Friday Thoughts

It feels great to be back after a long Christmas and New Year break. I published 81 articles last year (November and December actually). I thank all my faithful readers and daily 'uplifters.' It is because of you I write and I promise much better and quality content for you this year. 





Here's some motivation for the weekend from my yet to be published book, 2nd Life Lessons: Life As A Business Man. Enjoy:



5. Credibility is important. . .
A good name is better than riches. Wisdom better than silver or gold. If you are going to borrow, keep your word man, I know what I am saying.
Or when you take a loan, INVEST & RE-INVEST in something INSTANTLY BENEFICIAL, because starting a business with debts is a bad, bad platform in business.
Never ask to cancel out your debts. See that you pay "them." Be honest & speak truthfully when you don't have it, but whatever it is, when the money hits your account, whether big or small, settle your debts immediately.
I do believe it is better to suffer the consequences of your actions i.e. taking a loan or borrowing and maybe going to jail for it than begging or asking from friends or even family to pay up!
STAY WITHIN YOUR MEANS. You are not in business to please or impress people. "Begging" or asking "spoils" your name, especially when you don't pay on time. Some may see you as a fraud & trust is or will be broken. Business is all about trust, you know. 
You can't overrule that.

YOUR WEEKEND MOTIVATION: MAKING 2016 A MEMORABLE YEAR

1. Keep silent, talk less:
Whatever you feel inspired to do in the coming year, keep silent and keep it on the low. Don't talk too much about it. Cultivate a principle of, "If it is not in my hands, I will hold it in till it comes to fruition." Otherwise, you will find yourself boasting & appear a liar when whatever is to come doesn't happen. Silence is golden indeed. Here in Ghana, we say, "ahwene pa nkasa" meaning "Good beads don't talk."

Not everyone loves your success and loves to see you prosper. You are awesome!

2. Be well informed:
Whatever has happened, has happened. Whatever didn't happen, didn't. There is a solution to every problem. An answer to every question. A way out of every hole.

So instead of sulking over a dead year, gather more information about anything you set out to achieve next year and you will do just fine. You will make it.


3. Don't look at somebody before you make a move.
People will always discourage you. Some may be "ahead" but it is no competition. You have your own race to run. Looking at people makes you compare, covet and envy what you may not have because probably you don't need it. Cut it out this time next year. You are all you need. Believe in yourself.

4. Work wholeheartedly at whatever you do.
Be full of compassion, passion, sacrifice and commitment. You will never have time. Make time for your spouse next year. Make time for that business. Work wholeheartedly and not just for monetary gain. Success always stops when self sacrifice ceases.

5. Do what it really means to be yourself and to be content.
To be content and to be yourself doesn't mean stay at one place. It doesn't mean don't be ambitious either. Being content and being yourself means:
a. Be who you are.
b. Live within your means
c. Don't try to impress people
And lastly and most importantly,
d. IMPROVE.

Yeah, to be yourself and to be content is to improve yourself.
In 2016, improve the unstable finances . Improve that relationship and/or marriage. Improve on your weight. Don't be left behind in 2016. The only competition is with yourself. Make 2016 memorable. IMPROVE.

Losing Stomach Fat Fast

fitnessmagazine

Believe it or not, everybody has a flat tummy! Yeah, true. The thing is, undigested food accumulates in the intestines, making up to 5%  of total body weight; And as such, most tummies are covered with this accumulated excess fat. Also, blood sugar (glucose) can cover a person's tummy with excess fat since glucose can add more fat around the tummy. If most of your diet is sugary or starchy, you will experience this situation because starchy and sugary foods are a great source of blood sugar or glucose.

Regularly partaking in intensive cardiovascular exercises, mid-section strength training and maintaining a stable blood sugar level will make you lose this stomach fat easily. When you go cardio, you will not only keep yourself healthy, but you will get that killer trim waist line and flat tummy devoid of excess fat that you've always dreamed of.

jessyfashionmag

This is so because, cardiovascular exercises are targeted at raising your heart rate, keeping your muscles in shape and making them stronger. Now hold on here. Don't let the word muscle scare you, because your heart is also a muscle and that's what I am talking about. Cardio exercises also stabilize blood sugar levels in your body, boosts your lung capacity and burns calories. 

Go on and give some of the following cardio exercises a try:

1. Swimming

This co-ordinated movement, whereby your limbs and/or body glides through water or another liquid, mostly for recreation, sport, exercise, or even survival is a low-impact exercise that needs no introduction at all. Not only will you achieve all the benefits of cardiovascular exercise when you swim, but since you will feel weightless as you glide through the water, it will help reduce impact on your joints.

What It Really Does For You:

Because some swimming movements will require you to move your arms up and over the water while moving your legs too, it becomes a very daunting task for you. However, this is good for you because your heart will pump faster to sustain you as you do this, strengthening your heart muscles in the process. Depending on your efforts, you can burn about 800 calories in just an hour of a swimming exercise!

2. Walking (Brisk)

You sure know that a simple walk through the grocery store will not do that much to or for your belly or your body. A regular walk that is brisk and intensive enough to leave you breathing at a faster rate than usual, give some strains to your leg muscles  and lets you sweat at least lightly, is what will help you a great deal.

What It Really Does For You:

 If your walking is vigorous enough, such that it will give your heart and lungs a challenging workout, not only will you get rid of belly fat, but you will experience the awesome benefits of lower rates of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.

3. Bicycling/Biking/Cycling

mvlevelo

Back some years ago, cycling was a fun activity we all loved to engage in. But now, with more awareness and consciousness of or on our health, particularly our weight, whether you jump on an exercise bike or a "normal'' bike, it won't be just for the fun of it, but to reap lots of benefits essential for our health.

womenshealthmag.com

What It Really Does For You:

Depending on the duration and intensity of your cycling, you will burn lots of calories and strengthen your hips and knees. Since you will be working your entire lower body as you pedal away regularly, you will soon be spotting a tight body. Particularly for women, you will get a tight butt plus toned thighs too.

NB: 
Cardio exercises are part of any weight loss program. If done well and properly, your metabolism will increase for a full 24 hours and even more!
For workout intervals, make sure you always warm up for 2 to 5 minutes at an easy pace prior to beginning any of these exercises. Perform any of these exercises for 30 seconds. Make it hard and challenging as possible. Always have a recovery time to catch your breath and take a water break (if you want) in about a minute. Now repeat this cycle 5-10 times & you are good to go.  To prevent injuries and little niggles that may pop up in your muscles, don't forget to stretch a little before, during or after hard exercising.

YOUR MID-WEEK MOTIVATION: KEEP ON KEEPING ON

Seven ways to grow your small business on Facebook

With an average of more than 1 billion daily active Facebook users, who post at least 510 comments every minute, it can be difficult for small businesses to stand out from the crowd. To be noticed, small businesses need to get creative and post content that is likable and sharable – in other words, that which is interesting, relevant or humourous.

However, whatever you do, you don’t want to appear desperate so it’s worth checking out the Condescending Corporate Brands page on Facebook before you start, for ideas of what not to do.

Day 1: Don’t just sell, give
Key to successful Facebook marketing is growing the reach of your page past your friends and family and into the wider marketplace. Encouraging people to share content is a core strategy here. The more they share, the more others will see it – and hopefully will share it too.

While some will share a post because it contains an advert for a product or service that is of interest to them, generally people share content because it adds value to their world in some way.

This is something Janette Shaw, co-owner and director of Eva Kingston, a contemporary art gallery and artisan gift shop based in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks in Kent, has experimented with.

“As well as posting about our own gifts and art work, we also share interesting articles that might catch someone’s attention. For example, I recently shared a magazine article that focused on the different ways to display home photos – the aim being to inspire our followers and encourage them to think more creatively. We have definitely noticed more interaction from people off the back of posts like these,” she says.

Day 2: Create video
Facebook users are creating 75% more video posts than they were a year ago, which equates to around eight billion videos being viewed on the site each day. Over 1.5 million small businesses posted a video (organic posts and ads) on Facebook in September.

Ciaran Quilty, SME regional director EMEA, Facebook, says: “Great video content isn’t about big budgets; it’s about being really clear about what your business stands for, who your customers are and what they want to see and hear.”

Once upon a time it would have been out of an SME’s budget to produce a video, but with the advent of smartphones and apps it is much easier and cheaper. Even if you do choose to use a proper production company, high impact video can still be made at a low cost if it has a compelling storyline. First Kiss, a video from the fashion studio, WREN, received more than 108m views but cost less than £1,000 to make.

Other ways of introducing video to your feed without actually shooting footage is to use video chats or stream live events. ooVoo facilitates video chats with up to 12 people on Facebook and lets you send video messages and record videos, while Livestream allows you to broadcast events as they happen.

Day 3: Publish photos
Social marketing company BuzzSumo recently conducted a study of more than one million Facebook articles to see whether using images influenced success. It did. Posts with an image earned 2.3 times as much engagement as those without.

As the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand stories. Therefore, any image used needs to tell your story. It has to be relevant. There are some small businesses for who finding photos will be easy – restaurants, florists, clothes labels, book stores, anything that sells or creates a physical product will have a wealth of potential images at their fingertips. But for those that don’t, a little creative thinking is in order.

Alternatives could include charts, infographics and screengrabs of projects, comics and cartoons, or memes – the overlaying of amusing or informative quotes on top of images. Make sure you secure copyright for all images before use though.

Day 4: Join the club
Facebook can be used to encourage those people who like or share your page to become loyal customers – by offering the opportunity for people to sign up to receive a newsletter, to join a loyalty club or participate in some other activity. Trollbeads UK, for example, invites owners of Trollbeads to send Christmas cards to other Trollbead lovers around the world – then it allows you to capture contact data and woo them over time.

However, strict rules apply regarding data protection and to break them means running the risk of a fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office so make sure you read up beforehand.

Day 5: Run a competition
People love a competition, and may be willing to share it among their friends if they think the prize is worth it. A whole host of third party developed apps can help you set up your contest. Heyo, for example, has an easy-to-use editor and templates for you to create contests and promotions, while Tabsite helps you build Facebook tabs for sweepstakes and competitions, as well as reviews and deals. These apps provide data capture tools and allow the competition to be fully branded and shareable.

However, be warned, Facebook really doesn’t like it when brands create contests that require people to share a post or tag their friends in order to enter. Indeed, they’ve got a few rules they want you to abide to when running competitions. Take a look at Facebook’s guidelines to avoid being blacklisted.

Day 6: Ask your customers to contribute
Social media is just that – social. It isn’t meant to be a broadcast tool. It is designed specifically for people to interact with each other. Beyond the obvious ‘like’ and ‘share’, there are lots of ways in which you can ask your customers to engage with you on Facebook.

Ask customers to check in on Facebook so that their timeline displays a visit to your premises, or encourage them to share photos of them using the items they have purchased, and to review what they thought.

Asking customers about what they like and dislike – not just about your particular business, but the wider field within which you work, can also boost engagement. Polldaddy and Polls for Facebook, for example, are just a couple of apps that allow brands to easily create surveys, polls and rating systems.

Day 7: Link to other activities
Reciprocal altruism theory suggests that if people perceive others to be cooperative and helpful, then they are more likely to also be helpful and cooperative themselves. This theory can be applied to Facebook. If you promote another business on Facebook, they will know you have done so and are likely to do the same for you – opening up an entire new audience for your business and encouraging local alliances. For example, a local butcher knows that the deli down the road makes a delicious apple chutney that goes perfectly with his roast pork and so gives them a little plug. They then return the favour.

Source: The Guardian

Katie Price's daughter Princess fires back at criticism over her heavy make-up

Katie Price's daughter Princess has hit back at criticism over photos and video footage showing her with heavy make-up this week.

The eight-year-old was pictured and filmed wearing make-up and what appears to be false nails, but she's hit back in a new clip - insisting SHE did the make-up, not her famous mum.

Katie posted a video of her daughter on Instagram, as Princess said: "By the way, I do my make-up not my mum, I do. And anyway it's none of your beeswax so oosh."

NEVER cross Princess.
It comes after Katie, 37, dressed her daughter up as her panto character - the Wicked Fairy - and posted snaps on Instagram as they played about in her dressing room.

While many saw the pictures as innocent mother-daughter bonding - others were horrified by the sight of the youngster so dolled up.

One commenter ranted: "What the h*** is wrong with this this girls mom; this is over sexualizing a little girl. This is sad"

Another claimed even for dressing up sake, it wasn't appropriate.

"This is WRONG!! Mucking around or not...it's still wrong!!" they wrote alongside the image.
Some stuck up for Pricey though and insisted there was "no harm" in playing dress up.

"Oh ffs some people need 2 lighten up she's gone with her mum and has been dressed up the same 4 fun I see lots of natural photos she puts on ea it's clearly Been done for fun n bit of mummy n princess time x"
While another added: "I bet princess had an absolute ball doing dress up and make-up with mummy. Keep doing what you're doing Katie, there's no harm in having fun with your kids! Jeez everyone needs to chill out, it's not like they are off down the shops or to school like that!"
Katie and mini-me Princess appeared oblivious to any problem and seemed like they were having a great time though.

The mother of five - who's starring in Sleeping Beauty in Woking, Surrey - captioned one picture of the pair wearing matching horn head-dresses: "Like mother like daughter".

She proudly showed off her daughter's singing abilities in a video of Princess singing Little Mix's Black Magic - the song Katie revealed she sings herself in the pantomine.
Katie made her pantomime debut on Friday at the New Victoria Theatre.

She was pictured leaving the venue with daughter Bunny and husband Kieran Hayler after her first show and seemed in good spirits, despite previously admitting she was nervous about treading the boards.

It's not the first time Katie has been criticised for letting Princess wear make-up. In 2010 ex-husband Peter Andre said he was "horrified" when a photo of the school child wearing fake eyelashes and make up was circulated on social media.

At the time the former glamour model insisted she was a "good mother".

Source: mirror.co.uk

Divorce Bells Ringing as Beyonce and Jay-Z Reportedly Not Sleeping Together

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z are hit with split reports yet again. The pair, who have been married for seven years, are not sleeping together anymore and even living in separate areas of their Beverly Hills mansion, Radar Online reports.

"Jay-Z and Beyonce each have their own bedrooms," a person identified as a staffer dishes on the couple's alleged marital problems. "They are on opposite sides of a long hallway with Blue Ivy's room in between them."

Previously, an insider told the site that Beyonce and Jay-Z had explosive fights in front of their staff. "Beyonce blew up at Jay-Z for no reason and was barking orders at everyone like she was the first person to ever move into a new home," the insider recalled.

"They got into a huge fight in front of everyone over how he is handling the move. He told her that they only reason they chose this place to begin with is because it is what she wanted, not him. He told her that he is really sick and tired of being her b***h."

As of press time, reps for Beyonce and Jay-Z have not confirmed or denied the latest rumors, though the couple has persistently debunked reports of their alleged split.

Source: AceShowbiz.com