When I wrote about this episode before it was released, I said, sometimes the beginning is an end. Let me explain.
I think it’s fair to say all of our guests are driven by something hugely powerful. Some of them are aware of it, but don’t even fully understand themselves where it comes from or how it works – just that it’s there and a part of them.
A gut instinct, an inner voice, something – spurring them on, from where they are to where they want to be.
From Episode 1, where Neil told us of his mantra – Earn Your Stripes. The thing he told himself all through the pandemic where he had to train on a fixed bike at home initially, and as he pushed himself as hard as he could to be better, faster, stronger – his sofa tried to seduce him to give up and dive on.
Countering that, the voice inside calmly pulled him back on target. Earn Your Stripes. Make the effort. Don’t give up. Remember the goal.
Evelyn Glennie, who’s always known for her the target was ‘solo percussionist’. It didn’t exist in the real world, but because she’d visualised it in her mind, she knew she could give it form. And she did.
Grant Stott, who, for his entire life always yearned to be an actor, grabbing every single opportunity along the way, learning and crafting and building his way towards the goal.
And then came a slight change. Mostly similar, but subtly different. Daniel Priestley, the super successful entrepreneur whose world view and understanding flipped completely in one moment. One experience.
And now in Episode 5, we meet Dr Zareen Roohi Ahmed, another of our guests whose life changed forever, in an instant.
Sometimes, the beginning is an end.
Yes, because, believe it or not, that is where the journey we discuss in this podcast, starts.
I’ve known people who’ve lost children. Seen it up close. They’ve been hollowed out by the experience, never to grasp anything resembling even close to a normal existence ever again. They’ve merely marked time for the remainder of their lives, a husk of the human they once were. Unreachable.
Zareen is not that person, but I can tell you with as much certainty as I can muster she would have nothing but love, empathy and compassion for them.
Her own path took a different route. An astonishing one. And I desperately want for you to hear it unfold over the course of this episode. So that you too can understand and believe from the depths of tragedy and despair, can come the most amazing things, and the enviable ability to lead and inspire.
I spotted Neil posting this earlier.
“The most inspirational person I know”
One other thing which has stuck with me since we recorded this episode. At one stage, Neil asked Zareen, where she found the confidence to see a problem in the world and simply dive right in and try to solve it.
Please, listen to this episode and learn about Halimah, and the school and college, and Gift Wellness and Zareen – and be inspired by the gift of this story.
The 1% Club Podcast 