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We gathered advice from some of the most renowned voices when it comes to love and romance to find out what the signs of a truly healthy relationship are. We also discovered what to look out for to know that a relationship isn’t built to last and could be heading for a breakup.

Their Life Goals Are The Same

According to the experts at Psychology Today, a clear sign of a healthy relationship is two people sharing the same life goals: “You both know what you want out of life, what your common goals are… and are firmly committed to achieving these together.”

There is room for difference in a relationship, but not on the important matters like these.

They Respect Each Other’s Family And Friends

Being good to a person means nothing if you treat their family and friends poorly. Another sign of a healthy relationship is being on good terms with each other’s family and friends.

This shows that you’re willing to make an effort with the people in your partner’s life for the sake of your partner, even if you wouldn’t otherwise get along with them.

They Look Forward To Seeing Each Other

Los Angeles-based relationship expert Dr. Gary Brown told Elite Daily that looking forward to seeing each other is a sign that a relationship is happy and healthy.

Things like finding yourself “excited to make plans” with your partner and disappointed when you have to cancel show that the relationship is in a good place.

They’re Able To Spend Time Apart

A healthy relationship isn’t about spending every moment together. Dating experts agree that a couple should also be able to spend time apart doing things that are important to you as an individual.

If you’re able to spend time apart without getting jealous or possessive, it suggests that your relationship is going along smoothly.

 They Bounce Back From Arguing

Arguing in a relationship doesn’t mean it’s not healthy. All couples argue, whether they admit it or not. What’s important, according to Mind Body Green, is the ability to bounce back from fights.

“If you can resolve issues and move forward in your relationship, then you’re on the right track!” explains the wellness site.

They Accept Each Other The Way They Are

A big part of any healthy relationship is accepting the other person the way they are. While couples can support each other and help each other to grow, they ultimately need to be able to love each other unconditionally and embrace each other’s imperfections.

This isn’t always easy, but if you can do it, your relationship is probably in a better state than you thought.

They Maintain Their Own Identities

Too often, people lose all sense of self when they begin a relationship with someone else. According to Psychology Today, it’s a sign that your relationship is healthy if you can both keep your own identities while still putting time and effort into the relationship.

A relationship might be part of who you are, but it’s not the complete story.

They Contribute Equally To The Relationship

A healthy relationship requires both people to contribute equally. One-sided relationships tend to result in a lot of resentment, as well as feelings of entitlement.

Instead, each partner should be contributing what they can and putting an equal amount of time and effort in so that the relationship works.

They See Each Other In Their Futures

Black couple having a conversation at a cafe outdoors in the spring

According to Mind Body Green, your relationship is in a good place if you currently envision each other in your future. It’s even better if you can’t imagine your future without your partner.

For a long-term relationship, it’s obviously important to see yourself with that person in the long term, even past marriage and kids if that’s what’s in store for you.

They Encourage Each Other To Improve

Relationships are about accepting people for who they are and loving them anyway, but that doesn’t mean a couple can’t encourage each other to improve in various ways.

Psychology Today explains that when a relationship is healthy, two people “inspire each other” to be better people and encourage each other to grow and change.

They Connect On A Number Of Levels

There are more levels to a relationship than just physical or just emotional. A healthy relationship takes into account the various elements of a relationship at which two people should be able to connect.

A sign of a healthy relationship, according to Mind Body Green, is being able to bond with your partner spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually.

Their Communication Game Is Strong

Any relationship expert will tell you that a couple needs to be able to communicate efficiently to make things last.

You know that your relationship is in a good place when you can talk to each other about anything and know how to communicate your needs and wants without the fear of being judged or shut down.

They’re Able To Disagree Respectfully

A couple will always have arguments, so they need to know how to disagree with each other in a respectful way.

If they can disagree with each other without hurting each other’s feelings, and accept that sometimes they’re going to feel differently about things, it’s a sign that they’re in a good place.

There’s A Sense Of Peace Between Them

Mind Body Green explains that there should be a sense of peace between two people in a relationship. Your partner should bring you comfort and happiness, not stress and anxiety.

If you are overrun by negative emotions when you’re with them, it’s a sign that the relationship isn’t healthy.

They Trust Each Other, No Matter What

Trust is a non-negotiable part of being in a relationship. When your relationship is in a good state, you should trust each other to be there and support one another.

You can also trust your partner to stay loyal to you, keep your secrets, and follow through with their promises.

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The Women Elite Sports Empowerment Initiative (WESIE) was founded in 2012 by Miss Funke E. Adeniji who began playing basketball in her teens and was able to overcome a series of athletic and personal challenges to work her way up from collegiate level basketball in the UK to division 1, the UK’s premiere league for women. Her hunger to learn and improve as a player led to a brief stint in Australia, after which she returned to the UK to play for the Sheffield Hatters whom she helped win back to back championships.

Whilst experiencing some success, the series of challenges she faced on her journey led her to conclude that many women have limited options and opportunities to achieve their full potential as players; this realization would change her life forever. She decided to set up WESIE and qualify as a basketball coach with the aim of creating opportunities on and off the court for female athletes to achieve their full potential.

Her experience as a clinical pharmacist with an interest in Global Health Policies has also made her especially sensitive to current health challenges being faced by millions across the globe within the context of struggling health care systems, especially across Africa. While attending an international health conference she realized that she could easily combine her efforts to help women excel in sport whilst creating a platform upon which to improve the health and wellbeing of participants and their wider communities, starting with Nigeria. There is an immense passion for WESIE events in Nigeria and they have become an effective health intervention tool there. Nigerian women, and African women as a whole, face the same challenges that women in sports all over the world face but the problems are magnified due to weaker infrastructure and a lack of government support. By creating local opportunities for these women to excel and reap the full benefits of sports within their own communities WESIE is empowering these women in their communities.

Many of the young women who participate are considered a high risk group for diseases such as HIV so WESIE events have served as an effective mobilising and interactive tool to deliver health & well-being messages.

WESIE was founded with the motto ‘To Inspire, Empower, and Enable’ to encourage communities to live healthy and productive lives, the WESIE founder recently published ‘Truth About Health Exposed’ a holistic health guide to support people in their quest to live healthy. Alongside it she hosts a podcast called ‘The Ma Titia Podcast’ under the name of “Ma Titia” (which means teacher in the Efik tribe of Nigeria), in which she addresses trending topics in health as well as the issues outlined in her book. Proceeds of the book and related activities will go towards furthering the WESIE vision and outreach capacity.

 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has received a “Woman of the Decade” award from the Nigerian newspaper THISDAY on the paper’s 25th anniversary. She was selected as the editors’ choice, while the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and former Federal Minister of Environment Amina J. Mohammed was named the people’s choice.

The award was presented to her by Nigerian Legendary poet and playwright, John Pepper Clark.

The writer wrote:

“JP Clark’s poetry means a lot to me — (and to my character Obinze in AMERICANAH!)⁣
⁣Thank you to @thisdaynewspaper for naming me ‘Woman of the Decade.’ I was delighted to have the award presented by JP Clark.⁣” She said as she shared photos on Instagram.

“The thing about being recognised is that it is not the reason one does what one does, but it is always wonderful to get that validation,” Adichie said. “It means that somebody is saying to you, ‘what you do matters,’ and it is a wonderful feeling. As a Nigerian, it is an even more wonderful feeling to be recognised by my own people. Thanks to the editors at THISDAY and everyone involved in the voting process for the honour of being named ‘Woman of the Decade’ alongside UN Deputy Secretary General, Ms Amina J Mohammed who I admire very much. Congratulations to the entire THISDAY team on your silver jubilee.”

The writer,  was earlier named to THISDAY‘s list of “20 Women Who Will Shape Events in Nigeria in 2020,” alongside Amina J Mohammed, former Minster of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, First Lady Aisha Buhari, and pop singer Tiwa Savage.

Women of Rubies congratulates Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Nigerian Rinsola Babajide has won the Liverpool FC Women’s Team Player of the Month for January.

The latter saw Babajide’s standout performance as she scored two goals in each half and took her season’s total to seven, coring four goals all of which came against Blackburn Rovers Ladies in an 8-1 win. She played all the three matches played by Liverpool last month,

Babajide, can represent Nigeria as well as England due to her dual citizenship,

The 21-year-old, a natural winger who can also play as a central striker, said: “I’m really honoured to be Player of the Month and thanks to all the fans that voted.

“I feel like our performances have been getting better all the time and two back-to-back wins show that. Now we need another three points and that would be massive for us.”

“It was the volley [past Blackburn] for me, though I’m not sure which one the fans enjoyed most,” she said about her favorite career goal.

“We just needed to hit the back of the net because we’ve been playing well without scoring so it’s a confidence boost for all of us.”

Exquisite Magazine is starting the year by drawing strength from the amazing story of its magazine cover which features the amazing Busola Dakolo, nicknamed “The Voice of Courage“.

In this issue, Busola Dakolo who is a photographer graced the cover of the magazine looking absolutely stunning, as she shared her journey to finding her voice in the midst of adversity.⁣⁣⁣

The cover celebrates the photographer for her strength and courage to speak up after her rape incident, which definitely helped a lot of other women going through similar situations to find the strength to speak up as well.

Photo Credit:⁣⁣
Photographer@mike_kure⁣⁣
Art Director/Styling@infoworldcharming ⁣⁣
Assist Stylist@davidstarr_ ⁣⁣
Makeup@ceeyonceemua ⁣⁣
Hair Stylist@highdtosin ⁣⁣
Jewelry: @obidiiya⁣⁣
Outfit@ladybeellionaire_luxury ⁣⁣⁣⁣
Fascinators@enemaya_stores

Television personality, actress, author, businesswoman Lala Anthony shares boss moves.

From her humble roots hosting on MTV segments, the TV personality has transformed into a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur.

She recently sat down with InStyle to discuss her business ventures and offering gems of wisdom to young business-minded women looking to follow in her footsteps.

La La, success was not rooted in material possession but a desire to change her circumstances. She explains in the interview that her non-stop grind from the not wanting to be broke. “My mom always made it work with whatever she had to keep our family together, even when she was a single parent,” she tells InStyle. “That’s why my goal in life was always to not be broke. It wasn’t about having a career; I didn’t even know I wanted to do. But I knew what being broke felt like and I never wanted to have that feeling again.”

10 million followers later, La La has become very successful in her own right but that didn’t come easily. It was about timing and not being afraid to burn some bridges along the way.

“It took time to get to a place where outside validation wasn’t important,” she said. “Plus, I’m a people pleaser, and I wanted everyone to like me and be my friend. I used to let people run all over me because I didn’t want to ruffle an feathers, but I learned that in order to do what’s best for yourself, sometime that’s necessary.”

In 2015, La La released her book, “The Power Playbook: Rule of Independence, Money, and Success”, that offers lots of savvy tips for readers looking to transform their business and how to thrive in your career.

At age 38, the accomplished mother of one is more than a basketball wife but being a mother is still one of greatest accomplishments. “Kiyan is the best thing that ever happened to me,” she says. “He’s what I’m most proud of. Having him is the most badass thing I’ve ever done, so I definitely feel most powerful when I’m in mom mode.”

 

Source: Because Of Them We Can

Black female financial gurus are breaking barriers in the personal finance realm. They serve as role models to women everywhere, especially women of color. There’s something inspirational about seeing someone who looks like you achieve the same goal that you want to achieve. Their visibility consistently gives me the motivation to meet my own financial goals because if they can, why can’t I?

These female gurus have helped me in more ways than one because they’ve helped change my money habits and serve as inspiration. I am a regular on their sites, a fan of their books and a member of some of their Facebook groups. Surrounding myself with role models, resources and other women interested in reaching financial goals will surely feed your ambition for financial independence, as it does for me.

Bola Sokunbi, Clever Girl Finance

Photo via CleverGirlFinance

Bola Sokunbi is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, money expert, and a best-selling author of Clever Girl Finance. Her main goal is to help women save money, build real wealth, maintain accountability, and ditch debt. Bola offers a financial education program that provides financial guidance and empowers women. Join Bola at Clever Girl Finance! In our recent interview with Vanessa Ideh, she mentioned Bola Sokunbi as one of the people that inspired her to start Launch To Wealth, a YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers.

Michelle Singletary, The Color of Money

Photo via MichelleSingletary.com

Michelle Singletary is a personal finance columnist. She pens The Color of Money, a recurring column in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. She is also the author of three personal finance books, a television host, and has appeared on NPR. Subscribe for weekly newsletters to learn how to spend well and live rich!

​Kara Stevens, The Frugal Feminista

Photo via TheFrugalFeminista.com

Kara Stevens is determined to help black women step into their financial confidence and eradicate their debt. She has worked with thousands of women as a consultant, speaker, writer, and coach. Be happy. Be healthy. Be brave with Kara!

Patrice Washington, Chase Purpose, Not Money

Photo via PatriceWashington.com

Patrice Washington is a financial expert who is redefining wealth. She helps women to live their life’s purpose, find fulfillment, and earn more without chasing money. Patrice is a number one best-selling author and has appeared on dozens of popular media outlets, such as the Steve Harvey Show and Dr. OzSubscribe to her newsletter and podcast to live in your purpose!

​Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista

Photo via TheBudgetnista.com

Tiffany Aliche is an award-winning financial educator whose mission is to empower women and provide them with resources to create a better life. Her financial movement has helped over 800,000 women and eradicated $75 million in debt. She is a blogger, podcaster, and she has even helped change the legislature in New Jersey (The Budgetnista Law). Join her Live Richer Academy!

​Marsha Barnes, The Finance Bar

Photo via Brown Ambition Podcast

Marsha Barnes is a Certified Financial Social Worker, financial educator, and financial commentator. Marsha aims to build your financial confidence. She believes in financial education for all and she even has a financial literacy bus! Join her Members Club!

Dominique Broadway, Finances Demystified

Photo via Financesdemystified.com/

Dominique Broadway is an award-winning financial planner, personal finance coach, speaker, finance expert, entrepreneur and the Founder of Finances De·mys·ti·fied & The Social Money Tour. She has a passion for helping young professionals, entrepreneurs, and people of all ages achieve their dreams. Join her Bootcamp!

​Kendra James, The Finance Femme

Photo via The Finance Femme

Kendra James is a virtual CFO and business manager. Kendra specializes in building a structure and financial strategies for business women that are ready to take their business to the next level. She offers a podcast, consultations, coaching for accounting professionals and a virtual CFO service. Sign up for her services!

​Melissa Boutin, Your Money Worth

Photo via YourMoneyWorth.com

Melissa is both a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and a money coach. She specializes in helping Caribbean and American Millennials rid themselves of debt, so they can live the life of their dreams! Join her Money Massive Crew for financial hacks, money tips, scholarship alerts and more!

Dasha Kennedy, The Broke Black Girl

Photo via The Broke Black Girl

Dasha Kennedy is a millennial financial coach who is helping women of color get ahead. She is the founder of the Broke Black Girl Facebook group, filled with over 60,000 women. She consults with clients about money management, female entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Dasha aims to improve black financial literacy within the community. Keep up with Dasha here!

Read more on xonecole.com

Mercy Aigbe and Fathia are entering the new month with a dance. Looking georgiously dressed and ready for owambe both women looked happy.

Sharing a video of them dancing,single mum of two, Mercy Aigbe, wrote:

“Mood cos it’s a new month…
May the Unlimited Grace of God continue to be with y’all… welcome to the month of greatness! Happy new month guys!!!!”

Check out the joyful video of the beautiful actresses dancing below:

It shall be a good month!

Its the much acclaimed season of love again – Valentine!. No matter what your plans are going to be, getting your partner a gift is the really good way to spark your relationship up.

Hey ladies and mums especially, your man would love it, don’t wait, do this and he will know how you feel about him.

You lack ideas, well here are some really cool gifts to consider;

1. Wristwatch

No man is the same, but this is something 80% of them would love. They always need this, you only need to know his preferred collection, leather or not, and you’re good.

2. Wireless Earpods

This is quite out of the box, he will love your thoughtfulness. Men love it when a woman is updated. This is handy.

3. Shaving Set

This shows how caring you are to think this far. After all the kids get most of their needs like this met. And him, why not.

4. Sport or gym wear

This would always stick because even without your presence he will feel you close and when sweaty, the clothes will stick to his skin bringing your thoughts too.

5. Perfume

This brings gratitude, every man will appreciate any woman who wants them feeling great. Good perfume creates that aura. And they also have your memory with them wherever they go.

6. Socks

Yes, best bet he will love it. This is something simple and thoughtful.

7. Cufflinks

This is so relevant for his clothes like earrings are to us. He can never have too much of it.

7.Ties

This is a good idea for the cooperate husband. If he is into ties then he would be glad.

8. Video games

Not every man plays games though. But the passion and commitment most guys show to sports, video games will make them love you even more.

9. Shirts

This might be an obvious gift choice but all you have to do is buy the type he likes, and you’ll put a smile on his face.

10.Belts

Does he sag ? I guess not either he can’t have too many belts. Add to his collection.

11.Wallet

He uses this so much, so this is a great one. Not so many men change this often.

12.Books

If your man is a reader, then you’re doing the right thing for his thought pattern. Get one from the writer or genre he loves.

Have a deserving Valentine with the love of your life Queens!