Motivational speakers at the Women’s Peak Performance Summit offer their top tips for success

The first Women’s Peak Performance Summit in Abu Dhabi features seven presenters speaking on how to soar in a variety of areas, including finance, career and physical and mental wellness.

Anna Heystek and Jules Lewis. Courtesy of Women’s Peak Performance Summit

Think of this Saturday’s inaugural Women’s Peak Performance Summit as a sort of boot camp for the mind, offering local ladies who aim high a series of high-impact, 30-minute masterclasses on how to be even better.

The event, organised by entrepreneur Anna Heystek and business consultant and mountaineer Jules Lewis, features seven presenters speaking about how to soar in a variety of areas, including finance, career and physical and mental wellness. We nabbed three of the summit’s Dubai-based motivational speakers and asked for their top performance tips.

Pay attention to your words

“To get a head start, you have to get inside your own head and pay attention to your thoughts. It’s vital to learn about your own patterns and programmes, and how you can change them to have more flexibility and choice in your life. Language is a powerful tool for directing your thoughts and manifesting energy into form.

“A top tip is to pay attention to the words and language you use on a regular basis. What words make you feel good? We learn through looking within. When you can recognise yourself as your own creation, you then free yourself from the fear of living a less than satisfying life, expand the horizons of your beliefs and stretch your heart and mind and the boundaries of what is possible.”

• Carol Talbot is a master NLP trainer, firewalking instructor and author of Breaking Through

Stop and focus

“Studies show that women are good at multitasking. But the downside is that this prevents focus and switches on the stress response. So it’s really important to take regular ‘brain breaks’. ­Stimulating happy thoughts and feelings improves our health, wellbeing and efficiency.

“A great way to switch off and reset our brain is the ‘STOP!’ technique. Regular practise, just for a minute or two every hour or so, provides huge benefits.

“Just say to yourself the word ‘STOP!’ and, if appropriate, close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and as you breathe out, relax your face, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms and hands. Take another deep breath and as you breathe out, relax down the front and back of your body, all the way down your legs to your feet.

“Imagine a magnet or vacuum under your feet drawing away any tension, discomfort, negative thoughts or anxieties. Take a few breaths as you focus on thinking about something that makes you feel good: somewhere you enjoy being, someone you love, anything that brings a smile to your face. After a few moments of enjoying these positive thoughts and feelings, rub your hands together, then put your palms over your eyes. Open them and come back refreshed and energised, ready to get on with life with a surge of feel-good endorphins.”

• Leila Edwards is principal of the Transformations Institute, which offers consultancy, training and coaching in personal development and well-being

Financial planning over shopping

“Shopping for financial products involves time and hardly gives the instant gratification of Botox or a new pair of shoes. In a world where advertisers constantly bombard us with images of the young and the beautiful, when it comes down to it, investments, pensions, life insurance and wills just aren’t sexy. They force us to confront the fact that we are going to get old, maybe widowed or alone, and die.

“A good financial plan is a road map that shows us exactly how the choices we make today will affect us in our future. To build your financial foundation you need to allocate money for emergency funds, insurance [medical, life, critical illness and long-term care], retirement, kids’ university education, and also saving and investing for the medium to long term, to realise your dreams and ­aspirations.”

• Sandi Saksena leads an all-female team of financial counsellors at Nexus Insurance Brokers and heads the division Family Matters at Echelon Advisors and Management Consultants

• The Women’s Peak Performance Summit will be held from 8am to 5pm at Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa in Abu Dhabi. Tickets are Dh500 or Dh300 for students. Visit www.womenspeakperformance.com for more information