---
title: "The reminder I send myself | Ghassan Nawfal"
description: "Seven countries in fifteen years, two or three flights a month, and one small habit that keeps a network from turning into a contact list."
url: https://ghassan-nawfal.com/insights/the-reminder-i-send-myself
---

[Insights](https://ghassan-nawfal.com/insights)·9 December 2024·3 min

# The reminder I send myself

Seven countries in fifteen years, two or three flights a month, and one small habit that keeps a network from turning into a contact list.

Ghassan Nawfal, Director of Sales, GPOS at Geidea UAE · Updated 4 September 2026

In today's fast-paced world, staying in touch has become one of the hardest things to do. Especially when you have lived in seven countries over the past fifteen years and travel two or three times a month like I do. Here is my secret, and it is embarrassingly small.

## The habit

Whenever someone crosses my mind, an old colleague, a client from a previous life, a founder I met once at a summit, I send myself a reminder. Just their name. Later that day, or on the next flight, I go through the list and reach out: a call, a LinkedIn message, a WhatsApp. No agenda. The message is usually one line about why they came to mind.

That is the whole system. It works because the thought is the hard part and the thought is free. The message is easy once the thought has been captured instead of lost between meetings.

## Why it matters in sales

> A network is a web of relationships that uplift, inspire, and support us in ways we often can't predict.

Every market I have entered, every job I have taken since Montreal, came through someone I had stayed in touch with when there was nothing to sell. The people who only hear from you when you need something learn to read the pattern. The people who hear from you because you thought of them pick up the phone.

-   Capture the name the moment it surfaces. Do not trust yourself to remember it after the next call.
-   Send the message the same week. A reminder older than a week becomes a chore.
-   Say why. One line about what made you think of them turns a ping into a conversation.

Source

[Original post on LinkedIn, December 2024](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gnawfal_thoughoftheweek-mysecret-linkedin-activity-7270307936097218560-VVtt)

Author

Ghassan Nawfal

Director of Sales, GPOS at Geidea UAE. Dubai.

[Follow on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnawfal)

More

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-   [Market size is a spreadsheet. Growth is a habit.](https://ghassan-nawfal.com/insights/market-size-is-a-spreadsheet)
-   [Focus is not having it all together](https://ghassan-nawfal.com/insights/focus-is-not-having-it-all-together)

## Working on something like this?

[Work with me](https://ghassan-nawfal.com/contact)[Follow for the short versions](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnawfal)