During the past couple of years, I've seen my priorities change completely.
From being someone that cared about being popular, partying and just having plain fun, into someone that prioritized work,studying and making money.

Sometimes in life one has to set priorities and define which is most important on top of the list because in a matter of seconds things can change. Once you start hesitating the rank of your priorities can suddenly change.
I recently was given the opportunity to change the order of my priorities, ones that I had set a year ago. I could go directly into a productive working life instead of finishing my studies, which is really tempting. The offer included working in a really dynamic and fast growing economic city as well as being able to work with an focused and dynamic team. This would mean that I'd finally have the chance to get things moving and start achieving goals I wouldn't normally be able to achieve as a student.

That said, I finally decided to continue working towards my education as a piece of paper from a university is far more valuable in the workplace of today.

I did my first year of computer science in Lebanon.
Unfortunately a country where connections make all the difference.

You could be the best student. The student that works the hardest and have all the intelligence to show for it, but there will always be someone that will be able to get the same result as you or higher if he has the right connections.

It's really sad because there is always this feeling of corruption, not only in politics, but everywhere.

Although I really enjoyed my year in Lebanon, learned a lot, met a lot of interesting people and I don't regret it, but I knew if I wanted to make a difference, be successful, I had to leave.

A lot of people still hang out there because they believe that Lebanon can change. They believe it can rise up again in a couple of years to be a country of opportunity. I don't blame them. Who knows they might be right.

I recently had an interesting challenge at work; without going into the details the main problem was a complex application deployment on the web server.
There was an easy and quick way to deploy it by installing something that would make the web server slower and probably more vulnerable, and then there was the best way to do it.

I decided not to take the the easy way out, but to do it the best way. I tried for two days without looking back. At the end the whole thing took 5 minutes, but the result was 10 times better and faster.
I never gave up searching and I didn't quit the challenge.
Once you start quitting and saying no to challenges, you start giving in to obstacles you might face during your climb.
After that you're not climbing anymore...

I've been getting a lot of good feedback on the blog, options are going to be added and the design might change (but not anytime soon). I thank you all for your ratings/ comments / feedback and support. Keep tuning in.

One feedback that marked me and caught my eye came from a really close, childhood friend of mine. He came to Nice to visit me last April. Although we hadn't seen each other in 6 years, we always stayed in contact and he's someone I can always count on.

I believe that one's social environment changes who you are, depending on who you have grown up with. It affects how you turn out. That dear friend of mine is one of those people that had a great impact on my life.

Anyway here's his feedback, I felt like sharing with everyone :
"Hey Rod, I'm really glad that you have made this blog, this goes to show that you are serious about your development whether it comes to your career or any other area in your life.

You have the desire, you have the dedication, you have the persistence and you have the discipline to reach your purpose. You are officially 90% above the majority of people.

Some useful advice that has worked for me and that has been done by ALL successful people: surround yourself with people who have the same purpose, people who are better than you and people that are 4-5 + years ahead of you and can offer you some insight.

And the number one most insightful advice: give value to people, whether it be by sharing this blog or just giving them positive energy. It is by giving to people that you will get.

The more you are going to advance on top of that pyramid, the lonelier it gets. It becomes harder and harder to find similar minded people.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope your job has been working out!

"The source of all abundance is not outside of you. It is part of who you are. Abundance comes only to those who already have it. “Outer Success” is simply a by-product of the abundance felt within." - Eckhart Tolle

Cheers '
- Khalil "

I was always an average student in school, never had enough motivation to finish a homework, theory was just not my thing.

The day after passing my baccalaureate, woke up asking my self : "Ok..What's next? ". I remember having a conversation with a group of close friends where each one of us talked about what he wanted to do this summer and all i heard was "Party all summer" or "do nothing just relax".

I didn't want that! School was over and I wanted to take control of my future , no teachers to guide me anymore and tell me what I should do, parents have a lot less authority on me. I found myself facing the real world. This was the best time to build the foundation of what I wanted to be.

That same summer I learned C++ on my own ( an important computer programming language) and I got an internship at A.B.K (A leading bank in Kuwait). Although it was only a 2 month investment of time and energy, that investment directly started paying off as soon as I started university and still is paying off.

On one's route to success, self investment and sacrifices are always necessary; it doesn't happen overnight. 

Dear Readers, 

My first post is simply about why I want to blog. It is surely not to brag nor to set myself as an example, but more of a wanting-to-share-my-motivation blog. Throughout this blog you are going to read posts about goals I already achieved, goals I set everyday, stories that happened and some daily thoughts. 


My direction of motivation focuses mainly on my career. There is a saying that the company I work for has: "The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there" - naseba.

Being at the top of the mountain is one of my goals...

So happy reading and I hope to get some feedback.