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Is there an actual point to doing work we regard as pointless? We had a chat with a Bahraini author, entrepreneur and an employee at one of the largest organizations in the world to find out how to live our lives to our full potential and maximize the use of our time and abilities.

Want to get to know the man who manages to go the extra mile? Let us introduce you to Ali Almossawi, the Bahraini author and entrepreneur behind books such as, “Bad Choices”, “Bad Arguments” and his latest publication, “The Point of Pointless Work,” in which Ali reflects on “the transformative power of hobbies.” While writing is one of his many passions, his talents in technology helped him land a job at Apple, allowing him to make his way to Silicon Valley. In addition to being an engineering manager at one of the biggest technology companies in the world, Ali has also ventured out into the field of entrepreneurship.

Ali had his “first experience of building something of value” in the monetary sense back when he was in middle school, through running a website. An experience which later on turned into writing, with his first book being based off notes he had scribbled down when he was in college thinking about the many ways he could avoid an argument and those little notes opened the door to having his thoughts shared by an audience of over 3 million people!

As for advice he wants to share with all of the dreamers out there? Here are a few commandments that the author likes to follow himself:

  • Turn action into a habit. It doesn’t matter how significant the action is.
  • Surround yourself with the right people. Listen to those whose advice you trust and block out those who are too stuck in their ways. This cannot be overstated.
  • Recognize that you don’t have to compete with anyone. Work at your own pace. Your dream is exactly that—yours. It doesn’t have to compete with anyone else’s.
  • Know that success is partly—perhaps even largely—due to luck. I can say that with certainty. The only way to ensure you cross paths with just enough luck for your work to gain prominence is to keep at it and constantly produce work.

With that in mind, Ali’s journey as an author didn’t stop once he released his first body of work, after getting the taste of publishing a book, he started preparing his second novel, “Bad Choices”, which discussed how Algorithms can help you think smarter and live happier, this time around, he had sold the book to British publishing house, Penguin, instead of publishing it digitally.

Which leads us to the present, fresh off the release of his latest book “The Point of Pointless Work”, and shortly after trying out the options the publishing world provides for an independent publisher and being acquired by one of the Big Five publishers in New York, Ali embarked on a journey to become an independent publisher himself, an experience that he feels will help him experiment more, while paying homage to Cormorant bird, that is native to his home country of Bahrain.

How does he juggle being an author, an entrepreneur and an engineering manager at Apple? Well, he bases his mantra on a quote from the German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which is; “it’s much more fulfilling to be immersed in the full current of human life,” and if that means writing during the little free time he has, then so be it.

What are you going to do with your 24 hours?

Want to know more about Ali and his work? Then head over to his website or give his Instagram a visit!

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