Dr. Rana Al-Falaki
In the pursuit of achieving optimal performance in both personal and professional realms, Hinton Magazine turns its spotlight on Dr. Rana Al-Falaki, Founder and CEO of ALFA Leadership & Wellbeing. As our esteemed December cover star, Dr. Rana shares profound insights into her role as an Optimal Performance Strategist, award-winning author, and transformative speaker. In this exclusive interview, she unveils the essence of her upcoming book, "The Ultimate Achievement Formula," delves into the impact of her previous bestseller, and provides a glimpse into her holistic approach to success. Join us as Dr. Rana Al-Falaki guides us through the transformative journey of achieving balance, happiness, and sustained success, offering a beacon of wisdom in these unprecedented times.
Dr Rana, welcome back to Hinton Magazine, It's great to have you back. For those who may not know of you or seen previous articles could you tell us a bit about what it is that you do?
Of Course! I am the Founder and CEO of ALFA Leadership & Wellbeing where we work with professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, leaders and executives to shift them into being Optimal Performers. That means high performance without the downside of burnout, failed relationships, isolation or lack of balance.
Being an Optimal Performer means you are successful in all areas of life – your professional, personal, social, family, health, fun, financial and spiritual life. It also means and get to enjoy them too! And most importantly – sustain that level of success.
It’s essentially the equilibrium between productivity, happiness and work-life balance.
I do that through speaking, coaching, training and fun experiential events – which is incredibly powerful, and more on that later! You could call me an Optimal Performance Strategist, as well as speaker, coach and author. I’ve won awards for all of them – so as you know, I don’t like to fit into just one box!
I want to start by talking about your previous book 'Women Who Want More': How to create a Balanced & Fulfilled Life.’ Last time we spoke, we indulged in more detail about the book after its then recent release. 4 years since its release, did it do what you were aiming for? Did it have the impact you were hoping for?
I have actually just finished writing my next book! Which is very much based on what I am working on now with Optimal Performance. It’s centred around The Ultimate Achievement Formula and encompasses six essential areas of life to master: Needs, Attitude, Integrity, Limitless, Intuition and Tangibility. It spells out NAIL-IT and that’s what we ensure when working with our clients. That they too NAIL-IT in everything they aim to achieve.
The formula is in fact broken down within each of the six systems to 38 parts, and it encompasses leadership, growth, well-being and fun! Without fun and happiness, we are poor performers and frankly, what’s the point if you don’t aim to be smiling!
To answer your question about my previous book….
It most certainly did have an impact! It became an international bestseller, got brilliant reviews, and I still receive messages today from people saying how it has changed their lives. I am thrilled and that of course is my underlying passion and purpose. To help people feel more balanced and fulfilled!
Interestingly, so many men have read the book and can’t understand why the title implies it’s just for women! That was down to the publisher. The irony is we work with more men than women. I am however thrilled it has and still is touching so many people’s lives.
What was your motive behind writing this new book?
To SMILE!
That is of course an over-simplified but very direct and true answer.
When you smile, when you are happy, when you feel a sense of inner joy – you perform so much better in life. Happiness is in fact a predictor of performance!
your relationships flourish
your communication improves
you are more productive
your energy increases
your decisions are more impactful and
your wellbeing sky-rockets!
By following the formula and adapting the habits described in the book, it will elevate your mood. You will feel happier! You will be smiling!
Why is that important? Well besides the reasons I just talked about, you will feel less stressed! Stress is a huge factor in everyone’s lives! Mental and emotional health are key topics today, and yet is suffering, as is physical health! Stress leads to disease – fact! Disease in which there is no ‘ease!’ That has a huge cost – both personally and professionally; both financially and emotionally.
How can you not only survive stress, but thrive in it? How can you turn it to your advantage? These are just a few issues addressed in the book.
My own story is one of challenge, adversity, struggle and torment. It was all going on inside though. Outside, I only allowed people to witness an incredibly successful woman who was a high achiever and could do anything that was asked of her. The result of all that internalised emotional distress? An unfulfilled woman, with failed relationships, ultimately ill health, unhappiness and an amazing career that brought little joy.
So – as you can hear – this topic is very personal to me, and I am sure to most people.
Away from the writing, your job is essentially helping people become a better version of themselves, a version that they want to be that's why they come to you. This can't be an easy job. What would you say is the most common reason people seek your help?
Firstly – I am going to challenge you on that! I believe that if you are a fully integrated being, then there is no ‘best version of yourself’ – there is just you. What does that mean exactly?
Well the Integrity part of NAIl-IT makes up The V.A.L.U.A.B.L.E. Being Blueprint. This constitutes your value system, authenticity, leadership, understanding vs judgement, ambition and willpower, legacy (purpose) and excitement (passion and enjoyment). When you understand all these elements about yourself, and integrate them into your life, as well as the other success habits that make up The Ultimate Achievement Formula, then you are amazing you – and only amazing you.
Most of our clients are successful in areas of life but not everything. Typically:
- Their sense of enjoyment from what they have has lapsed.
- They are burdened by responsibility
-They fail to prioritise themselves and do things just for them
-They feel trapped by the circumstances of their lives.
-They feel disengaged with their sense of purpose.
-They aren’t having fun anymore.
-They want to feel the energy they had in their 20’s.
-They want to shift in some way to improve themselves.
-They are aware that stress is impacting on their lives
-They want to feel better and be even better
Some of them have a specific goal such as furthering career, improving their business, health or relationship. Others just want to shift and elevate I a more general way.
Everyone recently has been through unprecedented times and with the cost of living crisis, have you seen an increase of people requiring your services?
Absolutely! Now more than ever the emphasis is on mental and emotional wellbeing. Now is the time to act!
If you don’t act – ask yourself ‘what will it cost you?’
Most people recognise when I ask them this question, that when they go to their graves, it won’t be money they wished they had. It will be wishing they had had more time.
Time to be with their loved ones.
Time to make an impact.
Time to leave their legacy.
Time for fun!
In fact, this is one of the challenges we put our clients through at a NAIL-IT Experience. This is our flagship 3-day immersive event where we take clients though a multitude of tasks, exercises, challenges and games that mimic aspects of everyday life in a ‘gaming’ environment. When you learn through experience, you actually learn 90% more and faster, and retain it than if you just read a book or sat in a classroom. This is one of the things that makes NAIL-IT so unique and I love witnessing the transformation our clients undergo in just 3 days.
When we take them through the exercise of writing their eulogies, I visibly see the shift in people that takes place – there an then! Powerful stuff!
If I asked you 'why' you do what you do, what would you say?
It is my purpose. It is who I am. It is who I meant to be. When I am not that person when I step away from it, I notice just how my energy shifts and how I not happy.
I mentioned my story in brief earlier. Everything that happens to us, happens for us. I use all my 25 years as a leader in healthcare where I treat people with chronic disease, shift their mindset and behaviours. I combine this with my award-winning business acumen, my own personal struggles and approaches to overcoming them, as well as my formal training and experience with clients to create an experience that is so powerful in its efficacy.
I know it works and we have very happy clients and testimonials to support that. Smiling and happiness are contagious. Once I get one person doing it, that spreads to others and the effect is amplified. Like I said – powerful!
You self-confess you used to be a 'Wantaholic.' In think many people in the world are like this. However, you talk of an almost emptiness you feel even when you do get what you want. I'm sure there's an extensive answer here but in short why does this happen to people?
There is indeed a short answer here, although it took me a long time to discover it, which is why I love passing that knowledge on so people don’t have to suffer with the emptiness as long as I did.
It’s a lack of self-love.
When you don’t love yourself, you look for external accolades to provide you with happiness. That is only ever transient, so you keep doing, doing, doing and wanting, wanting, wanting to keep feeling the endorphin hit. Quite literally, like a drug.
The people who work with us and attend a flagship NAIl-IT Experience or ask us to provide a bespoke training or event for them, find a way to tap into that endorphin hit every day without the exhaustion and plummet mood that follows if they suffer from what I call ‘Wantaholic Syndrome.’
They feel elated and energised without needing external validation…. And it all starts with loving yourself.
Turning the focus to your '6-step plan', when people hear there are 6 steps to change they can be quite sceptical. How do you reassure people it'll work?
I’m very honest. Like with anything, if you don’t put in the effort, if you don’t do the work, then anything you do will not work. You will continue to fail That doesn’t mean it has to be hard however. Quite the opposite – we aim to put the FUN into personal development.
For that reason, NAIL-IT is not for everyone. I don’t want to see our clients fail. It’s not fun for me or for them. It’s not why I do what I do. So I am very transparent here in saying that if you aren’t ready to make an effort, then don’t even try. All that will happen is you will fail and look to blame the formula rather than yourself.
On the other hand, if you think you might be ready, if you do want change, but feel you need support and help to keep making the effort, then that is of course something we offer and is built in to our program and training process. You achieve 95% more success with accountability, and we want to see our clients succeed.
You assist people in their personal and business lives, how different is the work you have to do between the two? Do you often find they cross over?
You may be surprised here to know that there is very little difference. It stems from leadership. When you are a leader in life, in who YOU are as a person, then that leadership infiltrates into every aspect of your life – both personal and professional.
Sure, the vocabulary may differ a little, but if you think about it, life is never experienced in isolation. You are never just working or just living. The two are integrated. They blend and influence each other. This is about BEING versus DOING. If you focus on the state of being, rather than doing, you will experience far more success in every aspect of life.
Being a leader, being successful, being happy, being joyful, being in flow, being productive, being prosperous. They are all states of how to be. That stems from leadership. That is precisely how we incorporate this training as part of NAIL-IT.
What would you say to someone who believes they may need your help and assistance but for whatever the reason maybe is hesitant to reach out?
Trust your first instinct. It never fails us. After those first few seconds, it’s natural for the thinking brain to take over and this limits people. It’s one of the reasons for procrastination. Irrational thoughts, fears, beliefs can all stop people from being the person we are meant to be and living the lives they are meant to live.
So my response would be to just go for it. Don’t allow fear, worry or concern to get in your way of living an amazing life! If I am not the right person to help you, I will most likely be able to point you in the right direction.
What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? What’s the worst that can happen? What’s the best that can happen? And if nothing else, I will hopefully get you smiling at the very least!
As a special gift to all your Hinton readers, if they are interested in attending a NAIL-IT EXPERIENCE, and I cannot think of a better way to kickstart the New Year, we do have a few places remaining for January, so please do reach out to us and mention HINTON Magazine to receive a special promo offer. Remember – your first instinct is usually the right one!
Something I've definitely asked you before but I'll ask again anyway. If you could give the readers one single piece of advice to really think about, what would it be?
Smile more! Smiling for just 30 second elevates mood, improves focus, increases productivity, shifts mindset, and helps with mental and emotional health – all of which impact on performance. If you do nothing else, force yourself to smile. At first, it may seem unnatural, but I promise you, if you keep doing it, the feeling will accompany the action, and remember – it’s contagious! So you will help others along the way.
Now that is transcendence – which is when you truly master leadership!
Dr Rana, It's been great having you back on the cover again. Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Dr Rana Al-Falaki is the Founder and CEO of ALFA Leadership and Wellbeing, providing both bespoke and flagship training in leadership, personal development and wellbeing. The Ultimate Achievement Formula is designed to optimise performance of professionals, business owners, leaders, entrepreneurs and executives. She and her team provide motivational speaking, coaching, workshops, events and immersive experiences. The NAIl-IT Experience is a 3-day immersive event to achieve optimal performance. Dr Rana is a multi-award winning business owner, international keynote speaker, executive and leadership coach, international bestselling author, and world-renowned global pioneering specialist dental surgeon. You can reach her on inspireme@nail-it.uk
