Bilal was born in London to a family of Pakistani descent. A curious kid, with an interest in computers, he developed a successful website with over 500 000 readers in his teens. He ended up working at Google in the US. After a while Bilal has left the company to carve his own path. He has founded Creator Lab and discovered a passion for spoken word poetry, which enables him to better connect with his family
Key Themes
Curiosity and Early Interests:
- Bilal’s early interests revolved around technology, playing with computers, and software like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Macromedia Flash.
- He followed his curiosities incrementally, leading him from making websites to creating e-commerce businesses.
Perspective on Money:
- Bilal discusses the balance between avoiding unnecessary lifestyle expenses and ensuring comfort.
- He emphasizes the importance of financial security, such as being able to pay rent and provide for basic needs.
Work and Self-Employment:
- Bilal shares his experiences working at Google and the diverse group of people he met there.
- He talks about the challenges of self-employment and the importance of defining what “enough” means in terms of income and success.
Travel and Exploration:
- Bilal mentions the concept of “walk until the day becomes interesting” from Ralph Potts’ book “Vagabonding.”
- He differentiates between the mindset of traveling versus vacationing.
Influences and Role Models:
- Bilal cites Richard Branson and Tim Ferriss as significant influences on his journey.
- Branson’s sense of adventure and Ferriss’s approach to life and business have inspired Bilal.
Current Inspirations:
- Bilal’s girlfriend’s decision to take a sabbatical and prioritize other aspects of life has been a recent source of inspiration for him.
Closing Thoughts:
- Bilal emphasizes the importance of finding one’s path and the joy of seeing others succeed on their unique journeys.
Quotes
Value of Money:
People who say money doesn’t make you happy at all or it doesn’t matter like don’t know what it’s like to be poor. When you don’t have money, it makes a big difference when you can pay your rent on time, your mortgage on time, and you can buy your kids shoes to wear at school so they don’t get bullied.
Scarcity Mindset
Growing up for us, I think money was quite important because we grew up kind of like middle to working class… every month we were in an overdraft. I remember doing like a spreadsheet looking at spreadsheet with my dad every month… it kind of created the scarcity mindset.
Underdog Script:
The other one I’d say that was really prominent was this kind of Underdog script of we are immigrants, we are brown people in the UK… you’re not like everyone else, you need to find your own path, prove to everyone how good you are and one day you’ll be able to show everyone.”
Immigrant Safety Script:
The last one is just a very typical immigrant story script which is you know the safety. That’s all my parents ever wanted and righty so… they wanted us to do the typical… get a safe job. In the Pakistani Indian Community, a lot of Asian people will say be a doctor, a lawyer, engineer.