Long after leaving Dubai, they realise the city lives in their hearts

Dubai: Sometimes, the clearest way to understand Dubai is when you leave. It isn't always the skyline that people miss first, or the scale of its growth. More often, they say, it is something less visible: the ease with which things work, the pace at which ideas become reality, and the quiet expectation that excellence is simply part of everyday life. It is only when a delayed service, a missed connection or an unnecessary complication interrupt that rhythm elsewhere that many realise how profoundly Dubai has shaped their own standards. That work philosophy Dubai is known for, now has a term - 'Dubai-it'. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the initiative last month , defining 'Dubai-it' as a verb. Explaining what it means to 'Dubai-it', he posted: “Dubai’s philosophy of work is built on achieving exceptional results in record time, with precision and excellence. Speed does not mean rushing, quality does not mean slowing down, and ambition has no value without execution." For Syrian executive Hala Kabbara, who has lived in Dubai for over 20 years, the concept of 'Dubai-it' finally gave a name to something she had long experienced but never fully articulated. The Group Head of Learning and Development at a Dubai-based company believes the phrase captures not only the city's landmark achievements, but the countless everyday moments that make life function almost effortlessly. "To 'Dubai-it' is to turn big ideas into reality, with excellence, in record time. I love this because honestly, we don't always notice it until we leave. You travel somewhere, hit one small snag, a delay, a slow response, something that just doesn't work the way it should, and that's the exact moment it hits you, 'Oh, we're not in Dubai. Lower your expectations.'" For Hala, travelling outside the UAE has become the clearest reminder of what Dubai has quietly normalised. "That's when you realise how high the bar actually is here, in the smallest details, every single day," she said. "Not just the giant projects, but the everyday stuff nobody claps for." Commenting on how living in Dubai reshapes a person's perception of what is possible, the 40-year-old mum of three said the city almost feels as though it was designed to make people believe their dreams are achievable. "One of my clearest memories of this is watching Motor City take shape. I remember driving past when it was still under construction, in the middle of what felt like open desert, and genuinely wondering, 'How is this ever going to become somewhere people actually live?'. Today, that same area is one of the most sought-after, vibrant communities in Dubai. That transformation, watching raw desert become a thriving, fully-lived-in neighborhood, is Dubai in a nutshell. It's the best example I know of how ambition and vision can turn sand into a city full of life," she said. 'It became part of my DNA' For 51-year-old British expat Debra Al Hammadi, the influence runs even deeper. Although she lived in the UAE for a little over a decade during the early 1990s, she says those years permanently altered how she measures possibility. "Even though I'm no longer there full-time, those years gave me a front-row seat to the most defining era of the city's modern history. Arriving when it was an ambitious regional hub allowed me to watch it lay the actual foundations to become the global metropolis it is today." When His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum introduced the concept of 'Dubai-it', she says it immediately resonated. "The concept perfectly captures the energy of my time there. When I arrived in the early 90s, the tallest building was the Dubai World Trade Centre, and we had three main roads: Jumeirah Beach Road, Al Wasl Road, and Sheikh Zayed Road." What followed reshaped not only the city, but the way she approached her own life. "'Dubai-it' is the sheer audacity of what happened next. Watching that open space transform into a towering skyscraper corridor was incredible. What would take other countries a decade to debate, Dubai planned, built and opened in a fraction of the time." That pace, she says, became something she carried with her. "Personally, and professionally, it completely dismantled any internal limits regarding growth and scale. Career-wise, it teaches you that absolutely any dream you want to create is possible, and it gives you the ultimate platform to recreate yourself." The lesson never left. "When you spend over a decade surrounded by that level of drive, it becomes part of your DNA. I carried that exact mindset straight into my later business advisory work – learning to ignore traditional constraints, set massive goals and move with decisive speed." Working as an independent hiring partner in human resources, she says she has watched that same mindset attracts people from around the world. "There is a misconception that talent is only drawn to Dubai by ta