https://youtu.be/JsOU7BBkzSs
Abdullah Boulad is the Founder and CEO of The Balance, an exclusive luxury rehabilitation and recovery treatment center specially designed for Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, VIPs, and celebrities. He is also the author of Living a Life in Balance. We discuss the basics of psychological management, how to live a life of balance, and dealing with toxic traits in your business.
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Practice Psychological Management With Abdullah Boulad
Our guest is Abdullah Boulad, the Founder and CEO of THE BALANCE, the world's most exclusive luxury rehabilitation and recovery treatment center that is specially designed for ultra-high net source individuals, VIPs and celebrities, treating addictions, mental health issues, and eating disorders. He's also the author of Living A Life In Balance. Welcome to the show, Abdullah.
Thank you for having me.
I think you are going to bring us some unique and interesting information. I always like to learn about the background and the entrepreneurial journey of our guests. Yours is interesting because you were born in Lebanon and grew up in Switzerland. You went from investment banking to running a larger rehab and recovery center in Mallorca. That is a unique path. Can you share with us how you got here?
I was born in Beirut, Lebanon. I was a little boy when we moved to Switzerland, around seven years old. In Switzerland, I had my journey as a foreigner growing up in a different country, but also bringing with me the burden of the war-turned country where I spent the first years of my life. What I think over the years has shaped me personally growing up in different cultures. To understand and develop the idea of why different cultures, ideas, perceptions, limited beliefs especially, and racism could affect a person.
In my case, it was pushing me further to achieve more. This is where in Switzerland, my journey continued. I studied Architecture first, then Business Administration with two MBAs later on. I went into Healthcare Psychology at a later stage after different incidences in my life where I thought it was time to change. This is it in a nutshell. From an entrepreneurial perspective, I feel that I have always had a mind of creation and productivity and wanted always to do something to create.
That's a defining feature of entrepreneurs in many cases. What strikes me is that you started your career as a venture capitalist, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and it feels like 180 turnarounds towards the healthcare field, and now you are taking care of people who have mental health issues and other health issues. What caused that turnaround?
I was very successful in what I was doing. I was helping entrepreneurs, startup companies, venture capital and businesses to accelerate into growth where I invested my own money and co-investing with others. I loved what I do on the one-hand side, but I was completely overworking. I was doing too much. As an entrepreneur, you tend to work 24/7. You don't have breaks, reflection, or relaxation time. With some other health incidents within my family, my son when he was born, and my wife during her pregnancy issues and these health issues brought me together with overworking and lacking focus on my business.
I landed with a heart attack in a hospital. That was my turning point. To think about, “What if that was it of my life being here on Earth and is it what I wanted to achieve? Have I achieved what I want to achieve? Not in terms of creation, but in terms of fulfillment, and is it the right time to go?” This is where I started thinking about, “What is it I want to do here on Earth?”
This is a bit now spiritual and philosophical but I think this is a question every one of us has to ask ourselves at some point, even as an entrepreneur or a business manager because you want to know where you are going in the first place. I started to dig into the psychological side, what makes us human and interact with each other and a lot i...