Hi friends,
My name is Walid Harafi. I’m a 20 year old college student out of Montreal, Quebec. I believe in self-improvement, success, fulfillment, and essentially in being great. I live a spartan lifestyle. I’m not big on amenities, I live cheap and I stay out of debt.
Growing up with a single mother means I never had any real fatherly guidance. No father to teach me the ways of manhood and what it means to be an honorable, well-rounded man.
That said, lingering in my soul was a void that I did not know how to fill. For many years, I confined myself to PC games and anime shows. Day in, day out.
I was always a weak, skinny kid. By skinny, I mean all skin and bones. My family and friends would make fun of the way I looked and how my ribcage flared out.
I was the epitome of scrawny.
As I entered high school, I began to develop an interest in bodybuilding and fitness in general. It all started when I first saw Pumping Iron. This one particular scene in the movie struck out to me. As Arnold Schwarzenegger was posing on a hill, I remember thinking to myself: “Man, this guy is jacked. He must get all the ladies. I bet everybody respects him.” I was in awe. From that moment, I was going to do whatever it took to be like him.
When I joined the gym, I weighed 110 lbs at around 5’6. I couldn’t do a single pull-up, let alone lift my own bodyweight.
Nonetheless, that didn’t stop me.
I started reading up on bodybuilding and gathering as much information on diet plans and training programs as I could. Eventually, I found ones that I stuck to and began my journey towards building my body into something that I’d be proud of.
It wasn’t easy, at all. I never had a big appetite so eating for me was the hardest part of it. I remember times when I would stay up late at night, mentally drained and in pain just to finish my meals and hit my macros. All I knew was that it was a necessary sacrifice to pack on the size I wanted.
By the time I finished high school, I weighed around 160 lbs (heaviest I’ve ever been) at 5’8. I was able to pull almost twice my bodyweight (my 1RM deadlift was 315 lbs) and could do things with my body I never imagined being able to do. But most importantly, I had a lot of confidence in myself.
Was my body where I wanted it to be?
Not even close.
Do I still think I have a long way to go?
Absolutely.
As the saying goes, it’s about the journey, not the destination. That is especially true in fitness and self-development. No matter how hard you work, you will never be perfect. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set the bar high. Perfection should never be the goal because the outcome will always be failure. Instead, you must strive towards improvement, growth and understanding.
I don’t plan on developing a bodybuilder’s physique anymore. I still want to fit into regular clothes. Besides, I enjoy cheeseburgers and poutine way too much for that.
I’m proud of how far I’ve come and that motivates me to push myself even harder and improve my weak points. Lifting weights taught me valuable lessons in life. I learned about setting and achieving goals, pushing myself to the limit and above all, becoming a better man.
I’ve always wanted to be free. I mean, truly free. Most people are happy working 9-5 and being confined to one area. Not me. I’ve had a burning desire to travel the world and live on my own terms since as long as I can remember. I knew it would require time and money to get there though.
Growing up with a hard working mother taught me many things. I had to learn how to be independent, responsible and most importantly, I learned the value of hard work. That said, I embarked on a mission pretty early in life. My mission is simple: provide for the both of us and bring us closer towards financial freedom.
After some research, I knew the internet would provide my nest egg. The only problem was that I never was a big tech guy. I knew there was a lot of people making money online but I didn’t know how to get there.
That didn’t stop me either.
I enrolled in college (specifically in Computer Science) and learned as much as I could about cryptocurrencies in my free time. I had invested in bitcoin about a year ago but I didn’t take it too seriously and well, I made the classic mistake of not storing my password somewhere safe and lost my wallet. Since then, I have made a couple investments which turned out to be profitable and I am continuously learning about the ins and outs of trading.
I stumbled upon Steemit recently through 4chan’s “biz” board. I didn’t think much of it at first, and honestly I was a bit skeptical about all of it. I never even read the white paper. I wanted to look at it through the eyes of the mass users as its main goal is to be a social media platform just like any other.
Except it isn’t.
What I see here is a BIG opportunity.
Let me explain.
Firstly, the rewards system is very incentivizing for both content creators and voters. I won’t go into detail on how it works as most of you probably know already (if you don’t, check the FAQ section of the website) but I will tell you this: it just works! With no startup costs, it’s even more encouraging than starting your own blog. Plus, you already have a rich and diverse community laid out in front of you!
Secondly, the very clever thing about Steemit is that all users end up with Steem, making everyone an investor with a stake in the growth of the currency. In addition to that, the website is still in its very early stages meaning that there is a lot of room for potential growth and expansion. The developers are very hard-working people and I know that they will one day bring this platform to places beyond our imagination.
Thirdly, and fundamentally, Steemit could change the way we vote. There are many companies who are using blockchain technology with a token-based system to control and decentralize the voting system, ensuring an “unchangeable” vote. What Steemit does, in this case, is provide this technology “proof-of-work.” We, as a community, are all contributing to this and bringing this life-changing technology one step towards reality. It’s time that we, as a population, take complete control of our future and in deciding who we want to elect as our leaders.
My main goal on Steemit is to inspire my readers to take charge of their lives, find their confidence and to get them as fired up about it as humanly possible.
I will share with you my experiences and what I learned from them on different topics.
Ultimately, my aim is to encourage people to become stronger, determined and more positive. It all starts with a change in mindset.
Positive thinking, positive outcome.
All the best,
Walid
