As the euphoria of the revolution begins to fade, some people may be facing disenchantment as life gets back to normal, write Hanan Radwan and Shareef Alsayed Ramy, once an ambitious graduate, is today an embittered 28-year-old. Holding a degree from the Faculty of Commerce at Cairo University, a certificate he once believed would open the path to his dream of working in telecommunications, Ramy today feels that five years of his life have now gone past since he graduated. He is still unemployed, and while he waits for opportunity to knock he is aware that his options may also be fading away. Like many other people in similar situations, Ramy hoped that the Egyptian revolution would grant him his dreams, one of the reasons why he was so enthusiastic in backing the demonstrators in Tahrir Square. However, now that life has returned to normal, Ramy finds that he has reverted to his previous downcast mood, disapproving of the ways things are and even of the revolution itself. Ramy's case may be typical of many of Egypt's unemployed young people, some of whom may have perceived the revolution as being the harbinger of immediate and progressive change. However, can a revolution really serve as a quick-fix remedy for life's ills? According to Dr Mohamed Eldemellawy, director of the Saudi Heart Association and a self- development consultant, and Dr Omar Galal, chair of paediatric cardiology at the Prince Salman Heart Centre, also in Saudi Arabia, effective change can be brought about through one's own perceptions of life. While revolutions can provide an enabling environment, individual success, they argue, comes about through the control of personal attitudes and actions. Both these originally medical doctors have become involved in the area of self-development. It all started almost two years ago, when Galal, heading a newly established unit at his hospital, met Eldemellawy at a dinner party and complained to him of the absenteeism, poor skills and low motivation of his staff. Acknowledging the importance of attitude transformation and skills development as the source of success in work and life, both doctors then teamed up to develop what they call their "life model". Described as "the path that we can all walk through and use as a context for powerful perception and effective thinking", the life model is an amalgam of several models of change management and is predicated on managing three components: the body, one's journey in life, and the medium in which one lives. Managing the body includes not only eating well, exercising and getting proper sleep, but also giving proper attention to the mind through creative and critical thinking and to the heart through the control of the emotions. The second component, the life journey, aims to see life as a whole, the most important moment of which is in the here and now. Managing the present through the proper retrieval of past experiences and the development of future plans is the key to success. "Many people like to dwell too much either on the past or on the future, forgetting that life is all about the word 'now' and living in the present," Eldemellawy explains. No less important is the third component of the life model, the medium, which underscores the need to maintain healthy communication with oneself and others. "Many of us blame others for things that go wrong in our lives," says Galal. "Some of this may be true, but we can only change things by working on ourselves, instead of waiting for our environment to change." The environment in Egypt is showing signs of change thanks to the revolution, however. "For the first time, I smelled freedom in the air," Galal recalls of the day he returned to Egypt after the revolution. "People everywhere were smiling, tolerant and optimistic." Yet, the revolution has also created a need for effective perception management approaches, such as the life model, as Eldemellawy points out. "The young people who brought about this revolution were leaders because they had perceptions and goals which they fought for and for which they were willing to die," he says. "Before the revolution, the environment in Egypt was not favourable, but they did not let that stop them from pursuing their goals. This is the kind of perception that we must all have in order to live a better life." Galal concurs, stressing the need for people now to build on the successes of the revolution. "We can't expect the revolution to solve all our problems," he notes. "But if we don't take advantage of the positive environment it has created to change our attitudes to life and to our work, we will go back to the days before the revolution and will never change for the better." Some may find this easier said than done. One typical case is that of an employee at the Ministry of Social Solidarity who commented on condition of anonymity. "I'm very proud of the revolution and what it has brought about, but for me nothing has really changed as a result," he said. "I am dedicated to my job, but my superiors are not supportive. I feel that I am the one who does most of the work in my department. My colleagues just come in to chat, and then they leave early." Responding to this example, Eldemellawy recalls the case of Mohamed, another government employee, who was also dedicated and who constantly chafed under the unconstructive actions of his supervisor. Jealous because Mohamed had a college degree, while he had only a secondary school certificate, Mohamed's supervisor constantly irritated him, disparaging his ideas and rejecting his reports. When his supervisor ordered that Mohamed's desk be moved to a remote corner of the department, close to the bathrooms, things came to a head. However, refusing to be discouraged, Mohamed used the opportunity to observe the amount of time wasted by his colleagues in chatting and smoking. His observations led him to write a report on the productivity losses incurred by the department through these practices, and this report eventually earned him a promotion. In Ramy's case, which both Galal and Eldemellawy recognise may be typical of many of Egypt's disgruntled young people, a job offer in a telecommunications company might not be the best solution to his work woes. "Making one's happiness dependant on a specific profession is narrow-minded and impractical," Galal comments. "The way to succeed is just to start anywhere. The important thing is to believe in yourself and to keep trying in order to fulfil your dreams." For many unemployed hopefuls like Ramy, such advice implies accepting work in other fields in order to gain experience, while at the same time seeking opportunities, such as training or low-ranking posts, in the desired field of work. The important thing, Eldemellawy points out, is to maintain a healthy perception of the situation and never to relinquish one's dreams. After all, there is more than one road to any destination. "You can reach India from Egypt, New York or even the North Pole," Eldemellawy says. "As long as you know where you want to go, you can start out from anywhere. It may take longer from some places than from others, but as long as you believe you can eventually get there, you will."
