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BECOMING THE CEO OF MY LIFE IS IT THIS THE AMERICAN DREAM?

Mallibi Monasterio, Venezuela

I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and as a child, I was always free, curious, happy, inspired, and limitless; now, as an adult, freedom, novelty, and self-development are part of my core values. Back in Caracas, on New Year’s Eve 2009, I escaped a kidnapping attempt and my values were compromised. That was when my life changed forever and for the better, a blessing in disguise because I knew that I never wanted to feel that way again and I had to come to America, the land that had life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as core values. What I have accomplished and learned in my 12-year journey, I share with my clients and inspire others to become the CEO of their LIVES.

When we reflect into the past, we will always find those who inspired us. In my case, I clearly remember adding pictures of airplanes and travels in the first vision board I ever created, thanks to a very progressive psychology teacher who made us work on the exercise when we were 13 years old. I wish I could thank her, because I know she gave me a tool that is so powerful and made me tap into my inner potential at such a young age that I attribute her contribution as the first official manifestation and visualization exercises that further shaped my life.

In my mid-20s, I graduated from business school, and I decided to become a Business Consultant. It was a perfect fit because even though I was working a lot of hours, I was living my passion. I was traveling, learning, meeting new people, going new places, exploring, learning new languages, and submerging myself in new cultures. I felt eager and happy, and I was excited. I took every opportunity—and still do—to connect with people. This is a skill I highly encourage you to develop, especially if you are an introvert: going out there and starting a conversation, connecting with people, you will soon realize that it is not only satisfying, but it will open doors; you will be welcomed anywhere you go. My father always taught me that it doesn’t matter who you are and how much you have, you must always remember to be humble. I live by that, and I make sure I treat all people like I would like to be treated.

Let me tell you a little bit more about that turning point in my life on New Year’s Eve 2009. I was in Caracas, Venezuela celebrating the arrival of the new year, 2010, with my family. You must know that in 2010, Venezuela was experiencing a socioeconomic and political crisis, marked by hyperinflation, crime, and high mortality rates, and of course, at the time, it was very trendy for criminals to kidnap people. So, imagine me on New Year’s Eve 2009: I was home with family receiving the new year, and afterwards, I went to the house of a friend to celebrate his birthday the same day. We had a blast celebrating, and when it was time for me to call it a night around 5:30 a.m., my friends offered to escort me back home, because I was a woman alone driving a newly bought SUV. Well, I guess that was not enough to keep the express kidnapping guys away, or they simply didn’t notice, but they came after me. After all, I was an easy target (high heels, short dress, alone). When I was in my SUV, they tried to get me, and in the most MacGyver way possible, I was able to avoid the gunshots, crash my SUV against their small Toyota Yaris, and crash one of the guys who stepped out of the car. They shot me in an attempt to get me, and finally, I was able to escape in the middle of gunshots, driving as fast as I could down the hills.

The overall problem when your sense of security, safety and freedom are taken from you, and when there are elements in your environment that you can’t control, is that you feel unhappy, trapped, drained, lost, soulless, and scared. That was me, and I was not the only one. In that moment, it was the country political and socioeconomical situation the triggers of my feelings and subsequent actions, but in daily life, sooner or later, everyone will experience some of those feelings that would serve us a contrast to understand what we prefer and empower us to reach for it, to grow, stretch and evolve!

I have a strong life rule that has served me well. By always consciously doing what makes me happy, I have been able to go through life quite effortlessly, regardless of what might be perceived from the outside as a difficult situation. With that mindset, it is easy for me to be determined and strong enough to make decisions that would shift my life in a 360 degree direction if needed to recalibrate with my happy place. This is one of the main topics I discuss with many of my coaching clients and in my mentoring sessions: how to pivot from a perceived bad situation and turn it into an opportunity, to change our mindset and to learn to immediately recognize possibilities and take the actions that will move us forward.

After the New Year’s Eve experience, I spent four days in my house not wanting to put a foot outside. I was scared, I only felt relatively safe inside of my home, and then I knew what was next: I announced to my family that I would be moving to Miami, Florida, which my inner voice told me would be my happy place

Did I ever worry, hesitate, or question myself about what I would do, where I would stay, how I would earn money, or how I would maintain a legal status in America? No, I just knew that I was smart, professional, creative, and everything would work out for me. I knew I would find my ways to make it, that much I trusted in myself. My only mission and focus was to leave that country alive. When I reflect on that feeling of certainty I had and knowingness that I would be fine, this is one of my favorite moments I use to do focus feeling when I want to accomplish something. Focus feeling is a technique I’ve created and use to manifest what I want in physical form. I teach this and many other techniques in my program.

Continuing with my story, the first thing I needed to do was to go and quit my job, so I could focus on arranging my trip. It was January 4th, and I needed to get going— I was determined! Miami, my happiness, and safety were waiting for me. I was just focused on the feeling I would experience when I got there. I put a lot of that into my vortex. I was visualizing, daydreaming about my new life, never focused on what happened, but instead, on what would be next! The Universe works in beautiful ways; what you focus on is what you attract. As the famous quote from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho says, and when you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you.

When I went to quit my job, my boss was very sad to hear what happened and to let me go, but it was a personal decision. Safety and happiness first, right? Even though I really enjoyed my job and what I was doing, I had to go. I focused the next few days on sending my best energies towards my new life in Miami, a good and easy life! I was doing research on where to stay, contacting friends to rent a room, checking flights, taking care of the SUV because it was in the body shop being fixed, so I could sell it and bring some extra money, arranging everything. I booked the tickets for February 17th, and then, my first cooperative component of my story appeared. My boss called and said they didn’t want to lose me, and they said they would be opening new offices, and guess where they were? Miami, Florida! And they wanted to offer me a position there, they would issue me a working visa and I could keep working with them! It was a memorable day! I, of course, accepted!

Can you imagine the emotions I was feeling? I felt blessed, thankful, loved, cared for, aligned, flowing, hopeful, excited, deserving, and empowered. I had more that I could wish for in my transition to America. Now I had a responsibility to make the most out of it, to pay back for the opportunity not only to my boss, but also to me and to the Universe.

As soon as I arrived in Miami, I was committed to merging into the culture, the systems, and life in America. It wasn’t hard for me to adapt. I was in receiving mode. I felt happy, safe, and full of possibilities. I was committed to learning how to create wealth. I was focused on executing strategies to build my credit score. I wanted to buy my home in the next four to five years of arriving, so I was creating a solid financial track to make that possible. By 2015, I did it by myself: I had a credit score of 760, I owned my car, and I bought a condo in a beautiful area in Miami, which I remodeled and decorated. I was traveling within America for work and traveling a lot for tourism. I was living a good, happy life.

In the meantime, I was attending networking events in my free time, reading a lot of books, working on my self-development and education, reading over 20 books on business, finance, and self-development each year, and I was doing training and building relationships. I met my partner, Rob, in September 2014 at a White Party Networking Event, and back then, we became friends, however, in the background, I was qualifying him, and he was qualifying me. By May 2015, we knew we wanted to be together. If you met Rob, you’ll notice that he is as blond as he can be, and I never liked blond men before until him, so he truly won me over! His presence in my life was the piece I needed to assemble the puzzle. He is sweet, happy, loving, and committed, an entrepreneur by nature. I admire his determination, character, adventurous spirit, and security. He indirectly inspired me to be bolder, to explore my talents and gain control over my life. He was doing all of this himself, and I was watching him. I couldn’t be more satisfied, now that I had a growth partner.

In 2016, Mallibi I co-founded the WHS (World Happiness Summit), the first of which was held in Miami. I had the opportunity to get to know a few of the people I admire in the self-development and positivity psychology space, Ismael Cala and Shawn Achor. By 2017, I felt I had outgrown what I was doing. I felt like I was done with the corporate life, and I was ready to work on myself and other interests I was developing, thanks to all my self-development work. It was not that I was exhausted by corporate— I was okay, but I was curious about other new passions, and I needed the time and focus to explore them, so I did not wait until I became frustrated or unhappy, rather, I took actions when I got the first thoughts. I decided to quit my job, to become the CEO of my life. I was partially working as a freelance consultant and partially working on my coaching projects empowering people on how to become the CEO of their lives and how to work in their 12 areas of balance and their mindset.

2018 was a year of growth and big changes. We felt that we had spent enough time in Miami and had outgrown the city, that we were way too much in our comfort zone. We were not growing as fast as we knew we could, and we were not exploring our potentials. We needed a new challenge, so we decided to move! Where to? To Austin, Texas, one of the fastest-growing cities in America, why not? We had never been to Texas before, but we were determined to go. We packed our home furniture and sent it with the moving truck, rented out the Florida apartment, and took our car, our hamster, and a few bags and drove all the way to the Lone Star State! Would you ever dream of moving to a new city? I guarantee you that the first time, you would be scared, but this is the best way to take yourself out of your comfort zone. If someone asks me, what I recommend them doing to challenge themselves, I say: move to a new place where you know no one and make new friends, find new hobbies, and create a new business. That is the best way to experience exponential growth in all areas of your life.

Today, I feel proud of my journey, my growth, my impact, and my awareness. I love being a serial entrepreneur, working every day with awareness, intention, and intuition in growing my business, helping other companies grow, creating amazing partnerships, and becoming an active multifamily real estate investor, mentor, and coach.

When I look back, I reflect on the keys of my strength, and I can summarize it as follows, so you, too, can become the CEO of your life:

- Learn to follow your inner voice and intuition, that guidance system that knows what’s the best move for you.

- Be truthful to yourself, know your values, and consciously and purposely do things that make you happy and bring you satisfaction, not settling for less than that.

- Allocate time for self-development work and learn how universal principles work. Know that you are a powerful creator. Don’t live a life by default, instead choose to be a deliberate creator.

- Ultimately, know that if your plans fail or don’t work as expected, simply change the plan, but never the goal.

Being the CEO of your life means: choosing your own happiness, living life under your own terms, getting out of your comfort zone, improving a part of your life every day, mastering the art of saying no, living a healthy lifestyle, choosing growth friends, developing good habits, building your dreams, saying no to negativity, and focusing on positivity, enjoying life, and smiling more, as well as firing your boss and becoming your own boss!

If you are an immigrant, and you have chosen America as your home, I would love to share with you that regardless of your background, if it’s in your heart and mind, you can create anything you want, if you believe in yourself and work for what you want. Don’t be afraid of failures; they are the best practice runs in your journey to become the CEO of your life. I Invite you to learn about my programs, and if you need extra guidance, I’ll be here to be part of your journey.

Mallibi Monasterio

Mallibi Monasterio is a Venezuelan-American entrepreneur and business mentor. In 2010, after moving to America, she started a corporate career while learning about wealth management and real estate investment strategies in Florida. In 2016, Mallibi co-founded the WHS (World Happiness Summit). In 2017, she founded 3MC Ignite Growth and created the Be the CEO of Your Life Program, where she brings together the two main elements that have been key in her personal journey: the spiritual/conscious side and the business side. Both combined to create a powerful balance that worked for her, and she shares how to find that balance with those she works with.

In 2018, she and her partner moved to Austin, Texas and became one of the founding members of the SOWE (The Society of Women Entrepreneurs). Mallibi helped startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses in Texas implement growth strategies. In 2021, Mallibi became a Multifamily Real Estate Investor, and she is currently focused in actively managing assets.

Mallibi has learned to lead her company with awareness, intuition, and intention, flowing from a deep inner conscious state to a laser focus managing approach and taking inspired action to create processes that bring success to her business and her clients.

For Mallibi, being the CEO of my life means choosing your own happiness, living life under your own terms, getting out of your comfort zone, improving a part of your life every day, choosing growth friends, developing good habits, building your dreams, enjoying life, mastering your talents and skills, and firing your boss and becoming your own boss!

Follow Mallibi on Instagram.com/by_monasterio

FREEDOM TO DESIGN YOUR DREAM LIFE AND CREATE IMPACT

Dr. Hoa Nguyen, Vietnam

Journey to America

The alignment of what you believe, what you say, what you do, and how you feel creates true power. Have clarity in your deeper purpose of what you truly want, and build your life journey towards that. When we don’t live our lives to feel fully alive within, we can’t fully pour into others and have the maximum impact. I am grateful to be able to share my story and love to be able to help others shine their light. We are all unique in our own ways, and hopefully after reading this, you will dig even deeper to ignite your passion to play full out in life.

I am proud to live in a country where I have the freedom and opportunities to design my life, regardless of what country I am from. My family’s journey to America is deeply embedded within me, and their courage gave me the opportunity to have the life I