Mirza Yawar Baig – What’s a Life Goal 1

Mirza Yawar Baig
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AI: Summary ©

The importance of knowing one's goals and finding one's own comfort in life is emphasized, along with the need to be prepared for pain and anxiety. The speaker advises the audience to focus on their own goals and narrow their options for resources and resources, emphasizing the importance of clarity in requirements and building a legacy. The speaker also provides examples of key skills needed for achieving goals and building roadmaps, and encourages individuals to pursue them.

AI: Summary ©

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			The question that I'm asked from time to
		
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			time by thinking individuals, thinking young people, is
		
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			how should I focus on a goal?
		
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			How do I arrive at a goal for
		
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			myself in life?
		
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			Now, those who are born with that thought
		
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			and that knowledge and that focus, clearly in
		
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			their minds are blessed, but those who are
		
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			not born with that are in a way
		
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			blessed even more.
		
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			Because when you get something easy, sometimes you
		
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			tend to lose value for it.
		
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			You think it's okay, it comes easy to
		
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			me, so it must be easy.
		
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			Whereas the reality of life is that it's
		
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			not easy.
		
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			And for those to whom it does not
		
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			come easy, I'm saying they are even more
		
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			fortunate and more lucky.
		
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			Because on the one hand, they will get
		
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			that knowledge when they work hard enough for
		
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			it.
		
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			And meanwhile, they will have the opportunity to
		
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			develop resilience, to develop perseverance, and to develop
		
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			consistency, and to develop persistence, and to develop
		
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			commitment, and to develop discipline, all of which
		
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			are critically important to achieve that goal, no
		
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			matter how easily or no matter with what
		
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			difficulty you arrived at it in the first
		
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			place.
		
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			So even the person who knows from the
		
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			moment you open his eyes that I want
		
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			to be this, whatever that this is, he
		
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			will need persistence and he will need a
		
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			sting power, he will need the commitment, and
		
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			he will need all of that if he
		
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			really wants to achieve the goal.
		
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			Knowing that you want something is one thing,
		
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			getting it is a whole different ballgame.
		
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			The benefit, or rather the only benefit, of
		
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			knowing clearly what you want is that you
		
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			can start working in that direction sooner than
		
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			somebody who has to go through a lot
		
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			of soul-searching and so forth before he
		
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			or she gets to that clarity.
		
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			That's about the only benefit.
		
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			But if you know it clearly, but you
		
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			do not do anything to develop, to bring
		
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			discipline into your life, to be persistent, to
		
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			be consistent, to have determination, then good luck
		
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			to you because you are not going to
		
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			achieve that goal.
		
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			Now, therefore, how to do this?
		
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			So I'm not talking about the one to
		
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			whom this is clear, I'm talking about the
		
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			one to whom it may not be so
		
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			clear and they are struggling.
		
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			The first thing to do is to make
		
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			friends with yourself.
		
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			I've said this many times and I believe
		
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			this and I believe it very strongly that
		
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			one of the greatest things that we have
		
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			lost, which used to be a strength, maybe
		
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			for some people it was a strength, by
		
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			default, I mean, you know, they didn't ask
		
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			for it, but it was there, it became
		
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			part of their life.
		
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			It's like people living on steep hillsides, they
		
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			get to do a lot of cardiac work,
		
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			walking up and down hillsides, not because they're
		
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			interested in cardiac fitness, but because that's how
		
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			you get around.
		
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			You live on top of the hillside, you've
		
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			got to go down to the river for
		
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			water, carry the water back up again and
		
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			so on and so on.
		
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			So, you are getting, you're doing some work
		
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			for some other reason, but you're getting cardiac
		
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			fitness as a bonus and I think that
		
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			is something which is, you know, worth thinking
		
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			about.
		
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			So, the thing to do, what we have
		
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			lost is this, which is the ability to
		
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			be comfortable with yourself.
		
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			The comfort with silence, the comfort with solitude,
		
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			comfort with being by yourself.
		
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			And when I say by yourself, I don't
		
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			just mean by yourself physically, personally, as in
		
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			one human being, but one human being minus
		
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			their phone, because the phone is the biggest
		
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			distraction and the biggest interference that we have
		
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			bought and brought into our lives and we
		
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			have created this completely toxic lifestyle, which is
		
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			based on where the most common feeling is
		
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			that of fear, FOMO, fear of missing out.
		
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			And if you just think about all the
		
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			time we check the phone, so that we
		
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			don't suffer from FOMO, so that we don't
		
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			miss out something and see, okay, so I
		
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			checked my phone, you know, 10,000 times
		
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			a day because that's the truth of it.
		
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			That's how much we check every three seconds
		
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			and say, okay, sure.
		
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			Now, what did I get?
		
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			Obviously, I didn't miss out.
		
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			I was taking care of that every three
		
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			seconds.
		
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			So, I must have got what I was
		
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			chasing.
		
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			What did I get?
		
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			Ask yourself, what is the answer?
		
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			You know the answer, I know the answer.
		
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			So, the ability to be alone and to
		
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			be comfortable with yourself being alone.
		
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			So, number one, we're talking about how do
		
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			I get to a life goal?
		
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			So, first step, make friends with yourself.
		
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			Learn to be alone.
		
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			Seek being alone.
		
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			Don't seek company.
		
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			Seek being alone.
		
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			Seek solitude.
		
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			I don't mean seek solitude as in, you
		
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			know, somebody who is dysfunctionally introverted, somebody who
		
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			is depressed.
		
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			No, as a perfectly healthy human being, who
		
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			is very comfortable with other people, who has
		
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			high social skills and so on, but they
		
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			like to be alone by themselves for some
		
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			part of the day.
		
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			And that's where we need to get.
		
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			Today, there is a whole branch of psychology
		
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			which deals in these things, which is anxiety
		
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			-creating moments for people who hate being alone.
		
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			Solitude, khilwat, being by yourself creates anxiety in
		
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			people, creates fear in people.
		
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			I'm asking you, get to a point where
		
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			you will be happy with that.
		
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			You will seek that.
		
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			And if you don't have that for some
		
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			time, that will make you unhappy.
		
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			That will make you, not anxious, but it
		
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			will be something that you would want to
		
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			have.
		
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			You say, oh, I wish I could be
		
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			by myself.
		
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			Not because I hate people, but because I
		
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			want to be by myself.
		
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			So, make friends with yourself.
		
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			The second thing is, once you are alone,
		
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			and believe me, be prepared for pain, be
		
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			prepared like anything else.
		
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			If you go into the gym and you
		
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			say, well, you know, my muscles right now
		
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			would, they would look nice on a chicken,
		
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			but since I'm not a chicken, I need
		
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			to do something about it.
		
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			And you start, under a coach, you start
		
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			a regimen of calisthenics and weights and so
		
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			on.
		
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			The first thing, the very first sensation that
		
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			you will feel, which will be very strong,
		
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			is that of pain.
		
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			You will feel pain.
		
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			Your whole body will pain.
		
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			You will question your sanity.
		
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			You will say, what the *, why did
		
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			I do this?
		
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			Am I insane?
		
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			And the answer is no, you are the
		
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			sanest person in the world.
		
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			So, why did you choose the pain?
		
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			Because you know what is behind this pain.
		
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			The pain is a mask.
		
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			The pain is a barrier.
		
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			And once you go over that barrier, then
		
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			there is beauty, then there is comfort, then
		
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			there is great, beautiful health, all kinds of
		
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			good things.
		
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			So, the same thing with solitude.
		
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			Be prepared for the pain.
		
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			Be prepared for anxiety.
		
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			Depending on what kind of a frenetic lifestyle
		
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			you have, depending on how addicted you are
		
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			to your phone, all of this is going
		
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			to come up.
		
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			Don't even take your phone with you.
		
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			Don't give yourself more difficulty by saying, I'll
		
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			take my phone, but I won't look at
		
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			it.
		
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			No, you won't.
		
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			You will look at it.
		
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			Keep the phone at home.
		
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			Keep the phone as far away from yourself
		
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			as possible.
		
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			And if the phone is linked to your
		
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			watch or something, imagine, see how we have
		
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			physically and voluntarily put chains on our ankles
		
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			and our wrists and on our necks.
		
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			These are the real chains, right?
		
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			Not the steel and iron chains that slaves
		
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			were forced to wear.
		
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			The slave didn't like what he was wearing.
		
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			We love it.
		
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			And that's where the problem is.
		
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			I was reading some stuff by George Orwell
		
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			and Aldous Huxley, two philosophers.
		
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			George Orwell wrote the book in 1984, and
		
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			I suggest you read it.
		
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			And Aldous Huxley wrote the book Brave New
		
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			World, which also I suggest you read.
		
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			There's somebody else who made a wonderful commentary
		
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			on them, comparing them.
		
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			And he said, George Orwell feared that we
		
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			would be enslaved by the things we hate.
		
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			And Aldous Huxley feared that we would be
		
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			enslaved by the things we love.
		
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			And so on.
		
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			I mean, I think this is where we
		
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			are.
		
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			We are enslaved by the things we love.
		
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			We spend money we can't afford to get
		
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			more and more sophisticated phones.
		
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			Most of the features of it we don't
		
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			use.
		
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			And then we also make sure that we
		
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			are hooked up in other ways, where the
		
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			phone is hooked up to the watch and
		
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			the watch is hooked up to something else
		
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			and so on.
		
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			So chain after chain, you need to break
		
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			out of that.
		
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			So throw all that, leave your watch, leave
		
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			your phone.
		
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			Don't take any watch.
		
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			You don't need a watch.
		
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			The world doesn't depend on you.
		
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			If you are not contactable for a few
		
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			minutes or a few hours, believe me, nothing
		
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			will change in the world.
		
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			And if you don't believe me, go to
		
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			the next funeral, that you go to the
		
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			next janaza and see the people who come
		
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			to the janaza, people who pray the salat
		
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			at the janaza, people who go to the
		
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			cemetery, people who are burying the person who
		
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			has died.
		
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			Look around, see how committed they are to
		
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			their task.
		
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			See how interested they are in the person
		
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			who died and how interested they are in
		
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			getting it over and getting back to their
		
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			lives.
		
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			Just see that, right?
		
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			It's a very salutary thing.
		
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			No matter how much that person was loved,
		
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			everybody loved, no matter how much that person
		
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			was respected, no matter how big a crowd
		
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			there was for the janaza, the crowd at
		
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			the kabiristan and the cemetery is smaller and
		
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			so on and so forth.
		
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			So the point is that that's exactly how
		
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			important you are and how important I am.
		
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			So let's not get sidetracked by that.
		
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			Nothing in the world will change if I
		
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			disappear for a few hours, nothing at all.
		
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			And if you don't believe me, disappear and
		
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			see what happens.
		
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			Nothing will happen.
		
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			So stay, go and sit in a forest,
		
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			ideally a forest.
		
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			There's something beautiful about forests, there's something beautiful
		
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			about trees, but if you are not fortunate
		
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			enough to live near a forest and find
		
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			something, find a park or something, go out.
		
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			Don't sit inside the house, go outside into
		
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			a place of nature, into a place where
		
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			the khutabat of Allah swt surrounds you.
		
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			Go and sit down and just be by
		
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			yourself.
		
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			Do nothing, say nothing, speak nothing, alone.
		
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			Don't take your best friend with you, don't
		
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			take your cat or your dog with you,
		
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			don't take your phone with you, definitely don't
		
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			take your phone with you.
		
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			Be comfortable with yourself.
		
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			You're talking about getting life goals.
		
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			How do I get clarity of my life
		
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			goals?
		
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			This is the first step.
		
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			Make friends with yourself.
		
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			Second thing you do is you then learn
		
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			what to do with yourself when you are
		
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			alone.
		
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			And that is the skill of introspection.
		
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			Reflection, introspection and abstract conceptualization, three very critical
		
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			things to do.
		
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			Reflection, introspection and abstract conceptualization.
		
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			So this is another word which David Cobb
		
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			uses in his beautiful model, he calls it
		
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			reflective observation.
		
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			It's a very beautiful term, reflective observation, which
		
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			is in reflection, thinking about the incident that
		
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			you are reflecting on.
		
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			Now he's talking about specific incidents and talking
		
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			about being there with yourself in your time
		
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			and trying to be with yourself in your
		
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			time and see what can I learn.
		
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			So reflection.
		
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44
			Now for that, for you to be able
		
00:14:44 --> 00:14:49
			to do reflection observation and abstract conceptualization, you
		
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52
			need a pad and a pen.
		
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57
			Again, no tablets, no electronics, your pad and
		
00:14:57 --> 00:14:57
			your pen.
		
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01
			Take a pad and pen, sit down in
		
00:15:01 --> 00:15:08
			this forest in silence and reflect and introspect.
		
00:15:11 --> 00:15:15
			Keep your heart alive with the zikr of
		
00:15:15 --> 00:15:15
			Allah.
		
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18
			Keep remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
		
00:15:19 --> 00:15:23
			Let your heart be beating to that, to
		
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26
			la ilaha illallah, to the dhruv and salam
		
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28
			on Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, whatever, subhanallah,
		
00:15:29 --> 00:15:29
			alhamdulillah.
		
00:15:31 --> 00:15:35
			But keep focused on yourself and try to
		
00:15:35 --> 00:15:39
			be aware of what is happening within yourself,
		
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40
			what's happening in my heart.
		
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43
			How do I feel?
		
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46
			When you sit in that forest, try to
		
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47
			feel your whole body.
		
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49
			What do my toes feel like?
		
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52
			My head and my arms and my fingertips
		
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54
			start from the extremities and come inwards.
		
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57
			What is each of these feeling like?
		
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00
			This awareness, this physical awareness is very important.
		
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01
			It does two things.
		
00:16:01 --> 00:16:05
			One is, it is an exercise in developing
		
00:16:05 --> 00:16:05
			awareness.
		
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09
			And second thing is, it then cancels out
		
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13
			the interference that that lack of awareness can
		
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14
			hammer.
		
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16
			Because your back will pain and your leg
		
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17
			will do something and so on.
		
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20
			And this will all interfere in your thinking
		
00:16:20 --> 00:16:20
			and your reflection.
		
00:16:21 --> 00:16:21
			So you want to get rid of that.
		
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24
			The thing about that is, when you become
		
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25
			aware of it, it goes away.
		
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28
			It stops disturbing you.
		
00:16:29 --> 00:16:33
			So become aware, consciously aware of what is
		
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36
			happening to you inside yourself.
		
00:16:38 --> 00:16:42
			Once you have done that, bring your mind
		
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45
			to the task at hand, which is, what
		
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46
			do I want out of life?
		
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47
			And write.
		
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50
			Don't worry about grammatically, is it correct?
		
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52
			What does the sentence look like?
		
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54
			What will somebody who reads it, will they
		
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55
			laugh, will they cry?
		
00:16:56 --> 00:16:57
			It's not about anybody.
		
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00
			It's not an exercise in composition writing.
		
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01
			It's not an exercise in writing poetry.
		
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02
			It's not an exercise in anything.
		
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06
			This is between you and yourself and you
		
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07
			and your heart and you and Allah.
		
00:17:07 --> 00:17:11
			So write down whatever is going on in
		
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12
			your mind.
		
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14
			Ask yourself questions.
		
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16
			Write whatever the answer is.
		
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18
			Don't worry about the answer.
		
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19
			Does it sound nice?
		
00:17:19 --> 00:17:19
			No.
		
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21
			Just write whatever is in your mind.
		
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24
			Including, I think I am insane.
		
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27
			Why did I listen to this lecture?
		
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29
			I think Shekher is insane.
		
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32
			Write all of that down.
		
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35
			But make sure that you are writing.
		
00:17:36 --> 00:17:39
			Writing is critical, without a doubt.
		
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41
			Writing is absolutely critical.
		
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44
			So make sure you don't not write.
		
00:17:44 --> 00:17:51
			So make sure you write things down.
		
00:17:52 --> 00:17:52
			Introspection.
		
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56
			Now, when you are writing down, remember, as
		
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57
			I said, three-step process.
		
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59
			Reflection or reflective observation.
		
00:18:00 --> 00:18:00
			Introspection.
		
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03
			And abstract conceptualization.
		
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05
			So this is the first step.
		
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08
			The first step is reflective observation.
		
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11
			So you are writing down what's happening in
		
00:18:11 --> 00:18:11
			your mind.
		
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13
			Your thoughts about your goal.
		
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16
			What are the different goals that I am
		
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19
			potentially considering.
		
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23
			Some of them might be clear.
		
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24
			Some of them might not be clear.
		
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25
			And it's a good thing to try at
		
00:18:25 --> 00:18:30
			this stage to narrow down to, if possible,
		
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31
			two or three goals.
		
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34
			And again, having said that, don't try and
		
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36
			do that in the first attempt.
		
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39
			Because, especially if you are not used to
		
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41
			being by yourself, it's not easy.
		
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44
			So don't think that, oh, you know, I
		
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47
			spent two hours and I didn't really get
		
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48
			anything out of this.
		
00:18:48 --> 00:18:48
			No.
		
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51
			This is part of the development process.
		
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53
			So keep it.
		
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54
			Keep the thought.
		
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58
			And keep on, you know, your focus on
		
00:18:58 --> 00:18:58
			it.
		
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00
			And keep working.
		
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01
			And it will come, Inshallah.
		
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02
			Not to worry.
		
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05
			So focus on writing now.
		
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06
			And again, as I said, you may have
		
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07
			to go again.
		
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09
			Do it a couple of times.
		
00:19:09 --> 00:19:09
			No problem.
		
00:19:10 --> 00:19:10
			Alhamdulillah.
		
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13
			That's the way when you start liking this.
		
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15
			And I hope you will enjoy it as
		
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15
			much as I do.
		
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18
			So writing down.
		
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21
			Now once you have written that down, so
		
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22
			in that process try and narrow down to
		
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23
			two or three.
		
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26
			It's not difficult because, you know, you are
		
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29
			not looking at every single thing or human
		
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30
			activity as possible.
		
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32
			You are looking at some things which you
		
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32
			would like to do.
		
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35
			And you are saying, out of these, which
		
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36
			are the top two.
		
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37
			Now one caveat.
		
00:19:39 --> 00:19:43
			Don't get into what is practical and what
		
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44
			is not practical.
		
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46
			For example, you say, I want to become
		
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48
			an airline pilot.
		
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51
			I want to be able to fly A380s
		
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52
			or whatever.
		
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55
			Or whatever is the new plane that gets
		
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58
			developed in the place of the A380.
		
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00
			I want to learn to fly that.
		
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03
			My immediate thought will come, you know, I
		
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06
			am a poor guy or I come from
		
00:20:06 --> 00:20:10
			a middle class or low middle class family.
		
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13
			We don't have a lot of money.
		
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15
			Flying school costs a lot of money.
		
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17
			How is this going to happen?
		
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18
			Don't worry about that.
		
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22
			Do not worry about the practicality of it.
		
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24
			Right now at this stage of the exercise,
		
00:20:25 --> 00:20:30
			we are looking at narrowing down possibilities of
		
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31
			what we want to achieve.
		
00:20:32 --> 00:20:36
			No matter how impossible it seems.
		
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38
			No matter how unlikely it seems.
		
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41
			No matter how difficult it seems.
		
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44
			No matter how expensive it seems.
		
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46
			No matter anything.
		
00:20:47 --> 00:20:51
			We are just narrowing down on the possibilities.
		
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54
			This is what I would like to do.
		
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59
			So, focus on that and keep thinking of
		
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59
			that.
		
00:21:00 --> 00:21:04
			Now, once you have that, go home.
		
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07
			Take your pad and go home.
		
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10
			If you don't have it yet and you
		
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12
			spent a couple of hours and you are
		
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13
			getting hungry or something and you want to
		
00:21:13 --> 00:21:13
			go home, go home.
		
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17
			On the question of hunger, feel free to
		
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19
			take some food with you.
		
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22
			Coffee, tea or whatever is your drink.
		
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23
			Water.
		
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24
			No problem with that.
		
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26
			I just don't want you to go there
		
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27
			with your phones and stuff.
		
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28
			So, take this with you.
		
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31
			Now, go home.
		
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34
			We then go to the second step.
		
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36
			And again, we don't go to the second
		
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38
			step until we finish the first step.
		
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40
			The first step may take two or three
		
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41
			iterations of this.
		
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44
			So, I go to the forest the first
		
00:21:44 --> 00:21:44
			time.
		
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48
			I come back with a few sketchy notes.
		
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49
			I am not very happy with that.
		
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52
			I go again and I work more on
		
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53
			this.
		
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56
			Until I am satisfied with the notes I
		
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58
			have and I think I have everything that
		
00:21:58 --> 00:22:03
			I need in order to go to the
		
00:22:03 --> 00:22:07
			next step of this exercise, which is the
		
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08
			step of introspection.
		
00:22:09 --> 00:22:13
			So, the step of introspection is where you
		
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16
			are going to be working with the data
		
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17
			you have.
		
00:22:19 --> 00:22:23
			And at the stage of introspection, now you
		
00:22:23 --> 00:22:29
			think of, to make this happen, what are
		
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30
			the steps?
		
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33
			Once again, don't worry about can I do
		
00:22:33 --> 00:22:33
			it?
		
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34
			Can't I do it?
		
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35
			Do I have the resources?
		
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36
			Don't I have the resources?
		
00:22:36 --> 00:22:36
			No.
		
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37
			What is required?
		
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40
			What are the steps required?
		
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42
			And in that, the reason I am saying
		
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44
			keep it separate is because there is always
		
00:22:44 --> 00:22:51
			this tendency and temptation to make compromises in
		
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53
			the steps to say, I don't have enough
		
00:22:53 --> 00:22:53
			money.
		
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54
			I don't have enough time.
		
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56
			I am living in the wrong country.
		
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56
			No.
		
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59
			The standard is very important.
		
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02
			The requirement is very important.
		
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04
			If the requirement is not clear, then you
		
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06
			don't know what resources you need to fulfill
		
00:23:06 --> 00:23:06
			it.
		
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09
			So, make sure that your requirement is clear.
		
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12
			This is what I need to achieve this
		
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14
			goal that I have set for myself.
		
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16
			So, clarity on the goal.
		
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19
			Out of that set of 2 and 3,
		
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23
			you can concentrate and try to bring it
		
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23
			to 1.
		
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25
			Even if you can't bring it to 1,
		
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27
			bring it to 2.
		
00:23:29 --> 00:23:32
			Usually, a good idea is not to take
		
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32
			it beyond 2.
		
00:23:36 --> 00:23:40
			And then you come to, once you have
		
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42
			2, then you look at those 2 and
		
00:23:42 --> 00:23:46
			say, To achieve number 1, what are the
		
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46
			others?
		
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48
			What do I need to have?
		
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50
			To achieve number 2, what do I need
		
00:23:50 --> 00:23:50
			to have?
		
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52
			Some of the things you need to have
		
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54
			might be material in terms of money and
		
00:23:54 --> 00:23:58
			getting this or that material stuff.
		
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02
			Others may have to do and will have
		
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04
			to do with yourself.
		
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07
			Developing myself.
		
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10
			Now, developing myself is in 2 ways.
		
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12
			One is acquiring knowledge and so on.
		
00:24:12 --> 00:24:14
			I need a PhD.
		
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15
			I need a Master's.
		
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18
			And I need it from this university or
		
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19
			that university.
		
00:24:19 --> 00:24:19
			That's one part.
		
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22
			The second thing is, as a human being,
		
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25
			what do I need to develop myself?
		
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27
			I need to develop more patience.
		
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31
			I need to develop better conflict resolution skills.
		
00:24:32 --> 00:24:36
			I need to develop better communication skills.
		
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40
			I need to develop better skills to communicate
		
00:24:40 --> 00:24:44
			with people who I have serious differences with.
		
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48
			It's easy to talk to and be with
		
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49
			people that we agree with.
		
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52
			But what about people we don't agree with?
		
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53
			In life, you're going to get both.
		
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55
			You're probably going to get more people you
		
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57
			don't agree with than the opposite.
		
00:24:57 --> 00:25:01
			So what are the skills I need for
		
00:25:01 --> 00:25:01
			that?
		
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04
			Skills of empathy.
		
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07
			Skills of courage.
		
00:25:08 --> 00:25:12
			Facing danger and looking danger in the eye
		
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14
			without fear.
		
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17
			What do I need to do?
		
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20
			So there's a whole series of set of
		
00:25:20 --> 00:25:24
			skills that you should identify and say, these
		
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26
			are the things that I need to develop.
		
00:25:26 --> 00:25:30
			One of the top skills that I recommend,
		
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32
			and I think everybody should have it, is
		
00:25:32 --> 00:25:37
			the ability to communicate through writing.
		
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40
			The skill of writing, the skill of creative
		
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43
			writing, is a very, very, very important skill.
		
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45
			Because remember, that is a legacy skill.
		
00:25:47 --> 00:25:50
			Whatever you say is going to be finished.
		
00:25:51 --> 00:25:54
			It will be forgotten, even if you record
		
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54
			it.
		
00:25:55 --> 00:25:59
			If you record it on some media, it
		
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00
			might stay there for a while.
		
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03
			But what remains is writing.
		
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07
			That's how today, 2,000 years after Plato
		
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10
			passed away, we still read the Republic.
		
00:26:11 --> 00:26:19
			We still read the ancient books of different
		
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21
			cultures because of writing.
		
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23
			And that's why even the Quran al-Karim,
		
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26
			which came as the spoken word, the Quran
		
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27
			did not come as a written word, it
		
00:26:27 --> 00:26:31
			came as a spoken word, was then written
		
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32
			down.
		
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34
			People didn't say, well, you know, it's okay,
		
00:26:34 --> 00:26:38
			we all have memorized it, and we know
		
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39
			it, and we love Allah, and we love
		
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41
			his Rasul, and we have everything, and we
		
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42
			don't need to write.
		
00:26:42 --> 00:26:42
			No, it's a no.
		
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44
			Writing is in point.
		
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51
			And even though the Prophet ﷺ was unlettered,
		
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53
			he didn't know how to read and write,
		
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54
			he encouraged it.
		
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55
			And he said, write it down.
		
00:26:55 --> 00:26:58
			So that's how the Quran and the Ahadith,
		
00:26:59 --> 00:27:04
			his teachings, his explanation of the Quran, have
		
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06
			been written down from day one.
		
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09
			And those who say that the Ahadith were
		
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11
			not written down, they were not preserved, and
		
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13
			so on, they're talking through their hats.
		
00:27:13 --> 00:27:18
			They don't understand what they're saying.
		
00:27:18 --> 00:27:22
			It was written down, and it makes logical
		
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22
			sense.
		
00:27:22 --> 00:27:27
			Why would you write down a command, and
		
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29
			not write down how that command was to
		
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30
			be fulfilled?
		
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32
			It makes absolutely zero sense.
		
00:27:32 --> 00:27:35
			So you're saying that people who say that
		
00:27:35 --> 00:27:38
			the Ahadith were not preserved, they're effectively saying
		
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40
			that we wrote down, and what was written
		
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43
			down was established prayer, but not how it
		
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44
			is to be done.
		
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46
			It doesn't make sense, it makes absolutely zero
		
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46
			sense.
		
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48
			No one with half a brain would do
		
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48
			that.
		
00:27:48 --> 00:27:51
			And the people who did it were a
		
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52
			lot more intelligent than that.
		
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54
			So that's a side note, but the important
		
00:27:54 --> 00:27:59
			point is that learning to write is a
		
00:27:59 --> 00:28:02
			very, very important and critical skill, which I
		
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04
			believe we should develop.
		
00:28:04 --> 00:28:07
			So this is what you're doing now, introspection
		
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08
			exercising.
		
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10
			What do I need to succeed?
		
00:28:11 --> 00:28:17
			Material things, non-material things, things that have
		
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19
			to do with acquiring knowledge, and things that
		
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22
			have to do with acquiring skills and abilities.
		
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27
			Some are skills as in to do with
		
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28
			your hands and with your mind and so
		
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31
			on, and communication, so conflict resolution skills, and
		
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34
			communication skills and so on, but much more
		
00:28:34 --> 00:28:42
			important are skills which are a state of
		
00:28:42 --> 00:28:42
			being.
		
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46
			As a person, what do I need to
		
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46
			be?
		
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48
			And how do I need to be?
		
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48
			What is that skill?
		
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50
			Develop those skills.
		
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53
			Not develop, I mean, write all that down.
		
00:28:55 --> 00:28:59
			Finally, the third stage, which is abstract conceptualization,
		
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02
			which is your roadmap going forward.
		
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04
			Where are you going to say, right?
		
00:29:05 --> 00:29:09
			So I now have all this data of
		
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12
			what I need to do and what I
		
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13
			need to develop and so on.
		
00:29:13 --> 00:29:16
			So now going forward, what is my game
		
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16
			plan?
		
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18
			How am I going to do this?
		
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20
			Where do I start?
		
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22
			When do I start?
		
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24
			And how do I start?
		
00:29:26 --> 00:29:29
			So this is where the issue of arriving
		
00:29:29 --> 00:29:31
			at a goal is.
		
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34
			So I wish you all the very best,
		
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38
			and you're most welcome to comment on the
		
00:29:38 --> 00:29:41
			video, you're also welcome to ask me for
		
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43
			further clarification if you think you need it,
		
00:29:44 --> 00:29:47
			and all the best in setting inspirational goals
		
00:29:47 --> 00:29:51
			for yourself, and even more importantly, in achieving
		
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51
			them.
		
00:29:53 --> 00:29:56
			Thank you very much, and alhamdulillah, the opportunity
		
00:29:56 --> 00:29:58
			to talk to all of you.