Insight Into Success – Farouk Radwan

Posted: 16 Nov 2009 12:00 AM PST

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Farouk Radwan who is the founder of 2KnowMyself.com.  Farouk has authored several books including, “Breaking the Habit Tonight,” and “I’ve Seen God.”  He’s an expert in emotional psychology and has been seen on several Middle Eastern TV channels, as well as in several newspapers, including: OTV, MBC, El Youm TV, Cairo today, Monawaat TV, International Herald Tribune and the el Ahram newspaper.  Currently, Farouk has his own weekly television show in Egypt on the MBC Channel.   

So here we go…

Mr. Self Development: Hello Farouk, thank you for taking time to do this interview.

Farouk:  Thank you for having me…

Mr. Self Development: Let’s get right to it.  Farouk, you’ve experienced success, …so let me ask you, “Why do you believe some people succeed, while others fail?  What are the underlying factors associated with success?”

Farouk:  Even though there are lots of factors that contribute to one’s success, I believe the strongest factor is a person’s belief system. We can all succeed, but some of us fail because our limiting beliefs stop us from giving our all.

Mr. Self Development: Have you failed?  Is failure a pre-requisite for success?

Farouk:  Yes, I have failed many times, but each failure teaches me another method that doesn’t work; each failure takes me closer to success.

As an example, before my Web site started getting 400,000 visits a month, the idea of starting a Web site was rejected by friends, relatives and lots of others; I went on to experience many failures before my Web site became a success.  Failure is sometimes a must before success can happen.

Mr. Self Development: You’ve written about successful relationships in the past, “Give us the key to a strong lasting marriage?”

Farouk:  Choosing the right spouse.

Some people get into relationships because they feel lonely, or need attention, or need a way to escape from the emotional pain they are experiencing. This is called a “love addiction,” and it happens when people start relationships just to feel good about themselves instead of doing so because they love the other person. If a relationship is based on a love addiction it will probably fail.

Mr. Self Development: You’ve written a book titled “I’ve Seen God,” What is this book about? Why is it important?

Farouk:  Let me start by saying that this book has nothing to do with religion or religious beliefs.  This book provides solid scientific facts for skeptics, and proves there is no other plausible explanation for our existence without the creation and presence of an almighty God.  Even psychologists who don’t believe in God’s existence believe that a person’s belief in a higher power can heal emotional wounds and help them recover from depression. 

I believe if we have solid proof of a higher power then we can lead better lives with this information.

Mr. Self Development: What advice would you give to the younger generation seeking to make the most of their lives?

Farouk:  I could summarize this in one word, balance! Through proper time-management a person can have fun, enjoy his/her life, and experience success.  It’s the incorrect choice of priorities as well as procrastination, which allows “time to pass” without us enjoying our lives and achieving our desires.

Mr. Self Development: You sometimes write about financial success, how important is financial success in the success equation? 

Farouk:  Money might not be everything, but it’s certainly very important. Without financial success a person might feel helpless in certain situations. This helplessness could result in excessive stress, or depression. Both of these negative and unwanted moods will affect a person’s life and might prevent them from succeeding in other areas in their life.

In short, financial success is one element in the system and sometimes the lack of a certain element can shake the entire system.

Mr. Self Development: Your site talks about breaking bad habits, what’s the secret to breaking a bad habit?  Can bad habits be broken overnight?

Farouk: Understanding why we need these habits (e.g. emotional addiction, escapement from reality, feeling bored, or compensation) is the key to breaking a bad habit.  Once a person understands the real reasons behind their habit they will be able to alter these root causes thereby breaking the bad habit (instead of trying to change irrelevant factors that would never help anyway).  For example, a guy may be addicted to smoking because he hasn’t learned how to deal with stress; in this case all methods might fail to help his addiction, until he learns how to appropriately manage his stress.

Mr. Self Development:  Many people have dreams and goals that they would like to accomplish, but are unable to find the motivation, how does one find the motivation to fulfill their dreams?

Farouk:  Motivation comes from either visualizing the expected reward, or from feeling the pain that is associated with the current state. For example, if want to lose weight I would imagine each day how life would be like if I reached my ideal weight, or on the other hand, I could keep reminding myself of the pain I am feeling presently because of my extra weight; pain which will go away once I get to my ideal weight.

Some of us respond better to rewards, others respond better to pain, so using both positive and negative motivations together will surely have a great effect.

Mr. Self Development:  Your writing particularly helps people get rid of emotional baggage?  How did you come to find this calling? 

Farouk: Actually it all started when I found myself loaded with unhealthy emotions that I didn’t understand.  Those unhealthy emotions were making my life intolerable.

I kept reading about such issues until I became qualified enough to help people get rid of such bad emotions; of course after first getting rid of the unhealthy emotions myself.

Mr. Self Development:  Do you believe that everyone has a calling?

Farouk: Yes, each one of us has a calling and we should do our best to fulfill it because it might be the road to finding our success in life. For me it all started by reading self-help articles to cure myself, nowadays I make a living from my self-help website.

Mr. Self Development:  Thank you for your time.

Farouk: Thank you.

That concludes this interview.

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