Know me

1988

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

1991

Moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • (( I barely recall anything from my early days. I am told that I was very active and mischievous at school))
1995

Moved to Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Obviously moved with my family for those raised eyebrows. Still people did not glorify “7 legends under the age of 7” back then.

1998

Fell in love with football. What started as an occasional small play turned into a daily scrimmage game and eventually morphed into daily serious practice throughout my teens. Football definitely taught me alot

2000

Started fiddling with the typewriter at home. Published my first ever written piece at the school magazine. Wrote my first research paper about trees with tremendous help and encouragement from my dad; I vividly recall the bitter taste of rejection as I have never heard from the competition organizers.

2001

Fell in love with reading .Novels especially crime novels captivated my heart back then. I have read almost every novel by Agatha christie. Later on when I had built a great reading stamina, I started reading indiscriminately and allowed my mind to wander wildy. I was pretty adamant to finish every book I have started regardless of my comprehension level and my interest in the book.I was simply hungry to learn and explore and mostly I wasn’t introduced to the idea of sunk cost yet:P

2002

My cousin and I started selling mediocre lemonade and not so mediocre homemade ice cream to friends and passing strangers in a gorgeous summer.

  • P.S My cousin currently operates his fresh juice brand ‘Casa Fresh’ across 2 locations at the time of writing. If you are in Jeddah, I highly recommend that you visit it.
2003

Started a tiny convenience store with 2 of my childhood friends. We rented 1.5 * 1.5 square metres room from the summer school owners and ran it for 4 months.

2003-2005
  • I loved mathematics. Daily, I was solving mathematical problems.
  • Represented both the Saudi Southern region football and basketball school teams across various competitions.
  • Hated the idea of having to sit in classes daily mainly listening and solving. I decided to hack the game by maximising my class absences without getting kicked out from school.The trick was to jump into extracurricular activity; every competition, game, sport, & event I could get myself into.
2006

Moved to Dharan, Saudi Arabia to start CPC, a 1 year program offered by Saudi Aramco where successful students get sponsored to study overseas in their assigned fields of study.

2007

Moved to Birmingham, United kingdom to pursue Electrical & Electronic Engineering at University of Birmingham

2011

Graduated college and moved back to Ras Tanajib to work for Saudi Aramco. I started as an IT analyst with Saudi Aramco. Then, moved on to be an electrical facility engineer and a team leader. Later, I was a project engineer at Manifa handling the communication package.

2012

Had my first official body resistance workout.

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

  • My first workout was Insanity
  • From here, I started my journey investing in multiple programs, to seek knowledge and to pack some lean muscles.
  • Started incorporating healthy meals.
  • Started cooking plain simple blatantly bland meals and persevered cause I wanted to see results.
2012

Started a laundry business with my awesome amazing friend Inad alatawi

  • An amazing rich humbling experience
  • We called it “The Chrysanthemum” laundry. We did not find a more difficult name!
2015

Quit my job @Saudi Aramco. Moved to Vancouver, Canada to pursue a diploma in holistic nutrition @ The Institute of Holistic Nutrition

2016
  • Did tens of grueling mesmerizing hikes.
  • Lived in 6 places; Vancouver housing was ridiculously expensive and you could barely find a place. I told myself I might as well enjoy experiencing various spots of gorgeous Vancouver.
  • Did odd jobs to support my living expenses.
  • Committed to playing competitive soccer by playing with FC Tigers Vancouver.
  • Travelled to Nicaragua to self-introspect, fulfil my internship, and learn from Grace Van Berkum.
  • Launched the “The yoga of nutritious you” Project granted under Neighborhood house granting, aimed to increase the awareness about the role of nutrition, advocating for a holistic approach and encouraging a conscious mindset.
  • Graduated and became a certified nutritional practitioner.
2017

Moved to Chandigarh, India to obtain an MBA from Indian School of business on a 75% scholarship.

2018

Graduated and moved back to Saudi arabia. Hopping between different cities seeking opportunities and trying to connect between the dots.

2019
  • Joined Workhint as a cofounder.
  • Joined Udacity as a digital marketing instructor.
  • Picked up sprinting and I loved it.
2020

Got a job at Salasa to shape and run everything marketing related.

2021

Very rough year. Quit my job and I had no idea what I am doing.
Took about 8 months sabbatical.

  • Joined Salla Product marketing team.

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