Lately I have been thinking a lot about all things I believe in and why those beliefs are so hard for so many others to learn from. Not because these are dark or scary beliefs or because I have all the answers, but because they are hard to put into action. Some how we are afraid of doing hard work. In an era of quick dopamine hits, no one it seems wants to put in the hard work or effort.

A few things stood out this week. I have been doing a podcast with Faisal Khan for 25+ Weeks. The most common output we get is people reaching out to us for time. Most days we are happy to get back to people but we have an ask, do your home work, do your research. Between all that, we also shared the etiquettes of "picking ones brain" or "asking for mentorship" or "asking for help" all things Faisal & I have covered in detail.

If you are a long time newsletter subscriber you already know I have shared enough content on the subject. Yet less than 5% of the people in their 20s-30s, who reach out, come prepared.

Top asks weekly for me are.

"Salam Alikum" -Followed by no other msg on Twitter DM.

When probed. The next input is

"Sir I want some time" -without any specific insights or asks

Probed further...

"Sir can you please mentor me"

Still zero context...

My other favorite is those who msg on Whatsapp.

Msg Hello

Response. Greeting from my end.

Msg. I was wondering if I you could tell me about xyz, abc etc, because I am doing AB, but not getting the right outcome.

Response. I answer the question

Msg. No response back for hours.

Response. Sorry I was busy.

Unless you are the Pope or the Monarch, you get blocked for not responding back whilst we are having a conversation. I practice what I preach btw, this year Ive blocked over 200 people on Whatsapp for wasting my time. You should do the same, its empowering.

Some days I feel the content is not getting through. But some thing must be, when I get about 50-60 requests via DM weekly. So I stopped being too hard on my self. The newsletter/podcast/twitter content is all public domain, free usage for all to get better outcomes in life. Yet the vast majority listen to the content but don't consume it. There is a stark difference between the two.

Most people like to listen to feel good content, make plans, then do absolutely nothing besides have opinions on every thing. If you are one of those jokers, please un-subscribe today, as you are only lying to your self every week. Frankly I can't endorse a lie.

Without the hard work or research if you expect me or some one else to take out time from our lives to invest in you, when you your self can't do the required, tough luck! It ain't going to happen.

So what will you do today to get better outcomes?

Outcomes

Your outcomes are only as good as the actions you take. The sooner you understand what Jack is saying( he is a prolific entrepreneur) who has seen the highs and the lows the sooner you will re calibrate to winning.

One New Thing (that I learnt recently)

That in the 1970s, IKEA was expanding so rapidly that German executives accidentally opened a store in Konstanz, approximately 200 miles (320 km) from their intended location of Koblenz. Growth can be a great thing, but imagine the scale of growth where you open stores in the wrong location? Some would consider that scale a blessing, but to manage your outcomes you must course correct and plan. You can't fix what you can measure. If one lesson is to be learned from IKEA it is one of repeatability of process.

Boring Stuff that Scales

Repeatability. Ok so I am going to cheat a little bit. I wrote a thread about a frame work, that is as boring as the sun is hot. But if you invest the time to read it, I guarantee that you will stand a better chance at more favorable career/business outcomes.

What you should be Watching

The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else This documentary travels through a world of joblessness, debt, and economic uncertainty to the sovereign nation of the plutocrats, where each crisis seems to offer a new business opportunity. In America, where the 2008 financial meltdown cost $4 trillion in economic output, fortunes were made by the very people who precipitated the disaster while millions lost their homes and their savings. Austerity in Europe, economic stagnation in Asia, a "lost generation" of the young and unemployed - signs we are living through a fundamental global reorganization, the result of which no-one can predict. The world of the 1% has arrived, and the wealth gap is now greater in many countries than during the Gilded Age, the era of the Rockefellers, Carnegies and Vanderbilts. Can our stressed democracies deal with the fallout? Or have governments simply become instruments of the new elite? May be region restricted on youtube.

Monetize your time

This is profound once you understand it. Will you not even try and work on what you wish for? Will you always half-ass your attempts? Are you removing your self from the game for the risk of failure?

If this sounds like you, do your self a favor and give it your best shot. You are selling your self short, if all you do is wish.

Wishing without action = Hoping for outcomes without belief in your own ability. Change that today because if all your time is spent wishing, you will not be able to monetize your outcomes. Because wishes don't translate to better outcomes, least of all monetizable ones.

Made in Pakistan(via Seattle)

Finally an Urdu Keyboard.

Zeerak Ahmed is a designer, engineer and writer from Lahore. During the day leading a design team at Amazon, Inc. But above all making novel Urdu technology called Matnsaz. More about Zeerak here.

One Last Thing

What ever your feelings about about Elon, he is taking the shots he wants to take. I have mixed feelings about his actions as a billionaire & a leader, but those are just opinions loosely held with the ability to change them with requisite info. I do agree with this tweet. The amount of people with strong opinions who have never built anything is deafening.