Getting Simple

#42: Mike Gabour — Falling in Love With the Ocean, Dark Showers, Attention, The Sensorium, and The Contents of his Backpack

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Strategist, investor, community builder, and NGO founder Mike Gabour on mindfulness and attention, meditation and dark showers, the multiplier effect, minimizing time in front of the screen, the contents of his backpack, and falling in love with the ocean.


Mike Gabour is a first generation immigrant, born on the Mediterranean ocean in Alexandria, Egypt.

He is Co-founder and Managing Director for Koinonia, a micro-lending organization which empowers marginalized entrepreneurs in Egypt. Leadership Workshop Facilitator for The Littlest Lamb, an orphanage in Cairo which nurtures underprivileged children. Co-founder of Pequod, an app built with blind sailors for all sailors. Supporting blind sailors ability to autonomously navigate the water, and help the rest of us keep their eyes on the water, and ears on Pequod! Co-founder of the WAVE (Wider Access Virtual Expeditions) project, partnering with Harvard Deep-sea ocean exploration dept. and the Nautilus, a deep sea submarine. Co-inventor of Nezso, a fully immersive ambisonics music pod.

Mike is an avid sailor, free-diver, and oceanographic explorer.


Favorite quotes
  • "Attention is love."
  • "It's impossible not to fall in love with someone after you've heard their story."
  • "Always be prepared."
  • "You have your normal, I have mine."
  • "Traveling for me is more about understanding and experiencing other cultures than my own personal enjoyment."
  • "Do everything I tell you while we're on the water, but ignore everything I say when we are inland."
  • "¿Por qué no los dos?"
    • Links
    • WAVE (Wider Access Virtual Expeditions)
    • Pequod
    • The Littlest Lamb orphanage started by Mira Riad, run by Mira + Marina Rina
    • Koinonia Ventures, micro-lending NGO
    • Planet Earth
    • Wave Collaborative
    • Accenture
    • Mindfulness
    • The Sensorium
    • A Physical Paradigm for Bidirectional Brain-Computer
      Interfaces, Sam Hincks' dissertation on brain-computer interfaces
    • The multiplier effect
    • Girguis labs, Harvard
    • Maglev (magnetic levitation)
      Books
      • The Tao of Pooh
      • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
      • Get Real, Get Gone: How to Become a Modern Sea Gypsy and Sail Away Forever by Rick Page
      • Principles by Ray Dalio
      • The Four-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
      • The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness by John Yates, Matthew Immergut & Jeremy Graves
      • Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
      • Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr. Qing Li
      • Life of Pi by Yann Martel
        Contents of Mike's backpack
        • Portable battery
        • Liquid Bandaid
        • Kaufman Layer (a concept invented by the great Jonathan Kaufman, a final layer of clothing that is not meant to be worn, having it is knowing you can be warmer)
        • Merino Wool Buff
        • Leatherman - multi-tool with a screwdriver, scissors, wire cutters, etc.
        • Headlamp (with redlight)
        • Grave Before Shave "Gentlemen's Blend" Beard Oil
        • Backpack waterproof cover
        • Flask
        • Collapsible metal cup
        • Car and wall phone charger
        • Vibes Hi-Fi earplugs
        • Inflatable camping pillow
        • Mindfold mask
        • Card deck
        • Snacks and granola bars
        • Home-made hand sanitizer with boiled water, tea tree oil, and peppermint and citrus scent
        • Dude flushable wipes
        • Tea tree oil toothpicks
        • Pair of sunglasses
        • Water bottle
        • Moleskine A6 dot-style notebook
        • MUJI pen 0.5
        • Tile locator device
          Podcasts
          • RadioLab
          • This American Life
          • Surprisingly Awesome
          • Where Should We Begin? by Esther Perel
            People mentioned
            • Peter R. Girguis
            • David Bangsberg
            • Naomi Hashimoto
            • Mr Rogers
            • Sam Hincks (Samulus)
            • Jeff Koons
            • Andy Wharhol
            • Bill Gates
            • Arianna Huffington
            • Ray Dalio
            • Jacques Cousteau
            • Bob Ballard
            • Neil deGrasse Tyson
            • Steve Jobs
            • Walt Disney
            • Oprah Winfrey
            • Neil deGrasse Tyson
            • Esther Perel
              Special thanks

              Couldn't have done any of this without these wonderful people.

              • Joe Bynoe
              • Anup Mankar
              • Grace Olsen
              • Pauline Dowell
              • Mike McManus
              • David Bangsberg
              • Jon Payne
                • Chapters
                • 0:00 · Intro
                • 2:28 · Mike Gabour
                • 3:57 · Your most exciting projects
                • 5:19 · Koinonia
                • 13:07 · Falling in love with the ocean
                • 15:41 · Freediving
                • 17:50 · Sailing
                • 19:41 · Sailing challenges
                • 22:06 · Scary moments on the ocean
                • 24:38 · Travel
                • 25:36 · Traveling with purpose
                • 26:11 · Mindfulness and disconnection
                • 28:54 · Meditation and attention
                • 30:22 · The meditation hammock
                • 30:57 · Dark showers
                • 33:47 · The contents of Mike's backpack
                • 40:51 · Mike's notebook
                • 44:29 · The Sensorium
                • 50:31 · The multiplier effect
                • 53:19 · Getting Simple
                • 53:28 · How does your day-to-day look like?
                • 53:53 · What things make your day more complex?
                • 54:23 · Daily habits
                • 55:03 · Commute
                • 55:14 · Exercise
                • 55:42 · Media you consume
                • 56:15 · Email
                • 56:38 · Planning and focus
                • 57:14 · Time, attention, and social media
                • 57:59 · When do you get your best ideas?
                • 58:20 · Disconnection
                • 58:38 · Boredom
                • 59:09 · Minimizing time in front of a screen
                • 1:00:12 · Success
                • 1:00:33 · What do you say to yourself in the morning?
                • 1:00:38 · A successful person
                • 1:01:15 · A message to the world
                • 1:01:24 · What will you tell your 20 or 30 year-old self?
                • 1:01:45 · How can people connect with you?
                • 1:02:04 · Book recommendations
                • 1:02:10 · The Tao of Pooh
                • 1:02:38 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
                • 1:03:00 · Get Real, Get Gone
                • 1:03:08 · The Four-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
                • 1:04:38 · The Life of Pi
                • 1:04:48 · Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
                • 1:04:58 · Forest Bathing
                • 1:05:15 · Principles by Ray Dalio
                • 1:05:31 · Podcast recommendations
                • 1:05:58 · Where Should We Begin? by Esther Perel
                • 1:06:26 · The Mind Illuminated
                • 1:06:40 · Pequod
                • 1:07:22 · Blindfolding: Teaching People How to Sail
                • 1:11:33 · Outro

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