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Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw has reacted to claims that celebrities are being paid to say COVID-19 is real in Nigeria.

Henshaw shared her painful experience on her Instagram page after she went for COVID-19 test.

To her surprise, a fan responded saying celebrities were paid by Nigerian government to say coronavirus is real.

The actress who seemed infuriated by the comment wrote: “COVID-19 test is uncomfortable make I no lie. I was already in tears because this @NseIkpeEtim told me it was painful.

“ Someone commented on my Instagram saying” all these celebrities that have been paid to say there is COVID-19, God will judge you.

“If I land am better curse now, shay they will say Kate has started again inside blogs. I just blocked the person and moved on. COVID-19 IS REAL!!

With the global work from home experience still going on in most parts of the world five months and counting, there have been quite a few discussions in business publications such as Forbes or Harvard Business Review around management styles and what makes a good manager. A few characteristics come up over and over again – taking ownership, accepting accountability, leading by example, showing empathy, having emotional intelligence are some of the characteristics many leaders seem to share.

As a manager, who’s got a range of management experience over the years from having just one report to managing teams of 10-15 people, I am always keen to work on my shortcomings as well as identifying and honing my strengths. Brutally honest with my flaws, I am also quick to look back on years of experience and remember times where I felt despicably short of leading in positive ways.

Likewise, I like looking back to the managers I’ve had over the years and how they have excelled or miserable failed in their management of others or me. I am a huge fan of the thinking that people come into our lives for a reason, or a season or a blessing, and when it comes to managers, I’ve had my share of the lot, and with each article I read on management, I can’t help but reminisce on the ones I’ve endured and what I learned from it all.

Cherry the Bully
She was the Head of English and Head of Sixth Form at my first work place where I joined as a rookie English teacher. I was just 23, she was nearing retirement; yet instead of taking me under her wing and showing me ropes, she would often bully me, give me the worst classes, stand outside my classroom to make a list of all my failings as a new, unqualified teacher to report back to my students’ parents. One day, she shouted at me in front of a whole teacher’s room of colleagues because I’d taken papers home to mark – a common practice for her and everyone else but suddenly when it was me, it was a fire hazard. It was a tough time to endure but for a long time after I knew no matter how bad a working environment got, it could never get as bad as enduring Cherry, the bully.

The Karen
Her name was really Karen, and she was the ur Karen long before Karen became Karen. Entitled as her mother had been working as the headteacher’s PA, Karen considered herself an authority on anything without much substance to support her arrogance. Karen went from a secondary school teacher to Head of Department through no other virtue than pushing her way in so she could throw her weight about. While claiming to be an authority on the English language almost daily, she would almost daily discover something new about the subject she fancied herself an expert on. If anything, Karen through those five years I endured her made me not take people in positions of power at face value and challenge them where I think they are out of their depth.

Ade
Let’s call her Ade, shall we? As over the years, some Ades have come and gone through the revolving doors of my work life. Ade was sickly sweet when she was happy – you could do no wrong if you’d done something to please her and you could ride on the wave of achievement for a few hours, days or weeks – depending on how soon something would happen, or often some criticism given by her ‘nearest and dearest’ to tip the balance. Never mind the fact that the said nearest and dearest didn’t have any expertise on what they were criticising, but somehow, their word would be the gospel and all too soon you will fall from favour and become the most useless employee who couldn’t do anything right.

Another flaw with Ade was her impatience; once crossed, she had a nasty temper. Imagine a woman screaming like a banshee as a seasoned London cabby about why he should be going into a pedestrian street because it was raining and she possibly couldn’t get wet. I had to walk away when finally after months of sleepless nights of working around the clock I too got shouted at for not delivering a document she had asked for within the hour. My excuse? I had just come out of invasive surgery and should have been off work to recuperate – it just didn’t cut it with Ade.
To be continued…

Toyin Abraham is out with a new vlog on YouTube Channel, and this time she’s talking about choosing the right career.

Choosing the right career can be difficult, but having a defined career direction will help you with getting a job. But with a little hard work, some planning, and some serious self-reflection, you can set yourself on a path towards a fruitful, fulfilling career.

Watch the vlog below:

People seem to believe that they can simply think their way straight to success. They mistakenly believe that if they just think about their dreams often enough and vividly enough that–poof!–They’ll just seem to come true.

But life is not a magic trick.

If you told a starving child in Africa who had not have a single meal in five days to use the Law of Attraction to manifest a meal for themselves, how well do you think it would work out for them?

Clearly, there’s more to it than envisioning what you want.

If you want to know what it really takes to achieve your greatest goals and ambitions, then here’s a list of steps that will outline how to use the Law of Attraction the proper way.

  1. Focus Your Thoughts in the Direction of Your Dreams

If you were to take a pebble and toss it into a pond, what happens?

As soon as the pebble strikes the surface of the water, you get a series of ripples or waves, which spread outwards in a circular direction, until they get to the shoreline and seem to stop.

The larger the pebble, the larger the ripples. The larger the pebble, the higher the waves.

Two stones of different sizes and weights tossed in at the same time, at different places but in close proximity, will both create a series of ripples, which will eventually merge with one another…

When the two sets of ripples converge, there seems to be a bit of a struggle as to which one overcomes or passes the other.

As far as the human eye can see, if the ripples are the same size, both seem to stop or merge when they collide.

But if one set of ripples is larger than the other, the larger set sweeps over the smaller set and creates waves in the wake of the smaller ripples.

Let’s consider this analogy in relation to our own thought-patterns and mental impulses…

Imagine you’ve got two stones in each hand.

The stone in your left hand is labeled, “failure”

The stone in your right hand is labeled, “success”

The weight of each stone is in direct proportion to the amount of *thought* you give its label.

So… How heavy are your stones?

If your “failure” stone is heavier, then its ripples will simply stop or takeover the ripples created by your stone labeled “success.”

But if your “success” stone is heavier, then that will be the one that takes over.

  1. Put Some Actions Where Your Thoughts Are

Many people make the mistake of looking at the Law of Attraction as if it were a stand-alone solution to making their dreams a reality. They believe that they can make a vision board and use positive thinking to achieve success.

But these folks need a wake-up call, because positive thinking is not enough. It will never be enough.

If we THINK positive, but we still FEEL negative, then how will we ACT?

Your thoughts, actions and feelings are like a three-legged stool. Positive thinking is powerful, but only when we think of it as one of the three necessary legs that reinforces the stool we’re sitting on.

If we don’t want the stool to wobble or break, we’ve got to make sure we give each leg the care it needs to keep us from falling down and getting hurt.

The key here, with making the Law of Attraction work for you, is to focus on being as congruent as possible between your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

What’s the best way to do that?

First, remember that the way you THINK has got to be in line with the way you ACT. Because the way you act is going to have an impact on the way you FEEL.

And the way you feel is going to help reinforce the way you think, or it’s going to help you re-examine the way you think. Which is going to circle right back around into helping you decide the way you choose to act in any given situation.

The Bottom Line

It’s not the Law of Attraction or positive thinking alone that drives our success in life — it’s about being in positive congruence between the way we think, act, and feel that drives our success in life… And at the very least, keeps us from falling off the stool.

If we want to make big things happen, we’ve got to take action.

This is the kind of headline you see and get a panic attack, especially if you have been working so hard and trying to keep hope alive! I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I have seen it so much and experienced it myself after working with over 5,000 small businesses either in a training, coaching or consulting capacity. I hear the hope in their voices, see the eagerness in their eyes, maybe just maybe they are about to create a business that will change the game from their kitchen to Wall Street like Carols daughter. I don’t have the heart to tell them it is not going to happen, so I decided to write an article and tell you (now I am not talking to anyone directly, but I am talking to everyone who needs to hear!) These are the reasons:

1. The danger of a single channel: God bless Instagram! Maker of millennial millionaires and torture to generation Xers who can’t seem to get a hang of how to translate this single channel to millions. The next time I have a strategy session with a generation Xer who laments to me about their lack of business growth due to an inability to monetize Instagram, I am probably going to pull my hair out!

Instagram is an amazing social media channel to reach customers and it should be harnessed. However if you are looking to scale your business in a Country where over 70 percent of transactions are still done off line, you have to explore multiple channels to reach your customers.

Go where your customers are and believe me, they are in multiple places aside from Instagram. (I share more details about channels in my new book small to scale. Details on how you can get the e-book for free is at the end)

If that’s your only marketing channel, surely you are neglecting 70% of your market and you want to scale?

2. Your money is our money: after paying school fees from my business revenues, I am low on cash flow! Alas this was the lament of a client who was the breadwinner in her home. Can you blame her? Her Children have to go to school, after all why was she working so hard… 95% of businesses in Nigeria are micro businesses and they struggle to grow because they are really just vehicles for the business owner to take care of their family needs. I am sure you have heard several times that you should separate your business finance from your personal finance and instead pay yourself a salary. But how many of us are practicing this strictly? How do we grow or scale a business when we keep eroding the capital to meet our personal needs?
I know, I know, it’s not your fault. It’s the state of the economy and other life realities….

3. Doing it the way they do it: hey ‘Tale, have you noticed that XYZ Company seems to be making a lot of money? Really, I replied. How do you know? Well, they just bought a new bus or opened a new store. This is how “Me too” strategy is killing a lot of small businesses who are attempting to copy others without really knowing what is happening behind the scenes.

There is nothing wrong with bench marking with your industry colleagues, but making major business changes or decisions based on something you heard or think you understand is unreliable. Your business decisions should be driven by a clear strategy and not by trying to do it the way they do it without clear direction.

4. I can do “bad” all by myself: one of the greatest tests I have seen small businesses fail is the hiring test. I know the excuses…I can’t afford to hire the type or quality of staff that I need, so I will do everything by myself. Okay it might not be an excuse, it is your reality right? Some years ago, one of my clients hired a COO who earned twice the salary of the CEO. I had to ask why that decision was made. I was told that the person came with many years of experience working in a multinational and that they wanted their small business to grow and operate at that standard. Suffice to say, the business experienced exponential growth in a few short years. The next question I am usually asked is; what if I make the wrong hiring decision? My response is; like in everything in life, correct your mistake quickly, learn from it and hire right the next time. However what I see a lot of businesses doing is returning to status quo. At least I will have one less person to pay the business owners rationalizes, how about the loss of revenues from trying to do it all by yourself and dropping the ball?

5. Planting an oak tree in a flower pot: the thought of the analogy sounds ridiculous right? But that’s what I see so many small business owners trying to do! People want to build million dollar factories with a few hundred thousand naira and expect that by some miracle and pure resilience, things would translate as such. I am not saying you shouldn’t start small, I am a big advocate of starting small and scaling.

I am currently building my third business with the principle of starting small, however what is different is the approach and the structure that would ensure that it scales. When you want to build a business that will scale, you build it with that mindset from day one. This will include your vision, your business structure, your capital structure, your business model and your team.

You have to lay the right foundation for the type of building you want to construct. If you have laid the foundation for a bungalow and you attempt to build an eight story building on it, do you know what will happen? Then you know why many small businesses won’t scale….

Learn how to avoid these mistakes in my new book- “Small to scale-The blueprint for transforming your small business into a high growth company” I am giving it out for free in ebook format to the first 10,000 people who subscribe to join the waitlist of our new finance matching and business support platform-Owoafara. Join at www.owoafara.com/join

The Social activist, and convener of several development projects took to her social media page  few days ago to announce her new initiative “Get Talking with Esther”. The multi-award winning author and columnist said the show is aimed at helping people find their voice and communicate their thoughts through words, and promote positivity on social media.
Esther started her career over 10 years ago as a social activist, and she has since taken her gift to other areas, doing humanitarian work and giving hope to the helpless and downtrodden in the society. Her Initiatives include; Walk against rape, Women of Rubies, Men who Inspire and Rubygirls, all under the umbrella of Rubies Ink Initiative.
According to Esther; “ I am very expressive, I love to write and read from people, I love to celebrate people and give them hope, I love when I can feel people’s thoughts through words, and “Get talking with Esther” is just about that.  A #Tweetchat session that will give you the ambience of a show.
Basically, using my platform, years of experience, and skillset for social good to give everyone a voice. We are going to be fixing broken tables, Bringing “Under the table” conversations to the front burner for positivity. Sharing life experiences, healing and learning.
The show kicks off on August 8th, with family therapist and life coach; Praise Fowowe as the first guest.
Those who follow the chats have the opportunity of winning free gifts, food, and cash prizes weekly. #GetTalkingwithEsther is supported by Greenbliss Apartments and Abimbola Oki’s Dpotters Catering services.
To get more scoop on the initiative, kindly follow @estherijewere and Tweet using #GettalkingwithEsther
Click this link to follow and be part of the show  https://twitter.com/EstherIjewere?s=09

Do you want to have a flawless skin? Do you love women with flawless skin? Do you wish to be like them?

Are you tired of paying huge sums of money for body soaps and creams? Do you want to be the toast of others because of your skin as you step out?

You need to read this article. If you want to have a flawless skin, take these tips to heart:

  1. Wash your face before you go to bed. Don’t wear makeup to bed. You are not doing your face any good if you do that all the time.
  2. Use a moisturizer. Your skin needs a good moisturizer to glow. You need yourself natural skin glow to be the envy of other people. Get a moisturizer with Sun Protection SPF.
  3. Don’t scrub your skin too hard. Be gentle with your skin. Over scrubbing your skin can make your skin red and irritable
  4. Eat good food and get regular exercise. Don’t load your body with junk food. Eat lots of fruits, protein and vegetables. Consume real food and do away with fast-food and sodas.
  5. Exfoliate your skin to remove the layers of dead skin cells and dirt that are blocking your pores and your skin’s natural glow. Get exfoliating products that contain alpha hydroxy and lactic acids for your skin.
  6. Make sure you clean your phone regularly. Your phone picks up lots of bacteria, which can be transferred to your face when you make a phone call. Wipe your screen with an anti-bacterial wipe often to get rid of germs.
  7. Stop touching your face. Touching your face all the time might be the reason for those blemishes on your cheek or jaw. Germs get transferred to your hands from touching other things.
  8. Change your pillowcase. If you don’t use clean pillowcase often, your skin can suffer breakouts. Your pillowcases carry dirt and sweat from your hair, hands, and beauty products you use.
  9. Wash your makeup brushes every week with brush cleanser or baby shampoo. Your makeup tools can accumulate bacteria, which can lead to breakouts.
  10. Don’t forget to use skin protection. You shouldn’t reserve using sunscreen only when the weather is hot — your skin needs protection all the time.

There are sunscreens for every skin type. Get the one that help make your skin less oily, so that your face remains matte and pimple-free.

Source: Feminine.com.ng

We can all feel stuck at times in our emotions. They can be so strong that they literally dominate our thoughts and it can be hard to focus on anything else. God gives us a way to deal with tough emotions and that it through prayer. Let’s  look at 5 emotions we can all face and how you can turn your heart to God.

When you’re feeling worried….

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Write down everything you are worried about. Write down everything you feel grateful for.  Pray about each worry. Thank God for everything you feel grateful for.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7

God’s promise is that by turning to prayer, he can take our worries away and actually give us peace!

When you’re feeling afraid…

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. God wants us to tell him all our fears and share all our feelings with him.

PSALM 34:4

God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears. [5] Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him.

When your heart is sad and angry

What relationships in your life cause you pain and sadness? Who do you feel bitter towards? Pray about the hurt, sadness, and pain you feel that is making you angry.

When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day. Do not give the devil a way to defeat you. Share the anger with God and ask him to help you let go of it.

Pray about how the anger hurts relationships and allows Satan to defeat you and divide relationships.

PSALM 73:21

God can help us  deal with our pain and sadness. He can help us overcome bitterness when that is our response to the pain.

When you’re feeling jealous…

Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood, but no one can put up with jealousy! Who do you have jealousy towards? Admit jealousy to God in prayer and how it hurts, divides, and distances your  relationships. Peace of mind means a healthy body, but jealousy will rot your bones.

PROVERBS 14:30

Pray about how jealousy harms you, how it makes you unhappy or depressed because you always feel like other people have it better than you.

When you’re feeling disappointed…

It is sad not to get what you hoped for. But wishes that come true are like eating fruit from the tree of life. What disappointments have you experienced in your life? Take time to share those things with God.

PROVERBS 13:12

Disappointment affects our hearts more than we realize.

Challenge:

Decide everyday to take time to journal out your feelings to God (each of ones listed above). Take time to pray through those feelings everyday along with scriptures that help you understand God’s perspective on those emotions.

Photocredit ; http://thehoustonblackpages.com/

By: Esther Ijewere

Email: Esther@womenofrubies.com

Twitter & Instagram : @estherijewere

Facebook: Esther Ijewere

***Esther Is a Social Activist, Writer, Author Columnist and the Editor in Chief of Women of Rubies.

In a commencement speech to the graduating student, former anchor, TV show host, and actor Oprah Winfrey urged the students to understand, appreciate, and execute their will to become ‘successful’ in life.
While the speech was tailored to inspire the fresh batch of graduates, looking to enter the world of adults and make their marks, certain aspects of Oprah’s  speech hold value for all of us.

  1. Alignment between who you are and what you do

“It is understanding that there is an alignment between who you are and what you do, is what authentic empowerment is.” it is imperative that your work becomes an extended version of who you are—it will push you to do what you do- all the better.

2. Fulfilment, the major definition of success

“…How to be used in the greater service to life. Ask this question and the answer will be returned and rewarded to you with fulfilment, which is the major definition of success, to me.”
To Oprah, fulfilment is directly synonymous with her idea of success. Citing her own experience, she states that one can only understand fulfilment, if they don’t have to approach another for the answer to their questions. It is only when they can fend for themselves, when they become self-reliant, they begin to emerge as the winner in their own stories. While seeking help and recommendations, we often forget that we are our greatest support-system. Next time you need help, look inwards. More often than not, you’ll find that you had the solution all along.

3. Listen to your inner-self

“Everybody has what I call this instinct, this inner voice. Every decision I’ve ever made that led me to the right space and place in my life, I got there because I relied on that inner voice.”
When Oprah made the decision of leaving the network to go launch her own show, she knew that she was taking a huge risk. She knew that she might fall flat on her face. However, as she said in her speech, she had this inner-voice urging her on, telling her that this was the right thing to do. And so she listened to it, and as a result, she is now one of the richest women in the world. All of us wrestle with making the ‘correct decisions’, no matter how big or small. There is always the possibility that we could make a huge mistake. However, we all have that voice in our head, telling us what we need to do. And more often than not, it helps us make some of the best decisions of our lives.

4. What is your intention?
“I decided that the notion of intention, knowing why you want to do something, not just doing it but understanding the why behind the doing, could also change the paradigm for every show.” Adding to this in a different speech, she said: “The reason we were number one for 25 solid years is because we intended to be.”
Inspired by the works of Gary Zukav, one of the greatest influences in her life, Oprah says that without intention, life never picks up and success becomes a far-off dream. However, when you intend to make something of your work, your ambitions, and your dreams, it pays off and you get where you need to be.
Oprah passionately believes that listening to her own desires and acting upon them with great intention got her where she is today. Maybe it’s time, you try the same.

Often times, children (especially the younger ones) may not have the ability to verbalize their feelings. As a parent, it is your duty to observe them carefully for any signs of stress. Stress symptoms may be long or short – it all depends on the severity of the situation.

As a parent, you would have gone through one difficult situation or the other – but when it comes to your kids, you sometimes might not have an idea on how to help them cope with difficult circumstances.

Life will always have its ups and downs and the earlier kids know how to cope in these kinds of situations, the better for them. The first thing to do when something negative happens is to answer their questions – this helps them understand what’s happening and teach them how to cope in the future.

Often times, children (especially the younger ones) may not have the ability to verbalize their feelings. As a parent, it is your duty to observe them carefully for any signs of stress. Stress symptoms may be long or short – it all depends on the severity of the situation.

Stress symptoms may include one or a combination of the following:

  • There may be changes in eating, sleeping, or bathroom habits
  • Children may experience increased separation anxiety
  • They may experience bad dreams
  • Crying spells
  • Kids may become withdrawn
  • Increased aggressive behavior or unnecessary tantrums

How can you help your children cope with stress? Here’s what you can do:

  • Encourage kids to express their feelings. Allow them to express whatever it is they’re experiencing and let them know it is okay to feel the way they do.
  • Ensure that they follow routines as much as possible. In addition, ensure they eat healthy meals and rest adequately.
  • For older kids, allow them read books that’ll teach them about characters in stressful situations – they will learn how to cope.
  • Encourage your kids to exercise. Simple exercises such as dancing, walking and swimming can help reduce the effect of stress.

If a child isn’t adjusted properly and is still showing signs of stress after a long period of time, it is in the best interest of the child that you seek professional advice immediately.

Helping Children Deal with Traumatic Events

In traumatic situations, children often react in different ways, depending on their personality. While some continue as though nothing happened, some may experience sadness or worse still, depression. If your child is experiencing difficulty, it is important that they are provided with the love and stability to help them process and overcome the situation.

Here are some guidelines to help you:

Answer children’s questions

The aftermath of an accident or dramatic incident may leave children with a lot of questions. Just like us, kids also need their feelings acknowledged, as well as an opportunity to talk about their feelings. Also, ensure that your explanation of the event matches the child’s developmental understanding.

Reassure them as much as you can

Physical contact such as holding and hugging not only reassures your little one, it’s also a great way to help your child feel safe. In addition, you can help the child feel better about the situation and provide comfort without giving wrong information or false hopes. For example, saying “I am sure everything is going to be fine” will help to put your child’s mind to rest.

Remain observant

Ensure that you keep a watchful eye on your child even as their thoughts and feelings about the situation evolves. Listen to them, ask questions and continue to reassure them as much as you can. Most importantly, give them the opportunity to express themselves.

Remember that life comes with its challenges and it’s your duty as a parent to teach and show your child(ren) how to go through life by handling these difficult situations positively.