Hey {{First Name|Fearless Friend}}!

Today on Stay Fearless or Die Trying:

It’s already the middle of January, which means the initial motivation has settled and what’s left is direction. This is usually the point where clarity starts to matter more than inspiration, and where how you see yourself and where you’re headed becomes more important than how things simply look. And if building something of your own is part of that vision, I offer one-on-one coaching, with a coaching call included for premium subscribers at the bottom of this newsletter. And, as always, I’d love to hear what topics you’re interested in for future newsletters!

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When most people hear “mood board,” they picture cutting up magazines at the kitchen table or saving a few pretty images to a Pinterest board and calling it a day. It feels creative, casual, and a little nostalgic.

But when I started building mood boards intentionally for my own brands, everything became clearer – not just how things should look, but where I was actually taking them. That’s when mood boarding stopped feeling like a craft and started feeling like direction.

Most mood boards are built around taste. What you like. What you’re drawn to. What feels inspiring in the moment.

But taste alone doesn’t move anything forward.

When a mood board is built without future intention, it becomes something you admire instead of something you use. It looks good, but it doesn’t guide you. It doesn’t influence how you show up, what you choose, or how you move differently.

A personal brand mood board should help you rehearse the next version of your life, not just document your current one. When it doesn’t, you end up circling the same version of yourself instead of growing into what’s next.

AD:

IOL ADHD Study Seeking volunteers

Hartford HealthCare’s Clinical Neuroscience & Development Lab has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study entitled “Behavioral and Neural Target Engagement for ADHD Executive Working Memory Training.”

The lab is part of the HHC’s Institute of Living. Michael Stevens, PhD, director of the lab, is leading the study. The study uses safe, non-invasive functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to explore whether an online executive working memory training program can effectively alter brain connectivity and clinically improve symptoms of ADHD. The goal is to determine whether this could become a new intervention for ADHD. The study is continuing to seek participants and includes a clinical interview, questionnaires, neuropsychological assessments, and two fMRI brain scans.For the ADHD group only, participants will undertake a four-to-five-week online training program. In all about 16 hours of both virtual and in-person visits are expected. Stevens said this project is the second phase of NIH-funded research he has been doing for the last six or so years looking into the effectiveness of a popular non- medication ADHD treatment approach. This treatment protocol involves a new form of cognitive “brain training” to alleviate or mediate issues brought on by ADHD. In the first study, Stevens found that this new treatment approach changed how ADHD adolescents’ brain networks engaged when they had to hold information in mind and manipulate it to solve problems and guide choices. “Our first study gave us a very promising result,” Stevens said when emphasizing the need for ADHD treatments that do not involve medications. “A lot of people with ADHD don’t like to take medication. Probably only around half who might benefit from medication actually want to take them. Parents have worries about their kids taking medication. There can be side effects that some cannot tolerate. And when it comes right down to it, medications don't really fix long term problems associated with ADHD.” Stevens’ goal is to find that long term fix by exploring novel treatments designed to change and strengthen brain networks as children and adolescents develop. “Most ADHD is diagnosed by high school age,” he explained. “The brain is still malleable, adaptable. If you can intervene with something that changes the brain, that potentially might be a long-term treatment.”

The new clinical trial for ADHD-diagnosed teenagers is currently recruiting for participants. For more information, email [email protected] or visit here.

When your mood board is built this way, it stops being passive inspiration and starts influencing real decisions.

When your visuals are future-facing, they quietly start changing how you act now.

You make different choices. You move with more intention. You notice when something feels off because it doesn’t match where you’re headed.

A future-driven mood board helps you:

It’s not about restriction. It’s about rehearsal.

You’re practicing alignment before it’s required of you.

Colors, references, and tone don’t stay on your mood board. They shape how you show up across your brand and your everyday life.

When your visual choices are intentional, they influence:

This is how a mood board moves from inspiration to infrastructure. It stops being something you admire and starts becoming something you live by.

Your mood board should always be slightly ahead of you. Close enough to feel reachable, but far enough to pull you forward.

You don’t need to have the next version of yourself fully figured out. You just need a vision you trust enough to keep moving toward. Let your mood board hold that vision until you’re ready to step into it.

Stay fearless or die trying,
-Alexa

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