From Syria to Success: Hussein Hallak's Inspirational Path
Hussein Halak on Embracing Life's Diversity and Mastering Your True Purpose | The Science of Self Podcast
See the entire conversation at https://youtu.be/wOMJATWcOkU
In this episode of 'The Science of Self,' host Russell dives deep with guest Hussein Halak, an accomplished entrepreneur, strategist, and author. Hussein shares his journey from Syria to Dubai, discussing his experiences growing up amid economic sanctions, exploring multiple creative ventures, and the importance of living a life full of exploration. He elaborates on the concept of 'Life Mastery' as a dark art that requires personal touch and adaptability. Hussein also emphasizes the value of uncomfortable growth, continuous learning, and the importance of contributing to and teaching others. Join us for an insightful conversation that bridges personal values, cultural experiences, and life mastery.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:49 Meet Hussein Halak: Entrepreneur and Author
01:40 Growing Up in Syria
04:32 Life During Sanctions and Moving to Dubai
05:57 Passion for Music and Art
07:04 Philosophy on Life and Success
07:34 The Dark Art of Life Mastery
08:26 Embracing True Purpose
09:12 The American Dream and Personal Values
12:59 The Importance of Feedback
13:55 Final Thoughts and Advice
Transcript
You can go to Syria.
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:There's a saying that you can go to any
traffic light and speak any language in
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:the world, and you'll find at least one
or two people able to speak that language.
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:The problem is there is
no solution for life.
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:The solution for life is to live life.
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:That's the only way.
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:And to live wherever you are,
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:The way you talk to a girl is by
talking to girls and the first, the
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:first few time you're gonna, you know,
put, have your foot in your mouth.
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:And then you learn oh, this
works, this doesn't work.
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:But how can you learn how to talk to
people by not talking to people, by going
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:to a course to learn, talk to people.
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:Russell Newton: Hello listeners and
welcome back to The Science of Self,
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:where You Improve Your Life From the
inside out, we have a guest today.
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:This is Hussein Halak.
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:He is an entrepreneur.
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:A strategist, an author, and several
other things From the look of the
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:website tell us about yourself.
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:Hussein Hallak: Absolutely.
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:Thank you very much for having me Russell.
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:So, I'm Hussein Halak I like to
think of myself as, you know,
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:entrepreneur and, which is a word
that I, that I had to learn I didn't
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:know that it, such a thing existed.
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:And recently \an author, I, I wrote
my first book after five tries.
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:I am, enamored and blown away
with the diversity and how
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:much we can explore in life.
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:I love for other people to live
life that way, which is more of an
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:exploratory discovery, journey they're
on and, get the most out of it so
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:that they can have joy, happiness,
and in whatever field that they want.
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:That is my mission and purpose
and that's why I'm here.
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:Russell Newton: Would you mind
giving us, as Americans, that grew
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:up here, some background and let us
understand a little bit about your,
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:childhood and your growing up time?
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:Hussein Hallak: A hundred percent.
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:Syria is a very, very unique place.
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:A lot of people can say that about
their country, of origin, but it is
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:in many ways, a very diverse country.
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:it's an area that had many
empires pass through it.
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:And that impact us in many different ways.
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:So it's a highly educated place.
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:We, we love learning.
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:We love education.
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:we love engaging with
people and kind of reading.
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:it's a brilliant place.
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:However, when I was growing up,
when I was a kid at the early
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:stages, it was, interesting.
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:But then, after that, while
growing up, In Syria was kind
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:of, you could live a great life.
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:people were paid nicely.
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:I remember my parents holding parties even
though we were not a very rich family.
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:We were mid class, middle.
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:But then, sanctions happened and
I remember vividly standing in
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:line to get tea, sugar and rice.
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:in portions, that's what we had as
a family to live until the early
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:nineties when things opened up again.
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:So that's kind of formed my upbringing
and, informed my questioning of why these
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:things are happening, how these things.
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:So that is the atmosphere
that I grew up in.
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:And, Syria is a lot of historic, nice
stuff, but it's also a country that
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:had been plagued with dictatorship.
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:at a later stage in 2008, 2009, and
10, the uprising, until the Civil
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:War in, 2011 where I wasn't there.
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:But obviously all my family and my
extended family, I've lost a few cousins
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:that I grew up with, in that war.
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:Russell Newton: you have so much
to draw from for your history.
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:Hussein Hallak: Funny enough
that you say that because I
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:liked America for the relative.
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:I think that connection between America
and Syria, first of all, that you, if you
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:grew up around a lot of people that don't
necessarily look like you and don't feel
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:like they should exist in the same place.
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:If you go to other places in the
world, you would find people look
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:like each other, have kind of a.
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:certain belonging that overall, I mean,
obviously different countries, different
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:areas in the world, but in general,
Syria is that unique place because if you
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:go to Jordan, you have less diversity.
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:If you go to Iraq, lesser diversity.
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:Turkey, I think has that diversity.
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:But if you go, Syria, Lebanon, they
are, they're known for that diversity
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:of heritage and the diversity of,
belongings As an ethnic belonging,
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:we had all kind of, religions all
kind of sects within the religion.
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:And you live next to each other and
you live with each other and you
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:learned how to navigate those things
we have a saying that religion's for
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:God and the country's for everyone.
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:Russell Newton: And that's great.
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:So is Syria
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:Hussein Hallak: No.
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:Russell Newton: you were growing up, when
did you leave Syria and where did you go?
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:Hussein Hallak: in fact, you are right.
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:after the sanctions happened,
the average salary of an engineer
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:there is a hundred dollars per
month, just to give you an idea.
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:it wasn't enough.
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:So, after sanctions, my family
turned from, a middle class
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:family to, a poor family.
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:We were not making ends meet.
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:in my, teens, I experienced what it's like
to be poor and not having enough money
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:and sometimes not having enough food.
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:we would have, one meal
a day or stuff like that.
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:when I went to university, I started
working to make money to kind of pay for
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:myself And as an adult, even though in
Syria you don't leave your parents' house
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:and live on your own until you're married.
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:So usually it's on your late twenties,
thirties, sometimes even you get
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:married and you stay at, if the
house is big enough, you stay there.
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:So it's a different culture that way.
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:by 2002, I started a company, that builds
websites online that are like games, and
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:we ended up working with a company called
Space Tunes the Disney of the Middle East.
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:We did a great job, and,
they echo hired our team.
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:Now I had no idea what Echo hire mean.
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:a lot of the early beginnings.
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:I had no idea what I was doing.
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:I was just trying stuff because
there was no other thing to do.
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:they ended up loving what we
are doing and that gave me the
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:opportunity to go to Dubai.
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:So in 2003, I landed in Dubai
and started my life there.
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:Russell Newton: Very interesting.
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:you talk about painting, you're into art.
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:What kind of music do you play
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:Hussein Hallak: I played a,
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:Russell Newton: you ever in a band?
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:Hussein Hallak: yes, I was,
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:Russell Newton: Excellent,
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:Hussein Hallak: my first dream and the
dream that I would leave everything
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:for, well, almost everything is being
a, you know, a headliner in a rock band.
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:It was my fascination.
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:I loved, white snake, Metallica, they,
the purple, you know, whoever I, I
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:was fascinated with, with rock metal.
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:and, and I joined, it's, it's a
small community in Syria because
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:it's an Arabic country, but there is
a small community that loves, rock.
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:In fact, rock is very big for Syrians
and in the Arab world, especially
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:the Levant area, there's a small but
powerful community that loves, rock.
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:So I ended up headlining
several bands there.
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:I had my own groupies was kind of famous.
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:I trained my voice and played guitar.
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:I loved the guitar, everything
that I got a chance to do, I did.
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:I headlined the band.
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:I drew paintings actually
exhibited them, and caricature.
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:acted in university plays as well.
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:everything that I had the chance, it was
like somebody says, well, there is this.
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:It was like, okay, let's try it,
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:Russell Newton: it.
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:Hussein Hallak: so that's one of the.
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:Philosophies that I encourage people to do
is that life offers you a lot of things.
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:it's okay to build a career, but stop
trying to act like this career is the
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:only thing that's available to you.
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:I'm vehemently against the idea of
focus, the way it's presented right
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:now, that focus is the way to success.
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:you need to define success
in a different way.
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:And that's how I lived my life.
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:And I, and I'm, and I've
enjoyed it thoroughly.
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:And of course there was ups and downs
all the time, but that's the way it is.
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:Russell Newton: Hussein is the
author of The Dark Art of Life
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:Mastery, why The dark art.
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:Hussein Hallak: Hmm.
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:Russell Newton: is Life
Mastery a dark art?
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:Hussein Hallak: Because it's
not straightforward and it'll
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:look differently for each one.
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:I like this, out of Harry Potter.
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:I like when they were doing potions.
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:things blow up in your face, even though
the teacher is there and telling them,
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:here's the potion and they have the
book, but somehow the personal factor.
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:There's that wizard, factor
that they have to apply.
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:So there is the formula, but there
is also your personal take on it.
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:it's art and it's dark because you're
kind of feeling your way through it.
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:you don't know how it's gonna end
up, how things are gonna unfold.
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:So that is, the atmosphere that I
wanted to tell you can get life mastery,
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:but it's something that you have to
work at It's not something you can
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:open the book and say, oh, okay, I
do 1, 2, 3, and I got life mastery.
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:Russell Newton: your phrase, embracing
true purpose, that encapsulates
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:a lot of things, I think, that
we talk about frequently here.
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:Understanding your personal
values and making sure that your
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:actions and your lifestyle blend
in with those personal values.
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:Is that what embracing true
purpose encompasses for you.
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:Hussein Hallak: Yeah.
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:a true purpose is not something
that sounds nice, like, oh,
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:my purpose is to help people.
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:It's, and for me, it's active.
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:It's active choice rather than, you
know, surrender so what does that mean?
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:I started my life wanting to become
a doctor because I wanted to open a
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:hospital and help a lot of poor people.
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:Life unfolded in a certain way
and I had certain opportunities
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:to take, and there was certain
doors that are closed in my way.
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:Does that mean I let go of that?
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:And does that mean I'm stuck with
that purpose No, I learned I can
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:choose something different because
the moment has shifted I think the
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:American dream is quite unique that way.
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:The idea of the American dream, doesn't
come from, just what people teach.
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:if you look at, the immigrants who landed
in New York, you would come from nothing.
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:You would come, let's say be Irish
for example, and even your Irish right
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:now, if you're Irish, you're considered
white and you're considered privilege.
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:But at the time, Irish people
were kind of, looked down upon
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:So if you're new to a country and
still you can build yourself up.
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:And become anything, you can become a
billionaire or something as a measure
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:of success and these kind of things.
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:So it became kind of, it's not
something that is told to people
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:as much as it's something that was
observed as the All American story.
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:And I think it's unique to America
because only in America was the country
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:where you could land from anywhere and
become something so much more than you
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:could ever become where you come from.
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:I think it's uniquely American.
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:the idea that you can become anything.
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:meant that every door is open.
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:And that's not true, because just
because you can become president doesn't
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:mean you should become president.
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:for example, I can become an
artist, but doesn't mean I should
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:become an artist because maybe
I have nothing to contribute.
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:So the question that needs to be
asked in my opinion, is what is
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:the thing that matters most to you?
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:And what is it that you want
to contribute to the world?
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:Russell Newton: Is a participation
award, something that is, prevalent
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:outside the United States?
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:Hussein Hallak: Yeah.
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:I think there is nothing wrong with it
to give people, participation awards
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:as long as it says what it says.
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:if you put everyone on equal footing,
as in like if you scored 10, goals
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:in a match or something, you are the
same as someone who just came, that
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:creates a false equivalence in people's
minds and doesn't say the truth.
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:I'm a very advocate of the facts
and the truth, being part of a
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:team, everybody plays a role.
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:And that is I think, where it comes from.
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:I'm a big believer in that if you look at
a company, it's kind of like when Kennedy?
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:I think when there was a space program
they asked the janitor, a famous story.
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:What is your job?
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:And he says, I'm helping
put a man on the moon.
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:in many ways, keeping, the desk
clean of the scientists and making
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:sure nothing is out of place.
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:These are important roles.
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:Everybody in society
has an important role.
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:the idea that.
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:Only an engineer or a doctor.
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:That's why you hated it In fact,
if you look at, let's say, I don't
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:know if it's prevalent among people
from my ethnicity or coming from
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:Syria, but I hated that fact.
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:I loved artists Picasso was the
biggest figure, or Dali or, the
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:musicians I listened to, these are the
people I dreamt to be I didn't dream
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:to be a doctor as a status symbol.
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:That was a status symbol because of the
influence of what you can do America has
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:all of the beautiful things about the
human, state and all of the ugly things,
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:because that's who we are as human beings.
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:Russell Newton: is fantastic at
the concept of you could, become
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:CEO of whatever company, but is
that what you should have done?
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:without knowing those internal
values that's where it all starts.
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:Without understanding that and being true
to that, you can't do what you should
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:do, whether it's, more or less than,
some of the other things you could do.
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:Hussein Hallak: That is, you,
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:Russell Newton: interesting.
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:Hussein Hallak: when you said that you
reminded me of, these reality shows,
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:like, America's Got Talent you see people.
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:show up there and you wonder
how did they get there?
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:Didn't they hear their own,
you know, their own voice?
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:Then people around them hear
them, why didn't they tell them?
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:it's fun to make fun of those
people, but it's very revealing
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:of the human condition.
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:When I started to play guitar.
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:the people I looked up to, and wanted
to, imitate were the best in the world.
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:And I was like, that's where I want to go.
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:I think there's this, I don't
know the actual name of it.
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:I think it's like, self-awareness,
but it's self-awareness of your
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:ability to measure your own
level in a certain skillset.
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:Like to understand are you good or not?
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:Or how good are you?
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:I wrote once that feedback is
not feedback until it hurts.
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:We hate feedback.
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:There's nobody, I don't care how
open you are, how comfortable,
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:and confident in yourself.
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:true.
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:Feedback hurts.
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:the person I love the most.
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:my wife, has the harshest feedback for me.
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:It's so hard I can count on my hand,
the times in my life that she said,
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:you've done something good Whenever I
show her an article or play something,
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:it's like, you could have done this.
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:I remember even writing poetry for her.
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:This is iconic.
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:I wrote poetry for her and she
sent it back with corrections,
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:grammar, corrections on my poetry.
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:Like I'm writing poetry for the
woman I love more than life itself.
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:And she sent it back with
corrections to the grammar.
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:Russell Newton: At the bottom just
because you can doesn't mean you
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:Hussein Hallak: Exactly right.
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:And I can tell you that woman has made me
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:Russell Newton: a piece of information
you'd like to put out there, service you
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:provide, a book you'd like to recommend,
or just a final piece of advice, I'd
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:ask you to share that with the listeners
as well take as much time as you like
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:and you've answered the, when we got
through that information, we'll do a
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:wrap up and be done with the episode.
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:So take it away.
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:Hussein Hallak: Thank
you for the questions.
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:Like everything in your life need to
align with what you're working on.
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:You need to have an area in your
life where your openness allows
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:for new ideas to enter your world.
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:And you can't do that without
opening yourself up to the things
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:that you disagree with, to the
things that, sometimes annoy you and
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:sometimes, make you uncomfortable.
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:Another way of saying it.
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:if you're not uncomfortable,
you're not being open enough.
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:You're not engaging in life deeply enough.
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:You have to engage in life to the
point that you touch something that's
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:uncomfortable, and then you ask
yourself, why am I uncomfortable?
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:that is something that has been
highly impactful in my life.
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:The other thing that balances that out,
because if you wanna be uncomfortable,
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:you have to find areas of comfort.
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:I think that is searching
for what real joy means.
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:we engage in our lives.
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:I've had this, vision board that used
to have on it climbing Mount Everest,
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:having a red Mercedes, becoming, the
best coach like, Anthony Robbins.
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:And I had all these nine things
that I wanted in every area of my
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:life to be the best, and I asked
myself one of the most important.
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:Things and I continue to ask myself, What
is the one thing that if I don't have
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:right now, nothing in the world matters.
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:when I asked myself that question,
it was around:
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:it was a happy, healthy family
at the time I had my second kid.
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:and it was so present, it was so
shocking that I didn't have any of
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:that in my vision board, even though
they're the most important thing for me.
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:that thing that matters most to you
is something you want right now.
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:And if it's present right now,
nothing in the world matters.
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:if you anchor yourself in that and
seek it, you will experience joy,
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:through joy is the path towards it.
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:having it again and again, you
never get satisfied from it.
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:It's like, if you love ice cream,
or some sort of food that it's only
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:available in seasons, not always
available, you know, and when you
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:have it, you're like, oh my God.
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:That's it.
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:That kind of feeling that the
thing that matters most to you will
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:give you every time you have it.
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:You can never get bored of it.
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:And once you experience that, you
start seeing things that you want to
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:accomplish, which are perfectly fine.
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:Being rich, having the cars,
having whatever it is that you
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:want, you start seeing them as.
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:Nice things to have when you have them,
you're happy a little bit, but then
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:they become normal like anything else.
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:So you differentiate true joy
from moments of happiness,
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:Russell Newton: versus
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:Hussein Hallak: Exactly.
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:And that has been the most insightful
thing that I continue to engage with
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:and learn what it means to me and
continue to explore areas of depth.
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:to answer your second question, I would
definitely love for people to engage
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:with my writing and engage with my book.
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:You can find me@husainhalek.com
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:and for my book.
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:And what I would only ask is that find
something to teach people around you.
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:That would be my calling for people.
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:Find something you can contribute and
teach people around you if there's
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:one practice that I've done in my
life that opened up doors that I've
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:never thought that would open is, the
willingness to contribute when I thought
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:I didn't have enough to contribute.
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:sometimes we think I have to be,
at this level to help others.
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:I remember playing guitar
for people when I was just
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:training, it wasn't to show off.
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:It was more like I wanted the joy of us
engaging together and I wanted, so when
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:you want to contribute even as little,
it's such a, such a great thing and it
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:opens up many doors and you start loving
up because you wanna contribute more.
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:It's, once you experience
it, you want more.
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:that is my wish for your audience and
whoever's listening those are my answers.
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:Russell Newton: Fantastic.
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:Thank you very much.
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:It's been a great time.
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:Thank you, Hussein.
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:Hussein Hallak: Thank you
for having me Russell.
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:I enjoyed it thoroughly.
