Are you a Muslim professional in your 30s? Here are three steps to become the best version of you!

In your 30s, you realize that life is about more than just you! You must allocate your time and resources to various aspects of your life, such as family, kids, extended family, parents, friends, colleagues, etc. This requires you to excel in multiple areas of your life: spiritual, family, professional, personal, social, financial, etc. If you feel like you're not doing well in one area, it may seem like your whole life is falling apart. This can lead to worry and overthinking and impact other areas of your life. Does this sound familiar? If so, keep reading! The solution isn't complicated, but it is sustainable and rewarding!

Look at any high-performing athlete. What makes them successful and dedicated to improving their career to achieve higher targets?

I would say they are following three key steps.

1.       Motivation

2.       Structure

3.       Habit building

The top athletes are highly motivated, train daily during their prime, and consistently strive for improvement.

What can we learn from this? Do we have a similar solution, or even a better one, to become the best version of ourselves in our prime (30s) as Muslim professionals? Let's analyse the three abovementioned elements and consider what our faith offers.

1.       Motivation.

We are driven by our ‘whys’—the ‘why’ behind our actions motivates us.

Islam is intention-oriented, not results-oriented. We believe the results are from Allah and are purely based on our intentions.

Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say;

" Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended . Whoever migrates with an intention for Allah and His messenger, the migration will be for the sake of Allah and his Messenger. And whoever migrates for worldly gain or to marry a woman, then his migration will be for the sake of whatever he migrated for."

(Bukhari & Muslim)

The intentions can be of different levels. They can be based on a Dunya paradigm of wealth, fame, and feel-good factors, the Akhirah paradigm of achieving Paradise, and the highest aim of pleasing Allah the Almighty with your actions. As these intentions drive the actions, setting them up high is the game changer !

When you set your intentions for the sake of Allah, that sets up the highest 'potential energy' you can. Once you start rolling (acting on it), a higher momentum (kinetic energy) will be generated. As a Muslim professional in your 30s, you have the leverage to gain the highest momentum possible in any situation by setting up your intentions for Allah.

2.       Structure

High-achieving individuals make full use of their time and work around their calendars.

Rituals are the pillars of Islam. We need to wake up at a specific time, go to bed at a particular time, pray five times a day at a fixed time, give alms to the poor from our savings, fast in the month of Ramadan once a year, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.

This divine structure guides our daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and lifetime routines. Subhanallah!

Muslims consider time a blessing from Allah, reminding us of the urgency of using our time for actions that will benefit us in this world and the hereafter. We need to prioritize our tasks with TaQWa (a deep sense of mindfulness of Allah) minds, which will attract barakah into our affairs, leading to achieving more barakah in our lives.

Allah says, "And [by] the time, indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience." (103:1-3)

As Muslims, we need to prioritize our tasks and make the best use of our limited time, which is a blessing from Allah. The divine structure reminds us of life's high purpose, helps us escape from the always-busy hustle culture, and allows us to tap into the barakah-filled moments and achievements throughout our lives.

3.       Habit building

Finally, no matter what, high-achieving individuals sharpen their skills and push their capacities regularly. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, said, “With the same habits, you will end up with the same results, But with better habits, anything is possible.” Habit building is the key step to achieving the impossible.

Our faith is practical and based on maintaining our best habits. Allah commanded us to ‘maintain’ the prayers, not just do them. Whenever we ask Allah for guidance, we ask him to keep us steadfast on the path.

Maintaining and improving our good habits is essential for our faith.

Narrated `Aisha (peace be upon her):

The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked, "What deeds are loved most by Allah?" He said, "The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few." He added, 'Don't take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability."

Allah loves consistency. As Muslims, we are at our best when practicing our faith and maintaining our rituals, regardless of external conditions or life situations. We can use this underlying power to develop the best habits to help us achieve greater heights in both worlds.

Today is the beginning of the new Hijri year 1446, a time for reflection, repentance, and goal setting.

I am launching a coaching program, a beautiful blend of TaQwa nurturing and productivity tools, to help you develop deep mindfulness of your creator in your daily affairs (motivation), purpose-filled planning (structure), and sustaining habits (habit building) for your lifetime to make the best use of your time.

I intend to please my creator by helping many of you fortify your spiritual foundations, increase your performance, and unlock barakah in various aspects of your life.

“I ask Allah to bless this initiative and make it beneficial to Muslim professionals in their prime to lead a calm, focused, and spiritually grounded life and create a higher impact on the world with their time and actions.”

Book a free coaching session with me if you are ready to lead a more meaningful and mindful life from today. Don’t hesitate. Bismillah.

The free session will include a powerful five-minute exercise to identify your key areas with huge potential and a 15-minute call to discuss whether this coaching would suit you.

Insha Allah, I hope to talk to you soon. I wish you a blessed year ahead full of barakah. Keep me in your Du’aas.

With a lot Du’aas

Haneef Shijaz