LIFE STYLE
Shahzad Malik
Born in Toronto but raised in Lahore, Shahzad Malik is a true Pakistani at heart. Having a business background but totally passionate about music and noticing the subtleties of the world around him, Shahzad penned his first book, Dare to be You. A self-help book that makes the reader understands the basics of working on themselves. Shahzad wants his readers to have a basic platform from where they can begin their journey towards self-actualization. TEdit talked to Shahzad about his journey from running a successful business to being an author.
Tell us about ‘Dare to be You’, its main message and why you felt Pakistan is ready for it? I have been lucky to grow up with privilege, but even despite that I found myself stuck in a loop of making sub-optimal decisions. Eventually, it came to a point during my teenage years where I was introduced to self-help books and biographies of people who had ‘made it’ like Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, and Jack Welsh. I was instantly roped in, and I started seeing a common pattern of behaviour between all of them. Similarly with the self-help books I was reading (and have been reading since), I found that each author focused on one particular aspect of self-development. There was no book that really constituted a bit of everything — a starter kit for someone who wanted to pick up a self-help book and really understand the basics of working on themselves. Looking back, I think it was the combination of the two that led to the concept behind Dare to be You. We, as individuals, are programmed to focus on the negatives. We focus more on our bad experiences, ruminating about them and overthinking about what the future could hold. But we also see so many Pakistanis who go out of their way to help other people—complete strangers even. After all, it’s the people that allow us to collectively become one of the most hospitable nations in the world. Self-help involves the same principles as helping someone else; it’s just focused inward. SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2020
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