Dr. Ibrahim Elfiky to the Yemen Times:”There are no winners or losers, but there are choosers” [Archives:2005/827/Community]
By Nadia al-Saqqaf
Yemen Times Editor
[email protected]
The human mind is very powerful, which when used well can create miracles. While I am personally skeptical about the possibility of telepathy or telekinesis, I do believe that the mind has the power to improve itself or, as Dr. Ibrahim Elfiky calls it “to live success.”
Dr. Ibrahim Elfiky, is one of the few well informed scientists in this field. He is the founder and president of the Ibrahim Elfiky International Enterprises Inc, The Canadian Training Center of Human Development (CTCHD), The Canadian Training Center of NLP (CTCNLP), The Canadian Training Center of Hypnotherapy, and founder and president of Cheops International Seminars inc. (CIS).
Although he lived in Montreal, Canada with his wife, Amal, and their twin daughters, Nancy and Nermine, Dr. Elfiky is a world citizen traveling from one place to another with his wife, “knocking on nations' doors.” His goal is to share knowledge with others to help people reach within themselves to find their abilities.
Upon invitation from Maharat Center for Skills Training in Sana'a, he visits Sana'a these days. Maharat Center is one of the prominent centers in Yemen that take care of the capacity building in Yemen with a mission to train youth in Yemen in all fields so as to bridge the gap between the educational system products and the market demand and solve the employment problems in Yemen. I interviewed him at his suite in the Taj Sheba Hotel, where we ended up discussing many topics that were not on my initial agenda.
Tell us about your journey to success.
I started my journey from scratch, I didn't have anything and since my early childhood I knew that, I was going to be a general manager of one of the largest hotels in the world among other things I would achieve in my life. I never wasted my time, and I used every second in learning more. I had a very curious mind and I know that the first step to success is curiosity. I also learned that any talent comes naturally. I was interested in sports and I used to observe how the athlete would move his arms and legs. I studied him carefully and in no time I was able to beat him in his own game.
I learnt that if I am determined enough to do something and that I will not let it go then there is a good chance that I will achieve it or at least will not be far from it. This was the first phase, to study success and learn how successful people make their success.
The next phase was to put this interest and knowledge into action. I trained myself to defeat the best of the best. I said to myself if I can get there, I could get anywhere. My focus was on what causes things to happen and from there I went from one success to another.
And as I achieved I grew, because we grow by our achievements, but we have to make sure that the taste of victory doesn't make us lazy, for this is exactly why champions lose right after winning. For me, I decided from the very beginning I wouldn't lose and that attitude stayed with me forever. I realized that if you are hungry enough and you work hard for something, by God's will, you will achieve.
Through my work, I developed a strategy for success, which I called Elfiky Strategy for Success. In this visit to Yemen I have conveyed this strategy among other guidelines to how to achieve your goals.
What does this strategy contain?
It is simply a sequence of steps or rather links one leading to another.
First of all: Depending on all mighty God, then having clarity in your objectives, to be secretive about your ambitions, strong will and determination, to believe that you can achieve, to have moral values attached to your objectives. Then to obtain knowledge and wisdom, to execute three steps leading to your objective every day, total commitment, flexibility, maintain the enthusiasm and high spirits and finally, continuous improvement.
Is there real interest for personal development in Yemen?
The number of Yemeni youth attending the sessions is a clear indicator that there is interest in personal development in this country. Hundreds of Yemenis participated actively and honestly speaking I could not get this number of people in other places until it was my second visit but the people hear are hungry for information and are eager to learn how to develop themselves.
What is fear, can it be eliminated?
I would like to break this word into its initial letters: FEAR. F for false, E for Evidence, A for appearing and R for real. So fear is actually false evidence appearing real. There is no such a thing as fear, except fear itself. It is a deeply negative emotion supported by belief that forbids a person from taking a certain action. It is a perception created from a certain experience and we can remove this perception if we break the structure of this experience. There is an excellent book on this titled “feel the fear and do it anyway!” by Susan Jeffers. It is all about perception. If you change your perceptions you can change your life, because once you perceive something you will think about it. When you think about it you give it meaning, once you give it meaning you focus on it and what you focus on you are going to fear. What you fear you eliminate once you eliminate and once you eliminate you will judge and when you judge there comes the behavior.
What is your purpose in life?
I want to reach people all around the world and share my knowledge with them. I don't think there is anything that I can't do if I am determined to do it. And you must realize that whatever happens to you in life is simply a step in a larger plan and God is preparing you for the next phase. I believe that there are no winners or losers, but there are choosers.
You choose your destiny, you choose how you think and how you behave. Earlier in my life I went to see Mr. Schuler who was a major philosopher of our time, and I saw him present in front of ten thousand people and I said to myself my God, how this man is able to capture the attention of all those people and make them do what he wants. That time I asked the person sitting next to me: Do you think you can do what he does? And he said no, but I said: I can. And here I am. And I will not stop, because there is no limit to what one can achieve.
Your life history reveals heroic events and achievements, how can others achieve what you have?
I'll just tell you one thing. If I can do it so can you, and so can anyone. It is a matter of determination and learning. I used to study how others made it to success and in no time I found myself not only competing with them but beating them in their own field. I believe that by God's will if you want, you can. And if you want definite steps to achievements there are five simple rules: To decide on your aim (decision), to want it (desire), to learn everything about it (knowledge), to integrate this knowledge in yourself (plan of action), and then to anticipate challenges in advance (be prepared).
Does this mean that your formula for success depends on studying successful people and copying their successful ways?
Like I said earlier I realized that talent is something natural. And I spend the majority of my life trying to understand what causes things to happen. In my understanding there are three steps to achievements and by implementing these three steps I have managed to be what I am today.
The first step is to observe, study and model someone else's behavior. Of course this someone has to be the best in their field and my aim is to become better than them. When I say modeling I don't mean just copying, it is much more than that. Modeling means learning the frame in which this person is achieving and understanding how I can act it.
Then comes integrating, where I integrate this frame of action onto myself and live it. I tailor the model and make it fit Elfiky and integrate it within my own character and being. And when this is done I move to the third and final stage which I call designing. And in this stage I start doing things my way, and start innovating and inventing more creative ways to the issue I am targeting. Let me give you an example, when I wanted to be a champion in table tennis I started studying the national champion in Egypt and then I started learning how he moves his legs, his hands and everything. Then I started playing like him, and in no time I was doing my own moves such as the backspin and the side spin. Moreover, I could be studying more than one person in the same time. And I take the best of each and everyone and integrate it into myself.
Is there anything else you want to say as a final note?
Yes, in fact there is. I would like to say to everybody, live your dreams now. Learn your goals and offer them everything you've got. Be persistent yet be flexible. Then you can reach your goals. How is that? Most important of all believe in God, depend on him and count on him. Live with the attitude of gratitude, learn from Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and from there cherish your dreams and live every second with love and you will achieve.
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