Tag Archives: 5 Things

5 Things You Should Do Every Morning If You Want To Be Healthy

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Oil Pull

Before you start saying “oil pulling is so 2014,” hear me out. I grind my teeth at night, and I know I’m not alone in this. In addition to the possible oral health benefits, oil pulling exercises a stiff jaw to alleviate pain, forces you to get up 20 minutes earlier, and acts as a chemical-free mouthwash.

Stretch

While I oil pull, I stretch. I take this time to relax, meditate a bit, and warm up my body for the day. If I have time or get up early enough, I go to yoga or do a few Sun Salutations in my room. I know I’ll be in a desk chair all day, so I try to carve out some time to always get a good stretch session in.

Drink Lemon Water

A room-temperature glass of lemon water has tons of health benefits: alongside improved hydration, you’ll get a vitamin C boost for glowing skin, a metabolism boost, and a mood boost.

Care For Your Skin

I don’t have an extreme 11-step Korean skin care routine, but I do have a pretty solid lineup for my skin. I cleanse my skin with Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel and my Clarisonic, then tone, apply serum, and moisturize. Twice a week, I use a peel, and three times a week, I use a retexturizing scrub. And you know what? I never knew my skin could be this good! The byproduct of this is that I now look forward to waking up (don’t judge me) to go through my skin care routine.

Take Vitamins

I take B12 for energy, omega-3 for mood and muscle health, and vitamin E for hair, skin, and nails. If I’m drinking my vitamins in a shake, I use Vega One powder mixed with some coconut milk. At the risk of sounding like your mom, take your vitamins!

Credit: popsugar

5 Things You Can Do To Better Your Relationship

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1. Be wrong and be happy about it

If you’ve developed the habit of needing to be right, you’ve probably experienced the unfortunate side effect of being lonely or misunderstood. When couples think in terms of “I’m right, you’re wrong,” the relationship is divided and there can be no growth. When couples focus not on being right, but on being connected and growing together, then everybody wins.

Some of the greatest relationship connections you’ll ever make occur when you apologize and commit to doing better after making a mistake. Rather than rubbing your partner’s nose in his or her wrongness, empathy will allow you to see the feelings and needs behind the actions in order to connect, share understanding, and heal. Open communication will ensure that wounds are healed with empathy and emotional connection.

2. Rebuild trust together

It is impossible to be open and vulnerable with someone you do not trust. If someone has hurt your trust, you have the option to protect against future pain for the rest of your relationship — which often involves attacking one another and distancing yourself — or sharing your feelings and needs in a state of vulnerability.

When you choose the latter option, you send out powerful “grow with me” signals that give your spouse the opportunity to step up and fill your needs. They could reject you, but if you have faith and frame the conversation around your feelings and needs, there will be no attack for your partner to guard against. And when you do make that emotional connection, the wounds will heal. Healing emotional wounds is a form of growth that, when practiced, will dramatically impact a couple’s level of intimacy and commitment.

3. Do new things together

After you establish trust in your partner, then you can begin to add to the foundation of your relationship. This is when the flower of your relationship starts to bloom again as the water of your love is supplied regularly. Once you establish a deep trust that is founded on empathy and experience, rather than blind ignorance, you can begin to transform that flower into a rose garden. Then you become free to experience new things together again, to learn together, and to make your love dynamic again.

Take dancing lessons, go rock climbing or sky diving, learn a new language, and grow together in playful ways. Plan new hobbies and activities that satisfy the fundamental need for growth in a relationship. Novel experiences are important to a flourishing love, and your willingness to try new things with your partner will be based on your level of trust.

When you both experience vulnerability together, you will be able to empathize with your partner and appreciate their humanness. You’ll begin to see the inner child in your significant other; excitement, earnestness, and love will grow along with your intimacy.

4. Have sex

Having sex in a marriage relationship is much more than a simple, physical act. It is sharing intimacy, vulnerability, spirituality, emotional connection, and love in the most sublime way. When you are in a protective mode, having sex is not enjoyable or desirable because sex is a growth activity.

Humans are one of the few animals that are exposed completely during sex, so it is the most vulnerable activity we engage in. As you shift your relationship to a “grow with me” mode, your desire for sex will be rekindled. There is no limit to sexual satisfaction in a monogamous relationship, and couples commonly report increased satisfaction even into their golden years. View sex as the privilege for the responsibility you show to all of your emotions and needs. Have it frequently, and make time for it if your schedules are busy.

When sex is used outside of the context of intimacy, appreciation, and vulnerability, it becomes nothing more than a common drug, which acts as an impediment to growth and connection. When sex becomes a physical symbol of these words — “I have such faith, respect, and trust in you that I could bring new life with you” — it becomes a sacred thing. But things are only as sacred as what is sacrificed for them, so if you want a healthy sex life, make sacrifices to grow together.

5. Express gratitude and appreciation routinely

Gratitude speaks “grow with me” just as loud as any action. It says so many things in such a compact way. “I care for you, I appreciate you, I value you, I think you’re amazing.” The more gratitude is expressed in your relationship, the more room you’ll have to grow. Remember, you are the co-manager of your relationship, so you get to exercise effective leadership and management techniques if you want to succeed.

Credit: CheetSheet

5 Things You Can Learn From Aliko Dangote

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1. Invest in what you know
Dangote learned from one of the oldest investing lessons in the book. Born in 1957, he was exposed to the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. He was raised in Kano State, Nigeria, by his grandfather, who himself became one of the wealthiest men in the area selling commodities.

After graduating from Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the 21-year-old took a $3,000 loan from his uncle and set out on his own, but he didn’t stray far from the family business. Dangote used the loan to import rice, sugar, and cement from overseas at wholesale prices and then sell locally at significant markups. This was a business Dangote understood thanks to his grandfather, and he was able to make the venture an immediate success. According to Warren Cassel at Investopedia, Dangote Group “had grown into one of the largest trading conglomerates operating in the country” by 1990.

2. Find companies that create value
Dangote’s business flourished for 20 years, but he saw the opportunity to shift directions, fulfill a dire need. and grow even more. Nigeria was at the end of a 15-year stretch of military rule, and the new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had promised to protect local industry, which set the stage for Dangote to make his move. “In a country where imports constitute the vast majority of consumed goods,” the Dangote Group website states, “a clear gap existed for a manufacturing operation that could meet the ‘basic needs’ of a vast and fast growing population.”

Having begun as an importer and trader of commodities, Dangote already had a strong distribution network, so he had a distinct competitive advantage as his company transitioned into manufacturing flour, pasta, and sugar.

3. Harness the power of brands 
The distribution network was an important piece of the puzzle, but as Dangote has said, “[T]o succeed in business you need to build a brand and never destroy it.” Whether it was a Donald Trump-like flair or a desire to capitalize on name recognition built from his years as a commodities trader, Dangote branded the products with his name.

The brand would be built on high-quality products at affordable prices — which is something that works as well in Africa as it does everywhere else in the world — and is now one of the most recognizable brands on the continent.

4. Focus on strong capital allocation
Building and maintaining a brand requires substantial investment. And if there’s one thing that stands out about Dangote, it’s his ability to successfully plow money back into his businesses. He has created the economies of scale that allow his company to sell products at cheaper prices than his competitors do. That’s something many CEOs attempt to do but only a handful do well. Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos are two names that come to mind.

In 2000, the Dangote Group acquired a cement company from the Nigerian government, and by 2003, Dangote was ready to expand the business by combining a $479 million loan with $319 million of his own money to commission the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Dangote Cement Plc is valued at roughly $14 billion, which makes it the largest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and accounts for 25% of the exchange by market cap.

The successful reinvestment into Dangote companies is a consistent theme. It’s also happened by way of multiple expansions at Dangote Sugar, which has grown to become the second largest sugar refinery in the world. The company’s distribution network has grown from 600 trucks to over 1,500 since the late 1990s.

5. Embrace optionality
However, along with reinvesting into current business, what makes companies such as the Dangote Group special is their ability to move in multiple directions. The Dangote Group has ventured beyond its initial focus of cement, sugar, and flour and into real estate, telecom, steel, and oil and gas.

There are probably sectors Dangote won’t move into, but it seems as if nothing is off limits. That approach is what has allowed Dangote’s business — and his net worth — to grow so incredibly. Today, Dangote Group is a massive conglomerate generating $3 billion in revenue annually.

In Africa, Dangote Group is viewed as part folk hero — for reinvesting in and creating jobs on the continent — and part villain — as Dangote himself came from wealth and has potentially leveraged government relationships to establish unfair advantages. Dangote is a polarizing figure, but his story provides plenty of interesting business insights and investment advice. And since he’s just 58 years old, we can expect to hear plenty more from Africa’s richest man.

Credit: fool.com