10 Millionaire Habits to Start Making Serious Money Soon and Build Wealth in a Hurry

1. Always add value.

Value makes the world go round. Everyone wants to get value out of an exchange. The most successful entrepreneurs in the world know that if you're going to make lots of money, then you need to always be adding value. Always seek to add more value to whatever services, information or products you're selling.

Related: Cutting Your Price Has No End But Adding Value Has No Limits

2. Wake up early.

The early morning hours are replete with quiet solitude. It's when you can refine your thoughts and implement your plans before all the distractions of the day. If you are constantly dealing with interruptions throughout your day, find your happy place in the morning. Wake up early so you can plan whatever will advance you toward your goals.

Related: The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get up Early

3. Exercise

Making money isn't just about implementing good career or business habits. You need to be fit emotionally and physically to fire on all pistons. Exercise in the morning, even if briefly. Exercising gets the blood flowing and oxygenation to the cells, helping you to think clearly and be laser-focused. This habit is implemented by some of the world's richest entrepreneurs.

Related: Exercise Is One Thing Most Successful People Do Everyday

4. Daily goal setting.

You have your long-term goals in place but, if you're looking to make serious money and quickly, you have to set goals every single day. These are milestones on your way to your biggest and most outlandish goals. Do this when you wake up, first thing in the morning, so that you stay on track and on target. Decide what will move you closer to those financial goals by the end of the day, then go out there and do it.

Related: Is Goal Setting Missing From Your Daily Routine? (Infographic)

5. Effective time management

Everyone in this world has the same amount of time. The 24 hours of each day is life's greatest equalizer. It doesn't matter what we do, where we're from or how much money we have, we all have the same amount of time.

Effective time management is a must for those looking to get ahead. Whether your goal is to earn a lot of money over time or you just need to earn a little bit of extra cash quickly, properly managing your finite time is what makes it possible to succeed.

Related: 20 Quick Tips for Better Time Management

6. Networking

Networking is one of the most important habits to have in life. The sayings go, your network is your net worth, and if you lie down with dogs, you'll definitely come up with fleas. Reach out to others and find out what you can do to add value to their world. Don't ask for anything in return, especially not right away. Just insert yourself into the mix, and eventually the opportunities will find you.

Related: 3 Quick Tricks to Networking for People Who Hate Networking

7. Innercising 

John Assaraf, who built up a billion-dollar real estate business and is featured in the movie The Secret, preaches the importance of "innercising" in his NeuroGym system. Innercising is mental exercise to reprogram subliminal conditioning deeply embedded in our subconscious. The goal is to frame the mind with a positive financial outlook which attracts money and opportunities to our lives, rather than pushing them away.

Related: Change Your Mindset for Greater Opportunities

8. Healthy diet

Will eating healthier help you to attract more wealth or make more money in the interim? You can bet it will. Sound body, sound mind. To have the precision thinking and focus of a highly-trained athlete, you need to eat healthily. Our bodies spend a large amount of their energy on processing foods. Unhealthy eating leaves us with less energy for achieving our goals, whatever they are.

Related: 12 Ways to Eat Healthy No Matter How Busy You Are

9. Saving and investing.

Obviously, saving and investing is fundamental to building wealth. It won't happen as fast as you'd like, but the larger component at play is having moment-of-the-opportunity cash to invest when something requires your attention immediately. When you have capital and are no longer living paycheck-to-paycheck, you're ready to earn more money when the opportunity presents.

Related: Why Entrepreneurs Need To Save And Invest Money

10. Mindfulness

If you play a cutthroat game and walk all over people, few opportunities will come your way. Being mindful and respectful of others attracts opportunities that you can eventually convert into cash. Be mindful about how you act and what you say so it doesn't come back to bite you in the butt.

Related: 6 Ways Embracing Mindfulness Helps You Thrive at Work

5 worthwhile lessons I learnt from Warren Buffet

It's one thing to be a good investor; it is quite another to know how to teach investing. Warren Buffett is spectacular at both and has over 50 years worth of financial and investment success to prove it. Nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett may not be the richest man in the world, but he is, by a great margin, the planet's wealthiest investor.

Related: 21 Surprising Facts About Warren Buffett

He also dishes out free and priceless investment advice whenever he can, mostly through his annual letter to shareholders. His sage words of advice can benefit everyone across the investment spectrum, from the Class A shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway to the average investor involved in low-key passive income investing. Here are a few of these lessons Buffett has offered throughout the years that may help you, too, become a better investor.

1. Develop an investment mindset.

It's true that any of us can become investors, but not all of us can own and manage our investiments ourselves. For that, we'd need a fully equipped investor’s mindset. And that means putting in thousands of hours of intentional study to build your investment-skill level and mental aptitude.

2. There's a power to practicing patience in long-term investing.

Whenever Buffett uses the word “investment,” he specifically excludes speculators who are in the habit of hit-and-run investment (meaning purchasing, then selling off investments at the slightest northward tick in value).

This is why the Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway has never split its Class A shares (which as of March were worth $258,000 per share) and only created Class B shares to discourage the creation of unit trusts. One of Buffett’s famous statements, which alludes to his preference for long-term investments, is, "No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

A real investor, in short, does not merely speculate; he or she makes informed and intelligent investment decisions and rides it for the long haul. That kind of investor eventually ends up with more success than the short-term kind. Case in point: Berkshire Hathaway’s 2014 letter to shareholders disclosed that in the period extending from 1964 to that year, 2014, the company claimed an overall 751,113 percent gain.

3. Prioritize value over money.

Sometimes, the amount of money we spend on something and the value we get back from our purchased item do not correlate. Just because you purchased a Ferrari for $400,000 doesn't mean that your overall quality of life will improve because of the car you drive.

Many people make the mistake of ascribing ultimate value to money. Buffett disagrees. An investor understands that the market prices of commodities and stocks are driven by demand, supply and general market sentiment about the company or commodity in question.

Related: Warren Buffett's 3 Top Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs

Buffett has a general formula for investing, especially in stocks. He suggests that the best time to invest in any business is when the price of its stock is lower than its intrinsic value. In simple terms, you should invest in companies when they are undervalued.

4. The human factor plays a big role in investing

 Buffett’s decades of consistent success are further proof that the now largely discredited efficient market theory is flawed. Investing is both a science and an art, and Buffett believes that modern financial theory does not adequately take into consideration the artistic side of it -- the human factor.

Human emotions and sentiment and intelligence affect the market much more than modern financial model is willing to admit. The latter makes things look too easy and straightforward, assuming that something that has never happened can happen.

The modern financial model leans more on past and present market data (physical science) than the human factor (behavioral science) when the reverse should be the case. Buffett has suggested that controlling the emotions is much more important. According to him, “Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ  … what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing."

5. Invest in what you understand. 

Drawing on his “circle of competence” belief, Buffett advises that you “never invest in a business you cannot understand.” In other words, don't choose businesses requiring knowledge outside your circle of competence, at least not until you have acquired sufficient knowledge to do so. Buffett lumps factors affecting a business into categories: the knowable, the unknowable, the important and the unimportant.

So, what he's saying is that businesses are a good bet for investing only if their important factors are knowable -- and known. If you don't have sufficient knowledge about a company, it becomes harder to hold long-term investments and predict what the company (and its industry) will look like a few years down the line.

Buffett, for instance, usually stays away from tech industry businesses; he puts most of these businesses in the “too hard” pile on his desk. He refers to investing in businesses you do not understand as trying to jump over seven bars when you should be looking for a one-foot bar (a business you understand) that you can step over.

5 Ways to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Creativity

Entrepreneurs have to be a bottomless pit of creativity, don’t they? Not only do we have to dream up big ideas, we also have to innovate new ways of executing them. And the sheer number of hours it takes to build a successful business can also lead to creative burnout, which is, of course, counterintuitive.

“Creativity is a process that you can’t force,” says Molly Reynolds, cofounder and host of The Unicorn in the Room. “You have to know it’s a process and respect that process. But there are certainly some ways to set yourself up for success.”

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Reynolds was a professional musical theatre actor and continues to study dance and fine art in her spare time. Her love of the creative process spurred the creation of The Unicorn in the Room, an online resource for entrepreneurs.

Related: You Can Boost Your Creativity by Imagining You're Someone Else

Having interviewed business icons, such as Arianna Huffington and John Paul Dejoria, as well as top executives from GE, PwC, Forbes, Chobani and Heineken, Reynolds has identified these key ways to top business minds stay creative. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Buy an alarm clock.

Rest is a crucial part of the creative process and as Arianna Huffington will tell you, keeping your cell phone next to your bed while you sleep is a bad thing. According to a study by Pew Research Center, 44 percentof cellphone owners keep their favorite handheld next to them as they sleep to make sure they don’t miss an important call. But this is an extremely unhealthy habit to get into.

“So many people tell me they’ve got creative burnout, and almost all of them check their emails before they go to bed, first thing when they wake up, and yes, even in the middle of the night,” says Reynolds. “I used to do it too and the longer term effects are never good.”

Cellphones, TVs, tablets and other gadgets with LED screens all emit blue light that can inhibit our production of the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. The blue light can also trick our bodies into thinking that it’s daylight and interfere with our sleep cycles. Worse than that? An overheating cellphone in your bed could even set your pillow on fire!

People will use the excuse that they need their phone as an alarm clock. Newsflash: you can buy an alarm clock that is not a smartphone. Avoid bouts of insomnia and house fires by keeping your cell phone out of your bedroom.

2. Get a variety of perspectives.

Do you know why The Challenger mission failed? Lack of diverse thinking. While many reports have placed the blame on technical fault and cold weather, others suggest that the disaster could have been avoided. The engineering team was used to receiving orders from the top down. Despite being aware of the potential dangers, they went ahead and cleared the spacecraft for launch. The management team at NASA simply would not allow room for different perspectives or opinions.

GE is a company that is more than 100 years old, and the executives there are still learning so that they can continue innovating. In fact, they hold leadership summits, where they invite in a wide variety of companies and share their best practices. With a culture of constant learning, GE wanted to see what they could learn from Silicon Valley culture. So, they partnered with author of The Lean Startup, Eric Ries, to see how they could build innovation and fast work into their company core. Being open to change and new ideas is essential for companies to remain competitive and creative in shifting environments.

Related: 4 Ways Creativity Is Killing Your Viable Business Ideas

3. Travel.

There’s nothing like taking a timeout to get your creative juices flowing. Travel broadens the mind and exposes you to new and unfamiliar situations. You get to sample local cuisine,find out about different cultures and maybe even learn a language. All these experiences translate into enhanced problem solving skills and the ability to think creatively on your feet. 

You might think that taking a sabbatical year to study Spanish in Barcelona or backpack around Southeast Asia is just an excuse for a time off. But there can be surprising benefits from taking yourself outside of your situation. It might even become the catalyst for new success. Winston Chen decided to invent an app, just to have some fun while he was traveling. It turned out to be the start of his new career and company, voice-based mobile app, Voice Dream.

4. Step away from the desk.

“Getting a Fitbit actually made me a better problem solver,” Reynolds says. “Before, I’d sit at my desk for hours trying to figure something out, but the thing buzzes me and makes me take a break to walk. Inevitably, as I’m walking, I figure out the problem more quickly.”

Do you know one of the least inspirational places for people to come up with creative solutions? The meeting room! That’s because we often need to get up and mobilize our bodies to get unblock our creativity. Steve Jobs was well known for his walking meetings, and Mark Zuckerberg reportedly likes to meet standing up as well.

There’s actually some science to back this up. Researchers at Stanford revealed that bursts of walking, whether indoors or outdoors, can help to boost our creative inspiration. So, when you come up against a case of writer’s block, or you simply feel like you’re staring into an abyss instead of your computer screen, get up and get moving!

5. Draw your strategy.

That’s right, draw your strategy. Don’t write it. This will cause your mind to think differently, which is a great way to shake up creativity. Expert on visual thinking, Dan Roam, worked as a consultant for some of the world’s largest companies, including Google, Sun Microsystems and eBay. He believes that one of the best ways to help people solve problems and contribute new ideas is by drawing them out. In an interview with Business Insider, he said “taking advantage of our innate ability to see -- both with our eyes and with our mind’s eye -- in order to discover ideas that are otherwise invisible, develop those ideas quickly and intuitively, and then share those ideas with other people in a way they simply ‘get.’”

Get vulnerable.

Lastly, says Reynolds, if you’re really committed to improving your creative mind in every one of these five steps, you need to allow yourself to get vulnerable. “Take a class that you would never think of taking, charcoal drawing, samurai sword fighting, tap dancing, whatever! You might feel ridiculous at first, and that’s a good thing. Having that vulnerability will remind you that you don’t have all of the answers and need to be open.”

Related: 5 Things I Did Before I Completely Burned Out

According to David Brendel, of the Harvard Business Review, vulnerability can actually make you stronger. Things like apologizing for errors, admitting when you’re wrong, or seeking help from others can all make you a better leader. When you allow yourself to be in a position where you’re learning something new, you leave yourself vulnerable to criticism and failure. Yet this learning process is all part of improving your creative mind and ongoing education.

So, watch your sleeping habits, and make sure you take breaks from your desk to leave room for inspiration to come through. Be open to travel, culture and new ideas, as well as using visual thinking. Do all that with a dose of vulnerability and an enquiring mind, and you’ll give yourself the innovation makeover you desperately seek.

How the First 20 Minutes of Your Day Can Set You Up for Success

You all know about that morning-routine thing: Everyone raves that waking up early and sticking to your routine will help you get more done. But whether you get out of bed at 5 a.m. or 3 p.m., it's the first 20 minutes of your day that can set you up for success. 

The brain produces electrical patterns, often referred to as waves. Scientists have found a correlation between the frequency of brain waves and the body's state. When you first awake, your brain operates at around 10.5 waves per second. The range from eight to 13 Hz, or cycles per second, is the alpha stage. It's been called the gateway to the subconscious mind. 

Have you ever gone into a semi-daydreaming state while commuting? A few minutes pass, but you don't remember what happened. It's likely your brain entered the alpha state.

Without getting too deep into the science of brain activity, it's safe to say your subconscious mind is most active right when you wake up. You can train your brain to use this subconscious activity to think positively and accomplish more throughout your day. This quick checklist outlines six simple things you can do to make the most of these first 20 minutes. 

1. Don't click the snooze button.

Don't ever click your alarm's snooze button. This tells your brain it's OK to procrastinate by putting your day on hold.

2. Do make your bed.

Your room will look cleaner and feel more organized -- both of which train your mind to want to get things done, right away. It's a small win, but you can build on it as your day continues. 

3. Visualize your life.

This is probably the best thing you can do in the alpha state. Visualize your life. What will it be in five years, when you've achieved your goal of building your business? How about your relationships? Concentrate on how they'll look in the future and what you need to make them real. Tap into your subconscious mind to request what you want and then make your brain drive your actions.

Related: Billionaire Richard Branson Credits To-Do Lists as a Key to His Success

4. Watch a motivational video.

When you're up, not even a tough day can get you down. If you're truly motivated, you know you'll reach your milestones -- no matter what.

Big achievements are never easy. During the past year, I've found inspiration in quick-hit videos that help me refocus when I start to burn out between work and my studies. After you complete your visualization exercise, watch a video that reinforces the connection between intention and action steps.

5. Repeat your affirmations.

Simple affirmations such as "I will make this day the best day in my life" can have a huge impact on your life. It worked for Steve Jobs. First, compile a list of affirmations that fit your beliefs and core values. Repeat them aloud every morning.

All you need to know before going for a job interview

Going into a job interview can be a stressful and intimidating experience. When you’re trying to present the best image possible to your new potential employer, you may be nervous about the impression you’re making. If you’re feeling stressed, it may prevent you from accurately explaining your passions, experience and interest in the job.

Communication is key during any interview, regardless of the position you’re interviewing for. If you want to get the job, you need to be able to effectively communicate why you’re the best fit for the position.

To help you communicate your skills more efficiently, here are a few tips you should follow during any job interview.

1. Make a strong first impression.

Your first impression may be the most important part of your entire interview. First impressions usually stick, meaning that if you don’t present the very best version of yourself right off the bat, you can struggle to regain credibility.

When you begin the interview, be sure to shake hands with your interviewer and introduce yourself. If there are other team members in the room, introduce yourself to them the same way. Stay confident, make eye contact and maintain a firm handshake.

2. Speak clearly and with confidence.

It’s normal to feel a bit nervous when you’re in an interview, but you don’t want those nerves to influence the way you speak. If you allow the nerves to influence the way you answer questions or respond to the interviewer, you can come across unsure of yourself or not answer to the best of your ability.

Avoid saying “um” or other filler words as much as possible. If you need time to think about the right answer, it’s OK to take a moment before you respond. Speak calmly and try to talk as naturally as possible.

3. Remember to smile.

When you’re being interviewed for a job, the hiring manager is looking for more than just your qualifications. They’re also evaluating whether or not you’ll make a good fit in the office. This means you’ll want to present yourself as a team player and enjoyable to be around.

Something as simple as smiling while you’re talking can be enough to seem more personable. Be friendly and warm, but still focused. If you come across too hard or rigid, the hiring manager may think you could be difficult to work with. Naturally smile while you’re responding to questions.

4. Use storytelling.

Sometimes, the best way to respond to a question is with a story. Stories can make your interview more interesting and give the hiring manager something to remember you by. With the right story, you can build a strong connection with your interviewer and create a more natural dialogue.

Before you head into the interview, try to think of a few stories that relate your expertise or experience with the job qualifications. Rehearse the events in your head so you don’t get tripped up when trying to tell them in the interview. Remember the key points you’d like to touch on to be sure you get the point across.

5. Ask your own questions.

During the interview process, most of the focus is on you. Because the hiring manager is looking to get to know you, it can feel like you’re in the hot seat. However, this one-sided conversation can make the flow seem unnatural and prevent you and your hiring manager from making a strong connection.

Feel free to ask your hiring manager some questions, as well. While the questions you ask may be very different from the questions they’re asking you, creating a two-way dialogue can make the interview process much easier. Think of some things you want to know about the company, what the hiring manager likes about the company and questions that pertain specifically to the position requirements.

6. Know your interviewer.

Each company may approach the hiring process a bit differently. At one interview, you may be talking with an HR representative. At another, you may be interviewed by someone in the department you’ll be working with. Each of these interviews may look different, and you’ll want to respond differently to keep the conversation going.

When you’re interviewing with an HR professional, they may not know much about the specific details of the job. Answering with technical details or corporate jargon can put up a wall between the two of you, making it difficult to connect. Save the more detailed responses for interviews with department heads or potential supervisors.

To communicate best in your next interview, you’ll need to plan properly. Take some time to consider what potential questions you may be asked and how you’d like to answer them. Rehearse your stories and research the individual you’ll be talking with. With the right preparation, you can stay confident throughout your entire interview.

Sincerity: A scarce commodity in Nigeria politics

Sincerity: A scarce commodity in Nigeria politics

By Samson Adejoro

We have all heard and we are still hearing and still going to be hearing of shocking revelations of how our leaders have milked us dry in this nation, destabilized institutions, thrown the polity into disarray, depleted foreign reserves,bled the treasury,wasted innocent blood and all I cannot mention.

Recently the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed a residential building on the 7th floor of a four-bedroom apartment at Osborne Towers located at 16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, where a humongous fund of foreign currencies and naira notes to the tune of $43.4m, £27,800 and N23.2m was uncovered.

But the surprising aspect is that the owner of this humongous funds have not been found, in an article I wrote sometimes ago titled "What really works in this country?" I made a conclusion to the fact that nothing works here because sincerity and truth are scarce products in our polity, what takes center stage is insincerity and malaise.

When you study the semantics of Nigerian leaders, they are not sincere, in everywhere they found themselves, they found it as an avenue to tell lies and may i say to you that if you are still banking on this set of unscrupulous elements you are only travelling on a journey infinitesimal, a journey that will never come to an end.

Politics is never a game of deceit as opined by people, it is an instrument that can be used to better lives, it can be used to forestall unimaginable milestone. I believe through politics a lot of lifes around the world have been given a soft ride, when you get to Singapore, Malaysia, you will know politics is a life changing instrument in which God himself have supported, coming back to Nigeria you see the opposite, in Nigeria, politics is an instrument used  to better a few elite, the issue is not only our leaders are corrupt, go to our universities, main aim of those vying for post is MONEY, an aspirant vying for the post of a welfare director in one of the universities in the south-west had told me sometimes ago that if eventually he emerged, he would work 30% and embezzle 70% and you ask why are we HERE?

When leaders seem not to be honest in their dealings with those who elect them into offices then you can only begin to imagine why we are in this mess. Nigerian politicians believe in piling up large amount of money for future sake owing to the fact that after they leave office, they believe those money will owe up to them but the fact about life which has been proven to be true is that those large of money that are being embezzled by this political office holders are money they dont really need, in life how much money do we really need? I had an experience with this fact, when I gained admission sometimes ago, you know that type of feeling when you just gained admission and you begin buying things, even things you dont really need and at the end, if you are not careful you might end up dashing people or they get spoilt.

The experience also reminded me of Lev Tolstoy’s popular story, How Much Land Does a Man Need? It is about a man who kept adding more and more land to his already large purchase until, out of exhaustion, he suddenly dropped dead. With the tool he used in demarcating his acquisition, his assistants dug a six-foot grave and buried him. All the land he needed in the end was no more than the six footer.

Those funds our leaders pile and store in dungeons can better citizen lifes, the money our leaders siphon, some nations don't have up to that as their national budget and their citizens still enjoy dividends of democracy. When you also look at the payrolls of our leaders, they earn more than any political office holder in the world and you wonder why we are still in this mess, and I ask myself will this nation ever grow?

 Taking a digression towards the anti-corruption fight of this administration, what has happened? why has EFCC lost top cases against big thieves and corrupt entities like Justice Ademola, Patience Faka Jonathan and the rest? Has the judiciary been compromised, this anti-corruption fight is fast losing it's ground, let government invest in this judiciary, let them make it fast, you might be surprised UK spent up to $20 million dollars to convict James Ibori, this government will only continue to lose cases if it doesn't strengthen our institutions, let them train those lawyers and make them second to none among world jurist.

And as I conclude I leave you with this quote

"In business, in relationships, in life, sincerity matters a lot, when you are not sincere, people begin to run away from you, be sincere its a moral value you have to posses to get to top places in life"-Samson Adejoro.

Samson Adejoro is a writer cum a political analyst and he is currently undergoing his Bsc programme in the Department Of Computer science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye,Lagos.
You can reach him on 09031827815.

ON NIGERIANS AND THE "CULTURE OF EVERYONE FOR HIMSELF"

ON NIGERIANS AND THE "CULTURE OF EVERYONE FOR HIMSELF"

By Adejoro Samson B.

We are sons and daughters of love, let love lead---- Prophet T.B Joshua, Lead Pastor, Synagogue Church of all Nations.

When Lai Mohammed the Honorable minister of information and culture launched the campaign "Change begins with me" sometimes last year, lot of views spurred out, whether it should truly began with the citizens or from the people who are custodians of our common patrimony, observers carefully observed, public affairs analyst analysed the initiative, some welcomed it with disdain, some with an open heart,adverts on the television, social media were organized, celebrities like King Sunny Ade got endorsement to champion the campaign, the most fascinating was the skit that appeared on TV stations across the country titled "Not in my country".  After you might have finished reading this op-ed, I leave you to judge.

What prompted this treatise was as a result of a little chat I had with a friend and a course mate.  It was time for lectures, the lecture we were about to have was a faculty course and as such we have to walk down from our department (which is were we receive every lectures apart from this particular faculty course) to the faculty to attend the lectures and my friend looked around when the set time for the lecture had come and he said to me " There is no love in our country " and I asked him the reason for his submission, his reply was "Imagine, everybody are going for lectures one by one, nobody even considered calling others."

He further lamented, "Some would have resourses and course materials that will be of immense help to the class as a whole and the person would decide to cling unto it as if having "A" in a course guarantees life success." and as a result of that, others won't be privileged to that resources the other fellow had. It is advisable that when you have what can be beneficial to others, don't hold it to yourself alone, let every other people around you be successful as you are, it's not a crime if millionaires come out of you rather it should be a sense of joy and that of a fulfilment, be like the lepers in the Bible whom during the time of famine in the land of Samaria had by accident bumped into the tent of the Syrians and they saw a lot of goodies and suddenly they started packing and one out of them said "We won't be doing any good by keeping all this to our selves let's reach out to the city and tell the king about this great news." That was how famine ended in the city of Samaria.

We are our problem, Wahab AR Olalekan surmised, the problem beffudling us as a nation is caused partly by our leaders but what accounts mostly for the non workability of our nation is the selfishness and hatred amongst every citizens of this nation.

The fact is underdevelopment and retrogression won't leave the borders and shores of our nations if hate takes the drivers seat in the ways and manner in which we treat our fellow citizens, love trumps hate. In this country everybody thinks of only how to feather his own nest, he thinks less of his fellow citizens, little wonder why politicians milk us blue and black. There is no love in every strata of our society, no one is for the country everyone is for himself. Nations who had made significant progress were able to achieve that, just because they shelved behind hate and embraced magnanimity.

Some would say there is no love because we are of diverse extractions, I strongly object to that view, take as a case study Tanzania, Tanzania is a country that consists of diverse ethnic groups as ours and they spoke different language and then came Julius Nyerere who sensitized them on the need for love as love is a recipe for development and since then, they began to speak only one language which is Swahili even though they have their individual ethnic language they have suppressed it, a Tanzanian will never tell you he is from a part of Tanzania, they all belong to one nation called the "REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA".

Owing to the unifying power of love, American president, President Donald Trump had during his victory speech called on all Republicans, Democrats and the independents to come as one all in the spirit of sportsmanship so as to " Make America Great Again". President Trump during the electioneering period ran a campaign full of divisiveness and hate but one would have thought he would continued in that clime even after he came in, but instead he called for love and now the American dream under his regime is getting fulfilled, unemployment rate is plumetting and veterans are enjoying.

Samson Adejoro is a public affair analyst and a writer and he tweets from @Samsss_A, you can reach him on 09031827815.

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE: THE NIGERIA STORY

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE: THE NIGERIA STORY

By Adejoro T.S

An event happened this week, the event signaled the end of the FIFA U-20 world cup, England emerged winner of the competition. The most interesting point that prompted this article is that Nigerian players are the ones that constitute part of the team that won the competition. Most of the times as history would have it, our athletes constitute larger part of the  teams winning laurels in various sports outside our borders and beyond our shores e.g Boxing: Anthony Joshua, Football: Gabriel Agbonlahor and many more we can't mention.

Moving from sport to the finance sector  President Donald Trump had just appointed our own Tolu Ogunlesi to the economic team he was building in order to achieve the aim of "Making America Great Again". We heard of the brilliant Nigeria young girl who got admissions into the 5 ivy league schools in the US simultaneously, Isn't that magnificent? a feat that has never occurred, the other time CNN published a story of a lady who was the first to become the president of the Harvard Law Review Committee and guess what she is a Nigerian, just recently in the last concluded UK June 8 elections, we saw how  7 Nigerians got elected into the House of Commons, getting elected into the House of Commons is not a mere feat in the UK, it means they must have been tested and trusted in terms of leadership qualities and exemplary qualities, another recent example is Anthony Joshua who had just won a WBA title in the heavyweight division, instead of covering and bowing their heads in shame, the governor of his state deem it fit to send delegates to congratulate him, What a country!!!

Go outside and see Nigerians in diaspora excelling in various field, many milestone have been attained by Nigerians, many records have been broken by our people, but they can't come home just because their home is no more "home" for them. Somebody had told me sometimes around last year that if only I could go to the embassy I would see massive influx of Nigerians hoping to run out of the country, the country is not encouraging, our leaders have turned the country into a place that is not okay to live in.

We breed excellence, we emit incandescent luminous rays of unimaginable altitudes.In every areas of excellence we can't be shelved aside. Those people pledged their allegiance to foreign country  because they know their home country has nothing to offer. Nigeria is not worth dying for, that I indeed believe in

Nigeria blessed with men and means, God has blessed this country with so many things, we are blessed beyond measures, but why are we still underdeveloped?

Everybody wants a level playing field in everything he or she partakes in but when the level playing field  they desire is not given, they go out of the country and they excel and what we do next is issue out an appreciation message congratulating them, why haven't we given them a level playing field to exercise their prowess and prove their God given mettle in their father's land? the economy is not encouraging, the atmosphere is not conducive, we are blessed with people of tremendous and outstanding qualities, we have been endowed with what is enough for us to have 24 hours uninterruptible power supply, low unemployment rate, low poverty rate and a very encouraging GDP but reverse is the case.

Nigeria's problem are not caused by these sets of people excelling outside her borders, Nigerians problem is caused by our leaders, let our leaders create a level playing field devoid of ethnic and religious bigotry and diligently rewards those who have made her proud in every areas, let the health sector be revived so that Ben Carson's can be developed and raised in our nations,  we can be anything we want to be but government has a role to play in making this dreams come true, I believe no nation is better than OURS, we are at this state because the environment is not enabling for self development and goal attainment.

When you take your time to explore our  grassroots areas, you will marvel at how young and creative guys are making waves but because of no support,those young dreams extinguish like flame into thin air, there is a place I take my time to watch local boxing every Sunday around my area, you wonder whether these are Nigerians or not, but my brother they are all Nigerians. They make waves but no sponsorship even when they want to represent their countries outside the world they are asked to bring exorbitant fees to process, what are they processing?
Corruption will kill us if we don't kill it. If government can just create an enabling field for all to participate in, our country will not only stand among mere nations but it will rub shoulders with countries who supposedly call themselves "world powers".

Samson Adejoro is a writer and he tweets from @Samsss_A.

ON BUHARI, FRC AND THE CHURCH: A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

Religion is the strongest tool on earth. It can be used for wonderful actions that touch lives--Azuka Onwuka on "Why FRC should not allow its new law thwarted", The Punch(11-01-2017)

Last week Saturday, the General overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God Pastor E.A Adeboye, a revered man of God, a father to many, daddy G.O as he is fondly called by his church faithful’s made a shocking announcement  at the annual RCCG ministers conference that took place on Saturday at the newly completed 3 by 3 km ultramodern worship centre in Shimawa,Ogun state, annual ministers thanksgiving is a program that takes place every first Saturday of the year, its a  day set apart in the RCCG calendar to thank God for his unflinching mercies over the people of God, the monthly programs held, the yearly programs held, the leaders, ministers of God, workers, et al.

On this gracious day, ministers of God who for 52 Sundays have been wearing suit, T-shirt and tie will be seen wearing their various tribal wears like agbada, lace, babariga, atiku, etc as RCCG is a church with various ethnic groups, suffice to say anyone who is seen wearing an English dress on that day might be punished by the authorities of the church.
Daddy G.O as he is fondly called had gave out the watchword of the year as a year of “pleasant surprises” nobody in their imaginations would have had an inkling of what was going to happen, but at this shocking moment everywhere was silent like the graveyard as Baba announced he would be stepping aside, thereby handling over the affairs of the church to an Assistant General Overseer(Finance),Pastor J.O Obayemi, a man he said was "appointed by God".

After he made the resignation, he gave reasons for his actions citing the Financial Reporting Council stipulations called the corporate governance code which was signed into law in 2011, compelling all religious organisation heads to hand over the affairs of their various organisation at a compulsory age of 70 years or must have served for 20 years or pay tax.

The FRC is a unified independent regulatory body for accounting, auditing, actuarial, valuation and corporate governance. As such, compliance monitoring in these areas will hence be addressed from the platform of professionalism and legislation.
Quoting the law that forced Pastor E.A Adeboye to resign inter alia: “The founder or leader shall cease to occupy these three governance positions simultaneously. This is to ensure the separation of powers and avoid possible concentration of powers in one individual.

“The founder or leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of the organisation’s apex authority as expressed in the annual general assembly, annual meeting, annual stakeholder engagement, annual conference, annual synod, annual fellowship assembly or their equivalents – only one of these three governance positions subject to his current tenure. This is to ensure a clear division of responsibilities at the head of the organisation between the running of the governing body and the executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the organisation’s mission.

“Where the founder or leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions for more than 20 years, or is aged 70 years or above, the choice in the section above should only relate to the board of trustees as in section below, except the constitution of the organisation otherwise provides.’’

In response to the new law and in response to the resignation of Pastor E.A Adeboye resignation, various Pentecostal churches have all risen up to say, we are not accountable to the government, why should they dictate the number of years we are to use as leaders of our churches to us, we are only accountable to God, but wait a second didn't Jesus said give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar? Jesus himself at a time when the roman emperor asked him for tax, he dutifully complied , when this men of God go about in an attempt to launder huge amount of money to purchase goodies, whose approval was taken? Is it God's approval? Is it not men's approval, when they go about building private universities their members can't afford whose approval was taken?, isn't that religious hypocrisy of the highest order, we have been blindfolded by religion, pastors will go about doing things that are not meant to be done, shouldn't there be an organization created to checkmate this excesses?, in the USA an inventory is taken into the account of every churches so why should our churches be different is,  a country that wants to progress will look beyond religiosity and embrace accountability.

The law came at the right timing as it is obvious and palpable everyday as shocking revelations are tripping in about how this not-for-profit-organisations have digressed from their core values and what they they stand for, they are now known to be self-seeking all in the name of God, money has now become their main interest not the people who they are meant to lead, welfarism of members has become what they least cherish, as leaders of this organisations are now seen flying around in private jets at the expense of their member who still wear  slippers to church, money meant to be spent on awarding scholarships to brilliant but indigent members are being used in building schools that their parents can't afford.
In my own view, I believe the government can't do everything, there is a need for an helping hands from the religious organisation thereby making the number of poverty decimate, citizens would not really feel the heat of governments inactions if religious organizations can make sure they provide foods to members at least in one of their worship days, there should be day set aside for welfarism, that day should be a day of giving back to the members afterwards the members have been the one contributing.

Suddenly after 72  hours of the resignation of Pastor E.A Adeboye, the enforcer-in-chief of the bill Mr Jim Osayande Obazee, FCA was sacked in what came as a shocking news to me as I could not fathom a tangible reason why a  presidency whose sole aim as clearly stipulated  at various times is to make sure corruption is totally eradicated from the country.

According to the mainstream media, the case of the law being dropped was agitated by the church and it was taken to court but the FRC won the case, knowing that Buhari still went on to sack the CEO of FRC, isn't that cluelessness?

This administration is clueless as I have always said, inside his kitchen cabinet are SGF Babachir Lawal who used 270 million naira to cut grass in IDP camps, Aisha Buhari and  Abba Kyari who are currently in connivance with the high commissioner of Nigeria in UK lavishing our common patrimony on pleasurable things at the expense of an average Nigerian who has not eaten for some days and Rotimi Amaechi who is allegedly reported to have bribed a judge are still seen holding up to their jobs, people who should have automatically resigned.
Why has Buhari not ordered the immediate removal of this people aforementioned even with glaring evidences of clear incompetence and corruption? Is he (Buhari ) such in a hurry to react to religious matters(that has to do with Christians) in a way of getting there votes in 2019?

This is a clear case of chasing rats when one house is on fire, at a point when recession is biting harder, hardship has not even gone away, poverty is still stretching its harms and gripping citizens of this country but issues which have least interest are the ones this clueless administration is looking at, issues that need serious attentions like that of the Chibok girls, the ethno religious killings happening at southern Kaduna, what he only knows to do is to sign on the dotted lines of sack letters.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria

God Bless Nigeria

EMBRACING MORALITY OVER RELIGIOSITY: A PATH TOWARDS BUILDING A VIRILE NATION

By Samson Adejoro

Lets not be a divided country, people who are divided are very easy to rule- Sean Hannity

Religion is the opium of the people- Karl Marx

As the topic reads, religion has now become a DO-OR-DIE affair in this country, it has become the basis on which politicians now capitalize on to win elections, it has now serve as an instrument of division instead of an instrument to foster unity, it has now become the basis on which terrorism has its base.

Religion should not be a basis on which people are appointed to major posts, credibility should be. The gullible masses are the one at the receiving end, it is so sad that our politicians play politics with  virtually everything including religion all because of wielding what will one day become vanity called POWER, they prey on the weakness of the unsuspecting masses. The president being a Muslim or a Christian isn't what matters, what really counts is SOUND and EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP.

Religion should not be a yardstick on which our fate is determined as a nation.

Not only the politician prey on this misnomer their various "FATHER IN THE LORDS" have chosen  also to throe in path of  capitalizing on the weakness of their members, we see men of God flying on private jets worth billions of naira that is capable of feeding almost all the members of his church, building universities that well to do members of his church can't afford, IS THAT NOT ROBBERY ALL IN THE NAME OF RELIGION? We now see fake prophets everywhere because they know our people can be cajoled with a mere prophecy that has ceased to exist. In the city of Lagos churches and mosques are springing up in every nooks and crannies all in a bid to indoctrinate  people with false doctrines and dupe people who are looking for quick and overnight success.

The problem with our people is that they are becoming fanatics all in the name of religion, Nigeria is the most religious nation but still underdeveloped, Religion has taken us nowhere because instead of channelling our beliefs in the right path we have chosen to imbibe on ourselves self-acclaimed belief which never exist anywhere, I was reading a lady's post on Facebook that says "Muslims should not greet Christians on Christmas day" when I pressed further by asking for her reasons she told me  because a cleric told her that the Christians are unclean. Really! On what basis did the cleric draw the inference that  he himself making the comment is pure. We are all Nigerians we are one, when politicians make useless propaganda all in the name of religion we should be able to critically look at it, think about it and make the right decisions. Or what is the essence of voting for a CHRISTIAN that knows next to nothing about how to lead? I have found out that a nation like ours love the popular saying thus; "HE IS FROM MY RELIGION" then you make your assertions because he  attends the same church with you and you fail to look at his wherewithal, you fail to remove the religious blinder that has been kept on your eyes that makes you see nothing other than RELIGIOSITY.

Philosophy of religion emphasizes on abstaining from religious intolerance and fanaticism. Hence, regardless of what we might believe in, we should encourage unity in our religious diversity; that is the essence of humanity. A country hinged on religiosity will never progress as it will surely be dogmatic in its approach to some situations. A nation HIGH on religion cannot possess the requisite sanity of mind to reason a way out of mess when it presents itself. Nigeria has everything that can make it  a better nation but religion has continued to divide us. I have always insisted that our colonial masters never wanted any good for us, there is nothing they gave us that has bettered our nation, I strongly believe our colonial masters knows the effect of what religion will do to our country.

Religion has done more harm than good, it is good to embrace morality and not hinged on one opium that any spiritual father tells you somewhere else, you are the owner of your mind and the captain of your soul, if you can think critically and reason, you would observe that MORALITY pay. Is there anything bad in greeting your fellow Nigerian be it a christian or a muslim, but that won't happen in a nation that has been deeply enmeshed in the razzmatazz of RELIGIOSITY. Is it not when we came to world that we heard what we call religion? That is why in the university when taking a course in philosophy, you will be asked by your lecturer to keep your religious beliefs outside and come in with a mind willing to think in a moral, rational and sane way. God will never answer to the yearnings of a country who embraces fanaticism at the expense of wisdom, that is why some people have been fooled into believing that without requisite hardworking and sound leadership if we pray to God, he would answer, my readers it doesn’t work like  that. That is typical of our nations problem.

The writer of this treatise is not an atheist or someone who doesn't believe God, all I am saying in essence is that different religion carries different beliefs and can two walk together except they agree? (Amos 3:3). Absolutely NO, we the citizens of this nation should not be fooled into believing one religion is better than the other for we are all equal in the face of God, God is not asking for an advocate, if he needs one he wouldn't hire you.

The main reason terrorism has ceased to never stop existing is because none of us will shelve our religiosity nature and embrace peace. Terrorism doesn't start in a day, it starts gradually from mere arguments like JESUS IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD and the other  person will say no MOHAMMED IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD, from there argument will sprawl up and terrorism will start, churches will start being burnt, people would start being murdered in the pool of their blood and thoughts of how to start fixing and countering the terrorism that has been caused will then arise thereby resulting in waste of resources to equip the army, rebuild damaged properties, feed those whom have been left homeless by these terrorist sects.

Moneys that should have been spent on ailing our dying economy, rebuilding our already collapsed tertiary institutions, building schools, equipping our deteriorating health care systems, rebuilding our roads full of potholes are being spent on some useless problems caused by the inability of us to embrace morality over religiosity.

God bless Nigeria.

Samson Adejoro writes in from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye, Ogun state.

Earn Money By Teaching What You Know

What if you were given the opportunity to get paid for sharing with other people information you already? 

Now, perhaps unlike at any other time in history, if you possess knowledge that other people would be willing to pay for, you can start making money, with little or no startup costs. 

Teaching online grants you the freedom to still work a day job yet generate side-hustle income. In fact, today, it’s a real possibility to even make just as much money while you're asleep as when you're awake, thanks to the power of the Internet. 

You have the opportunity to teach and share what you're most passionate about to large audiences. Would you like to share what you love and be paid for doing so? One vehicle for doing so is Udemy.com, which describes itself as an "online learning marketplace" with a mission "to help anyone learn anything."

"The world is changing so quickly and gotten more complex, especially because of technology that people need to constantly learn new things,” Udemy's CEO, Dennis Yang tells me in a recent interview.

“There’s been a cultural shift towards sharing and just like Netflix, people want to be able control their own media," Yang adds. "Because of mobile technology, people want access to learning when they want it and where they want it." 

A new instructor, he says "has the ability to impact many students’ lives and students have access to experts, right at their fingertips," he says.

Udemy CEO Dennis Yang

Image credit: Udemy

Related: Share What You Know and People Will Buy What You Sell

Before you cast your hat in the online teaching ring, do these three things first:  

1. Claim a topic.

What area do you find fascinating? In everyday conversation, what do you talk about the most? This could be an indication of what you could teach others.   

What questions are people always asking you to help them with? If individuals are always approaching you for advice, perhaps within that there's something you can teach. 

What genre of books do you tend to read? Answering this might point to a subject area you might teach. 

Related: Do the Side Hustle: 5 Better Ways to Earn Extra Cash

2. Solve a problem.

To teach what you already know -- or what you are willing to learn -- you require students. And to find them, you must know their needs and how to best serve them.

Asking questions is the best way to get to familiarize yourself with the needs of prospective students.

You might ask, for example, some of these questions: 

What are three areas in which you're having problems at work or in life?

What are three things you really want to accomplish this year?

What frustrates you the most about your job?

What have you done to try to improve your situation? What has worked the best (or the least)? 

3. Define an objective.

Remember, you want to deliver only high-quality information. To so, you must know your audience and cater to their needs. A good question to ask yourself is "Who are the people who will participate in my course and what will they be hoping to learn?" 

Focus on students at a specific skill level: beginners, intermediate or advanced learners. This will not only help you target the right audience but will also ensure that your course offers the type of information that your students are seeking.

Nick Walter, who made $60,000 in 30 days by promoting his Udemy.com class on Kickstarter.com, has shared with me details of his teaching experiences. He didn’t even have a regular job at the time. That just goes to show you the power of teaching what you know. 

How much extra money would you like to make next year?

Do you have that number in your head? Consider how easy it can be earn extra cash just by teaching what you already know.  

This year, I'm launching my ebook, 21 Ways To Achieve Wealth & Success Plus 21-Day Resource Book, that will be turned into a Udemy course later this year.

By the end of this year, you'll end up somewhere. Do you want to end up somewhere well-designed or undesigned.

The choice is yours.

9 Ideas to Make a Side Income While Growing Your Business

Being an entrepreneur is synonymous with being financially unstable at times. While you’re growing your company, it’s important to be focused. But what if you could get a side hustle that would help bring in a healthy secondary income to alleviate some of that financial stress? And, best case, what if this side hustle could also help you grow your core business?

The good news is that there are a lot of companies that create opportunities for entrepreneurs that don’t require full-time work and can become a great companion to the work you’re doing. Better yet, they take out the hassle of having to create a second company to supplement your income because they do the legwork and allow you to plug in your skills and time.

Here are nine examples of opportunities that might be the perfect side hustle for you as you continue to grow your company!

1. Invest in real estate.

There are a lot of methods for making money in real estate, many of which don’t require your full time effort. Josh Dorkin, CEO and founder of BiggerPockets says you should consider land lording, flipping houses or wholesaling. His company’s website will help you manage and understand all of the different state laws and regulations, as well as leverage the largest worldwide network of real estate investors who come to his site to ask questions and help one another.

Related: Create Side-Hustle Income by Teaching What You Already Know

He also recommends finding people in your area with skill sets and expertise that you don’t have, and to partner with them or use them as a place to park your investment cash. You can join BiggerPockets for free and he recommends reading its Ultimate Beginner’s Guide, a free eight-chapter book on real estate investing for novices.

2. Drive a taxi.

Most of us are familiar with Uber and Lyft, the companies that took limo and town car services and gave them riders in their down time, and then expanded into recruiting regular citizens to utilize their free time to become taxi drivers. Have you considered being one of them?

I’ll never forget one of my UberX rides where the driver told me that he uses his spare time to make money driving as well as to leverage the networking he can do with each of his passengers as he grows his new business -- genius!

"One of the greatest things about the Uber platform is that it offers economic opportunity for a variety of drivers -- full time, part time, teachers in summer, full-time students, military spouses, etc. -- in more than 260 cities around the world,” says Molly Spaeth, an Uber spokesperson.

So if you’re in one of the 260 cities, you could be making your car into a money-generating experience and a networking opportunity on wheels!

3. Host the next-gen of tupperware parties.

There are many companies that do at-home parties and trunk shows where you can utilize the company’s products, marketing and operations infrastructure to build a side income by plugging in your network.

One that has proven to be very successful isStella and Dot, where you become a jewelry consultant and host parties at friend's homes, local boutiques or events. Other popular brands include Rodan + Fields andPure Romance.

4. Outsource your skills.

Can you do graphic design, data mining, website development, video editing, software development or customer service? Then you can parlay those skills by signing up on sites such as TaskRabbit or ODesk and get hired by their members to do jobs in any of these areas. You can pick and choose how often you want to work and what jobs you take!

5. Be a temp.

Long gone are the days of temp agencies and scouring the Internet for part-time or short-term work. Enter Wonolo, which helps people “work now locally.”

“Wonolo is a company that allows anyone to work for a few hours or a day at real companies doing real work," says AJ Brustein, the company's co-founder. "Want to help an ecommerce company fulfilling orders when they are busy, help out at a conference taking tickets, or assist in data entry at a wealth management firm? You can get numerous career experiences around the flexibility of your own schedule.”

You can get alerted of jobs available in your area immediately via Wonolo's app. Sounds perfect for a busy entrepreneur!

Related: Do the Side Hustle: 5 Better Ways to Earn Extra Cash

6. Rent out your pad.

Are you traveling for a business meeting and leaving your home empty? Do you have a spare room or guest house? It’s time to put them to work and list them on Airbnb orVRBO and make money on your property when you’re not using it!

7. Rent out your car.

If you can get on board with renting out your home, you’ll certainly understand the model created by companies such asRelayRides and FlightCar, which allow you to rent out your personal vehicle to their users.

I recently used RelayRides during a trip in San Francisco and had a great experience that didn’t require me to find a rental car center, and the cost was right. I even was able to get acquainted with the car’s owner, to whom I offered to help find a job.

It's another way to make money and network when you’re not using your car (like when you're parked at the airport thanks to FlightCar)!

8. Don’t just buy on eBay, sell there.

You can simply sell your own items, or you can make it into a side business.

“I run an eBay franchise in which I teach people how to run a re-sale business on eBay," says Garrett Brustein. "I do one-on-one training to show them where to get their inventory and how to list and ship items the same way I do so they can emulate the process and take all of the guess work out of the business. They are then able to do this as a part-time job in their free time."

Just think -- you can unload the stuff you don't want and go shopping to resell items all in the name of making money!

9. Get paid to network.

I know this one from personal experience! After founding my first company, a credit card processing brokerage, I began to organize networking events in my city to help young professionals interact in an environment where they wouldn’t fear getting sold to or hit on. I quickly realized the events were not only helping those in attendance to make valuable connections, but that there was real money to be made, as well.

Over time, I packaged the operations ofNetwork Under 40 to enable entrepreneurs in other markets to bring the events to their cities. By becoming the epicenter of the network, it naturally parlays into building their full-time businesses as well as creates a healthy side income.

If you’re looking to make some money on the side and/or find channels through which you can build your primary business, it’s time to look into some of these options.