With Ramadan around the corner, we're taking some time out this week to gather our thoughts, prepare a plan and set some achievable goals iA. Over the last few years we've found that time and...

"The cure for the pain is in the pain." - Rumi

Whilst recently on a phone call with a dear friend we discussed this quote as we talked, surrounded by so much pain. He on the brink of a devastating loss, and I, seeing more deaths in my work as a doctor in recent months than in so many previous years.⁣
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In the midst of this global pandemic, with the light at the end of the tunnel seeming increasingly distant, this quote really resonated with us. ⁣
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The pain we all feel, for ourselves and for each other, can be instructional and a catalyst for realisation and transformation.⁣

⁣2020 has undoubtedly been a challenging year that has pushed many of us to our limits. Cherishing what we have has never been more important. ⁣It's a perfect time to harness the power of gratitude and embed it in our daily routines. As the New Year approaches, it’s an opportunity to focus on what’s important, what perhaps needs to be more important and what can be cast aside!

A third of resolutions don’t make it beyond January. More often than not it’s because they’re not the right resolutions. So how does one make the right resolutions?

Fortunately there’s a wonderful blueprint to approaching New Year’s Resolutions to be found at the epicentre of the Islamic spiritual calendar. The Nights of Destiny in Ramadan form the chronological launchpad for many of our pledges, promises and plans to ourselves and to Allah. 

Essential to the success of the process is to focus on core areas that constitute the tapestry of our lives.

So here are seven steps to help make resolutions for 2021 that have a greater chance of sticking.

Getting the balance right

In today’s world, it’s a sign of strength to go against the grain and challenge the status quo. The temptation is to consume every form of media we are bombarded with in order to keep up or even ahead of the curve. But what impact does this unconscious behaviour have on our life goals or even our mental health?

At times, when we look at what others are putting out in the world, we can feel frustrated at our perception of what we have managed to achieve or create. Does it ever feel as though other people are more able to produce something new where you struggle? In reality, the assumption is probably unfounded. The frustration of being stuck in a rut or not being able to afford yourself time away from the desk to gain clarity of thought is a true luxury in our current era.

 "When a creative artist is fatigued it is often from too much inflow, not too much outflow." — Julia Cameron 

When we are generating new ideas, output or even the promise of something new on the horizon, our brain spends less time comparing ourselves with others and discourages us from wasting time on things that hold us back.

Try calculating your own input to output ratio and see if it affects patterns in your daily life. Be generous with what you’ve learned and be sure to pass on and teach what you have learned along the way.

Finding meaning whilst avoiding melting

 "Whosoever knows himself knows his Lord."

The title of the book neatly encapsulates its aims; our total immersion in the dunya has conditioned us to imagine horses when thinking of hoofbeats. Friedlander’s objective is to encourage the reader to see things in a different manner – akin to lateral thinking, but exercising the heart and not the mind.