Starting a business is one of the hardest and riskiest thing anyone can do and as such will require guidance from people who have already experienced the challenges that comes with starting and running a successful business.

That is what this book is all about, a compilation of business tips from entrepreneurs who have achieved great success in their businesses. It is my hope and desire that this book will act as a guide to aspiring entrepreneurs and also to those who are looking forward to improving their business skills.

Click on this link to read the book: https://beta.okadabooks.com/book/about/business_advice_from_successful_entrepreneurs/19655

Knowledge factory posted a fact about Nigeria on their Instagram page & it's hilarious. See picture below

namet:
Working for them is enslavement. Yes, you collect a salary and take care of your immediate family, but that is it. Your family maybe comfortable but your country is not developed. Do you think people in Asokoro and Banana Island are necessarily happy with the state of the country, even though they live in these nice and expensive places?

Besides, the company you work for takes a bulk of the money you made for them, and only pays you peanuts - less than 5% of how much you made for them. Why should you settle for less when you can get more?

More so, you don't compete by being under the entity you compete with or against. We cannot develop our country or continent by defining that development to only be when foreign companies come and open a branch here. We should include and, really, be encouraging our own people to open up the businesses, instead of promote being employees.

Doing so keeps the wealth generated here and also provides the opportunity for us to become competent and capable at running successful companies. People and countries develop that way, not by working for people from other countries or allow them to steal our talented brains through some "immigration visa program" which are all scams aimed at stealing intelligent people for use in developing their own economy.

If China had waited for American or European companies to "come and invest in China" or to come and build their infrastructure as we do here, they would have waited until eternity and they won't manufacture "pin" today. Let us encourage "local entrepreneurship!"

I agree with you 100%!

Mind Relaxation Techniques

Mental tension means a heavy psychological burden to many persons. Obsession over problems, uncertainty towards the future, mental fatigue, loss of memory and slow reasoning are associated features of the tense mind. What can one do to prevent these mental states and obtain peace and relaxation? Try the following:

1. Thinking. Reject catastrophic thoughts and focus your mind on positive and happy things. Learn to put aside sour and tense issues, albeit temporarily, until such a time as you can provide solutions.

2. Visualization. It will be much easier to reject unwanted thoughts if you have a theme or themes to substitute them. Use imagination to visualize your chosen topic in detail. Some think of the places where they grew up or in their adolescence and youth. Others concentrate on a certain experience of peace and happiness, or in past moments spent with a dear one.

Choose your own images and enjoy the details, put some color and movement; work in those places and situations. You will soon realize that your mind and mood find a point of quietness and serenity.

3. Self-instruction. Encourage yourself to reject troubling thoughts, instruct yourself with commands such as ‘Do not think of it Mary,’ ‘Don’t exaggerate it Victor,’ ‘You can take care of it tomorrow, Grace; think of something pleasant now.’

4. Social interaction. Seek the company of friends and relatives in order to distract yourself. If you have an introverted personality, avoid the natural tendency to remain alone with negative thoughts. Call a friend and chat, get out of the house and attend a social function where you are forced to converse with others.

5. Hobbies. When faced with mental tension, practice activities such as home repairs, gardening, collections, games and, very particularly, sports. Watching a funny movie or reading an easy book is also a good method to achieve mental relaxation.

6. Other options. There are a number of ways to bringing mental relaxation into your life, depending on your preferences. Try this:
 Sing a song or whistle a melody.
 Forgive wholeheartedly someone who has offended you.
 Go to a park or natural setting and listen to the birds singing.
 While seated or lying down, observe the water in a fountain, river or sea.
 Pay attention to cloud movement for a period of time.
 Rub your eyes with both hands and leave them closed for a few minutes.
 Look for an ant farm and observe their bustle.
 Carry out a conversation with a 4- or 5-year-old for a few minutes.
 Play with the dog or the cat.

In my own opinion, I think it's better to pursue excellence because excellence is who you become, while money is what you have. Money can be lost, but excellence cannot. Once you've attained excellence, it stays with you for the rest of your life.

What do you guys think?

Get used to controlling your own thoughts. In this way you will avoid inappropriate behaviours, will adapt better to situations, and will enjoy better physical and mental health. In sum, when you are governing your thoughts, you are building up your own happiness.

One cannot be reasonably happy without learning how to communicate with others. Communication is the key factor to build up and maintain relationships. Hurting words can damage friendships in minutes, whilst wise words, used with appropriate emotional tone, affirms people and contribute to lasting mental health.

Human existence has multiple facets (physical, mental, social, spiritual) and all of them need a balanced and harmonious development. The excessive growth of one or two aspects without the corresponding development of others may produce limited individuals who find great difficulty enjoying life.

The Different Dimensions of Human Beings

The holistic and indivisible nature of the human being is finding increasingly greater scientific and philosophical support. Yet, it seems clear that there are several dimensions that meet in a person.

1. The Physical Dimension: Human beings possess the necessary resources to maintain a healthful balance. Our organism is programmed with a number of biological clocks that indicate the beginning of organic processes. For instance, when someone reaches puberty, endocrinal glands initiate the secretion of estrogens in girls and androgens in boys. This triggers a sequence of physical changes that takes place at the right time for each individual.

The physical dimension is so basic that some end up believing that the human being is only physics and chemistry. This may be seen as an exaggeration, but it entails a principle that cannot be discarded. Good, healthy habits (physical exercise, adequate rest, balanced diet, contact with nature) are at the heart of a satisfactory life in all it’s aspects.

2. Mental Dimension: This dimension is even more complex than the physical one. It is rather intricate and therefore less known. Partly because of it’s complexity, partly because of it’s exclusiveness to the human being, it is the most valued dimension. It was mental life that triggered traditional philosophies to search for the ‘soul’ somewhere external the person’s body.

Today, it is known that the mind (located in the brain) has a physical substrate and controls all behaviors of the person. In fact, the brain is made up of one hundred thousand million neurons or nerve cells that carry information, initiate and maintain mental processes, retrieve memories, process data... Any mental activity of the human organism is associated with the work of neurons.

The interconnection of this immense network of nerve cells are almost infinite, and the more connections are made possible, the more mental capacity will be attained. Continuous mental activity to strengthen existing neural connections and to establish new ones is therefore recommended.

3. Social Dimension: Paradoxical as it may sound in the overpopulated world in which we live, there are deficiencies in the social dimensions. This is so not only because of the lonely feeling experienced by millions of people in the big cities, but also due to the loss of family identity and lack of social solidarity.

It is very important to understand that human beings, social by nature, are not really human until they integrate fully in their communities. The other dimensions feed from the social dimensions, as it provides a unique source of neural connections, a breeze of continuous ‘oxygen’ to the body and a means to the challenging demands of loving relationships.

4. Spiritual Dimension: First, it should be noted that spirituality and religiosity are not synonymous. Spiritual persons may not necessarily be religious, or vice versa.

“What is thought, that strange being, which lives in the depths of ourselves without consuming a measurable quantity of chemical energy? Is it related to the known forms of energy? Could it be a constituent of our universe, ignored by the physicists, but infinitely more important than light? The mind is hidden within the living matter, completely neglected by physiologists and economists, almost unnoticed by physicians. And yet it is the most colossal power of this world.” (Alexis Carrel, Physiology and Medicine Nobel prize winner, Man, the unknown, P.64, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1939).

Although embedded in the mental function, the spiritual dimension deserves treatment. Moral, aesthetic, and religious functions can be considered part of spirituality. The spiritual human facet, relative to the discernment between good and evil (moral), beautiful and ugly (aesthetics), and the relationship with God or transcendence (religion) is an undeniable component that has been present in all civilizations.

Ademat7:
Bring it on

Glad to have you on board.

It is well know today that conventional intelligence is insufficient. Emotional intelligence, on the other hand, is being seen as increasingly valuable as this type of intelligence is closely associated to happiness. In order to develop this basic characteristic, one needs to learn perseverance, self-motivation, control of impulses, mood self-regulation, understanding and trust in others.

The Power of Thoughts

Although somewhat exaggerated because of it's absolute tone, the maxim "Where there's a will, there's a way" holds a great deal of truth. Athletes know that beating a record is not a matter of mere physical training, but of nourishing the mind and thought. Likewise, to a great extent, the behaviour we adopt, the emotional states we experience, and even the illness we suffer from find their root in thoughts and thinking.

Environment (people, places, circumstances), personality ( optimism, suspiciousness, aggressiveness), together with memories and past experiences are the stimuli resulting in thoughts. People access them at will, and these thoughts lead them to an eventual reaction that may become of great significance to their lives.

With the exception of automatic reactions or repetitive acts, behaviours find their root in the preceding thoughts. Consider these three cases:

1. Before going to the time share agency, David never thought he would end up buying property. However, the environment, the kindness of the salespersons, the beautiful images of the apartments, the attractive financial plans, encouraged him to consider the option.

Once at home, David reflected on the offer, fantasized on the exotic holidays he would be enjoying along with the idea of selling the property or passing it on to his children and grandchildren. He signed the contract two days later.

2. Joyce went out for some refreshments together with two old girlfriends from secondary school. They thoroughly enjoyed talking about endless memories from the past as well as present life.

Once at home, Joyce contrasted her life with that of her friends. She pondered the details, went over the conversation, and concluded that her friends were luckier than herself. Soon she was taken by strong feelings of sadness, mixed with disappointment about her own accomplishments. This mood stayed with Joyce for several days.

3. Esther enjoyed a good relationship with everyone. However, a few months back, she had had a serious confrontation with her brother and they stopped talking to each other. She refused to reconcile as she had been deeply hurt by her brother's offence. When, in her mind she rehearsed the moment of the row, she experienced anger, her heart beat wildly and at times she felt nauseous.

The three cases above show a clear connection between thought and behaviour (or mood). What would have happened if David, Joyce and Esther had changed the course of their thoughts? Their conduct would have probably been very different.

In the end, everyone is in charge of their own thoughts. And, therefore, everybody can, with more or less difficulty, harbour, channel, elaborate, reduce or reject their thoughts. Stay tuned for more!

This is a thread for you to enhance your intelligence and creativity by developing your mind so that you are well equipped to excel in all the areas in your life.

Your mind determines what you do. Whatever you do comes from your mind. You think about something before you do it. Even things you do not consciously do comes from your subconscious mind. By understanding and developing your mind, you will be able to direct your behaviour the way you want it. Stay tuned!

True talk

...

DogCynophile:


Thank you, what about the cost of pursuing such? Because cost is also a factor I'm looking at.

Its worth the cost, so if the money is available, then I see no reason while it should be an issue. But if its not, then by all means, go ahead and do it in Nigeria since its cheaper.

.......

Even though a lot of people might tell you to stick with the bank job because of the money, my advice to you is to go for the masters program in US. Reason being that it increase your professional value more and broadens your reach.

You won't just be limited to just getting a job in Nigeria only. You can get employed in the US and other parts of the world & even if you decide to work in Nigeria, your value will be quite high compared to someone who did their masters here.

And also like u said, Nigerian schools are not really that stable. Anything can happen along the line that may prolong your stay longer than intended.

Your relationship with the people in your immediate work environment matters a lot. This is because, the manner in which you relate with your colleagues will either make or break you in whatever organization or career you are in.

Good relationships creates room for everyone to work together peacefully, but bad ones creates tension between you and your coworkers which will eventually lead to frustration because, you won't be able to do your job properly.

Now, how can you develop a good relationship with your colleagues? The answer is understanding. This is the key that will enable you coexist peacefully with your colleagues. You must learn to understand things from other people's point of view and not just your own. It is the absence of understanding that leads to conflicts and contentions.

By the time you're able to understand things from other people's point of view, you will be able to relate with them based on who they are and not you imposing your own point of view on them. You will be able to communicate your ideas better because you would already know how they think and reason.

But before you can do this, you will first need to understand who they are by learning to understand things from their own point of view.

I will encourage you to develop yourself by learning the programming skill as this will add to your experience and expertise.

Very true!!! I will also like to add that the key to being a great Boss is humility.

Being humble is the mark of a great leader for many reasons. First, it facilitates community. Other people will find it easier to relate to you if you are humbler and
more like them. This, in turn, draws them closer to you and to each other.

Humility also encourages collaboration. Many people find it hard to approach egotistical people to ask for help or offer their own assistance. This, of course, can kill a team before it even begins. Even when you force people to work together, team members may put forth less effort if they feel the leader is undeserving.

Humble leaders facilitate innovation, as well. They realize that the best ideas often come from beyond their own minds and sometimes, beyond their own teams. Humble leaders encourage creative thinkers to reach into new territories and build new networks and bonds (which, in turn, add to the collaboration power and feeling of community).

Not bad

Always strive to be the best and never settle for less. This is the mindset that will get you to the top. Stay hungry and never get satisfied with your current level. There is more to be achieved if only you can reach out for it.

Most times, you will found out that lots of people never get to the peak of their careers because they settled at a particular level of achievement, thereby, denying themselves the opportunity of attaining an even greater level of success in their careers.

Don't be one of those people. So, always strive to be better than where you are right now because, if you can desire it and are ready to put in the work, the sky will be your starting point. Good luck!