₦airaland Forum

5 SIMPLE STEPS TO PLAN YOUR DREAM LIFE
I’ve often said that the major reason for having a dream and setting a goal is for what it makes you do to accomplish it. This will always be a far greater value than what you get. That is why goals are so powerful—they are part of the fabric that makes up our lives.

Goal setting provides focus, shapes our dreams and gives us the ability to hone in on the exact actions we need to take in order to get everything in life we desire.

Goals are exciting because they provide focus and aim for our lives. Goals cause us to stretch and grow in ways we never have before. In order to reach our goals, we must become better; we must change and grow.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-simple-steps-to-plan-your-dream-life/


DECISION-MAKING: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
So, in my previous article on decision-making, I mentioned a number of strategies for making right decision. Together, we explored various ways and techniques to consider when making decisions. Some of the strategies listed in the article include: making comparative analysis, seeking counsel, being optimistic, considering all sides to a decision, and conducting a research and getting our facts right.

However, in the previous article, I mentioned learning from other people’s life experiences.

So, today, we’ll be looking at reasons why you should seek, consider and apply the experiences of other people when making decisions that matter to you.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/decision-making-standing-shoulders-giants/



HOW TO DEAL WITH THE NEGATIVE INFLUENCES IN YOUR LIFE
If you were to evaluate the major influences in your life that have shaped the kind of person you are, this has to be high on the list: the people and thoughts you choose to allow into your life. My mentor, Mr. Shoaff, gave me a very important warning in those early days that I’ll share with you. He said, “Never underestimate the power of influence.” Indeed, the influence of those around us is so powerful! Many times we don’t even realize we’re being strongly affected because influences generally develop over an extended period of time.

Peer pressure is an especially powerful force because it is so subtle. If you’re around people who spend all they make, chances are excellent you might spend all you make. If you are around people who don’t read, chances are excellent that you probably won’t read. People can keep nudging us off course a little at a time until, finally, we find ourselves asking, How did I get here? Those subtle influences need to be studied carefully if we really want our lives to turn out the way we’ve planned.

With regard to this important point, let me give you three key questions to ask yourself. They might help you better analyze your current associations.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-deal-with-the-negative-influences-in-your-life/



WHY SOME PEOPLE FAIL AND OTHERS SUCCEED
What if people converted their dreams into plans and plans into refined activities that would lead toward the achievement of their goals?

If we have a sincere desire for progress, then we are compelled to find every possible means to implement all that we know and feel. We must find ways to demonstrate on the outside all of the value that we possess on the inside. Otherwise, our values will remain unappreciated and our talents unrewarded.

Why some people fail and others succeed can be baffling. Sometimes it may even seem unfair. We all know people who have a good education, the right attitude and a sincere desire to make something of themselves. They are good parents, honest employees and loyal friends. Yet despite their knowledge, feelings and desires, they continue to lead lives of quiet desperation. They should have so much more than they do, but they seem to receive so little.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/why-some-people-fail-and-others-succeed/

BEFORE WE ALL BECOME ENTREPRENEURS
Everybody loves a rags to riches entrepreneur; the unexpected genius from the remote village that built a start-up worth millions. Such stories, valid as they sometimes may be, fuel the myth of the entrepreneur, blurring the realities more closely associated with running your own business. What other myths lie on the path to start-up glory?


MYTHING POINTS
‘Investor capital is a must for success’. On the surface, one of the truer myths. While no business enterprise can succeed without funding, the funding craze paints a chaotic picture of the start-up scene and distracts would-be entrepreneurs from recognizing a broader definition of “capital”. The myth is mainly perpetuated through fear – knowing that successful start-up A raised $1 million in round B of funding understandably raises the temperature.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/before-we-all-become-entrepreneurs/



WANT TO VENTURE INTO POULTRY FARMING? HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER
Agriculture remains one of the most lucrative sectors of the economy with poultry farming at the top part of the list. Poultry products are popular because they are consumed daily. The most popular poultry products are eggs, chicken, and turkey. This does not in any way restrict opportunities as poultry farming could be diversified. Poultry farming and its market is vast and lucrative, you just have to know the best angle to venture into. It covers; egg production, raising chicken, meat production, medicine production, feed production, equipment production and sales. If you’re still in doubt, below are the major reasons why poultry farming is considered one of the most lucrative businesses in agriculture.

Poultry products are ever present on food menus.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/want-venture-poultry-farming-heres-consider/



6 BEST TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR NETWORKING SKILLS
Networking is all about interacting with people to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts. Clearly, it is everything in the business world. From gaining job opportunities to bringing in business for your company, networking is the key to success. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel, agency shares tips for networking like a pro.


Have your business cards with you all the time

You do not know whom you might meet on your itinerary, it is therefore important for you to have your business cards with you all the time. You never know when you’re going to need your business cards.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6-best-tips-improve-networking-skills/



LEADERS ARE WOUNDED HEALERS
While in your Youth Leadership Network, a sister starts giving you signs of wanting to come close. She wants something more than just being a friend, she wants a relationship. You tell yourself, ‘I don’t think I want a relationship now’. Your simple reason is that there can’t be romance without finance.

The sister thinks you’ve got all it takes, because she sees you appearing crisp, neat and smart. You make a meaningful contribution, whenever it comes to donation and strategy. She gets closer and you decided to take a shot to have a relationship with her. The relationship gets enlivened and you feel it should continue that way. You forget about the frustration of raising N500,000, the fact that others are looking to you to solve their problem and that you don’t have a job.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/leaders-wounded-healers-2/


STRATEGIES FOR MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS
Olu is a 27-year-old entrepreneur building his own business in one of Lagos’ metropolitan cities. He wakes up one morning and decides to dress casually to the office for that day (routine decision?). In the afternoon, his office assistant asks him what he wants for lunch, and he says ‘beans, egg and some slices of bread’ (another routine decision?). During dinner at night, he decides with his wife—a psychology lecturer at a university—on how to go about a loan he just obtained from one of the city’s bank (major decision?)

Like Olu, every day, everybody makes decisions: what to wear, where to go, how much to spend, what to do, when to do what, etc. Obviously, decision making is an indispensable part of our living. However, as Alice Waters says, the decisions we make are choices of values that reflect in our lives in every way.

On the other hand, we tend to make hasty and unwise decisions frequently. Because humans can be so spontaneous, sometimes, the decisions we make are not very well thought out.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/strategies-making-right-decisions/

HOW TO WIN IN THE GAME OF LIFE BY BABATUNDE OLADELE
Dropping points in a season are inevitable, no matter how good a team may be. The same way we cannot live out a lifetime without dropping the balls [in the game of life, business or career], irrespective of how skilled, pious or strong we may be as a person.

The points dropped in draws are little slips we make on a regular basis; whilst the points dropped in losses are the major mistakes we make in our decisions, choices and actions.

It is important to reduce the number of our slips and errors rather than accumulate them, because a team that records more draws and losses than wins will eventually be relegated at the end of a season, the same way a life or career that accumulates slips and mistakes will eventually be relegated to the base level of nonentities; in other words, be tagged a failure.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-win-in-the-game-of-life/


HOW IS OUR IDEA OF MASCULINITY SHAPED?
The way we characterize masculinity can and will change depending on who we are with, where we are, and what we are doing.

Before we talk about something as complex as masculinity, I think we can all agree it is helpful to know exactly what it is we are talking about when we discuss Masculinity. Hopefully, this article will help you understand masculinity a bit better.

Masculinity – according to the Oxford Dictionary – is: (the) possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/idea-masculinity-shaped/


WHEN IS A LEADER SUCCESSFUL?
There are certain principles a successful leader is expected to imbibe.

There are so many metrics out there which people use to measure the success of a leader. Some use their financial capacity; others are of the view that a leader is only successful when he meets his responsibilities. The list of opinions could go as far as the views of people differ when it comes to the success of a leader. There are principles that are universally acceptable which if followed will make a leader successful. These principles have been proven to be true.

I beg to say that any fool can live up to his responsibilities if he is financially capable. He can put on the image of another when called to a scene. As much as it is important for a leader to meet up to his responsibilities, that is not the only yardstick that defines a successful leader.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/when-is-a-leader-successful/


10 CAR PROBLEMS YOU CAN EASILY FIX YOURSELF
You don’t have to take your car into the shop for everything. You can save a bundle by doing these ten simple repairs yourself using replacement parts and ordinary hand tools.

Replace Engine Air Filter
Inspect and replace your engine air filter. Just unscrew or unclip the air filter box retainers and remove the old filter. Then hold a shop light behind the filter to see how much light passes through. If the filter blocks 50% of more of the light, replace the filter. If not, put it back in, secure the air filter box cover and keep driving.

Replace Your PCV Valve
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/10-car-problems-can-easily-fix/

IBUKUN AWOSIKA’S IDEA ON HOW TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS GROWTH
Business owners are constantly in a struggle to attain sustainable business growth. Entrepreneurial magnate and Chairman First Bank Nigeria Limited, Mrs Ibukun Awosika in a speech during the 254th anniversary of Red Star Express Plc held October in Lagos, identified strict adherence to vision and core values to be the secret to attaining sustainable business growth.

According to Awosika, business sustainability is an approach that creates long-term stakeholder value through the implementation of an outstanding business strategy. This business strategy must be able to consider every dimension of how a business operates.

She further stated that companies should frequently re-visit their vision, and ensure that the business is still on track with impeccable ethical business practice in order to succeed in business. The business’s ethics should not be compromised either, if a high level of integrity is to be achieved
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/ibukun-awosikas-idea-achieve-sustainable-business-growth/


The Story of a Woodcutter
Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/woodcutter/



Strategies to Overcome Emotional Overeating
During times of stress, anxiety, anger or sadness, there are some of us that tend to turn to food in order to make us feel better. Emotional overeating creates a huge barrier to weight loss and also creates psychological and physiological reliance on food for the sake of coping emotionally. If you suffer from this problem, here are five strategies that you can implement so that you can conquer your emotional overeating once and for all:
1. Name that mood
Overcoming emotional overeating requires a clearer understanding of what actually happens when someone feels inclined to indulge in the behaviour. Try keeping a diet journal and take note of your mood each time you eat. Doing so will allow you to identify when you had an emotional overeating episode. It will also help you figure out how often you eat when you’re in a bad mood, the time of day it’s most likely to occur, as well as which days of the week it’s likely to occur on. Last but not least, you’ll also be able to figure out which foods you need to get rid of.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/strategies-overcome-emotional-overeating/



How to Cope With Hard Times
Regardless of how trivial or tragic challenges of life could be, they are generally unavoidable. But the good thing is that there are ways through which one could cope with hard times.

1. Be grateful
There are always things to show gratitude to God for, every second and minute of each day. It could come in the form of a warm sun, phone call from an old friend or even the blessing of seeing another day. When you sit back and take inventory of all the good things that have taken place in your life, that one problem in your life may not be so terrible. Always remember that there are individuals that would be happy to trade their challenges for yours in an instant.

2. Focus your attention on other things
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-cope-with-hard-times/



Just Live!
The struggle in life never stops. The temptations will change, the frustrations may be modified, but struggle remains a constant. If it is not internal problems, it will be external anomalies. If it is not family relationships, it will be community affiliations. The struggle always continues. You can get wealthy as you want to be, but there is still going to be struggles. You can give it all up, but that would never exempt you from struggles.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/just-live/

INVESTING IN THE UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE
David Ricardo made a fortune when he bought British government bonds on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo; Warren Buffett sold insurance to the California earthquake authority. These investors have earned extraordinary returns by investing in what could be regarded as the unknown and the unknowable. The step they took was based on principles. These principles defy three major challenges in the world of investment which are risk, uncertainty and ignorance. These challenges are the simple reasons investors don’t know when and how to act when opportunity comes.

Most investors tend to follow traditional finance theories which do not apply in the world of the unknown and the unknowable. I use the word “unknown” to describe investments that could have a risky outcome while “unknowable” speaks of events that happen as a thunderclap, giving us little or no time to anticipate or prepare. However, once they happen, they become demystified. Nevertheless, the fear of the unknowable deters many from taking steps to invest.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/investing-in-the-unknown-and-unknowable/



3 APPS THAT MAKE MANAGING YOUR PERSONAL FINANCE VERY EASY
Today, there’s almost an app for everything. Games, fashion, modelling, you get apps that claim to help you in one way or the other. That is one advantage that comes with the digitization of services worldwide, especially over the Internet. In Nigeria, the craze has caught on as well, with all commercial banks having apps that customers can use to perform basic transactions, instead of having to visit the banking hall. However, what many people need is a way to monitor, and in most cases, improve their personal finances. Most bank apps will not do that on a neutral basis, but there are apps that will. These 3 apps were recommended by Investopedia as the best apps in 2017 for managing personal finances.



Wally

This app is basically meant to track your expenses and making sure this is done in a very easy manner. The app allows you to log in your expenses as you make them, totaling them for you based on the period you select (weekly, monthly etc.). In fact, the app has a feature that lets you simply take a photo of your receipts instead of manually logging your expenses at the end of the day. And if you use geo-location on your device, it even fills in that info, saving you several steps. This way, you know exactly where, when, and on what you spend money on, allowing you to determine what changes to effect.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/3-apps-make-managing-personal-finance-easy/



WHEN ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH?
We all desire to be something else, which leaves us asking all the time: Am I good enough? What then is good enough? When are we good enough?

Once upon a time there lived a stone cutter, in a small village. All day long he worked hard, cutting the hard stones and making the shape which were needed by his customers. His hands were hard, and his clothes were dirty.

One day, he went out to work on a big stone. It was very hard to cut, and the sun was very hot. After spending several hours cutting the stone, he sat down in the shade and soon fell asleep.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/when-are-you-good-enough/


THE PROVERBS 31 MAN
Several articles and books have been written on the Proverbs 31 woman, the woman that the Bible refers to as the virtuous woman.

I love what the Bible says about this virtuous woman and I have used it several times to counsel many of my female clients/subscribers.

Each time I read and meditate on the story of the virtuous woman, I don’t fail to pay attention to what was said about her husband. I envy that man and I want to learn from what was said about him. If you would imbibe the qualities that the husband of the virtuous woman was said to possess, then you would have a virtuous wife. It’s that simple.
Read more at;https://valourdigest.com/the-proverbs-31-man/


TREATING STIFF AND SORE MUSCLES
Have you ever woken up in the morning and stretched only to feel neck or shoulder pain? Every movement afterward sends pain shooting down your back, but why exactly does this happen? Read on to find out:



Why do muscles get stiff?

Muscles require magnesium for them to relax, and calcium for them to contract. When the two are imbalanced, it can lead to muscle spasms and contractions.
• Dehydration is also a contributing factor to stiff muscles. This is because muscles are active tissues and require lots of water. The water contains electrolytes that help transfer orders from your nervous system to your muscles and back.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/treating-stiff-sore-muscles/

COMMUNICATION AS A TOOL FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS
Communication is a tool for success. Not understanding this will cost you. It is a tool you as an entrepreneur must maximise to close big deals. The art of communication is to get the recipient to understand the intent of the sender. Everybody communicates; how you do it is what varies and what matters most.

We all cannot but communicate; everything we do sends a message. If we don’t say anything, we still communicate. Our body language and even the way we dress communicate on our behalf.

Excellent communication is essential for all entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs (those with entrepreneurship mentality who are still employees). Entrepreneurs basically sell their ideas and the way this is done matters a lot. It is through the potency of words that the passion and vision the entrepreneur has can be relayed.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/communication-tool-business-success-2/



FOUR WAYS TO STAND OUT AS A PROFESSIONAL
The extent of your career growth is often connected to your conduct, the way people perceive you in the corporate environment. To have a fast career growth, employers expect you to have a professional conduct. They want to have a perception of you as someone they can rely on to handle tasks and other projects as a professional. I have come to know that becoming a professional in whatever one does takes a conscious and deliberate effort. Professionalism is the touch we give to what we do that makes it different from the ordinary service we see every day. In everything you do, there is a professional side to it and there is also an ordinary side to it.

In fact, the dictionary defines professionalism as the expertness characteristic of a professional person. What that means is that there can be a ‘professional conduct, professional ethics, and a thoroughly professional performance’. And this cannot be achieved by repeating the same thing you do every day without seeking for new ways for improvement.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/four-ways-to-stand-out-as-a-professional/



11 WAYS A MAN IS SUCCESSFUL
t’s not about money, looks, or fame.

In a recent conversation, a male friend was describing a group of his female friends discussing their ideal male partners, detailing how they define a “successful” man. This particular group of women are all financially successful and live in luxurious homes. Their measure of success? A man who made more money than they did.

Each time I hear of such things, I metaphorically vomit a little in my mouth. My own father worked long hours to bring home a six-figure salary. He left at 5 a.m. and returned at 7 p.m., tired and cranky. A female friend of mine is married to someone like that. They have a beautiful home, take beautiful vacations, but at the end of the day, all that’s left for her and her family are the scraps of a vibrant man working himself to the nubs.

This is not the measure of a successful man. Society may pressure a man into being this, wearing himself down day after day, but how is that the measure of success when there is nothing left for your partner, friends, family, or self after a long day at work?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/11-ways-man-successful/


12 RULES OF CONVERSATION
Follow these timeless tips for being a good conversationalist from The Art of Conversation.

1. Avoid unnecessary details.
Don’t sidetrack. For example, if the time something happened isn’t important, don’t waste time getting it right.

2. Don’t ask another question before the first one has been answered.
If you ask how someone’s children are, don’t jump in with your family health before she has answered.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/12-rules-conversation/



FOODS THAT HELP LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE
Several million Nigerians suffer from high blood pressure. Experts have said that adding certain foods to one’s diet could help lower blood pressure. Below are some foods experts and medical studies have identified could help keep your blood pressure under control:

Mangoes

Studies in Hypertension Research showed that adding mangoes which are a great source of fiber and beta-carotene is an effective way to lower blood pressure.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/foods-help-lower-blood-pressure/

HYGIENE TIPS ON GOOD NAIL CARE
Human nail form a prominent part of the finger. The function it serves make it a body tissue which must be cared for at all times. Apart from the covering the nail gives the topmost part of the finger, it also prevent securing injury to the delicate skin around it.

The human nail serves many functions, some of which are scratching skin surfaces when there is an itch; holding light objects firmly, etc. Some people wearing long nails used them for the removal of tiny objects from holes, gaps in between teeth, and such other activities which the fingertips could not ordinarily perform.

However, wearing long nails without due cleaning habit give room for the settlement of germs or dirt underneath. This may be ingested while eating hence, one becomes exposed to infection. The rule is if you must keep long nails, cultivate the habit of regular clean-up.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/hygiene-tips-on-good-nail-care/


ALLERGIES: WHAT CAN YOU MAKE OF THEM?
Allergies could be regarded as reactions, sensitivities, dislikes, etc, which make an individual uncomfortable after being exposed to an irritation or stimulus. Such irritation or stimulus include but not limited to any of these: dust, drug, smoke, food substances, strong smell, cold and insect bite, amongst a list of others.

Sometimes, we feel unsettled by the smell prevalent in an environment, be it a room, office, etc, and depending on individual adaptability, it could lead to acute effects, like vomiting, coughing, sneezing, restlessness and spitting.

Have you ever developed itching after sleeping on beddings or something similar? Then, what you are experiencing in such case is an allergic reaction. Your body is giving off responses suggesting quick action, one which supposes you move away, check the bed surface for any irritant like dust, bad odour or other substances causing the irritation.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/allergies-can-make/



BOOK REVIEW: ON BECOMING A LEADER
Warren Bennis is not only a major figure in the academic discourse of leadership but has also popularized the subject through bestsellers. He co-authored Leaders, based on observation and interview with 90 of America’s leaders, ranging from astronaut Neil Armstrong to McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. The book concludes that leadership is crucial, and it can be learned by anyone.

While Leaders evaluates the nature of Leadership, On Becoming a Leader views leadership is more personal. The book investigates how one can make leadership a habit of existence while around one the world becomes the blur of change. Being a product of more detailed dialogue with a smaller number of people, Bennis’ second book provides great insights, one of which is the theme of the book is that True leaders are not interested in proving themselves, they want above all to be able to express themselves fully.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/book-review-becoming-leader/



THE DIVORCE
A man and his wife are driving down the road as the wife says, “I want a divorce.”

The man says nothing, just speeds up slightly.

The woman continues, “That’s not all. I’m taking the house, the car, the kids, and the bank account.”

The man remains a statue, only speeding up a little.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/thedivorce/


HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES
Did you know scientists have discovered ways to make diamonds “on demand”? Given the right conditions – temperatures as high as 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit and pressure 55,000 times greater than that of earth’s atmosphere – they can turn graphite into sparkling gems.

It’s amazing to think these priceless gems could be created in a lab; the extreme conditions needed to create the stones boggle the mind! No wonder the ancient Greek word for diamond, adamas, means “invincible”!

At some point in your life, you will face overwhelming circumstances — moments when the heat or pressure seems too much to bear. Rather than allowing the circumstances to crush you, with the right mindset, you can harness the power of difficult circumstances for good.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/harnessing-the-power-of-difficult-circumstances/

YOUR SUCCESS RATIO
Gentlemen, success in life is about dreams, goals and the determination to pursue and apprehend whatever it is you desire. Achieving your goals and dreams is what success is all about. However, for many of us, as lofty, as valuable, as interesting and as rewarding as our dreams portend, we are not willing to pay the price it takes to apprehend and fulfill.

Yes, we dream, as teenagers, as youths, as grownups we do have great dreams, we want the best of cars, the best of homes, the best of families, the best of education, the best of exposure; we dream about what we would like to become, the lives we would like to touch, the fame, relevance and influence we’d like to come into, and how our lives should be meaningful. We want to impact our generation and leave a legacy. Unfortunately, we don’t want to pay the right price for all these. We want all these at our price.

Permit me to ask a few soul-searching questions. Are you happy with your life; really, are you satisfied with your quality of life and standard of living? Is this really your dream life, your dream job, your dream marriage, your dream income? Is this what you really wanted for yourself or what you had no choice but to settle for?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/your-success-ratio/



OVERCOMING OBSTACLES ON YOUR PATH TO GREATNESS
Lack of focus is a hindrance to any vision; being focused means overcoming hindrances on the path. The journey towards a vision or goal is usually crowded with obstacles that blur our vision. If achieving goals were easy, everyone would do it quickly and without difficulty. Even if your vision is clear and you can articulate a detailed destiny, there are always obstacles in the path.

It’s the joy and journey of clearing those obstacles that makes life rich, and helps people feel truly accomplished when they finally reach their pinnacle of success. Success is the result of overcoming failures and obstacles. You shouldn’t back out of a race because of the obstacles on the path. They are milestones that make the adventure interesting.
Read more at;https://valourdigest.com/overcoming-obstacles-path-greatness/


3 BRILLIANT WAYS TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR TEAM
What’s most important to your leadership: adding value to yourself or adding value to others?

Leadership is fuelled by personal values and the ability to create values in others. The important thing about leadership is your character and the values that guide your life. Unfortunately, the corporate culture is hardwired to serve self first and subordinates eventually.

Many leaders have been made to confuse leadership with the crave for success. And they swallowed several misguided philosophies about leadership. They believe leadership means:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/3-brilliant-ways-add-value-team/



HOW YOU CAN DEMONSTRATE YOUR FREEDOM
Freedom is a state of independence; a situation where one’s right to expression, movement, decision or choice, ambition, ownership, etc., are not in any way limited by place of origin, beliefs, parents or guardians, locality or territorial boundaries, law, and persons.

Freedom is a natural gift, which every human being has, whether knowingly or unknowingly. In as much as we cannot rule out the fact that it is affected by variable factors, as enlisted above, every individual also has his or her way of responding to it- that in itself, is freedom. These external influences range from places to places, as well as from one race or tongue to another.

Children’s freedom, for instance, is largely controlled by their parents or guardian, who make decisions for them concerning what they eat, their wears; where they go; who they mingle with; the choice of school they attend, and so on.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-you-can-demonstrate-your-freedom/

USE THESE 8 BUDGET TIPS IF YOU OWN A STARTUP
Running a small business can be a handful, especially without adequate planning and budgeting. It is very easy to run out of cash when dealing with small businesses, and this is the major reason why most small businesses fail within a few months.

Being grounded on budget management is a sure ticket to success in any business. Below is how to create a budget that works.

Get an understanding of your business risks, strengths and weaknesses

Your budget is much easier to handle when you have a clear understanding of all business risks and how they might affect your finances. This helps you plan ahead and minimize the effects such risks may have on your business. Try to define and understand your risks in the business. Figure out what and where your weaknesses are as well as your strengths.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/use-8-budget-tips-startup/



HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR EARNING ABILITY.
Dear friend, you are earning today exactly the amount you have decided to earn, no more no less. Whatever your income is today, is what you want it to be. Your income is a matter of your choice, your decision and your resolve.

Your income is not a matter of what is coming to you, it’s a matter of what you’ve decided to make come to you. What you earn today is an outcome of your action, and also inaction.

There were some things you did, some actions you took, and some decisions you made in time past that brought you to this level of earning in your life. There are some things you know if you lack, you could never earn what you currently earn.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/your-earning-ability/



STANDING TALL WHEN WE FALL SHORT
I have always been intrigued by the story of Zacchaeus in the book of Luke 19. The Bible says he was short of stature but had a burning desire to see Jesus. But as Jesus passed through Jericho, Zacchaeus knew that his desire to see Christ would come to nothing if he didn’t take desperate measures; he knew that the multitude that always followed Christ would hinder his chances of coming close to seeing Christ, so he climbed a tree and waited for the passing of Christ. And Jesus got wind of him, called on him to come down, and went to Zacchaeus’s house for dinner.

Now Zacchaeus was a tax collector and by all standards a sinner in the eyes of the Israelites. Therefore, these qualities alone should have hindered him from coming close to a righteous man like Christ. But no, he wouldn’t permit such. Again, his stature was another setback: the Bible says that he was of a short stature. But Mr. Zacchaeus wouldn’t allow his stature to limit him. I want to believe that Zacchaeus would have had other doubts as well; he would have asked himself if this was the right thing, or if people wouldn’t laugh at him for climbing a tree; for mind you, the Bible says that he was a rich man. So in this story, we see the interplay of determination, persistence, and reinvention.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/standing-tall-fall-short/

USE THESE 8 BUDGET TIPS IF YOU OWN A STARTUP
Running a small business can be a handful, especially without adequate planning and budgeting. It is very easy to run out of cash when dealing with small businesses, and this is the major reason why most small businesses fail within a few months.

Being grounded on budget management is a sure ticket to success in any business. Below is how to create a budget that works.

Get an understanding of your business risks, strengths and weaknesses
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/use-8-budget-tips-startup/



HOW EXITING RECESSION AFFECTS YOU
The National Bureau of Statistics announced recently that Nigeria has now exited from recession. This is after a real GDP growth rate of 0.5% in the second quarter of 2017. In this article, we will attempt to explain what this means to you as an ordinary Nigerian.

What is GDP?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of the goods and services produced in a country at a given point in time. A GDP growth rate is therefore the difference between GDP of one period (usually a quarter) to a corresponding quarter in a prior period.

Why GDP Growth rate
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/exiting-recession-affects/



HOW TO LEAD BEYOND YOUR POSITION
Position sometimes comes with power. Everyone craves powerful positions but only few merit them. To know the true nature of a man, expose him to power and position, then you will see his true colour. It is fallacy to believe you are a leader because you occupy a position. If that’s what leadership is about, anybody can do it and anyone will excel at it. But it goes beyond that; people don’t follow leaders just because of their position or influence.

Yes, influence makes people to emulate you as a person. But do you know that people can emulate you and might not follow you? Do you also know that people might work with you because of your position, yet they might not follow you? People only follow leaders, and this is why you should determine to be the kind of person that people will follow. A husband whose wife is not following most times disagrees with the wife. It is at such times that you hear the man say, “I am the head of this house”.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-lead-beyond-your-position/



4 SECRETS FOR CONVERTING YOUR CROWD TO FOLLOWERS
People are attracted to a cause for various reasons. Whether we like it or not, people always have reasons for choosing to spend their time following a particular cause. The reason might be based on physical, spiritual, emotional or even financial needs. It often starts as a selfish motive, but changes as time defines if their expectations are going to be met or not.

Nelson Mandela, the popular leader who fought against the apartheid in South Africa, had people drawn to the cause at first for selfish reasons. They thought fighting for such cause would be a reason for a complete power shift to the blacks. It was only during the struggle that they understood that Mandela was fighting to have a country where both the blacks and the whites would have equal rights.

This is usually the lot of most followers; they join a cause for reasons best known to them. No one becomes a true follower of a cause from inception; they need to be educated, enlightened and equipped with relevant information that will make them see beyond their selfish needs.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/4-secrets-for-converting-your-crowd-to-followers/

5 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO SETTLE IN AS A NEW EMPLOYEE
A lot of people don’t know that recruiters provide aftercare. We develop business, we negotiate terms, we arrange interviews and we manage job offers – that’s a given. But we also (or at least the top tier agent’s do) ensure that the on-boarding process goes smoothly, that training is given, that the pace of development is as expected and that both parties are happy during the first six months of new employment, so that they can be motivated to work towards a common and fulfilling goal together.

Recently I learnt about the Maslow Theory; a motivational hierarchy of needs in psychology. The theory states that to fulfill needs higher up in the pyramid (self-actualization, esteem etc.), those at the bottom require attention first (safety, love, belonging etc.). As a new employee, considering the Maslow Theory to motivate, drive and satisfy you should make for a seamless start!

Familiarize yourself with your surroundings

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-effective-ways-to-settle-in-as-a-new-employee/


THE TOP 7 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES & ATTRIBUTES OF GREAT LEADERS
Many leadership qualities have been identified that are important to great leaders across time.

But there are seven specific qualities of leaders that seem to stand out as being more important than the others.

The good news is that each of these leadership traits can be learned, and they must be learned by practice and repetition.

Here are the seven most identified attributes of great leaders and executives:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/the-top-7-leadership-qualities-attributes-of-great-leaders/



REVEALED: GUARDIOLA WORKING ON FRESH APPROACH TO BRING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SUCCESS TO MAN CITY
One of Guardiola’s magnetic tactics boards features heavily in ‘All or Nothing’, but it is one thing to highlight his desire to get his team in behind Liverpool’s high defence. The real information, the advice to players, the triggers, the passing patterns, are quite another.

And with no sign of a third Marti Perarnau tactical opus in the works, the majority of City’s plans for domestic and European domination will remain under lock and encryption key.

But sources close to the City boss have told Goal that he has come up with brand new ideas ahead of a fresh assault on the Champions League.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/revealed-guardiola-working-on-fresh-approach-to-bring-champions-league-success-to-man-city/

4 HELPFUL TIPS TO PICK A CAREER YOU’LL ACTUALLY LIKE
Choosing a career path can be quite daunting if you are not sure of what exactly you are passionate about doing. Fortunately, there are some helpful tips that can guide your selection of a career you’ll end up loving. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 helpful tips to pick a career you’ll actually like.

Consider the Lifestyle, Not Just the Job Title

What many people don’t understand is that there is more to a career than just the job titles you garner over time. Take a look at the 10 most successful people in the world in terms of business, entertainment etc. They had to lead a kind of life to get there. Before picking a career, you need to consider if you are ready to live the life that comes with the job title. Can you make the necessary sacrifices? Many people want to have great job titles and success, but very few people are willing to live the life that is needed to get to that point.

Read more at;https://valourdigest.com/4-helpful-tips-pick-career-youll-actually-like/


YOUR FAMILY NEEDS MORE THAN MONEY
The story you are about reading is about a family, and it could be a representation of an average Lagosian or city resident.

Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread for a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work passionately attending classes, wanting to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money can buy. Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he sometimes yearned to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, father passed, and with distinction too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely. Like a dream come true, father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad. However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of a manager. In fact, to make himself a worthy candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in another University.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/your-family-needs-more-than-money/


5 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU BUY A HOME
Buying your first home is one of the most important transactions that you will ever make. You need to make sure that you can handle the mortgage payments, that you get a good mortgage, and that you are making a wise decision. You may also need to make financial changes before you are ready to buy a home. If you take the time to answer these questions, you will know that you are ready to buy. And you will also be able to make sure that you do not spend more than you can afford on the home.

Here are five questions to ask yourself before you buy your home.

HOW LONG WILL YOU BE IN THE AREA?
This question will vary and the answer may suddenly change due to circumstances in your life. Ideally, you should stay in your first home for three to five years before you move again. You need to stay that long in order to break even on the mortgage. If you know that you will be transferring to a new area or will want to move up in size in a year, it might be better to wait to buy a home then. This will allow you to save up a larger down payment and may make it easier for you to afford the home that you want.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-questions-ask-buy-home/



HOW TO ESCAPE THE YOKE OF SELF-CONDEMNATION
What do you do when comparison sneaks in suddenly, and you find yourself wishing you were someone else? What do you do when you’re overcome with feelings of self-deprecation?

Self-condemnation is destructive. It is forgivable when one is condemned or derided by others, but it becomes a grave issue when one condemns oneself. Self-condemnation is wide-ranging, convicting, and defeatist. It leads back to self: “Try harder and do better.” You can make lists of action points, write sticky notes to remind yourself of those action points, and vow to change yourself, but you’ll only end up right back where you started — awash in guilt and condemnation.

The first in the process of growth is self-awareness. However, as you dig out yourself, searching and mining for treasures in you, you will not but find debris and wastes that will make you puke. These blackspots are the roots of self-condemnation. Note. You index what would be the emphasis of your biographer: either your waste or your fertility. If you spend your life moaning over your wasted life, opportunities, friendship, time, and gifts, you give the world no other choice than to throw you out as garbage.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/escape-yoke-self-condemnation/



SHORT STORY: THE WEIGHT OF THE GLASS
A psychology professor walked around on a stage, while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.

She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.”
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/short-story-weight-glass/

7 REASONS YOU’RE READY TO PROPOSE
Wondering whether you’re really ready to get married or not? From your bank account to your friends, here are a few points to consider before popping the question.

by Miles Stiverson and Ivy Jacobson

Some face the prospect of proposing with sheer terror (in the best way possible, of course!), while others feel compelled to pop the question on the second date. Regardless of where your personality falls, here are seven ways to be sure you’re ready for marriage.

1. YOU’RE OPEN ABOUT YOUR FINANCES.
Make no mistake about it: Despite your undying love and devotion, money does matter to some extent. Even if you and your partner aren’t Wall Street experts, you should at least be familiar with each other’s financial situations.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/7-reasons-youre-ready-propose/


4 REASONS YOU SHOULD TRAVEL AT LEAST ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Traveling is an enriching and educative experience that feeds the soul and reveals the beauty and diversity of life. It opens you up to just how big the world is and can really help put this in perspective for you. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 reasons you should travel at least once in a lifetime.

It’s the Best Form of Education

Traveling and seeing a world outside what you are accustomed to gives a vast source of knowledge and education that can’t be gotten anywhere else, much less within the four walls of an educational institution. It also goes beyond the knowledge you gain from reading books or hearing stories about it. The experience of traveling teaches sociology, psychology, politics, history, economics, geography etc. in a hands-on way, that’ll leave you with memories too prized to be forgotten.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/4-reasons-travel-least-lifetime/


THE HUSBAND GOD WANTS YOU TO BE
“Husbands, love your wives…” Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. Many men wrestle with the fear of intimacy. Masculine emotions have become the twenty-first century version of “Pandora’s box”. We don’t know all that’s in it, but we have a feeling that we’d better not open it. But if we hide our true selves from our wives, they will only love what we do – not what we are!

As a husband, you don’t have to be a “10”. You just have to be a man of God. He wants strong men who lead, instead of weak men who follow. No woman wants to be in submission to a man who isn’t in submission to God and led by His Spirit. “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV). A woman feels secure with a man who has these qualities, and will gladly say to him, ‘Lead the way.’
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/the-husband-god-wants-you-to-be/



ARE YOU GAMBLING OR INVESTING?
There are a few differences between investing and gambling, but people who don’t know the differences argue that they are the same. We will take time to compare them so that an investor can know when he is gambling and when he is investing.

Let us start by looking at their dictionary meanings. In literary terms investing is an act of laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit. It is important to stress at this point that investing requires an investor to take calculated risk.

Someone might ask that if investing requires an investor to take calculated risk, then what’s the reason behind the failure of some investments? This is a question that people will never stop asking because the fact remains that some investments will still keep failing.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/are-you-gambling-or-investing/


3 TIPS FOR MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE
You may have heard so much about making a difference in your world that you probably do not need another motivational talk. What you need is a decisive action springing up from a foundation of self awareness. This is because you must first be before you can do. In other words, you cannot make a difference if you have not discovered who you are.

No two human beings are exactly alike. God made everyone different; hence, making a difference simply boils down to discovering God’s unique purpose for your life and living it out.

Here are three useful tips for making a significant difference:

1. Start small: Don’t despise the days of little beginning. Any big dream that doesn’t start small is only a daydream. The Good Book says a little one shall become a thousand and a small one shall become a great nation.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/3-tips-for-making-a-significant-difference/

WHAT TO DO IF SHE DOESN’T TEXT BACK
Some girls are, and always will be hard to get. Even if they are not the most attractive girl in the room, they are still very high status and good at playing the game. These are my favorite girls.
The ones that are hardest to get are the ones that are most rewarding when you finally do get them. These are the girls who take forever to respond to your texts, change plans on you several times, stop answering your texts, and even stop talking to you for weeks at a time. Just know you are not alone. They do this to everyone, and most guys don’t know how to handle them . . . But I do!
First you must recognize that she may in fact be very busy and have a lot on her plate at the time; i.e. she may be working a ton of hours more at work, she may be getting over her boyfriend whom she recently broke up with, she may be feeling awful lately with some kind of illness, it may be her time of month were she is just moody and doesn’t want to talk to you.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/doesnt-text-back/


WHAT DO WOMEN REALLY WANT?
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.
The question?… What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch’s proposition to have an answer by year’s end.
He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/what-do-women-really-want/


KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE
Tunde, Segun, and Biodun are all talking about what their dreams were when they were kids. Segun says, “I wanted to be the President of Nigeria. I was so dumb.”

Biodun says, “I wanted to be a movie star. I was so crazy.”

Tunde says, “I wanted to be the first person to travel around the sun, but I still haven’t given up.”

Biodun tells him, “If you came that close to the sun you would burn.”
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/keep-dream-alive/


PLENIPOTENTIARY
The classroom was silent. Mrs Smith was handing out to students their last homework sheet. As she did it, she wrote the word plenipotentiary on the whiteboard. Then she turned around and said, ” Attention boys and girls. This word is almost the hardest English word in the world. So, your job is to put this word into a sentence. I’ll give you an example for flower. “In the middle of the circle was a large teardrop shaped flower garden”. You see? Nice and easy. Now, whoever makes a sentence for the word plenipotentiary, there will be no homework for a month for him or her.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/plenipotentiary/


WHY AM I BROKE?
Over the years, avenues to wealth globally with mankind has transited from the era of hunting and subsistent farming, to industry, to service delivery, to information, and now to communication technology.

All through these seasons, men have made commendable effort to acquire and grow wealth so as to apprehend a life of comfort, peace and rest of mind. Many succeeded, however, many, many more failed at this attempt.

Even today, many people, perhaps you also, have lovely dreams of becoming wealthy. Everyone wants to be comfortable at least; and truth be told, to be comfortable in Nigeria, you must be rich.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/why-am-i-broke/


BECOME A STUDENT OF BUSINESS
Why are you in business? And are you a student of business?

You need to determine your motivation for being in business; and in turn have the business set up with realistic, attainable expectations and goals. Of course, profit is a key factor but you also need to understand the dynamics of business.

Your business has only one big boss. And it’s not you. It’s your customer.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/become-a-student-of-business/


BENEFITS OF HOLDING ON
To hold on literarily means wait, be patient, endure etc. It is necessary we see this habit, as needful in a world, where things sometimes don’t turn out as quick or urgent as we presume, or had earlier hoped. And to say the obvious is drawing from the common parlance, which is that man proposes but God disposes. Our proposition, at times, come with much agitation, rush, excitement and hasty activities, which tend to becloud our vision of what lie ahead. This means for God’s disposition to have effect in our lives, our proposition, as humans, has to subsume in or align with His. Hence, it may require a total difference from our earlier plan or a rearrangement, or delay, and if we take time to reflect on it, we will understand better and make out the best.

Looking at it from God’s perspective, we need to endure in seeking His answers, in prayers, reading the scriptures, and even by means of abstinence. Holding on is a virtue or habit we must all cultivate and build on, regardless of who we are. A bit of patience, waiting, endurance, or whatever you may call it, could be a test we must all pass through to our most-sought-after desires or life goals.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/benefits-of-holding-on/



TOP 10 HEALTH TIPS FOR MEN
When it comes to healthcare, we men are like ostriches. We bury our heads in the sand. We are much less likely than women to visit our doctors regularly, take symptoms seriously, and live a healthful lifestyle. Maybe that’s one reason why women have a seven-year average survival advantage on us!

Yet, it’s obviously important that men of all ages become more proactive about their health. And an easy way to start is to follow these 10 basic steps to maintaining health and vitality.

Eliminate “White Foods” from Your Diet. White flour, white sugar and other processed foods are not only devoid of vitamins and minerals, but they’ve also been stripped of their natural fibre. As a result, they rapidly drive up blood sugar levels, which contributes to weight gain, diabetes and a host of other health problems.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/top-10-health-tips-men/

Amongst values, integrity stands strong. There is a saying, “Success will come and go, but Integrity is forever”. Integrity is therefore a firm adherence to do the right things at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching.

Integrity as a word was first used in the 14th century by the middle French and Latin, pronounced “Integritat”. It is from the word Integer- meaning “a complete entity”. Integrity is therefore a value that takes courage to espouse because it might come with consequences that one must bear, but the bearer is vindicated and justified no matter how long it tarries at the end.

More so, building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, I therefore implore people to avoid whatever that would jeopardize their integrity. There is always one thousand and one excuse not to show Integrity, but it is simply one’s choice. We should not allow evil, immorality, villainy or iniquity to cloud our judgment. We should rather embrace and give honesty, decency, probity, morality, righteousness, rectitude and other virtues a chance to move ourselves and nation forward.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/integrity-as-a-core-value/

NEVER SIGN A DEAL WITHOUT THIS CLAUSE
in the event of any dispute arising out of the interpretation or performance of this agreement, parties shall resort to arbitration to be conducted by a single arbitrator to be appointed by the parties, with the seat of arbitration in Lagos and governed by the laws of Lagos state….

The above is a short and simple sample of what is always regarded as an ‘Arbitration Clause’ in any agreement between parties.

Due to the multi-faceted nature of business transactions all over the world, there is the need for parties to come together to agree on terms and conditions as to how a particular business venture is expected to be carried out. These agreements are then reduced into writing, and parties append their signatures signifying the intention of being bound by the terms as stipulated in the agreement.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/never-sign-deal-without-clause/

PERSONAL FINANCE TIPS FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES IN HARSH ECONOMIC TIMES
The world economic crisis of the last 5 years has revealed much about the vulnerability of the middle class in withstanding financial crisis. Economic crisis typically results in loss of jobs, slash in salaries and wages, austerity and inflation. While there is no special way of managing financial crisis in a harsh economy, the following are suggested ways of adjusting to the heat that comes with it;

Prepare a Family Budget – Family Budgets may sound mundane but in a harsh economic environment, they are life-savers. A breakdown of what you spent in the past month is a sure way to project what the subsequent month will look like. By the time you are done, a clearer picture of what you spend on the most will be revealed.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/personal-finance-tips-middle-class-families-harsh-economic-times/


CAN YOUR LEADERSHIP BE TRUSTED?
“He got elected as our leader, and by virtue of his position; he will be overseeing the finances. I don’t think I’m comfortable with that, we should saddle someone else with the responsibility of monitoring how he deals with our finances.”

When people utter such statements as the one quoted above, it shows emphatically the lack of trust in a leader. Followers tend to make such statements when a leader has questionable character. Trust is a responsibility; it should be earned and not demanded. Followers don’t trust their leaders because it is demanded of them. They trust only when it is earned.

Trust is a fundamental ingredient of any leadership. The dictionary defines trust as a certainty on something or someone based on experience. It refers to the trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others. Trust also refers to something held by one party for the benefits of another. Therefore without trust it is difficult for leadership to work, whether in social or in business circles.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/can-your-leadership-be-trusted-2/


THE POWER OF FOCUS IN ACHIEVING GREATNESS
Are you in pursuit of a career, goal, vision or purpose? Focus will make you excel in your pursuit. Focus is power, and inspires self-discipline, will-power, passion, enthusiasm. Vision, dreams, goals, and purpose are abstract until you are committed to them by keeping your focus alive. Focus gives flesh to the idea; it concretizes the abstract.

What is focus? Focus is a basic tenet in photography, and it is practically married to sharpness. Photographers describe focus as the position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a clear and sharply defined image on a focal plane, or the action of adjusting the distance between the lens and subject to make light rays converge to form a clearer and sharply defined image of the subject. An image that is completely sharp is said to be in-focus. This metaphor applies to the mind and life’s race. When you concentrate, your mind is sharp. You are focused. On the other hand, lack of focus leads to confusion, which is described as blurriness in photography.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/power-focus-achieving-greatness/


7 SUBTLE WAYS TO ERODE TRUST AS A LEADER
Those you lead want to trust you. That’s an inherent truth in the leader-follower relationship.

The people you lead will give generous amounts of grace for your flaws and weaknesses as long as you don’t break trust.

You can make mistakes, execute an occasionally flawed decision, even fail in a big project as long as you maintain trust in your relationships.

If you chip away at, or eventually break trust as a leader, the foundation of your influence starts to crumble. And grace for shortcomings begins to dry up.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/7-subtle-ways-to-erode-trust-as-a-leader/


10 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN BUYING A USED CAR
A lot of personal finance writers advocate the purchase of used cars over new ones. The reason of course is that new cars depreciate in value quicker than any other asset you can think of, making used cars somewhat of a bargain. I have bought a few used cars over the years, and in most cases, ended up selling them at a good price. Based on my experience, and those of others, here are few questions you should ask, if you intend to buy a used car.

Who owns the car?

The first thing you want to do is ask who owns the car. This might seem quite rudimentary but I have seen occasions where the perceived owner of a car is not the legal owner of the car. What does this mean? The legal owner of a car is the person or entity whose name is on the Proof of Ownership. If it is not the same as the person selling the car then I suggest you do not buy.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/10-questions-ask-buying-used-car/


SHOULD I FORGIVE HER DESPITE HER INFIDELITY?
My name is Adekunle. I write to share my story to know what possible solutions you can proffer to me. My marriage was 19 years old on April 5, 2015. I got married to Becky, a banker with one of the leading banks in Nigeria. Becky grew so fast to become a branch manager. At that time I was working as an engineer with an airline company. Things were rosy and everything went on fine until I lost my job and my wife was posted to the head office of her bank. It’s a normal challenge for men to go through all sorts when they lose their job, so I never complained about the unpleasant way she treated me.

Becky started travelling with her boss too often. They could be in China today, Ghana tomorrow and Saudi Arabia next week. I didn’t entertain a negative thought until my friend, Alade, called me from the UK that he saw my wife in a compromising state with an unidentified man. I immediately knew it must have been Eric, her boss. I chose not to believe my friend. But such calls kept coming in, even from friends here in Nigeria. I confronted her with the issue. She denied, made a quarrel out of it and called me a loser who lacked direction in life. Prior to that, she had always denied me of sex using different excuses.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/should-i-forgive-her-despite-her-infidelity/


6 SECRETS TO WIN YOUR WIFE’S RESPECT
In every marriage (or relationship leading to marriage) the woman needs to have her man function in his role. For the woman to feel the warmth of a relationship, the man must be more than just a guy who occupies the position of a man in her life. While most men want to be the kind of man that is highly desired by every woman, only a few smart men play within the confines of certain rules which see their wives respecting them and submitting to their leadership. I strongly believe that in as much as it is the duty of the wife to submit, it is the place of the husband to love his wife.

Nowadays, most adult females believe that they are independent and as such, they don’t need a man in their lives. The reality is, some women in their careers today are faring better than most men in the same calling. They have gone up the corporate ladder and are yet seeking positions in public office. Many women that have risen to such positions are faced with the challenge of relating properly with the man in their lives because they sometimes want to call the shots and be in control.

This article intends to show you how to make your wife submit to your leadership regardless of the position she occupies in her career or other platforms outside the home front. The message is addressed not only to married men but also men that are looking to get married.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6-secrets-to-win-your-wifes-respect/

HOW TO REIGNITE YOUR MOTIVATION AT WORK
Are you happy and fulfilled in your job?

This, for many employees, is a huge question to answer. For one reason or the other, the workplace motivation and morale of several workers have ebbed. Lack of motivation is present in many outfits. And its consequences are severe on both the workers and the work.

Owing to the declining impetus, they’re no longer being challenged or feeling connected to their current roles. Going to work every day has become dull to the point of being painful, and they’re desperate for change. Furthermore, weekends and holidays have become a rat run to escape the gridlock of unfulfilling and unproductive tasks. And Monday is a hell of a day they never pray for, but can’t just break the jinx because of the need for survival.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/reignite-motivation-work/


7 SIGNS YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH YOUR JOB
You’ve heard it said that if you love your work, you’d never have to work a day in your life. Well, that’s true in the sense that work would be more of a pleasure than a burden. However, do you realise that it is possible to love your work so much that you become addicted to it?

At that point, other areas of your life could bear the brunt, particularly the people closest to you such as your spouse and children. Your work sucks up the time and resources you should have used to nurture these vital relationships, thus making it look as though you were in a relationship with your job.

So how do you know when you’re getting to this point and need to cool off a bit? If you say “yes” to most of the statements below, you need to adjust.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/in-love-with-job/


TOP 6 WAYS TO SUSTAIN BUSINESS GROWTH
Every company wants to grow their business, yet few know how to sustain it for the long-term or look beyond the next quarterly or yearly report. Growing a business requires the right intellectual capital, carefully selected strategic partnerships, and products and/or services with strong marketplace demand. Beyond these fundamentals, sustaining growth requires a strong operational foundation – to reduce the risks to the business over time.

One of my clients has been in business for more than 15 years. They are a technology company with a strong value proposition and service offering. But while the business model is scalable, it lacks a strong foundation from which to confidently invest in its growth. The CEO knows that business revenue can exceed five times its existing base of $250 million (that is profitable), but there is a lack of top talent, inconsistent operational efficiencies and overall leadership that is afraid to face growth head-on. This slows down growth and makes it difficult to consistently service clients, design a workplace culture that can help employees thrive, build the right teams to increase productivity, and form the external partnerships to make the right strategic decisions to create a billion dollar organization.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6494-2/


5 DAILY HABITS OF HIGHLY POSITIVE PEOPLE
The key to achieving the best in life is cultivating some daily habits for staying positive. The positive mindset is like lighting up a dark room in the depth of the night. This does not only bring a bright outlook and disposition to life but also a joyful sensation to the heart. Optimism is power; it energizes and quickens the soul to push on and overcome challenges.

In a world ravaged by disasters and blisters, staying positive is the least of our troubles. However, the way to victory in this seemingly damned world is positivism. Every day may not be good, but there is always something good in every day. Hence, you must decide to be positive and optimistic about life. You have the power to choose how you respond to challenges and failures. Your gloom is not because of circumstances around you; it is your choice. Choose right. Cultivate daily habits to stay positive and enjoy a hitch-free life. These daily habits will help you stay positive.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/daily-habits-stay-positive/


MAKE GOOD DRESSING A HABIT
Everyone desires to imbibe good habits, but it takes discipline to make it happen. There are many good habits that men would like to imbibe, and I believe that one of the important ones should be good dressing. Men who dress well all the time are those who have adopted good grooming as a habit, thus setting themselves in a class of their own.

Dressing well once or twice is not enough; it serves no good. Once you dress in a wrong manner after that, people immediately forget your good dress sense of the past. They base their opinion on what they see on you today.

What then should be our attitude if we experience this? We should make a habit of good dressing. It doesn’t matter if we are dressed casually, for official purposes or for social functions, we should make it a habit to always appear crisp and decent. Once it becomes our habit, it becomes a component of our everyday life. It forms an unconscious competence inside of us and flows naturally. It becomes a somewhat automatic pattern of behaviour. Here are simple methods that can help you make good dressing your habit:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/make-good-dressing-a-habit/

LEADERSHIP IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
I’ll be the first to admit that my family and close friends were initially surprised to hear that I run a “corporation.” Maybe it’s the tattoo sleeves or the fact that I wear Vans to work, or maybe it’s because I will forever be seen as that kid who never followed directions, coloured within the lines, or did what was “normal.” I never would have imagined being a CEO of a “corporation.” When I became a parent, I simply wanted to start a business that provided nutritious food to kids and that was also engaging, inspiring and challenging. I wanted to work at a place I felt connected to. A place — as cliché as it may sound — with heart.

When I started Plum, I had little experience running a company. But I quickly learned one thing: our customers and employees responded most to our values. We wear them on our sleeves. Heck, they’re even painted onto our walls. So as the leader of what organically became a “mission-driven brand,” that’s where I focused: How can we flip the definition of “corporation” on its head and show that a company can grow and succeed without losing sight of its mission — and most importantly, without losing sight of what enticed its employees and customers in the first place?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/leadership-not-faint-heart/

4 WAYS TO PREVENT PROSTRATE CANCER
The prostate is a part of the male reproductive system, located under the bladder and in front of the rectum. It produces a viscid secretion that fluid that constitutes the fluid part of the semen. Prostate cancer is becoming so rampant that it has become the prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. It is the second most common cause of death from cancer among white, African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic men, and the fourth most common cause of death from cancer among Asian/Pacific Islander men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA.

Researchers are yet to establish a definitive strategy for preventing prostate cancer, the risk of which increases with age. However, just like many other medical conditions, developing habits in line with a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise and good nutrition can significantly reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/4-ways-to-prevent-prostrate-cancer/


5 PERSONAL HYGIENE TIPS FOR MEN
I know we’ve all heard the now boring cliché, ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness’, but not everybody actually thinks through the depth of knowledge that resides in that centuries-old wise saying. Being clean applies to many areas of our lives (probably more than what we think of). We can talk of cleanliness in our eating habits, environment, clothing, body, etc.

Today’s article is focused more on bodily cleanliness. How are men supposed to maintain a healthy body? What hygienic habits are we supposed to inculcate as men?

Find out by reading the next of this article.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-personal-hygiene-tips-men/



HOW TO MAKE ROMANCE WORK
Romance can only work for you if you work it. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object that is at rest will stay at rest unless an external force acts upon it. This law is at variance with so many people who sit idle and expect their romance life to be blissful without adequate inputs from them.

To have a desirable love life therefore, it is important to make attempts and apply efforts to make things right. The good news about making romance work is that it need not be a complicated action. What you need to make romance work are simple and straightforward tasks that most people often taken for granted.

The following are some ways romance can be put to work:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/make-romance-work/

5 SURE WAYS TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS IDEA INTO REALITY
Many of us have awesome and novel business ideas that never see the light of day. The truth is anyone can come up with an idea for a business, but it takes a lot of work to implement a plan of action. So, if you have an idea that you want to put into action in the near future, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares some tips to ensure that it becomes reality.

Research the market

You don’t want to dive into any market until you have a clear idea of the competition, where you fit in, and the steps you will have to take to become a major player. Hence, you need not ignore market research.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-sure-ways-transform-business-idea-reality/


5 THINGS YOU TOTALLY SHOULDN’T DO WHEN YOU’RE BROKE
Being broke sucks; however, being broke is not something magical that can hardly be explained – one financial irresponsibility or surprise leads to another and another, and before you know it you get to that point. You might not always be able to avoid being broke, but there are things you can do when broke to avoid aggravating the situation. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 things you totally shouldn’t do when you’re broke.

Look Down on Jobs

As long as the job is legal and ethical, you really should consider it. If you’re broke, chances are you do not have the luxury to be selective. However, this does not mean you should let desperation take the forefront and dabble into things that are just plain silly, but it does mean that you should be more open than rigid to opportunities, even if it is just till you’re able to get back on your feet.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-things-totally-shouldnt-youre-broke/



VALUABLE TIPS FOR MANAGING THE FINANCES OF YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
While owning and maintaining your own business can be thrilling, it can likewise be nerve-wracking, particularly with regards to taking care of accounts in a lucrative way. Spending plans are so exhausting, distressing and difficult to manage; however, it is important to not let your business suffer due to mismanagement of funds. Research has it that 90% of organizations that failed was due to inappropriate budget plan and monitoring of costs.

Cash flow is the backbone of any business. Taking sensible, common sense strides will help you control spending and develop your business without going out on a limb. At the recent entrepreneurship seminar held by Jumia market business intelligence team, below are some valuable tips shared at the seminar.

Separate Personal and Business Finances: Separating your personal and business accounts is key for every business owner. This involves getting a business charge card and putting all related costs on it. This would help you track your expenses and keep you in control. You will likewise do well in opening an investment account devoted to your business, where you can deposit a measure of cash from every payment that you get. You can utilize this cash to pay charges/taxes.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/valuable-tips-managing-finances-small-business/


SEVEN TIPS TO STAY AWAKE AT THE WHEEL
Drowsy driving is a serious problem, one which many people don’t take seriously enough. According to a report by The News Wheel, 60 percent of drivers say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third of those admit to falling asleep at the wheel. This is an extremely high statistic.

Due to several demands and strenuous schedules, though not fit and bright enough, we are mandated to get behind wheels either for personal reasons or otherwise. Hence, one tends to opt for methods that are less effective than the only real solution, such as rolling down the windows and turning the music up to combat falling asleep while driving.

You shouldn’t be another statistic. Here are tips to help you stay awake at the wheel.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/seven-tips-stay-awake-wheel/


VITAMIN A: BENEFITS, SOURCES AND SIDE EFFECTS
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s vital to human health. Plants give it to us in the form of carotenoids and beta-carotene, and meat gives it to use in the form of retinol. However, it’s important not to ingest too much Vitamin A, and this is because it stockpiles in the body and can interfere with vitamin D and bone health. Here’s all you need to know about vitamin A:
Part 1: Diagnosing a Vitamin A Deficiency

1. Learn about the role of vitamin A
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/vitamin-a-benefits-sources-side-effects/

THE VALUE OF NETWORKING IN TODAY’S MARKET PLACE
Building your profile and staying relevant in your business or workplace is no longer just about what you know; it’s also about who you know. Gone are the days when just hard work or the quality of your products and services is enough to earn you the favour of your employers or customers.

Would you like to get promoted?

Do you want to earn more money?

Would you like to get offered a new job?

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/value-networking-todays-market-place/



PRACTICAL TIPS FOR IMPROVING MEMORY
The human brain is a major organ in the body that controls the functions of other organs, metabolic processes, etc. The healthy status of the brain invariably affects how other relevant organs operate.

As we also know that memory is a function of the brain, it also has great impact on how well humans can remember, understand, process thought, etc.

That’s why it is advisable that a healthy lifestyle be encouraged for everyone to achieve a healthy brain, and of course, healthy memory. This is capable of boosting the growth of new neurones through a process called neuroplasticity. The brain centre, known as hippocampus, has the ability of regenerating all through one’s lifespan (even till the 90s) depending on how well one feeds the brain.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/practical-tips-improving-memory/


LIGHT BULB PRINCIPLE: HOW TO IGNITE YOUR IDEA
Ideas are like light bulbs. When powered properly, they expel darkness and brighten up a place, an industry or a nation. Either little or great, we all get ideas. We are always looking for the next thing, a new opportunity; another possibility to something earlier deemed impossible.

Unfortunately, many ideas are killed before they achieve fruition, not because they aren’t so great, but because we just didn’t know where to start or how to develop them.

Every idea is capable of multiplying into a multimillion enterprise. It all depends on how it is managed within its time. Ideas are time bound. Just as the fertility of seeds depreciates with time, the longer you shelf your ideas, the less likely they’ll yield bounty if you eventually cultivate them. You will never comprehend the potentials in an idea until you set it in motion.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/light-bulb-principle-ignite-idea/

HOW TO SPEND LESS AND LOOK GOOD
Spending less yet looking sharp and crisp is a challenge for many people. People believe that you need to have a fat pocket to look good. This is not always true as you can spend less and still look good. It is often called bargained shopping. You can have your wardrobe filled with clothes, yet still find it difficult to choose what clothes to wear on different occasions. To overcome this challenge, you need to be deliberate especially when you limited cash to spend on clothing. To do this is to spend within your budget and still appear stylist and distinctive.

You can achieve this the following ways:

1. Trash old clothes: Do not buy new clothes when your wardrobe is filled with old clothes that need to be trashed. Give out the old clothes or throw them away depending on their state. If you have to keep any, you must look good on it. Note the colours of the clothes you eventually keep so that they can appear stylish on you when you combine them with the new ones.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-spend-less-and-look-good/


6 TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS
You know that good communication skills are essential to rise to the top in business. Communications skills can endear you among your peers, raise your value among your superiors, and cause you to be admired among those subordinate to you. So, how can you develop them to meet your true potential? Here are some helpful tips for improving your business communication skills.

Practice Your Listening Skills (and Your Paying Attention Skills Too)
Listening requires a bit more than not talking while someone talks.

Read more at;
https://valourdigest.com/6-tips-improving-business-communication-skills/


7 KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL JOB SEARCH
I’m always trying to keep on top of the latest career trends and recently read through the mother lode: The 2012 white paper published by the Career Thought Leaders Consortium. It’s full of useful tips, strategies and ideas for job seekers and I want to share my favorites with you.



The report summarizes the key findings of the consortium’s annual Global Career Brainstorming Day, an international, multicity event that brings together nearly 100 career professionals — including coaches, resumé writers and college career services professionals — from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. “What’s consistent every year is the very fast pace of change,” says Louise Kursmark, co-director of consortium and one of the co-editors of the report.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/7-keys-successful-job-search/



6 TIPS TO RULE THE ART OF CONVERSATION
How to talk to anybody, anywhere, anytime



The art of conversation is a necessary skill for almost everything in life. Conversations introduce you to people, important people who could be your mentors, employers, employees, partners or friends. Without conversations as the foundation for those relationships, you’ll have a hard time building a social circle, starting a business or advancing your career.

Once a conversation gets going, you should have little problem maintaining that momentum—but for most of us, getting it started is the hardest part. Master these “talking points” to get (and keep) a conversation going:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6-tips-rule-art-conversation/


5 IN-DEMAND SKILLS THAT PROVIDE A CAREER BOOST
No matter what stage of your career you’re in, there are certain skills that will keep you sharp, current, and hireable. Whether you plan to stay in your current career or want to change industries, here are five in-demand skills that can give you a career boost. Dive into these five skills we’ve listed below and take your career to the next level.

Here are five in-demand skills that provide a career boost:

Business Development Skills

As Hannah Morgan writes about in a Career Sherpa article, business development skills are at the top of the list. Learn to develop your ability to pitch and talk about your ideas in the workplace.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-demand-skills-provide-career-boost/

3 WAYS TO GET BETTER AT DEALING WITH CHANGE
We all know that nothing lasts forever. It’s a fact of life that has guided the evolution of our society since the dawn of time.

Without change, there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Improvement means moving forward. It means making life better. It doesn’t just occur on the macro level, across time and civilization. It happens to all of us in our individual lives, too. And how we react to change determines our results.

The fact is, life is going to throw you some curveballs from time to time, whether you like it or not.

Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/3-ways-to-get-better-at-dealing-with-change/



4 INSPIRATIONAL STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO USED THEIR PERSONAL STRUGGLES TO HELP OTHERS
LISA HONIG BUKSBAUM
Walking on the beach, trying to understand why she was hit with a triple dose of tragedy, Lisa Honig Buksbaum felt that she heard a voice. “Soaringwords,” it seemed to whisper.

It meant something, she knew. It had to. She didn’t hear things like this often. But how was such an abstract thought going to help her overcome the grief she felt over her 35-year-old brother’s sudden death, her father’s cancer diagnosis and her young son’s fight to recover from a life-threatening bout of rheumatic fever?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/4-inspirational-stories-of-people-who-used-their-personal-struggles-to-help-others/


5 SURE RULES FOR WEARING MEN’S SUIT
A suit is essential in every guy’s wardrobe. Before you start shopping, below are some tips for wearing the right and perfect men’s suit.

Double-button for business

Those looking to pull off a more professional look or those who want to show more professionalism at work are advised to opt for a double-button suit, preferably with notched lapels to maximize the formality of the suit.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-sure-rules-for-wearing-mens-suit/


THINK SLOW AND OTHER TRICKS FOR BETTER PROBLEM-SOLVING
As a kid I was the sort of nerd who got serious about quiz bowl. My senior year of high school I was on a team that advanced to the state playoffs. In college, at a Big Ten university, I was on a team that traveled the Midwest playing other teams of fast-twitch buzzer-mashers.

Whereas some players had deep recall of Russian novels or the periodic table, I tended to skate by on loose-ends trivia: pop culture, sports, the occasional lucky stab at U.S. history. By the time I was old enough to drink, I was a solid bar-trivia player. In a weekly pub game, I once nailed down a win by correctly naming the capital of Uganda (Kampala) on the final question. A different night, a new teammate and I simultaneously blurted the answer “apogee” to a question about the moon’s orbit. Smitten, I asked her out, and we dated for the rest of the summer.

Like I say: nerd.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/think-slow-and-other-tricks-for-better-problem-solving/


WHAT I LEARNED FROM WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT FOR 2 WEEKS
To learn about the curious malady known as “decision fatigue,” I was given a very simple assignment: Wear the same outfit and automate as many daily decisions as possible for two weeks and write about whether it gave me more mental clarity. That was it. Easy breezy. I jumped right in.

On Day 1, I picked out a crisp white shirt, got dressed, opened the front door and promptly spilled coffee all over myself. The first lesson of automating your wardrobe: Select dark fabrics.

“I GET TO WAKE UP EVERY DAY AND HELP SERVE MORE THAN A BILLION PEOPLE. AND I FEEL LIKE I’M NOT DOING MY JOB IF I SPEND ANY OF MY ENERGY ON THINGS THAT ARE SILLY OR FRIVOLOUS ABOUT MY LIFE.” —MARK ZUCKERBERG
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/what-i-learned-from-wearing-the-same-outfit-for-2-weeks/

Tito Philips, Jnr. is a result-driven entrepreneur, writer, speaker, business consultant and life coach with over eight years entrepreneurship experience and proven business development capabilities who specialises in helping businesses and people become significant and useful. He spoke to Valour Digest on various issues ranging from his upbringing to career and family life.

Excerpts:

How was growing up like?

Growing up was a humbling experience as I wasn’t born with a silver spoon. I am from a family of four – dad, mum, my sister and myself. Apart from the financial struggles we had to contend with for the most part, I had an awesome childhood, thanks to my parents. They didn’t have much in terms of money, but they had so much time and life lessons to give which really formed the basis of my character early on in life.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/262/

HOW TO STOP MULTITASKING AND BECOME WAY MORE PRODUCTIVE
Multitasking is a problem. It dilutes your focus and attention so even the easiest of tasks become much harder and take longer to complete.

Studies have shown that while you think you are multitasking, you are in fact task switching, which means your attention is switching between two or more pieces of work and that depletes the energy resources you have to do your work.

This is why, even though you may have done little to no physical activity, you arrive home at the end of the day feeling exhausted and not in the mood to do anything.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-stop-multitasking-and-become-way-more-productive/



6 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMPANY’S CULTURE
You can’t improve your company’s culture—its values, core beliefs, actions, and attitudes—by sending out a memo or instituting a new policy or procedure. You need leaders who are honest, open, consistent and fair. But that’s just the starting point.

To know what a good culture is like, first consider the symptoms of a poor company culture. These include management that makes decisions behind closed doors, shares little information with employees, rewards bad or unethical behavior, and fails to address issues affecting the workforce. Poor company culture breeds low morale, high turnover, loss of productivity and, finally, a potentially devastating loss of profits. Here are six ways you can avoid those symptoms.

1. Articulate your vision and mission.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6-ways-to-improve-your-companys-culture/



DON’T BACK OUT ON YOUR DREAMS, FIRE BACK
Everybody has a dream or vision. It is something that is usually big but along the line we encounter disappointments and can become discouraged.

How do you overcome this kind of situation? Let me share a brief story which will encourage you not to back-out on your dreams, visions and aspirations.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is one of the largest fast food chains in the world and the favourite for people with high sense of taste. It has more than 17,000 outlets all over the world, employs more than 450,000 people and generates more than 9 billion dollars in sales annually! However, this success story could not have been if not for the dogged determination of a broke 65 year-old man called Harland Sander.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/dont-back-out-on-your-dreams-fire-back/


7 THINGS A MAN SHOULD NEVER DO TO HIS WIFE – EVER
#1 — Never criticize, demean or humiliate her.

You love her, and your wife is the one you made a commitment to and said you would spend your life with forever. If all that is true why would you criticize her? I hear people describe when their husband said something demeaning at a party about their wife with her standing there. Really? So now we have a combination of being critical and demanding. Your goal should be the opposite- to compliment her, make her feel good about herself and make her feel great about the fact that she has a charming and loving husband.

#2 — Never withhold positive comments.

Look I will admit this, I give my wife compliments every day. Yes, that is right, I tell her she is beautiful. I tell her she is funny or cute or smart.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/7-things-man-never-wife-ever/


FIVE HEALTH TIPS TO EMBRACE AFTER 40
We live in a stressful society. There are so many things that are stressing people out. As one gets older it seems everything gets more complicated and there is a race to solve all of life’s problems in the shortest time possible.

But in this race, it is necessary to maintain good health so that one enjoys a long and healthy life.

Here are habits to embrace after 40 to ensure that one does not collapse, jeopardize or shorten his

SLEEP MORE
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/five-health-tips-to-embrace-after-40/

WHY FAILURE IS GOOD FOR SUCCESS
The sweetest success is the one that’s most difficult. The one that requires you to reach down deep inside, to fight with everything you’ve got, to be willing to leave everything out there on the battlefield—without knowing, until that do-or-die moment, if your heroic effort will be enough. Society doesn’t reward defeat, and you won’t find many failures documented in history books.

The exceptions are those failures that become steppingstones to later success. Such is the case with Thomas Edison, whose most memorable invention was the light bulb, which purportedly took him 1,000 tries before he developed a successful prototype. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” a reporter asked. “I didn’t fail 1,000 times,” Edison responded. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Unlike Edison, many of us avoid the prospect of failure. In fact, we’re so focused on not failing that we don’t aim for success, settling instead for a life of mediocrity. When we do make missteps, we gloss over them, selectively editing out the miscalculations or mistakes in our life’s résumé.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/why-failure-is-good-for-success/


5 MONEY PRINCIPLES YOU NEED TO KNOW
Money is a tool that, depending on how we use it, can bring much joy to our lives or it can bring destruction. We need to be aware of all the possibilities it offers as well as the pitfalls. Some of the most amazing things have been done because people had the financial resources to fund them—businesses have been built, schools started and philanthropic charities founded that have accomplished much good. On the other hand, friendships have been ruined, illicit gains profited and lives destroyed—all over money.

So today, I want to focus on applying some simple financial principles, but I also want to teach the underlying philosophies that govern what good people can do and what tremendous accomplishments can be made when we see money for what it is: a tool to improve our lives and the lives of others.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-money-principles-you-need-to-know/



6 WAYS TO OVERCOME ENTREPRENEURIAL ANXIETY
In our society, the entrepreneurs who make it big tend to achieve hero status. People look at them and think they have it all together. But many of the most successful leaders in business face challenges similar to the rest of us. Owning a business can be extremely stressful and exhausting. The entrepreneur’s resulting anxiety can be crippling to their business.

Usually stepping back and disconnecting from big issues to calm down is helpful. Try these strategies to cool your nerves:

1. BRAINDUMP
Your brain loves holding on to what it thinks is important, which easily causes overwhelm and exhaustion. Take 20 minutes and write down anything that comes to mind, your worries, to do list and everyday tasks. Don’t think, just purge what’s in your head.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/6-ways-to-overcome-entrepreneurial-anxiety/


20 LIFE LESSONS I WISH I KNEW 10 YEARS AGO
Ten years ago, I’d just finished school, I was training almost every single day to become a professional rugby player, and I was just about to begin my first year of study at university. Since then, so much has changed in almost every aspect of my life.

Just recently, I looked back at some of those major changes and on some of the life lessons that have helped me along the way—things I wish I’d been able to tell my 10-years-younger self. Many of these lessons were learned the hard way, by my own mistakes; some of them I was lucky to have a friend or mentor to show me the way; but all of them were important in some way because they helped shape who I am now.

1. LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/20-life-lessons-i-wish-i-knew-10-years-ago-2/


8 WAYS TO MASTER THE ART OF COMMUNICATION
Now, most people assume that when painting a picture, they have only a few basic brushes at their disposal. But the advanced artist knows there are many tools available to create their masterpiece, and they use each to their advantage.

The same is true with communication. There are many tools available to you as you communicate; you just have to be aware of them and then use them purposefully. The better you become at using these tools, the better you’ll be at communicating.

The two primary categories these tools fall into are verbal and nonverbal.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/8-ways-to-master-the-art-of-communication/

HOW NOT TO START A BUSINESS
A journey that begins with a wrong step seldom ends at the right destination.

Becoming your own boss has sort of gained a global appeal. These days many people start up their own businesses for virtually any reason. Somehow it doesn’t seem to count anymore what led people to go into business, going into business has suddenly become the new mantra of the 21st century.

Obviously, this global trend is as a result of several factors, some of which are: the emergence of the Internet, the unreliability of job security, the God-like attention given to successful entrepreneurs, the rise of the knowledge worker and so on.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-not-to-start-a-business/


THE MECHANICS OF PREVENTING PROCRASTINATION
Procrastination is, in essence, stealing from yourself. The reason goals are so hard to reach, many psychologists think, is because each person believes they are really two people: Present Me and Future Me. And to most people, Future Me is much less important than Present Me. Present Me is the CEO of Me Corp, while Future Me is a lowly clerk.

“Instead of delaying gratification,” people “act as if they prefer their current self’s needs and desires to those of their future self,” write psychologists Neil Lewis of the University of Michigan and Daphna Oyserman of the University of Southern California in a new study in Psychological Science. Why put that money in your 401(k) when you want those shoes now? Why not eat that cupcake today when swimsuit season is still a good six weeks away?

So Oyserman and Lewis asked themselves: What if people could be made to think of their future selves as more connected to their current selves? What if Present Me was forced to imagine exactly how Future Me will feel the night before the big paper is due, and Present Me had never bothered to start?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/mechanics-preventing-procrastination/


THREE WAYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR FIVE-DAY WORK WEEK
Successful individuals know that it is essential to grasp every ounce of productivity out of the work week. Many of us struggle with how to manage our daily to-do’s, while forging ahead to grow as business professionals and individuals. Following these three essential principles will allow you to get the most out of your five-day work week:

Adopt a Gun-to-Gun Mentality
Many people are developing what I call the Short Calendar Attitude, which serves as a drain to productivity and mental toughness. The Short Calendar Attitude refers to allowing yourself to think on Monday, “Well, today is Monday, and the weekend was too short, and I am not ready for it to be over. I am tired and not really feeling it today. I think I will give myself permission to take it easy today.” Then comes the Friday mentality: “TGIF, I am so excited this is Friday. It has been a long week, and I am ready for the weekend. I can’t work hard today because I am too excited for the fun and relaxation that will be had in the upcoming days, I should probably just pack it in early.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/three-ways-get-five-day-work-week/


FIVE FOODS TO AVOID WHEN YOU’RE OVER 40
While 40 is a very important age and a milestone in any person’s life, it often comes with adjustments that need to be made to improve the health status of an individual.

Here are five foods you should cut down on once you’re 40 and above:

RED MEAT
Diets high in red meat are usually linked to high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and a greater risk of diabetes. Men are at a higher risk of prostate cancer when they consume other meats cooked at high temperatures as this is often carcinogenic.

CARBONATED DRINKS
Carbonated drinks are usually filled with caffeine, fructose and refined sugar. The caffeine content can trigger gout, and the sugar can increase insulin level, therefore, putting you at risk of having a heart attack by 20 percent.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/five-foods-to-avoid-when-youre-over-40/


5 HOME SECURITY TIPS YOUR KIDS SHOULD KNOW
Kids must be educated about home security. It isn’t just the adults who must be trained on home security and should take adequate steps. Kids too play a role and their contribution is quite significant. If kids are unaware of general home security or specific measures then they would be helpless if the security is compromised. It often happens that kids are the cause of such compromises or a home security system failing to cater to its purpose. Here are five home security tips your kids should know.

Your kids must be trained to use the home alarm system.
If you have more elaborate security systems then the kids must be aware of how to use them and general troubleshooting. For instance, if you have a Miami ADT home security system, then your kids must know how to disarm it, arm it and also how to react when there is a false alarm. From simple troubleshooting to answering the call following an alarm, kids must be trained on the basics. Obviously the age of a kid will determine to what extent he or she can be trained but parents should have a practice of talking about security and get their kids steadily accustomed with the various systems.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-home-security-tips-your-kids-should-know/

10 STEPS FOR CHOOSING A CAREER
Career choices may well be more difficult today than at any time in history, for three reasons: there is infinitely more to choose from; career definitions are more fluid and changing, and the levels of expectation are rising. Most men and women entering the workforce today can expect to change careers three or more times during their working lives. Here are ten steps that will help ensure that your choices are good ones.

1. Begin with your values.

What’s really important to you? What turns you on? What do you like to do so much that you would almost feel guilty getting paid to do it? These questions are designed to help you get at one of the key elements in career choice: values. Your values are the emotional anchor of all that you do. Satisfying careers are built upon the notion of a high correspondence between one’s personal values and the work they will be doing. Begin your career search by sorting out your values and writing them down as clearly and succinctly as you can.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/10-steps-choosing-a-career/


WORK FASTER WITH THESE 99 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
If your work requires using the computer a lot, knowing these shortcuts will make your work significantly easier and faster.

Keyboard Shortcuts (Microsoft Windows)

1. CTRL+C (Copy)
2. CTRL+X (Cut)
3. CTRL+V (Paste)
4. CTRL+Z (Undo)
5. DELETE (Delete)
6. SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/work-faster-with-these-99-keyboard-shortcuts/


SELF-AWARENESS: THE PATHWAY TO SUCCESS
Success doesn’t begin by dreaming big, nor by setting intriguing life goals. The first step to success is self-awareness. Before choosing a career, before embarking on any journey in life, one must explore one’s ability, strength, weaknesses, feelings, desires and interests. It begins by asking a few questions like: Who am I? Where am I?

Someone once defined self-awareness as understanding your own needs, desires, failings, habits, and everything else that makes you tick. It is finding out all that distinguishes you from others. This can also be referred to as self-knowledge, introspection. The more you know about yourself, the better you are at adapting to life’s changes to suit your needs.

Self-awareness is the pathway to success. This is because success is not an event or a result in isolation; it is an expression of the best that is within you. It is doing something or becoming something that expresses your full personality and abilities in the noblest way.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/self-awareness-pathway-success/


THE PRINCIPLES OF A HAPPY MARRIAGE
In this piece, our contributor shares some principles of a happy marriage.

Suppose you want to build a house, what is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it?

When it comes to building, the best approach is to plan before getting started. After deciding to build a house and consulting an architect to design it for you, the next thing is to consult a quantity surveyor – a cost expert – who will help you calculate the total cost to complete the house, taking into account the costs of materials, labour, equipment and every other thing needed for the project.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/the-principles-of-a-happy-marriage/


HOW TO SPEAK YOUR WIFE’S LOVE LANGUAGE
As a married man, knowing your wife’s love language makes life more enjoyable for you. It will ensure that you’re pressing the right button at the right time and not just running wild.

Experts have drilled down love languages to five. They are:

1. Rendering an act of service

2. Giving words of affirmation
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/speak-love-language/

10 ATTRIBUTES OF SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE
Success is not an event, or a result in isolation. It is an expression of the best that is within you. It is doing something or becoming something that expresses your full personality and abilities in the noblest way. Although we have a mental picture of success as striving hard towards perfection, in truth, it is more natural.

Success is inclusive. It is, however, attained only by those who go beyond the limit. This is the reason for the similitude of the experiences of successful people. They took the seemingly dangerous path to let out the dreams and potentialities deposited in them. Success is not the creation of any man, but the sum of the choices he has made. Hence, without exception, everyone can be successful or be the best one can be; what matters is the choice.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/10-attributes-successful-people/


HOW TO TAKE YOUR PLACE AS A POINT MAN
The greatest disservice a man can do to himself is to doubt his ability as a leader. Leadership is inherent in us because we have been created to occupy this position in nature. The challenge with most men today is what Leonardo da Vinci pointed out when he said: “The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.”

If only men would wake up to the consciousness of their position as point men, they would begin to act accordingly. Various dictionaries define a point man as the soldier at the head of a patrol or the leader of an armed force. It could also mean a person at the forefront of an activity or endeavour.

In the military, during war, the point man is the one who walks in front of every other soldier. His position is the most dangerous among soldiers that are sent to war. He is the one who uses symbols to direct the other soldiers to proceed to the war front. A point man can therefore simply be referred to as a leader.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-take-your-place-as-a-point-man/


GUARD YOUR MIND AGAINST NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
It surprises me how people dread poison, but only few actually hedge themselves against it. There are different ways one can be poisoned or take a poisoned substance, food being the most popular. Strangely enough, the most dreaded of poisons is that which has the potential to corrupt, distort, or even permanently incapacitate the mind. More strange is the fact that only few people have the capacity to fortify themselves against the sting of this deadly pill. This is why St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians cried out “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you…?” This cry still resonates till this day when our minds have been poisoned, corrupted or polluted against the truth. A simple survey reveals that most of us “foolish Galatians” innocently or consciously took this dreaded pill in several ways.

As social creatures, we are hardly insulated from other people’s opinions. For instance, I have seen some women tell a young expectant mother the horrible experience that waits her in the months to come. They confidently tell her the complications that await her overnight, and other terrible experiences the pregnancy portends for her purely normal and natural condition! These women delight in telling the expectant mother – the optimistic one, the inexperienced one – the mistake she got herself into by getting pregnant!
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/negative-influence/



WHY YOU NEED REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS WHEN BUYING PROPERTY
Buying property involves a lot of preparation which requires a reasonable input of time, energy and money. It can be a very challenging process especially if you are new to the market and you need a guide to help search for and purchase your desired property. This underscores the need to engage real estate professionals in your property search for the following reasons:

CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BUYING PROCESS
When seeking to buy property, you need real estate professionals to carefully explain the buying process to you so that you can understand what you are getting into. The extensive local market knowledge and experience of these professionals will positively impact your property search.

GETTING A GOOD DEAL
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/why-you-need-real-estate-professionals-when-buying-property/


HOW TO MAKE YOUR SPOUSE FEEL SPECIAL EVERY DAY
It is a pity that many people across the world only remember the word “love” during the Valentine season. This shouldn’t be the case because love should be an everyday affair. Your love for your spouse should increase and get stronger by the day. It should not be limited to once in 365 days.

Lovers are tempted greatly to shower extreme love only on Valentine’s Day. That should not be the case for genuine love. The flame of love should be kept burning all day and lighted all night long.

So, how can you make your partner special every day irrespective of the season?
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-make-your-spouse-special-every-day/

HOW TO TURN A BLAND MORNING ROUTINE INTO A PRODUCTIVITY POWERHOUSE
Successful and productive people know that how they spend their mornings has a tremendous effect on the rest of the day.

You might be wondering:

“What do these people actually do during their mornings that gives them the edge?”

The answer is rather simple:

They have carefully-designed intentional morning routines that ensures that every day is a success.

Here’s how to turn your bland morning ritual into a productive powerhouse:

The quality of your day is directly proportionate to the quality of your mornings.

You experience this (even if you are not fully aware of it) every single day.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-turn-a-bland-morning-routine-into-a-productivity-powerhouse/


BUILDING TRUST INSIDE YOUR TEAM
A strong, cohesive team can achieve anything.

You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.– Frank Crane, American minister and author

Have you ever managed people who didn’t trust one another? If you have, then you’ll know how challenging and draining this can be.

A team without trust isn’t really a team: it’s just a group of individuals, working together, often making disappointing progress. They may not share information, they might battle over rights and responsibilities, and they may not cooperate with one another. It doesn’t matter how capable or talented your people are, they may never reach their full potential if trust isn’t present.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/building-trust-inside-your-team/


4 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR INFLUENCE
Leadership is a process that is preceded and accompanied by followership and servanthood. It is not about affluence or position; rather, it is about influence. Here are four ways to enhance your influence in leadership:

Selfless Service

No other venture guarantees fulfilment and enduring influence like service to others. Make a commitment to serve and watch your sphere of influence expand beyond your imagination. Years ago, the Salvation Army was holding an international convention and their founder, General William Booth, could not attend because of physical weakness. Nevertheless, his influence was felt at the convention through the convention message that he cabled to them. It was one word: “OTHERS.” Regardless of your field of operation, serve others with genuine commitment. True leaders don’t differentiate between the secular and the spiritual when it comes to giving their best wherever they find themselves.

Courage
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/4-ways-to-increase-your-influence/

10 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IS MORE THAN KEEPING ACCOUNTING RECORDS. IT IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ORGANISATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND CANNOT BE SEEN AS A SEPARATE TASK TO BE LEFT TO FINANCE STAFF OR THE HONORARY TREASURER. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INVOLVES PLANNING, ORGANISING, CONTROLLING AND MONITORING FINANCIAL RESOURCES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES.
These 10 Principles will guide you through the process.

ORGANIZE YOUR FINANCES
Organizing your finances is the first step to creating wealth. Credit cards, bank accounts, personal loans, brokerage accounts, mortgages, car loans and retirement accounts should to be tracked. Budgeting software can provide complete solutions to track all such accounts, make on-time payments and more. Jeff Morris, a certified public accountant in Bethesda, Maryland, points out: “Once you enter your accounts and balances into budgeting software, you will be able to spend less time getting organized and more time making sense of your situation.”
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/10-basic-principles-financial-management/


5 TOOLS TO HELP YOUR TEAM COLLABORATE BETTER THAN EVER
Collaboration can mean the difference between success or failure in an organization. In fact, one survey found that 86 percent of people attribute workplace failures to lack of collaboration.

In today’s era of distributed teams and remote workers, technology plays an essential role in collaboration; it can shake up the status quo in a good way. For instance, tools employing artificial intelligence remove the drudgery and add predictive suggestions, making collaboration faster and easier. And today there are new types of collaboration tools which weren’t around a few years ago.

Here are five collaboration tools that will disrupt your business in the best way possible.

VIDEO CONFERENCING TOOLS
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/5-tools-to-help-your-team-collaborate-better-than-ever/


HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS IN SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS
The importance of goal setting cannot be overemphasised. In addition to putting us on the path of predictable success, goal setting helps us to make the right decisions that will transform our lives and move us closer to our desired reality. Having worthwhile goals and working towards achieving them will give meaning and direction to our day-to-day activities. You can learn to set worthwhile goals by following these seven steps:

1. TAKE STOCK OF YOUR CURRENT SITUATION
What do you think of your current situation? Are you happy with it? Are you living your best life and making the most of every opportunity available to you?

2. ANALYSE YOUR RESULT FROM STEP 1
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/how-to-achieve-your-goals-in-seven-simple-steps/



INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ON AGEING
“It is not important how old you are; it is how you feel, how you think,
and what you do that is important.” — Catherine Pulsifer

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” — Satchel Paige,

“Beautiful, young people are accidents of nature. But beautiful, old people are works of art.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up wrinkles the soul.” — General Douglas MacArthur
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/inspirational-quotes-age/


A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO REPAIRING CAR PAINT CHIPS, FLAKES AND SCRATCHES
Using a car for years means that you probably have acquired your fair share of scratches, dents with flaking paint, and paint chips that you have been ignoring.

If you are ready to invest some money and read through this car paint repair guide, you can stop the rust in its tracks, touch up your car’s finish and get your vehicle back into reasonable shape.

While you may not get the same results as body shop results, the techniques in this guide can make the blemishes less noticeable and delay the onset of rust-through.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-repairing-car-paint-chips-flakes-and-scratches/

JOHN C. MAXWELL: 5 ATTRIBUTES THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS
Developing a business means facing countless uncertainties—on the idea itself, on the processes that make the idea a reality, on the finances needed to birth a new enterprise. But the biggest risks are people.
IF YOUR DREAMS ARE BIGGER THAN YOU—AND MOST GREAT DREAMS ARE—THEN YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO TAKE CALCULATED RISKS ON PEOPLE.
After all, you can’t predict what they’ll do. You can’t make decisions for them. You can’t always know what drives them. But you won’t get far without them. If your dreams are bigger than you—and most great dreams are—then you must know how to take calculated risks on people.

I spend time with a lot of successful entrepreneurs. These people, who took huge chances to pursue their goals, are now reaping the rewards of their decisions. From our conversations, I’ve uncovered two things about the attitudes these self-starters hold toward risk: They’ve grown comfortable with it, and they’ve learned how to accurately assess it.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/john-c-maxwell-5-attributes-that-lead-to-success/


7 HABITS OF HIGHLY (FINANCIALLY) EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
Just like bacon ice cream and “Call Me Maybe” parodies, self-help trends come and go. But Stephen Covey’s game-changing book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which has sold more than 25 million copies, is one of a handful of titles that’s still as relevant today as when it was first published 28 years ago.

Bonus: It’s also a pretty useful blueprint for managing money. Here’s how you can use the book’s touchstone habits to up your financial game.

HABIT #1: BE PROACTIVE.
Want to be wealthy—or just financially stable—someday? (Who doesn’t?) Get in the driver’s seat now. “The earlier you form good habits, the easier they’ll be to maintain and the better your long-term returns will be,” says Certified Financial Planner Jill Schlesinger, senior CFP Board ambassador.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/7-habits-of-highly-financially-effective-people/


RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWNS: 11 TIPS ON HELPING YOUR CHILDREN COPE
ONE OF MY most vivid memories from my childhood is walking in on my parents having a huge row in the kitchen.

This row, for me, signalled the end of their relationship and the beginning of the most difficult period of my life. As an only child, sadness and grief became my siblings when they separated.

Often during and after a relationship breakdown, parents are so caught up in their own hurt and fears, and the thoughts of being alone again, that they are oblivious of the impact their split has had on their children.

So how should parents deal with the aftermath of separation? Here are some tips:
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/relationship-breakdowns-11-tips-on-helping-your-children-cope/


FIVE THINGS YOUR WIFE WISHES YOU’D KNOW BUT WON’T TELL YOU
Here are five things your wife would like you to know but for a variety of possible reasons, she won’t tell you.

1. She feels overwhelmed and likes when you take charge. Between taking care of the children, making dinner, and keeping the home together, not to mention working, she has a lot on her plate. She wants you to be her partner, not another person to take care of. That’s why it’s music to her ears when you offer to make dinner or do bath time, even though you may have worked all day. Picking up some of the slack provides her tremendous relief and she sincerely appreciates it. Don’t wait for her to ask. Just do it.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/five-things-your-wife-wishes-youd-know-but-wont-tell-you/


HOW TO GET OUT OF A FUNK
Whether it’s career burnout, funk, general aimlessness or a craving for a new path, most people will hear a call for a positive life change at some point in their lives.

This isn’t about the National Institutes of Health report that 16 million U.S. adults suffer from at least one major depressive episode each year, but rather about a healthy need to jar oneself out of a rut. What to do?

Case studies that follow offer excellent anecdotes that work. The key is to focus on the roots of your doldrums, recognize your power to get on the other side, and map out concrete action steps for moving through this phase and on to your greatness. If you find yourself in a rut, try these tactics to move forward.
Read more at; https://valourdigest.com/get-out-of-funk/