"I can have it" vs "I Deserve it. Too much optionality is translating to anxiety. What do I mean? We are growing anxious day by day. More of us and our kids and society at large- the more middle-class we get.

It's an interesting paradox.

Baby Boomers were convinced by parents who endured things like the great depression, wars, migration etc, thus a risk-less job was the way to happy and secure future (babu building). When the next generation parents became by and large successful, they told their kids they could do everything (play cricket, learn a language, play the guitar, cook food and sell it & may be even all together! “Follow your heart!” became an acceptable moniker vs become a doctor or lawyer alone. The sky was the limit put an entire generation to be anxious or gradually nudging in that direction. Why? Because there was too much optionality, look around you, today; parents consult kids on where to vacation? what restaurants to frequent? daily dinner menus and more. Whilst this fosters open communication, also brings with it anxiety. We must watch out and course correct sooner than later. Choice is good, but all choice all the time makes people un-decided. Being un-decided all the time is a state of mind the cave-(Wo)man brain was not ready for.

Our attitude growing up was perhaps therefore not so much “I deserve it,” but rather, “I can have it-if i tried hard enough.” We have drifted from that and drifted in to more anxiety.

Outcomes

Outcomes are defined far earlier in your mind, than by the actions you or others can take. Its truth well told. You have to feed your mind the truth and tell it often enough to believe it your self to enhance your outcomes. Some thing I saw long ago and has stayed with me as the best descriptor of outcomes since 1912. See below:

Coming back to the topic of forcing outcomes that you believe in. This video below should help clear the air. Play it a few times, start again, play again, focus on a word, tell your brain that word is the outcome you are looking for and then be ready to be surprised.

Outcomes are what you make them and make of them. It starts by believing the origin story and agreeing to it your self.

Credit @ksstiles1116 on TikTok via @stevestuwill

One New Thing

Pay people what they deserve. Not really a new thing, but a far over looked thing. If you have a friend who bakes cookies, pay them for their wares. If you have a friend who is a car salesman, make sure they get their commission if they help you buy. Similarly you pay every one outside of your social circle for services rendered professionally, yet the issue is a very tricky one when it comes to SMEs, Startups even established companies when they want a professionals time.

Just because you know some one and they can be helpful, doesn't mean "you deserve their time". You are not entitled to any thing that doesn't have a similar outcome for both parties. The amount of I need 5 minutes if you have them today messages were cute, 10/15 years ago. Now they are burdensome with a moralistic angle as well.

I had to internalise the ask, "am I being too harsh? or insensitive? am I not following through on my commitment to help people/founders/startups?" The short answer is no, the long answer is that relationships need time, if people have not invested that, they deserve nothing back in return and you can give your self a get out of jail free card. Also WhatsApp sucks, block all un-wanted un-need asks and direct them to email, have a quiet but comfortable circle of relevance. Your time is not a charitable trust, but you can feel charitable at any time, there is a difference, act on your instinct.

You don't have to be a board member and advisor, you can be a friend, an associate a distant contact or some one who can materially change the outcome in some ones life/work, yet if they have not invested the time to ensure a positive outcome in interacting with you and also cant monetise your service, you can let your self off the hook for not engaging on other peoples timelines. People need to be paid what they deserve, in cash, equity, time, goodwill, thanks or a combination of all of the above. Let the person decide vs you thinking what matters more to them or cashing in chips you don't hold.

Boring stuff that scales

5 threads that will give you food for thought. Twitter is not typically very organised but I genuinely wanted the audience to have a bouquet of ideas to add to their information diet vs picking just one topic. So heres the nuts and bolts of the last few years of boring ideas catalogued for your interest in measured doses across domains. Some thing for every one?

Soy Sauce Billionaires

Pajeros & Matches

Brooms to Canada

Quick List of Ideas

Overhead: Identify Fax Machines & Own the space

You (likely)heard(saw) it here first

Trader Joe's. Perhaps my favourite store, but I have been hard pressed to find products from Pakistan in store. Yet many derived products like the one we've beaten to death ala Pink Salt still surface there. So whats the Trader Joe's opportunity? Its a big one.

But first, what is Trader Joe's? I recommend reading that to get a basis for their model and understanding that they were the early pioneers of the fresh model in grocery in the US. Plus we have a host of things that we can export out to them.

What has been interesting to me is the fact that, Trader Joe’s has a team of product developers who travel the world to find inspiration for new items in the store. In fact, their travel and lodging make up the lion’s share of Trader Joe’s’ R&D expenses. Once a product is developed, it’s typically introduce it in a few stores. If it meets sales targets, then it’s fully rolled-out. Can we work with them as Pakistani exporters? Well we can, but we first need to understand their model and then go pitching our wares.

How did I get to know this? After I went down the rabbit hole in trying to better understand the market for the fresh category for a large scale mid-western retail business.(Story for a different day). What did I find in the rabbit hole? This pod-cast. (A must listen for all to understand how TJs has been a category disrupter)

Once you have spent the time/passion needed and see the light at the end of the tunnel to work with Trader Joe's as a supplier of choice, heres a link to register with them as a potential vendor. Consider the legwork a gift, in the event it inspires you to put Made in Pakistan in more grocery isles.

What you should be reading

Emerging trends. What kind you ask? Well any that interest you, or the country at large to understand the directionality and state of things to come. Ok thats super vague. So what do I mean? My favourite tool is google trends. What do I want you to read there? Some thing simple.

The trend of people searching "freelancing" and "paypal"

Please know that co-relation is not causation. But In the map that shows where people are searching from, for free lancing vs the people searching for Paypal, I saw some thing interesting. See images below? Can you spot the anomaly?

Anomaly?

Does this mean any thing, perhaps not a lot. But it shows that people from a region (FATA) want Paypal or similar services based on search intent. For us to be in better position to service that need we need to understand why? My take is, people are using better logistics to ship exportable items out of Pakistan and looking for ways to collect their payments. My assumption could be 100% wrong. The interesting bit is, small data doesn't lie. Which means the need is there, look at the search interest.

So what you should be investing time in, it should be reading more small data items. Open your horizons, use the free tool to test your assumptions. Perhaps even discover services that you could build or offer if you knew their deepest desires they ask Google sharif every day.

Monetise your time (by not being held back)

What is holding you Back?

Pursuing Your Calling in a Busy Season and Why Your Work Matters Today and for Eternity. Switching things up, this is a pod-cast heavy newsletter. But you must invest the time in your self, part of that journey is to make time to go after your dreams and I think this podcast will clearly show you how to overcome barriers that hold you back? Listen to perspectives from motherhood, you will be grateful for the experience and likely appreciate more the things you don't today and instead take for granted.

Made in Pakistan

Truck art to the skies, incase you missed it. This is an interesting story featured by Reuters. We need to promote and own the unique and the interesting things that we produce, be it skills based or product or process based and develop markets for it. Here is to trying.

One Last Thing

Very early on in my professional career one of my earliest mentors said the following to me:

Choose where you want to be.