838) Do you Progress into Success ?!

A wise man once said: "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

Have you ever thought about how to you know that you are successful or not? or How can you feel satisfied about yourself and your life regardless what job you are doing? .... I find many people in Egypt having a perception that success is having a good position in a big company and getting a big salary !! I find people prisoners of this one track-minded success. Success is not a position, nor the name of the employer, nor the amount of money you make. Success is a state of mind and a life-style where we are in-tune with what we do, want, and have.

Whether you had or hadn't thought about it, let me introduce some guides and measures that I compiled -and added to from my personal journey and findings- that may help you through understanding SUCCESS.

You are successful If:

1. You have a mission of what you are doing and a vision of why you are doing it, and a strategy of how you will be achieving it. This will be your guideline and benchmark in any future plan, risk, or decision. "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success."
Swami Vivekananda 

2. You consider accomplishment a commitment not just a promise or a dream. You work hard, study, and try once, and twice till you reach what you want. "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." Booker T. Washington 

3. You think about the solutions not the problem, and try always to find unconventional ways and ideas. Successful people turn problems into challenges, and challenges into opportunities and act upon them. "Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." 
George Edward Woodberry 

4. You enjoy doing what you do and don't feel the time passing. I.e. you are inspired and motivated."Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." David Frost 

5. You take the lessons from the past, and use it to enjoy the present and realistically plan the future. "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
Winston Churchill 

6. You know what you say and when. "Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another. "
Napoleon Hill 

7. You know what you are doing and assertive about it no matter what. Everybody is unique and has his own recipe of success.  "Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. " Bruce Lee

8. You do help others and not expect help from them, and remember that you can't please them all.

9. You put yourself in others shoes and treat them the way you wanna be treated regardless of their level.

10. Last and not least, if you have solid values and are sticking to it. "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." Albert Einstein 

So how many have you got out of 10?

M.O.H.@.L.Y

832) Which Answer is Right?!

Over the past week, some of the readers said enough with politics, while others said we need you to write more about it. So, let's read together this story about differences in perceptions and views, and you can either just enjoy the story, or reflect it on politics.

"Several citizens ran into a hot argument about Life & Creator, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to Buddha to find out what exactly Life is. Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the blind men to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would “look” like.

The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that it “looked” like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the “appearance” of an elephant.

Buddha asked the citizens: “Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?”"

Now, we do love and see Egypt in many ways and forms and have different answers to the same question; How can Egypt rise and be better?! So Which answer is right? Actually all of them are, but all together. The only way for us to see the path to a better Egypt is to see it together. The Elephant was bigger than all the  blind men, and Egypt is bigger than its parties and sects.

Mohaly

779) Optimism ::: Fake It until you Make It !

At these tough times and incidents we are passing through, I have nothing to say more except sharing some positive quotes from different people, at different places, at different times, but they all agreed on one thing: Being Optimistic, and working for it.

Mohaly

• I'm an optimist. I've always believed the future is going to be better than the past. And I also believe I have a role in that. The great thing about human beings, myself in particular, is that I can change. I can do better. If you can get up every day, stay optimistic, and believe the future is better than the past, those few things get you through a lot of tough times. ~ Jeffrey Immelt
• Positive things happen to positive people. ~ Sarah Beeny
• In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. ~ Albert Einstein
• The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. ~ Kahlil Gibran
• I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more by being anything else. ~ Earl Weaver
• Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
• Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power. ~ William James
• An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~ Bill Vaughan
• An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity ; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity. ~ Winston Churchill
• Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both. ~Oscar Wilde
• Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ~ Dale Carnegie
• Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve. ~ J. K. Rowling
• May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. ~ Anonymous

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ~ Helen Keller

At this point, I can guess what you are thinking, "....this will never work, because setbacks are sure to happen." You know what? I'm positive you're right. Setbacks are a part of the process. Your job is to keep going in spite of them. Look at things this way....you've made it this far in life with your current thinking. Just imagine all you have to gain. You can overcome pessimism. Just lighten up and try.

Still Can't? Fake it until you make it.

Mohaly

722) El Gama3a ::: Drama or Reality?!

Have you watched el Gama3a series in Ramadan?

What do you think about it?

Did it reflect a real image of one of the important groups in Egypt?

Was it fair or biased?

Actually I enjoyed the drama work, the acting, directing..etc and I see it was trying to reflect a balanced image (except that the part regarding Amn El Dawla was not realistic at all, they are not as angelic as they were shown). I also liked the non-expected ending focusing on the regret of Hassan El Banna for drifting into politics instead of focusing on religion only. May be it is a message for the current Ikhwan who is playing politics as far as it gets.

I personally don't beleibe in Ikwan's ideology or methodology, but I think such topic/series worth discussion specially that we are heading into a very hot year on the political level. Ikwan whether we like them or not are an effective part in the Egyptian politics, and can't be just ignored by fooling ourselves and saying "El Mahzoura - The prohibited". 

The quote I liked the most and I think it summarizes it all was said by Ezzat El Alaily: "Our government causes the suffering & pain of the people, political parties and ikhwan gamble with it, while no one really cares about the welfare of the people."

Mohaly

632) Happiness is your Decision !

Happiness is your decision ...

"Decide to be happy with what you are and what you have, not to die from jealousy of what you lack.."

Mohaly

591) Being Yourself !

Why is it always hard to be "yourself"?
Why are people looking for being like someone else while everyone can be unique in his or her own way based on his or her skills?
Why are we always looking for what others have and think that if we just have had that, we would have been happy and satisfied?
Why don't we make use of all what we have got first, and then start looking at what others have? I think if we did so, we won't have time to look to others aslan.
These thoughts were in my mind, but were personalized infront of me in this beautiful movie "Teer Enta" that I watched over the last weekend. I have chosen some important parts of the lyrics that really describe what I totally believe in, the parts in dark red do really touch a nerve.
Mohaly

ماتحاولش تبقى آي حد تاني
غير نفسك
دور بنفسك جوه نفسك
متكسلش قوم قلب ودور حتلاقي ميزتك
صدقني حتلاقي ميزتك

متحاولش تبقى حد تاني غير نفسك
خليك واثق في نفسك
قوم دور بنفسك جوه نفسك
حتلاقي حاجه. محدش فيها ينافسك
متحاولش تبقى حد تاني غير نفسك
دور بنفسك جوه نفسك
متكسلش قوم قلب دور حتلاقي ميزتك

الإنسان مابترضى حالك ودايما عاجبك حال الغير
مهما يكون حالتك دايما باصص للتغيير
صدقني لو بصيت جواك حتلاقي ياما كتير
قدرات مميزات إن كنت غني أو فقير
متقللش من نفسك ده أنت بنفسك طاقة خير
حتحقق كل إللي فنفسك وإللي يمسك خليه يطير

إرضى يا يابن آدم بإللي إتقسم عليك
ولوإني عارفك مش حترضى غير بتراب في عنيك
ربك ميز كل واحد منا بحاجه
فالناس تفضل لبعض دايما محتاجه

دور وإلقى ميزتك حاول حافظ عليها
طورها إتميز بيها حياتك حتلاقيها
رايقه وماشيه صح طول مأنت راضي بيها
إرضى بحياتك إنت وإقبلها باللي فيها
ده الرضا نعمه كبيره إحمد ربك عليها
وخدها مني كلمه مافي حاجه بتساويها

لومالكش عازه مكنتش إتخلقت
ولاإتحسبت مالناس ولا إترزقت

526) Valentine's Week: The Love Dilemma!

I couldn't find better than this quote by Woody Allen to describe what I think about the love dilemma!

Mohaly

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. 

To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down." 
- Woody Allen,

485) The 21st Century-Less!

Our telephone - Cordless

Our cooking - Fireless

Our youth - Jobless

Our food - Fatless

Our conduct - Worthless

Our Women - Topless

Our relation - Loveless
 
 Our attitude - Careless
 
 Our feelings - Heartless

 Our politics - Visionless

 Our education - Valueless

Our follies - Countless

Our arguments - Pointless

Our labour - Effortless

Our Salary - Useless

Our Future - Hopeless!

So UNLESS we do something about it, our only hope will be GOD BLESS!

Mohaly

441) Love & Loving !

- You don’t love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her.

- Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it’s what you are expected to give.

- Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes…just be an illusion.

- Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age.

- Only love let’s us see normal things In an extraordinary way.

- There’s always room for love; You just have to move a few things around.

- If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

- The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

383) Save the Earth!

It is all about the mind-set of how do we perceive EARTH. It is not an inheritance but rather a loan and we have to be aware of its interest.
Mohaly

"We do not inherit the Earth from our parents. We borrow it from our children."
-Native American Proverb

353) Same Input ---> Same Output!

I wonder why do we expect someone else to do our job, or in other words, why do we expect that when the government or even the president changes, it will be better. It is all about us.
If we keep on doing what you have always done, we will keep getting what you have always got.

Mohaly

347) The Hard Teacher!

One of my friends asked me why do we get shocked when we graduate and discover that we were dreaming?

My answer to her and to everyone is simply:
Experience is a hard teacher, because it gives the test first, then the lesson afterwards.

We need to have a mission, then experience will help us to set the right goals and objectives. As long as you are keeping your vision clear, and determined on your mission, any drawback will be an experience not a problem.

Mohaly

338) The Challenge to Balance!

All of us are seeking happiness. No matter how old are you or what you do in life, you just want to be happy. The problem comes when you think that there is a specific thing that will make you happy and you start chasing it, then when you achieve it, you don’t get the feeling that you were looking for!

Why? because you lost a lot of other things on your way to achieving what you thought that it is your bridge to happiness. You lost YOUR LIFE BALANCE, which is the real bridge to happiness. I always say that:

“Life is an ongoing challenge of balance between our real needs and desires in order to achieve happiness & satisfaction”. Mohamed Aly 2007.

Mohaly

319) Some Qutoes About Marriage!

"Don't criticize your wife's judgement, see whom she married! "

"Successful marriage requires falling in love many times ...... with the same person ;) "

"There is no way to win against your wife. You both win or both lose."

Mansoor Marican

Mohaly

263) A Role Model $31 Billion Guy!!

I got a great email about the vision and life of Warren Buffet, and I think it is important to share it with this blog audience coz it is in the core of its theme...Enjoy and try to make use of it..
Mohaly

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:
كانت هناك مقابلة استغرقت ساعة زمن على قناة السي ان بي سي الامريكية مع ثاني اغنى رجل في العالم "وورين بفت " والذي تبرع بمبلغ 31 بليون دولار من ثروته لأمور خيرية ، وهنا بعض من مظاهر حياته وفيها دروس للاستفادة وخصوصا لأاصحاب النفوذ والملايين في بلاد المسلمين :
1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
اشترى اول سهم مالي عندما كان عمره 11 سنة ، والآن يأسف بأنه ابتدأ متأخر جدا !!!
2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

اشترى مزرعة صغيرة في سن الرابعة عشرة من ادخاره في توزيع الجرائد اليومية !!!

3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He
says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

لازال يقيم في نفس بيته الصغير المكون من ثلاث غرف في وسط بلدة اوماها ، والذي اشتراه عقب زواجه قبل 50 عام. ويقول بأن لديه كل مايحتاجه في ذلك المنزل والذي لايوجد به جدار خارجي او سور .

4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
اعتاد ان يقود سيارته بنفسه حيثما يريد وهو لايوجد لديه سائق او رجال امن يحرسونه .
5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
لم يسافر ابدا بطائرة خاصه بالرغم من انه يملك اكبر شركة طيران خاصة بالعالم
6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
تملك شركته 63 شركة وكل مايفعله هو كتابة رساله واحده سنويا للتنفيذيين في تلك الشركات يحدد لهم الاهداف للسنة. لم يعقد ابدا اجتماعات او يجري مكالمات انتظامية . قاعدتان فقط يعطيها لاولئك المسؤولين. القاعدة الاولى: لاتفرط ابدا في شريكك المالي ، والقاعدة الثانيه: لاتنسى ابدا القاعدة الاولى.
7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some popcorn and watch Television.
لايشارك اجتماعيا مع حشـود المجتمع الراقي . كان فيما مضى من عمره بعد العودة لمنزله يعمل لنفسه الفشار ويشاهد التلفاز.
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

بل غيتس ، اغنى رجل في العالم، قابله لأول مره قبل خمس سنوات ولم يكن يتوقع بوجود شيء مشترك بينه وبين وورن بفت، لذلك حدد المقابلة بنصف ساعة فقط. ولكن عندما قابله، استمرت المقابله لعشر ساعات ومن يومها اصبح بل غيتس شديد التعلق بوورن بفت .
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

وورن بفت لايحمل الهاتف الجوال ولا وجود للكمبيوتر على طاولته
His advice to young people: " Stay away from credit cards" and invest in yourself and Remember:

نصيحته للشباب " ابتعد عن البطاقات الائتمانية " واستثمر في ذاتك وتذكر الآتي:

A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
المال لايصنع الرجل بل الرجل هو الذي يصنع المال
B. Live your life as simple as you are.
عش حياتك بكل بساطة وعفوية
C. Don't do what others say, just listen to them, but do what you feel good.
لاتفعل مايقوله الآخرون ، فقط استمع اليهم ولكن اعمل ماتراه حسنا.
D. Don't go on brand names; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
لاتنجرف وراء الاسماء التجاريه، البس تلك الاشياء التي تشعر معها بالارتياح
E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend them on who are really in need, rather.
لاتضيع نقودك في الاشياء الغير ضروريه، فقط انفقهم على المحتاجين حقيقة.
F. After all it's your life then " why do we give a chance to others to rule our lives."
اجمالا، هي حياتك ، فلماذا نعطي الاخرين الفرصة ليحكموا معيشتنا.

255) Strategic Love !!

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. (That is what I call Strategic Thinking, Mohaly)
Allan K. Chalmers


If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough. (That is what I call Strategic Vision, Mohaly)
Ann Landers

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (That is what I call Strategic Love, Mohaly)

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishing. (That is what I call Strategic Failure, Mohaly)
Anais Nin
....
....
Life is too busy, but there is always time for love, isnt it?!!
Mohaly

232) Imagination is more powerful than knowledge!

Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.”

I believe this is true in many respects because while knowledge allows you to see things as they are, imagination allows you to see things as they could be.

229) Get Up & Look for it!

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe ‎in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up ‎and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them” ‎
George Bernard Shaw.

222) Time is .... !!

"Time is very slow for those who wait,
very fast for those who are scared,
very long for those who lament,
very short for those who celebrate.
But, for those who love, time is eternity"
(William Shakespeare)

189) Wind of Change - Part I

‘It seldom happens that a man changes his life through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he continues to plod along in old paths until his life becomes frustrating and unbearable—he finally makes the change only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated.’
— Leo Tolstoy

Mohaly: If you really wanna make a change, make a difference, make anything! start doing it now. Whatever the size of the step is, the barrier to change has just been broken.