Kareem Elsorafy

Full transcript: Kareem Elsorafy on London Real

1:13 This is London Real, I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Kareem Elsorafy, recent graduate of our Life Accelerator. Welcome. Thank you very much, Brian. Tell us about you. Where are you from originally, and now, and what do you do? So I’m from an Egyptian background, but my parents used to work in Kuwait, so that’s where I grew, and I did my medical degree in Egypt.

1:47 But I always had the passion to come to England, which my parents wouldn’t allow me to do as a teenager, so I always wanted to do it. Got my degree done; as soon as I did it, I just came straight to England. I’ve been here since 2005. Okay, and what do you do here in England? So I’m an orthopaedic registrar, and I’m on a program that will qualify me to become a consultant, as long as I pass all my assessments and exams, and that’s probably what I’m passionate about.

2:18 Okay. And I really look at the holistic side of things, so rather than just wanting to be a surgeon, I like the side of health and well-being as a whole. Did a few men’s physique competitions. You still training? I still am training. Okay. Not dieting for a contest or anything, but yeah. Yeah, no, that’s how you’re in shape.

2:43 And what was going on, internally and externally, for you to come out and seek us for this Life Accelerator program? What was happening? So internally, I was feeling that I needed a balanced life. I always used to focus on one thing at a time, but then I couldn’t get the perfect balance between my personal life, my dedication to my career and work, family and friends.

3:25 And I just thought, look, I’ve just got to find a way to still do the things that I enjoy while I am developing in my career, etc, and becoming a better person. Okay, so you found you got too focused on work, or too focused on yourself, and other things would be sacrificed? Yes. Okay, all right. And why London Real?

3:49 Well, when I did my men’s physique competitions, I chose Louis, Dan Peña’s son. Okay. So he used to always tell me, oh, my old man’s appearing with Brian on London Real, they’re doing the buffer, or they’re doing the movie. And I used to watch these things, and I just felt that it made a lot of sense. It was logic, it was to the point, not beating about the bush at all.

4:27 And I’ve known about it since 2016. Always wanted to join the Life Accelerator course, but I always found resistance and reasons not to join. So the first time I came across your Life Accelerator course, as part of my job I move hospitals every six months or a year or so, okay, and I was somewhere with poor internet connectivity. I was like, yeah, it’s all online, fine, we’ll do it later. Until really I was able to pull the trigger recently. Okay, I’m glad you did. Thank you.

5:14 So you pulled the trigger, you get dropped in to the group, you meet these people from around the world, you got modules, live calls with me, an accountability doc. What are those first two weeks like? So it was easy, and I’ve been fortunate that I had some time off that I decided not to go on holiday, and decided to develop myself.

5:38 And I did one of those free Zoom conversations with yourself, and we started talking, but for some reason my laptop battery switched off. Yeah, I remember that. And I really felt that I could relate to you talking about how your mom used to micromanage your life, and she had plans for me that she wanted to happen. So I just felt like, look, this guy’s got the same issues as me, he’s into life and fitness, so what’s a better mentor than yourself to guide me to better myself?

6:32 Okay, nice. And how did you find the coursework, those first couple weeks? The first couple of weeks were easy, being on holiday, right? So I was a little bit ahead of my group. I think they are the foundation of all the course, and everything keys in together if you do it in that specific order. So understanding my mind and how to control the monkey in my brain, avoid procrastination, was really, really helpful to allow me to get the inner peace and the calamity and prioritising things to a better degree.

7:15 Okay. What did you struggle with, what was the hardest part of the course? Modules five and six. And why? So module five, I just found that I had to think quite a lot before taking action. All the other modules are like, yep, that’s how I’m gonna plan it, this is what I’m gonna do, this is what I’m gonna do with it. But I just found that I was taking a lot more time to think about how I’m going to action purging somebody, or finding a mentor, speaking to people, giving first before you ask someone, and not saying the mentor word.

8:02 As part of my job we get allocated mentors, but they might not be the best people to guide you to where you want to be. I could really understand the value of having somebody that can guide you. I’ve had mentors in the past that have helped me quite a lot. So at some point I used to race cars, and I had a mentor then, was leading the championship, and he helped me develop myself.

8:46 Module six, I struggled with the three-hour walk. I got lost, I ended up in a field before dark, and there were a few cows trying to follow me, so I ran to the end of the field, had to go up a fence onto a road, which was dark. There were no taxis or anything, and I ended up knocking a door on an elderly couple, and the old man ended up driving me back to my car. It was a bit funny.

9:27 Did you come to some good conclusions on that walk? I did. I was able to really reflect on how I’ve developed through the six-week period and how I feel different. People that are close, they have noticed the changes in a positive way. What did they notice about you?

9:55 So they’ve noticed that I’m starting to listen more, and when they ask a question, I am answering the correct question rather than beating around the bush, and I’m just getting more things done. I’m more organised. People that are close to me now know that we can’t just randomly go out or talk at any time; it’s just all got to be planned. Okay.

10:37 Okay, what’s your biggest takeaway from this whole course, and biggest win for you, the thing you’re most proud of? A lot of it. So I’m proud that I and another buddy are in charge of our group for the next twelve months, which is a great achievement, but it’s all down to all the skills that you taught us during the six-week period.

11:06 So it’s controlling your mind and owning the mindsets with the gratitude, meditation, active meditation, getting things done, introducing new movements to what I was doing, and just doing the regular weightlifting at the gym, and repeating it week in and week out, which I felt is amazing. I don’t believe myself. Oh, you got me to eat vegetarian one day. Oh my God, go figure, for a lifter. And are you enjoying these new movement patterns, different things? Absolutely, absolutely. Good man, that’s good stuff.

11:51 Yeah, tell me about the community, these people that you’ve met. What are they like, and what’s it gonna be like being with them for the next twelve months? So we’ve got a mix of skills, people from different backgrounds, from different parts of the world. Rads is an amazing guy, so luckily is the IT expert, and I think that I’ve got more knowledge in terms of fitness and healthy eating, because I’ve been doing this for over four years.

12:36 I didn’t have to learn much during the diet module. I still got to do vegetarian, and I still got to do intermittent fasting, which I found valuable, despite me previously doing a whole dry fast. And yeah. Well done, very nice, very nice.

12:57 Tell me, if someone’s watching us and is thinking about the Life Accelerator, but just isn’t sure, not sure about the Academy or not sure if it’ll change their lives, what would you tell them? I’d just say, come on, is this a question that you need to be asking? You just need to pull the trigger, mate, and get on and do it.

13:13 What are your plans for the next 12 months? Who are you gonna be? So in the next 12 months, I’m hoping that I will own my first house in England, happily married, having a balanced life between work and my social life, still keeping a healthy and lean lifestyle, and having good financial security, having sat at least the first part of my professional exams, and just being a very talented surgeon that’s impressing my bosses.

14:05 I love it. All right, Kareem, very impressed with what you’ve done here. I’m looking forward to the next 12 months. Welcome to the family. Thank you very much. We’re gonna be watching you. You’re one of the team leaders, so thank you, keep these people on track, and let’s do some big things together. Excellent. All right, sir, pleasure. Thank you very much.