Know me

Long working hours (>12 hours) + poor nutrition + playing soccer almost daily = lethargic Abdul with repetitive injuries.

I explore relentlessly:

I am obsessed with exploration and I have optimized my life around it.

  • I firmly believe that we are at our best when we believe in what we do and enjoy what we do. Discovering that is not linear at all; It is an evolving process like a spiral where:
    • Nothing is stagnant and things keep changing and moving. Even if you come to the same point again, you might not be the same person.
    • The journey of learning and discovering never ends.

I immerse myself deeply in experiences & reflect on them trying to connect between the dots. To maximize the learnings out of each immersion, I follow a 3 step approach:

  • Learning:
    • I choose an opportunity based on answering: Where I could learn the most? This entails:
      • Abandoning glamorous titles that do not maximize my learnings, do not stir my curiosity and are not aligned with my values.
      • Walking away from lucrative wallet fattening offers and not chasing shining logos if my learning is not maximized.
      • Having to start from the bottom sometimes.
      • Investing heavily in learning. I read at least one book a week. I invest a lot in paid courses. I follow the traces of successful people who made it in a particular field.
      • Mastering the process before mastering the skill.
      • Optimizing for my learning style; Text > Video > Audio.
      • Documenting learning.
      • Prioritizing project based courses.
  • Experiencing:
    • I become a magnet to opportunities where I could practice my learnings. This entails:
      • Leading new initiatives. Saying yes > Saying no especially in the beginning.
      • Teaching what I have learned through geeky conversation, presentations and formal teachings classes.
      • Creating blogs, presentations, systems, companies, playbooks, projects and books.
  • Reflection:
    • I use this framework to assess every major event, assignment, and experience:
      • Observation: What did occur?
      • Insight: What does it mean?
      • Lesson learned: Going forward, What am i am going to change, do as a result?
    • I borrowed this framework from my amazing teacher Edward Rogers , Ex chief knowledge Officer at Nasa while enrolled in his class managing complexity at ISB.
    • I learned to seek feedback and welcome it. 2 books that changed my perspective my feedback: Radical condor and the making of a manager.
    • I continuously update “ History test” where I reflect on each role, class, experience, side hustle and environment to explore themes I loved, hated, excelled at, failed at and so on.
    • I seek to understand myself by understanding my personality and tendency. Things that have helped me in the past:

“The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen.” Anonymous

    • I want to maximize my productivity and make the best use out of my brain. Therefore, I must be healthy and maintain high energy. Also, Sports give me immense pleasure and a way to express my talents, to challenge myself, to learn discipline, to manage my stress, and to just be; These are my non negotiables:
      • I start my morning with a 15 minute ( Mobility or stretching routine)
      • I play football at least once a week.
      • I incorporate at least 2 resistant training sessions a week.
  • What else:

    • I gravitate toward ideas that:
      • Shape the future of health and education.
      • Empower individuals to create, be independent, to gain awareness and to explore.
      • Level the playing field for less fortunate people.
    • I prefer asynchronous to synchronous communication.
    • I like to focus on a single task over an extended period.
    • I like my privacy. A golden chance to reflect, recharge and create.
    • I find it extremely rewarding when I am teaching and mentoring others.
    • I love football and I am good at it. I love the challenge, the pain, the sweat, the progress, the intense competition, the creative collaborative work, the sudden changing dynamics. Luckily, life is not like a football game.

I have long abandoned certainty. I am embracing to live comfortably where my uncomfort zone lives. It is not about whether I succeed or fail at what I do, it is about how I grow as a result of what I do. I don’t want to contemplate the “What if? I want to be lost in which story to till? I am wandering far far away till I find myself one day:D