Dr. K, his wife Karen, and their newborn Jordan.
With my hat in my hands, I come to you with sad news.
My dear friend, Dr. Kareem Samhouri, almost died last week. He’s now been in the hospital for over 2 weeks with a mystery illness and infection that doctors STILL don’t know how to cure or even find the source.
After over 6 surgeries, with more on the way, Dr. K (as most call him), his wife and newborn baby Jordan, are now looking at over $1M in medical bills, despite their insurance coverage.
I think we’ve all had experience with the failure of our medical systems whether personally or witnessing friends or family deal with a financial crisis AFTER overcoming their medical crisis. I know I have! I racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars after my car accident.
It’s hard for me to see him, someone who has helped thousands of people gain back their health and lives, go through this as a 33-year-old healthy individual with a newborn baby.
The doctors are baffled, and I have to do something…which is why I could use your help. But first, I wanted to share something with you.
Many of you may not know this, but Kareem was a huge influence on App Empire and a true mentor to me and my team. He’s a top notch marketer, networking master, and an incredible business leader. Even more impressive is that Dr. Kareem is a highly sought after Physical Therapists and Personal Trainers. He is one of the major reasons why I am now able to live a functional life again without pain.
Here are just a few things I learned from working with Kareem that I wanted to share with you today:
1. Give and you shall receive x1000.
I remember the first time I was at event and hanging out with Kareem. Everyone seemed to flock to him like he just came from the red carpet dressed to impress. I remember thinking to myself that this made no sense at all. I thought, “Yes, he has been successful, and yeah I guess he is a handsome lad, and yep he is a doctor, but what was the big deal?”
People kept running up to him all night, wherever we went, giving him hugs, and trying to help him in anyway they could like he was Jesus. It only took me about 1 hour of hanging out with him before I figured it out. Kareem continually helped people with their injuries or ailments whenever he came across someone in need. He fixed them right on the spot and taught them how to keep recovering for when he wasn’t around.
Through his selfless dedication to others, Kareem has built up a large network of friends and followers from all areas of life (which is how I was fortunate to come to know him). People often ask me how to find opportunities through networking. This is exactly what I talk about when I say don’t focus on what people can give to you, focus on what you can give to people, and your network, business, and life will flourish. Giving is also the ultimate gift you can give yourself, and there is a measurable chemical reaction explaining why it feels so good.
One of the first things he asked when he was working with App Empire was, “How can we help more people live the life they love?” That was always his first question. Whether working with customers, training an employee, or helping someone start their business, he would find out what motivates them as an individual and use that to inspire all areas of their business and life. The more value you give to the world and the more you help others, the more doors will open for you in ways you might not even be expecting.
2. Great Communication = SUPER POWER!
Dr. K is one of the best communicators I have ever seen. He’s poised, with the right tone, has strong eye contact, and he uses words like a ninja slings throwing stars: tactful and poignnant. Aside from his uncanny ability to talk 100 words per second during meetings (picture an auctioneer), his brain is able to break down complicated projects and piece them into tangible chunked objectives.
Did he learn all of this in school you ask? No. How did he get so good? Practice. He took classes, read books, and even practiced on friends and family until his skill was at such a high level he could lead an army with little effort. I’ve seen him use this super power to our benefit countless times. From big business deals all the way to getting free drinks in a bar in Costa Rica. He would find a way to make it happen through his communication.
Personally, he helped me realize that the communication I was using at times was incomplete and confusing to those around me. Communication is still something I practice every day as it is a muscle and you should never stop exercising it. In fact, I think it is one of the most underutilized super powers that if you master becomes a complete game changer. If you ever get one thing from me, get this. If you want to have an epic life, become wealthy, help people, and do all the fun things your heart desires, you MUST become a master communicator, and never stop asking the question of how you can get better.
Check out my article and video tutorial on how to improve your communication instantly.
3. True leadership gains followers by inspiring them.
Indecision is often worse than being wrong. Kareem showed me that moving forward was better than not moving at all. It’s really easy in business to be stagnant on big emotional decisions and drag your feet. You can even whiteboard it out and feel like you’re making progress, when really it’s just a better looking way of stalling.
Some of you know my advice on flipping a coin to make the final decision in stalemate situations. Even if you’re wrong, or as some call it “fail,” you learned something and you kept moving through it. Make a decision, move forward, analyze, and keep growing. You both most likely have the same goal so pick up the pieces and keep going. Leaders make progress by keeping their eye on the prize with steadfast emotional intelligence.
But being a leader is more than just making decisions, it’s also about inspiring those around you to passionately work for a common goal. Dr. K refuses to let people sacrifice their core values just because they have a “job” or are an “employee.” Before hiring or working with anyone on a team, he finds out what’s important to them individually. He then ties those values or goals into our business to motivate everyone to a common goal. Most companies do not do this, and this is such a key element for motivated employees in the culture we live in. The companies that do nail this are companies like Zappos, and you don’t have to look very far to see just how good they are doing.
This is something you can easily apply to your own team! Take the time to listen, and create a culture that meets the needs of your teammates. For example, a team member is looking to travel to Indonesia in the next year, so as a bonus for hitting a milestone, timeline, or business achievement, you’ll contribute $200 towards their travel fund or pay for one of their excursions abroad, if they meet that goal.
4. Strategize and Energize.
I am a big proponent on brainstorming and white boarding, and when I met Kareem he showed me another level. He called them “immersion sessions,” which he has been doing for years with his patients.
It would be a very long, intense day/s but by the end we would have some massive results. (We would of course take breaks to laugh, eat, or jump in a hot tub.) It also showed me how helpful it is to work with someone else and take your “blinders” off. When you’re working with yourself, it’s really hard to see what you may be missing.
The trick is to do all of your major brainstorming and strategizing at once. Have one “think tank session” a quarter, then take time to lay out your execution plan for the next couple months. And then, execute.
Do this every quarter instead of having the same recurring brain storming session every week. It’s a waste of time, money, and worse yet, energy. Whenever these sessions happen it completely reenergizes the whole team. Everyone gets on the same page and has a plan of attack to focus on.
5. Make work fun and get better results!
Work retreat in Costa Rica.
If there is ever someone that has influenced me to live a life that I love, it is Kareem. He is a huge advocate that working, living, and loving life do not have to be mutually exclusive. Kareem is always aware of how important it is to make work fun.
“You spend so much time at work, why wouldn’t you make it fun?”
I’ve never had more fun brainstorming sessions than when I was working with Kareem. We’d be holed up in a room for hours coming up with crazy ideas (maybe a little too crazy), but it never felt like work because we were inspired, motivated, and amped on the possibilities of life and business. The guy is electric and he brings that passion out of you.
It’s often hard as a remote business to put the “fun” in work. If you don’t make a conscious effort, you and all your employees will spend their days plunked down in front of a computer. This is extremely deteriorating for moral, creativity, productivity, and will hurt your business.
Do you ever feel like you were working on a project for months, only to finally come out of your hole and realize you were developing with blinders on? I’ve seen great app ideas completely miss the mark because they weren’t able to step back and look at their business with fresh eyes. The easiest way to do this? Break your own pattern and have some fun.
I’m serious. Step back, get outside for an 1 hour, maybe don’t look at the project for a whole day, take a stay-cation, and come back to the project with a whole new outlook. Give yourself a reboot and add more fun and play into your daily routine.
Dr. K goes above and beyond making sure, not only himself, but his employees have fun because a happy team is a productive and inspired team. YOU are not your business, your team is.
With all the wisdom and insight I’ve learned from Dr. K over the past couple years, I wanted to share how you can help a great healer.
Kareem remains under constant surveillance with more surgeries on the way, as doctors search to find the answers, and his medical bills now over $1M. We all feel helpless during this time.
So I’m reaching out and helping the only way I know how: to my AE community and friends.
To support Dr. K and his family during this time, we set up a GiveForward fundraising campaign where you can donate to help support and save Dr. K (whether that’s $5 or $500 – every bit helps).
How can you help? 1) Donate (every bit helps) and or 2) Spread this to your friends.
To also show you how much I appreciate this kind gesture I’ll be giving away prizes as a token of my sincere appreciation.
1. All you have to do is donate over at the GiveForward fundraiser page here:
Save Dr. K GiveForward Fundraiser
100% of proceeds go to Dr. K’s medical bills (which is now over $1M and growing as he continues surgeries to fight the infection).
What you’ll get:
- $100 or more donation: All 3 months of AE Monthly (you’ll receive all 3 months at once – over $800 value).
App Empire Monthly is seriously the best possible series of videos I could put together on how to make your business well-rounded, effective, and top-of-industry. More importantly, it was an opportunity for me to share all of the lessons I’ve learned to help ‘craft’ success in my life and my business.If my brother, parents, or best friends asked me for advice on how to become successful, this is what I’d tell them. I’m opening myself up to you, 100%, in this 3-part series.
- $2000 or more donation: 2 hour business & life coaching call with Chad Mureta. To see the effect my consulting has had on people’s businesses, read the case studies here.
- $10,000 or more donation: Day with Chad Mureta (hang out for a full day with me as we go over your business, eat some awesome food, lay out your personal systems & routines, + have a little fun with an activity in beautiful San Diego, CA)
2. Email us your email confirmation from GiveForward of your donation to the campaign (to [email protected]), and our support desk will send you details on how to collect the above.
To learn more about Dr. K’s condition please check out the GiveForward campaign.
Again, whether that’s $5 or $500 – every bit helps Kareem and his family. Thanks so much for your time! Please share with your friends, every bit helps!
Kareem – if you’re reading this. We love you, and wish you a speedy recovery.
Humbly,
Chad Mureta