One on One: 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. And through the process of self-development, we’re actually able to not just achieve more ourselves, but also to lift the people around us higher.

How difficult is it for a new author to get their book published in Pakistan? Tell us about some of the hurdles you faced?

There are a number of publishing houses that are now operational in Pakistan, which is a very heartening thing to see. This wasn’t the case even a couple of years ago, when the book was not yet at the publishing stage. And now the internet has made it a lot easier for all of us to express ourselves and put our thoughts and ideas out there, including through publishing a book.

How do you apply some of the main points of the book to your everyday personal life?

The book requires you to think in an assertive and progressive manner that is not limited to any region. The very mindset the book looks to develop is not restricted by cultural or societal norms and hence that is where the self develops from. Anyone looking to discover how to make the best of the life they have, to live a life that fulfills them or simply become the best version of themselves.

Do you think that the exercising of your message has ramifications in the context of Pakistani society, given that we are a culture that places little value on individualism and more on what others perceive of us?

I feel there is a lot of self awareness today as compared to the the past, people are playing an active role in getting to know mental health issues or more readily seeking help or talking about taboos. The examples I’ve given in the book are very general, regardless of where you are in life, you have to face and deal with certain issues, and so the whole point of the book is to give you references so that you may be able to apply these concepts to your life. Dare To Be You is just the little push you need. It’s a great way to take your first step to self development.

The title is quite an eye catching one. How did you come up with it?

Initially the book was called ‘Life is Simple’, and then one day sitting at a restaurant on the wall I read this motivational quote about ‘Just Being You’ so from there I thought that all we do and learn is just for you, for the self and when the self is enriched at the core, everything around develops and so what better than it being titled ‘Dare to be You’.

Do you plan to go into motivational speaking as a next step?

Yes , Infact I’ve been involved with motivational speaking and talks with a recent one that took place in Washington about how to work in Pakistan and be an agent of change and so I enjoy doing this as for writing another book, not right now , I want to first focus on this and work on an urdu version of Dare To Be You.

You are a young fellow who has written quite a bold and encouraging book. Do older people who have years more experience than you have a difficult time taking your message seriously, how do you deal with it?

I’ve not really come across anything of such nature but my only hope is that it helps the readers. That anyone who picks up the book finds themselves having taken the first step on their journey of self-development, and that they are able to actualise their passions and their dreams. This should ideally have nothing to do with the readers’ age or previous experience.

Tell us about an example from your personal life you mention in the book, of a hurdle you came across in life and how you overcame it?

During my parents’ divorce I think I felt the lowest in my life, because I could not really figure out what I could do to help the situation or to fix it. And thats when I started looking inward as to how I could change the way I felt about the whole thing and made a concious effort to rewire my thoughts and ways and basically self developed myself into doing better for myself but now I have learned to dissect any situation to its core and build it up from there, I identify the factors that are upsetting me and why its upsetting me and then figure out how or what can i do to fix it.

What message would you leave our readers with?

Never ever stop believing in yourself. You are, without any shred of doubt, capable of much more than you let yourself believe. Never give up!