I’ve been practising a lot of self-love and inner work lately. Besides that, I’m learning and soaking up knowledge like a young child immersed in their play! These 4 insights gained from personal experience and life-long study have drastically changed my life. I fully believe and practise each point and know that it’ll change your life too inshaAllah :)) Let’s get started:

1.Choose your core feelings

Any time you set a goal or intention, what you’re truly craving is the feeling you gain from it. Any time you set out to change your life, eradicate a habit or start a new career, what your truly seeking are the feelings from that achievement. The feeling of lightness and energy from attaining your dream body. The feeling of love and affection from marrying your dream man! And the feeling of success and achievement from starting your own creative pursuit. Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket and becoming desperately attached to the outcome, focus on ways to nourish the feeling you’re after.

For example, you might be seeking closeness to Allah. There are so many ways you could achieve that. You could try waking up early for tahajjud, reading Quran daily, becoming consistent with your sunnah prayers, engaging in dhikr on your way to work etc. etc. The pathways to feeling a boost in your iman are limitless. As a result, if you accidentally miss a practise such as your daily Quran reading, you’re less likely to feel defeated and give up.

Inspired action: Journal all the feelings you want to experience on a daily/monthly/yearly basis. Don’t hold back on this part. I listed about 71 feelings! 😀 A few of mine were: vibrant, strong, feminine, inspired, glowing, confident, girl-boss, alive, feel at home, exerted myself, open-hearted, nurtured, bliss, soft, light, luminous, connected and so forth.

Once you’ve completed your list, circle the top 5 emotions that resonate with you. My words are: light, love, sensual, playfulness and getting stuff done. These words light me up. Whenever I read them, I gently smile to myself because it resonates with my soul.

After you’ve narrowed down your words, seek out ways to fulfil them. Ask yourself ‘what can I do to feel vibrant/love/light today?’  Let the emotions drive you forward and you won’t have an issue with motivation. I love the feeling of ‘getting stuff done’. Therefore, it’s at the forefront of my mind to be productive and complete the day’s work so that I go to bed with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

* The above exercise completely revolutionized the way I looked at my life and goals. Instead of becoming infatuated with the outcome or frustrated at myself for missing a deadline, I now focus on doing the things that nurture my soul and happiness. I’m no longer obsessed with goal-setting. Whilst I’m all about setting beautiful, heart-centred goals, waking up at 5:30am to schedule in Quran reading and morning exercise, I’ve also learnt a magnificent lesson on the way, which leads me to my second point…

2. Let go of the outcome

This has been a HUGE lesson for me. H.U.G.E. I really believe that every test Allah gives you is to teach you a lesson for your spiritual growth. Until you learn that lesson, you’ll face the same road blocks again and again and again…. until you learn the lesson.

One major lesson that has come up in my life numerous times is learning to let go. I mean, learning to let go of everything. Absolutely everything. Be it designer bags, makeup, standards, relationships, opinions, timings, thoughts, dreams, passions, goals, friends, hopes, fears, attachments, expectations… EVERYTHING.

It’s a vulnerable way to live. But in all honesty, there’s no guarantee for anything in life.

I’m a world class champion worrier – things that are pretty much impossible of happening, I’ve worried about! (can you beat that? 😉 ) With this mindset of learning to let go, it’s given me this freedom of finally surrendering to Allah. And writing that brings tears to my eyes. Because as a world class worrier, it’s so scary yet comforting to know that anything can happen in this life, but no matter what happens, Allah will always be there for you.

3.Surround yourself with inspiring women

On my instagram feed, I follow hundreds of inspiring women. Be it in business, fitness, health, beauty, entrepreneurship – I immerse myself with inspiring and successful women. Social media can be used as a very powerful and uplifting tool. When I see other women create beautiful businesses, travel the world and achieve their health goals, it makes me think ‘if she can do it, I can do it too. In fact, I better get my tush out of bed and make something out of my life!!!’. It’s incredibly uplifting and motivating.

4. Take inspired action

Don’t give into laziness. Who is that incredible, inspiring and glowing woman that you dream to be? How does she spend her time? What is she wearing? What is her surroundings like? Who does she spend her time with? Is she smiling, innocently smirking and joyfully embracing her day? Does she wake up before the sun, stretch her arms to the sky with a heart full of gratitude? Is she playing with her child, singing lullabies whilst counting her blessings each day? Is she sipping on kale juice whilst reviewing her balance sheets?

Whoever she is… whatever she does… however she dresses – I’m telling you she’s within you right this moment. You can be that woman. You can be the most happiest, radiant and glowing version of yourself. You are so worthy to be her. It is your birthright to be that woman. And darling, the best time to start is today.