Came across a Tweet that shared pictures of “Urdu ki pehli kitab” (1908, Lahore) in the Princeton library. Interestingly enough this illustrated book depicts artisan and agricultural workers and tailors and wheat grinders at work... Whilst a treasure in it self, the book that is, it goes to show that our progress as a nation is stunted. What we were writing about and celebrating in 1908, seems like what we are married to today(work wise). Our broader economy still tied to agri, most of our population still not up-skilled or digitally enabled. Plus we have a diminishing return on our national language also. Commissioned by the education department & published at the Mufid-i ‘Am Press of M. Gulab Singh & Sons this is a treasure for sure.

For us to leap from the landline age to the cell phone age, a lot has to be done. Education is the central tenant for population at large. But for the ones already able to extract the bounties of the digital age, we must work to create more opportunities for all. The only way, we grow as a nation is by innovating, developing, building and using technology to our benefit and most of all including the other 150M people in the journey of digital outcomes. From better, simpler agri tech, to better simpler means to communicate, to building a more inclusive society, we for the first time have in the form of a smart phone a tool, that allows us to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, we can use visual and audio cues to change the fate of an entire nation, should we choose to. Or we could like most others continue down the path of consumption of social media and other peoples content and not worry about those being left behind. If we don't course correct today, a 100years from today when they find relics of these newsletters, they will say, wow, what a wasted opportunity, they had every thing at their disposal yet ignorance reigned supreme.

Outcomes

When something/some-one makes you stop and pay attention - you better be making a note of it. Why?

Understanding your own purchasing /Noticing/Engagement bias and journey gives you deep insight on how most people make their buying/connection/learning decisions.

This got me thinking and learning more about how we pay attention.TL;DR of what I read, below.

The very first step to learning is paying attention. Whether in the classroom, reading a textbook, listening to a podcast, or practicing a skill for work, dedicating complete attention is absolutely critical. All of these activities entail learning. Remember: “paying” is an action.

You are essentially giving your thoughts, energy, and time to what is happening in the moment. Think about when a friend, family member, or co-worker asks, “Are you paying attention to me?”

Attention means focusing on what is being stated, discussed, or shown, using the senses to literally bring information into the brain. This one act, impacts your outcomes more than any thing. We need to be deliberate in understanding what it means for us. But most of us don't, those who do, do better in life and have more positive outcomes.

Simply put, even the most motivated learner can only pay attention for a certain amount of time before getting fatigued. Learn to recognize that.

It’s important to figure out how long you can keep your full attention before you start getting tired and less efficient. Make sure to plan ahead so that there are enough shorter study times during the week to have enough academic time-on-task. Learning works best with spaced practice instead of cramming, which also is a more effective approach for paying attention. The same is true for work related items. If you cram or 3x the output or try to, you loose in the end. Learn to Honor Your Attention Span, no one else will.

One New Thing (That I Learnt today)

I saw an incredible clip of Giraffes eating grass. Not some thing one thinks of daily or ever, but when you see in practice you wonder, why you never thought of it before. They spread their legs vs bending their knees. It is incredible and counter intuitive. Thats the thing about bias, some times you don't know till you actually think about it. We all go about doing our own thing, impacting our outcomes without some times realizing the biases we have. It is ok to not know things, its ok to not have opinion some times, it ok to not challenge every thing, its ok to be wrong.

Boring stuff that Scales

Helping Wanta-preneurs figure their Shit out. What? Thats a business. Well it could be. Noticing a huge trend of smart people not knowing what they are doing. So if you could setup a service, business, guide, site, that enables Wanta-preneurs by helping them make the leap to earning that first real $, it could be an interesting play. Especially given the hype around free lancing and building in public.

A support network per-say but that helps people who are serious about giving this a shot. People are shy, people don't have support. People are afraid of failure. So what can you do?

At its very basic, it can be local entrepreneurs and business ideas people meetup.

A real-life LOCAL club with driven entrepreneurs who love starting businesses, brainstorm business ideas and come up with growth tactics.

The catch, a fine balance between actual does and dreamers. So enough entrepreneurs per wanta-preneur.

Problem: It's hard to find interesting people or friends who share your interests when you get older. Your social circle shrinks substantially. For example when you work from home and everyday you are devoid of external stimuli. During that time you are just thinking and reflecting on things by your self, but occasionally you would rather just join one or two people who are like you and go for a walk together and just share cool stuff, brainstorm ideas, discuss news.

What this is not: a meetup of random folks, another boring networking event. It is not for "I am an insurance broker. Call me when you need to insure your car. Here is my business card." No.

This is targeted specifically for business idea people, entrepreneurs, side hustlers, people who's minds are open to ideas and doing. Who are curious, always are learning, open minded. Net worth under 1M$. So they still have hunger and happy to learn, share and build new partnerships.

However, this is for local connections and people of similar interests you can actually meet and have the ability to make our lives better and more meaningful.

When the entire club meets, you can run a poll of where everyone is at and wants help with and you create smaller groups for example. And then maybe have a lunch together. Or go to trips, events, retreats. This all about building together, inclusion, bringing in smart people from both ends of the spectrum, those who have done, those who have the ability/desire to do and pair them for better outcomes.

But wait there is more....Monetization: No clue. Yearly fee for sure to access and share the cost of events. Local meetups with members are free but a one time connection and match making fee.

The issue is that a lot of people who are doing, or want to do new things do not have the requisite circle of friends, family supporters. This is boring idea helps people get past their nuclear circles and expand beyond.

What you should be watching

DW describes this documentary as "The term "halal” doesn’t just refer to foods that conform to Muslim law. The word stands for an entire philosophy, and halal products and services are playing an increasingly important role in the economy"

TL;DR, solid insights into understanding and building for the halal economy.

Monetize your time

By organizing things in your control. Meaning local immersion programs, internships etc for either ex-pat Pakistanis(or their kids) or Foreigners who want to live/work/experience Pakistan's tech scene/cultural scene/ art scene/insert-any scene you can build for here.

Build and authentic approach to language & cultural immersion by focusing on living as a local in Pakistani destinations with academics, excursions, and homestay accommodations included.

If targeting language and culture focus on rapidly develop confidence & fluency in another language while instilling a global mindset that nurtures valuable life skills & experience.

You could do, cooking tours, chef training. Sky is the limit. The idea is to build to attract the right folks coming to town.

With the massive startup investments over the last few years, all tech-non-tech startups have tons of open positions. Build a global intern-bridge program. Or bring in folks who have lost their jobs in the West or who have retired but want to provide some expertise in exchange for being in a new destination.

Your journey will begin by engaging with such folks online, build a landing page, test your hypothesis, see if people register then go launch. This is the best way to monetize your time by trying & experimenting.

Made in Pakistan (formerly)

The dying art of Latto making/spinning tops. We used to make them for generations and for years they were exported as well. With both the game dying in the physical realm and the lack of artisanal skill transfer, we are facing a decline in this traditional space like many others. Spinning tops are nothing new. For a historical break down go here.

There is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to identify old skills and products and preserve and grow them.

One Last thing

Turn-key any thing is a great thing to do. Find a niche, any niche and build a local turn-key business. With people having less and less time, with most young couples working, with people being cost conscious and time conscious all you need to do is build a reputation on

1) Delivering on time

2) Delivering on budget

3) Treating people with integrity

4) Executing to an agreed finish state

5) Being accessible through the journey

The best way to think about it is, any thing that is high end, should be offered to middle class markets. Home design, home refurbishment, car servicing, catering, tutoring, clothes, curtains, furniture maintenance. Just about any thing people do not have the time for them selves or would gladly pay some one to do.

A key missing service, is home organization. As a nation of hoarders, we have too much clutter, we need to de clutter and organize, yet most of us don't and cant.

Mary Kondo for the middle class as a service. For inspiration watch The Home Edit on Netflix.