EP13: Why I Left Google: From Dream Tech Job to Finding Purpose
Hey everyone, Umer here!
Some people chase success. Some chase security. When I asked Kareem Elsayed what path he chose, he said something different.
He chose depth and meaning.
Not the surface-level script. Not the default milestones. But a life that feels intentional and aligned from the inside out.
Our conversation challenged a lot of assumptions about success, faith, productivity, and trauma. Here’s what I learned.
Most people live on “factory settings”
Kareem said something that perfectly describes modern life. “So many people go through life at the surface level… they’re just operating on default settings, factory settings.”
He followed the traditional path too. Biomedical engineer. Proper 9 to 5. After his first week, he went to his dad and asked how he had been doing this for decades.
Eventually, as he put it, “my soul, my heart, my body refused to continue on that path.”
That refusal changed everything.
Purpose is intention, not just achievement
When I asked him what purpose means, he zoomed out first. He believes nothing is accidental. That we are here for a reason.
But he also made it practical. Purpose “can be imbued into the Monday.” It can exist in raising your family, eating breakfast, helping someone cross the street.
For Kareem, purpose is the opportunity to demonstrate gratitude. He said he sees himself as “the 1% of the 1% of the 1%,” and he does not take that lightly.
Slow down before you decide anything
If there was one takeaway, it was this: slow down.
He said modern life is built to keep us moving, consuming, producing. So the first step is to pause and set an intention.
He teaches people to ask daily: what am I trying to accomplish, and how do I want to show up?
Sometimes the intention is about doing. Sometimes it is about being.
Do your part. Then entrust.
Kareem prefers the word entrust over trust. You act, then you hand over the result.
He told a story from when he was 16. Traffic stopped suddenly. In that moment he thought he would let go and trust God.
So he literally let go of the steering wheel.
And he crashed.
His lesson was clear. Doing nothing is not faith. You tie the camel. You put in effort. Then you surrender the outcome.
As he put it, “I’m not in control of outcomes… I put into the world my intentions, I put into the world my effort, and then the rest is up to Him.”
If you are stuck, there is usually a deeper reason
We talked about procrastination. Kareem explained that what looks like laziness is often protection.
He gave the example of someone who believed, “I can’t submit my work unless it’s outstanding.” Beneath that was a deeper belief that perfection was required to be accepted.
His framework goes deeper than habits. It looks at beliefs, emotions, and past experiences. In his words, many people are “operating at a very subconscious level.”
If you cannot move forward on something you genuinely want, investigate the root. Do not just attack the behavior.
Success without alignment will catch up to you
Kareem worked at Google. It was everything people dream of. But over time, something felt off.
He described depression as your body rejecting misalignment. He referenced the idea that depression is you being out of alignment for too long, and your body essentially saying no.
He eventually had to step away. That breakdown forced him to ask a deeper question: “Why am I like this?”
That question led him to trauma, nervous system work, and ultimately his current mission.
If this resonated, the full episode goes much deeper into leadership, mindset, communication, and staying open to growth.
Watch the full conversation on The Path We Choose.
Watch Full Episode
Thanks for tuning in. I hope this episode encourages you to live authentically and embrace your own path with resilience.
Best,
Umer Farooque
Host, The Path We Choose
