfather is a metaphor for corporate America
Why relationships are critical in business
The origins of the Sicilian Mafia
The challenge of building company loyalty in the post-pandemic world
Acknowledging the importance of building loyalty and culture in an organization
How the emergence of ecommerce highlighted the need to create brand loyalty
The Harley-Davidson brand and how they built a strong following of customers
Putting a face to a brand and how to make a product more human
The Guest:
Lou Bortone is a popular speaker and the author of Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video. Lou has over two decades of experience as a marketing executive in TV and entertainment and has worked as the National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television and the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Fox Family Worldwide. He has been a pioneer and thought leader in video marketing since the launch of YouTube in 2005. Known as “The Video Godfather,” Lou helps thousands of entrepreneurs and companies create and leverage online video to build their brands and grow their revenues.
Connect with Lou Bortone:
Lou Bortone Website
Book: Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video
Take the Cannoli: The Godfather Podcast with Lou Bortone
Lou Bortone on LinkedIn
Lou Bortone on Facebook
Lou Bortone on Twitter
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Jan 13, 2023 • 27min
The Sandwich Generation, Aging, and Community with Shain Khoja
“When you are caregiving, it’s very much like being in an airplane: you need to put on your own oxygen mask first, and then you can help others.”
Shain Khoja
Shain joins us today to discuss the Sandwich Generation and healthy aging. She explains how the need for caregiving impacts the Sandwich Generation’s careers and why healthcare systems need to invest in prevention.
She describes the vital role of building intergenerational connections in healthy aging. Shain also reveals how we can prevent isolation and loneliness in the older generation and highlights the importance of self-care when caregiving.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
The Sandwich Generation and the social implications of caregiving needs
The demographics of caregivers and how caregiving impacts women’s careers
The challenge of aging in a Western country
The value of intergenerational connection and cost-effective ways of healthy aging
How technology can help increase and improve human interaction
What we can learn from older generations
How lack of mobility among older people creates isolation and loneliness
Thriving.ai and how it facilitates communication, connection, and learning in caregiving
The Guest:
Shainoor (Shain) Khoja is a global change maker and serial entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Thriving.ai, a digital platform that addresses aging and caregiving issues by helping keep seniors connected and engaged with family, friends, and caregivers. An advocate for dignified and fulfilling aging, Shain believes that intergenerational interaction and support can lead to a better quality of life, a more robust economy, and lower social and financial healthcare costs. Shain is also the founder and CEO of the Better Business Enterprise and formerly served as the Managing Director of Afghanistan’s #1 mobile operator, Roshan, for over a decade.
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Are You Making a Difference? | Shainoor Khoja at TEDxBGI
Shainoor Khoja at B Inspired Talk, 2017
Connect with Shain Khoja:
Thriving.ai - Use code "THRVAM" for 1-year FREE access (Free trial is open to the first 100 claimants.)
Thriving.ai on LinkedIn
Thriving.ai on Instagram
Thriving.ai on Facebook
Thriving.ai on Twitter
Shain Khoja on LinkedIn
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Jan 6, 2023 • 20min
Defining Mindsets
“We can embrace mindsets as habits that our minds depend on—formed by previous experiences and the unconscious and conscious beliefs that we form along the way.”
Ana Melikian
I believe that leveraging our mindsets can allow us to release our potential as individuals, groups, and organizations. But before we can tap into it, we need to understand what a mindset is.
The challenge lies in that there are as many definitions of mindset as there are mindset experts. So, when I was writing the introduction to the Mindset Zone book, I intentionally made a deep dive into the different meanings of mindset and organized them into three categories.
In this episode, I define mindsets using three different approaches. I outline positive psychology’s description of mindset as a set of beliefs. I discuss how cognitive psychology sees mindsets as information-processing styles used to accomplish specific tasks. I describe organizational psychology’s view that mindsets are filters that inform our worldviews.
I also share my own definition of mindset and underscore the Mindset Zone’s mission to help tap and release humanity’s potential.
This week on The Mindset Zone:
Identifying the three approaches to defining mindset
Mindsets and the human potential for learning and change
The “fixed” mindset and my self-perception about singing
The “growth” mindset and how dyslexia became my superpower
Cognitive psychology’s definition of mindset
How setting and implementing goals require different kinds of mindsets to be successful
The difference between “deliberative” and “implemental” mindsets
The value of knowing when to remain unfocused and focused
Tapping and releasing our human potential through self-development work and positive psychology
Understanding our nature as connecting beings
The different ways to unleash and amplify our potential as human beings
My definition of mindsets
Challenging our beliefs and expanding what’s possible
How learning about habit transformation can shift our mindset and lives
What it takes to evolve in a constantly and rapidly changing world
The mission of the Mindset Zone podcast
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation by Gabriele Oettingen
Book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
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