Recipe of Life
Recipe of Life
We are in a constant struggle to find that secret recipe that fixes our habits, shapes our beliefs, makes us bold, puts smile to our faces and gives us a bright future certainty. What is the formula that really fixes it all. One Formula that is applicable to everyone of us. A way that we all become the success we desire.
Summary —
Stage 1 · Promise — Quit bad habits cold turkey.
Stage 2 · Sprinkle Joy — Enjoy the process of embracing new habits.
Stage 3 · Staying Successful — Create Change, a new Normal.
1 Promise — Become a true Muslim
- There your bad habits go to the drain (At once)
- You embrace the fact - change is going to hit you in the guts
- 5 x Prayers, Quran Recitation, 1 x Bit Improvement everyday
We are bad human beings. We know life is tough on us. At times, low hits us. It becomes nearly impossible to stand back on our feet. It causes us to lose our confidence. We beat us too hard that we lose the will to start the change again. In these times, when you are unable to stand back on your feet, keep doing the good. Keep helping your neighbours. Keep saying your prayers. Keep writing articles. Keep making vlogs. Just do not stop at doing the good you have promised to yourself.
But, when you decide to change, your all bad habits are meant to drain out of life. Your addiction has to flush out. You have to quit smoking / drinking cold turkey. Stop lying at once. Stop sleeping late. You got to accept the fact, becoming a muslim is going to hit you in the guts. It is going to put an extra burden on you. You will feel a heroin addict, lying in the tub, tied to the base, ice cubes floating and nerves tightening. He wins when he does it.
Like a heroin addict coming out of a tragic dark life, you have to tie yourself to the base of your tub. You need to prepare. You need to plan all ways you are going to beat your cravings. You were smoking, next how do you believe you can counter it. You were listening to songs, you can replace it with podcasts. You were procrastinating, you can replace it with watching a movie. You were craving for something bad, you are going to call your mother - surround yourself with friends - people who care about your wellbeing.
List your replacements. Memorise them. Read about them [ Atomic Habits / Awaken the Giant Within ]. Hate your old ways. Feel the pain of living bad. Kill the desire - to ever go in the dark. You are about to ride north. Make sure your tank is filled top.
Take the jump, on the day of your decision, like an armour brigade mounting attack, cruising through the slush, penetrating small weak lines of defences. You got to become the armour, and start your battle. You got to feel brave, clear headed, and know where you are going. This day onward, you are going to fight the distant dark — looking like a dot — at horizon. Run after it, and make it fear you. Make satan fear you.
2 Sprinkle Joy and Happiness
- Replace hard tasks with passion tasks
- Work at random happy places
- Hone one skill in public
We get tired, lose our temper, over burden ourselves, and slip back to the dark past. We got to make sure, mediocrity does not near us in any way. Say No to all bad, boring, and hard things. Make the hard tasks so simple, that you start falling in love with them. Small tiny eatable pieces of tiny tasks that slowly and gradually move you towards your dream. I write 3 paragraph article everyday and share. Not hard yet love-able.
Make your living so fun that waking up and going to bed becomes extremely satisfying. Sitting to study, to code, to create is highly pleasing. Taking your next step feels joyful. A clear path to feel easy to walk. Click to see my Airtable roadmap.
These small tasks are the seeds you are burying today. These need water shower everyday. Walking a tiny step forward is the shower. Someday if you fail to show up — try to learn or recall the task. Think all ways you are going to beautify it tomorrow. While you are doing a day job, driving family to the mall, walking to the mosque — you plan your next steps in your head. Step by step, brick by brick, you are removing obstacles from your road. And slowly the plan starts growing. You start finding more and more ways to feeling joyful and fun. — Like 30 days in a row, you said your 5 x prayers and now you have a chained X mark on your calendar.
While, it is not beyond doubt that our mind plays tricks with us. It has the ability to change all kinds of pleasures into boredom. We need to confuse it. More it throws its negativity at us, more we push it away.
30 days commitment mark on your calendar, feels great. But what happens 3 months later?
Same marks do not give the kind of pleasure as these gave on day one. To avoid boredom, make sure you keep multiplying the pleasure factors. Do things you love more in batch, at rather more fun areas, in rather more public ways.
For example — Find a camping gear, drive your car to forests, find a nice spot, take video shots, edit and share on your timelines.
Sharing your life in public requires courage, a skill, a way to improving expressing power. While you are living a life of character, you need to speak up. This grows confidence and orients your direction. Gradually you are known by your actions. Your perception in public, motivates you to better maintain your image. One day it was a single jungle trail walk. Some days later, it turns into a regular vlog where we find the real fruits of our ride.
Reward is delayed in public. Make sure, seedlings are watered consistently. Write 100 x articles before you analyse the reward. Make 150 x videos before you judge your performance. Create 10 x websites before you feel disappointed. Batch work, reps put in, that is consistent multiplies our odds on luck.
3Holding on to the Success
- Create emotions that lifts people ( responsible presence )
- Embrace the silence ( humility )
- Wait for your death ( massive reward )
Play the longest game. Set big ambitions. Stay purpose filled. Walk your dream path. It is both rewarding and motivating. For example :—
Build a crowd that lifts your community.
Create a canvas that is sold to the world.
A poem, that is read over a century.
Remove a border, that enriches your economy.
A talk, that is felt deep in the heart of future generations.
Set in motion, an inspiration, that unites people over the centuries.
Above all, walk a path, that brings us closer to our Prophet.
These long walks, are what holds us to the success. A destination that fuels our passion and keeps us happily committed.
The intersection is People. You are a leader, you feel your people's pain. You lift their voice. Bring them close. Unite and Move them. Built them homes, create a community, a beautiful place to live. A place where justice is served, prisons are demolished, teaching centres are turned into light sources, jobs are businesses, and happiness is felt in air. Emotions stay high. People love others like they would love their children. Neighbours feel protected. Tourists are charmed by your affection. Word spreads around, and more people embrace your beliefs.
While you are achieving your milestones, growing people, and showing the colors — arrogance seeps in and erodes your path. Slowly / gradually you believe it was you, the impact. You brought the change. You brought people out of agony. You start feeling arrogant. It adds charisma to your personality. You shine brighter on a magazine cover. And you feel you are walking right. You are heard rather loud. Slowly, people's appreciating asks you to feel arrogant, "it is ok to show off a little".
Successful people fall into the trap of their own success.
They falsely take credit for the passion work they have put in. They think, it was actually hard to reach this point. It was actually their unchallenged resolve. They feel they are the solution, a light source, that brought the massive change. And while they were having good fun, enjoying the silence, and living the privilege of passion work — they start equating it to their personal strengths.
Success is a by-product of doing what you love. If you found the ways to be able to do what you love, does not mean you fought better. It only means you were allowed to fight. Some amongst us suffer, and can't start their fights. A broken roof, a missing child, a feudal victim that is buried into a lifelong trap. Some who can't find the circumstantial opportunity you got, and fail to find their passion.
Hold on to the humility of a human being. Feel yourself the lowest member of your society. Make people finding you hard. Skip the front cover. Avoid the crowd, the praising, the success celebration. It does not suit your stature. Hold on to the rug, your beed, astaghfar, and wait for your death in silence. Hold on to the promise of spreading the message of your Prophet (PBUH), while death meets you in your humility. The one feeling of dying while your Host is happy — a moment that surpasses all early celebrations. Let your death become the day you enjoy the most.
Conclusion
We have overburdened our life. It feels ugly. Religion looks disgusting. Our ways have become extremely dissatisfying. Like a ball rolling, waiting for the next kick, to roll to a new destination. We are living inside a pressure cooker, about to burst. Escape feels hard. Our reflections trickles to our kids, on roads, in traffic, hospitals and bazaars. One misunderstanding of religion is seen in our prayers — that burdens our souls — and we dull down the colors of our bright colorful past.
It is fun to speak truth. Rewarding to doing what you love. Extremely satisfying to say Fajar and recite Quran. Amazing to cook your tea and watch YouTube. Stay in silence, not do anything at all and waste the time. Buy the best gadget, furniture, or cycle you desire today. Live rich. Do not listen to the people and do what you love. Just do the love part — and see how Allah rewards you with success.
Non Surah