Morad Awad – Obstacles on the Path to Success Reflections On Our Times #3
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of setting goals and creating a positive mindset in achieving success. They stress the need for individuals to identify the problem they are facing and give advice on how to overcome it. The importance of time and mental health is also emphasized. The speakers stress that individuals who have a goal in their life do not need to rush to achieve their goals and that it is crucial for them to pursue their goals.
AI: Summary ©
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Smilla Rahmanir Rahim Al
hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala shuffelin ba
when mursaleen Sayidina Muhammad. While Ali also had big brain,
start by praising Allah subhanho wa Taala and sending the best of
peace and blessings on our noble Prophet Muhammad Ali Salatu was
Salam.
Today before I begin with the subject topic that we're going to
speak about Insha Allah,
I just want to send a Tassia my condolence to a very dear friend
to me, one of my best friends. His father passed away today back in
New York from Coronavirus May Allah subhanaw taala have mercy on
his soul and may Allah subhanaw taala accept him from one of the
martyrs in this plague in this pandemic, that we're going through
Subhan Allah, and that's the first person that's close to me that
that passed away from this pandemic, may Allah subhanho wa
taala, ease the situation and cure all the people that are ill from
this and from other illnesses as well.
His name is Muhammad Nasir, please, please everyone make diet
for him and ask Allah subhanaw taala to have mercy on his soul,
and to accept him from amongst the martyrs. I mean, your blood I
mean,
today in Charlotte Isla, we are going to continue what we spoke
about before, but begin a new series. So before we spoke about
the wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa taala, and how unlimited how it is
unlimited, and how we can reflect on it. And then we got to the
point where we said we have to use this time that we have to correct
bad habits. Because we all have bad habits. We all have things
that we do that we want to stop doing. And we want to overcome.
Even if it's something good, maybe we want to be we want to do
something better with our time. And it isn't necessarily something
bad that we're doing. But wasting time is a bad thing as well, even
if we're not doing something bad per se.
So
one of the things that we really need to address, specially now
that we have time to actually think and reflect and ponder is
something that, that that has to do with everything we do our
mindset, the way we see things in life, how ambitious we are in
pursuing things, this thing that we're going to talk about.
It's what every young, ambitious man and a woman are looking for
something that every hard working person wants to achieve. And
something that every procrastinator on the face of this
earth cannot attain.
Today in sha Allah, we're going to speak about success.
Yes, success and success in its general sense. Success is
something well, it's something we all want. We all want to be
successful in anything we do.
No one starts to do something with the intention to fail.
Everyone wants to be successful in what they do.
But this success is very difficult to some people, because there are
obstacles on the path to it.
And these obstacles have to be overcome in order for us to attain
the success. So today in sha Allah, I have a list of 10 things
that are obstacles in the path to success. Right things that make us
fail, in whatever we do. It could be one of these things. It could
be Alton it could be you know 5050 But it is definitely something
that is relevant to everyone. So I want to keep I want you to stay
tuned in and show because you will benefit from it.
So
a lot of young people, especially young people, because you know,
people in the phase of learning, discovering
life and discovering things around them. One of the hardest things in
their life is to answer this question.
What
am I going to do? Where am I going in life?
Why am I doing what I'm doing right now? Allah subhanaw taala
asked this question in the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala said fair
enough to double. Where are you going?
Did you ever ask yourself this question?
Or do you ask yourself this question every time you begin to
do something or not?
Allah subhanaw taala is asking you for a limited herbal. And the
reason Allah subhanaw taala is asking you is so you understand
what you're benefiting from what you're doing, and what you're
planning to achieve.
Okay? And if you can ask this profound if you can answer this
profound question that Allah subhanaw taala posed to you in the
Quran,
then you're on the right way. But the only way you can really answer
this question is, if you know where you're going.
So how do we know where we're going?
The first thing we need to know
is that in order for us to be successful, we need to have a
goal.
And the absence of a goal is the first obstacle in the path to
success. People without a goal, often stay lost, don't know where
they're going, or what they're doing, or don't know how hard they
need to try in order to get to where they're going.
Today, like in this series, I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm
not trying to blame us for what we're doing for our shortcomings.
I'm not going to
walk our walk all of us down this pathway of stress and anxiety, so
that we feel sad about ourselves. No, that's not the whole point.
The whole point is to recognize the problem in ourselves, and then
try to overcome it.
So today, in Sharla, all I'm going to do is start identifying the
problem, going to mention the problem, and then give you some
advice on how to fix it and some examples.
So the first of the 10 things is the absence of a goal.
And the absence of a goal is something very, very big. And
that's why it's the first one. Because without a goal, how can a
person strive? How can a person yearn for that? How can you look
forward to something if you don't have a goal that you're striving
for?
So I want you to ask yourself a question today. Due weeks, days,
weeks, months, years, perhaps go by and you think to yourself, did
I change? Is anything different? What did I grow? What did I
succeed in? In the past days, months, weeks, whatever it is,
however long it is? Ask yourself the question, how long has it been
since you achieved something, and not something that you achieved?
down the pathway, like, Okay, you're on a journey, and
obviously, this journey of life, you go through certain things, and
there are certain things that you have to do. I'm not talking about
those things. Today, I'm talking about things that you actually
planned for things that you said, a few months or a few years back,
okay, this is what I'm going to do. And I want to achieve it. And
this is how I'm going to do it. And then you you actually did it,
and you achieved it.
Think of the last time that happened?
So when's the last time you looked at yourself? And this is a
question to me and to you as well. When's the last time you looked at
yourself
now and a year ago, and said, Okay, what changed? Did I get
better or worse?
What is different than me?
So, why did everyone change? While I'm still the same? Did you ever
ask yourself that?
Why is everyone changing? I'm still the same. This person went
along and did this this person finished that this person got this
this person got that? What about me? That's a question.
We should always be asking ourselves these questions brothers
and sisters, this is these are good questions. Not not in a way
that would make us feel sad or depressed or something we just,
you know,
like, there's a way of thinking that makes us give up. And then
there's another way of
Thinking that makes us get our act together. And that's the way of
thinking I want you to have today inshallah.
So the problem was all of these things is the absence of a goal.
If we had a goal, then we could look back and say, Hey, I'm 50%,
to my goal, I'm 25%, to my goal, or Hamdulillah, I achieved my
goal.
So when scholars talk about setting goals,
they have, they state five different reasons.
For people, for the absence of a goal in people in people's lives.
So they give five different reasons.
Or five main main causes. The first of these causes is that some
people simply don't think it's important to have a goal. Some
people think, Hey, why do I need to go, I'm just living, I'm
drinking, I'm eating, I think of the situation, when it pops up, do
I really need to think of what is going to happen, what I'm going to
achieve what I'm going to do, I'm just going to live, I'm going to
breathe in to eat, going to sleep, I'm going to play, going to spend
some time with my friends, whoever has time from them. And whenever
things come up, I'm just going to do them. That's it type of life is
not the first doesn't believe
that they need to set goals. The second, they don't know they want,
they have goals,
or they want to set a goal, but they don't know how to set a goal
for themselves. They don't know the means and methods of setting a
goal. And this is, of course, something that requires research
from person, you have to go find some books about how to be
successful and how to achieve certain goals.
And how to assess yourself down the line to see how
how good you're doing in this process. The third type is some
people believe that they aren't intelligent enough to place a goal
for themselves. Some people don't have the confidence it takes to
set a goal for themselves and say, I'm going to achieve this in one
year, two years, five years, 10 years, or whatnot.
So, and obviously for these type of Third type, they need a boost
in confidence. Because confidence, it takes confidence to do anything
in life. You have to be confident in yourself. Allah subhanaw taala
created you and he chose you.
Allah Starcom and he chose you out and the fact that you're a Muslim,
you say, Allah, Allah,
the fact that you breathe and you think, and that you hear me right
now and you understand means that you have the ability to think and
process, which means that you should not be slacking on setting
a goal for yourself. So the third
type are the ones that don't believe they can. They have
they're intelligent enough to set a goal for themselves. So you need
that confidence, and inshallah you do have that intelligence? And if
you don't,
which I don't think so. But if you think that you don't, then study,
and learn and read, and reflect and ask, and people will advise
you in Sharla, and you'll never regret asking a question.
Number four is some people don't set goals for themselves out of
fear of failure or embarrassment. So some people have tried in the
past, they set a goal for themselves, they failed, or they
were embarrassed of themselves after they didn't
achieve their goal. So what do these people do? These people
simply have to
these people simply have to know that failing on the path to
success is is actually a natural step that everyone has many, like,
ask any scientist, any researcher,
anybody that had a goal? If they were successful in everything they
did, and they will tell you no,
they will tell you no, it's normal to fail on the path to success or
striving for your goal.
So
this shouldn't be a reason or should this shouldn't be a cause
for the absence of a goal. Number five is some feel that goals make
life less fun and interesting. You ever seen those people living day
by day? I just want to discover the world. I don't know where I'm
going, what I'm doing, but you know that that makes it funner
that makes it nicer and
That's the way I want to live. These people often don't achieve
much in life, okay, they satisfy their daily urge. But when they
look back at their life, they don't see recorded
accomplishments. They don't have that. That tangible success,
something they can actually see feel and sense. No, they don't
have that. It's just the days and months, and the years go by. And
so, okay, they lived a happy, interesting life, they seen so
many things. They've done so many things, they tried so many things.
But at the end, what did they do? There's nothing to show for it.
Because at the end, we're all going to get old, we're all going
not going to be able to do certain things we used to do. We're all
going, we're all going to sit at home and reflect on our past. If
Allah subhanaw taala makes us live to that older age, we're going to
get to that agents start thinking of, Hey, what did I do with my
life? What goals that I have? And what did I achieve? And what did I
not achieve? And shall us soon we're going to talk about
some of our self and how they set goals for themselves inshallah.
So in 1953,
Yale University did a study.
In the study, they asked all of the graduating class that year, if
they had specific life goals for themselves, did they have a
specific goal or not? Only 3% had a specific goal. 97% didn't have a
specific goal. They just had maybe general goals. Yeah, I want to get
a job when I work, and no, but 3% knew exactly where they were
going. And they knew how they were going to do it. Yell was one of
the steps to get to that goal, they already had a goal setup, yet
it was part of it. It wasn't the goal itself. Guys, by the way,
getting a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a PhD shouldn't
be the goal, it should be a step towards our goal, the goal should
be much bigger than that. And that's for the university students
out there. So
when they went and contacted all of these students that graduated
that year, 20 years later, they found out that the 3%, that had
had specific goals for themselves, were way more successful than the
97%. A lot more successful. And not only that, but the 3%.
The 3%, that did have a goal, their money put together is
equivalent to the money that the rest of the 97% had.
Interesting, right? So the 3% had more money than the 97% combined.
And that's amazing. And that's all because without Allah, Allah, they
had a goal. They knew where they were going, they knew what they
were going to do. They knew what was required of them. And they,
they were moving towards it.
And
so people in general,
so people that set goals for themselves
are so now now we're talking about people that do set goals for
themselves. Okay, let's say you, you get up, you pull your sleeves
up, you say Bismillah I'm going to think of my goals. People that do
set goals for themselves are three types. The first type is the one,
the one who sets their goal.
Trusting in Allah subhanaw taala and they do everything they can to
achieve
okay? They set their goal, they make sure it's halal. It's a good
goal. It's not something haram Allah, Allah because Allah
subhanaw taala will not give you tofield in anything, that any goal
that is haram,
Allah subhanaw taala will leave you alone. Do you do your thing,
and sometimes, Allah subhanaw taala will make a person that is
very evil, and wretched, be successful in accomplishing all
their haram goals, because Allah subhanaw taala wants to not leave
any excuse for them on the in.
So when they are punished, they know that they deserve it
well as a biller, and this is the worst time so when you set a goal,
make sure it's halal. Make sure it's pleasing to Allah. Make sure
it serves your your deen, your Eman, it keeps you closer to Allah
subhanaw taala makes you successful in his dunya okay, my
halal in Halal way. So, the first type trusts and Allah sets the
goal and does everything they can to get to the
The second type is the one who sets their goal but gets lazy. So
mashallah they sat down that day, they heard this lecture. And they
said, You know what? Today I'm going to set a goal for myself
today, going to brush the dust off, going to get up, I'm going to
change my life and Shala What do I want to do with my life? What
goals do I have? This is my year goal. This is my five years. This
is my five year goal. This is my 10 year goal. So that person
mashallah plans it all out, writes it down. But then what does what
gets lazy, gets distracted,
down the line somewhere, like it could be a week, a month, six
months later, a year later, they start swaying away until
eventually they forget about the goal they set for themselves. And
that's pretty, that's not good. So for the one, the number one is the
one we want to be like Chola number two got lazy. So number
three, is the one who did set their goal, they got lost, and
they had no direction and remained this way until death. When a other
widow, this is definitely the worst.
The third type actually had a goal and on the way to their goal, they
just got lost, change their direction, somehow. They lost it.
And they kept playing around their whole life until they die. And
their whole life was just a game Subhan Allah, Allah and it was set
up. None of us want to be like this. None of us want to live to
an old age and look back and say what did I do with my life?
I think everyone hear me and all of you that are listening. agree
that we want to look back at our life and say Alhamdulillah I did
this I did that I wanted to do this I want to do that. And I did
it 100 A lot of blood.
And
so today, before I move to the next point,
I want you to ask yourself, I asked myself this question plenty
of times ask yourself, which one of the 3am i
which one of the three mi
Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran FM am she McKibbon holla
watch he add MAMC so we and Allah salata, Mr. Clean
is the one that works flat on your face.
Better than the one who walks upright and straight on the
straight path on us rotten, Mr. Clean. Absolutely not. Even Kathy
here, he says in the Tafseer of this earlier.
McKibbon ology is the one who walks bent down, not straight. The
one who who is almost so stagnant, so slow in pursuing anything they
want to pursue, that it's as if they're walking on their faces,
meaning they're not going anywhere. That's what I've been
cathedra is trying to say, meaning these people, he's trying to say
Allah subhanaw taala said, walks on their face, because we know
nobody walks on their face. But even cathedra is saying, well,
Allah subhanaw taala is trying to say here is that these people are
so stagnant. They're so slow in pursuing what Allah subhanaw What
what they the goals, they set for themselves, that it's as if
they're walking flat on their faces, when any other
studies even proved that people without set goals in their life,
have more mental dysfunctions, they have more stress, and they
have more panic about everything. Subhanallah these are people
without goals. So if you see yourself saying, Hey, I'm bored,
hey, you know, I don't know what to do. I was so boring. What am I
supposed to do right now? There's nothing to do, then. This is the
pathway you're on unless you set a goal for themselves for yourself.
So in summary, the ones who have true happiness are the ones that
understand the importance of time and the ones who have set goals in
their life. Okay, so in order to set a goal, you need to understand
how important time is time can't just be a game free time has to be
something very serious, something that you
that you always pay attention to.
So, maximal Marta's he says that the human is like a motorcycle.
He'll a human is like a motorcycle.
So long as you're driving for
or
you will not fall to the right or to the left. But as soon as you
stop it, you're going to tip over to one side.
Right? So we have to keep moving in life. So we don't tip over.
Studies show that people, people that have a goal are more likely
to be physically and mentally well. And people that don't have a
goal are more likely to be physically mentally ill. And they
even said, when there are studies about people that went to
retirement, that when they went to retirement, the ones that didn't
have a goal for themselves after retirement, lived much shorter
lives than the ones that that that didn't. So Subhanallah and, of
course, the amount of life and the lifespan of anyone is in the hands
of Allah subhanaw taala. But we can use, we can use these studies
to reflect on.
So when a person climbs a mountain, okay, when a person
climbs up, climbs up, and their goal was to climb this mountain,
they finally get to the peak, there's only two ways two things
to do after that. Either you feel accomplished. And you said
Hamdulillah I did it, I got to the top of my mountain, that's all I'm
gonna do. And then you're you start to deteriorate physically
and mentally until you die or you find another peak that's higher,
and you go and you try to strive to get to that one as well.
So I'm gonna have disease, which is one of the greatest believers
in the history of the Muslims and one of the greatest one of our
after the Khalifa Al Rashid doing. He said, I strive I got everything
in life that I strived for. He said when I wanted to be when I
was young, I wanted to be the willie of of Medina. And Al
Hamdulillah. I was you wanted to be the governor of Medina. And he
was, he said, I wanted to get married to the daughter of the
Khalifa and Hamdulillah I did. I wanted to become the Khalifa. And
he strived for it, of course. And then he said Al Hamdulillah I did.
And now I got everything I wanted from this dunya All I want is to
die and go to Jana, and hamdullah when he became the Khalifa he
lived for three years, became one of the greatest believers in the
history of Islam. And he died in three years.
And this Allah subhanaw taala man, we ask Allah subhanaw taala
for him to be in the highest places in Ghana, I mean your
blood.
So
we need to reflect, we need to think we need to avoid not having
a goal for ourselves. Today, we need to sleep thinking of what am
I going to do?
What is my goal for the future? Have a year goal, have a five year
goal? Have a 10 year goal and set it for yourself and just go for it
and then start filling in the gaps. What do I need in order to
get to that, and inshallah Tanner through the series, you are going
to learn a few things about how to set a goal but in the last module,
and there are 10 other things. There are nine other things other
than the absence of a goal that make us slow down in achieving our
goals. We don't want it to slow us down. We don't want any of these
obstacles. And that's why we're going to start the series and
shallots every Tuesday and Thursday, every Tuesday and
Thursday. I ask Allah subhana wa Taala to guide us to show us the
straight path and to help us set goals for ourselves. I mean you
know Brian Amin was on the Lomo send them about a caller said no
Mohammed while you're Soviet Rangers I can log in See you next
week cerametallic
in mostly me now almost Lima Do you want meaning I will not mean
it will quantity now look on it. He was slaughtered in pain. I was
born in Poland he once saw the Rena was Slavia before she you
know, she
was before wonderful Shireen I want to call her she is the one
downside the Lena one downside the party was on me now was all in
one heavy Lena photo gentlemen one Hatfield law D was that good
enough. Guess
what's going on? I don't know.
hula hoop
Eileen