Weekly Snapshot: Fate

In eastern cultures, fate holds a distinct role and shapes perceptions of outcomes. If destined, you either get it or do not—the outcome is binary. "Work" is an optional variable. The principle is predetermination, excluding outside interference or personal action.

You can write the equation as: Fate = Outcome.

It is significantly contradictory to how Western civilization perceives the outcome. They have a completely different equation that includes work and effort as core inputs, tilting the odds in your favor. Luck is a metaphysical state that is mainly engineered into existence by the amount of effort you put into work.

The equation, therefore, becomes a bit more complicated:
P(Favorable Outcome) = 1 - e^(-(Work × Effort))

Simply: (Work × Effort) ∝ P(Favorable Outcome).

You can't control the outcome, but you can influence it with effort.

Western thought on outcome is more digestible as it allows us to control our outcome, because can anyone come to terms with the fact that in life, they - in reality - have literally no control and that control is merely an illusion? I don’t think so.

As a consequence, I have always aligned with the Western ideology: remove fate from the equation. Focus on hard work and high agency until you get the results you want.

Now, as someone exposed to both ideologies, I often end up in a state of cognitive dissonance. Especially when things do not turn out the way I expected.

What do I believe? Was it fate or just a lack of effort? It wasn’t easy.

Dialectical thinking has led me to an evolved understanding: life's outcomes aren't determined by work and effort alone, nor by fate in isolation, but through their dynamic synthesis. This integration of Eastern and Western worldviews hasn't been simple, yet it offers a more complete framework for understanding how events unfold.

💪 Wins of the week

1. We welcomed and onboarded a new hire! Young man with a lot of hunger.
2. Productive week in terms of customer acquisition - happy to be making strides. Need to keep up the momentum.
3. We are official Meta Business Partners - it will allow us to integrate our AI with all meta channels (stay tuned for announcements here)

🧐 Challenges & Learnings

1. Getting access to certain people/connections is proving to be a bit difficult. Need to figure out how to extract value from the network
2. Not making enough noise - we’ve been working on some really exciting stuff at Virtuans and we need to tell more and more people about it.

🎯 Goals for Next Week

1. Close 2 new deals with enterprise customers.
2. Market our latest product updates on social and generate at least five new leads
3. YouTube video coming next week 100%!

📖 My Readings

I’m reading Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg. It has great insights into the human language and human connection. I’d recommend reading this book if you truly want to build a connection with someone solely based on a conversation.

🎬 My YouTube Video

Finding solid product management interview resources are tough! Here’s my review of two top resources that I recommend every product person (beginner or expert) to use when aiming for a product job!

✍️ Quote of the Week

Rul Te Gaey Aan Per Chass Bari Ai Aey (Punjabi wit)

(We’re doomed but it was fun while it lasted ) - sounds much better in punjabi btw.