The Muslimah's Momentum Part 3- From Effort to Barakah

From Effort to Barakah: The Muslimah's Momentum Series Finale

In the final part of The Muslimah's Momentum series, we bring it all together with a heartfelt exploration of accountability, self-compassion, and Islamic insights to overcome procrastination. Join Hawa S. as she dives into practical strategies to stay on track, extend grace to yourself, and anchor your efforts in faith.

✨ Highlights from this episode:

• Why accountability is key and how to stay consistent.
• Embracing self-compassion without making excuses.
• Drawing motivation from Quranic ayahs and prophetic wisdom.
• Transforming your efforts into blessings with a renewed intention.

This journey is about progress, not perfection. Tune in for a powerful reminder that with every step you take, ease is on the horizon, and Allah’s barakah is within reach. So prepare your favorite cozy nook, grab a warm drink, and embark on this journey with me as we blend faith, emotion, and action into a tapestry of growth and learning, in'sha'Allah.

🎧 Listen now and take the first step toward turning your momentum into meaningful change!

Chapters

• 0:00 Overcoming Procrastination With Islamic Perspective
• 12:33 Upcoming Interview Format Announcement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Self-care isn't separate from productivity, it's part of it. Changing these habits takes real time and real effort. But look, we can talk strategies all day and those aren't important, but at the end of it, where are you getting your strength from? Salaam, and welcome to Muslimism Motion Professional Pursuits. I'm Hawa, your host, and here we celebrate the achievements of Muslim women while exploring strategies to balance the life you dream of with the life you're living today. Can you believe that we're already at the final part of our procrastination series? Let's take a moment to reflect on our journey so far before we dive into our grand finale. All right, so let's rewind to the first step of our journey. Remember when we called out procrastination for what it really was? Yeah, that hit home for a lot of us. We uncovered the truth. Procrastination isn't about being lazy or having poor time management. It's about our emotions, sis. Whether it's emotional dysregulation, mood swings or just being an empath, our feelings are running the show. We talked about the sinking ship analogy, how sometimes we choose to go to brunch instead of fixing the leaks in our lives. But we're not about that life anymore, right, and let's be real, sis. Fixing those leaks isn't glamorous, but acknowledging our emotions whether it's anxiety, overwhelm or just needing a break, is where the real work begins. In our second part, we rolled up our sleeves and got practical. We learned how to reframe tasks, making them less daunting. Remember the mantra this is not that bad. We talked about breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps, like tackling your laundry in five-minute chunks. We also introduced the game changer goblin tools and the magic to-do. These tools are like your personal task-breaking genies, making overwhelming to-do lists feel attainable, conquerable. And let's not forget our different types of to-do lists for different days. What stuck with me here was realizing that self-care isn't separate from productivity. It's part of it. On some days, self-care looks like tackling laundry in five minute bursts. On other days, it's about resting and saying I'll try again tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 2:47

Now we're stepping into our final episode and let me tell you it's going to be a doozy. We're diving deep into the Muslima's perspective on overcoming procrastination. We'll be exploring accountability how to hold ourselves responsible in a way that aligns with our deen. Self-compassion because being gentle with ourselves is not just okay, it's necessary and the Islamic perspective, drawing inspiration from our beautiful deen to support our journey. So grab your favorite warm drink it is a little chilly outside Find your comfy spot and let's dive into this final part of our journey. Together, we'll explore how to turn our efforts into blessings. Inshallah, are you ready? Let's do this Now.

Speaker 1: 3:38

I know I talked about facing the negative feelings that we may experience when we are first mustering up the courage to do what we've been putting off, but this in itself requires self-compassion. You have to forgive yourself and be gentle with yourself, otherwise, this will literally not work. If you allow the guilt and the shame to build up again, you're just going to end up where you were before. And when you find yourself going back into the unhealthy patterns, remind yourselves that you are human and renew your sincere intentions. Remember, in Sarah al-Ankabut, allah says and those who strive for us, we will surely guide them to our ways, and indeed Allah is with the doers of good. This ayah reminds us that even the small steps matter. Whether you're tracking your progress with an app, journaling or even finding an accountability partner. It's about showing up with sincerity. Changing these habits takes real time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the universe wasn't either. It was technically built in like six.

Speaker 1: 4:58

This verse serves as a reminder that, while personal growth and confronting our shortcomings may be difficult. We are only given challenges we can handle. It encourages being kind and gentle with ourselves as we navigate these difficulties, knowing that progress takes time and Allah knows our capacity. Here's a practical tip I want you to try At the end of the day, ask yourself, what did I do today that brings me closer to my goals and closer to Allah? So let's talk about Deen. A lot of us are struggling with things that we find hard to admit even to ourselves, but as Muslims, we've got an entire framework that guides us through self-improvement and patience.

Speaker 1: 5:49

Think about this the Quran and Hadith are packed with reminders of perseverance, trust and patience in the face of challenges. Verily, with hardship comes ease. Yes, we all know this. One or most of us do. This verse reminds us right here that, no matter how rough it gets, ease is coming. It doesn't say maybe. It doesn't say probably. It says it is coming. And sometimes the ease is right there, next to you, while the hardship is happening. Challenges are temporary and ease is coming or it might be over here. You just need to look. But to access that ease, or to even access or realize that we have that ease with us, we have to anchor ourselves in faith.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Prayer, dua, zikr, these are all like spiritual lifelines. When you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to reconnect, even with a simple dua, whisper it with sincerity, it can shift your mindset. And then there's the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari where the Prophet tells us the strong person is not the one who overcomes others with strength, but the one who controls himself while in anger. See, what I've taken from that is that you know, not just with anger, but with most things right, emotional regulation is key, not just for anger, but for all the feelings that get in the way of progress, whether that's fear, whether that's shame, whether that's self-doubt. But look, we can talk strategies all day and those are important, but at the end of it, where are you getting your strength from?

Speaker 1: 7:36

For us, it's through prayer. It's through zikr, asking Allah for help in the moments where we feel like the ship is sinking. It's that constant reminder of your intention, your niyyah. If your heart's in the right place, you're already on the path to overcoming whatever challenge you're dealing with. So if you're struggling to break down tasks, deal with procrastination or get through a challenge in your life, start by resetting your intention. Per the hadith in Sayyid al-Bukhari, actions are judged by intentions. So each man will have what he intended. So the Prophet himself even said even if you have the right intentions, you're going to get to where you need to go. Even if you have the right intentions, you're going to get to where you need to go. Trust me, that mental shift of setting, or resetting your intentions alone, can really change how you approach any obstacle. Resetting your niya doesn't just align your focus, it infuses your work with bharka.

Speaker 1: 8:40

All right, lovelies, we've reached the end of our procrastination journey, and what a ride it's been. This one was a short one, but I hope it was still able to kind of help by tying everything together in an Islamic context. So what are our key takeaways from everything we've learned and how can we move forward with a renewed purpose, a renewed energy? First things, first, you got to understand the root of procrastination. So procrastination was never about laziness or, you know, sometimes, but not always, about poor time management. It's really about the emotional regulation. Remember our sinking analogy we do not want to be on the ship that's sinking. We will not ignore those leaks anymore. Sis number two we gotta reframe the task. We gotta reframe the problem and break it down. We learn to tell ourselves this is not that bad, and to break our tasks into manageable chunks. Shout out to Goblin Tools and the Magic To Do for being our task-breaking genies.

Speaker 1: 9:48

3. Accountability is key. Whether it's an app, a friend or just regular self-reflection, find what keeps you on track. Remember you are answerable to yourself and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. 4. Extend grace. Self-compassion isn't making excuses, it's understanding that growth takes time. As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Al-Baqarah, a soul is not burdened beyond what it can bear. Progress takes time and Allah's mercy is infinite.

Speaker 1: 10:21

Number five seek strength in your deen. Our deen is a source of motivation and comfort, from the promise that with hardship comes ease to the reminder that true strength is in self-control, our own faith. Islam gives us the tools to persevere. And lastly but not leastly, six renew your intention. As the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us, actions are judged by their intentions. Reset your niyyah and watch how it transforms your approach to challenges. Remember, sis, overcoming procrastination is a journey, not a destination. There will be good days, there will be tough days and everything in between, but with each step, each task completed and each intention renewed, you're growing more stronger and more capable.

Speaker 1: 11:15

As we wrap up, I want you to know that I'm incredibly proud of each and every one of you for showing up and for being willing to face your challenges head on. You are not alone in this journey. We're in this together, supporting each other and lifting each other up. So next time you feel the urge to procrastinate, remember you have the tools to break down the tasks, whether that be mental tools or even digital tools. Shout out Goblin Tools. You have the strength to face your emotions. You have the strength to face your emotions. You have a supportive community cheering you on.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Trust me, you never know what somebody else might be going through as well. If you're comfortable sharing what you're going through or your struggles, you never know you might even find an accountability partner in the process. And, most importantly, you have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's promise that he never burdens a soul with more than it can bear. May Allah give us the strength to push through our challenges one step at a time. May he bless our efforts and grant us barakah in all that we do. Until next time, stay blessed, stay motivated and keep it moving forward. Remember you've got this and, most importantly, allah's got you.

Speaker 1: 12:33

And just a quick note I think next episode we're going to be returning to the interview format for a little bit, so stay tuned. We have some really good interviews coming up from some really cool sisters that I respect and I think it'll be really cool. I learned a lot from them and I hope that you can learn a lot from them as well. All right, guys. Assalamualaikum. This is Hawa signing off from Muslimism Motion Professional Pursuits. Keep thriving, keep striving and I'll catch you in our next episode, inshallah.