In April, our High School students and CAC faculty and staff were inspired during this year’s virtual National Honor Society (NHS) Induction Ceremony by our keynote speaker, alumna Rania Badreldin’ 87.
Not only was Rania a member of NHS at CAC back in the day; but since graduating from CAC, Rania has accomplished quite a lot on her journey of almost 30 years of experience. She was definitely the perfect role model and inspiration for our High School students to listen to during her keynote address.
Rania is an international speaker, seasoned entrepreneur, happiness consultant, transformational and mindset coach and NLP & Hypnosis Master practitioner who is passionate about helping leaders and entrepreneurs across the globe find happiness, success and fulfillment.
As Founder & CEO of The Family Hub - a social enterprise that delivers knowledge for wellbeing - Rania brings 25 years of experience, wit and authenticity to the stage and has a unique ability to inspire, engage and connect her audience.
Rania is also a certified Parent Educator and proud mother of three and most recently a grandmother. She holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 women program with AUC and Babson College. She has served as a mentor and speaker on women's entrepreneurship and leadership, parenting, and wellness on countless occasions. Rania has delivered two TEDx talks: A TEDxTanta talk on "Respecting Kids" and TEDxCairoWomen talk on "The Secret of Work-Life Balance" and presented at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Rania is a member of the International Positive Psychology Association and the Greater Good Science Center - University of California, Berkeley as well as being a World Happiness Agora host.
Here is Rania’s inspirational address:
“Thank you for inviting me to share this special occasion with you, in these unprecedented times. Who would have imagined we would be having a virtual NHS induction ceremony! Although I live down the road and have often visited the campus, I’m thrilled to be back at CAC in a formal capacity. CAC wasn’t only my high school, it’s where I met my husband who happened to attend the 1987 24-hour marathon. 3 kids and a grandchild later, and 33 years after I too was in a ceremony similar to this, it’s great to be here.
Receiving the invitation to speak at this virtual ceremony meant a great deal to me because it showed me one important thing, also an NHS pillar: CHARACTER. Here was a group of individuals who had ADAPTED to the circumstances, kept an open mind and insisted on moving forward. Life is NOT about WHAT the circumstances are, it’s about how we choose to respond to those circumstances.
As a happiness consultant I’d like to share an important finding with you. You might be surprised to hear that according to scientific research, only 10% of our happiness comes from our life circumstances. As it turns out 50% of our happiness is genetics. We are all born with a certain baseline of happiness that we then build on, and we can all be happy. So let’s put that aside. And 40% of our happiness is under our control, and that’s where all the power is. It’s in our thoughts and our actions, and through those we have the power to shape our lives and work towards what matters most to us, no matter what the circumstances are.
Now I wasn’t always a happiness consultant. For over 25 years I’ve been a successful leader and social entrepreneur, at least by other people’s standards. Yet things were not always as they seemed.
I’m the founder & CEO of The Family Hub, a social enterprise that delivers knowledge for wellbeing through the popular digital platform Mother & Child and The Family Experts Network, a technical consultancy arm that collaborates with UNICEF and the government on national parenting campaigns, policies and initiatives.
Yet somehow for most of my career I wasn’t satisfied with my achievements. I often felt stressed out and frustrated, with very little time for myself and the feeling that I'm not getting anywhere.
When I talked to people about my work, which I was highly driven and passionate about, I would often say that it’s as though there is a train pushing me and I’m running in front of it. That’s how I proudly described how self-motivated I was, mentioning that I would often get out of breath and exhausted from all the running.
A few years ago, during my NLP and Hypnosis training, I was able to turn all that around. I learned more about myself, and learned the true meaning of happiness and success to me. I delegated and freed up my time to do the things I WANT to do and decided to study the science of happiness and positive psychology and I became a happiness consultant to teach what I learned.
I now work smart, instead of hard, create even more value for others and I have better health, and more peace of mind, fulfillment and financial rewards than ever before.
And remember that train? Well I finally realized that it’s ridiculous to be running in front of the train, so out of breath, so often. I finally realized that all I need to do is get ON the train, pick my favorite seat and bring people on board with me so that together we can enjoy the ride!
It’s important to know that the roadmap, recipe or manual for life and happiness is INSIDE each one of us.
Happiness is subjective; it’s personal and individualistic. It would make no sense to look for it outside of ourselves, because it’s OUR happiness. Yet we often do. We often expect others to make us happy. Or we look to other people’s definitions of happiness or success in order to follow them. That’s like asking someone for the manual of their coffee machine so you can use it to operate your smoothie maker or vacuum cleaner.
So when it comes to defining happiness or success, YOU create your own definition. Yes, you can be inspired by others! Just make sure all the suggestions out there aren’t so loud that they are preventing you from being still enough to hear that voice deep inside you.
And now I want to share a few things I learned that made a big difference in my journey.
Over the past few years:
I learned to have faith in myself and to love myself, without thinking that there is anything selfish about that.
I learned that I AM GOOD ENOUGH exactly as I am (we all are!) and at the same time I am a work in progress
I learned that I am DESERVING of all that is good out there, we all are.
I learned to distinguish between what I am responsible for and can control and what I cannot control and simply need to adapt to or let go of.
It took time, but I finally realized that I don’t have to do things alone. I asked for help and received it.
I became open to learning and growing, dealing with negative emotions instead of suppressing them, clearing up past issues, realizing that I am never stuck and can reinvent myself whenever I want.
And all the things that some people thought were “too much” about me (I argue a lot or talk too much or too fast or too loud), well I now use all these traits as an international speaker and master practitioner and coach.
So my message to you is to continue to be the unique individual you are. Just wake up everyday and express that!
Focus and work towards a purpose, something that is meaningful to you and excites you
Stay true to YOU and always keep an open heart and mind!
Dare to dream and set goals and believe that you CAN create the future you want.
Spread love, kindness and compassion. We can never have too much of those in the world
Know that there is no failure, only feedback. Things won’t always go exactly as you expected and that’s fine: there is a good reason for that and a lesson to be learned. Learn it and move on.
And most importantly, make sure to enjoy the journey itself! If you can enjoy, learn and find meaning in the journey itself, the destination almost doesn’t matter because you’re enjoying the day to day, the moment to moment, doing YOUR thing, YOUR way, and that’s what matters most. Thank you.”
