Three years ago, I packed my bags and moved to Dubai. I arrived with high energy, ready to conquer the market, doing exactly what people told me to do: “Go there, hustle, and you will make it.”

I thought I had a plan. But looking back, I didn’t have a plan; I had anxiety dressed up as ambition.

It took me three years, three painful mistakes, and a lot of wasted time to get to the single result I have today.

Mistake Number one,

The Identity Crisis…

The moment I landed, I panicked. I didn’t look for a job that fit me; I looked for a job that would pay.

I created three different resumes: Majd the Architect, Majd the Corporate Trainer, and Majd the Graphic Designer.

I started throwing these resumes in the face of literally anyone who would listen. I became a different person depending on who I was talking to.

Month after month passed. My savings started to evaporate. The silence from recruiters was deafening. My chances remained the same: Zero.

I went into a deep depression. I started thinking that all my past experiences were just an illusion. I remembered friends back home telling me, “You are so successful,” and I thought they were just fooling me. I am nothing.

Mistake Number two,

The “Normal” Trap…

Desperation forces you to make bad decisions. I eventually landed a job in telemarketing.

I tried to brainwash myself. I thought, “What an achievement! Maybe this is my destiny? I’ll master the stock market, become a wolf of Wall Street, and be rich.”

But deep down, my soul was dying. I was a creative person sitting in a boiler room making cold calls.

It took me exactly 21 days to quit.

I walked out when a training center called me to deliver a session. The moment I stood on that stage, the fog lifted. I thought, “Oh God, I know this feeling. I am a trainer. I was born to do this.”

But the training ended, the paycheck was spent, and the fear returned. The voices around me got louder: “Majd, you can’t survive on gigs. You need a steady job. Be normal.”

So, I caved. I worked as a graphic designer. Then I took a job as an architect. Then back to a graphic designer.

I was bouncing between identities, doing what everyone else was doing, desperately trying to prove that I could be everything to everyone.

Mistake Number three,

The “Perfection” Illusion

But instead of starting, I went shopping.

Finally, I decided to break free. I thought, “I am a talented person. I have skills. I have hundreds of stories to tell. I’ll build a personal brand.”

I looked at what everyone else was doing -the fancy studios, the 4K cameras, the RGB lights- and I tried to copy them. I bought expensive equipment that I am still paying installments on today.

I wrote 15 video concepts. I set up the lights. I hit record. Then, I fell into the dark hole of editing.

I sat there for hours, trying to edit like a YouTuber, cutting and color-grading, even though I am not an editor. I would look at the final video and feel… empty. It wasn’t me. It was a cheap copy of a trend.

I was trying to do everything perfectly, and I ended up publishing nothing.

The “Single Result”

You might think, “Majd, it took you a long time to figure this out.”

Maybe. But this is life. You never move to the next stage until you truly learn the lesson from the last one. Focusing on trends and listening to the noise made me forget who I am.

So, what is the single result of these three years?

Simplicity.

I realized I am not a video editor. I am not a stockbroker. I am a Designer who knows how to speak, and I love teaching people how to create. That is it.

I finally understood that I don’t need cinema cameras, complex lighting systems, or flashy editing to be valuable. I don’t need to copy the “Dubai Trends.”

Starting Over, The Right Way

It took me three years to find the courage to be simple.

Who knows, maybe in the next three years, everything I talked about will remain wrong,

Changing beliefs is growth. Repeating failed behaviors is the problem.

If you are reading this and feel like you are chasing three different lives at once, stop.

Don’t wait for the perfect gear. Don’t wait for the perfect job title. Strip away the noise until you find the one thing you can do better than anyone else.

For me, that’s teaching and designing. And for the first time in three years, that is enough.