Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 02, Issue 08: First Impressions Are Lasting Ones

For most opportunities in life, you have only one shot to get the attention of the people with the power to promote you. You’ve got to be ready for the camera when the lights go on. Prepare yourself to make a good first impression in the areas you want to leave your mark.

It could be a job you are seeking, a promotion, a valued position, or even a spouse. When opportunity meets preparation, things happen. Doors open, favour is released, a promotion is extended to you, or a proposal is made to you, depending on whatever it is you are seeking.

You must know how to dress the part. In order to win friends and influence people, you must put your best face, as well as best foot, forward. You must make a good first impression, because first impressions are lasting ones.

What importance do you place to your physical appearance? How you look, in terms of the attire and accessories you present yourself in before people in a position to advance your standing in life matters. The first impression they get of you may determine whether or not they extend to you the opportunity you are qualified for.

People look at what is obvious to the eye. Your exterior should complement the genius you present to the table. Always dress from your head to your shoes as if you are one complete picture, then select the profile you want to present. Everything should work in harmony to put you in the best light.

First impression is not just about your physical appearance. Sometimes it is how you behave yourself. You could be new in a group but hold back your involvement in the affairs of the group. You could do this by either sitting back and fail to contribute ideas; or not showing up for functions to offer support by your presence; or you could hold back volunteering your skills, or committing your resources to support the group. If the group was considering extending an opportunity to you, they are likely to revoke that consideration on the account of your laid back stance.

How confident are you when you appear before a panel of interviewers, or an audience that will evaluate your performance at the end of your presentation? The first impression you make may determine whether or not you get another opportunity, or even a long-term engagement.

Make a good first impression and enroll yourself as a viable candidate to a host of exciting opportunities.

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 02, Issue 07: Autograph Your Work With Excellence

We are all capable of excellence. Therefore, we shortchange ourselves whenever we fail to produce our best work. It may be easier to be floppy and get by being average at everything. But if we want to go far in life, we must tread the path of most resistance; we must aim for excellence.

Take care of business. Be excellent in all that you do. Build a reputation for being consistent and reliable. Excellence is doing something right the first time and doing it well. It is the art of exemplary performance, a personal responsibility.

There isn’t much satisfaction in doing something just to finish. That is not the way to live. I believe there is a desire for excellence in each of us. We want to be outstanding at the things we do.

Excellence is not something we embrace just when people are watching or for people to see and applaud us. Excellence is for ourselves. We feel good when we do things well. We are made after God’s own image. When we operate at our best, we are like him, excellent. God looked at everything he created and said that it was good. We should be able to say the same about our work. We ought to autograph our work with excellence.

Discipline yourself to produce your best work. Raise the standards for yourself. Until we hold ourselves to a higher standard, we will never rise above the mediocre. Only you know the quality of work you can produce. Move away from the culture of doing things in a shoddy manner and aim for precision. Refuse to take anything less than the best from yourself. Once you decide to do things well, you will find that your brain will start being precise without thinking about it.

When we embrace excellence, our focus shifts from competing with others to outdoing ourselves. A little competition with others is healthy but the larger part of competition in life should be against ourselves. Because deep down we know we can do better. We can rise up and do things well.

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 02, Issue 06: Staying Collected in the Company of a Fool

What do you do when someone in your life is a fool? How do you maintain your cool in the company of a fool? Foolishness is highly contagious because a fool can really make you lose your composure, put you in a place where you want to give them a dose of their own medicine.

When in the company of a fool, it is easy to act like a fool yourself. The person could be insensitive, or critical, or sarcastic, or abusive. Whatever it is, you cannot fall prey to the madness. Refuse to go there. Do not allow the foolishness of others to bring out the fool in you or cause you to lose your temper.

Exercise self-control when dealing with a fool. Desist from reacting to the foolishness in the fool in your life in a disparaging manner. Rather, determine to remain calm and collected in the midst of the madness.

Foolish actions have consequences. A fool’s foolishness is no excuse for bad behavior for you. No one can make you do anything. Therefore, you cannot blame your foolish actions on others. Even when others push your buttons to the point of losing control, you will not get away with saying "they made me do it." If we replace the seeds of foolishness in our own hearts with wisdom, we won’t have to worry about acting out of character when confronted with the foolishness of others.

Self-control does not always feel good. Sometimes we just want to give the person who has insulted or aggravated us a piece of our mind, not realizing that with that goes our peace of mind as well. In such a situation, you would be better off letting the other person revel in their foolishness while you remain a mature observer.

It is pointless to argue with a fool, to correct or tell off a fool, to push their buttons, or defend yourself before a fool. A fool is always right in his own eyes. Leave a fool to argue with himself. Maintain a reputation for great poise despite the kind of person or situation you have to constantly deal with. Don’t allow a fool to turn you into a fool or the victim of one.

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 02, Issue 05: Unclutter Your Life

Are you finding yourself all over the place, running around doing everything you presume to have time and energy for, things other people want you to do? How sane is your schedule? Spreading yourself too thin makes it impossible for you to have an impact significant enough to make a difference.

Knowing your purpose simplifies your life in a big way. It defines what you do and what you don’t. Your purpose becomes the benchmark you use to evaluate which activities are essential for you and which ones are not. It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You just have enough time to do what is rightfully in your plate. Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule.

Knowing your purpose focuses your life more than anything else. It concentrates your efforts and energy on what is important. Intentionally choose what to do and what to reject. It is only by being selective that you become effective.

There is nothing quite as compelling as a simplified and focused life, one lived on purpose. Stop trying to do it all. Cut back even on activities that seem good, and do only that which matters most to you. Its only when you simplify and focus your life that you will find it to have a meaningful impact.

Develop yourself along the lines of virtues that matter, doing only those things that bring meaning to you, and about which you are enduringly passionate, and give you the greatest return. To be on purpose means doing what you love to do, doing what you are good at and accomplishing what is important to you. These cannot be more than just a few things.

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 02, Issue 04: What Drives Your Life?

Everyone is driven by something. We hardly stop to consider how constructive the things that drive our lives are. What is the driving force in your life? Let’s consider some of them.

Material possessions: Here, the desire to acquire things is the whole objective of life. The drive to always want more is based on the fallacy that having more will make you happier, more significant, and secure. However, possessions only provide temporary fulfillment. Self-worth and net worth are two different things.

The problem with acquiring more and more material possessions is that many are still left feeling empty, wondering what the true purpose of life is, and what is good in the midst of all the getting.

The most valuable things in life are not things. You never get enough of what you don’t really need to make you happy. Ultimately, no form of acquisition can lastingly deliver what we long for – the authentic idea of being fully alive.

Fear: Fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they are afraid to try out anything they haven’t done before. They play it safe. They tip toe through life, make the fewest of mistakes, take the least of risks, and fail to reflect on the consequences of their action-less lives. Doing what you fear is the surest way to overcome your fear.

Anger and bitterness: This category of people hold on to hurts and refuse to get over them. This is a grave disservice to themselves because resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. Your past is just that, past. Nothing will change it. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let go of it. Do not be consumed by your pain, rather embrace and squeeze life out of it and move on.

The need for approval: These people allow the expectations of significant others to control their lives. Others still are driven by peer pressure, always concerned by what their peers think of them.

Guilt: Guilt-driven people allow their past mistakes to control their future. We are a product of our past, but we don’t have to be captives of it. In spite of your past, embrace a fresh start and live in the present. Don’t allow a wandering mind to rob you of the present pleasures of life.

Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them. Without a purpose, life is activity without meaning, movement without direction, and events without reason.

Lillian Chebosi