At the end of 2015, I felt stuck. After a near-death experience, I had to quit my job and retire early to prioritize my health.

My health improved, but the rest of my life did not. I felt bored and purposeless in retirement, and my relationships suffered. I started to wonder, “Is this all there is?”

In search of answers, I signed up for a 30-day silent retreat in St. Beuno’s, a former Jesuit seminary in North Wales that’s now a spiritual retreat center.

At first, spending 30 days in silence was harder than I thought. But I was eventually able to meditate on how to live a happy, regret-free life.

Here are four lessons I took home with me:

1. Trying to control outcomes will make you miserable.

Before the retreat, I was a control freak. The idea of “letting go” in any part of my life was out of the question.

Nestled in Denbighshire, Wales, St. Bueno’s has been a retreat center since 1980.

Photo: George Jerjian

But during an exercise at St Bueno’s, I was asked to think about what I truly had control over. I realized that just one unanticipated event could send my life into chaos. I reflected on how much time I spent worrying about outcomes that I couldn’t predict or control.

Now, when I want something good to happen, I imagine that it has already happened and feel grateful for it. This mindset helps me move forward. By focusing on taking the next steps, I am no longer focusing on the outcome.

2. If you’re not thankful, you’re not thinking straight.

Research has shown that gratitude blocks toxic emotions like envy and regret, reduces stress, and improves happiness.

During the retreat, I was in a challenging period of my life. At one point, I was asked to reflect on all the homes I had lived in, and what good and bad things happened there.

It dawned on me that no opportunity in my life could have come about without the preceding crisis, so I should appreciate every moment.

Try this exercise: Write down all the great times in your life, or the moments you are most proud of. Then, next to it, list the difficult moment that gave you the skills or created the opportunity to achieve those goals.

3. To find purpose, follow your passion.

Money always came first in my career. I never stopped to ask questions like, “What work should I do based on my interests and feelings?”

During the retreat, though, I had nothing to think about but my feelings.

Three weeks in, I broke down weeping thinking about all the people I had hurt. But on the last day, the tears came from a place of joy and love. I realized that my true fear was hurting others, and that my passion was helping people.

I had a lot of time alone at St. Bueno’s to reflect on my life and the beauty of the nature around me.

In the years after the retreat, I chose to unretire and serve retirees with my coaching business.

Ask yourself: “What am I most afraid of? What activity do I lose all sense of time in?” Try answering these questions five times, and each time provide a different response. The answers might surprise you.

4. We are not always who we think we are.

For 60 years, I constructed a persona based on what my parents, teachers, employers, partners and friends wanted.

I never thought about who I was beyond those external pressures. I had spent decades lost and ashamed of who I really was.

Think about whether there’s something about yourself that you hide from the world. Try to embrace that thing. For me, it was gentleness and understanding that changed my life.

George Jerjian is the author of “Dare to Discover Your Purpose: Retire, Refire, Rewire.”

CNBC

Central Bank of Nigeria still lacks the foreign exchange to clear the backlog of demand, and the country's high interest payment to revenue ratio weighs on its sovereign credit rating, Fitch said on Thursday.

Africa's largest economy has thus far cleared just $2 billion of a backlog of some $7 billion in forex forwards revealed after President Bola Tinubu took office last year.

Tinubu took quick action on key fiscal reforms - including slashing petrol subsidies and loosening controls on the naira to narrow the gap between official and parallel rates.

But Gaimin Nonyane, director of Middle East and Africa sovereigns with Fitch, said foreign exchange shortages in Nigeria would keep pressure on the naira, where there is currently a 30% gap between the official and parallel rates.

"We think that the CBN is still very well short of the amount it needs to be able to clear the foreign exchange backlog and also meet the extremely large external financing by the private sectors," Nonyane said in a webinar.

Nonyane said Fitch expected the naira to end the year just above 900 against the dollar.

The official rate is currently at 846 to the dollar, but has wildly fluctuated, going past 1,299 this month, according to LSEG data.

She added there had been some backtracking in fuel subsidy elimination. Tinubu allowed prices to triple in May, but naira pump prices have not moved since July despite global price fluctuations and significant naira weakness.

Nonyane and Toby Iles, Fitch's head of Middle East and Africa sovereigns, also warned that Nigeria's ratio of interest payments to revenue at above 40% - four times the median for B-rated sovereigns - was a key weakness for its credit rating.

Fitch currently rates Nigeria at B- with a stable outlook.

Across Africa, Iles said interest-to-revenue ratios had more than doubled since 2014 due to increased borrowing coupled with global interest rate hikes that boosted costs.

"We expect that ratio to continue to rise given the pass through of rates," Iles said of African sovereigns.

Reuters

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the quest for bribes by the agency’s investigators has become “too embarrassing”.

In his New Year address to the staff of the commission on Thursday, Olukoyede said the “major objective” of the war against corruption and financial crimes globally is to drive economic development and create job opportunities for the populace.

He said there is no government agency as crucial to the nation’s quest for growth and development as the EFCC.

“We have all it takes to bring up the profile and developmental index of our nation. I urge all of you to be steadfast and committed to this clarion,” he said.

Olukoyede said public opinions about the conduct of some of EFCC’s investigators are adverse and called on the staff to show integrity and discipline.

“The craze and quest for gratification, bribes and other compromises by some of our investigators are becoming too embarrassing and this must not continue,” he said.

“Let me sound a note of warning in this regard. I will not hesitate to wield the big stick against any form of infraction by any staff of the commission.

“The department of internal affairs has been directed to be more ardent in its work and monitor every staff in all their engagements. The image of the commission is too important to be placed on the line by any corrupt officer.

“Let me also talk about the review of the arrest and bail guidelines which I expect everyone to be familiar with by now. The review is informed by the need for us to conform with international best practices in law enforcement.

“We are a civilized anti-graft agency. Arrest and bail would henceforth be done in line with the rule of law.

“Our investigators should particularly take note of this. It is important for us to understand the dynamics of the world in the area of law enforcement. Change is the most permanent fact of life.  We should not be seen to be resisting changes in our work.”

The EFCC chairman said the commission is mindful of the increasing need for the improved welfare of staff, noting that steps are being taken to address that.

“The new year promises to bring smiles on the faces of staff across all the commands. We will continue to do our best to put all of you at your best. However, to whom much is given, much is expected,” he said.

“We should dignify the privilege of being EFCC staff with proportionate responsibility. It is both a duty and an obligation.”

The Cable

Residents of 10 communities in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State have fled their homes for fear of being attacked by a notorious bandits’ leader, Dan Nagala, who earlier sent attack threats to them.

The affected villages are Gidan Soro, Maje, Fanda Hakki, Hayin Dankaro, Doka, Dan Gamji, Galmuwar Hannu, Dan Katsina, Dakwalge and Gidan Arne.

The residents, our reporter gathered, fled their homes following a recent operation carried out by soldiers of the Operation Hadarin Daji unit.

The operatives on Tuesday stormed the famous Danbasa-Buzaya forest and recovered a large number of cows allegedly stolen and kept by Dan Nagala.

It was further learnt that the cows were being kept in the custody of another bandit, simply referred to as Zakiru, who fled the area when he heard about the impending invasion by the soldiers.

A resident of Gidan Soro village, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said three weeks ago, soldiers went to the forest and recovered a large number of Nagala’s stolen cows.

“After the incident, Nagala warned residents of the villages around the forest that if under any circumstances, the soldiers returned to the forest and collected ‘his cows’, he would attack all the villages that share borders with the forest.

“So, the soldiers went to the forest on Tuesday and recovered many cows. We are afraid Nagala can strike at any time as he promised, and that is why we fled our homes. We know the man, he is heartless, he doesn’t value human life. I can confidently tell you that because of these cattle, Nagala can wipe out all the villages around the forest”, the disturbed resident said.

Also, a resident of Dan Gamji, who fled his home on Tuesday night, lamented that: “As I am talking to you, I don’t know where my two wives and eight children are. I was at a nearby village when the news of recovery of the ‘stolen cows’ broke. Therefore, from there, I proceeded to Bungudu local government secretariat for safety.

“I called my wife on phone three times, but it was switched off. Maybe, the battery ran down or she lost the phone. I also tried her number this morning (today) and it was not going. I checked the LG secretariat where some residents are taking shelter, but I could not find them. I am now in a serious dilemma and worry about my family.  

“We ran for our dear lives because the notorious bandits’ leader can attack our villages if something is not done. We are therefore appealing to both state and federal governments to do something urgently for our safety”, he appealed.

Another resident from Dan Katsina village, who simply identified himself as Isyaku, lamented that many people including women and children spent the rest of their night in the bush because of the uncertainty, saying “the notorious bandit can attack residents in the night when many of them are asleep.

“Women and children left their homes the moment we heard about the recovery of the stolen animals. This is because, we are all aware of the warning the bandits’ leader sent to us after the first recovery. We are even lucky he did not send his boys to the affected villages immediately after the soldiers left the forest. Otherwise, it would have been a different story by now.

“The soldiers that recovered the cows ought to have remained behind to protect residents of villages around the forest. Of course, it is good to recover ‘stolen cows’, but human life is far better than animals. The government should therefore give us protection against the bandits.

“For me, if the soldiers cannot be stationed in our villages to provide security for us, they should at least not cause problems between us and the bandits. The soldiers should have allowed us to leave in peace with this man. We have been living in peace with him for a long time. The recovery of the cows may lead to a serious problem between the people living around the forest and bandits”, said Isyaku.        

Spokesperson of the Operation Hadarin Daji, Ibrahim Yahaya, in his reply to the text message sent to him by our reporter said, “Please, I am currently on a clearance operation along Danjibga general areas. I won’t be able to respond to you, please.”

Many communities sacked in four months

In the last four months, several communities across Zamfara State have been under attacks of armed bandits.

On Sunday last week, armed bandits abducted almost 50 villagers among them 36 women in Magizawa village of Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of the state.

The bandits also killed three persons including the leader of a vigilante group and injured five others.

It would equally be recalled that Nagala, on November 19, led other bandits numbering about 50, attacked Ruwan Dorawa village in Maru Local Government Area of the state and abducted 17 people, including a day-old-bride and wife of the Village Head, Marafa Kabiru Makau.

The attack was described by many residents as unique, as throughout the operation that lasted for four hours, the bandits fired only a single shot which claimed the life of a policeman on duty in the village. Up till the time of filing this report, all the abducted persons are still in captivity.

Also, on November 24 last year, another notorious bandits’ leader called Damina attacked six villages in Mutunji district of Maru local government and abducted 150 persons. It was gathered that three out of the 150 abductees died of hunger while in captivity.

The attack was said to have been launched after the affected communities failed to settle the N200 million levy placed on them by Damina.

In simultaneous operations, the bandits kidnapped 18 persons in Mutunji village, 32 others in Kwanar-Dutse, 30 persons in Unguwar-Kawo, 22 people in Sabon-Garin Mahuta, 20 others in Gama-Giwa all in Maru local government.

They have also kidnapped seven people in Bulakke village in Maradun Local Government Area on the same day.

Though the bandits had contacted the families of the abducted persons through the Village Head, Makau and demanded N100 million ransom, the families agreed to pay only N5 million as the negotiation continued. The last time the bandits called, they directed for the payment of N5 million ransom per person.

Daily Trust

At least nine people have been killed after an armed militia invasion on Anyom settlement in Mbatyula Council Ward of Kastina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.

Villagers blamed the attack which happened in the early hours of Wednesday on a group of rival militia who had recently been on the prowl.

The villagers disclosed that rival militia groups had been wreaking havoc in Mbatyula and Mbayongo where the late wanted criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as Gana, hailed from.

The villagers also alleged that coordinated serial attacks were  carried out in parts of Mbatyula council ward by the gunmen.

Caretaker Chairman of Kastina-Ala LGA, Zamzam Francis, confirmed the incident on telephone to our correspondent,, saying, “Really, the incident happened. it was between the rival militas. It’s among themselves. They are burning houses of innocent people and many people are suffering. That is what is happening. Nine people have been killed between Monday and Wednesday.”

Police spokesperson in the state, Catherine Anene, told our correspondent on telephone that she did not have such information at her disposal.

Daily Trust

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine buys six French Caesar howitzers, France to supply missiles

Ukraine has bought six Caesar howitzers, France's defence minister said on Thursday, adding that Paris would send 50 precision-guided missiles a month to Kyiv to aid its fight against Russia's invasion.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Sebastien Lecornu said Caesar manufacturer Nexter had managed to halve the production time of the howitzer to 15 months meaning that some 78 units would be available this year.

In Ukraine's first purchase of French-made weapons since the start of the war, Lecornu said Kyiv had bought six for between 3 million and 4 million euros ($3.3-$4.4 million) each. Ukraine currently has 49 Caesar self-propelled howitzers gifted by France and Denmark.

Lecornu later told reporters that France would also spend 50 million euros from a fund it had created for Ukraine to buy a further 12 Caeser canons which it would then send to Kyiv.

He said he hoped allies would buy 60 Caesars for around 285 million euros.

"We want to share the bill and enable European countries to share the financial burden," Lecornu said.

Ukraine's defence minister had been due in Paris on Thursday for a conference on improving artillery supplies to Kyiv, but the visit was cancelled at the last minute.

"Shortage of ammunition, shell hunger, is a very real and pressing problem that our Armed Forces are facing at present. We need to find a way to address this together," Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told the gathering by video conference.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he had thanked French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call for Paris committing to the production of dozens of Caesar howitzers and ammunition this year.

Macron will head to Ukraine in February to finalise a deal under which Paris would deliver more sophisticated weaponry, including long-range cruise missiles, and provide long-term political, aid and reconstruction commitments.

Europeans would ramp up their support for Ukraine in the coming weeks, Macron said on Tuesday, so it could continue to defend itself, nearly two years on from Russia's full-scale invasion.

Lecornu said France would also deliver about 50 precision-guided A2SM missiles per month to Ukraine from January, adapted for Soviet-type planes.

The Safran-made missiles can carry bombs ranging from 125, 250 and 500 to 1,000 kilogrammes.

The minister also said France would also start producing from this year 3,000 155 mm shells a month, around 36,000 a year, up from just 2,000 in 2023.

Ukrainian officials say they use between 5,000-15,000 shells a day.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia files charges against 68 foreign mercenaries for fighting for Ukraine

Russia’s Investigative Committee (IC) has charged in absentia 68 more foreign mercenaries (from seven countries) for fighting for Ukraine in the special military operation, the IC’s press service informed TASS in a statement.

"In the criminal case on mercenary activities, investigators received additional materials and filed charges in absentia against 68 more nationals from 7 countries," the statement says.

Criminal proceedings are currently underway against 591 foreign citizens from 46 countries, the committee noted. According to the IC, most of them are citizens of the United States, Canada, Georgia, Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia.

Reuters/Tass

I hope Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, can finally get some sleep. He deserves it. After the ruling of the Supreme Court on Friday, upholding his election, the governor told a crowd of his supporters who came to rejoice with him at the State Government Lodge in Abuja, that he had not slept for seven days, in spite of the comfort of his waterbed.

Mohammed, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said he had been awake, seven days and seven nights, “fighting former leaders” to secure the mandate of voters.

I can imagine. This was an election that took place nearly one year ago. And yet, the governor, like his colleagues in seven other states or nearly one quarter of Nigeria’s 36 states, has spent one quarter of his tenure in court, waiting for what has now become the most important vote of all – the ballot of the court.

If it were in my place to do so, I would have asked the governor what he spent seven days and seven nights doing in Abuja. Was he involved in a nonstop nocturnal spiritual wrestling match with the principalities and powers who wanted to steal his votes?

Was he in strategy sessions with ecclesiastical hosts? Was he combining these with visits to some renowned marabouts who may have been obliged to camp outside the Supreme Court, as part of the ritual of success?

If it were in my place, I would have asked what exactly he was doing in Abuja, the domain of their Lordships, without sleeping for seven days and seven nights.

Thanks offering

From what Mohammed said, however, it was not only the court that deserved the credit for the favourable outcome of the matter. Two of the other seven governors specifically thanked President Bola Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, for their non-interference. According to the Bauchi State governor, some people had gone to tell the president that he was a threat to him.

“I’m grateful to the government of Tinubu,” Mohammed said, “who believes in good governance – for allowing the rule of law to persist irrespective of lies and mischievous acts that have been perpetrated against me.”

If the governor commended his legal team at all, that part may have been omitted in the statement published in the press, which contained nothing but heartfelt praise for the Supreme Court and the president for not beating the justices.

We die here

Another point of interest was the physical presence of five of the eight governors at the Supreme Court when the judgment was delivered. Of course, they all have a right to be there, to receive firsthand, the much-expected good news, after days, weeks, and perhaps, even months of tension. Who wouldn’t?

There was once a time, though, when the drama, the intensity, the sheer uncertainty, and especially the fearsome reputation of the court in matters like these would have kept the main parties far away from the precincts of the court.

There was an exception, of course. In 1983, the federal election body, FEDECO (as it was then called), declared that Bola Ige of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), who had just completed his first term as governor, had lost his reelection to Omololu Olunloyo of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Ige petitioned the election tribunal and was in court as part of the UPN’s legal team, though not as the lead counsel. Not even during the equally bitter 1979 contest between the UPN and the NPN after the controversial presidential election, did either Obafemi Awolowo or Shehu Shagari appear in court, though at an earlier stage, Awolowo appeared at the tribunal in Ikoyi in his famous suit.

One crooked step

Of course, that dispensation was different. The electoral act mandated the disposal of election cases before swearing in. But the law is just as good as those who make them and those who are supposed to implement them. Some aspects of the election law have improved in the last 24 years. In spite of the improvements, however, politicians, with plenty of help from lawyers, have also found a way to stay one crooked step ahead. And perhaps one of the most perverse outcomes of all of this is that there’s hardly any solid, reliable set of electoral jurisprudence.

Jurisprudential jiggery pokery has a very long history in Nigeria, even though it wasn’t always rampant or brazen. It was with a heavy, tormented heart, for example, that Fatai Atanda-Williams said the judgment of the Supreme Court in the famous case of Awolowo v Shagari in 1979 was never to be cited as precedent.

Today, the Supreme Court has made so many conflicting and confusing judgments that even if it were to make exemptions it would find itself too entangled in the knot of its own self-inflicted misery to know where or how to start.

How can the court which, four years ago, sacked the entire government in Zamfara in an election in which the winner, Mukhtar Shehu Idris, won 67.41 percent of the votes, on the grounds that the APC failed to conduct valid primaries (clearly a party matter), now give judgments, like that in Plateau State for example, that suggest that it is alright for courts to meddle in party pre-election matters?

Or how can the same Supreme Court which affirmed the ruling of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal that the PDP had no business dabbling into whether Vice President Shettima had been doubly nominated by the APC because it was that party’s internal affair, reject the decisions of the lower courts that Ahmed Lawan who didn’t participate in the party’s primary was the validly nominated candidate of the same party?

And how, for sanity’s sake, did the Supreme Court, which set aside the ruling of the Court of Appeal that Godswill Akpabio was not the validly nominated candidate of the APC for Akwa-Ibom North-West senatorial seat because it was a party affair, justify plunging into the arena of internal party politics and pre-election matters in Zamfara and Plateau?

Thank the king?

It’s not too hard to see why politicians prefer to camp outside the court or to thank the president when cases favour them. They think that if, with the help of senior lawyers, you can purchase the courts and be in the president’s good books, your problems are nearly solved, regardless of what happened at the ballot.

I’m still trying to figure out a situation where a politician in the UK, the US, or even in Ghana or South Africa, wins a case in court and immediately grants a press conference afterwards thanking the king, president or prime minister for not interfering. This must be a uniquely Nigerian contribution to jurisprudential courtesies.

Some progress has been made in our elections, no doubt.

Yet, if the point of elections is to make the voter’s ballot count, and also give all parties a fair chance of settling any disputes that may arise, two things need to happen immediately: we must return to the era where all election petitions are disposed of before swearing in; and limit all disputes to not more than two layers of adjudication.

The regrettable, perhaps unintended overall effect of last Friday’s ruling, is that it may have further undermined the judiciary as a whole, but particularly, thrown the Court of Appeal under the bus which has had, I’m told, only five percent of its cases overturned in the last two election cycles. That, quite frankly, is not only a sad but frightening thing. It is a trend capable of keeping the whole country awake at night.

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

I remember the first time I needed to buy new tyres for my car in the UK. One of the tyres had gone flat, and it soon became clear that it was not something that could be solved merely by adjusting the tyre pressure. It had to be changed, and on I went to the tyre dealer. I provided details about the car and the specifications of the tyre. I then asked for the price, ready to get the tyre and go. The guy looked at me with a chuckle, incredulous. We can’t sell the tyre to you like that, he said, still trying to contain his bewilderment: "You have to bring the car, and we will check and fit the tyre for you." This also reminds me of the first time I bought a TV set in here. It was at an ASDA Superstore, and I was bemused when the salesperson insisted I must provide my home address, and evidence of same, before they can allow me to pay for the TV. I understood later that the home address demand was for the purpose of TV license and the fee that must be paid by all households owning Television. It was a criminal offense to default, and you could be jailed for it. The corollary of this, of course, is that the government effectively know how many households have TV in their home. Ordinary TV.

Now why am I sharing these? On Tuesday 16th January, Ibadan, one of Africa's largest cities was rocked by a major explosion that flattened many buildings, and, with the last count, left five persons dead and 77 others injured in its wake. The governor of Oyo State, for which Ibadan is the capital city, later held a press briefing where he noted that the explosion was caused by dynamites held in private apartment by some "foreign" miners. Speculations are rife about who these "foreigners" are, and it is a pertinent question to which I will return in a moment.

The first, and arguably most important, question in my view is: where did they get these "dynamites" from? Are dynamites stuffs you can just go to the market and buy, without any records or traces? What are the legal requirements and regulatory frameworks guiding supply, storage and use of dynamite? You now see why I began with the story of the car tyre. Ordinary car tyre! The dealers are under legal obligations and regulatory guidelines about the conditions under which they can sell tyres. It is the same with the TV sellers, because they are liable under the law. The idea underpinning this is not genius. It is quite simple, in fact.

As we mourn the dead and contemplate the loss of property running into billions of naira, it is important to draw the right lessons and take action. Of course, heads must also roll, but we must all now, as a society, be exercised by the question of "what happens next"? I am not one for impertinent nostalgia, but we need not look to the West for examples of systems and processes that work, even if they are imperfect. I remember growing up as a child, the fear of "Wolewole" (health and safety inspectors) was the beginning of wisdom. Wolewole was the appellation coined by locals and it literally means "going from house to house". These health and safety officers went from house to house and were not shy about wielding the big stick when it came to households with unhygienic surroundings and habits. I have not heard much of them in the past few decades. I wonder if they still exist.

The tragic case of the dynamite explosion is focusing minds about the state of affairs across our cities and towns in Southwest Nigeria and beyond. And this is arguably just a tip of the iceberg. If a "foreigner" can keep dynamites at home, in a high-end residential area of a major Nigerian city, just imagine what else can be kept in homes in the hinterland and across our smaller towns and villages. The impact of the exploding dynamites was felt far away from the epicentre, with reports of buildings shaking and glasses shattering miles away. We are sitting on the keg of gun powder, and if we fall back to sleep now that the roof is on fire, there should not be a surprise about what comes next.

Which brings me to the final point about the "un-named foreigners" that have now been heralded as the villains of the tragic dynamite incident. Our cities and towns are porous and vulnerable man-made disasters like what unfolded on Tuesday, and even worse. And we always knew our villages and forests have become high risk areas. Where then is safe? Or who then is safe? I know that the situation, and the prospect for effective action at the state level, is complicated and compromised by the heavily centralised structure of the Nigerian republic. But surely there are avenues for effective actions at the state level, including a proper census and mechanisms for tracking economic and industrial activities and actors in the states, and who is supplying what to who and for what. And is it not high time we brought the Wolewole, with an expanded scope of action beyond inspecting latrines and refuse dumps?

Hannah Williams isn't afraid to ask strangers how much money they make. In 2022, she quit her six-figure job to make a business out of it, Salary Transparent Street, which brought in $1 million last year.

Since launching her TikTok channel, Williams, 27, estimates she's interviewed upwards of 1,000 people, from teachers to nurses to entrepreneurs and more, about their earning power and money habits.

She's learned a few important salary negotiation strategies, including one popular tactic that may be on the riskier side: Leveraging an offer with a new company in order to get a raise with your current employer.

"That can be risky, and that can get them in bad blood with their current company," Williams says. She suggests people remember why they're considering leaving their job. It's rarely just about the money, she says.

As she sees it, if you're so dissatisfied in your current position that you'd interview elsewhere, "more likely than not, a couple months down the road, you will still probably be leaving that company because it's not just money. Usually it's other things."

Some HR professionals agree: An employee who stays for a counter-offer may be back on the job market within months when the novelty of more pay or new responsibilities wears off, especially if their main dissatisfactions are issues with a manager, the company or something bigger. On the other hand, accepting a counteroffer may be worthwhile if you truly enjoy your job, your work environment and new career opportunities you map out with your manager.

Another important takeaway Williams often sees is that base salary isn't the only thing that's negotiable when discussing your total compensation.

"If you're asking for a raise at your company, and the company does not have the means to increase your base salary, that's not the end of the negotiation," she says. "Anything that you get from a company or that you give to a company is negotiable," including a sign-on bonus, commuting benefits, 401(k) match, stock options, pet insurance, or child care, to name a few.

"There's a ton of things that are on the table that may not increase your paycheck, but will increase your total compensation and oftentimes your flexibility," she adds, "which I think goes hand-in-hand with work-life balance and overall happiness at your job."

The biggest lesson Williams has seen, however, is to recognize that negotiating salary is difficult, and there's really no trick to getting around it.

"The hardest part is actually choosing to negotiate versus thinking about negotiating, like putting the action plan into action," Williams says. Of course, there are plenty of resources to figure out your market rate, know what to ask for specifically, and practice the pitch, but "having those conversations is the hardest thing."

Deciding to negotiate pays off, she adds: "A lot of people I've spoken with are just like, 'You just have to ask. if I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have gotten it.' And it's really that simple."

CNBC