Omar Itani thought he had all the time in the world, until one day he found himself blacked out on the street, broken from an accident, unable to walk. It shook him to the core and reminded him that there’s more to life than just merely living—there’s the unparalleled thrill of ‘feeling alive’. So as soon as he recovered, he took a leap of faith, he left his job at Google and stopped talking about starting a business, or traveling around the world, or becoming a writer. Instead, he just did.
Omar Itani is a writer, an ex-Google, founder of Lovers of The Sea, and an advocate for doing meaningful work that sprouts from purpose-driven creativity. His work has been featured in Thrive Global and major Medium publications such as Mind Café, The Startup, and P.S. I Love You. He has lived in six countries, traveled to over 40, and is a certified diver and sailor. He has a background in Marketing and holds a Master’s of Science in International Business from Ivey Business School & CEMS Global Alliance.
Time Stamps:
2:20 Omar shares how an accident that left him unable to walk shifted his perspective on life and helped him transition from always talking about the things he wanted to do in life to actually doing them
4:31 Shelley discusses the idea of mortality motivation
6:35 Omar shares how reading Atomic Habits by James Clear made him realize that the transformation he was looking for needed to start with change on the inside
9:28 Omar shares about his realization that in order to create sustainable change and master your craft, you have to be willing to stick with something for the long term
11:17 We discuss the importance of falling in love with the process and not the outcome
12:51 Omar explains his philosophy that real happiness comes from the alignment between being and thinking and doing
14:40 We discuss the struggle of just ‘being’ in a culture where we are always doing
15:59 Omar gives advice and practical tips for getting into the ‘being’ state
18:55 Omar explains his life philosophy of slow living
24:50 We discuss the definition of success
30:34 The conversation continues to explore the idea of abundance when you are working within your purpose
38:45 Omar shares his vision and dream for his writing
40:33 Where you can find Omar
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