Do we live in our comfort zones?
In the Arab world, just like the western world and actually around the globe we notice certain nationalities thriving while others diminish or erode over time.
Survival techniques have been with us since creation & inception of mankind, the further back we go in history the more visible and apparent the subject. From cavemen to Vikings & Pharos, Prophets and World wars, it all boils down to survival of the fittest. Monarchies have vanished, new ones have evolved, species wiped out, new ones introduced or discovered in some distant land, nothing stops.
A man sweet talks a young lady at the corner while taking a smoking break, he appears to be a master of his own game, she smiles and listens with some flirtatious moves every once and a while, he continues with his manipulation, getting closer to his goal. She first blows him off guard by stating she is married, he enjoys the game, continues by asking her where her loving husband is while she smokes alone? suddenly she finishes her ciggy and looks him in the eye and asks” what do you do, your words are that of an actor or some famous intellect?” ” I’m kind of a writer” he boasts. ” Kind of…?” she replies, ” what do you do?” replies the master of deception, ” I’m a hooker” she smiles ” People pay for my services, call me” and walks away laughing. Two masters of their own game collide, each moves on as survival has made them what they are today.
Comfort zones are those areas where we stop to relax and get comfy and forget to move on. Eventually we lose track of our original clever well detailed map in life, we stop and stall till we get rusty and attract like people into our lives. These new additions become the extra baggage you keep adding. They are known to relax, chillax or whatever you may call it until it becomes their destiny. Then there are the others.
When you love something you never feel the pains that others feel while doing the same thing, to you its passion, play if you may, to them it has another word, I think they call it ” work”.
What’s the big picture on survival of the fittest? on a macro level can we see countries that demonstrate hard ambitious survival lifestyles? the answer is yes! only if you simplify the answers without the statistics and economists of the world fiddling with a bunch of national GDP( Gross domestic product) and other economic indicators. Let me elaborate and simplify things here, lets take some man made products and trail them back to their makers.
Cars: Mercedes Benz, BMW, Toyota; Germany & Japan, Top notch engineering and the relentless pursuit of perfection. When the stakes are high, when the determination and goals are continuous improvement, anticipating consumers next requirements, meeting them and modifying the flaws fast and without the blah blah, you get high survival measures and cultures that lead the world.
Technology: ipod, Google, Facebook; USA… I thought that technology lately came from the east? well it did for a while, then the marketing Gurus of the world today took the reigns of power and leadership, read into peoples natural habits and lazy needs and made it happen. Build it and they will come. Entrepreneurship is at its best in the last two decades, it is much easier and faster to get an idea to market and market to the masses today than the preceding decades, what do you think the creativity levels are in those areas?
A Man. A plan. A Dam- that was the business plan for the Suez canal by the way, that’s it, with 99% determination and dedication.
When I look at the roller coast ride we have in the Middle East on a survival and cultural viewpoint, I can tell you today who the pioneers of Survival fitness are, the number one nationality that has managed to succeed in every corner of the world is the Lebanese people. Why? a bunch of hard facts and internal lifestyle standards makes them my number one choice. They managed to outlive several wars, a scaring diverse populations with a bundle of ethnic backgrounds, a small country neighboring a war zone for the last 50 years or so, toughness in daily lives but they chose LIFE.
Mastering something takes 7 years of doing the same thing based on Brian Tracy, I truly agree with him on that note. What is it we do different than the world that makes us stand out? do we have what it takes or do we need a push for each step of the 1000 mile race?
Ask yourself these questions, or ask it to someone dear in your life;
- What if you woke up in the morning and found everything gone, can you start again?
- What if you were suddenly deported like some illegal immigrant to some undisclosed new location on this planet? can you start living? can you adapt?
- When was the last time you learnt something new?
- Who is your father figure?
- What’s your invisible carrot? do you have one?
- If asked what does your country stand for? do you have an answer? what is it that makes people want to visit your part of the world? when they leave what memories will they take back home?
- Is your culture driving you faster to your goals or taking you to the end of the line?
I am pissed at the levels we have reached in terms of evolving and changing, we are imitating and never innovating, we love the back comfortable back seat and never learned to drive, and if we drive we wouldn’t know what to do when we break down, let’s continue to import the pros, while the pros are defining our future down the road.
In the 80′s the young men and woman who finished college wanted desks for their first job, irrelevant of experience, to be the boss was all that mattered, that’s why you have an idiot for a boss today, the fundamentals of business were upside down, only to find out 20 years later that we need to start from ground zero and build the foundations then move on up.
Maybe I’m being harsh, but the truth of the matter hurts. When I say I can start from zero I better mean it, we can lose track and get back on track if we new our destination, are you not sick with clueless captains guiding organizations into Titanic waters?
Enough said. Just one thing before I leave, I salute the brave foreign bodies residing in some foreign country making a living, producing wonderful products and services, paving the way for future generations to come, making a better life for their families and indulging in their momentary comfort STOPS, the Zones take too long and make them weak and disillusioned.
p.s. find your survival degree and earn it.
mamdooh.alradadi late for Friday prayers!
me@mamdoohalradadi.com
Flippitty Flop! Do I walk, or stay?