Whatever you believe, you’re right
For thousands of years, humans have been doing remarkable things. From the invention of the wheel, to the creation of electricity, to astronomical calculations and navigating paths unknows, we’re a pretty impressive species. Our collective intellect has allowed us to constantly push the limits of what is thought to be “possible”. Yet, in 21st century, with the widespread use of AI and a level of comfort, and resources so vast, we are all basically royalty, I see my peers drenched in pessimism.
Our brain is receiving over 11 million bits of information each second, yet only about 40 to 50 bits are processed. This is neuroscience telling us that there is a big filter that shapes our reality. This is both terrifying and liberating if you really think about it.
Before the rise of the law of attraction, and the power of manifestation as preached by the insta girlies, there was my dad. A middle aged Pakistani man who genuinely had no concept of the word ‘impossible’. Throughout my childhood, he would tell me variations of the statement ‘your mind is extremely powerful; anything you put it to, in any direction, any field, you will achieve it’. His AHA! moments would double when these concepts were reiterated by Paulo Cohelo in The Alchemist: when you truly desire something, the universe conspires for you to achieve it, and by Shah Rukh Khan, the undisputed King of Bollywood in his blockbuster hit Om Shanti Om: Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho toh poori kainat usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.
That’s the universe making things happen for me because I prayed. Real.
As I grow older, I see this concept personified in those around me. We set limits on our lives, not based off of anything factual - in fact, there is no fact about our ever changing lives that can be considered the ultimate undisputed truth, except perhaps death (and taxes). And the realest example of this is seen in all passionate, genuine entrepreneurs I meet. People’s limits lie not where the limit is, but where they decide it should be.
This is the story of a man who decided he wanted to run a business some 25 years ago. He quit his job in a textile factory in Pakistan, and went on to work with buttons. Yes, the ones on your formal shirt. He was young, energetic, and determined. He reduced his margins and began providing buttons to several major textile factories across Lahore. Back in the late 90s/early 2000s, Pakistan was renowned for its manufacturing of high quality fabrics and exported mainly to the US, UK, and Europe. You can do the math: exports, USD revenue, PKR expenses, high savings which got reinvested into the business. The work that started from buttons expanded into making clothes for small buyers. 5 machines were rented, and this man began dipping his toes into new waters. With hard work, persistence, and the belief that the world was his oyster, he is now at a place where his factory employs over 500 people, and is in a state to “support young businesses that are trying to establish themselves in the fashion landscape in Los Angeles and France”. Anjum had built in 2 decades a thriving, growing business, from a humble button, and the expansive vision that only an entrepreneur is blessed with.
textile factory - thought into existence.
When I see my own life, or the life of those around me, it becomes increasingly clear that people speak their own realities into existence. In economics, there is a concept of Baader-Meinhof - the idea that when we start to focus on something, we see it more, and believe into it more. It’s a frequency illusion and a cognitive bias. Have you ever thought you’ll focus on finding a red car on the road, and then suddenly they seem to be everywhere? Is everyone actually getting botox or is it that you just notice it more now because of social media awareness? Your friend just got a husky and now all you see are huskies everywhere? It’s not that these things suddenly started happening more, it’s just that your brain is now filtering out information and choosing to focus on these pieces, making you think the world changed overnight.
image added cuz I’m a huge fan of whatever this is
But long before there was the law of attraction or changing your reality based on manifestation, there was the concept of gumaan. Gumaan is an Urdu word that can be translated to “perception, or an opinion or conclusion based on assumptions”. Islam focuses on trying your best to have a positive gumaan. To have positive expectations out of life, to believe that regardless of what you see in front of you, your circumstances can change in the blink of an eye to something exponentially better.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah says: 'I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.' " Sahih al-Bukhari 7405.
Years of internalizing content from social media, as well as people around me had conditioned me into thinking reality is whatever culture says. But as I truly saw the world around me, I realized norms and values we write down are wildly different from ground realities. I would see nuclear families having stronger feelings and respect for each other than live-in extended families. I saw a woman who was a homemaker, but really was the strategist, advisor, and accountant for the family business. I saw God-fearing people with immense wealth, and cunning evil where money was scarce. Everything I knew about the world was being challenged and it took me a long time to realize that reality is … sort of what I choose to see.
Things started changing for me. A girl who did not take a day off for an entire year, suddenly decided to take a 10 day trip to Turkey with her college girls (read: soul sisters). As my internal state changed, the numbers in my business changed too. Highest organic revenue growth we had since we opened, and I wasn’t micromanaging anything. I started enjoying life more: if things went wrong at work, or if we had a “bad” week, I had a patience inside me that even a year ago was incomprehensible. I started enjoying the creative process of work more, managing stress faster than before, and moving on from the mistakes, the failure and setback. I started learning from people who had navigated these spaces before me: CEOs who gave me nods of encouragement when things were going downhill, women who encouraged me as I started (yet another) project, kids who told me they were completely fascinated by my entrepreneurial endeavors; “miss aap saal main kitni Altos khaird sakti hain?” True question I got asked after I gave a talk.
It sounds cliche, but whatever you believe, you are right. No more good people left? You’re right. Job market sucks? You’re right? Meeting amazing people is easy? You are right. I can only run a successful business if I have sleepless nights, poor health, and no social life? You’re right. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, I can run a successful healthy business with a great team culture? You guess it, you are right.
Let this piece be a reminder to my future self when things get chaotic and crazy, that reality is whatever my brain is choosing to filter out for me. While some things are pure fact, such as the sun rising, and the circle of life, most of what I feel, believe, process, and even focus on, is a curated version of the infinite possibilites of things I am surrounded by. So the next time I’m not happy with how things are around me, I should reflect and see what part of me is focusing on curating the negative experiences I am having.