How to Win at Everything
Two years ago, I went to Colombia, to spend my winter holidays. During my vacation, the pandemic happened, and I couldn’t return home. So I spent a year traveling. For me, 2020 was an awakening. At the beginning of the year, I learned how not to get robbed in Colombia, then I learned that the meaning of my life was to find my gift, and the purpose of my life was to give it away, but the most important lesson I learned from the glorious year of 2020 was to be authentic, unapologetic, and simply be myself. So I started this blog, to entertain and empower people, to be proud of their identity.
It was one of the best decisions I have ever made, because it changed my life, and it transformed my creativity. I noticed that since I started this blog, I was happier, I felt more connected to things around me, and I was in the flow longer than before, but there was one problem: no one was reading my stories. How can I entertain and empower people when no one even knows about my blog? I thought. I knew that my stories were not for everyone, but I also knew that in order to bring my creative work in front of the right people, I needed a bigger platform, a wider audience, and a huge exposure.
“Only if you were Trevor Noah,” one of my friends laughed, “it’s not that easy.” But I wasn’t looking for easy, I was looking for a way, to get to the people that I was writing for.
I guess I need a magic wand, I wondered who could help me find a bigger platform. Then one day, out of the blue, I received an email from one of my mentors with whom I had shared my blog a while ago. “Hey Afzal, loved your new story, you should enter the Webbys!” he wrote. C’mon, I thought, my work is not that good. If you’ve never heard of The Webby Awards, it’s a pretty big deal. The New York Times called it “The Oscars of the Internet.” I wrote back and told my mentor that maybe one day when my work was good enough, I would think about entering the Webbys. “Call me,” he wrote back. This is why I love him, he has always been there for me, even though he’s one of the busiest film producers I know. And I highly respect and admire him, he has won many prestigious awards, including an Oscar!
During our Zoom call, my mentor reiterated how important the Webbys’ platform was to get the right exposure, “It’ll open many doors for you,” he said. “But isn’t it all about who you know?” I said. That is when he reminded me about my childhood. A decade ago, when I was working under him, I had shared a story with him about my dad.
I think I was 11 or maybe 12-years old when I told my dad how frustrated I was with the way young people were being manipulated by the corrupt politicians. “You should write about it and send it to the newspapers,” my dad said. “Why will they publish my work?” I said, “I’m just a kid, and I don’t know anyone.” That was the day when I first learned about the growth mindset. My dad convinced me that I didn’t need to know anyone at the editorial board, all I needed was to write, and to send it out to the newspapers. So I did. The following week, when I was waiting for my school bus, my dad came running out of the house with the newspaper in his hands, “Afzal, you’re in the paper!” That was one of the happiest moments of my childhood.
“You don’t need to be Trevor Noah,” my mentor said, “the world needs Afzal Huda.”
So in December 2021, I entered The Webby Awards, and then forgot about it.
For the next four months, nothing happened except that I kept writing, I kept publishing, and I kept sharing my work. The number of subscribers stayed the same, the number of visitors to my blog stayed the same, the only thing that increased were the number of blog posts. Then a few weeks ago, I was at the metro station, waiting for the train to arrive, when my phone vibrated. It was a call from my mentor, I smiled, and answered.
“Afzal, you did it!” he said.
“Did what?”
“You’re nominated for The Webby Award,” he said, “I’m so proud of you.”
Turned out I was shortlisted in two different categories. First as an Honoree in the Personal Blog category, but most importantly I was nominated in the Best Humor Website category. That’s the funny part because Trevor Noah was nominated in the Best Humor Podcast category. This is definitely God’s sense of humor, I thought. I couldn’t believe it. It was like I had found the magic wand I was looking for.
The next day, my blog started getting more visitors, more subscribers, more true fans. I knew I already won because I got what I wanted: a bigger platform, a wider audience, and a huge exposure.
If you love my blog, please share it with others who might like it too. With your help, we can reach more people whom we can empower, and at the same time bring more laughter into their lives.
Though at the end, I didn’t win the award, being nominated by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences was an enormous honor and a distinct achievement. With over 14,500 entries from 70+ countries, this year was the biggest in The Webby Award’s history. I see this as a remarkable feat!
Win or lose: I already won.
