Business Innovators Radio - Annette Greenwood – Author – Mark Stephen Pooler – Brilliance Business

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

et ready, global leaders! Brilliance Business is thrilled to feature an inspiring conversation with author, Dr. Annette Greenwood!Annette empowers women worldwide to find purpose, passion, and lasting fulfillment through her unique “Age-Less Living” approach, integrating mind, body, and spirit. Don’t miss her insights!Connect with Annette:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-annette-greenwood-98809819/Website:https:/www.annettegreenwood.com/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/annette-greenwood-author-mark-stephen-pooler-brilliance-business

Welcome to Business Innovators Radio, featuring industry influencers and trendsetters, sharing proven strategies to help you build a better life right now. Welcome to Brilliant Business TV Conversations with Leading Ex-Business. I am your host, Mark Ivan Pula. We have an incredible guest on the show today, Dr. Annette Greenwood, a really, really good friend of mine. We have known each of a fairly long time now. I'm really looking forward to a conversation with Renette and she has got the most inspiring story that can really, really help people move forward through testing times. We are streaming live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. We're on the E360 TV network.

We're also on Apple, Android, Fire, Roku and many more. We're also on business innovators, radio network, USA Global Radio and Television Network. work and we're also on MSPNewsglobal.com. Let's bring in our incredible guest. That is always such a mouthful for me to say, Annette, and I always end up getting tongue-tied. It's all, Matt. First of all, thank you for calling me incredible. See, I've just done it as well. That makes me feel really proud. And we do go back away now. We've known each other quite a few years and seen each other through some very, very trying times. So I'm really looking forward to learning more about your story, inspiring people.

So let's get started, Annette. As a life coach, it could be said you live a charmed life. How do you speak to that observation? Well, first of all, I'd like to say that's quite a myth. And I have heard that a few times. You know, well, you must lead a charmed life. You're a life coach. Nothing will ever go wrong.

And that's just not true at all. things happen in everybody's life, whether you're a life coach, an author, a king or a queen, famous or unfamous, we all go through challenging times. And what I would say is, not just so recent, but a few months ago, 12 months ago, in fact, my husband, who was ill, he passed away. Now, I had to help nurse him towards the end of his death. Alongside that, three months later, my father passed away. So I had two grieving processes really, really quickly and had to put everything that I did on hold to try and get through and navigate that stage of my life.

So I wouldn't say that life coaches lead a charmed life. I just want to make it clear that we're human and human things happen. I think you've coped so, so well. And it's good that you are a life coach because you can now go on to support people who are going through exactly what you have been through. because you've walked the walk and taught the talk as well. How did you cope with the emotional impact of the tragic loss of your husband and father so close together as well, Annette? Well, I won't say it was easy, that is a fact, but being a life coach and having different

practices really helped. What I would say is that you've got to ride with whatever's happening emotionally, the very powerful things going on inside. And you have absolutely no control over when it's going to happen. So I've been in a supermarket and burst into tears. I'm driving the car. I've burst into tears. Or just talking to somebody in the street that I knew burst into tears. I'd hear a piece of music and that would bring up lots of emotions. So to say that I coped with it, I guess it's a way of saying that I lived with it. I lived with how I was feeling. I lived with every little bit of up and down. You know, I'd get in the shower. I'd be totally fine. And then I'd be, emotion would come up.

So I learned to just go with it to just have a good cry, a good healthy cry, and then get on. What I didn't do was keep dwelling on it, Mark, and keep holding on to it. I'd cry, move on. and that's basically taking real small fundamental steps to help you through the grieving process. Everybody's different, everybody's different, but that was what worked for me and how I cooked. I think that is just perfect, not only for the kind of tragedy you've been through, but just in life, general, facing emotions, fears, thoughts. I think if you can sit with them, Annette, and not try to push them away and actually embrace them, welcome them in, feel them.

I think, and then it's so much easier then to refocus because you're not, it's like you're allowing and accepting which just allows it to flow through you rather than trying to push and not accept them. And I think that is so, so important to NET. You're right. And when you suppress how you're feeling, eventually it comes back to bite you. Because I'm sure I've done it years ago. I'm sure you've done it. There's probably all done it.

Where you're pushing down how you feel because you want to get through what's happening really quickly. And you can't. It's a bit of a process, isn't it? Again, everybody's different. I moved to it at a different rate to somebody else. But I certainly didn't push it away. I didn't fight against it. I accepted how I was feeling.

And that's all part of that journey map, isn't it? And you all will have experienced it the same way I have. Just beautiful words. And I think it's all about acceptance, allowing feeling it. But as you mentioned, which is really important as well, is not dwelling there. Once you've felt it, refocus, do something that makes you feel upbeat, go for a walk, get out in nature, read something. something and I think that is just great advice. What practices did you use and continue to use, Annette? I've used a few. One of the things I would say as well, Mark, is it's really good to

have a network of support. So I found I had some really close friends who have had my back all the time and so you can reach out to your friends. They would text me every day or ring me and make sure I was meeting them for a coffee in case I was on my. own all the time, but I wasn't, and I was grateful of that, but it's so good to have a network. Some people find going to church or praying, things like that, help them through. It's whatever works for you, but again, I've found acceptance. Surrender. Now, to surrender, that might sound, oh God, this is a weak thing to do, but surrendering into what's happening, because you can't change it. And I was doing something called prostrations.

It's a Buddhist tradition. it probably sounds a bit inhumane, but it's not. You're actually laying on the floor face down with your hands either side, with your head to the floor, and you lay there for 10 seconds and then stand up again. And you do it 10 times. And it's a way of, you don't actually know what's happening, but you are surrendering into what is happening at that time.

And it's quite an empowering thing, I would say. So that's one of the things I use. I don't expect everybody to do that. wasn't everybody practice the same way I do? But meditation, forgiveness, so forgiveness of my husband, forgiveness of the things I wasn't told, forgiveness of the hospital and how things were managed and handled, self-care, making sure I ate, I slept,

I got fresh air, went for walks, self-love, which can be really hard to do at time when you're grieving. And I practice things like Chigong to help. with the energy flow, all things that were kind of really nurturing and loving and helping me to get through where I was there to where I am now really. I think some of these skills and tools, I've never tried that lying down one, but I can imagine it does have a impact on how you're feeling, your energy. Like even just getting down and getting back up again, I can imagine that changes your energy slightly.

So yeah, I think some of these tools, they're really, really important, forgiveness, self-love. And sometimes you have to forgive because you don't want to hold on to grievances. It's better to forgive and give love. And I think that's a much better energy. So I really, really admire the way you cope with it, the way you got through it. And I know if there's people out there struggling with similar things, you could always reach out to Annette, she would be there to guide you and you don't have to do her tours. I'm sure she's got many different ways of supporting you through that process.

Yeah, I think forgiveness is a really big one and I think self-love is really important as well, Annette. And you know something, Mark, I mean, I won't go into detail here, I won't it, because it's all personal things, but some of the things that I was told that weren't true and the things that I found out, I could have hung on to me. those and I could have still been sat here over 14 months later in a bitter way about things and not living my life to the full but I didn't do that and I through all the practices that I did and through forgiveness and all those of the things I came to a place of compassion for my

husband compassion for how we must have been feeling compassion for the life he was living that you know partially caused his death and that is a very important. quite an empowering place to be. Again, it might sound weak to people, you know, because there's this thing around, you know, we've got to get our own back, we've got to do this, we've got to do that because this happened. No, because the only person it's hurting is you.

And I don't want to stay in a place. So true. Yeah. So, so true. Yeah, it's similar. I had two swans that I used to. to feed in the park. They'd been together 22 years.

And some people come and shot the two swans. The female had got six pellets in her neck and survived. But her male partner, he was dead in the pond for a couple of days. And she was mourning. And eventually they rescued her. It broke my heart because I'd been going to feed them. They fed out my hand come and sit by me. They'd been together for 22 years.

And that really, really, really affected me. And I could have so hanged on to really bitterness for these people that had done it. But for myself, I thought I'm going to give this forgiveness that whoever has done this, they must be so low in themselves going through things that God only knows, that would make them do this to have no compassion. So I even forgive the people that did this because if you hold on to bitterness, it only affects you.

So I got compassion for the people who even did it, not to perceive them in a negative way because it only affects you, doesn't it, Annette? Absolutely. And do you know, it affects you not just mentally, it affects you emotionally, spiritually, physically. If you ever seen anybody who's kind of really hung up with anger and bitterness and wanting to get their own back.

And again, I'm sure I was in a place like that many, many, many years ago before I started to do my practices. Their life is very different. You can see the very different. They don't have any inner peace. And I don't want to make that sound like I'm all. airy fairy and an angel or anything like that, but living with emotional impacts of things like that and not, and hanging on, it causes you physical pain. And that physical pain manifests

into all sorts of aches and pains and how you interact with other people. You can come across as being really aggressive. And it's just really not a healthy place to be, Mark, is it? And you've done really well. I would have been absolutely mortified if I, if that had happened to me because I'm a big animal lover. I absolutely adore animals and that would really... I was heartbroken in it, but I made sure I forgive them because I thought I can't hold on to blame and worry and I thought it's much easier just to forgive and stay in my own peace within. So I think that's it. Just look after your inner world, guys. It's so, so important. And to net, let's go for a commercial break and we'll be back after this short one.

Feeling held back? Dreaming bigger? Mark Stephen Pooler and Brilliance Business present. Unshakeable confidence and decisive action. Two powerful audio tracks designed to reprogram your mind for unwavering confidence and decisive action. Get guided visualizations and subliminal affirmations to ignite your mind. for inner strength, actively and passively. Stop doubting, start doing.

Visit store.com contactmark.me now. That's store.comtackmark.me. Unlock your potential today. So let's get carrying on with our beautiful conversation, Annette. Life losses affect us all, whether that's family, job, relationships, or something else significant. How can we navigate these times? I would say, do what feels right for you.

Cry, but don't be overtaken by emotions. So the key there is to not let the emotions rule you. In other words, where you are spending half of your day crying and not getting anything else done. So again, that was a place I was in many, many years ago when I had depression. you are constantly in a dark mood, aren't you out? You're crying, everything's bad, everything's dark. And it feels quite harsh, but you've got to have a little bit of discipline with it. So what I found really helpful was I kept to a timetable.

So rather than let the emotion overtake me and rule what I was doing, I was much more in control of what I was doing. Again, I don't want to make that sound like I'm being really hard on myself, but I was sticking to a timetable. I was getting up at 6am. I was going to bed at 10 a.m. To make sure I was getting sleep. I was eating during the day.

I was going for a walk. And by sticking to a timetable and getting up, I found that the emotions weren't telling me what to do and living for me. I was getting up. I was getting on with my life. I was being kind to myself. And I was trusting that in this process,

things would change. and every day, as things started to go on, I noticed that I would cry a little bit less. Now, this is the same kind of thing whether you've had a job loss, a relationship breakdown. You still get all these emotions, all these things that are happening, and you still may have to go to work, you might have children if you're a single parent. You've still got to get up every day and function and get on. And it's one of the things that can happen is you tend to end up, go into bed and staying there, pulling the cover over your head and just trying to forget about it.

And unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. You've still got to build to function. And if you have got children or even if you haven't got children, again, I have been in this place where you don't want to get up. You stay in bed. You don't get showered properly. You're getting showered in the middle of the afternoon. You're eating at 11 o'clock at night. And it's just really bad for your body.

So coming back to setting yourself a timetable, nobody else is telling you what time you should get up, but get up, stay up, get your shower, have your breakfast, go for your walk, do all the fundamental things that you would have to do. And you will find as time goes on, it's becoming easier again. It's not as hard. When things like this first happen, it's hard just to open your eyes on a morning mark, isn't it? whereas if you can stick to a timetable that will help you through your day, it helps you get through each day, one day at a time. And that's enough.

And that's enough to get you through one day at a time, one minute at a time sometimes. One minute is enough. Small progress every day, consistent, having that timetable, getting yourself up. And it gives you something also to look forward to doing a little meditation or going for a walk. and it's just seeing those little blessings even in the darkness as well. So I think you've got so much wisdom, Annette. And tell us how you've been to know in your career. So the whole of 2024, I mean, I was still working in some of my other work,

but I put everything else to one side after both the deaths having to work through everything that I worked through. and I found that all the passions that I had were just not there at that time. And I was having coaching myself and I remember saying, gosh, you know, all my passions, the adults seem to be there. And he's a very wise, a very wise coach. And he said, Annette, just allow. Allow things to happen and things will start to come back. Don't try to force it.

Don't try to push it. And so I did that. I gave myself, I said, right, I'm going right till the end of 2012. 24 and I'm not going to make any major decisions about my career, where I live, what I do, who I see, all the rest of it. I'm just going to allow myself to go through this year. And then in the January 2025, that's when I'm going to start, you know, take a fresh look at things. And that's what I did. So I meditated as I do, do, I reflected, I'll listen to what was going in in my heart. And then slowly but surely, I looked at what.

what passions ignited me. I am resilient, as you know, and I keep going. I don't give up, and I'm fairly determined, quite probably determined at the time. I won't kind of just let things roll me down. I'll stand back up, and I'll keep standing back up until I find a way forward, and that's what I did.

But I do have support networks as well. So I allow things to rise in me rather than force it and slowly go slowly. my passion. The ones that I want to have kind of arisen for the coaching work. I'm starting a YouTube channel this year. I've already got a list of people who are going to be my guest and I'm hoping you're going to be one of them and my dear friend. I will. Sorry. Well, you've said that on air now so you can't back out. Thank you. And I've also begun a modelling career for women over 50. Now, it wasn't, that was a

a passion, when I was younger, like probably most girls, 14 or 15, I wanted to be a model, but I wasn't tall enough. I was never going to grow up on 5 foot 5 mark. I was never going to be, you know, somebody six foot where, you know, all these like thin, modely things as they were then. So I had to let that go. And then all of a sudden, just at the back end of 24, things started to happen and I went for a photo shoot and I was asked, you know, if I'd be a model. So at the moment, I'm just, I've got my portfolio. I'm sending photographs out and I've got two modelling contracts that I've been offered. So I've just got to kind of work through that and then see where it goes.

But that's more about inspiring other women to, it might not be that they want to be a model, but they might be thinking I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too fat, I'm too thin. I wear glasses, all those things that go through your head. And all I would say is, if you've got a dream, if you've got a desire and something you haven't done in your life, just take a step. Put yourself out there. I mean, going for a modelling shoot, I was like, oh, this will be good, see what happens. But I really enjoyed it. It was really exciting, Mark.

You get your hair done, your makeup done. And it's really nice just for somebody to be pampering you. And to be in front of the camera and to be able to predict. object warmth and authenticity in the photographs that were taken is a great joy. So I would hope that it would inspire some other women and men, because they want men models as well, to just do your thing and get out there and just try something new, no matter what it is. It's never too late to just put yourself out there and follow your heart's desire. It really isn't ever too late.

True inspiration role model. It's never ever too late and there's always light at the end of the tunnel. Anyone wanting to connect with Annette or get more information, even just have a conversation with her go to her LinkedIn, Dr Annette Greenwood. That is Dr. Annette Greenwood. Annette, I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed having a conversation with you today. Thank you so much for coming on to the Brilliant Business Show.

Thank you for having me and I always enjoy our conversations, Mark. We're always so inspiring and so energized, I think. The pleasure's been all ours. Thank you, everyone for joining us for... Thanks for listening to Business Innovators Radio. To hear all episodes featuring leading... industry influencers and trendsetters, visit us online at business innovators radio.com today.