Ayman Amer, general manager of SODIC: For a special Ramadan edition of our weekly My Morning Routine column that we will run through the holy month, we spoke to Ayman Amer (LinkedIn), the general manager of SODIC. We asked Amer the usual questions to find out how a successful member of the community starts their day and threw in a few more to find out how he adjusts to Ramadan and what he looks forward to in the holy month.

I'm a 46-year-old father of three and I’ve been working in the real estate and construction industry for almost 24 years. I studied to become an architect, but never worked as one. After graduating, I worked on-site for three years before I joined Orascom Constructions’s procurement team and then moved on to Turner as Emaar’s project manager. For the last 14 years, I’ve been at SODIC, where I’ve worn different hats, including chief procurement and business development officer, COO, and now the GM of the company.

One of the most prominent industry trends right now is diversification, which was spurred by a myriad of things. One of them is the float, which has prompted companies to seek USD-generating assets, like hotels and commercial buildings. Another is the need to have a recurring income portfolio. All developers are headed in this direction. SODIC has always done things differently, though. When we hired a hotel operator, for instance, we opted for Nobu, a unique brand that complements our story of catering to a discerning clientele.

SODIC has been branching out widely into different sectors. For example, in retail, we're doing Eastown District New Cairo retail on 15k sqm of gross leasable area. We're having four hotels and the fifth is in the pipeline. We're also building schools. I think that within the coming three to five years, SODIC will be anchored in this area.

In the eleven non-Ramadan months of the year, I wake up sometime between 5:30 to 5:45 am. I exercise for an hour from 7 to 8am. Two days a week I do pilates, and I do weight training on three other days. I then head into work around 9 or 9:30am and wrap up around 8pm. When I’m done, I go back home, have a snack, and go to bed. I sleep for five to five-and-a-half hours maximum.

My one hour of me time is absolutely essential. I might skip exercise, but never the one hour of winding down before I go to bed. During that time, I do nothing related to work. Sometimes I’ll scroll through some articles. Other times I do nothing but eat some fruits and sit calmly without thinking of anything serious or talking to anyone. I have to clear my mind so I can sleep deeply. It’s a form of meditation to me.

I read Enterprise at 6:30am before I exercise and dive deeper into the stories that are interesting to me when I come to the office — what I like the most about Enterprise is that it’s concise, analytical, and well sourced. This is pretty much my approach to everything, including emails. I receive a good 100 of those during the day, and I scan them to identify the ones that I should respond to immediately.

On the weekends, I spend time with the kids. Friday we have to have breakfast and lunch together — no excuses. Saturday is our unplanned day. We spend it doing whatever anyone in the house wants to do.

My Ramadan routine is very different from my regular routine. I don't eat much for iftar, so I usually lose weight during the month. We have a tradition in our family to watch a comedy show after breaking our fast. I stick to just one show for the month. This year we’re watching Ashghal Shaqa together. It makes me laugh from the heart. I then head out to pray and go watch my elder son’s football tournament. I get back home at 11pm and go to bed at midnight.

Waking up for suhoor seems to be increasingly démodé, but I get up around four to have some yogurt and water before I head back to bed to squeeze in a couple more hours of sleep. I spend pretty much all day at the office — say 9:30 to 5:30, just minutes before iftar. I don’t exercise during the month, I’ve only worked out twice so far.

I live by the rule of three. I set three overarching targets — strategic goals — at a time and avoid having too many things on my plate to achieve at once. I write them down on the board and revisit them every day. Once I tick these boxes, I move on to the next three things. That’s especially important in Ramadan, when there are less work-hours to get things done and everyone’s energy is more limited. I definitely respect these limitations. Ramadan is also particularly challenging this year because it comes in the first quarter, which is when clear-cut goals must be set and tackled head-on.

On a personal level, one of the things that matters to me the mostis making the best out of my kids. I want to help them achieve their dreams regardless of what those are. My elder kid, who is very talented, has insisted on being a goalkeeper since he was four. And my daughter is an artist. She paints very well and if she chooses to pursue it, she’d have my full support. I don’t know what’s in store for my youngest just yet.

For me, I’d love to open up a business related to the science of sports. I took a DNA test for sports a long time ago in Russia and it was very insightful. These tests examine your DNA, muscles, and psychology to determine what sports your body is best suited for and guide you towards certain routines so that you don’t get burned out. They can be life-changing for athletes.

Taking chances is a philosophy I apply to my life. I’ve taken on some challenges during my career at SODIC that some people thought I was mad to undertake. Usually people don't like to move from one place to another when they don't have the experience. But how do you get the experience without stepping into something new? I’ll take the risk and if I'm good enough, I’ll stay. If not, I'm out.

One of the best pieces of advice I received in my adolescence was not to focus on the money coming in now. If you work hard and perfect your job, the money will follow. I was 23 and working onsite when I was given this piece of advice by a supervisor at the construction company that my parents used to own and I still live by it. Money isn’t the most important thing to me, achievements are.

Tags: