From getting uprooted to upskilling
Five years ago, Engy Olama found herself along with her family in a new country. In her earlier country of residence she had worked as a Curriculum creator and educator for over ten years but now she had to quit her job to make her family settle down in a new place and it wasn’t easy.
Adapting to a new place, new people, new rules & regulations -everything seemed so challenging.
But amongst all these uncertainties she had the one thing on hand that she didn’t have before: “time.”
Time allowed her to reflect on the past 10 years, and she started asking herself one question, “you’ve accomplished a lot, but how much did you enjoy it?”
Once the family settled down, she started looking for something new to learn. However, this time, she decided to do something different, something that would teach her to enjoy her life and learn to handle new situations.
She started her search and stopped at the advertisement that said, “Become a certified Happiness Coach with Happiitude.”
She joined the course and Oh boy! She didn’t have an iota of inclination that it would be a life-changing journey for her.
Engy says “. For the first time, I learned how to stop the internal fight with my thoughts. I was equipped with different tools that helped me cope and deal with myself. “
Having tasted this freedom she felt it was her responsibility as an educator to pass on this knowledge and help others because she felt this was something that was never taught in schools, colleges, or post-graduate certificates.
For her it was “the sooner the better “. She immediately started putting her learning into practice by launching a 30 days happiness challenge program. The success of this program gave her the confidence and a deeper desire to pursue her passion further.
During the same time she joined a new school. The beginning was challenging, but living by happiness values and beliefs that she had learnt came handy in dealing with the challenges.
She says “I noticed how my leadership style changed. I became more compassionate and intentional. I learned to set boundaries and forgive for no reason. I learned to take my time to grieve, recover, regain my energy, and stop judging. Thanks to Happiitude, I learned to accept that I am only human. I now know how to control my thoughts, especially when I think of the future. When things don’t happen my way, I focus on what I can control. I keep repeating what I have learned. I am ENOUGH. I am WHOLE AND COMPLETE.
During the pandemic, her academic meetings started with well-being check-ins, and many times, she put the agenda aside and continued focusing on teachers’ well-being.
Seeing the impact it was creating, she decided to share her voice with a broader community and has successfully launched a much needed happiness course for educators. She has been getting a tremendous response for this course.