Business

5 Steps That Took Abdul Moneeb Ilyas From Rags To Riches

Published

4 years ago

May 1, 2020

What has made Ilyas an Internet sensation, however, hasn’t been his lavish lifestyle (although that’s certainly played a part). It has been his desire to educate his audiences on the importance of establishing good habits, learning from valuable resources, and most of all, reading.

He calls this intersection “edu-tainment,” giving his audiences just enough lifestyle footage that they feel entertained, without losing the educational aspect of his message.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Ilyas and reflect on his journey. How did this entrepreneur with hundreds of millions of views to his name go from rags to riches?

1. Take Risks At An Early Age

Ilyas had the hunger to be an entrepreneur ever since he was a young kid. His first step into the world of entrepreneurship was at Fifteen years old, when he began selling FIFA Ultimate Team Coins.

“I seen an opportunity as I was great trader, I used buy players cheap and sell them for a higher price, Then my friends used to want to buy coins from. This gave me the idea to sell on eBay.’ he said.

In a sense, this is a metaphor for how Ilyas executes his social media content today. He knows that in order to reach large audiences, he needs to give the people what they want and not give them what he wants.

2. Adopt A Lifestyle-Focused Mindset

Part of becoming successful, he said, is about figuring out the lifestyle you want to live and then working backwards. You have to reverse engineer where it is you want to end up, and what you can do in order to get there.

“I always knew whatever I ended up doing, it needed to involve traveling,” he said. “I enjoy meeting new people, interesting people, smart people. I like reading. I wanted a life with a bit of adventure. So I thought hard about what I could do that would allow me to do all of those things. I asked myself what my business would have to look like in order to accomplish those personally satisfying goals. And the personal brand you see today reflects exactly that.”

If you want to live your ideal lifestyle, you need to ask yourself what you can do that will manifest that lifestyle in the first place. From there get excited about that lifestyle and mentality and that passion will overflow into your work and success.

3. Develop A “Daily Brain Budget”

Ilyas, who frequently advocates for digital courses and mentors over a college education, believes there is no excuse for someone to not be reading and learning every single day. From autobiographies to self-help, celebrity stories and beyond, Lopez has built a following off of sharing stories and lessons from every industry that people can learn from.

His theory is that we should all have a “daily brain budget.” What he means by this is understanding how much input you need in order to continue a positive growth curve for yourself.

“If you aren’t prioritizing and setting aside time for your own development, you’re going to fall stagnant,” he said. “You have to make the time, and invest that time wisely, no differently than if you were to invest any amount of money in yourself.”

4. Test, Optimize, Repeat

He went on to explain that part of entrepreneurship is to always be doing and improving. You have to try things in order to know if they’re going to work or not. And, as his grandpa had told him, “Once is luck, twice is skill. I’ve done it more than once at this point, so now it’s a skill.”

5. Build A Personal Brand Around What You’re Best At

Ilyas has a personal brand recognized by millions around the world. But ask him how he’s built that for himself, and he won’t say self-promotion.

“People think it’s a show, but these are just the things I like to do. I built a personal brand around who I already am, instead of who I wanted people to see me as, and I think that’s where a lot of people go wrong. It has to be authentic, otherwise no one is going to get on board,” he said.

He went on to explain that while people can’t necessarily succeed by following his same formula, because each person succeeds in different ways, they can learn from the principles he shares and apply them accordingly.

After all, he said, “If I can do it, you can do it.”

Business

Turning Tragedy into Triumph Through Walking With Anthony

Published

7 days ago

April 18, 2024

Rosario Farell

On the morning of February 6, 2010, Anthony Purcell took a moment to admire the churning surf before plunging into the waves off Miami Beach. Though he had made the dive numerous times before, that morning was destined to be different when he crashed into a hidden sandbar, sustaining bruises to his C5 and C6 vertebrae and breaking his neck.

“I was completely submerged and unable to rise to the surface,” Purcell recalls. “Fortunately, my cousin Bernie saw what was happening and came to my rescue. He saved my life, but things would never be the same after that dive.”

Like thousands of others who are confronted with a spinal cord injury (SCI), Purcell plunged headlong into long months of hopelessness and despair. Eventually, however, he learned to turn personal tragedy into triumph as he reached out to fellow SCI victims by launching Walking With Anthony.

Living with SCI: the first dark days

Initial rehabilitation for those with SCIs takes an average of three to six months, during which time they must relearn hundreds of fundamental skills and adjust to what feels like an entirely new body. Unfortunately, after 21 days, Purcell’s insurance stopped paying for this essential treatment, even though he had made only minimal improvement in such a short time.

“Insurance companies cover rehab costs for people with back injuries, but not for people with spinal cord injuries,” explains Purcell. “We were practically thrown to the curb. At that time, I was so immobile that I couldn’t even raise my arms to feed myself.”

Instead of giving up, Purcell’s mother chose to battle his SCI with long-term rehab. She enrolled Purcell in Project Walk, a rehabilitation facility located in Carlsbad, California, but one that came with an annual cost of over $100,000.

“My parents paid for rehabilitation treatment for over three years,” says Purcell. “Throughout that time, they taught me the importance of patience, compassion, and unconditional love.”

Yet despite his family’s support, Purcell still struggled. “Those were dark days when I couldn’t bring myself to accept the bleak prognosis ahead of me,” he says. “I faced life in a wheelchair and the never-ending struggle for healthcare access, coverage, and advocacy. I hit my share of low points, and there were times when I seriously contemplated giving up on life altogether.”

Purcell finds a new purpose in helping others with SCIs

After long months of depression and self-doubt, Purcell’s mother determined it was time for her son to find purpose beyond rehabilitation.

“My mom suggested I start Walking With Anthony to show people with spinal cord injuries that they were not alone,” Purcell remarks. “When I began to focus on other people besides myself, I realized that people all around the world with spinal cord injuries were suffering because of restrictions on coverage and healthcare access. The question that plagued me most was, ‘What about the people with spinal cord injuries who cannot afford the cost of rehabilitation?’ I had no idea how they were managing.”

Purcell and his mother knew they wanted to make a difference for other people with SCIs, starting with the creation of grants to help cover essentials like assistive technology and emergency finances. To date, they have helped over 100 SCI patients get back on their feet after suffering a similar life-altering accident.

Purcell demonstrates the power and necessity of rehab for people with SCIs

After targeted rehab, Purcell’s physical and mental health improved drastically. Today, he is able to care for himself, drive his own car, and has even returned to work.

“Thanks to my family’s financial and emotional support, I am making amazing physical improvement,” Purcell comments. “I mustered the strength to rebuild my life and even found the nerve to message Karen, a high school classmate I’d always had a thing for. We reconnected, our friendship evolved into love, and we tied the knot in 2017.”

After all that, Purcell found the drive to push toward one further personal triumph. He married but did not believe a family was in his future. Regardless of his remarkable progress, physicians told him biological children were not an option.

Despite being paralyzed from the chest down, Purcell continued to look for hope. Finally, Dr. Jesse Mills of UCLA Health’s Male Reproductive Medicine department assured Purcell and his wife that the right medical care and in vitro fertilization could make their dream of becoming parents a reality.

“Payton joined our family in the spring of 2023,” Purcell reports. “For so long, I believed my spinal cord injury had taken everything I cared about, but now I am grateful every day. I work to help other people with spinal cord injuries find the same joy and hope. We provide them with access to specialists, funding to pay for innovative treatments, and the desire to move forward with a focus on the future.”