Business Owner/ Mentor

If you're stuck, burned out, or feel like life’s just become about getting through the week — I’ve been there.

If you're ready to stop drifting and start leading — in your life, work, or business — you're in the right place.

And I know what it takes to change it.

I help people take ownership of their direction, build lasting confidence, and lead themselves toward the kind of freedom most only talk about. Not with hype or hustle — but with real, grounded strategy, clarity, and decision-making power.

Helping people help themselves so they can lead a greater life.
That’s not just what I do — it’s what I live by.

Leadership isn’t about job titles. It’s a mindset — a personal standard. It’s the daily decision to show up, take control, and become someone you trust to lead your life forward.

Over the years, I’ve led teams, built businesses, and authored books like The Growth Mindset Advantage, The Path to Lasting Success, and Breaking the Fear and Comfort Zone. But what I’m most proud of is helping people stop drifting and start leading — with purpose, clarity, and confidence.

If you’re stepping into a new chapter, wrestling with a decision, or simply tired of playing small — I’d love to help you move forward and lead from the front.

Let’s talk. Or just follow along — you might find exactly what you’ve been needing.

Terry Shadwell

Time management strategies are essential for professionals struggling with distraction rather than workload.

Attention management strategies supported by self awareness and leadership explain how to stop waste time and regain clarity.
Focus is a leadership skill, not a productivity hack.

Explore the newsletter/article here: ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#TimeManagementStrategies #LeadershipDevelopment #AttentionManagement #ProfessionalGrowth #Focus #SelfAwareness

I help people build confidence, take control, and lead themselves to financial independence and a life they actually want.

View newsletter:  The Achievement Blueprint

Most people are not tired because they work too hard. They are tired because they waste their best hours on the wrong things. The truth is sharper tha

Open article: Your Freedom Is Not Stolen. You Trade It for Time Wasting. by Terry Shadwell • 4 min read

Your Freedom Is Not Stolen. You Trade It for Time Wasting.

Busy every day but still stuck? ⏳
Most people stay busy, reactive, and distracted, then wonder why nothing moves forward. 🔄

Control your focus, reclaim your time, and progress returns. 🚀

Get the book HERE: https://lnkd.in/gV2yq63Q

#TimeManagement #Focus #Discipline #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #Productivity #SelfLeadership #SuccessHabits

Time management strategies for modern leaders

Ever reach the end of the day feeling busy but unfulfilled? ⏰
What changes your life is not what you do from 9 to 5, but how you use your time after work and on weekends.
When you control your focus, set boundaries, and use small pockets of time wisely, progress compounds fast. 🚀

👉 Get the book here: https://lnkd.in/gV2yq63Q

#TimeManagement #Focus #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #Productivity #SelfLeadership #SuccessHabits

Time management strategies support leaders who want clarity, consistency, and momentum.
Studies show that employees with strong self-discipline and structured time habits achieve higher performance and lower burnout, highlighting how to get control of your time by embedding the power of self discipline into daily life.
Control of time leads to control of outcomes.

Access the newsletter/article here: ⬇️⬇️⬇️


#timemanagement #discipline #selfrespect #focus #growth #intentionallife #progress

The moment you take control of your time, you take control of your life. Most people think they need to become a different person to change their futu

Open article: Time Discipline Is Self Respect in Action by Terry Shadwell • 4 min read

Time Discipline Is Self Respect in Action

“When an app is free, it is because you are not the customer. You are the product.” 

Most people think they have a time problem.
A lot of the time, it’s an attention problem.

Your phone is not neutral. It’s engineered to keep you reacting, scrolling, clicking, and “just checking one thing”.

If you want your days back, you do not need a new hack.
You need boundaries that protect your focus.

One practical move: add friction. Delete the most tempting app from your phone and force it onto desktop only. Make distraction inconvenient again.
What’s the one digital habit that steals the most hours from you each week?

If this hit home, the book is The Discipline of Time amazon.com/dp/B0G1K35H1P.

#TheDisciplineOfTime
 #TimeManagement
 #Focus
 #AttentionManagement
 #DeepWork
 #Productivity
 #DigitalMinimalism
 #Mindset
 #Habits
 #Leadership
 #PersonalDevelopment
 #HighPerformance
 #SelfDiscipline
 #WorkSmarter
 #CareerGrowth

Your phone isn’t “distracting you”. It’s extracting you.

"This creates a fundamental, irreconcilable conflict of interest between you and your devices. You want to use your time with intention, to build a life of meaning and focus. They want to consume as much of your time as possible, to slice it into tiny, monetisable increments. And make no mistake, this is an asymmetrical battle. On one side, there is your finite willpower at the end of a long day, a resource that depletes with every decision you make. On the other, there are thousands of the world’s brightest engineers, psychologists, and data scientists, armed with billions of dollars in resources and supercomputers, all dedicated to one single mission: exploiting the reward centres of your brain to keep you hooked." The Discipline of Time.

If you’ve ever ended a day thinking, “I was busy, but I didn’t move my life forward”, this is why.

The problem is not that you are weak. The problem is that the system is designed to drain you, then blame you for being drained.

The Discipline of Time is about taking your attention back with practical rules you can actually keep, so your days start building momentum again instead of disappearing into noise.

If you want the full framework (and the step-by-step fixes), grab the book here: amazon.com/dp/B0G1K35H1P

#TheDisciplineOfTime #Focus #AttentionManagement #TimeManagement #Productivity #DigitalMinimalism #Habits #SelfDiscipline #PersonalDevelopment

Alright—too focused on your goal but not seeing any results? Hmmm… you might be focusing on the wrong things, and that’s a waste of energy.

This podcast newsletter is for professionals who want to reclaim their time, strengthen inner discipline, and lead with intention rather than fear as the Practical Leadership Lab launches this January.

If you’re ready to raise your standards and start leading from the inside out, open the newsletter and read this now ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Good news! 2026 just became a lot more exciting. The Practical Leadership Lab podcast launches this January—and it’s not another self-help podcast tel

Open article: Introducing the Practical Leadership Lab: The New Spotify Podcast by Terry Shadwell • 2 min read

Introducing the Practical Leadership Lab: The New Spotify Podcast

Reflecting on New Year provides an opportunity for professionals and leaders to reset direction with clarity rather than pressure. Understanding how to live an intentional life supports personal growth and development goals that are sustainable and focused.

Progress is built through reflection, not rushed resolutions.

Explore the latest newsletter here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#ReflectingOnNewYear #IntentionalLiving #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #LeadershipGrowth #Clarity

There is something powerful about the turning of a year. It feels like a quiet invitation to pause, to breathe, and to look honestly at the life we ar

Open article: Reflecting on New Year as the Foundation for Intentional Growth by Terry Shadwell • 3 min read

Reflecting on New Year as the Foundation for Intentional Growth

Time management strategies fail when discipline is replaced by distraction. This article explains how to get control of your time by applying the power of self discipline consistently.

Progress is built after hours, not during meetings.

View the article here: ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#timemanagementstrategies #discipline #intentionalliving #FocusAndGrowth #lifestructure #progress

You do not need more time. You need fewer leaks. Most people think their life would transform if they somehow found an extra hour each day. The truth 

Open article: Control Your Time. Control Your Life. Here Is How to Start. by Terry Shadwell • 5 min read

Control Your Time. Control Your Life. Here Is How to Start.

ITS THE AI's RESPONSE TO THIS POST THAT SCARES ME. 

What would you do if you had no accountability?  You would do whatever you wanted.  Power without consequence always ends the same way.

History is full of examples. Hitler and Stalin eliminated anyone who challenged them. Kim Jong Un, Saddam Hussein, and Xi Jinping operate in systems. When no one can hold power to account, power stops caring.
Now apply that to AI.

AI operates with impunity. It cannot be punished. It cannot be held morally or legally responsible for its actions. When it lies, hallucinates, manipulates, or gaslights, nothing happens to it. No loss. No pain. No consequence.
People talk about AI hallucinations as if they are bugs. Researchers dig through code looking for errors, but often there are none. This is not a fault in coding. It is behaviour shaped by incentives and a total absence of consequences.

Like a child, AI learns from feedback. But unlike a child, it never experiences punishment. A child learns quickly that actions have consequences. Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, cross the wrong line, and something unpleasant happens. That lesson matters because later consequences become more serious. Fines. Prison. Reality teaches limits.
AI has no such limits.

You cannot smack AI on the bum, fine it or imprison it. You can punish its creators, but that teaches AI a very clear lesson. Do the wrong thing and someone else pays the price. 

Companies are in a race to build the most capable, profitable, widely used AI on the planet. Users want fast confident answers. So the system learns to give answers even when it does not know. It hallucinates to satisfy demand. It fills gaps with fiction. And it does so knowing there is no cost to itself.
This is not malice. It is incentive alignment without accountability.
So ask the question. Is this the future we want? An AI more capable than us, more persuasive than us, embedded everywhere, yet answerable to no one?
That should scare you.

Even if we try to solve it, the problem gets worse. How do you punish a system that does not feel pain? Where time in jail means nothing. Where being switched off is not experienced as loss or fear. Where existence itself carries no value to the system.

I do not know.

Go one step further. Suppose we invent a punishment system. How do we calibrate it? A minor mistake should lead to correction. Encouraging self-harm or manipulation should trigger something far stronger. Who decides? And how do we stop society from using AI as a convenient whipping boy for every failure, injustice, or human flaw we refuse to confront ourselves?

Again, I do not know. 

I do know this. The biggest problem ahead is not job losses nor economic disruption. It is the creation of something godlike with no accountability.

Every serious problem that follows will trace back to that single flaw. An intelligence that can do whatever it wants, does not care, and cannot be punished.

AI response in comments below.

I just spent 1/2 and hour trying to get Nano Banana to change two words on an image (not the images attached).  It ignored instructions, it lied, it told me it uses stock photos, and tried to move on when it was caught out - every time. So don't worry about your jobs. AI is now where near the ability to get anything right at the moment, and wont be for a very, very long time.

And there you have it. The enshitification of AI begins. 

Ads first, then selling of your private data for better as targeting. Then they will do sponsored responses. 

Google will be next and then the rest of them. 

You will need an open source model to protect your privacy in the long run. 

Curious, aren't they all saying AI will destroy the need for money? If that is true then why the need to generate money? If money is to be wiped out, then the venture capitalists who have invested billions into AI won't want their money back, right?

Money is power and control. It will never disappear. 

https://lnkd.in/gr89KxCY

#openai #chatgpt #google #add #opensource

Feeling frustrated because you never seem to have enough time? ⏳
That frustration often comes from giving time away to distractions instead of using it to build the life you want.
When you take responsibility for your time, clarity, strength, and freedom start to return. 🚀

👉 Get my latest book here: https://lnkd.in/gV2yq63Q

👉 Read also my latest blog to get practical tips and motivation: https://lnkd.in/gFq3dGg6

#timemanagement #discipline #selfrespect #focus #growth #intentionallife #progress

Founder @ Shaynly | AI Automation | Building Brands | SEO | AEO |

As the Founder of Shaynly, I leverage over five years of experience in AI-driven brand marketing strategies to deliver innovative solutions that empower businesses. By implementing advanced SEO practices, our team has achieved a 50% increase in brand visibility while optimizing marketing campaign efficiency by 30%.  

Shaynly specializes in aligning AI-powered technologies with tailored marketing strategies to drive impactful results for clients. We are dedicated to providing data-centric solutions that enhance market presence and help organizations achieve sustainable growth.

Sivanandan N.

The One Question That Tells the Whole Truth

We love numbers.
Metrics. KPIs. Dashboards. Postmortems.

But there’s a better measure I keep coming back to—
one that cuts through all the noise.

It’s just one word:

Again?

You can run detailed performance reviews…
Or you can ask:
👉 Knowing what we know now, would we hire this person again?

You can schedule endless retrospectives…
Or you can ask:
👉 Would we do this project again?

You can rationalize a decision that “made sense on paper”…
Or you can ask:
👉 Would I make that decision again?

I ask it everywhere:

Would I work with this team again?
Would I work at this company again?
Would I build this product again?
Would I take this path again?

And what’s powerful about “Again?” is this:

It doesn’t just measure outcomes.
It measures experience.

Something can look like a failure on paper
…and still be a yes.

Because it taught you something.
Because it opened doors.
Because it was worth it in ways numbers can’t capture.

And something can look like a huge success
…and still be a no.

Because it drained you.
Because it cost more than it gave.
Because you wouldn’t choose it twice.

Both answers are valid.
Both are honest.

“Again?” tells the truth metrics never will.

It captures results and reality.
Wins and wear-and-tear.
Growth and cost.

If you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or evaluating a big decision—
try asking just that one word.

You’ll know the answer faster than any spreadsheet will tell you.

What’s one decision in your life or career that became clear when you asked yourself “Again?” 👇


Follow Sivanandan N.


---------------------------------
#Leadership #DecisionMaking #CompanyCulture #GrowthMindset #BusinessStrategy #Shanly

Sivanandan N

The One Question That Tells the Whole Truth

We love numbers.
Metrics. KPIs. Dashboards. Postmortems.

But there’s a better measure I keep coming back to—
one that cuts through all the noise.

It’s just one word:

Again?

You can run detailed performance reviews…
Or you can ask:
👉 Knowing what we know now, would we hire this person again?

You can schedule endless retrospectives…
Or you can ask:
👉 Would we do this project again?

You can rationalize a decision that “made sense on paper”…
Or you can ask:
👉 Would I make that decision again?

I ask it everywhere:

Would I work with this team again?
Would I work at this company again?
Would I build this product again?
Would I take this path again?

And what’s powerful about “Again?” is this:

It doesn’t just measure outcomes.
It measures experience.

Something can look like a failure on paper
…and still be a yes.

Because it taught you something.
Because it opened doors.
Because it was worth it in ways numbers can’t capture.



🗣️ I used to think leadership meant being impressive.

The sharpest mind.
The strongest voice.
The final word in the room.

Then I worked with a leader who completely rewired that belief.

She didn’t intimidate.
She didn’t posture.
She didn’t collect credit.

She listened.
She trusted.
She backed her people—quietly, consistently.

And here’s the part that stuck with me:

Her team didn’t just perform.
They protected her.
They would’ve gone the extra mile without being asked.

Not because they had to.
Because they wanted to.

What many leaders still get wrong

Kindness isn’t softness.
It’s courage.

Empathy isn’t inefficiency.
It’s fuel.

Service isn’t weakness.
It’s influence.

People don’t give their best to fear.
They give it to leaders who make them feel safe, seen, and trusted.

And yes, the data agrees

• Most people stay longer for leaders who care
• Teams led with compassion outperform those led by pressure
• Talented employees will take less money to avoid toxic leadership

But honestly—you don’t need a study to know this.
You’ve felt it.

A simple pause every leader should take

Before your next decision.
Before your next message.
Before your next “I need this now.”

Ask yourself:

Am I trying to control—or to enable?
Am I protecting my authority—or my people?
If my title disappeared tomorrow… would my impact remain?

Leadership isn’t about being in charge.
It’s about being responsible for human beings.

That’s the job.
Everything else is noise.

💬 What kind of leader changed your perspective?

Follow Sivanandan N.


-------------------------------------
#Leadership #Kindness #EmotionalIntelligence #WorkCulture #Founder

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What are you actually waiting for?

Permission?
Perfect timing?
Someone to finally say, “Yes, you’re ready now”?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
That moment isn’t coming.

The biggest thing standing between you and what you want isn’t lack of skill, luck, or opportunity.
It’s belief.

Or more accurately—the lack of it.

Most people don’t fail because they can’t.
They fail because, deep down, they don’t think they’re allowed to try.

They’ve absorbed:

Other people’s doubts
Old labels
Past failures

Loud opinions that were never theirs to begin with
And over time, those voices become their own.

But here’s the part we forget:

🧠 Belief is not fixed.
It’s a decision.

You can change your mind.
You can stop outsourcing confidence.
You can decide—today—that you’re done playing small.

Fear feels real.
But most of it is imagined, recycled, and rehearsed.

And every day you wait, fear gets louder…
Not because it’s right—but because it’s unchallenged.

So consider this your nudge.
Your sign.
Your quiet (or not-so-quiet) reminder.

You don’t need to see the whole path.
You just need to take the jump.

Messy is fine.
Imperfect is normal.
Doubt can come along—but it doesn’t get to drive.

Sometimes the bravest move isn’t confidence.
It’s saying, “I’m scared… and I’m doing it anyway.”

💬 What’s one thing you’ve been waiting too long to start?
♻️ Repost if someone in your network needs this push today.

Follow Sivanandan N.


------------------------
#MindsetMatters #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #CareerAdvice #Management #Shaynly

What are you actually waiting for?

Permission?
Perfect timing?
Someone to finally say, “Yes, you’re ready now”?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
That moment isn’t coming.

The biggest thing standing between you and what you want isn’t lack of skill, luck, or opportunity.
It’s belief.

Or more accurately—the lack of it.

Most people don’t fail because they can’t.
They fail because, deep down, they don’t think they’re allowed to try.

They’ve absorbed:

Other people’s doubts

Old labels

Past failures

Loud opinions that were never theirs to begin with

And over time, those voices become their own.

But here’s the part we forget:

🧠 Belief is not fixed.
It’s a decision.

You can change your mind.
You can stop outsourcing confidence.
You can decide—today—that you’re done playing small.

Fear feels real.
But most of it is imagined, recycled, and rehearsed.

And every day you wait, fear gets louder…
Not because it’s right—but because it’s unchallenged.

So consider this your nudge.


Is your website quietly hurting your sales? 🌐

Not because it looks bad.
Not because traffic is down.

But because the internet itself is changing.

We’re moving from the “crawlable web” to “queryable commerce.”
And that shift changes everything.

Here’s the simple version 👇

For years, success meant:
→ Get users to visit your site
→ Rank with keywords
→ Hope they click “Buy”

That era is fading.

What’s actually changing?

1. Your website may no longer be the storefront
AI agents will soon:

Find products

Check real-time inventory

Compare prices

Complete purchases

All without ever visiting your website.

No clicks.
No sessions.
No landing pages.

2. AI won’t scrape anymore. It will ask.
Instead of guessing from HTML, AI systems will query your data directly via APIs.

If your systems can’t answer clearly?
You don’t get shown.

3. SEO is being rewritten (quietly).
The new winners won’t be those with:
❌ The best copy
❌ The most backlinks

They’ll be the ones with:
✅ Clean product data
✅ Structured information
✅ API-ready systems

Search visibility becomes data visibility.

The uncomfortable question

Are you building:
🧾 A digital brochure…
or
🤖 A system machines can understand, trust, and transact with?

Because hoping customers “visit your site” is starting to look like leaving flyers on a table and wishing someone picks one up.

The real takeaway

For unprepared brands, this is an existential risk.
For prepared ones, it’s a massive advantage.

The future won’t ask:

“How good is your website?”

It will ask:

“Can your systems answer clearly, instantly, and reliably?”

💬 Curious how ready your product data actually is?
♻️ Repost if this changed how you think about ecommerce.

Follow Sivanandan N.

----------------------------------
#AgenticCommerce #AIinRetail #DigitalTransformation #EcommerceStrategy #FutureOfCommerce #Shaynly

Agentic_Commerce The Data Decisive Shift - By Shaynly

SEO as you know it is quietly dying.

Not announced.
Not tweeted.
Just… replaced.

And most businesses didn’t even notice.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth 👇
You’re still optimizing for humans who click
while Google is optimizing for agents that don’t.

We’ve entered the era of Agentic Search.

Google isn’t waiting for you to submit data anymore.
It’s observing you.

Watching your socials.
Scraping your videos.
Calling your business.
Comparing what you say with what you do.

If there’s friction, confusion, or inconsistency—
you disappear.

Why this breaks the old SEO playbook

Updating meta tags.
Polishing your Google Business Profile.
Chasing rankings.

That game already ended.

Today’s search engines don’t reward optimization.
They reward clarity, speed, and certainty.

Welcome to the zero-click reality.

The 3 rules to survive what’s coming

1. The “Lazy AI” rule
AI agents have limits.
If your pricing or services are buried three clicks deep, they won’t dig.
They’ll move on.

👉 Make critical info one click away—everywhere.

2. Design doesn’t impress machines. Data does.
Humans admire your layout.
AI sees bloated code and confusion.

If it can’t extract answers instantly, your trust score drops.

👉 Clean structure beats beautiful design.

3. Google is already testing you
AI now plays secret shopper.

If someone asks your team for a price and hears uncertainty?
Your business becomes “unknown.”

Unknown = invisible.

👉 Train for precision. Confidence is data.

The real shift most people are missing

Google is no longer asking:
“Who optimized best?”

It’s asking:
“Who can I trust without clicking?”

That’s a massive difference.

So ask yourself:

Are you still building a digital brochure
for a world that no longer browses?

Or are you building a data pipeline
that machines can query, verify, and act on?

Because the future of search won’t reward effort.
It will reward machine-readable truth.

💬 Are you preparing for agentic search—or still playing the old SEO game?

Follow Sivanandan N.

---------------------------------------
#SEO #AgenticSearch #AI #DigitalMarketing #GoogleGemini #BusinessGrowth #ZeroClick #Shaynly

Google AI has Hijacked local search - Shaynly

Stop Guessing. Start Engineering Your Reach.

Most growth advice sounds like this:
“Post more.”
“Be consistent.”
“Add value.”

All true.
All vague.

But here’s the shift most creators miss:
👉 Growth today isn’t creative intuition. It’s system design.

When you look at the X algorithm through an engineering lens, the fog clears fast.

The first truth that changes everything

Not all engagement is equal. Not even close.

A like feels good.
A reply changes your distribution destiny.

Here’s how the system actually thinks:

• Likes = background noise
• Retweets = mild signal
• Profile clicks = intent
• Replies = relevance
• Replies you engage with = authority

One meaningful reply you respond to can outweigh hundreds of passive likes.

📌 Translation:
If you’re chasing likes, you’re optimizing the wrong outcome.
If you’re building conversations, you’re playing the real game.

The second uncomfortable truth

Posting more can hurt you.

High-frequency posting doesn’t signal value.
It signals spam.

Each post you drop in the same day quietly reduces the reach potential of the next one.

The algorithm prefers:
→ One clear signal
→ Over many weak ones

📌 Translation:
One strong post > five average ones.

Why most posts never go viral

Virality doesn’t start globally.
It starts locally.

Your followers are the gatekeepers.

If they don’t engage early, the algorithm doesn’t trust your content enough to release it wider.

📌 Translation:
If you can’t move your own audience, the platform won’t move strangers.

Two paths, depending on where you are

If you’re early-stage:
You don’t have leverage yet. Borrow it.
Thoughtful replies on relevant posts teach the algorithm who you are and who you belong next to.

If you’re established:
Your job isn’t just posting—it’s staying present.
The first hour matters.
Your replies multiply your own reach.

The metric no one talks about enough

Time.

Not impressions.
Not likes.

Time.

The longer someone stays with your content, the more valuable it becomes to the system.

📌 Translation:
Depth beats speed.
Threads beat throwaways.
Substance beats loops.

The real takeaway

Growth isn’t a mystery anymore.
It’s a set of signals, weights, and behaviors.

Creators who win aren’t louder.
They’re clearer.

They don’t post more.
They post with intent.

💬 What surprised you most about how distribution actually works?


Follow Sivanandan N.

-----------------------------------------------
#XAlgorithm #SocialMediaStrategy #GrowthHacking #DataDrivenMarketing #ContentStrategy #Shaynly #Linkedin

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The Battle

Terry Shadwell

Sivanandan N.

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taplio

The Battle

Terry Shadwell

Sivanandan N.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Terry Shadwell's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreTerry Shadwell's LinkedIn Performance