Please
tell us about yourself.
I am Abdul
Samad Khan, CEO at Youth Impact. I am based in Islamabad with my family. I consider
youth empowerment as a purpose to live – that keeps him helping people discover
and maximize their potential. Having a second life after recovering from
cancer, he became a passionate dreamer with a strong belief to live an
impactful life for self and others.
As an educator and trainer, I derive my philosophies
from various sources including the powerful events in his life, extensive
traveling, aspiration for learning, a strong faith and a drive to leave a
legacy.
What made you choose what you are doing right now?
I had been in quest of finding the purpose for
which I was created. With graduation in computer sciences, I got a chance to
work in a corporate training company, where, while attending leadership
workshop, I realized that this is something coming out of my heart. There I got
on the track of helping others realize, discover and utilize their potential. A
sense of inner satisfaction and realization of creating an impact on others’
life is what I enjoy most in my work.
Tell us more about your typical day.
My routine life can easily be segregated into 3 types, i.e. conducting
trainings, meeting people and time for my family. A typical training day in
outdoors starts before dawn, with an excitement about bringing a new experience
in the life of the participants. I meet my team members to review plan of the
day, and then action starts. This could be a day full of survival challenges,
trekking in a remote mountainous valley, navigation through un-known territory,
working in teams to solve a problem or anything similar which takes them out of
their comfort zone. The evenings are spent around bonfire or establishing a
camp village, reviewing behaviors and actions, cooking meals with limitation of
resources and being thankful to what we have received. Roughly speaking, half
of my life is spent while traveling or training.
What do you do when you are not working?
My favorite leisure time is spent with
my family including teaching my son how to climb a mountain or ride a bike and
playing with my daughter.
Tell us the best part of your work
The best thing about my work is that I
don’t feel like working. I consider myself as a blessed person whose passion
and profession are combined into one.
Where do you see yourself and your work in 3/5 years?
Youth Impact will have an impact on the
hearts and souls of more than 100,000 youth all over the world in next 5 years,
where these young people will be role modeling to create a world with peace,
tolerance, love and respect. Youth Impact will be known as a leading youth
organization in the region that aspires the high potential youth to feel proud
for their association with it.
What do you think of the world's obsession with technology?
Technology with its all benefits has shifted
a balance in our day to day life our basic values like relationship and
humanity, nature and environment have suffered. We need to make conscious
efforts to bring this balance back into our day to day life so that we leave a
better world behind us.
Who is your inspiration/role model?
In history, this is Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH), who inspires me with his leadership. He just had not an inspiring
vision but also took action to elevate the human values.
In today’s world, I am blessed to have
some amazing people around me who inspire me whenever I needed an uplift. Syed
Azam Jaffar, for his selflessness, Esha Iqbal for her pursuit of
purposefulness, Hasan Bashir for his sense of ownership, Jawaria for her care
and love…
If you could meet
anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would say to them?
I would like to meet Imam Ghazali to
seek his advise on how can I be a man of action – not just of words.
What is your favorite holiday spot/food/gadget?
I am a daydreamer who keeps one foot in
realty. My life is full of fantasies. I aspire to be at a lake, beach or water
front with the view of smooth, silent and blue waters as I had experienced at
Maria Islands, Australia, Langkawi Malaysia or even Khapur Lake.
Another fantasy always takes me to a
wooden hut, in the shadow of a snow capped mountain, with lush meadows in front
of it, and white water streams flowing through them – as at Beyari Forest,
Kaghan.
What is your next project?
G77 - Developing a team of young leaders
in Pakistan who are self motivated, willing to be change agents, demonstrate
high level of values and ethics and can inspire the disheartened youth of
Pakistan with their character and action.
What is your message to all teenagers?
We have been created as ‘Best of the
best of the Best’ amongst other creations. And the first step towards being the
best is to know about your-self, spend your time and energy in finding who you
are, why are you created and what legacy you have to leave behind?
What is your message to all Pakistanis?
While my interactions with youth all
around the world, I have found the Pakistani youth are amongst the most
passionate and talented. They have a burning desire to bring prosperity and a
positive change, the only thing that is required today is to help them find
their gift, purpose and destiny. For Pakistan and especially its youth, i am an
optimist to the extent of madness.
What is your message to the world?
Humans are the major constituents in
this world, who are different, diverse and unique in their languages, cultures,
religions and way of living. These differences do not imply who’s right or
wrong rather these should be considered as differences only. This is the beauty
of our world, we need to communicate and bridge these gaps so that we leave a
better world with more love and respect for our next generation.
