Adnan Karimjee
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Happy It Happened

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Failed relationships. Failed businesses. Sometimes I’ve even failed to see the light of day. In hindsight, I’m happy that it happened.

I’m happy that I got to be with someone whom I loved, even if it didn’t mean forever. I’m happy that I got to be my own boss, even if it meant losing more money then I have been comfortable enough to repay. I’m happy that I lost a dream job, even though it left me with some permanent scars.

I’m not the most attractive person – or in the words of Mike Posner, not the kind of guy a girl craves.

I’m not the smartest guy – I don’t have head hunters or industry leaders knocking on my door.

I’m not always the most likeable guy – making friends and networking has always been hard for me.

But, and this has taken me a while, deep down, I am happy. Yes, I’ve cried, I’ve shouted, I’ve punched a wall, I’ve grieved and I’ve even shouted into the darkness that life is unfair. But ultimately I am happy. I am happy for everything that has happened. As the saying goes “don’t be sad it ended, be happy that it happened”.

Grief is inexplicable part of the process and not to be ignored – but if it doesn’t lead to some sort of positivity or happiness then you’ll just end up losing a bit of your soul.

My take? Be happy it happened.

Happy That It Happened

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Deadlift Your Anger

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Deadlift Your Anger

I love performing a deadlift. I hate my anger. But sometimes you have got to do deal with what you hate. That doesn’t mean you cant deal with it like you would with something you enjoy.

Approach the bar. Assess the weight you are about to lift up. Are you ready to take it on? Step up to the bar. Get a good strong grip on the bar. Keep your back straight, lock in your feet. Breathe. Concentrate. Lift. Back straight. Keep the bar there.  As soon as you have locked out the lift, drop it and step back.

Approach the situation. Assess the problem you need to tackle. Are you ready to take it on? Step up to the situation. Get a good strong and clear assessment of the situation. Keep your head straight and lock in your focus, Breathe. Concentrate. Stay focussed. Deal with the situation. As soon as you have, let it go and walk away.

Sometimes you don’t only lift once and sometimes you fail.

Sometimes you can’t just tackle a situation just once. Sometimes you fail at dealing with it.

The important lessons I have learnt is not to be too quick at being angry. To learn from lessons when you have failed and when you have succeeded at dealing with it. It’s easy to lift the weight that we are comfortable. We will never get better if we don’t get uncomfortable with being comfortable.

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#RIPJonah

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I have never been one to publicly mourn the loss of a celebrity or someone famous who I never really met or knew much about. However after learning the passing of Jonah Lomu, I felt I needed to make an exception.

As an asian kid studying in a predominantly non-asian school, picking up rugby was akin to an American playing cricket. Jonah’s entrance onto the rugby scene only cemented my love for the game as well as my unflinching support for the All Blacks.

I got to meet this legend once and I was equally star struck and mystified by this giant with astonishing bursts of speed. I could go on and on about the impact he had on the game for me and the Rugby World as a whole but for those who had the pleasure of watching him play, no other reminders are really needed.

Thank you for the memories Jonah.

Rest In Peace.

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Positivity By Choice – Not Chance.

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Positivity By Choice – Not Chance

 

I should have died in 1994

Adnan - Back from the brink

My body fought off a flesh eating bug called streptococcus toxic shock syndrome and it lived up to it’s name. A low pulse; high blood pressure; vomiting and diarrhoea all became unwelcome guests. Despite the doctors having prepared my family for the worst, the best they could hope for was to amputate my leg. Thankfully, neither happened and all it took was for them to flush out the puss.

One anecdote that stands out is that before being wheeled into the operating theatre, my father told me to keep fighting. He swears I nodded in response. Maybe I did. Maybe that acceptance was my body’s reaction being positive that I will make it through. So maybe when you spend your life being as positive as you can, your body helps out when the fight is sucked out of you.

Both these legs have been the source of 7 years of rugby, bit of running and now cross-fit. Of course every near death battle is not complete without a wicked scar. Mine is an unattractive line that runs down the back of my left knee and across the side of my leg.

At the age of 23 I failed in a business and came close to bankruptcy. For the next 8 years I magnetized to every start-up I could relate to and now I try help others see past failure.

Life if great. No? I’m pretty sure that the people you try to emulate look at you and are jealous. We all want something more. We all have something somebody else wishes they had. We are all special. We are all unique.

Life throws a lot of curve-balls. I’ve seen a lot of home-runs being hit from those. Irony being that those home-runs always seems sweeter then the fast-ball that comes begging.

Being positive isn’t easy but being negative just isn’t fun.

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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

 

Everyday I wake up and count the things I’m grateful for and just figure out that things can be worse but they aren’t. In fact they are pretty good. Even when things get pretty bad I always think back to the lowest point in my life and realised just how blessed I am.

Positivity starts by being positive for others. And as a throwback to a previous post, if all else fails, fake being positive until you have no choice but to be so.

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In Memory of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin

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In Memory of

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin

(6th march 1915 – 17 january 2014
20th rabi al aakhar – 16th rabi al awwal)

It started like any other Friday. We were gathered at our masjid readying to hear a recorded video when a sudden hive of activity took place at the front. Some rushed out and most of us looked around in puzzlement as to what was happening. Then like a reascending tide, news started trickling through. Our father, our light, our captain, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin had passed away.

At first the news was unbelievable. Audible cries and wails started compounding through the masjid. And when this ground shattering news was confirmed, even those in denial could no longer be consoled. The Holy Quran became our solace and people started trickling into masjid, confirming what in their hearts they wished was not true.

The lucky ones managed to reach Mumbai and they joined thousands, hundreds of thousands who descended on the city of Mumbai. Roads that were the epicentre of the city’s traffic were closed, as a entourage of which never has ever been seen, crept slowly from Saifee Mahal to Saifee Masjid. A sea of white encased the truck that carried this holly spirit to its final resting place –  fittingly next to his father, Syedna Taher Saifuddin.

40 days has passed since that fitful day. A moment that will be ingrained in us throughout our lives. I, like most, have memories whereby my moments with Sayedna Mohammed Burhanuddin are etched from the sharaf of his ziyafat, him saving my life in 1994, the countless opportunities he gave me to serve my community and his final gift of my title which he bestowed less then a year ago. Remembering Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin and all that has done for us will be our escape. However his greatest gift was his son, my new father, my dai, Syenda Aliqadr Mufaddal Saifuddin.

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Never stop learning

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Never Stop Learning

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.”

– Eric Hoffer

When I left university I was overjoyed. No more lectures, no more learning, no more deadlines, no more stress! Now to start my career path and start making some money! Well that notion worked for a while until the recession hit and realising that if you are not working you have a lot of time on your hands. Stories floated around about people returning to university or taking on various training courses. In theory it was a great idea. The thinking being that the more knowledge you have the better advantage you have over the next candidate. However, for me personally I saw 2 problems with this:

1.  Money: Courses are expensive no matter how you look at it.

2. Geography: In my part of the world, finding educational institutes that offered short/flexible courses was not that easy and with again going to point 1, was quite expensive.

However, one thing I realised was the above was just excuses – especially if you consider the wealth of information available online. From podcasts to online courses, there was quite literarily no stopping you from learning anything you wanted. With so many choices you are in quite a labyrinth of what to learn and what is right for you.

“one of the keys to maximising your life is to keep the brain learning”

It can be quite daunting but from what I have experienced, anything you do come across and take up, even if it may not seem right for you at the moment can still have an impact. My love of photography came from stumbling across a course on light photography.

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Ancora Imparo

“I am still learning” – Michelangelo

Talk to your peers and mentors and find out if they have any recommendations or if there is a particular topic you should be looking into. You can also use the following resources as a guide:

  • Coursea is a fantastic tool to find free online courses.
  • Khan Academy (With a library of over 3000 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and hundreds of skills to practice).
  • Life Hacker U (more about skills and tech related but still really good)
  • TedX videos on YouTube (if you have been lucky to have attended a TedX event you will know how insightful this is)
  • Itunes U

If you are always on the move or drive a lot then don’t overlook the power of podcasts. They can be quite entertaining and a great source to kill time. Plus it is always with you.

This is barely the tip on the iceberg but it just shows how much of an opportunity we have to strengthen our skills and to develop new ones. There are while communities geared to this and who knows who you will meet or what you will learn.

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While We’re Trying To Follow His Game Of Checkers, Jeff Bezos Is Playing Chess

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In this awesome article, TechCrunch columnist Ms Siegler (@parislemon) looks at how the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos , has made the long game work:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/05/bezos-not-bozos/

Siegler dwells deeper into the profit free Amazon and discerns how they have managed to become the global force in online shopping. From turning profits into long term investments and Bezos, explaining that periodically Amazon wants to “check in” with its ability to make money.

It is a really great read for anybody interested in Amazon and the long-term game.

 

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