Sabirul Islam - Young Entrepreneur World

HOW 25 TEEN-TREPRENEURS SUCCEEDED AND LEFT WORLD LEADERS SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS

Copyright 2012 Sabirul Islam

Cover art: Opal Works Pte Ltd

Published in 2012 by Marshall Cavendish Business
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ISBN 978-981-4382-75-5

Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD

Sabirul Islam possesses the unique ability to inspire and encourage young people in our ever-changing and dynamic world. His success as an entrepreneur in his youth is a testimony to what young active citizens can achieve in our society today.

Not only has he inspired young people with his writing, he has also driven himself to accomplish, through education and business, what most people can only dream about. His motivation, enthusiasm and hard work empower him to achieve his goals while having a positive impact on the people around him.

Sabiruls desire to share his knowledge and skills with others stems from his deeper intention to improve the work ethic of the youth of today. It is very encouraging to witness his unstoppable spirit. Sabirul is someone who does not believe in boundaries as he strives to be a part of the movement to create a better world.

Being an avid reader, I look forward to learning from Sabiruls compilation of leadership, success and vision for the future. I am pleased to provide my support to Sabirul who is a recipient of the 2010 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award for Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneurial Accomplishment.

As a social entrepreneur myself, I know he has the wisdom to help make the world a better place and inspire other young citizens to pursue success which can be achieved at any age.

Enthusiastically,

Roland Kwemain

2010 JCI President

I would first like to thank Sabirul Islam for giving me the honour to write this foreword on a topic so close to my heart.

I remember sitting at my little white desk in our first house upon moving to England when I was 13 years old, dreamily gazing out of the window and thinking: There must be a better way of doing things in this world, and if we are changing policies that affect young people, then young people should have a say in it!

This desire for change marked the beginning of my 14-year-long journey in the youth sector.

Imagine if a fairy godmother told you: You can either draw randomly out of a hat what will determine the world you live in, or you can tell me what you want and Ill try to make it happen. We would probably go for the second option if given a choice; so why is it then that so many of us leave it up to chance instead of standing up and having our voices heard, and being proactive on issues that matter to us? Yes, being proactive wont get us results as easily as having a fairy godmother clicking her fingers and giving us what we want, but certainly it would be more realistically achievable than if we did nothing.

During my years within the youth sector, I have seen young people who stood up and changed the world; young people who had the courage to change laws, policies and culture in the world we live in.

Its not easy being a leader though. Its probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. But true leaders dont see it as a choice but as an accomplished fact.

The most common obstacle is fear. But instead of saying, Dont be afraid, just do it, I would say, Be afraid, its the most natural thing in the world, but dont ever allow fear to be the reason why you dont do something. One of my favourite quotes of all time is: Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realisation that something else is more important. Allow that something else to carry you forward.

The biggest antidote to fear? Passion, lots of it! Thats what drives me every day to do what I do with InspirEngage International.

I truly support the purpose of this book in inspiring young people to be the best they can be, particularly as this message comes from their own peers. People often make the mistake of thinking that the true function of leadership is to create followers, but I learnt many years ago that a true leader creates other leaders. I hope that this is the outcome when you read this book.

As the Founder of InspirEngage International, I am extremely pleased that we have been able to reach over a million young people across the 100 countries we have a profile within. Although inspiration is vital, we believe its just the first step. To this end, our renowned Skills Training packages are a central part of InspirEngage.

Our Skills Bootcamp for example, supports the very practical skills young people require to achieve their vision. The key is to bridge the gap between feeling inspired by a person and linking it to themselves and creating change.

We also provide tailored consultancy services and public speaking, our ultimate goal being to improve the lives of children and young people.

I extend my warmest wishes to you all and look forward to connecting.

Melody Hossaini

Founder and Director of InspirEngage International

Anger, frustration and a serious call for change. This is the reaction of todays youth on being labelled the lost generation. But are the youth of today really a lost generation? Will they indeed be left behind by society, and have to struggle to get into institutions of higher learning and earn a living in a declining global economy? There are so many questions but there seem to be no easy solutions to improving the lives of young people and providing them with the requisite education and opportunities to move forward in an increasingly challenging world.