Esther Ijewere

In Editor's Choice February 9, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

“I WANT TO EMPOWER & LEND MY VOICE TO VOICELESS NORTHERN WOMEN” – FATIMA HABIB

When you meet Fatima Habib you would think she is in her late 30’s because of her wealth of knowledge and go getting spirit, The 19 year old undergraduate from Borno state is the founder of of Advocacy for Human Value Foundation. An initiative she started when she was just 14 . Fatima has organised over 15 projects across Northern Nigeria, Impacting lives and giving voiceless women a voice. She is also the first Girl to work on the Fight Against illiteracy in the North and the First to lead the Bring Back Our Chibok Girls in her state.

Fatima shares her story with me in this interview as she expresses her passion for Northern women and the need to help them find their place in the society

Childhood Influence

My parents were my first teachers. Things they say and do, their way of being and relating to me and others, laid the foundation for many of my beliefs, values, attitudes and respect to people around me.

I attended my Secondary School (Adeola International School Abuja) also contributed in some of these after my parents laid down the basic foundation for me to Startup life.

Fatima!

I was born in the year 1999 September 23rd. I am Kanuri by tribe and hail from Maiduguri, Borno State. I had my Primary and Secondary Schools at Adeola International School Abuja and later moved to Maitama Model Secondary School Abuja to complete my SSCE in 2015.

I am the Founder of Advocacy for Human Value Foundation (a Non-Governmental Organization registered by Corporate Affairs Commission in February 2017). I am as well an activist who is advocating against the negativity of child sexual exploitation and promoting girl-child education and almaJiri education system in Nigeria. I am currently studying Political Science at the University of Maiduguri (year 3) and also an alumni of Young African Leaders Initiative (Yali)

Touching lives

About thousand of people’s lives have been impacted and shaped with my foundation as we have been able to give children their right education by enrolling them in schools and funding their education. We have done a lot of fund raising on social media platforms and also television in providing hospital expenses to the people with special disabilities ( Vulnerable members of the society). Periodically, I visit the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri and hold discussion session with some of our targets where we talk out the problems faced by them. This leads to curing of trauma and depression amongst the vulnerable members in the various camps we visited. I recently started the advocacy on Sexual exploitation. We advocate to make these victims become more stronger, well-informed so despite the daunting challenge they could be able to speak up and change the face of the world.

Work challenges

Combining school and charity work,I will never advise others to try this because this is the worst way of taking the risk. It’s so challenging. Sometimes you are at work and an important class is going on and sometimes while in school and an important meeting or conference of Humanitarian nature is going on that may require your attention. Another challenge I face is lack of an office accommodation which would have emboldened me perform and achieve better than what I am doing at the moment.

Starting at age 14

During our secondary school, as students we were taken to orphanage homes on excursion several times by my school Adeola International School and in most cases the way and manner the orphans positively behaved and acted made me emotional. The thought of what the future held for them and given the minus of not having both parents spurred me to develop the interest of helping the orphans and the less privileged members of the society.

Supporting Northern women

I am trying to make women get access to capital and also empower them in collaboration with some entrepreneurs so they learn entrepreneurship because Women run 30% of all registered businesses worldwide, yet only 10% of women entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need to grow. Partnerships are crucial: mobilising the skills and resources of public and private sectors creates a bigger impact than working in isolation.

Other Projects

As my religion preaches humility in giving, also advocates feeding the hungry, regardless of race, religion or background. It is such an important part of the religion that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said a person is not really a Muslim if he goes to bed satiated while his neighbor goes hungry. In line with the above I have initiated and executed the following projects and programmes so far in 17 states to my credit:- Fundraising workshop, Outreach to Christian and Muslim widows , Community awareness on HIV/AID, sponsoring 20 children through school and many more.

Reward

My greatest reward was my recognition as the Youngest humanitarian of the year 2017, Nigerian Goodwill ambassadors award.

In five years…

I see my organisation Successfully deep into Humanitarian Activities; done with strata of schools having equipped myself to face challenges of life and established orphanage-home and college inshaa-Allah

My Inspiration

Let me start with the man whose character, intellectual milieu and philanthropic gesture to whosoever approaches him in the day, middle of the night or at whatever condition you get to him are very rare in our world of today. He is Dr. Mohammed Kyari Dikwa mni, a Permanent Secretary designate in the Federal Government of Nigeria, also Dr. Zainab Bagudu (the Kebbi state First Lady) whose Medicaid Cancer Foundation similar to my Foundation’s objectives remains dear to my heart as a woman. I also had the opportunity of meeting Hajia Laraba Shuaibu (a barrister who works with my dad in Corporate Affairs Commission) in 2014 with my siblings. She had a cupboard-of awards displayed in her sitting room which I believe was as a result of her versatility, network and consistency towards her work and profession.

Being a Woman of Rubies

I am very ambitious. Supporting and encouraging people to pursue their own goals and dreams, I make my own as well. I have a vision for my future and chase after it with voracity.

Advice to women

Try to stay positive by being a positive thinker so I positively shape the lives of the vulnerable members of the society for them to believe in positivity too.

In self development February 8, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

OLUFUNKE ADEBAYO: POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common health problem caused by an imbalance of reproductive hormones. The hormonal imbalance creates problems in the ovaries. The ovaries make the egg that is released each month as part of a healthy menstrual cycle. With PCOS, the egg may not develop as it should or it may not be released during ovulation as it should be. Signs and symptoms of PCOS often develop around the time of the first menstrual period during puberty, but sometimes PCOS develops later in response to substantial weight gain.

PCOS can cause missed or irregular menstrual periods. Irregular periods can lead to infertility (inability to get pregnant). In fact, PCOS is one of the most common causes of infertility in women. It also leads to development of cysts (small fluid-filled sacs) in the ovaries

Who gets PCOS?

It happens to women of childbearing age. Most women find out they have PCOS in their 20s and 30s when they have problems getting pregnant and see their doctor. PCOS can however happen at any age after puberty.

Women of all races and ethnicities are at risk of PCOS. Your risk of PCOS may be higher if you have obesity or if you have a mother, sister or aunt with PCOS.

What causes PCOS?

1. High levels of androgens: Androgens are sometimes called “male hormones,” although all women make small amounts of androgens. Androgens control the development of male traits, such as male-pattern baldness. Women with PCOS have more androgens than normal. Higher than normal androgen levels in women can prevent the ovaries from releasing an egg (ovulation) during each menstrual cycle, and can cause extra hair growth and acne, two signs of PCOS.

2. High levels of insulin: Insulin is a hormone that controls how the food you eat is changed into energy. Insulin resistance is when the body cells do not respond normally to insulin. As a result, one’s insulin blood levels become higher than normal. Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance, especially those who are overweight and have unhealthy eating habits, those who do not get enough physical activity, and those who have a family history of diabetes (usually type 2 diabetes). Over time, insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes.

3. Inflammation: Women with PCOS often have increased levels of inflammation in their body. Being overweight can contribute to inflammation. Inflammation can cause high androgen levels.

4. Obesity: 80% of women with PCOS are overweight. The inability of insulin to function normally is one reason why women with PCOS tend to gain weight or find it hard to lose weight

What are the symptoms of PCOS?

1. Irregular menstrual cycle: Women with PCOS may miss periods or have fewer periods (fewer than eight in a year). Some women with PCOS stop having menstrual periods.

2. Too much hair on the face, chin or parts of the body where men usually have hair: This is called “hirsutism.” Hirsutism affects up to 70% of women with PCOS.

3. Acne on the face, chest, and upper back

4. Thinning of hair or hair loss on the scalp: This is male-pattern baldness.

5. Weight gain or difficulty losing weight.

6. Darkening of skin, particularly along neck creases, in the groin, and underneath breast.

7. Skin tags, which are small excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area.

8. Infertility

Can I still get pregnant if I have PCOS?

Yes. Having PCOS does not mean one can’t get pregnant. PCOS is one of the most common, but treatable, causes of infertility in women. In women with PCOS, the hormonal imbalance interferes with the growth and release of eggs from the ovaries (ovulation). A person who doesn’t ovulate can’t get pregnant.

Your doctor can talk with you about ways to help you ovulate and to raise your chance of getting pregnant.

MY OWN KIND OF TREATMENT

When a sufferer of PCOS comes to me , I ask her how far she has gone medically. Her blood sample must have been taken to check her hormonal levels. Her fallopian tubes should have been checked to see that they are not blocked. Since a sufferer also has insulin resistance, I ask if she has ever checked her blood sugar levels. In fact, this is why a diabetic drug called Metformin is always part of PCOS treatment. I then start with these steps:

1. Since we have established that most sufferer of this hormonal imbalance are overweight, I encourage them to lose weight. She will be told the kind of diet to eat and will be encouraged to be exercising.

2. The liver is where our hormones are processed. If the liver is sluggish, things won’t work well. So, they will go through liver detoxification. By the way, do you even know where your liver is? Ok, put your hands on your right ribs; move your hand to where your rib ends. Are you there? Ok, that is where your liver is!

3. The ovaries will be detoxified.

4. You will be surprised that spices in your kitchen are very useful for treating this condition. Some of them are garlic, turmeric and garlic .

5. When the woman starts seeing her menses, I teach her on how to track her ovulation periods. So she gets to understand the days to have sex.

After all has been done, if the fallopian tubes of the woman are “patent” (as doctors say), that is, if they are not blocked and the husband’s sperm count is normal, nothing stops them from hearing the patter of tiny feet in nine months!

In self development February 8, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

NASILELE MUNYANDI: WHOLENESSS

Being a child of God, I have heard so many teachings on wholeness, and why it is vital for an individual to live a full fulfilled life accept oneself as you are and live with the knowledge of what you allow in your life, and how all this can influence where we are and how far we want to go.

I want to share my wholeness lessons, and how it is essential for us to be fully aware of whom we are and live a happy productive life. Wholeness calls for a complete stock take, by this I mean, know what who you are in every good and bad circumstance, know how you are affected by people and situations around you, know your highest points in life and how you react at your lowest??

How do you react when in a bad situation, either you are dumped by a boyfriend, fired from your dream job, falsely accused or even the times nothing goes your way?? How do you treat those around you??Do you beat yourself up each day and blame every one, anything and everything??What about the times we hit it well and win a jack pot??Do we throw away all we have, thinking we have made it?? Wholeness calls for us to know how you react when one steps on your foot. Do you step on them or slap that person for inflicting pain on you, or you accept it couldn’t have been unintentional???How you react shows what is within, your strength, weaknesses, flaws, at times it even reflects the things we are afraid of. It shows how much closure one needs on the events that happen,at times it is a reflection of how much we need to work on our character and growth for the future. There are some wholeness checks one can do to find out how we are doing:

Firstly, accept yourself fully, character, current position, current financial standing, body type, accept there will always be some better than you, and one who is where you want to be, and that what matters is how much you put in to achieve all your dreams and goals. Once you make peace with all this, you will always know your seasons in life and will never compare yourself to another person, because you are fully aware of your uniqueness and are working to improve on that fully.

Secondly, wholeness calls for peace with both situations, and people around you, it calls for an effort to always see that you don’t allow another’s persons negative energy to influence you nor your decision.it interprets fully being responsible for how you react to a situation, and how you let external factors make you feel. Many people around us carry a lot of baggage, hurts and pain, and there will always be an encounter with such a person, but when you have made peace with yourself, negativity will never affect your being in any way. The other aspect of being whole is dealing with all failure, let downs and disappointments. Many times someone lets us down, we tend to bury or medicate instead of finding a solution or let go. We rarely get closure on issues, hence at a later point we least expect, things arise, so if one hurts us ,we need to deal with that issue immediately and get closure to have peace and move on positively, we equally need to learn to apologize if need be, not for the sake of the oppressor ,but yourself, make peace.

Lastly, build a relationship with yourself, make time to connect with yourself and emotions, take time to know how you are doing and see where you need help, and when stuck and not sure, find someone who has gone ahead of you, someone you trust to not tell you what you want to hear, but will willingly help you be the best version of yourself.

Love yourself enough, to not give what is biased.

Pic credit: Khoudia Dip (Pintrest)

In self development February 7, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

OYIBO HOSANNA: HEALTH BENEFITS OF IRON

Iron is one of the most abundant metals on earth, is an essential mineral to most life forms and to normal human functioning.

In humans, almost two-thirds of iron our body is found in hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to tissues. Smaller amounts of iron are found in myoglobin, a protein that helps supply oxygen to muscle, and in enzymes that assist biochemical reactions. Iron is also found in proteins that stores it for future needs, and are regulated by intestinal walls.

SOURCES OF IRON

Many foods contain high levels of iron, and you can easily find and combine them to make tasty, nutritious meals that helps boost your body system. They include:

Fruits and vegetables: Dried fruits (prunes, raisins), mushrooms, and dark leafy greens (pumpkin, spinach, broccoli), and citrus fruits, red and yellow peppers.
Nuts and seeds: cashews, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, pine, nuts, and pistachios.
Animal sources: Liver, egg yolks, turkey or chicken gizzards, meat and fish, beef, lamb shellfish, oysters, shrimp sardines, salmon, and tuna.
Dairy products: raw cow or soy milk, yogurt, and cheese.
Plant sources: black beans, brown beans, soybeans, kidney beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, and lima beans.

EFFECTS OF IRON DEFICIENCY/ OVERLOAD

The risk of iron deficiency is high in women (teenage girls, female athletes, and pregnant women), preterm infants, young children as well as people with certain health conditions (heart, kidney diseases, celiac diseases etc., its effects include:

The deficiency of iron leads to anemia, which occurs when the body does not have enough iron.
Reduced oxygen delivery to cells, results in dizziness, fatigue, and poor work performance.
Elevated levels of free iron stimulate the growth of microbes and increase the risk of infections thereby decreasing immunity.
Iron overload may lead to cancer, irregular menstrual flow, and infertility.
Reduced iron can affect mental alertness and sensitivity, as iron is required for proper shielding of neurons of the nervous system.

BENEFITS OF IRON

An essential component of proteins involved in oxygen transport.
Iron is an integral part of many proteins and enzymes that maintain good health.
It is also essential for the regulation of cell growth and differentiation.
Vital mineral in myoglobin, a muscle protein required for oxygen transport and contraction of the muscles.
Boost brain activity, as Iron helps supply oxygen to the blood and 20% of which is consumed by the brain.

WELLNESS CUES: TIPS FOR GETTING MORE IRON IN YOUR DIET

NUTRITION

Avoid the following, as they can interfere with iron absorption:

Drinking tea or coffee with meals.
Foods such as whole cereals, parsley, dark leafy vegetables, and chocolate, rich in oxalic acid, tannins, phytates, and gluten.
Eating foods rich in calcium with those rich in iron, as calcium limits iron uptake into the body.

Do your best to eat iron-rich foods along with those rich in vitamin C, for vitamin C aids the uptake of iron into the body.

Cooking foods for shorter periods and with a cast-iron skillet.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Keep a clean and safe environment as malarial infection paralyzes red blood cells, thereby causing anemia.
Avoid medications that can deplete iron such as tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, high blood pressure reducing drugs.
The iron from foods you eat may not always be sufficient, so supplementation may be needed. Speak with a doctor or dietician, who may recommend a supplement and it’s crucial to follow dosage instructions carefully.

Let the insights you have gained of risks and benefits, be an integral factor to your daily decision-making process on what you feed your body, and aim to get iron from a variety of sources.

About Hosanna

I am Hosanna Oyibo, a Public Health Coach. I am an avid reader, personal development enthusiast, network marketing professional and a volunteer. I’m also interested in travelling, gardening, and sports. You can read about me and visit my blog with a click on this link https://about.me/hosannaoyibo.

In Interviews&profile February 5, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

TALE ALIMI: THE YEAR OF DOING

Like most years, this year is already racing with full speed as the first month comes to a close.

At the beginning of each year or towards the end of the previous year, we make plans for the new year and set goals of what we want to achieve. A couple of years ago, after setting and not achieving my goals, I quit setting goals!

I decided to just focus on the moment, visualize what I want and go with the flow. That worked well for sometime as I did not feel like I was in competition with anyone and I was able to listen to my instincts. The problem with this approach was that I spent more time visualizing and creating my vision board than actually taking action!

That’s when I knew that there had to be a balance and I made up my mind to find it.

Fast forward a few years later, working with our clients at Tale Alimi Global, we usually start the year setting our intentions for the year we want and creating corresponding goals. As we work with clients, I have observed that some people are better at articulating their goals than others. However some people are only able to articulate averagely, but once they had clarity, they did a good job executing.

Our most successful clients are ‘doers’, they massively execute on the strategy we develop and achieve great results. I am big on strategic thinking and planning, but from my experience, I have to say that an average strategy with massive execution trumps a great strategy with poor execution.

If you are a planner and visualizer like me, its time to start doing more! And I have themed this year, ‘My year of doing’ because it reminds me of Shonda Rhimes ‘Year of yes’ and because I spent the last year exploring and visualizing.

To encourage us(yes we are in this together) to do more, I came up with five reasons why we should execute more this year.

The more you do, the more you know how to do

The sickness of planners is trying to create ‘perfection’. You want to spend all the time looking at various options, doing scenario planning and projecting outcomes. However, all this is theory until you start doing! I spent almost six months agonizing over the title and content of my next book. I will go on long runs, get inspiration about titles and a few days later I would begin to doubt its relevance. After going round in circle for too long, I put my foot down in October and decided to start writing. Surprisingly, the more I wrote, the more I had a better sense of direction.

So stop agonizing and trying to get things perfect and watch the months fly by, start doing and more clarity and ideas would come to you.

Execution is a cure for self doubt.

Another curse of perfectionists is self doubt. You never feel good enough to do what you know in your heart you are meant to do. Or you tell yourself you don’t have the resources or the time to do it. I was speaking to my team member some weeks ago about leading a segment at our year end event. I noticed she was hesitating and when I asked her why, she said she did not think she was qualified to stand before the calibre of people we were expecting. I immediately debunked her self doubt and told her about my mentor in my Social impact fellowship in the US who was a decade younger than me.

I told her to just do it and she did a great job that created a positive atmosphere at the event. When you begin to doubt yourself , don’t dwell on it, get up and execute. The more you execute on something, your self doubt disappears and you become more confident in your self.

When you execute, you make your own luck.

How many times have you looked at people and thought how lucky they are? Most times the so called ‘lucky’ people are busy executing on something. If you have been waiting for a lucky break and it doesn’t seem to be coming, maybe it is time to get up and execute so you can make your own luck. Yesterday, I saw a news headline that Kim Kardashian was expecting another baby, I decide to ‘keep up with the Kardashians’ as I hardly watch Television so I am not up to date about them. As I read the news, I realized that they were always busy doing something! From having new babies to starting beauty companies. They were making their own luck by executing.

This is the year to make your own luck. If you want to create a multimillion business, start grinding.

Execution builds your focus.

You need focus to execute. When you decide to execute, you cut out distractions. When I decided to start writing my new book, I started blocking out time and cutting out things that might distract me like excessive social media watching the lives of other people who were executing!

Execution is what brings dreams to life.

My favorite past time is imagining and day dreaming. My imagination has 3D capacity! I like to see things in my mind first because I believe creativity starts internally before it manifests externally. However after you are done dreaming, you have to take some action to see the dream come to life. If you have been seeing yourself as a millionaire in your dreams, or married to the person of your dreams, then make it a reality by taking action to bring your dreams to life.

Now that I have themed this ‘Our year of doing’, I am determined to lead by example. Some of the things I will be doing includes finishing up my new book before the end of Q1 and I am co-founding a new Company to address the milestone funding challenges that a lot of small businesses face.

If you are a small business that has had funding challenges, please fill this survey to help us understand your needs better. And if you have an interest in investing in small businesses , please fill this survey, so we will also understand your requirements.

I want us to hold ourselves accountable to our year of doing, so lets connect on Instagram so that as I share my progress, you can also share yours with me. Lets start doing!

In Interviews&profile February 5, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

MEET THE 10-YEAR OLD ENTREPRENEUR TAKING THE FASHION WORLD BY STORM!

Hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, 10-year old Enhle Gebashe is already pursuing her dreams of becoming a well-known fashion designer and entrepreneur. She most recently founded Enhle Babes Couture, a children’s clothing brand specializing in glamorous African prints. Aside from the overwhelming number of orders, several doors have opened for her, including training opportunities and mainstream media interviews!

Young but with a vision

Enhle is a fifth-grade student at Rosebank Primary School in Johannesburg. She says her garments are all custom-made to meet the needs of her target market — girls ages 4 to 12. She envisions designing African prints, dresses, and anything in between that “princesses” can wear. So far, the support she received exceeded her expectations.

“So many people known me,” she told IOL. “I can’t believe this is happening to me. At school I’m getting so much attention, the people who used to bully me are now respecting me. The response is amazingly surprising for us.”

No time to play around

As a young entrepreneur with a hectic schedule, Enhle doesn’t have much time to play like other children. After school and every weekend, she goes shopping for fabric and doing photo shoots for her creations.

What started as an idea to make extra money for school trips is now becoming a reality. Enhle has been offered to study by a local design school on a part-time basis. Award-winning scientist Thulile Khanyile, who is her mother’s friend, also wanted to mentor her on the basics of money, saving, and business. She has also been in-demand in magazine and TV features. Regardless, she is still wowed by every like and comment she receives from her social media posts.

Staying balanced

Her mother, Desiree, is very happy for her daughter’s achievements. But she is still cautious about it. “Our plan was never to get her to be famous,” Desiree said. “I just wanted her to do what makes her happy, which is designing. I fear that she is very young for all this fame, so we need to be very careful about how she is handled going forward.”

Sometimes, Desiree still can’t believe what her daughter has achieved at such a young age. She said, “I’ve always known that Enhle is going to be something big one day. I kind of had it at the back of my head but I didn’t know it was going to be something this serious.”

Enhle aspires to someday be able to open up her own shop and reach out to other African countries as well. She credits her achievements to social media for helping people become aware of her creations. She said, “Nobody would know about Enhle if it was not social media. Social media has been the main marketing strategy for us.”

Source: Black Business

In self development February 5, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

GRACE ORISAKIYA: IDENTIFYING YOUR UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION FOR A JOB SEARCH

Everyone is unique in his or her own way. Those values, skills, ideas that’s makes you unique, different, special and can be used for various purposes and this is usually referred to as your personal or unique value proposition. Your value proposition can either get you that business deal or job your applied for several. However, some people are not fully aware of what their UVPs are, in some cases, it is mistaken for just their career. During some career coaching sessions with my clients, they express their inability to do things differently, their fear of failing and they usually wish to be different that is why it is important for everyone to know how special and unique they are and how this uniqueness can be useful. In a nutshell, your UVP is basically the things you can do but with a positive difference. The best ways to identify your UVP are to:

Know your strengths.
Create a difficult scenario and figure out how you could handle it in a different way (sometimes done during employees engagement sessions in companies).
Identify those attributes that matches your personality perfectly.
Think of what kind of solutions you can offer to problems.
Be authentic.
Ask people to identify what makes you unique to them.

Identifying your UVP however can give you the confidence you need to apply for a job. Remember these:

Everyone may know how to do a particular job but not everyone may have the right skills to get it done.

Social media has made it easy to have a false identity, so it’s important you focus on knowing what you can do uniquely than trying to be someone else. (Being inspired by someone isn’t wrong but being inspired should make you find out your path not live like someone else).
Your UVP can set prepare you for success. It can enable you know what you can do and how you can do it differently and better.
It makes you a better version of yourself.

Therefore, your UVP can set you one the right path for a successful job interview and employment when you can prove concisely why your values and skills can be vital to the organization you are applying to.

About Grace

Grace Asemota is a Business Psychologist (M.Sc) and a Certified Life Coach. She has partnered with Organizations and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands and has coached students and staff in different institutions and organisations.

She continuously coaches and trains on the importance of goal setting, happiness, team management, personal development and self- confidence in a wide range of organisations (in Nigeria, UAE and US) and institutions by motivating staff to develop a collaborative culture and identify key factors that can enhance personal growth.

You can get in touch with her on

grace.orisakiya@gmail.com

LinkedIn @Grace Asemota-Orisakiya

In lifestyle February 5, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

CHISOM WINIFRED: THE THING ABOUT NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

Feel free to blame it on the spur of the moment. Everyone is excited and feeling like they can take on the world. At this point, we can promise God anything.

We’re gearing towards that time of the year again, the time for New Year resolutions. I hope you had a jolly Christmas, with plenty rice and chicken? Good, because it’s time for a blast of the naked truth.

We’ve all done it. Promised heaven and earth on New Year day. God, I will stop smoking. I will read my books this semester. I will serve you more this year. No sex for me this year. I’ll give all my time and energy to my business idea. Blah blah blah.

9 out of 10 times, we don’t even keep our promises till mid-January. After the first few weeks, everything flies out the window. It is okay to want to be better, set goals, turn a new leaf, but I think the concept of New Year resolutions is overhyped. I’ll tell you why.

If a person truly desires to make a resolution about his or her life, I don’t think they would wait for January first to do it.

So in 2019, instead of listing those things you know in your heart you probably will never do, why not set a definite goal? Don’t call it a resolution, call it a goal and map out strategic steps to achieve it.

A goal is the ongoing pursuit of a worthy objective until accomplished. Ongoing means it’s a process because goals take time. Pursuit indicates that a chase is involved. There will likely be some obstacles to overcome. Worthy shows that the chase will be worthwhile, there’s a big reward at the end to endure the tough times. Until accomplished suggests you’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish the set goal.

Instead of our usual litany of things to do and stop doing, why not choose one goal and give it all your energy?

Another mistake we often make is creating unclear goals, vague goals. I once had a New Year resolution to buy a car. I was 14 years old and in junior secondary school. Was it a reasonable goal for a 14-year-old? I think so. We’re supposed to dream big, right? But if you asked me then, how do you intend to accomplish this goal, I would have mumbled a bunch of good sounding gibberish because I always had an answer to everything. But I wouldn’t have had a clear answer. In creating goals, use this trick: Be more specific. When you write your goal down, tell yourself, Be more specific, then write your new answer. Keep repeating this until the goal is crystal clear and measurable. There are no such things as unrealistic goals, only unrealistic time frames. If I had said as a 14-year-old, “I’ll buy a car before I’m twenty-five,” that would have been more realistic, wouldn’t it?

Last tip for setting your 2019 New Year resolution (goals): What can you create using your unique talents? What do you do that other people find difficult? What opportunities exist in today’s marketplace for your area of exceptionality? I don’t know about you, but the New Year is about working smart, not hard.

About Chisom Winifred

Chisom Winifred is a creative writer with a flair for freelance articles. She’s currently a content creator for Blueafric Media where she also heads campaigns that focuses on brand introduction, positioning and promotion of its clients.
A red carpet and TV host, she was the red carpet host for Blueafric media at the just concluded 2017 AFRIFF. Reach out to Winifred on Chisomwinnifred.cw@gmail.com or her blog http://blueprintafric.com/

In self development February 4, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

JANE UDOKA: THE LITTLE THINGS OF LIFE THAT MATTERS

The world and life itself is a never ending maze filled with similar looking alleys called twists. Everyone constantly runs and walks through this maze searching for particular and specific life goals. For some, these goals maybe love, suitable life partners, stable income, friends or something as intricate as finding one’s true self. Truth is though, no one knows what she may find at the next corner and while life is generally that uncertain, and nothing can ever fully prepare us for it, there are certain things that can sure help along the way.

I’m and will always be a strong advocate for healthy friendships. Amazing friendships are almost a basic necessity of life. No man is an island they always say and if you want to go far in life, you have to learn to work alone some would also contradictorily say. Yes, I do believe them both, you know why? Because just as friends can be a strong help, they can also be your downfall if you happen to come across the wrong ones. Friends are family when you make the right ones, they’re the ones who’ll stretch out their hands and pull you up when it feels like you’re drowning. I’ll strongly say, in navigating this maze called life, get you, a great friend and be one too.

Your essence is something you have to find and stay true to. It’s amazing just how much people undermine this seemingly simple yet so important aspect of life. Your essence is your being, basically speaking it is who you are, what makes you who you are and anything that makes you tick. In the world of ever changing social trends and the glamour filled social media life, your essence is something that staying uncompromisingly true to, will help you navigate this maze. Understanding you are different from any other person, that you are unique and amazing and there’s no other person just like you will always help you find your path in this maze.

Self confidence and self preservation is yet another great help. Often times, along these alleys in this maze, you’ll find people that will seek to grow on you, or put you down just to help themselves in the process. That is when self confidence comes in, understanding that you’re worth so much more. Self preservation simply put means safeguarding your emotions and senses, sifting through yourself and gradually blocking that with disturbs your inner peace.

Inner drive is something that you definitely need in this journey, it’ll push you to always aim higher than the last achieved feat. It’ll be there, to push you and encourage you when you lose your way in the maze, it’ll be there to wake you up and seek ways to improve your life in the maze.

About Jane

21 year old Udoka Jane O is a trained Engineer, She is a professional freelance writer on Relationship and healthy lifestyles. Jane has written a number of mind engaging articles….

In self development January 31, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

QUEEN ESOHE IGBINOBA: 5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND STORIES

I want us to talk about 5 reasons you should communicate your brand stories.

First of all, I’ll like to clarify what brand storytelling is.

Brand Storytelling is a way of thinking and communicating a brand that puts a narrative at their very heart and thereby makes them both meaningful and compelling – for the audience and the brand.

Now that we understand what brand storytelling is, we need to understand how brand storytelling can help us achieve our communication goals

Usually, we have 5 major reasons for communicating our brand stories:

– Brand awareness and visibility

– Top of mind in our industry

– Communicate brand positioning

– Promote products and services

– Drive sales and conversions

There are a couple of strategies and tactics that can work for your brand, you need to find them and apply them to make your brand storytelling effective.

You need to understand that people are generally ‘’selfish’’.

They care ONLY about their problems and they are very preoccupied with finding solutions to those problems, hence, you need to do your market research and use social listening well, so you can immerse yourself in the lives of your ideal audience and know their pain points and challenges.

Once you do that, you need to think of solutions that provide UTILITY, CONVENIENCE, and MEANING.

Utility- solve a problem

Convenience – Save me time, money, stress

Meaning – provide me with a relevant solution that changes my life and helps me to be a better person.

Once your stories and solution do these 3 things, then you know that you are going to be successful at communicating your messages with influential storytelling.

About Esohe

Esohe Igbinoba is the Founder, The Global Brand Network. GBN is a brand management organization with a focus on teaching entrepreneurs the art of influential storytelling for attracting visibility and building an engaged audience so they can build profitable businesses. She helps them to achieve this through her unique system: The Influential Storytelling Formula. She has helped over 150 people in 10 countries. She helps them through her online school, GBN Business School where she offers one on one coaching programs, online courses and training programs.

You can connect with her on

Social media @queenesohe

Or send an email to esohe@queenesohe.com

Or on her website queenesohe.com

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