Different Thinking Podcast S2E05 with Bashar Alsayegh

Bashar Alsayegh on creating opportunity in a hopeless situation | Different Thinking Podcast #17

How do you create opportunities when there are none? And how do you persevere in a hopeless situation? In our latest Anders Denken Podcast, Bashar Alsayegh (26) provides answers. He fled from Syria to the Netherlands in 2015. Here he taught himself the language and picked up studies. "98 percent of the time people say no to me. It's ultimately about that 2 percent. That's where opportunities come from."

At ¹⁹ in a foreign country, with a sick brother: the situation seemed hopeless. Still, Bashar held out hope. "You always have to keep asking yourself why you do something: why did I flee to the Netherlands? Because I had no freedoms and want to build a future here, so I can support my family. When I feel myself sad or depressed, I get my motivation and perseverance from that thought."

Bashar had very few chances in the Netherlands. He often had to create them himself. "If I sat still and did nothing, nothing happened. After all, I didn't know anyone, so I had to force opportunities. I did that by changing my environment. I put myself in a place where there were opportunities. I did that by starting conversations. And yes, that was incredibly exciting and often very disappointing."

"When you keep waiting you can keep waiting" is what drives Bashar in his perseverance. Bashar's situation is fortunately not comparable to many others working in the Netherlands but the thrust remains the same according to him: change will not come if you keep waiting. So if you are not in the right place or have untapped ambitions, take a step forward and don't keep waiting. No one will just come knocking on your door.

Curious about Bashar's whole story?

Listen to a new episode of the Anders Denken Podcast every last Thursday of the month. This podcast stimulates, informs and inspires in the field of Sustainable Employability.