Fayzan Rab Coaching

Hotlanta Summers featuring fiancé, friends, and fur queen 😎🥵😺

Over the last few years, I have dedicated myself to understanding the intersection of religion, psychedel*cs, and healing.

If it’s not clear how those worlds intersect, I get it 🤔

However, research has shown when participants use medicines like psilocybin or ayahuasca—especially in the right settings—they induce spiritual, existential, religious, and theological experiences.

Some researchers even hypothesize that it is those spiritual and religious experiences that are the underlying mechanism behind the strong anti-depressive effects seen in psychedel*c research.

How then do the religious experiences that individuals have on these substances tie back into their pre-existing faith and culture?

I decided to dive into that question.

At , I conducted the largest ever study of Muslim American attitudes towards psychedel*cs to understand if medicines like M**A and psilocybin could be integrated into Islamic beliefs and faith.

I am excited to discuss the results with some amazing colleagues at the .institute community forum: “Exploring Psychedelics and Mental Health Care in Islam”

Link in bio to register

Would love to have you be part of the conversation :)
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My name is Fayzan. I am a Muslim-American, MD candidate at Emory University, and executive coach. I write about the intersection of transformational leadership, religiously and culturally sensitive care, and the evolving landscape of M**A and psilocybin.

**A

It’s been dawning on me recently that finding a calling is not the same thing as living a fulfilling life.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with:

➡️ Mission-Driven Founders who are pursuing meaningful work but feel burnt out and isolated
➡️ Executive Directors who are servant leaders but feel like they put themselves last for the sake of “empowering others”
➡️ Doctors who are pursuing a calling and yet feel like every other part of their life is being crowded out to serve patients
➡️ Coaches who are scheduled every hour (talking about “possibility” and “transformation”) while they themselves have created another 9–5

To some extent, this is normalized.

The mantra I would hear in both Silicon Valley and medical school is “If you are going to pursue something as big as a calling, you’ve got to say goodbye to your friends, work through your weekends, and schedule time with your kids/spouse”.

But does it have to be that way?

I was intrigued recently by this article in the by Lisa Rosenbaum titled: “On Calling — From Privileged Professionals to Cogs of Capitalism?”

Her basic premise is that callings are often co-opted by the powers that be (VCs, hospitals etc) to drive mission-driven individuals to work harder, for less pay all in service of the mission.

And that this is a basic disguise of late-stage capitalism to extract more from individuals without acknowledging that those systems do not truly care about mission-driven outcomes and are more focused on generating greater revenue at a lower cost.

This is dark but not necessarily inaccurate.
Healthcare, for example, has become more consolidated within larger hospital networks and more focused on metrics like RVUs (a proxy for how many patients you are seeing per unit of time). Physician burnout is at an all time high and by most macroeconomic analysis, the quality of health outcomes has decreased over time in the United States.

So it doesn’t seem that pursuing a calling often amounts to either fulfillment individually or better outcomes systemically.

***See link in bio for full article***

I gave a TED Talk this weekend at !

Here are 5 lessons I learned:

1/ Clarity Creates Purpose 💡

I had a vague interest in the topics of culture, religion, medicine, coaching, and psychedelics. Creating a TED talk gave me a structure and focus to create a vision. As I got more clear and specific on the story I wanted to tell, opportunities started to emerge: panels to speak on, new research initiatives, collaborative partnerships. Deeper clarity allowed the world to meet and support me in the purpose I was carving.

2/ Get Supported 🤝

I consider myself an already skilled public speaker and communicator. Speaking on the stage was the next level up. I called a friend beforehand to word vomit my anxieties, boost my ego (“Fayz, you look hot”), and guide me through a meditation to get in the zone (Thanks ). The more I push outside my comfort zone, the more I realize I can’t do it alone. Support is a sign of strength not weakness.

3/ Go Slow ⏳

Every speaker on stage sped up. It’s hard not to with all the lights and cameras. Breathe, pause, and consider going 0.8 the speed you think you’re speaking at to create more presence and impact. Good advice for both public speaking and life.

4/“Kill Your Darlings” 💔

This was advice given to me from a creative genius (shoutout Marita Bollici). Sometimes the parts of the story you are most attached to may not be serving the ultimate point of the story. Being able to “kill” those elements is what distinguishes good from great works.

5/ Embrace the creative process 🎨

For an 18-minute speech, I re-wrote what I was going to say 20-30 times over three months before I got to something that felt authentic and impactful. The backbone of the story never changed but there were times when those re-writes felt worse than the original. A true creative process takes time, reassurance, and trust to fully unfold.

What’s the story you would want to tell if you were on a TED stage? 🌟

I am looking to support 1-2 individuals in creating a purpose and story that serves the world. If that’s you or someone you know, shoot me a message.

Heading back to the ATL today to speak at TEDxEmory this weekend! 😎

I will be speaking about my research on the intersection of Islam and Psychedelics (with a bigger point on how innovations in our mental healthcare system must be coupled with cultural and religious considerations in order for them to be accessible and effective).

Swipe ➡️ to see the impressive set of speakers at this year’s conference.

I hope to see you there. Grab a ticket! Link in bio

Happy V-Day . Love walking through life with you! 💘 🥰🌹

Life Update: I’ll be in the DMV (and no that’s not department of motor vehicle) for this year doing a clinical trials research fellowship at

Working on the advancement of psychedelic-assisted modalities is what inspired me to transition into medicine.

I’m excited to spend a year with the group leading clinical research nationwide on M**A and psilocybin for the treatment of mental illness.

If you’re in the DC/Maryland area, hit your boy up.

Ever feel like you are f—ing up? I know I do. It’s become a regular part of any experience that feels like it takes me out of my comfort zone (like sharing an article like this :). Overtime, I’ve started to realize this reaction is a normal part of taking courageous steps and being in a genuine act of creation. Link in bio

A childhood friend of mine, .ghaznavi, recently reached out and shared with me the impact one single conversation had on his life.

We had met up for a beer in San Francisco. I was working at Google and managing a partnership with . I told him about the world of digital advertising and introduced him to one of their co-founders. He started working at Tinuiti and years later it enabled him to move to LA where he met his wife.

He refers to us getting beer as a sliding-door moment in his life, a small moment that had an exponential impact on his life years later.

I’ve been reflecting on moments like this in my own life. A few that standout:

-I “dm-ed” (direct-messaged) a classmate that I thought was cute. We rescheduled 3 times but when we finally sat down with each other, we had a 9+ hour long conversation. That person is now my fiancee.

-Thomas Insel MD and I attended a meeting with the YMCA of Oakland to look at behavioral health issues in the community. We were weaving in perspectives from insurance companies, community health providers, technologists, and government policy. As we left the meeting, I asked him “how do I ever do what you do”? He reflected back that my understanding of mental health was largely theoretical. I had never dealt with the realities of caring for someone with mental illness. Our conversation was only 15 minutes, but months later it inspired me to apply to medical school.

-I met up for dinner with  , a former of colleague of mine turned executive coach. I was sharing with her my general confusion in life: uncertainties about wanting to stay in the Bay Area, feeling dismayed about jobs I thought were going to be fulfilling only to find myself disillusioned a year later, and just a general lack of direction. She listened patiently and then shared that I had the makings of a great coach. (“Me?! I am a mess; how could I help anyone else?”). I scoffed at her comment, avoided her for a few weeks, but eventually agreed to do a complementary session of coaching. It provided such clarity that it inspired me to take a bet on myself and sign up for a coach-training program.

***continued in comments***

Crazy what one dm can do to your whole life.

We went from classmates to study buddies to good friends to lovers. This past weekend, I’m thankful to take us to our next evolution: fiancés.

Excited to walk into this next season of life together, . I love you 😘

🌿 Recently, the interest in psychedelics has exploded 🚀.

Much of that interest has focused on the “trip” 🌌, but what is the role of preparation and integration? 🤔

As someone trying to bring together more of the worlds of psychedelics, coaching, and medicine, I decided to write about my experience working with someone who had two very mixed psychedelic experiences with Ayahuasca. In his first, he found profound bliss and acceptance. In his second, overwhelm and confusion.
What role could a supportive container bring to both of those experiences?

If this question intrigues you, I invite you to check out my most recent piece: “Ayahuasca May Not Change Your Life But Integration Most Certainly Will”. Link in Bio. 🔗

🌿🌌🙌

“I am behind, I am a screwup, I am sh*tty and ineffective at what I do”

Those are some of the judgements I wake up most mornings too. Overtime, I’ve tried affirmations, reframing, and gratitude practices but haven’t really been able to shift these thoughts.

“Clearing” was a powerful practice I learned during coach training to take the power and significance out of these thoughts.

If this is something you struggle with, I invite you to read my newest piece here: “Sweeping out Self-Doubt”. Link in bio