Fashion Forward at its first season was the “it” event to attend and be seen at in the highly fashionable and glamorous city of Dubai. The event consisted of fashion focused talks by prominent individuals from the industry, cat walk shows from regional designers, and a number of social events and parties.
The event program ran over a period of three days. But since I am the type of person who lacks the amount of energy required to pull off a three day in a row social event, I decided to skip the first day. Nevertheless, I was at the venue for all of the second day events! I won’t get into detail of everything that I did, but I must say that I had a nice nostalgic flashback when I attended a talk by Toby Meadows from London College of Fashion. I didn’t get a chance to take a course with Toby when I did my course at LCF in 2009, but attending a talk by someone from LCF is always a great thing. He gave us insight and tips on how things work in the fashion industry in his talk titled: How to get a job in this industry.
I would love to post all of the good pictures that I managed to take on the two days that I attended the event. But unfortunately my laptop is acting up and it’s taking me ages to open the image files because of the technical issue. So until that is resolved, I will only be posting a few pictures from the event. I was able to attend the following shows:
Dima Ayad
Ezra
Toujouri
Michael Cinco
Amato
Ayesha Depala
I personally could see the great amount of hard work and effort in all of the designers’ work. Each designer had a unique signature style that was clearly reflected in his/her collection. And I’m proud to see that level of work showcased by designers from this region. I also greatly support local talent and home-grown concepts and events. Since I’m from the region and I grew up and lived most of my life here.
Fashion Forward’s after party was as glamorous and fashionable as the event itself. We all chilled at Fort Island listening to funky and lounge tracks. Beauty was the key word that night; beautiful faces, designs, and most importantly a beautiful spirit.
Kudos to the organizers of this highly successful and well-structured event. Thank you for all the effort you extended and we can’t wait for season two!
I will be honest and say that I got introduced to Jack Canfield a couple of months ago by my neighbor at the time, in an effort to motivate me into working harder and becoming successful. I am sure I have heard of the motivational speaker and author’s best-seller book series: Chicken Soup for the Soul. But I didn’t get the chance to read anything by him until my neighbor presented his book: “How to get from where you are to where you want to be – the 25 principles of success” to me. I found the tips and advice in the book very useful and simple to follow. As you read through the principles, you will feel more confident and motivated to work harder and ask for things you might previously have fears towards them. The author’s words make you believe that anything is possible and that you are capable of achieving your dreams as long as you believe in yourself and are willing to put in the hard work and effort required to reach them.
Actually, I had won an invite to the social dinner with Jack after submitting my own success story 🙂 I basically explained how I managed to successfully change careers from a very rigid field (IT Support) into a much more creative one (lifestyle journalism). And although I still need to work on making profit from what I do, I believe that I am on the right track to making it happen.
There was a full-day workshop for the success principles, which I unfortunately didn’t win a ticket for! And after the workshop had ended, we had a Q&A session with the author. Jack answered each question in a highly informative and elaborate way. And made sure that the person found his answer helpful afterwards. I was so glad that my career specific question had been answered without me having to ask it! Actually, another guest had asked a similar question and I was happy to get a positive and definite answer. To help you understand more, the person had asked Jack about the challenge of not being an expert in a specific field and knowing that there are others who are far more knowledgeable than you. How do you overcome such a situation in your career? that question exactly describes my dilemma! I have been trying to get a role in publishing in Dubai for the past three years! I have taken a related course in London, have done internships, and most recently have started this blog to add to my credibility. But until now, I have not been able to secure a role or to get paid for doing what I love to do most: writing.
This was Jack’s answer: whenever you set a goal, three things come up:
Fears
Considerations: thoughts about why it’s not possible.
Road blocks: things that actually exist and prevent you from reaching your goal.
The fact that you are not an expert in the field is just a consideration. Don’t listen to it. It’s part of the process. Don’t let the consideration be a stop sign. Let it be a yield sign. He then went on to say that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at anything. Which is equivalent to seven years of intense work. However, it can be less if you work with a master. You need to give yourself permission to be a learner. Plus, you may already be two years ahead of other people, if you had been working towards your goal for the past two years. That means that I can proudly say that I am over three years into my learning process 😀
Another important point that Jack discussed was that when you set a goal, it’s not so much to achieve it. What matters is developing your consciousness and mastering. If you can release the fear and overcome the road blocks, you become a master. The more you challenge yourself, the more mastering you will do. So the main outcome that you need to achieve is: the more you can master yourself and your life.
Some other insightful tips that Jack mentioned and I would like to share with you are:
Impatience with achieving your goals leads to focusing on not having the goal. That’s why low attachment to deadlines is better.
You don’t have to do big things. Do small things with love. ~ Mother Teresa
The secret of zen: just be yourself.
Allow yourself to follow what makes you feel alive and good. Joy is your internal guiding system.
And the most insightful advise that Jack had given was that when we are gone from this world, all we can take is our consciousness. That’s why your main purpose should be developing your consciousness, as opposed to growing rich and becoming extremely wealthy.
Honestly, I loved Jack’s words of wisdom and advice. I felt that I had learned so many things in those two hours or less that I spent listening to him answer the audience’s questions. His answers helped bring perspective to things that I was wondering about and didn’t have answers to.
I highly recommend Jack’s books and learning materials to everyone looking to become more successful in anything in their life. Whether it’s career, relationships, finances, Jack’s books can greatly help you achieve better in all areas of your life.
There was a debate going on about the spiritual teachings of people like Eckhart Tolle and how it contradicts with the ideas of being wealthy and attaining material things. Jack answered that question clearly as well. And I will not get into the answer, but I will share with you my personal experience on this. I had read Eckhart Tolle’s books before starting my career change journey, and his books inspired me and gave me the power and strength to make big decisions in my life. However, I have been unemployed and being supported by my father financially ever since I read his books! I even joked about this with a lady from the seminar at the end of our evening. So since I only recently read Jack’s book and have started following his advise, I might start to get results in the near future 🙂
I believe that balance in everything in life is essential. And as long as we can learn how to keep a balance in everything that we do, then we should be alright.
I will end this post by explaining to you the title that I chose for it. Since my neighbor at the time had given me Jack’s book, and since it took me ages to finish reading it, I have written a dedication to my friend who lives on the same floor as me, and intended to give him the book. But luckily I won a ticket to attend the social dinner with Jack and so I got a chance to get Jack’s signature on the same book before giving it to my friend to read it. So now the book has three different dedications by three successful individuals 🙂 Yes, that’s my success story and I’m sticking to it whether I become financially independent or not 😉
Race Course at Meydan Hotel (the venue for the workshop)
View from the workshop room’s window
Another buggy ride!
Jack during the Q&A session
Dedication from my ex-neighbor and mentor
The dedication that I wrote for my friend from the floor!
