This is the story of a little girl who grew up in a country called saudi arabia, another country in the planet with opportunities for those who seek them. Why did I relate it to opportunity? because it is and always will be, very simply put any place on earth is, some more than others.

She grew up here, studied some time outside, came back and refused to sidetrack from her friends negative vibrations that seem to have doubled ever since she left them four years ago. She had one friend that adored her, believed in her, knew she was going places. This other girl was a local by all means, and studied at local schools, local colleges, even had a few gigs on the side to help with her expenses, some secretarial, hospital, sales to name a few.

Two girls one mission. Who are they up against? the rest. They know how hard it is to succeed in a country that had nothing in store for ladies and was trying hard to fill the gap steadily.They know many girls who made it to the top of businesses across the country, these girls were not doctors( they seem to have had no problems). They pin pointed their targets in terms of success. They identified the models, the goals they went for, the average time it would take them, and most of all saw the end, felt the success, actually breathed it in every day from that day onwards.

They would meet up casually to talk about their milestones covered, obstacles removed, threats that lay ahead of them. All this while their friends whined some more and stuck to the crowd doing what they do best, follow like a herd. The two girls enjoyed it day by day and had sweet little victory celebrations every once in a while.

They faced society with all they had, faith. They saw every problem as a challenge, tough or soft, they knew it when it came and handled it with care. Many people tried putting them off, including their families and closest of friends, asking them to get married and settle down, they had greater visions not apparent to the eyes of the jealous and clueless many.

As days are numbers and months are more digits, years come and go, a few years later, the two are celebrating their major milestones. Each has managed to carve a place for themselves in prestigious corporations head to head with their rivals, men. Although men seem to want to help, they also have their own back to handle in a fast paced ever so changing competitive business atmosphere.

They start to seek mentors for their coming years of success, all by the book, every inch of the way clearly planned and put to practice. They know that they have moved mountains so far, now its time to move lands,change the face of the earth preparing the arrival of the next generation of female workforce which make up for 50% of the population or a bit more based on some late figures.

Who ever said it was easy they think out loud, but it was real fun and what kept us going was the following major points they write:

• A true visible vision of our dream.
• Real faith in our abilities.
• Not to walk on previous peoples failures, walk around them.
• Keep our vision on track no matter what.
• Leaving the box and living out of the box, wether people liked it or not.
• Faced our fears head on, eye to eye and spoke up.
• Used our brains as well as our hearts on our quest.
• Never looked back only to see how far we have covered.
• Took the negative words and down force communication from people and recycled them positive.
• Worked smart not hard.
• Thanked people for their help all along.
• Always asked questions and respected peoples views, that way we always got the very best.
• Were grateful to be living in such great moments in mankind’s history.
• Networked like bees, always giving then receiving.
• Used the buddy system.

You see it can be done, stop penalizing yourself for false things you think that keep you tied down. Things that only live inside your head, always growing heavier never moving you forward. Just as there are girls with no future in the near horizon, many boys face the same perils due to ignorance and giving up too early. Billions of words have been written on this subject, but few go digested. There is only one way in my opinion to move, make things SIMPLE!

What do you want? what do you really want? do you want it really bad? does it ache when you don’t have it? do you see yourself having it day and night? does it shake you inside out? does it hurt you? does it live in you and all you can see is IT? if it does then you are ready to move, if not work harder at what you really want.

We all know it, we all feel it and I have rarely been wrong on things to come in this world, only because I listen

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.  ~T.S. Eliot

Goals are dreams with deadlines.  ~Diana Scharf Hunt

mamdooh.alradadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

Have you ever paused while on vacation in the middle of the night when the music is loud and the lights are fading away the more you drove into the night, just like a mirage? Have you ever thought about that exact moment? the very moment you are dancing the night away and in some distant land at that given moment meetings are being held, people are being killed, babies being born, an old man passes away at the age of 87?

Have you ever wondered about what is going on as you are landing in Heathrow airport? have you ever noticed the sights and sounds that you could have missed if you were back home? or the rain pouring on your head while someone is scorched by the sun in the desert? How about that cry in the delivery room, that smile on the new applicants face when he is hired, or even that football game on the side of the road with all those supporters.

The people on the road making their way to work, the children getting off the bus starting their day, the chewing gum that got stuck to your shoes, the first snow flake that lands on your nose, that cool refreshing drink after a hard workout,the smell of that new car you drive off the car dealers parking, the smell of winter after a long flight from the middle east.

We tend to have these moments and  take them casually, we tend to fast forward the lovely sights and sounds that make our life. Those bits & pieces that make up that portrait we remember as a whole. We love the silence once we miss it, we fear that same silence when it continues longer than anticipated. The battle of the thoughts and priority shifting of ideas wastes my focus. I remain a silent observer of what goes on around me.

Have you ever taken yourself to the invisible balcony that oversees your every move and reaction? They say once you gain access to that vip view, you rule the new you. You manage effortlessly to control your every move and avoid the pitfalls that you dive into. At any given moment you are moving towards or away from your dreams. At any given moment you are writing your own story. With every twist & turn you end up at the corner or fork of the road. Is it right or is it left? I can understand your confusion, bare with me till the end.

When you witness your every move, imagine most or a random selection of your living day, you manage to get a brighter picture of the things that make you go tick followed by a tock. Remember that the faster you go, the faster you are likely to miss a turn in the road that can cost you years of your total balance. Learn to slow down every once in a while, take it easy, take to the slow lane, relax, inhale, exhale,breathe.

When you learn to do that, you are suddenly a wiser person, a concerned person, an involved person, a nurturing person, a feeling person, but most of all, an admirer of the gift we call life.

At the rate things are going, real face time will deplete replaced with cyber warp speed interactions. The now common netiquette and symbols are only the start of things to come, soon our smileys and emoticons will be out-fashioned just as DISCO is today. Yes, more people will be able to display their true feelings hiding behind a screen or mobile, screaming and sharing true feelings in cyber space. But is that what we run to? is that our aim in life? is that what you wanted when you were a young kid? or even a teenager with all that might and fearless soul?Do you know what goes on in your mind? do you focus on the subconscious messages you receive? or do you move them to the trash folder upon arrival because they irritate you?

Its time for you and me to take a back seat for a few minutes only every day and reflect, make sense of our purpose? imagine the outcomes of our actions and those funny little ideas.You never know what you will end up doing in five years, so tell me again what will you be doing in ten again? one little thought caught on tape is all it takes for you to manage your life better, take your foot off the gas pedal, and ease on the brakes, slow down, come to a complete stop, relax, take those breathes and look around you.

Well have you ever wondered

how we ever came to be

Have you ever wondered why

there’s still a you and me

Have you ever wondered why

I haven’t turned and walked away

And why I stayed

Gabrielle- Have you ever wondered

mamdooh.alradadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

Have you ever been in the position of almost breaking into a 1000 pieces, and then some more? Have you ever been in the position where you wished you could make a strange magical move and disappear? Have you ever been wondering what it would be like to be a kid in high school again and run away from your responsibilities? have you ever been thrown into a road where everything on it spells disaster? Have you ever been asked to act when your actions were limited? Have you ever thought about why the whole world was against you?Do you know the word helpless? Have you lost track of your dreams and goals due to walking on the wrong side? How about that time when you wished there was something more than crying to take the pain go away and restore one night of peaceful sleep in exchange for a 100 restless nights?

Prepare for an important news flash!

They say that serious & life changing situations will hit you every (2 1/2) years for the rest of your life. This is the latest research on human behavior coming from the mouths of the greatest success gurus of our day & age. This is so true due to the many changes we have endured of the last 30 years or so and the speed we are moving at.

• Is it not true that days seem to be numbers? Is it not true that some time back, we heard the Japanese who rule the world in technology and production measures asked for a 26 hour day? We thought they were crazy, then stopped before the laugh ended remembering we belong to the same global neighborhood.
• With change comes frustration, with frustration come high anxiety levels, more disappointments, more expectations when things are going south, getting lost has never been easier.
• The hours seem to be bundled together in 3 hour batches, the little ones seem to be getting married faster than we anticipated, a decade seems to be a year or so, information seems to be outdated before we finish reading the books content page, music changes faster than our moves and grooves, we seem to be moving on a super fast escalator in all directions.

Now the good news. With every single stone in the road there’s a suitable kick to remove it. With every obstacle there lies an opportunity or moving experience. Knowledge is the key and the power we need to arm ourselves with. Networking and getting answers at any given time is nothing but a click away. Opportunities are now for the educated all around informative person and not by the background/status quo/college. The finest run business models in the world came crashing to their knees in a fortnight by the mistakes of the very fine people who graduated with honors and run those models. Never blame your self for the worlds actions against you. Take the message in a reverse mode and use its power to propel you to your next level up!

I have personally gone throw a string of up and downs in all directions as if attached on one of those catapult rides in orlando with a full stomach of junk food. It all seems to boil down to a few things:

• What you think of most of the time stares you in the eyes. So if you stare at your emotional levels, it stares back. If you stare at your financial worries, they seem to grow. If you take your fears and worries seriously  they tend to get multiplied and come back and haunt you.
• When you imagine the possibilities, dream a little, surround yourself with a (FFP’s)few positive fun people to get you through the day and remove the (NAM’s)negative annoying many, you seem to see clearly one day. It seems to brighten up, the light seems to shine more, the opportunities peek at you as if to make sure you are ready for positive change.
• Suddenly as if someone is checking to see if you break, or they break you, comes over to you and pats you on the back and says” Well done, you are worthy and shall be rewarded for your brave standing and weathering out of all that we threw at you, Good luck on your journey!”

Positive vibes and people enter your life, they surround you, joy you, help you, magnify your greatness, make you shine and rise above the rest.

Opportunity welcomes you in. You are rewarded from the least expected places and faces that seem to have slipt through you like sand in an hour glass.

Trust me on this, there is great potential in belief, believe in your self, if you won’t, who will?

Grab life by the horns!

days are numbers

p.s. Thank you Dodge for that great slogan.

mamdooh Al-Radadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

I am not talking about a wedding here, Im talking about a totally other kind of maid, the famous house maid. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them I say.In this part of the world it is almost unheard of to not have one, even if you are starving to death, I have to admit I missed them for a while. Being a single guy does not really qualify me for having the luxury of a maid, but what do you know I am a bi-product of this society, I fought away many things, but this one keeps hunting me down. While I was married I had 3 people working for me: A Driver, A maid/helper, and a Nanny.

No wonder I never saved a dime! The funny part is we are a family of 3 only in this household, yes 3. It is a no no to not bring this kind of help when married, she will dump you in a jiffy. Now to make things clear, in this country we differ in so many ways than the west. We are a lazy society by nature, not due to the scorching hot weather, by our nature. We opened our eyes and found a certain helper taking care of the cleaning and washing in our house.

Over the years the nationality changed as the incomes and discoveries of new lands grew. In my days, and that was long ago, they were the africans coming for pilgrims that performed haj and never left. They would come in during the day and leave at night for a small amount of money( I think it was comparable to today if we put in place inflation). All I can remember was a huge ball of human moving with grace from one corner of the house to the other cleaning and fighting with mom day in day out. My mom would fight with them, until they leave her lonely, then she would beg them to come back for another day, and another fight.

She would command her in every little detail, as if she was actually her slave. I don’t say this to point out a cruel treatment, absolutely not, that’s another story( not in my home thank god) actually they were family, the ones that had a chore to do every day. We then started witnessing in the 80’s the arrival of the first batch of asians to our shores. This was new to us, cleaner and smarter I was told. Educated also, that is where most of our young population gets there first home education these last 20 years or so.

Maids and drivers are every woman’s nightmare here. I bet that most women cannot and will not get married if no maid is available in her house. They cook and clean and take care of her children while she goes about her ways from day to week.

After the divorce we split up and she got her maid( the most amazing cook ever and handyman) and I got to share my girls Nanny, who doubled as a personal helper at home, so that meant I get my home cleaned and my clothes washed and ironed 50% of the week, not bad I thought.

Then one day my little girl outgrew her childish ways and started to think, she decides when and where she wants to go, even if she decides to dump me for her little cousin for a week or 10 days, then remembers me. So, I, of all people can not sit in a dumpster of an apartment like other single men, I would die. So I tried not to use or dirty anything for as long as I could take it, then the weekend comes, and with it comes chaos. The next day is a nightmare to me, I quickly make myself a coffee and wear my cleaning clothes( I dont have any) and get to work, starting at the kitchen and making my way to the other areas. yes, I do mop the floors and take out the garbage.

The people from the west are thinking is this guy showing off? yes I am, it is the worst habit you can have in our area of the world, laziness of the worst kind! I make freinds with the doorman so he can pass by daily to pick up the Garbage after the fight with my neighbor on the location of the dumpster. I have been a decent shopper of basic survival needs, called my mother to learn how to operate basic units in my house, like the washing machine and the microwave.

We have fell to the lowest levels of helping our selves in history, I can now state proudly that I can and will survive without a maid.For more than 12 months I managed, and now, I am finally rewarded with a maid, a helper, a saver, a wonder woman, a self help buster, a black magical woman, she came and saved me. Now old habits have kicked in again and I tend to lose myself from time to time, I actually tell people how happy I am these days. I am planning to throw a party for her soon.

Enough of the wise guys remarks, I have a question for all the newly weds and single guys and girls out there, the area I am referring to is from Saudi Arabia and all over the Gulf region, The neighboring Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt to an extent, basically the Arab world. The question is as follows, Can you or will you do the following for the next 12 month’s or worse yet 3 or 5 years? all your life?:

• Wash the dishes?
• Wash the toilet till it sparkles, 3 times a day?
• Clean the clothes?
• Iron the clothes, especially those Long thobes your husband wears and his head gear?
• Vacuum the carpets and shine the floor with dettol?
• Change the bed covers daily and wash them every once and a while?
• Beat the furniture to kill those little bed and couch bugs every other day?
• Take out the garbage and clean its place daily?
• Clean all those ashtrays daily?
• Cook and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner?
• Fix all the problems that any house has?
• Clean the AC filters?
• Prepare a dinner for the whole family gatherings every week and clean up after?
• Throw parties and clean it yourself?
• Clean the car inside and out daily?
• Drive everyone to their destination and pick them up after school?
• Have time for yourself?

I know that many civilizations laugh at our lifestyle and make fun of our lazy asses, sorry people of the world we failed this one, BIG TIME! but you can’t blame us, we were brought up like this, and will also pass it on to our children, until one day one of them starts a new cool thing called self sufficient households. Yes I know that in the west a family will consist of a doctor, a business woman, 3 children at school and they would manage to not have a maid, its a secret to many, to me its discipline and time management.

Now tell me, why do you treat them so bad when you need them so bad? I also question the real need, does it exist?or is it a simple fashion statement each one of you boys & girls need? Can you or did you ever be the sole servant and housekeeper of your own home? If yor answer is yes, I bow in respect, if no, why?

In our Arabic quotes we have a saying “ He who serves the people is their master” I second that and agree.

Have mercy on the rest of us.

P.S. I know all the husbands will never mind a helper like the one in the picture, I know I never complain!

Anything you missed during school is sure to land on your lap at the local coffee shop. Small whispers of politics and other social blabbering is a part of the daily ritual. People tend to meet up at neutral grounds to release the days load, or get ready for a new day with the famous paper and mug sight.

Coffee shops will always be around, they are a gathering of the minds, just like the playground was our former sweet spot when we were younger. We gather to share and boast our daily or weekly gains. We gather to share our wisdom. We gather to spill our milk on someone’s lap. We make way for a new day by loading up on caffeine or nicotine and OJ. We digest as fast as possible our daily sports gossip, political moves, cultural debates, and a big chunk of knowledge on what is going on.

When I get to a coffee shop, I tend to grab one of the favorite newspapers, go to the back check out the daily cartoon, scan fast, check out the front, go to the daily horoscope, move to the business side real fast, check the markets, check the social arena and space out. Its a matter of perspective on what you want to read in the morning. we all know what is going on in the world:

• There will always be a war in one part of the world, for peace they say.
• There will be a winner in football.
• There will be a victim or two killed by acts of violence in your area.
• There will be arguments on local ministries or municipalities.
• There will be funny stories.
• There will be millions made and lost.
• There will be cool adverts.
• There will be weather disasters.
• There will be success stories.
• There will be country changes.
• There will be a fight going on between one performer and another.
• There will be witty columns to get us started.
• There will be politicians blabbering there mouths off instead of doing something faster.
• There will be scandals and community outrage on local happenings.

What do you choose from the above to start your day. If you are a business person, you need most of the above, and sometimes you can have someone highlight the main events. But in reality we don’t need 90% of the naked truth on newspapers and TV news stations. Imagine the following;

You start the day with a newspaper that has the following news articles only:

• The stock market rises 200 points for 5th day, the average investor has made at least 90% gains.
• The war in Palestine has come to an end with both parties agreeing to move on peacefully.
• The war in IRAQ is really over all troops are back in their countries, the country is making great progress.
• The ARMS factories are filing for bankruptcy as sales for new arms fall to their lowest levels in 10 years, no one seems to need them!
• The average rate of unemployment has dropped a staggering 80% and continues to drop, meaning almost everyone is finding a job.
• There have been no traffic accidents this week, this section will be discontinued due to lack of accidents in the last few years.
• The Africa poverty levels are diminishing rapidly after 3 major companies have decided to send in each 50% of their income for this social awareness campaign.
• AIDS treatment now available for free with astonishing 1 week treatment success levels.

I can imagine the levels of enthusiasm you will have that day.

Remember that everything you read or see or feel will have an impact directly or indirectly on your well being.

Why not choose what to digest?

Mamdooh Al-Radadi

Me@mamdoohalradadi.com

• What would your face look like at age 40 if all you watched was the NEWS?
• what would it be like if you only watched comedy shows and movies?
• Would you look like a million dollars if all you watched were financial channels?Just like some people start reading the newspaper from the back to the front and vice versa, some people have watching patterns that only seem to grow into one area in life without them noticing.

Some people only watch sport channels, others only watch opera winfrey like shows. Some people pop on DVD after the other trying to finish a never ending stream of episodes like LOST and Prison break and desperate housewives and anything that comes out.Originally they were meant to be weekly episodes, no not me says the active follower, all or non!

Having a diverse sense of program/movie watching will widen ones scope in life and affect his general well being in the process. Can you imagine sitting with a person that only watches financial news for 2 hours and you don’t know what the currency is for france is? no its not the French Franc, they changed it a few days ago to Euro.

What about a combination of two people one likes Sports and the other news, I mean real hard core political news. I can imagine the dialogue:

“Did you see last night’s semi finals?” “ Oh yeah it seems like the Bush administration is falling behind, sorry! is that what you meant?” BORING!

What we should do is keep a piece of paper beside the TV and write down all the things you watch for a few weeks, lets say 21 days. Take that piece of input and see how much time you spend on each area or category. It should give you a better understanding of what you appear to other people. Why do I say appear, well you can tell allot about people from their diverse conversation capabilities, some just go blank, while other sjust amaze you with their knowledge.

I am a more a reader than a TV watcher, but I do put in hours of TV watching when i am on idle, and it seems to carry me away. I have found out that i do not shy away from seasons of new material or shows, I tend to find the ones that end daily, so I don’t have to come back for more, what about my time? So a good example here would be Las Vegas, and not LOST( who cares after a while, they’re on the island, off the island, back to the island..come on).

I can say I am 70% into humor and 30% everything else, everything! I don’t watch horror movies, had my share when I was young with the basic Frankestien, werewolves and vampires. I like National Geographic with all its amazing footage and adventure on our planet.

There is this one gentlemen who watches movies back to back, even re-runs on a movie channel for 2 to 3 days, alone. Would you like his number? very sociable young man,NOT!

So in the end, you are what you eat, what you read and also what you watch.

Mamdooh Al-Radadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

Have you ever wondered where time seems to fly? Where do all the weekends and months go? What about the years for all you over 25/35/55? Did you ever stop and ask yourself what is going on?

Let’s say you actually do work more than the average joe and put in some 14 hours daily add to that some 5 hours of sleep, leaves you with 5 hours to do everything else including showers and toilet visits.

So lets say you are doing all that and managing your time, time still seems to slip out of our hands and into thin air.

Well, If you are like everyone else and do complain about this lost time, I think its about time you started to look at your life goals in a more serious fashion, a serious one that actually works day in day out, simply because time does fly when your having fun, or not.

When I was much younger before hitting the famous 20 mark, life seemed to drag on, taking forever to complete a week, let alone a month. So It does have a lot to do with growing up and responsibilities, the ones you like and the ones you don’t.

Take a pen and paper and write down 5 areas you need to do something with: Career/Business, Financial, Family, Health, legacy.

Fill in the dots and break them down to SMART Goals which stands for:(Specific,Measurable,Achievable,Realistic,Time bound). A person should know what he wants exactly, picture it in his mind, frame it, and capture it,You should be able to achieve it, so if you want money you don’t just say filthy rich with gazillions, you say

an achievable value that is possible with your capabilities and future training,realistic goals are a key ingredient, you cant say you want to learn 12 languages in one year while it took you 4 years to barely speak spanish!, When is this goal due? a year five?ten? a week? be specific.

In my humble opinion I think people will continue to lose track of time and feel frustrated as the coming years go by, nothing is slowing down for anyone anymore, it is just one big movement towards some unknown goal to many, leaded by the visionaries out here that tend to shape your day, even if you live on a far away land. They work hard for this movement, they never stop moving, neither do we. So if you are doing something or your just  being a comfy couch potato, you will be catch one of the millions of waves moving somewhere or the other.

A person who is doing something SMART with his life will feel more in control than a cruise controlled individual hooked onto some icon on a navigational system that does not belong to him. Imagine if you will the escalator, with many people on it, some ahead of others. Even in this example you will notice some actually walking on the mechanical platform, others will be running. And at the very end of the line you will find Mr.Average joe, chilling in the back, clueless just following the

crowd.

My message to you, its cool to be lazy every once in a while, but when you have some kind of benchmarks grooved in your Goal meter, you would feel the pleasure of relaxation after hard earned miles.

“Life is like riding a bicycle, you must keep moving to keep your balance”- Einstein.

Mamdooh Al-Radadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com