January has FINAAAALY come to an end and it's time to take out our gratitude jar and count our blessings for the month. Remember the 2 cool 2017 trends.

It's time for us to see what's in our gratitude jar for this month. I have 3 contents in my Jar

• My blog; I had toyed with the idea of starting a blog or vlog for a really long time and made up my mind to do it this year. After asking around for web developers and getting exhorbitant prices, I just sat down and opened one on blogspot. I look at my statistics everyday and I am humbled by the views and visitors the blog attracts daily. It's still a work in progress especially the design, layout and all but I'm grateful that it is no longer just a dream.

• Life and Safety; I had an accident last week. Someone was sleeping on the highway and ran into me. Only the car was damaged and even that was fixed immediately. It could have been worse but God protected both me and the sleeping driver.

• My sister; Today is my sister's birthday and I'm grateful for her life and everything God is doing through her.

So guys, it's time to count our blessings for the month of January.

Most of us spend a huge percentage of our adult life in the office or at least doing work related events so we all agree that a healthy work environment is essential.

But then not every work environment is healthy, in fact, some of them are actually very toxic but since people make a place and not the other way round, then we must agree that it's toxic colleagues that are actually the problem

Toxic people make are those that spread poison and make the environment tough for others.

These are the people that love to criticize and put others down, they are mean, hateful and crack jokes at the expense of others.

They are the kind of bosses that encourage snitching, backbiting and backstabbing just to create division.

They are the team mates who do not pull their weight but want to shine at the expense of others or those that put others in trouble.

They are the ones who form madam/oga even without a senior position and try to create fear in others.

They are the ones that laugh at someone who tries to move forward and have no respect for constituted authority.

They bully and most times have reduced their colleagues to tears all in the name of joking.

These people never want to be better and they believe anyone who tires to get them to do better is jealous of them or they don't even listen at all.

They always complain  and criticize, acting as if everything and the world is against them.

 Some have been at the same level a long time and are insecure and unhappy spreading this to everyone.

They are the type that love to easily tag new members of staff and of course they don't believe that the people who got promotions or any job perks deserved them.

When you sit with them, they air all their grievances with management and life like jewelry.

These people love to gossip about everyone and find something negative to say even about the most positive situations.

 We have toxic people across all the steps of the corporate ladder; from c-level management to the most junior level. Although to be honest, they seem to be more at mid level management.

One sure way of knowing them is that in their absence, people are happy, more productive and love to go to work. Another way is that at the end of your interaction with them, you feel meaner, bad etc., you can also trust them to start the yabs and drama.

Anyone can be a toxic staff ( so don't start naming that your colleague). The surest way to prevent yourself from becoming a toxic staff is to focus on your career goals, work on other passions and live a full life outside work and when you find life getting to you, take out time to de-clutter.

 Remember .....

Today, we'll be throwing back to one of the stories we were told as children. The story of the Ugly duckling.

If you put a group of Crabs in a bucket, none of them will be able to climb out because rather than go out in turns which they will all be capable of, the other crabs pull down any crab that tries to crawl out of the bucket. As a result, they all stay stuck.

The Crabs can be forgiven because they are little animals and do not know any better but we are sometimes cabby;

• When we criticize people who try to be better; by making derogatory statements or pointing out difficulties.
• When we make fun of others; just to put them down.
• When we gossip about others making positive moves.
• When we are petty, jealous and insecure.
• When we refuse to support and actually try to hinder the progress of others,

 Then we are being petty.
 At the foundation of the 'Pull Him Down' syndrome is the believe that things are scarce, that there is not enough to go round. We fear that the success of others will hinder ours and this is because we are insecure and do not trust our gifts and talents as well as nature's abundance.

The sky is wide enough for all birds, we are to choose to excel and not compete as success is indeed personal and not a competition.

This may be the time to ask ourselves if our associations are not crabby. Do we have crabs as friends and are we the biggest of all Crabs? It is also a time to ask ourselves if we have let the Crabs keep us down.

Today is a day to shed off crabby skin and shine. Remember this quote below and let your light and that of others shine


 

'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

'Do unto others what you want them to do to you.'

These sayings lay the foundation for the fact that the way we feel about ourselves genuinely affect the way we treat others. If we are abusive, rude, abrasive etc. It is usually because that's how we feel about ourselves.

Loving ourselves is not selfish in any way, it is the foundation for our interactions and life experiences because really we cannot give what we don't have.

Here is a checklist to know if you really love yourself:

• Are you at peace with your life experiences both positive and negative?
• Are you comfortable with silence?
• Are you comfortable saying no instead of being over swamped?
• Do people hardly gossip around you? i.e when you're around people, you find yourself joking and discussing life experiences rather than gossiping and trying to put others down.
• Do you smile easily even at random times?
• Do you compliment people easily and get excited for the successes of others?
• Are you comfortable being human and imperfect?
• Do you easily forgive and make excuses for people?
• Are you comfortable walking away from things and people not meant for you? rather than tolerate and endure abuse and ill treatment, you walk away.
• Do you seek to control yourself and emotions only?; because you know that's all you have real power over.
• Do you pamper your body?
• Do you take time to care about all aspects of your life?
• Are you comfortable with your flaws? while working to become a better person, do you find a way around your flaws without trying to create an image of perfection?
• Are you comfortable being in the spotlight? after all it is an opportunity to share your uniqueness with the world.
• Are you comfortable not being in the spotlight? because you know you are unique and beautiful anyway.
• Are you polite and treat people with respect?; after all, you can only give what you have.
• Is your sense of worth extremely removed from possessions and the opinions of others?
• Are you confident and bold.
• Have you ever been described as serene?
• Is it difficult to manipulate, threaten or use you?' 
• Are you making the best of the gifts and talents that you have?
• Do you invest in yourself?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you have discovered self love. Self love is key to having a fun filled life. If you are manipulative, controlling, bitchy etc. It's really because you do not love yourself because when you fall in love with yourself and give your best each day, you will trust that life will give you back its best. When you have a low self esteem and are very insecure, it is because you have not seen the beauty in you.

You are beautiful, special and loved by God.

Go out there and sparkle.

I had a funny incident with a colleague because I didn't vote for her to win the best dressed female during  the office awards. Her exact words were 'you don't want it to be me that will win the awards' To say I was shocked was an understatement, it was a vote and I had the right to vote who I believed deserved to win, besides, I didn't know she really wanted the award. In the end neither she nor my candidate won but that event sowed the seed of her telling everyone I was jealous of her and gossiping about me behind my back and we eventually stopped speaking a few months later.
That incident got me thinking, 'Is there a sister code?' we hear a lot about the bro code but is there really a sister code? I believe there is as I've highlighted below;

• Respect a sister for who she is; we need to allow people be their best selves around us. If we genuinely cannot stand someone's behavior, there is no need for a forced friendship but there is also no need to make them feel bad about themselves either.
• Don't gossip about your friends; in fact, people should be unable to say bad things about them in your presence. If people can gossip about your friends in your presence, it says something about who you are. And if you're the one doing the gossiping, 'et tu mon amie?'.
• Friends' crushes and exes are off limits; except when they give the go ahead.
• Secrets must be safe with you
•  Be there for them; through the good, bad and ugly. When the boyfriend hurts them, when they get that proposal or contract. Be the first to promote their business, buy from them and actually pay.
• Forgive; mistakes that were made honestly with good intentions.
• Give them space; Nobody wants a second mother. Let them be who they are and make their own mistakes. Sometimes, we can be too intrusive.
• Don't put friends down publicly; this hurts and also makes you a smaller person.

These are some codes I came up with. If there are other codes, do state them in the comment section.

 Social media has made it easy for us to know the happenings in other people's lives - or at least the parts they want us to know but there are times we go through people's profile and ask if we really needed to be informed of that new shoe, bag, car, skin care routine or whatever random event in their lives.

The blogs take it further and decide to turn random happenings into news with sensational headings like 'Celebrity B and her ex passed the same street within the same hour, could they be getting back together?'

Being a celebrity means that you are in the spotlight and vulnerable to a lot of things but the blogs sometimes incite the public with insinuations for likes, clicks, comments which all translate to money at the end of the day.

The readers get to enjoy the gossip, speculate on other people's lives for a while before going back to reality while the bloggers smile to the bank. The celebrities also gain as they are still in people's awareness, after all, any publicity is good publicity. So I guess nobody looses or so we think untill.....

The readers raise eyebrows and wonder if that information was necessary with comments like,'did we really have to know?', the celebrity has an emotional breakdown and the blogger earns the reputation of being a wicked, bitter vindictive person.

Really, this is that awkward moment when I ask myself what I had in mind when I started writing this but then all is fair in the hustle so long as it's not against the law right?

I was driving to work this morning when I heard a huge crash. Someone had hit me from behind. I came down to check and it was a horrible damage but more damage was inflicted on the other car.

Luckily, a panel beater came and offered to fix my car. The other woman had to buy new headlamps as her car was really damaged.

We later found out that the driver of the other vehicle was sleeping while driving. She must have been sleeping for a while as there was no traffic at all. She had woken up early to prepare meals, get the children ready for school and leave in time to get to the office.

All that came to mind was why she didn't have a driver or any help. She could have died if she had collided with a trailer. Why didn't her husband help her too?

In this age, some women try to prove they can do everything, we try to show that we are powerful and capable of juggling everything as if there's a competition and trophy to be won at the end. This could have tragic consequences like what happened to me this morning.

Here is a checklist to know if you have the superwoman syndrome;

• Do you take pride in the fact that you do everything, everyday and you do it with joy and love?;statements like 'I must cook fresh meals everyday', 'no one else can clean the room except me' etc. 
• Do you make other women feel guilty?; do you scoff at women who dare to ask for help.
• Do you have a problem with modern technology?; like Yam pounders, washing machines, etc.
• Is it a taboo for your husband to help you out?
• Are you the most hardworking staff in your office?; I don't mean diligent or efficient, I mean hardworking, doing almost everything yourself. If you have been called a 'Jackie', then you are.
• Do your subordinates complain that you micromanage them? no matter the excuse you give, if more than one person complains you micromanage, my sister, you micromanage.
• Are people surprised when you smile or laugh?
• Do the times when you laughed, smiled, had fun etc. seem like a long time ago?; because all of a sudden, you are 'responsible' and have a lot to do?

If you answered yes to most of the questions above, you are burnt out. There is no point to prove my sisters, give each activity your best but take care of you, have fun, ask for help and if it doesn't come, demand it, delegate duties, plan time off for yourself alone. Life is meant to be lived. We are not robots. 

Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States of America and while a lot of Americans are not happy, there are positives about his presidency as it shows us that;

You just have to believe in yourself; You need to believe in yourself and keep walking.

The popular vote does not always count; The celebrities and the opinion polls weren't in his favor but he still won.

Donald Trump is president of the United states of America, that's enough reason to go out there believing and winning in the face of the naysayers. While no one believed he could, he shocked us all and who knows, he might just be one of the best presidents.

When we were little, it was not uncommon to say 'I'll tell my daddy' and trust completely that Daddy will take care of us.

But with old age comes responsibility and it seems some of us have lost this blind faith and trust.

We allow life bother us and so we stress ourselves, loose weight, fall sick, all for things that we shouldn't be bothered about.

The truth is God is our father and he can and will take care of us.

When we face challenges that get too difficult, we need to simply say 'I'll tell my daddy' and when we tell our daddy who is none other than God himself, we need to trust that he has handled it.

Let go and let God.

To be honest, I can't wait to TGIF tomorrow.

I came across this online and I couldn't stop laughing.





All the demons must be destroyed. Hehehehe

The lovely Funmi Iyanda was dragged on twitter for saying she doesn't want to get married. In her words, she is not the marrying type.

Some users were of the opinion that she should abstain from sex if she chooses not to get married while another one just decided to go on a rampage.

Marriage is a beautiful thing; having someone to love, cherish and support you in this journey of life is a blessing. While this is true, people also have the right to make their own choices and whether or not we agree with them, we need to mind our business and even if we choose not to mind our business, we should disagree without being rude or taking people to the gutters.

The truth is Nigerians have a tendency to interfere unnecesarily and offer sanctimonious, unsolicited advice. There are times this is a good thing and other times it can be annoying. Let's live and let live and may we all find joy, love and fulfillment in our chosen paths. I love Funmi Iyanda's response though,

This is one woman that has touched people all over the world with her positive message. I have never met her but her books and messages have touched me in so many ways. Here are reasons Joyce Meyer is our woman crush Wednesday.

She has a clear sense of purpose; This is evidenced by the clear description on her Instagram handle 'Sharing Christ.Loving People'.

She has fought personal battles and won; and she did this without loosing her crown or becoming bitter, she is actually a blessing to all.

She is authentic, real and uses her story to bless others

Her financial game is on point; she was able to produce all financial record during a united states inquiry and has also received accreditation from 'the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability' (ECFA). 

She still slays at 73 proving that the seventies are indeed the new thirties

Joyce Meyer has indeed been a blessing to lots of people. We want to be like her when we grow up.

Above  is an advert for a wife posted on Facebook but unfortunately, the deadline for CV submission has passed.

My 1st thought when I heard about this was 'this guy has got to be God's gift to women, made of a different breed' but alas, the picture above and  with a name like 'BetterMan', let's just say we hope he finds what he looking for.

Our question however is, brother BetterMan, all these qualifications you're requesting, how many yards of husband material do you possess?

Driving in Lagos is tough. You have to avoid potholes, yellow buses, keke drivers, okada men and the likes. The various uniformed personnel also do not help matters. From police to LASTMA and all the uniforms in between. Add all these to the stress of living in Nigeria and you will admit that all Lagos drivers need yearly medical evaluation.

If you are female and young and you drive in Lagos, you are exposed to a special kind of havoc to be honest as it seems there are people who are against the idea of females driving. It is normal for people to pass a female and make statements like 'woman, I no blame you, na pesin wey buy motor give you I blame'. 'no go find driver, I must drive'. 

My colleague came to work fuming because someone had removed her bumper and told her to mind the way he talks to her because she is a woman. Being a lawyer, this rubbed her the wrong way and she ensured the man fixed her bumper. Then there is the horror of mechanics, some of them believe they can cheat you just because you are female- actually, these mechanics just try to cheat everybody.

It is not all bad news though as there are positives; like the random stranger who helps you out of a fix, getting out of a bad situation by just crying and the sisterhood support from other female drivers - women on Lagos roads do support each other.

To survive driving in 2017, the following are essential;

• Leave home early to avoid the traffic; driving is fun when you are way ahead of time, there is no traffic and you are listening to fun music.
• Keep a cool head and be patient
• Anticipate and avoid problems; especially from those yellow buses.
• Remind yourself that the other person's anger is not about you; so be calm.
• Refuse to be bullied; you pay your tax and you have as much right to be on the road as everyone else.
• Learn how to fix simple mechanical problems and have the necessary tools handy.
• Make sure you know how to drive; seriously, make sure you can drive.

 So ladies, share your driving experiences, the good, bad and ugly; we want to hear them all.

 Annie Idibia posted this on Instagram as a reaction to an image,

'I stared at this image for at least 15 mins or more 
and realized I was tearing up.
The picture made me feel all 'types of ways' And the love 
in my heart towards Innocent just tripled instantly...
I know we will grow old n die someday, but God please
I want to spend all my days with him, grow old with him and die beside him..
next to him.... I can't live if I have to do that without him..
I won't survive it!! Life without him won't be worth it again...sad that when we 
grow old and grey, 1 of us will go before the other, but please can we at least
grow very old together and GO together...All of our kids n grandkids would have been all grown, graduates and well established by your grace lord...so they will be fine when we go. Amen.
#Annie'sMidnightTots.'

There were different reactions to this ranging from 'awww, so sweet' to 'yinmu'

Typical 'Abokoku'. History has examples of people who died minutes or a few days after the death of their spouse as well as unlikely examples of people who survived despite their closeness with the deceased.

What makes a person fear the death of a spouse? Is it the fear of being alone and the challenges it brings, or a lack of inner strength and loss of reason to live- if we are both old, we might as well just die together right?

What makes one live and fight on; is it the thought of the children, the desire to bring the deceased's dreams to pass or just inner strength?

Will you like Annie die with your loved one or would you strive on? Let me know what your thoughts are.

In all, love is a beautiful thing.

It's Monday and a time to go about our various hustle. It is a time to achieve and get the best of what we have set our hands to do. However, have you noticed the stereotypes people associate with certain jobs?

Male Bankers; Stingy and live on loans.

Female Bankers; Corporate whores especially the marketers.

Makeup Artist; All except the established ones are runs girls.

Fashion Designer; What's that, are you are tailor or nah?

Aspiring musician; Just go and find a job, we have enough musicians already.

Business woman; You sell clothes, hair etc. you are blessed with lots of sugar daddies.

Bloggers;You guys are becoming too many. LIB, Bellanaija, SDK and the popular ones are enough.

Oil and gas guys; They are wealthy. If you come across any of them as a babe, hold them tight.

People stereotype everyday but what really matters is that we find something we are passionate about and give it our very best.

Share the various job stereotypes that you know.

 

This image caused a stir this year as a popular club owner walked into an event holding girls on a leash like Dogs.

There was anger and uproar from a lot of people and finally the Lagos state government intervened and Pretty Mike was arrested. He eventually released a story explaining that he did this to create awareness and draw attention to the plight of women in our society. A lot of people do not believe his explanation but I say even if it's true, brother Mike, this is a classic case of cutting the nose to spite the face.

To me, this incidence brings to the forefront a lot of ills about our society and I'll dissect them;

• The masked faces of the girls; To me, this gives credence to a line from Chimamanda's popular 'we should all be feminists' Ted talk 'we teach women shame'. Society has taught women to mask themselves and deny their authenticity just to be hailed as a real woman.
• The Leash on them held by Pretty Mike; These women can only go as far as he wants them to go. Lot's of women seem to be held by an imaginary leash and judge their existence based on how far the men and society 'allow' them to go.
• The complacency of the police officers; if pretty Mike indeed committed a crime, why wasn't he arrested on the spot? Why did it have to take the complaint and intervention of people? Lots of times, women go to report cases of assault and molestation and the police just laughs at them.
• The choice of the women involved; At the end of the day, these women chose to be held on a leash, to mask their faces and be treated like Dogs. The truth is, the only things that happen to us are the things we allow.

So Ladies, go out there, keep your head up and live your life to the fullest knowing there is no leash or mask except the one you put on yourselves.

Have a splendid week ahead.

Go and win.

I never knew how to construct a pie-chart till I was in SS3.

I just never learnt how to and everyone around seemed to know it perfectly. I felt it would be embarrassing to admit I didn't know how to so I hid my little secret and of course no one suspected because I was one of the smart and popular.

I finally mustered the courage to ask a friend in SS3 to teach me and I was suprised at how easy it was.

The truth is that everyone tries to project the best version of themselves to the world and intelligence is often rewarded with admiration from our peers and sometimes leadership positions.

Admitting we do not know can sometimes be an uphill task but not admitting can have negative consequences and sometimes make us look stupid.

If you've ever asked for directions on Lagos roads, you will know how annoying it is when people can't just admit they don't know. Some in a bid to sound knowledgeable actually give you the wrong direction; turn left, drive straight, then turn right. You follow the direction and find yourself in Mile 12 when you were going to Ogudu.

The ability to admit that you don't know and even take the bold step to ask for direction is a sign of confidence and a healthy self esteem. It also saves you from embarrassing yourself in a big way.

While tact is essential in picking the place, time and person to admit our ignorance to, we should not be ashamed to admit we do not know.

So let's play a game of 'I don't know' where you write down something you don't know how to do. Your secret is safe with us. Mine is;

I don't know how to repost on Instagram can someone teach me? 

It's Friday and the end of the 1st working week.

Some of us may feel the need to unwind but this is January and our pockets and indeed bank accounts may feel the need to stay home.

Here are ways to ball and live the life on a budget;

• Ball with a wealthy clique; my people, wealth is sometimes contagious, if you're balling with a wealthy clique, the bills get split up and sometimes people will be attracted to your table to spend.
• Ditch that friend that never pays up their part of the bill; we don't need leeches this year.
• Try the oyibo style of balling; parks, art theaters etc. It's not every time you go to clubs and bars. Sometimes, try and be mordern.
• For the babes, activate your chikers; no need to form independent woman abeg, let that man spoil you and pay, then you take off.
• Throw house parties; the kind of parties where everyone brings food and something to drink. That way, you have fun and still keep your money.

Feel free to suggest other ways to ball on a budget. This year we will be prudent but we will also have looads of fun.

Or suwe, actually let's play sandalili ( I refuse to say standard living).

'Sandalili, sandalili, sandalili, sandalili,
sandalili, sandalili, sandalili, sanda question.

I'm a doctor in my country
Everybody knows me well 
If you look at me up and down
You will know that it's true.'

This game brings to mind childhood, a time of dreams and a sense of identity.

With this game, we could be anything - presidents, doctors, inventors, whatever we wanted to be.

The good thing about this game is that we spoke in the present term making us assume the position we wanted to attain.

Now that we're adults, do we still dream and believe that we can we achieve whatever we set our minds to achieve or have we become 'realistic' doing what we have to do to get by? Or maybe we still have our dreams but we are ashamed to talk about them because of the blows life has dealt us. Most importantly, do we speak positive things or do we complain a lot?

Today is a day to throw back to our childhood and dream again, not just dream but sing about our dreams  proudly.

It's never too late to be a child and dream again.

We are work divas, we dream, we do and we live.

We got this sorted out.

The 1st day I saw this woman, I thought she was an epitome of effortless class.

She was tall and wore heels and I love to see tall women on heels.

I got to work with her and I realized that she was not just a beautiful, classy woman but she has a work ethic per excellence. She was hardworking, paid attention to detail and the brain behind a lot of award winning campaigns. She also works well with people and recently her hardwork paid off as she has been promoted to the position of creative director in the biggest marketing communications agency in Nigeria.

These are reasons why Sinmisola is a true work diva;

1. She is a slayer; Sinmi carries the best of bags and wears really quality clothing.

2. She slays and moves on; She isn't one of those people constantly checking the mirror and all trying to convince you they are fashionstas, she just slays and trusts herself to get on with the day.

3. She is gooooood at her job; Trust me, this is one creative personnel I will always want to work with. She has reasons to be sloppy at her job because frankly, I don't think she needs to work but Sinmi is very good at her job.

4. She is feminine and still leads a company of men; There was a time it seemed to be successful in the work place, you needed to sit on the woman that you are and act all bitchy just to succeed but Sinmi isn't like that, she is graceful and yet commands authority in a warm way.

5. She leads a full life; Sinmi is a fun loving person that likes to let down her hair, she enjoys having a good time, she enjoys her job as an ad lady and she enjoys being a wife and mother.

6. She is a good friend and colleague; I worked with Sinmi for a long time and I really enjoyed working with her because to be honest, she is easy to work with not just on the job but as a person.

7. She is human; I have seen Sinmi loose her temper, I have seen her get emotional. She is not one perfect person but a human being with feelings, emotions and flaws that places a demand of excellence on herself.

Sinmi is a true work diva and if you doubt me, ask the most awarded creative director in these parts who handed over the baton to her.

Behold the beautiful Sinmisola, I can see a Cannes in your future.

It's 2017 and I guess we know the need to make our money work for us. 2016 had lots of people managing and trying to make the best of their situation but this year needs to be better for us. Here are ways to not just cope but soar financially in 2017.

1. Write down what you want to be worth in 2017; Write down a specific number. e.g At the end of 2017, I want to be worth N 10million. I want to have 2 property etc. You need to be specific, vagueness won't help.

2. Write down short calculated steps to get there; I will save up X amount a month. I will keep 'X' amount in a fixed deposit, etc.

3. Have a plan for unexpected money; Money from a deal, a mega bonus, money from Le boo, etc. You need to have a plan for this. I've realized that it is best to keep unexpected money in an account and think of how to spend it as opposed to spending on that new car or phone.

4. Keep track of your daily expenses; Yes we want to save and invest but we want to also strike a balance and kick ass. So track your expenses and cultivate a working mode of operation. Something as little as waking up early to avoid the traffic so as to conserve fuel and also arrive work refreshed and not tired, preparing meals before work, buying groceries in bulk, buying clothes quarterly/bi-annually as opposed to as the spirit leads can make a change in expenses.

5. Invest in quality only; Rather than buy cheap hair, why not try braids, locs, etc and save up the money to buy quality hair. The same goes for clothes, wristwatches, etc.

6. Consider alternatives; before you spend. Also learn to make the best of the resources around you.
7. Create an alternative source of income; multiple streams of income is a sure way to financial freedom.

And a bonus because this is the most important;

Give; to God, your parents and those around you who need because it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Go out there and kick ass financially in 2017

2017 is my year to hammer,

I go buy Hummer

and a Ranger Rover

(Oshey, my rap skills are improving).

Seriously, I want to suceed and 'blow' this year but I heard that I need to define what it means to 'blow' or 'hammer' so these are ways I'll know I've hammered;

• I'll have that big man laughter; you know that subtle confident 'hehehe' Pete Edochie and Olu Jacobs have in Nollywood movies. Once I can laugh like that, I'll know I've hammered.
• I can afford to be humble; that type of annoying humbility where I can say 'It's just God' or 'nothing dey happen' when obviously a lot is happening for me. I can afford to wear slippers to an event and people will call me humble.
• People call anyone who criticizes me a hater; if someone dares offer a dissenting opinion, there will be a lot of people to scream 'hater' at the person.
• I won't be interested in the dollar rates; ko kan mi rara, I'm balling, I can buy anything.
• People accuse me of being a runs girl or sleeping around; when the lord blesses a female beyond human comprehension, people attribute it to runs because they cannot comprehend such a blessing. 
• I will have the quiet aura of success; No need to over dress or seek attention. I can step into an event without pomp and pageantry and once people find out who I am, they start scrambling to serve me apologizing for not recognizing me earlier.
• My opinions and comments are published and regarded as relevant for discussion. In fact they can be quoted by world leaders. Do I think women should inherit property, once I say it, it becomes a topic for suggestion. 
• The blogs stalk my social media handles; because they know anything I post makes the news.
• I will spoil my mother; mama when your girl hammer, she go buy you Range Rover. Giving my mother the elitist treatment without looking at my bank account is a sign of hammering.

Feel free to let me know what 'hammering' means to you.

2017 is our year.

It's barely a week into 2017 and already cool trends are springing up. Two have stuck with me.

So it's the end of the 1st working week of the Year 2017.

2017 was a year I really looked forward to because I wanted 2016 to end; it was stretching and dollar was rising.

As is our tradition in Nigeria, it is time to write down goals for the year and these are my goals;

- Change my car.

- Attend the Canne festival; as a marketing communications chick that I am now

- Have at least 'X' million saved up.

- Attend a training in Columbia business school.

- Up my fashion game and generally be on point this year. To be honest, I must be noticed by the Instagram fashion handles this year.

- Give myself a birthday treat with a vacation to Zanzibar and Houston.

Just as I was writing these goals, some monitoring spirits kept reminding me of the economic situation but there is no shaking because I have a God who never fails; a miracle working God able to do all things.

I just remembered that the 2 week fasting and prayer for the year starts next week and this  work diva is going to pray like her life depends (PLHLD) on it oh. This dollar and recession must not dull me when I have a Heavenly Father who never fails.

Happy New Year all and may our dreams come true and promise yourself that you will stick to your resolutions this year and not dump them after the 10th of January.

2017 is our year.