Stop being a victim:

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Stop being a victim.

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Stop blaming the world.

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Stop blaming other people.

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Stop blaming circumstances outside your control.

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Accept what’s in front of you and adapt.

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You’ll figure it out.

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Trust me.

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And if you don’t, you will.

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Saw a friend today who I hadn’t seen in 3 years.

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We met virtually during Covid and lost touch.

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Met him last week at a networking event and organized a dinner.

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What a beautiful human being.

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We talked about his story.

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He’s an immigrant from Jordan.

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Moved to Canada to study science.

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Multiple times they tried to revoke his visa.

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They tried to deport him many times.

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He told me about a moment where he was sitting in the Canadian embassy in Jordan and the head of the consulate told him he would never go back to Canada.

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This was after he just finished a year at UofT.

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The head of the consulate told him to write a letter on the spot directed to the minister of immigration.

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He said the minister would be the only person that could save him.

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So my friend wrote it, faxed it and luckily had a meeting with minister of immigration who granted him an exemption.

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A few years later, he wasn’t able to get into medical school and had more visa problems.

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They wanted to deport him again.

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His back was against the wall.

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And he figured it out.

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Now he’s an entrepreneur, consultant and advisor to AI start-ups, international foundations and business leaders all over the world.

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Talking through his journey, one of his biggest takeaways was he had to accept his circumstances.

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No matter how unfair it was, he had to accept what was in front of him and deal with it.

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Adapt to circumstances.

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Control what he could control.

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Put in the effort.

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Show up.

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Tell his story.

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Build a network.

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Build relationships.

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Provide value.

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Delay satisfaction.

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And the biggest of them all… 

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Stop being a victim.

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