SOLUTION AND GIST

Tough-minded people have grit at their core. They are persistent and resilient in the face of failure, loss, success and challenge. They are committed. Whatever they pursue gets their full attention and nothing less. No amount of hard work is too much to capitalize on a worthwhile opportunity. Because of their commitment they feel no temptation to slack. They stay focused, determined and 100 percent resolute in the pursuit of their goals.

As of this writing, I’m 22 (December 2015). In the last 12 months I’ve generated a million dollars in commissions in one of the most competitive industries on the planet, where my average competitor is at least double my age with 10 times the tenure in the business. I have a master’s degree from a prestigious university, which I received when I was 20 after fast-tracking four years of school. I’ve traveled to more than 50 countries, completed 13 triathlons and have an extremely happy, stimulating life.

As the saying goes, football is a game of inches. For all of you football fans, you know exactly what I mean by this. Some of the biggest and most painful losses throughout the course of my football career came directly from either being a second too late, a second too soon or an inch away from a favorable outcome of the game. Just as football is a game of inches, so is winning in life and in business. If you want to start living life on a new level, then you will need to make some crucial mindset shifts. How we think largely determines our destiny.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of entrepreneurs succeed and a lot of them fail. The ones who succeed generally have five components in place before launching their venture. First, the need for the product has to clearly be there (NEED). Second, you must have the expertise and credibility to launch your venture (EXPERIENCE). Third, you must have all the resources you need to get started -- people, production, distribution, and funds (RESOURCES). Fourth, you have to have customers who are committed to buying your product (CUSTOMERS). And fifth, your business model must be sound—from pricing and cost of goods to gross margin and profit margin (MODEL). The stronger these five factors are, the greater your chances for success. On the flip side, the less these factors exist, the higher your probability for failure. Let’s discuss these five components of a true opportunity in more detail.

In today's technological world, it seems that social media dominates everything. This can make it difficult for a company to stand out. Big companies as well as smaller companies and entrepreneurs will be all over social media, trying to gain the attention of customers. All of this can make it harder for the less social media-adept companies to get a foothold among their competitors.

If you want to succeed live in life, you must overcome your biggest fears. Some fears hold us back more than others. The nasty ones are like straight-jackets that restrain our abilities, making our dreams an impossibility. To be successful, you need to confront them head on. Here are seven common fears that you must overcome to be truly successful.

A Lancashire couple hit an unlikely jackpot this week when - lured by the stench of rotting fish - they stumbled across a lump of whale detritus on a beach. Ambergris, a product of the digestive system of sperm whales, has long been deployed by perfumers to add a certain something to their wares, despite its unpropitious air.  Eagle-eyed, and clearly robustly nosed engineer Gary Williams described his find as smelling “like a cross between squid and farmyard manure.”

Engineers in China have created a highly realistic female robot specially designed to interact with humans in a submissive manner. The robot companion, nicknamed “Jiajia”, was conceptualized and developed by a team of researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Technologically, Jiajia doesn’t introduce any new breakthroughs when it comes to robotics. The developers instead focused on making the robot act submissively to her owner. She’s even programmed to talk to humans using words that are sexist in tone.

Toast to single mothers. I would really love to raise a toast to all single mums out there. I was raised by a single mum and believe me, I know what it is for a woman to be both mum and dad to a child.

Whatsapp went ahead and encrypted all forms of messaging that you exchange. Messages, voice calls, images, videos and pretty much anything else that you send out. With a state-of-the-art level of encryption, the encryption and decryption is device to device (sender and receiver). So anything or anyone in-between, including WhatsApp or its servers, have no idea what’s being sent. And all of this happens automatically without you having to do anything. With more than one billion users of the service, this just became the single largest encryption and privacy rollout in the world. Awesome, right? Well...

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is engaged in hectic lobbying to win the support of lawmakers ahead of a crucial vote in the lower house of Congress over her impeachment. Tens of thousands of supporters of Rousseff and those against her have started gathering outside the Congress building prior to the voting in the Chamber of Deputies on 17 April which would decide whether the matter will be taken up by the Senate.

  Mark Zuckerberg may have started the online social networking revolution and made billions of dollars from his game-changing Facebook (FB). But this maverick internet entrepreneur surely didn’t reckon with Indian engineering student,  Amal Augustine. Amal has ‘beaten’ the master at his own game and closed a deal with FB, trading the registration rights of maxchanzuckerberg.org on Monday.

A city in south Japan was blanketed with a layer of foam after severe tremors shook the region. On 15 April the city of Fukuoka was rattled by an earthquake of magnitude 7.3, just a day after a 6.5-magnitude quake in the same area and by 16 April, roads of the downtown Tenjin and Imaizumi areas of the city were coated in a mysterious foamy substance.

The Federal Government said it would generate $224 million from sales of 14 lots of 2.6 Ghz broadband at the rate of $16 million per lot at the auction. The minimum lot, which any operator can bid for is four, the maximum is eight lots. Speaking in Lagos, NCC’s Director of Spectrum Administration, Augustine Nwaulune, revealed that the approved date for the spectrum action in Abuja is May 16 while provisional winners would be announced on May 20.

Facebook announced at its annual F8 developer conference, held in San Francisco on 12 and 13 April, that the company partnered with many African developers to launch products for the global market. Facebook, with its global reach and scale, is including African developers in its beta testing programme for the launch of new global products and features as it increases its presence and deepens its partnerships on the continent.

                        OpenLedger, the decentralised cryptocurrency exchange based on BitShares blockchain technology, is adding DigixDAO trading to its platform from 28 April. Recently DigixGlobal, which tokenises gold using Ethereum, met its entire crowdsale target in just 24 hours. OpenLedger was founded by Ronny Boesing, CEO of Danish cryptocurrency exchange CCEDK. Boesing said in a statement: " Ethereum is fantastic, but it wasn't designed for fast, decentralised asset trading. OpenLedger was created with exactly that in mind. Transactions process in seconds. It's fast, secure, reliable and transparent. If Ethereum and DGD provide the means of minting digital gold, OpenLedger provides the perfect market on which to buy and sell it. Ethereum is one of the many other crypto coins that can be traded on OpenLedger, along with BTC, LTC and a range...

The petrol queues were long. A brisk trade was going on everywhere by people selling petrol on the road side in kegs. Tessy, driving her Mercedes 230E, needed petrol and stopped to buy from the keg vendors. As she opened her door, one young man jumped into her car on the driver’s side, five other men were opening other doors trying to get in. Tessy had the presence of mind and luckily had actually not turned off the engine of her car. She put her foot down on the accelerator. The car jumped forward, leaving behind the other men about to enter the car. But one was already inside.

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF/World Bank, on Friday, explained why the Federal Government is not excited about calls to apply for loan facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tackle the economic challenges Nigeria is facing due to the slump in global oil prices Other speakers at the event included IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa and Rwanda Finance Minister Claver Gatete.

At least 28 people have been killed when a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Ecuador. The South American country has declared a state of emergency in at least six provinces following the tremors. The deadly quake set off panic as several houses were flattened and brought down a flyover. Ecuador's Vice President Jorge Glas said in a televised address that preventive measures are underway in coastal areas over fear of tsunami waves.

Troops of the Nigerian Army have rescued 455 captives of Boko Haram in Borno State. The acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, in a statement on Saturday, said the troops of the 3 Battalion, who rescued the hostages, also killed 27 insurgents during an operation at Wulge and Walamari, as well as seven others who launched an attack from Sambisa Forest. He said that the rescued captives had been taken to the camp of internally displaced persons at Gamboru.

Jamaica is considering replacing the Queen as their official Head of State and making the island a republic. The new proposal was unveiled by the Queen's representative, Patrick Allen, the governor-general, in a speech during the opening of parliament in Kingston on Thursday (14 April). He set out the government's agenda for the year ahead which included plans to 'replace Her Majesty The Queen with a Non-Executive President as Head of State'.

Is team building an art or a science? When it comes to assembling, motivating and keeping a great team happy so that they can flourish in your business, the truth is that it’s a bit of both. It cannot be understated how important a great team is to a business’ success. The quality of the work you do will never exceed the quality of the team behind it. To many entrepreneur’s and manager’s dismay, team building often seems as complicated as watchmaking—there are a lot of moving parts, and things have to be just right in order to create something magical. Fortunately, academic research on team culture and group dynamics sheds some much needed light on creating and motivating the perfect team.

A British-made mine destroying underwater vehicle that can search and destroy the explosives at sea, has been snapped up by the US Navy. The US Department of Defense awarded a £15.5m ($22m) contract to BAE Systems to supply the Archerfish – a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) equipped with an explosive warhead to destroy sea mines. Launched from ships, helicopters and underwater vehicles, the technology is the only mine neutralizer capable of being deployed from the air.

Brazilian intelligence believe the threat of a Paris-style terror attack by Islamic State (Isis) militants is increasing in the lead up to the Rio Olympics in August. Experts have warned that Brazil, which has not been involved in an international conflict since 1966, must prepare against attack by Islamist militants.

A Birmingham teenager has been arrested at Manchester airport on suspicion of committing "Syria-related terrorism offences". The arrest was made by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit on 16 April who detained the 18-year-old after arriving in the UK early on Saturday morning. The terrorism unit say that the teenager's apprehension follows the arrest of a man and a woman on 4 April. The duo, a 24-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, both from Birmingham, are currently on police bail.

Pope Francis will return to Italy from the Greek island of Lesbos with 12 Syrian Muslim refugees, the Vatican has confirmed. The religious leader called on the world to show "common humanity" in dealing with the refugee crisis as he visited a refugee camp where thousands of people are being detained.

Building a good team is both science and art. You need to know the science behind the qualities it takes for individuals to perform roles. And you need to master the art of blending those individuals into an ever-moving, evolving and growing entity: a team. Some people will say it’s all about getting the best people. I'm here to tell you that just getting the best people does not build a team. In fact, it will destroy a team unless those people are the best at specific roles. I've been lucky enough to observe many different teams and be part of many different teams. Some have failed, some have succeeded.

The brain is a mysterious organ and how it produces deja vu sensations is still unclear. Most people have experienced the strange, overwhelming feeling of deja vu at some point in their life, scientists say. The expression, which comes from the French "already seen" refers to a sensation of familiarity that individuals can get during a new experience. Understanding the processes at work behind the sensation is something that many neuroscientists hope to achieve. Up to now, very little is known about what causes it, because of the practical difficulties of studying the phenomenon.

The US has reportedly created a new missile as part of the Pentagon's development of hypersonic technology. But the US military has insisted that the weapons will carry conventional missiles rather than nuclear ones, as the arms race with China and Russia grows more intense. The new missiles – according to information released on 13 April – will reportedly fly at five times the speed of sound (3,800mph) and make them virtually impossible to detect using radar. Researchers are still working on manoeuvre techniques and developing ways of being able to fully control the weapons.

Relatives of haemophiliacs who died after receiving blood transfusions contaminated with the AIDS virus demonstrate near the German parliament The fountains in Trafalgar Square in London's West End are set to glow red on Sunday 17 April to raise awareness for World Haemophilia day, a rare blood condition. This is also a clarion call to remember the so-called 'tainted blood scandal' in the 1970s and 1980s when around 5,000 people contracted HIV and Hepatitis C during treatment for haemophilia or blood transfusion by the NHS. In acknowledgement of this, the Haemophilia Society recently launched a social media campaign to highlight that those affected by the #ContaminatedBlood scandal. The victims of the contaminated blood scandal demonstrated outside Parliament on 12 April as MPs debated the issue. Politicians are asking the government to recognise the contaminated blood scandal as one of the biggest treatment disasters in the history of the NHS.

The sperm's attraction to the egg results from complex molecular interactions. A sperm bank is facing legal action from three families after it was alleged that the facility had lied to them about the health and background of a donor. The families, all from Canada, were allegedly told that the donor was a "genius", but the donor had a history of mental health issues and a criminal record.

Two men, Chinweuba Echezona and Ekwueme Louis, suspected to be drug peddlers are currently in custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Lagos state, after their arrest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the state. Echezona, 54, a driver and Louis, a 44-year-old trader, were arrested on Thursday with over 252 wraps of cocaine weighing 4.3kgs, and reportedly valued at about N39m.

Police in Trinidad have charged a 24-year-old man with the murder of London cricketer Adrian St John. The 22-year-old sportsman was shot dead last week after being robbed of cash and valuables by two men in the Mount Hope area. St John was in Upper Gordon Street on 10 April to collect a relative of one of the two female passengers he was travelling with. After being robbed of their possessions, the two men ordered St John to drive off.

At least 18 people are dead and dozens missing in the Kyushu region of Japan, where a powerful earthquake struck in the early hours of 16 April. A magnitude 7.3 quake struck the Kumamoto prefecture in southern Japan at 1.25am local time (4.25pm GMT 15 April), one day after another tremor killed nine people in the same area.

What would it take to hide an entire planet? It sounds more like a question posed in an episode of "Star Trek" than in academic discourse, but sometimes the bleeding edge of science blurs with themes found in science fiction. Of course we've been leaking our own position to distant stars via radio and television signals for six decades now, largely ignorant of the cosmic implications. But several notable scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, have publicly voiced concerns about revealing our presence to other civilisations. These concerns largely draw from the darker chapters of our own history, when a more advanced civilisation would subjugate and displace a less advanced one.

Android Wear supported smartwatch owners have something to cheer about. Microsoft has brought Android support for its Outlook application on Android Wear platforms as a result of which users wanting to check their mail notifications can just turn to their watch. The company shared the news describing the features:

Brand new smartphones including the iPhone SE, Huawei P9 and LG G5 are all included in this week's smartphone and technology deals. We also have a great deal on the second-generation Motorola Moto G and a an Ultra HD television from Panasonic.

From April 16 – 24, the stunning scenery and dramatic landscape of North America's 407 national parks is celebrated. However, there is a stark warning that these areas of natural beauty are in danger. A report by the National Park Service has also looked at how several parks would be threatened by 1m (3ft) of sea level rise. Centennial Find Your Park Ambassador and all-round science guy Bill Nye has warned that Glacier National Park is, "rapidly becoming Muddy Hillside National Park." He added: "Ultimately, it is what national parks can remind its visitors of that makes them so important. Not only their beauty, or what movies were filmed there, but they also remind us of something bigger. National parks remind us of preserving these wild spaces, these historic spaces, so that we can all know and appreciate our place in the ecosystem, our place in nature— and that is priceless."

All too often seen as an also-ran in the premium smartphone race, it always feels like Huawei has to work extra hard to win over consumers and the technology press, who often struggle to look beyond minor iPhone and Samsung Galaxy updates and towards something truly new and innovative. Its latest attempt to wrestle our hands away from Apple and Samsung is the P9, a flagship Android smartphone which follows the P6, 7 and 8 into the ring and hopes its trick Leica camera will be enough to upset the status quo. Does it succeed? Let's find out.

Q: What are the best tools and methods for killer presentations? A: Leaving everything up to PowerPoint is not really an option anymore (if it ever was). No number of creative infographics, nifty tools or new gadgets can save your presentation if you don't have a good understanding of your audience and a strong desire to engage with them.

Belgium minister of transportation resigned on Friday, after the publication of leaked reports from the European Commission warning of security deficiencies at Brussels Airport, the site of two deadly terrorist bombings on March 22.

Nothing defines the big league in Nigeria’s competitive entertainment industry as a mouth-watering endorsement deal a celebrity is offered. To many of them, this is what sets them apart from the entire lot making them live large and live up to that celeb status. There is no doubt that endorsement deals would feature prominently in the daily prayers of Nigeria’s celebrities. But then, the benevolence of the ‘god of endorsements’ has favoured few than others. Few days ago, the news broke that Nollywood actress, Eniola Badmus, had hooked an endorsement deal with Etisalat, while Davido announced his own new multimillion naira deal with Pepsi joining the ranks of other celebrities, who already have deals with telecommunications corporations and other blue chip companies.

Apple says it expects people to use a new iPhone and Apple Watch for just three years before replacing it, while a Mac is expected to stay with its first owner for four years. In its latest environmental push, Apple released a document about how it calculates how much its products contribute to the greenhouse gas lifecycle. One of the metrics it detailed was "years of use". "Years of use, which are base...

Renowned Nollywood actress, Stella Damasus, is set to release her first gospel album on April 24, 2016, which coincides with her birthday. The album titled ‘The Alternative,’ and which features Nollywood actor and singer, Gabriel Afolayan, is produced by her husband, Daniel Ademinokan, who disclosed this via a video he posted on Instagram.

Apple has teamed up with charity group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to launch the Apps for Earth campaign which will raise global awareness of climate change, forest conservation and environmental change that affecting the Earth's wildlife and oceans. The collaboration, in conjunction with 24 iOS App Store developers, is set to run until 24 April, with select Apple stores showing their support by turning the leaf in its iconic logo green and getting staff to don equally verdant shades.

The Presidency and the National Assembly inched towards resolving the controversies surrounding the 2016 budget on Friday following alleged “fruitful exchange of ideas” between Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara. The House of Representatives had on Wednesday resolved to “re-examine” the budget for the sake of “overriding national interest and the prevailing economic situation in the country.”

Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain is to have the honour of baking the Queen's 90th birthday cake. Appearing on the Loose Women panel, the 31-year-old baker from Luton, made the announcement that she would be baking by royal appointment. "I'm making the Queen's 90th birthday cake," she said. "'How often can you say that you are baking the Queen's birthday cake in one sentence?"

A mother who was already serving a seven-year jail term for killing her three-year-old daughter, has been jailed for life for murdering her seven-month old son. Lesley Dunford confessed to the killing of Harley Cameron Dunford in 2003, after he was found dead in his cot at her East Sussex home, the Old Bailey heard. At the time no inquest was held into the baby's death as he was believed to have died from natural causes after a Sussex Police investigation. A year later, in 2004, the 37-year-old smothered her daughter Lucy in her bed.

A new trade body, providing thorough and level-headed regulatory understanding of virtual currencies, has been launched in response to increased government interest in Europe. The Brussels-based European Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology Forum (EDCAB) is a public policy platform for digital currencies and distributed ledger technologies. It is also co-organising a flagship industry expo for policymakers in the European Parliament from 18 to 21 April 2016.

Chinese government's startup investment fund stands at $337bn (£236bn, €299bn), larger than the GDP of Denmark. Stick that in your accelerator programme and smoke it. During a conversation at Money 2020 Europe in Copenhagen, Neal Cross, managing director and chief innovation officer of Singapore's DBS Bank was emphatic about exactly where the epicentre of fintech was happening. He said a lot of people have yet to grasp the awesome scale of innovation taking place in China right now.

Saudi Arabia made a $681m (£480m) donation to the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak without expecting anything in return, Riyadh has said. Amid an ongoing corruption scandal at the state-run fund 1MDB, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that Saudi officials were aware of the donation to Najib and that it was not unlawful. Al-Jubeir, at the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, told reporters: "It is a genuine donation with nothing expected in return. And we are also fully aware that the attorney general of Malaysia has thoroughly investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing.

The Islamic State (Isis) is working with the IRA to develop car bombs in order to attack Great Britain, the Ukip chair for Northern Ireland has warned. Daesh (Isis) is yet to strike on mainland Britain, but Mohamed Abrini, who is implicated in both the Paris and Brussels attacks, is believed to have travelled to the UK to monitor possible targets, before he was arrested by Belgian authorities.