I read a lot of books.
Some leave me with a few highlighted pages. Others give me an interesting idea or two.
But every once in a while, I come across something that completely changes the way I think.
A few weeks ago, that happened while reading a chapter by Om Swami.
At the time, I was wrestling with a question I've been asking myself a lot lately.
A few months ago, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I decided to go all in on building Awesome Sleep.
Almost everyone asked me the same question.
"What if it doesn't work?"
It's a fair question.
Building a company from scratch comes with no guarantees. Every day, I make decisions without knowing whether they'll be the right ones. Sometimes, I ask myself the very same question.
Am I creating my future through my own choices, or is my life unfolding the way it's meant to?
Then I read a story that completely changed my perspective.
The Story of Maluk Das
More than 400 years ago, there lived a farmer named Maluk Das.
One day, a wandering saint visited his village and shared a simple idea.
If someone truly surrenders to God, God will always provide.
Maluk wasn't convinced.
He believed that while God may exist, people earn their living through their own actions.
So they made a bet.
Maluk disappeared into the forest, climbed a tree, and decided he wouldn't move, work, or ask anyone for help.
"If God is real," he thought, "let Him feed me."
Hours later, a group of travelers stopped beneath the tree. Before continuing their journey, they hung a bag of food from one of the branches.
As they walked toward a nearby river, the roar of a lion echoed through the forest. Terrified, they fled without returning.
The food remained.
Maluk looked at it but refused to eat.
"It's just a coincidence," he thought.
Later that evening, a group of bandits found the abandoned food. They worried it had been poisoned. When they spotted Maluk, they forced him to eat it first.
Nothing happened.
So they finished the rest of the food and left.
Against his own wishes, Maluk had been fed.
Not because food magically appeared.
But because of a chain of events nobody could have predicted.
That Wasn't the Lesson
I expected the story to end with, "See? God provides."
Instead, Om Swami made a completely different point.
He said the story isn't proof of destiny.
It isn't proof of free will.
And it isn't even trying to prove God's existence.
Instead, it's asking a much better question.
How should we live when we don't know which one is true?
That question stayed with me.
Because I've realized I spend far too much time thinking about things I can't answer.
Will Awesome Sleep become the company I hope it becomes?
Will the sacrifices I'm making today be worth it?
Am I making the right decisions?
The truth is…
I don't know.
And maybe I never will.
Focus on What You Can Control
The chapter simplifies life into two buckets.
The first is everything outside your control.
- Timing.
- Luck.
- Other people's decisions.
- The economy.
- Unexpected opportunities.
- Unexpected setbacks.
Call that destiny if you want.
Then there's everything you can control.
- Your effort.
- Your preparation.
- Your attitude.
- Your discipline.
- The quality of your work.
- How you respond when things don't go according to plan.
That's where your energy belongs.
Reading that made me realize how much time I've spent worrying about outcomes instead of focusing on today's work.
Improve the Odds
One sentence from the chapter hasn't left my mind.
The only thing we can do is improve the odds.
I love that.
Because it removes the pressure of trying to control the future.
No entrepreneur can guarantee they'll build a successful company.
No athlete can guarantee they'll win.
No parent can guarantee they'll make every perfect decision.
None of us control the outcome.
But every one of us can improve the odds.
- Learn another skill.
- Make a better decision.
- Listen more carefully.
- Build a better product.
- Take care of your health.
- Show up consistently.
Each one of those choices increases the probability that good things eventually happen.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not next month.
But eventually.
Looking Back
When I look back over the last fifteen years, almost none of the biggest opportunities in my life were planned.
I didn't plan to help build companies that would eventually be acquired.
I didn't plan to teach hundreds of students.
I didn't plan to build a sleep company.
None of those opportunities came because I had the perfect plan.
They came because I kept moving.
I kept learning.
I kept taking chances.
I kept showing up.
Looking back, it feels like life rewarded movement more than certainty.
Maybe that's how destiny works.
Not by rewarding people who wait.
But by meeting people who keep going.
The Mindset I'm Choosing
I don't know whether destiny exists.
I don't know whether everything happens for a reason.
And honestly, I don't think I need to know anymore.
What I do know is this.
Every morning I get to choose how I show up.
I get to decide whether I learn.
Whether I stay disciplined.
Whether I continue after another setback.
Whether I build something that genuinely helps people.
That's enough.
If destiny is real, I hope it meets me somewhere along the journey.
If it isn't, I'll still become a better man because of the effort.
Either way, the work is worth it.
So I'll keep building.
I'll keep learning.
I'll keep improving the odds.
And I'll let the future unfold one day at a time.
Maybe that's what faith really is.
Not believing the outcome is guaranteed.
But believing the effort is always worthwhile.