Starting all over again

2 years ago I made a decision that completely changed my life. And I want to tell you about that day because I believe many of you are considering life changing decisions right now. And my intention is that by sharing this video there may be some knowledge and information that you will take from what I'm about to share that will help you with the decisions that you are about to make in your Life. It was March 20, 2018 and I was hosting my very first Alive experience here in Nosordo, Costa Rica. I was at La Luna, it was about 5:30, the sun was coming down, down and half my group were playing in the ocean, taking selfies, the other half were drinking margaritas at the table. And I'm looking at these group of strangers who a week ago they didn't know each other. And over the course of this week they have come together like friends, loving, hugging, breakdowns, breakthroughs. And it was just the most beautiful, rewarding, fulfilling moment for me. It was in that moment that I realized this is what I want to be doing in my life in that moment. I owned multiple businesses in Toronto, one of them being Blowfish Restaurant, which I've had for 15 years. That even though the restaurant's been very successful for the last two years we had been losing money. I had over a million dollars, my own money in the business. I had just raised another half million, signed a 10 year lease and about to begin a whole new build out to build something completely new. And every cell in my body was resistant. I did not want to continue running restaurants and living that lifestyle anymore. However, I thought to myself, I'm Zark, the restaurant hospitality nightclub guy. Like how will that look if I fail? I'm losing money, I'm disappointing my investors. The truth is, even though I've had all these businesses, I needed that money. That was the bulk of my savings. And it was in that moment that I felt so fulfilled, so alive, so excited that I pulled out my phone and I emailed my partner Tak and I told him I'm done, that's it, I'm going to come back, sell the restaurant off for whatever I can pay whoever's owed money and I choose to walk away. Blowfish had been in my life 15 years. A third of my life had been spent at that restaurant. It was such a part of my identity. Anywhere I traveled, if I met someone who'd been to Toronto, I'd be like, oh, you've been to Blowfish? Oh I love that restaurant. I'd be, yeah, you know my restaurant. In making that choice to Close down Blowfish. I woke up the next day and I had actually felt like somebody had taken a million dollars off of my back. I had been carrying that pressure of that money that was owed to me for so long on my back. It was impacting my happiness, impacting my joy, my freedom, my energy, my enthusiasm. And that next day, I woke up and I felt it was gone. I share this with you because we create this identity based on the job we have, the car we drive, the neighborhood we live in, the watch we wear. We build this Persona, this of who we think we are. But the truth is, we are not our job title. We are not that house in that fancy neighborhood or that beautiful car we have or whatever these things are that we look to define us from. The external. Those are not who we are. That's just what we choose to connect with. And just as we choose to connect with it, we can choose to disconnect with it as well. And why this is important right now is because many of you going through this massive change, your prestigious jobs, all these beautiful things that you may currently own, may not be a part of your future. As we experience this global pause and everything comes to a complete stop, check in and ask yourself, well, who are you really? What are you here for? What do you stand for? The way we work, the way the economy is going to be run, it's all going to be different. We are really living the dawn of the new earth, in my opinion. So if you are home right now for weeks or possibly months, this is a great opportunity to learn, to educate, to uplevel, rather than watching the news and looking for all that external stimulation and distraction. Tune it all out and tune in. Learn about yourself on a deeper level. Connect with your friends, family. Use this pause in a positive way so you come out of the situation better than you went into it. There's so many ways to learn and educate yourself right now through online courses, programs, coaches, webinars that you could be a part of. When I made that choice to close down Blowfish and go all in alive, I didn't know what my life was going to look like from that point. I didn't know what was coming next. Now, over the past two years, I've hosted nine trips, over 100 people in Bali, Muskoka, Tofino, here in Nosara. This year I've got trips planned to Kenya, going to Bali Again, India in 2021, another trip to Muskoka, and all that right now is on hold. I don't know what that's going to look like. When I chose to let go of all the things that didn't serve me anymore, the universe rewarded me with everything I needed. This is so important for you to know because right now you have some very important decisions to make. If you are considering a change right now in career, if you're considering starting a new company rather than pivot for profit, pivot for, for a purpose. Ask yourself, how can you help? How can you give back? What change would you like to see in the world? It's also very important to get clear on what lifestyle do you want to live, because many people grind and work 60, 70 hours a week to make a lot of money to live this lifestyle that even though they can afford it, they don't even have the time to enjoy it. I was making hundreds of thousands of dollars ten years ago. I make a fraction of what I made back then. But I have the most beautiful life now. I have absolute freedom. I work when I want, I where I want, with who I want, and I get to do what I really love, which is help other people learn, grow and expand. If you're questioning, well, what now, the career I had doesn't exist anymore. A job isn't needed anymore, and it is time to pivot, then ask yourself, what are you an expert in? What are you really good at something that your friends call you for because they know that you're going to know the answer? Think about what all those qualities and skills you have are and write them down. See how they can be applied to different industries. Ask yourself, what are you really passionate about? What do you love on a personal level that you would absolutely do for free and then go and do that. My world is upside down right now. I don't know when I'll see my girlfriend or my family again. I don't know when I'll host trips again. But what I do know is that this is all happening for a reason. And we are going to come out of this in a better place than we went into, not just individually, but collectively as humanity. I'm just going to lean into it, trust that it's all going to make sense in the very near future. And I'm going to take care of myself for my physical health, my mental health, going to continue to read, learn to share and connect. And I'm going to continue to support all of you however I can. I'm hosting a series of free webinars where I'm collaborating with my coaches and friends to share knowledge on the various modalities, skills workshops, any knowledge that I feel might be helpful. I'm going to be putting out there and sharing with anyone who wants to watch or listen. Connection is so important and that's why I'm hosting these webinars to bring together my community to meet new people independently. We will get alone, we'll find feel isolated together we will get through this. The webinars will be happening on the Alive Life Facebook group. I'll include that link down below if you have any questions, comments Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like. My email is Zark Fatah. You can hit me up on Instagram Ark Fatah reach out. Let's connect. I could be of service in any way. Please let me know if you're watching this on YouTube. Hit Subscribe Facebook or Instagram hit like share this with anyone who may need to hear this message about starting all over again. Be safe, stay healthy. I look forward to seeing you in the next video.