Mustafa Abbas

CEO/FILMMAKER

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” That’s a quote by the American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, and it’s great advice because we have often seen the negative effects of quick or early success. It’s true what they say — struggle grows character. You would not know yourself as well as you do had you never struggled. Your character goes hand in hand with what you are creating. In turn, this also determines what you will achieve. But what it makes of you is always going to be the most important thing.

I pray everyday. This is a religious obligation, but I also believe it adds layers to a person’s character, enhances their abilities, and paves the way for what they are meant to accomplish. The best thing about praying everyday is that it brings discipline, which I believe is the most important element for anyone who ever wanted to achieve anything.

A lesson I learned the hard way was that happiness is not the most important thing in life. It’s about being and giving your best, regardless of what cards one is dealt. There are studies that show that happiness and pleasure are different things and even release different chemicals. People who chase pleasure will find that it runs away from them, simply because they are chasing the things that were never going to bring them anything long lasting, such as materialistic things. Chasing happiness is not the answer either, so becoming your best and giving your best is the main aim. When it’s about giving more than taking, when it’s about becoming the best version of yourself, somewhere along the way you will come across happiness as a result.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. Napoleon Hill. Earl Nightingale. Dale Carnegie. Jim Rohn — all are people who inspire me. I believe these men had true wisdom, the real kind. They were men of substance, knowledge, and sincerity. I believe they understood the way of the world, human nature, relationships and, most importantly, themselves. They wanted to be good men who did good things, and ended up being great men, who are remembered long after they passed.

Becoming the best version of yourself by building your character consciously and proactively. By holding yourself accountable and to the highest standards, and by always facing your own truth no matter how challenging — that is where the answer to real growth lies.

If I could tell my younger self something I would say that he has the right passions. I would tell him to read all the books that I read later in life. I would tell him that there are no rejections in life, only redirections. And I would show him who he is going to become, so that he can enjoy the process and continue to have that faith.