7 Things I Love About My Side Hustle

Love is putting it mildly, actually. I’m crazy about it! Here are just 7 of the many reasons why:

 

1. Peak performance: A healthy mind in a healthy body is the goal of #SelfCare, and my side hustle has taught me a lot about the latter. Did you know that your body is the best doctor? It’s designed to heal, cleanse and rebalance itself, and it does its job better the more you elevate it to peak state of health. Just ONE addition to my diet, and my body has begun to heal itself; a health condition I’ve had for over two decades (of which the last five years were the scariest) has been reversed! Oh the joy!

 

2. Serving others: Learning, and sharing what I’ve learnt, is the passion of my true self. Now, I’m able to share the knowledge I’ve received with others, and help their bodies become healthier too. My best friend was one of the first people I shared with, and after over 20 years of excruciating period pains, she had a pain-free period for the first time ever!

 

3. Extra income: Even though I share this knowledge at no cost to listeners, I still get paid for my work weekly. It’s genius.

 

4. Upgraded associations: I have colleagues all over the world (55 countries and counting) and my outlook on life has broadened beyond anything I thought possible. Plus, I can’t think of anything else I could be doing right now that would gift me with a millionaire mentor and a multimillionaire grandmentor (we’re talking US dollars!). My mentor’s mentor is an Amazon bestselling author who owns an oil and gas servicing company, a software company, plus two restaurants in Texas, and he’s sitting at a table talking to me?!

 

5. Training: I have access to my company’s academy at all times, including mentorship sessions. Have you ever woken up and felt how much you’ve grown?

 

6. Recognition: Beyond pay, I’ve always dreamed of being recognized for my hard work, but I never thought it would happen any time soon since I was a solopreneur. Here I am now, basking in accolades. It’s so fulfilling and encouraging.

 

7. Room to grow: Starting out as a consultant in any field, it’s totally okay not to know much; you’re not expected to. In fact, your job is to learn and follow instructions as you’re trained. The sweet thing is, you earn as you learn. I’ve grown so much, and I’m still growing. Gifts I haven’t been using in my editing and writing career (public speaking for instance) have come out to play, and I’m loving it.

 

Collaboration is the new competition. I’m always on the lookout for fun, talented people to work with on different aspects of our projects; share the work, share the income. If you’re interested in partnering with me a few hours a week, send me an email with the subject SIDE HUSTLE: anafricandiva@gmail.com

 

 

Live grateful!

Advertisement

Great Reads: Top 5 Books For Marketers and Salespeople

Salespeople are not the only ones involved in sales. The truth is that whether we are in marketing or not, each one of us has something to sell; from goods and services to our personal brand. Consequently, how well we practice and master the art of selling determines how far we go in our chosen paths, and how successful we become in life.

I wrote an article about five books written to help do exactly that. Read it here:

http://connectnigeria.com/articles/2013/03/12/great-reads-top-5-books-for-marketers-and-salespeople/

The MIT: One Simple Tip to Put An End to Wasted Days!

 

thepinstripedsuit.com

“How was your day?”

People get asked this question very often, and the answer is usually “fine”, “terrible”, “so-so”, and on rare occasions, “great!”

Many busy people are familiar with the dispiriting feeling of winding down at the end of the day without having accomplished anything significant. Yet, for most upwardly mobile, forward-thinking people, a bad day is the result of poor planning- the “busy doing nothing” syndrome. Yes; barring unforeseen tragic circumstances, the main reason why you feel unfulfilled at the end of the day is the absence of a sense of accomplishment, and this is caused by poor planning.

You start your day with a great number of things to do, and at the end of the day, find that you were only able to do three, and that out of those three you did only one well. You are not alone. Having so much to do and so little time to do it is something that everyone who is living a productive life has to deal with. If you have risen above the humdrum of living and working just to get by, and have truly begun building a meaningful career and a purposeful life, you will often find yourself wishing you had more hours in your day. This is as true for the manager as it is for the full-time domestic engineer.

However, there is a better way. By embracing one simple yet effective concept, you can get rid of the “wasted day” feeling. This concept is known as the MIT- Most Important Task.

Even if you are not a fan of lists, do yourself a favour; identify the one thing you absolutely must get done each day. When you’ve written it clearly, do it FIRST. Resist the temptation to do some other task before that, no matter how simple that task may be, because it’s easy to get lost in all the craziness of the day. When you succeed in getting your MIT out of the way, no matter how the rest of the day goes, whatever else doesn’t pan out, you can go to bed comforted by the knowledge that you made your day count for something important. It’s an empowering feeling that gives you the strength to wake up and face another day.

By taking this simple step, you not only get an essential task out of the way, you also set the tone for the rest of your day.

It is impossible to round off a work day with a sense of accomplishment if you let your day control you. Control your day. Don’t just let life happen to you; take the reins, seize the day. Live life deliberately, on purpose.

The MIT concept is about priorities. When you get your priorities straight every day, you get them straight every week, and every month. The result? A year well spent achieving important goals. It’s as simple and effective as that.

 

7 Things Standing Between You and Your Dream Job

theundercoverrecruiter.com

1. Your resume is hurting you

When it comes to the “objective” section of your CV, avoid a one-size-fits-all cluster of sentences. You should always tailor your objective to suit each job you’re applying for. If your resume objective has nothing to do with the position, why should the recruiting executive waste time reading it? If you’re unsure of what to say, just take out the objective altogether. It seldom helps, usually hurts, and more often than not takes up valuable space that could be better used to showcase your accomplishments.

Most importantly, your resume should answer one key question; “Why should we hire you instead of any other applicant?” In other words, “What can you bring to the table that someone else can’t?”

2. You don’t use your cover letter to your advantage

A cover letter is an opportunity to sell yourself; don’t waste it by sending the same letter over and over again. It takes longer to individualize one, but tailoring your cover letter to a specific opening is going to open doors which your resume alone might not be able to; placing your application in the tiny fraction of those that stand out and immediately go to the top of the pile.

Also, if you want to talk about your career objective and how this position fits in with it, instead of adding an “objective” section in your resume, use the cover letter for that.

3. You’re not honest during interviews

Searching for the right job is like dating; present a false front, and disillusionment in the near future is almost guaranteed. If you approach interviews as if your only goal is to win a job offer, you will most likely keep ending up in the wrong job. Being honest about your abilities and interests, and giving your potential employers a glimpse of the real you, will help them make an informed decision about how suitable the job is for you, and how well you would perform. Inasmuch as you need more money, cash should not be what drives your job hunt. Letting the promise of higher income blind you to the realities of the job you’re applying for, is setting yourself up for failure, as is hiding the truth about your strengths and weaknesses.

In fact, far from making you appear perfect; being unable to identify your weaknesses actually shows a lack of insight and self-awareness, both of which are absolutely necessary for personal growth and career advancement.

4. Potential employers can’t feel your enthusiasm.

It’s true that calling earlier than the date they said they’d get back to you, calling more than once a week, sounding like you’re eager to take any job as opposed to this one in particular, or generally appearing as if this is the only option you have, reeks of desperation and is counterproductive to your job search. However, expressing genuine interest in the job- by letting the hiring manager know you would really love to work for this company, for instance, or asking about the hiring timeline- is actually healthy. Potential employers are looking for passionate employees; indifference, real or feigned, is not attractive.

5. You’re overqualified, and you neglect to address it.

Like the proverbial elephant in the room, the degrees, certifications and years of experience that make you overqualified for a job are very obvious to you and every hiring manager who looks at your CV. Failure to acknowledge it will only send a wrong message. Potential employers may worry that you won’t find the job interesting or challenging enough. They may also be concerned that the salary will be too low for you, or even think that you don’t understand the position.

If you’re certain that this is the job you truly want regardless of your qualifications- the one that will have you springing out of bed on Monday morning- you need to state it loud and clear. Your interviewer needs to hear reassuring affirmations such as “I want to move into this industry, and I’m aware that I need to start at a lower level in order to do that.”  Or, “At this stage in my career, having a job I enjoy is more important to me than salary. I have no problem earning less than I have in the past.”

6. The references you’ve listed are wrong for you, or for the job

References are not “people who care about me the most”. Your pastor, cousin and best friend, unless they’ve related with you in a professional capacity, can’t really help your job search much. Instead, go for people who are familiar with, and can answer questions about, your professional abilities and strengths, as well as your work ethic.

7. You simply do not have enough experience yet

Sometimes, you just have to pay your dues. And that’s not a bad thing. The experiences and skills you pick up from other jobs may just be what make the dream job all the more perfect when you finally clinch it. So keep working.

Good luck!