 Our personal finances are a very crucial part of our lives. On our journeys, we make a lot of financial decisions that can affect our lives in a positive or negative way. I strongly believe that we have the power to take charge of our finances and have positive experiences with money.
In this blog post, we will explore different tools that can help us build strong financial foundations. Check out previous Her Toolkit posts to help you build your personal and professional development toolkit. What does Financial wellbeing mean?
What has been my experience with Financial health and wellbeing? My experience with money has been filled with many tests and lessons learned. A lot of the lessons that I had to learn about finances, I did on my own. Growing up. conversations about money and building wealth, were not a normal occurrence. As I have progressed on my journey, making smart decisions has helped me gain financial independence and live the life I want. One of the greatest lessons that I have learned is that we need to continue learning about ways to achieve and maintain our financial health. The ways I continue my financial education is by talking to other people, reading articles and trying new techniques for growing my money. What tools can we use? Sharing some of my previous blog posts where I shared very useful tools that helped me
Great Resources Check out my videos on How to take charge of your Finances and My Story |Taking Charge of my Finances for practical tips on achieving financial independence. Call to Action What are you going to do this month to take charge of your finances? Commit to taking action.
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 As you plan for the next phase of your Career, it is important to equip yourself with great tools. I will be sharing some tools that have helped me grow professionally, motivated me to try new strategies and make bold Career moves.
In this blog post, we will explore different tools that can support you on your career journey. Check out previous Her Toolkit posts to help you build your personal and professional development toolkit. What does Career Development mean?
What has been my experience with Career development? On my Career journey so far, I have learned the value of taking an active approach to developing my career and learning from my experiences. Some people have a clear vision of what their careers will look like very early. On my career journey, my path got clearer the more I learned about myself and explored different things. Being intentional and investing in my Career development has helped me gain knowledge that opened new doors in the work I do. To ensure that career development is a priority, I include my professional learning goals in my yearly plan. What tools can we use? Sharing some of my previous blog posts where I shared very useful tools that have helped me
Great Resources Check out my videos on My career journey and Unconventional career advice to discover practical career development tips. Call to Action What is the most unconventional Career advice that you would like to share?  As we embark on the next moths, I will be sharing some principles and tools that have helped me thrive. Building a toolkit is one of the principles that has helped me. Equipping myself with tools that will help simplify my life, continuously improve, learn new skills, grow personally, and provide new perspective has been a lot of fun. Especially at times when we feel like there is a lot that we cannot do, I want to encourage you to take charge and do what you can.
This post kicks off the Her Toolkit series. In this blog post, we will explore the definition of Imposter Syndrome and learn practical tools to overcome it. What is Imposter Syndrome?
What has been my experience with Imposter Syndrome? There are feelings in life that come up in different situations and phases. For me, the feeling that I may not deserve to be where I am or that I am not as smart as everyone around me is one that comes up sometimes. Although I know that I deserve to be here and that I have worked extremely hard to get this far, this is still an ongoing challenge for me. Some of the situations when the feelings come up include when I experience huge success, make a major transition in my life or achieve something I have been working on for long. What tools can we use? Sharing some of my previous blog posts where I shared extremely useful tools that helped me overcome Imposter Syndrome.
Great Resources Check out my blog post on Six Tips to Overcome Imposter syndrome and video titled "How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome". Call To Action Do you feel like you do not deserve to be where you are today? Tell yourself that you do and remember all the work that you have put in.  On August 9th 2001, I boarded a flight with destination Frankfurt Germany to start a new life. At that time, I could never have imagined that I would be where I am today. It's been 19 years of many experiences - some good, bad and ugly. Living in Germany for 14 years and now in the US for 5 years, I have experienced and learned many life-changing lessons.
In this blog post, I will answer five of the most common questions that people ask about my relocation journey. Check out my other "Her Relocation" posts for more of my story. Were you scared to move to Germany so young? I moved to Germany when I was 15 years old. Interestingly, I felt very prepared for the Journey ahead. Although I could never have imagined what life would bring, I was very hopeful and confident that I could face anything. Looking back, my attitude was one reason I was able to survive in the early part of my journey . This set the tone for how I approached challenges throughout my journey. What were some of the challenges you faced? In my first year in Germany, the loneliness from being away from my family was something I was not prepared for. My first Christmas, which was also my first winter was one of the saddest ever. I had been very used to celebrating the holidays with my family in Nigeria. The next set of challenges that I faced living in Germany was feeling that I did not belong. It took me about seven years to start feeling at home. And then another three years until I confidently felt that Germany was my home. After 14 years in Germany, I was thriving and then I decided to make a huge jump by moving to the US. I left my sister, niece and close friends behind. It is still hard sometimes to be far away from them. What lessons have you learned so far on your Journey? I have learned many valuable lessons from my experiences on my journey. My top three lessons are the following:
What has been your favorite part of living abroad? There have been many highlights on my journey so far. Some of which include the following:
Would you move to another country? My answer is simple - absolutely. When the right time comes to move to a new country, I will embrace it fully. The great thing is that this time, I will be moving with my family. I am very grateful for all that I have learned on my journey so far. Moving to new countries has expanded my perspective on life. Final Thoughts The past 19 years have been a very formative phase of my life and I would not trade any of my experiences for anything. Sharing my story will definitely be a part of my journey. Watch this space for more on my journey. I am very excited for my future.  Welcome to a new month! It is time to get excited for everything that we will experience this month. At the start of every month I enjoy thinking about all the amazing things that will happen, the people I will interact with and the amazing milestones that I get to celebrate.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8 and part 9 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Think positively and be happy Watching the news and observing things happening around us can easily make us worried and have negative thoughts. Choosing to be happy and positive is one of the very important ways to survive these uncertain times. To maintain your joy, you might also need to cut off people and things that fill you with anxiety and worry. We are responsible for our own happiness and positive state of mind. Being happy makes life more enjoyable. Strategies to consider
#2: Enjoy human interactions Meeting up with family and friends physically might not be possible at the moment depending on where you are. The distance and changes in our social connections definitely affects a lot of us. It takes more effort these days to seek out and enjoy human interactions. This past weekend we had a virtual dinner with friends, something I would never have thought about doing before. Laughing and sharing stories with people you like is always incredibly special. Strategies to consider
#3: Don't compare yourself to others One lesson that would change your life is realizing that we are all on vastly different life journeys. Comparing yourself to others will keep you in a constant state of dissatisfaction. When we look at others’ lives, we tend to see the things we are missing in our lives and then we think they are better than us. Personally, I have learned to appreciate where I am in life and keep working on being better on my journey irrespective of what others around me are doing. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: One thing that has kept me going over the past months is, finding joy in the small good things that I experience. I have been very intentional about enjoying the simple things that make me happy. At the end of each day, I think about the things that happened over the day that I am grateful for. Sometimes my list includes going grocery shopping, talking to my family, getting my work done or eating a great meal. This helps me acknowledge that life is good even with everything happening in the world around me. Call to Action How are you going to celebrate the small wins in your life? Find joy in the little things.  If you are feeling tired and wondering where the energy for the rest of the year will come from, you are not alone. Over the past weeks, I have been observing people around me and noticing the fatigue in their eyes. This year has demanded a lot from us all.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 and part 8 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Be kind and patient with yourself With the type of year that we have all had so far, it is important to cut ourselves some slack. We are under a lot of stress and facing new situations that we had no chance to plan or prepare for. How you treat yourself during this time is very important. You may not be meeting all the expectations that you have for yourself and that is ok. Be patient with yourself and acknowledge that you are doing your best with the current situation. Strategies to consider
#2: Set priorities and boundaries There are many things that place demands on your time and attention. To conserve your energy for the most important things in your life, it is essential to set priorities. When you know your priorities, you will be able to dedicate time and energy to them. Ensuring that people around you know your boundaries will make you feel like you are more in control. Setting priorities and boundaries are an effective way to take care of yourself. Strategies to consider
#3: Believe in yourself To thrive over the next months, you will need to be confident in your ability to succeed. You have what is takes to survive and thrive. When you start doubting yourself, remember all the times you were faced with difficult situations and were able to come out on top. What keeps me going is knowing that we will look back on this year and be proud of what we were able to accomplish. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: As a community, we are responsible for caring for one another. With everything going on, we need to look out for each other. I am incredibly grateful to all the people who have been checking on me and have made it a priority to check on other people. Call to Action How have you shown your strength in the past months? Celebrate your inner strength  Time is going by very quickly. I feel like July just started and we are already in the final weeks of the month. There are many new lessons that we have been learning through these uncertain times. I am excited to see what the next months bring.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5, part 6 and part 7 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Build and connect with your support network One of the recurring themes in my recent blog posts has been the people in our lives. Over the past months I have been reminded of the fact that having people we can confide in is very important. Going through life alone is hard. There are so many benefits of having a support group with people who can be companions on your journey. Talking to others, sharing experiences and learning from them will help broaden your perspective. Strategies to consider
#2: Admit when you are struggling Many of us have been trained to put up a strong front and act like everything is ok all the time. It is ok to not feel good or struggle with managing everything in your life. Giving yourself permission to admit when you are struggling is essential. When people around you know what is going on, they are able to help you. I have had to learn to ask people in my personal and professional life for support when I need it. Also knowing that I am not the only one feeling helpless at times, helps me. Strategies to consider
#3: Be aware of your needs and take care of yourself Helping others be comfortable and happy is something most of us are good at. Imagine if we paid ourselves as much attention as we did to others. Thinking about what we need is not something we do very often. To be healthy in our mind and body, we need to feel like our needs are being met. When we know what we need and find ways to meet our needs, we will be healthier and happier. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: This past week, I felt a deep feeling of gratitude. With everything going on, I needed to remind myself of the good that is happening in my life. Sometimes it is hard to see the good in the midst of all the scary things happening in the world. I have been reminding myself daily of how blessed I am. Call to Action How will you love yourself this week? Show yourself some love.  For most of us summer is officially here. Seeing the sun makes everything feel different. Although, many people have had to adjust their typical summer plans, there is hope and optimism in the air.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4, part 5 and part 6 of the transition preparation guide #1: Get organized and get rid of things you do not need With everything that has happened over the past four months, things seemed to have piled up and have been taken care of. Now is a great time to bring some order back into our lives. Start with one of the tasks that you have being putting off for a while. It could be sorting out your clothes, clearing the kitchen, decluttering your storage, organizing your paperwork, or reviewing your plan. There is a magical feeling of being in control of your life when you get organized. Strategies to consider
#2: Find ways to simplify your life One of the things that have become very evident over the past months is that we are juggling a lot of things. Although the pace has slowed down a bit, it still feels like we are having to do so many things at once. There are some great tools that can help simplify our lives. A few major changes that I have made is to do most of my shopping online to reduce the need to go into a store and getting some take-out food on days where I need a break. This might sound quite simple, but it took me a while to think about these things as worth doing to improve the quality of my life. I now have some more time to get some rest. Strategies to consider
#3: Do something special with someone you love Over the past months, we have been reminded of the importance of having amazing people in our lives. Take advantage of the amazing relationships you have and enjoy bonding with people you love. We might have to be creative as we think about how we can connect deeply with our people. Please remember that being safe is a priority. Some ideas could be having a great meal with your partner, organizing a fun virtual event with good friends, watching a movie, or playing games together. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: The human connections that we have are very important. When I look back at the past months, the people in my life have helped me survive and thrive. I have had many amazing conversations, connected with people deeply, shared my feelings and laughed a lot. I feel closer to my people and appreciate them even more every single day. Call to Action What are you not going to do this week to give yourself some time to relax and have fun?  As we navigate the new and unknown, it is crucial to equip ourselves with resources and support mechanisms. We are all learning and growing as we get introduced to our new lives.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 , part 4 and part 5 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Get a routine or get back into your routine With the recent changes to how we live, it is easy to feel like we are losing control of our time or schedules. If you are like me and still working from home, it might feel like your days just flow into each other. I started feeling better when I implemented a new routine for my days. At the end of each day or week, you might find yourself wondering what you achieved. I try to do the same things every day that I know work to give me the sense of fulfillment at the end of my day. Strategies to consider
#2: Explore and do new things Especially since most of us have been staying home a lot, we are missing some opportunities to get inspired by the world outside. We need inspiration to help us continue dreaming and doing new things. When I start feeling stuck, I know that it is time to explore other things that I can do. I start by doing my research and then I plan to take action towards making my dreams a reality. With the help of the internet and tools at our fingertips, we can continue to explore and learn new things. Strategies to consider
#3: Read a good book or listen to a podcast Taking care of yourself is a priority. As part of our self-care routine, we can introduce some cool ways to refresh our thoughts. I have found that reading or listening to a great podcast are easy ways for us to distract ourselves and expand our perspectives on life. I enjoy listening to audio-books or podcasts while I cook or do chores. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: One of my habits that I have been trying to unlearn is the need to be busy all the time. I used to equate not doing anything with being lazy. Over the last months, I have learned the value of sitting still, taking naps and doing nothing. It has become more important for me to get some rest. Over this past week, I took some days off work and stayed in bed for most of the time. It feels really good not to judge myself when I do something for my body. Call to Action When was the last time you scheduled some "me" time? Make some time for yourself this week.  With every new day that we have, there are many opportunities to make the moves towards the future we desire. The events of the past months may have caused us to focus more on now and not allow ourselves to dream or think about the future. Now is a perfect time to start dreaming again.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Do something that makes you happy With things improving around us, it is the perfect time to do something that makes you happy. We all had to take a break from doing a lot of things. However, there are now little things that we can start doing again. Plan to do something small that brings you joy. It could be getting a haircut, eating one of your favorite meals, visiting the farmers market or having a picnic. Remember to be careful and observe the safety measures in place where you live. Strategies to consider
#2: Celebrate your key milestones If you celebrated a birthday, welcomed a new family member, or had a major milestone over the past 4 months, it was definitely a strange time. In order to celebrate milestones in these times, we have had to find new ways to mark them. We could never have imagined that we will be having virtual birthday parties, baby showers or even graduations. We are fortunate that with everything going on, we can still connect with people who care about us. Over the past weeks, I have had some great family time to celebrate milestones via video chat. Strategies to consider
#3: Highlight the good things in your life Focusing on the good things that happen in our lives, gives us an energy boost. It is easy to let the negative experiences take over our mind. We have to be more intentional and choose to focus on the positive experiences. One technique that I use to ensure that I celebrate the good in my life is to share them with someone around me or write them down. This practice helps me ensure that the happy moments in my life don't pass by unnoticed. It is always fun to go back over my list and review my recent highlights. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: Recently, I have come to the realization that with everything going on, having a positive attitude is crucial. It is easy to be consumed by all the news and scary things happening around me. Every day when I wake up, I remind myself that I am fortunate to be alive and have what I have. Call to Action When was the last time you laughed deeply? Find things that make you happy.  Wishing all the fathers in our lives a Happy Father’s Day. I am incredibly grateful for all the amazing men in my life. Hope you made some time to appreciate the men in your life. Celebrating the amazing people in our lives during times like these makes it even more special.
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2 and part 3 of the transition preparation guide. #1: Reflect on what you have learned over the past months There is so much that we can learn from unexpected situations like the one we all experienced over the past months. One thing that we can do is to ensure that we leverage those lessons and apply them to our lives moving forward. One of the ways that I have been capturing the lessons I learned has been at the end of my blog posts. It has given me a catalog that I can reflect on and not forget. Strategies to consider
#2: Help someone who is struggling You might be wondering how helping someone else will help you thrive over the next months. When we help others, it gives us the opportunity to not think about our own situations for a little while. In my experience this helps change our perspective and give us a more positive outlook on our own life experiences. Having a support community where we all help one another has been amazing for me. There is always something small we can do for people around us that will make them happy. Strategies to consider
#3: Plan and take some time off Depending on where you live, summertime might be starting. It is a perfect time to take some time off. Especially if you have been working from home and still cannot travel around, it might be difficult to imagine what you can do with some days off. I have been reminding myself of the benefits of taking some time off to do things that I have been wanting to do. Taking time off will help you recharge, get things done and create space in your mind for some fresh thoughts. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned: Over the past two weekends, I have connected a lot with my family. With most of us living in different cities around the world, we have not had a chance to spend quality time together for a while. I have learned that there are simple ways for us to stay connected and celebrate the important milestones. Setting up video calls and having great conversations has been a highlight for me. Call to Action What are you going to do for yourself this week? Prioritize your needs and take care of yourself. |
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