Business - Sherif Sakr

A Simple Rule for 2020

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 15:28:03 +0000

Happy New Year! 2020 promises to be a year of growth, challenges, and victories. It’s good to remember a simple rule as you start making (or avoiding!) small and big decisions: Never, never, never make a decision from a place of FEAR.

When making a decision, allowing fear and doubt to influence it will result in a low vibration, compromise, and regret. Saying things like “I’m afraid to start (or end) this relationship because I may not find someone else” OR “I’m afraid to accept (or terminate) this job because I’m afraid of…” OR “I’m afraid of doing this thing (or not doing it) because…” is ALWAYS going to lead to the wrong decision. Fear stands for False Evidence Appearing Real and giving in to it will give you a small and unfulfilled life.

Instead, when facing a decision, ask “What is the right thing to do from a place of strength and integrity? What would the best version of me choose to do in this situation?”

It is ok to have fear and doubt sometime. Focusing on that, however, magnifies the uncertainty, the anxiety, the suffering. Acknowledge the fear, and have the courage to do the right thing regardless. This principle will allow you to enjoy an upward spiral in the quality of life. The alternative is leading what Henry David Thoreau called ‘a life of quiet desperation’.

Finding Joe

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 23:56:06 +0000

Have you heard of Joseph Campbell and his concept of Hero’s Journey? Joe studied the various mythologies of the ancients and determined that they have a common theme. The hero usually starts out in a comfortable, secure home. He or she sets out on an adventure, which requires no small amount of courage to begin. Along the way unforeseen obstacles, challenges, delays, and pressures occur. The hero has to dig deep, grow, and overcome these challenges. Finally the hero returns, hobbit-style, to their comfortable home.

In Pat Solomon’s documentary Finding Joe, luminaries like Deepak Chopra and Brian Johnson are interviewed about the modern hero’s journey, and how it resembles a spiral instead of a circle… because the challenges never stop and the hero continues to evolve and become as the story unfolds.

Where are you on your hero’s journey? Are you able to recognize that the struggles you are facing are part of your story and are required for you to become the person you are meant to become? What will your attitude be today, tomorrow, and every day after that as you TURN THE PAGE of your story and live the adventure you are meant to live?

How To Bust Out Of Overwhelm

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 21:08:07 +0000

Our brain is designed to think: one, two, three… MANY. That’s why to-do lists seem never-ending and even when you complete them there is usually a feeling of fatigue rather than celebration. One way to conquer that is the concept of ‘chunking’ – collect several action items under one outcome. So a to-do list of 75 items could be chunked down to around 7 outcomes that are much less overwhelming for your brain.

The process is simple. First, collect all the things that you need to do in one place. This is critical, because if your to-do’s are on sticky notes, in your head, and in several notebooks, then it feels like ‘many’ and the brain can go into avoidance from the whole thing.

Once you’ve collected all action items, group them under categories in your life: health, finances, kids, spouse, hobby, household, etc. (the same can be done for school – by subject – or for business by using categories such as marketing, legal, sales, management, Project X, etc.). In each one of the categories, what is the outcome you are looking for? I.e. what is the result you’re after? For health this could be ‘increasing energy and fitness’, for finances it could be ‘create and follow a budget’, etc. (remember to include a target date).

You now have a list of 7 outcomes with action items below each one. Focusing on the outcomes helps you get closer to the result you’re after even if you don’t accomplish all the to-do’s. That is the psychological WIN that will help you feel productive. Each day choose the 2 action items under each outcome that will make the biggest difference (think 80-20 rule) and SCHEDULE TIME in your calendar to do them.

You’ve now reduced a list of 75 actions (overwhelming) to a list of 14 high-leverage actions specifically geared towards the outcomes you want (exciting). Repeat this process daily and check-in weekly to re-dump your to-do’s from your brain by writing down ALL of them in one place and re-starting this process.

Remember, you get what you focus on. If you focus on a long list of to-do’s, you’ll get tired and overwhelmed. If you focus on a few outcomes that you’ve designed for your life, you will get energized and empowered.

Doubt Your Doubts

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 19:11:58 +0000

There are people who are very confident all of the time, but most of us are not this way. It is natural for the mind to create scenarios of things not working out the way we want. Anxiety, worry, and stress are examples of seeing outcomes that are not optimal for us. This creates fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

One way to deal with doubt is to use the mind’s energy against itself and doubt your doubts. It works just as well as doubting. When your mind wants to say “I don’t know if this thing I want will happen”, counter it by saying “Yeah, right it won’t happen” in an unbelieving way. This causes you to doubt that thing you fear or stress about. And that will diminish its power in the mind.

Another method to get out of doubt is to be fully present in this moment, because doubt is always about something that may or may not happen in the future. Take a deep breath and notice what’s around you and become grounded in the Now.

“Fear arises simply because you are not living with life – you are living in your mind.” ~Sadhguru

The 3 C’s

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 18:10:28 +0000

The fastest way to make a group environment positive is to implement the 3 C’s. Whether it’s your family, your executive team, or your yoga teacher training group, this standard will keep the conversation above the line and away from negativity. You can find it in Dale Carnegie’s classic How To Win Friends And Influence People, Chapter 1:

Never-ever Criticize, Complain, or Condemn.

Some people are so used to doing these things that they are not aware of it, and find that for a while, they don’t have much to say until their perspective shifts. Try it out for 7 days!

Anatomy of a Great Day

Sherif Sakr — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 08:00:07 +0000

The best way to ensure a great life is to ensure each year is great, which means strive to make each day great. The best way to do that is to do the most important thing first, since mornings are easier to control until the day gets busy with other people’s priorities. Assuming you have a Night Ritual, structure your morning in such a way that the one most important thing that you need to creatively do that day happens first, before your brain takes in inputs. What is the one thing that you need to create, do, or prepare for so that if nothing else happens today, it is a great day already. Do that first, before any digital stimulation (email, alerts, etc) that will put you in reactive mode instead of creative mode. This presupposes that you know what you want, which is not a small thing. If you don’t know what you want, the most important thing for the next few days is to journal and iterate about what you want. Then you can use your mornings to make major progress on that, and regardless of what happens the rest of the day, you’ve already won!