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Often, after watching something like this video, I have some deeply-rooted thoughts I feel like sharing, or I feel as though I’ve embarked upon an epiphany. But, this video…this one was different. It was beautifully done, to say the least, but as of right now, all I can say beyond that is that this piece resonates incredibly well with me. I felt as though I was the man, speaking to the woman I hope to marry one day. As though his words were mine, imagining myself sitting across from her as we would have this conversation. Even the image I posted as the main image for this post made me think of her. Watch this incredible video and share your thoughts, experiences, and dreams in the comments below 🙂

A special thanks to Wong Fu Productions and Kina Grannis for such an inspiring, beautiful, and profound piece.

It’s only been a month or so since I relaunched my website, and already, I’m getting feedback that is inspiring me towards continuing, Alhamdulillah. I wanted to write this post as my way of saying thank you to those who told me about the impact my poetry and my other words have inspired them, impacted them, or helped them through a struggle they were going through. Here are just some of the things that were said:

I’m glad I found your tumblr again which lead me to your main blog. I pretty much have read just about every post lol. Masha’Allah for everything you write, from your poems to your personal blog posts. I find myself nodding in agreement or empathizing in some way or another when reading your posts. Your poems have made me smile, reflect, and sometimes tear up. Alhamdulillah for this great gift Allah has bestowed upon you, the gift of being an artist with your words and emotions and being able to express yourself through the pen. May Allah bless you immensely.

I’m enamored with your mind, through your poems.

Mashallah. That was awesome. Kinda expected you to be a great writer due to how you respond to things. And think.

My intention behind showing these things isn’t in any way to be arrogant. May Allah protect me and all of us from having even a speck of pride on our hearts when we pass. Ameen. But, rather, it’s to show appreciation for the people who have helped me in seeing that I am making some difference in people’s lives, even if it’s for a moment. I hope to continue to do this as I continue to work towards building my projects, Insha Allah. If there is anything you guys would like for me to address, or talk about, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can ask through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or email. Also, a special thanks to my friend over at the Beauty Of Islam blog who always supports me and shares my posts when she feels they will benefit the Ummah that follows their blog. Jazakallahu khairun. (I don’t have to state her name. She knows who she is.) As for everyone else, thank you again, and I hope that I can continue to share my thoughts and experiences with you all so we can grow together. And I hope that I can touch your hearts, just as you have touched mine with your kind and generous words.

At least that’s what my baby sister calls it. For the last couple of weeks leading up to today, she’s been teasing me saying that I’m turning a quarter of a century. And today, it’s happened.

I’m usually not big on birthdays, and this year isn’t very different in celebration and things like that. It’s not my thing to celebrate it, mostly because there’s a difference in opinion when it comes to whether or not celebrating birthdays is allowed or not in Islam. As a personal rule of thumb, if there’s anything in which there’s a difference in opinion amongst the scholars, and after doing my research, I still find it would be safer to leave the thing for the sake of Allah, I leave it. Anyways, that’s not the point of this post.

The point of this post is to talk about how I’m now in the 25th year of my life, and I’d really like to evaluate things and see how far I’ve gotten with my goals; if the things I had hoped for have become a reality, and if I still want the things I had hoped for. It’s time for me to re-evaluate where I’m at with life, and where I want to go.

For the last year or so, I’ve gone through quite a few struggles in growing as a Muslim, person, entrepreneur, and goal seeker. I had hoped that today, a Dua that was made by someone very important to me last year on October 17th would have been answered, and I’d be spending this day and the lifetime to come with my wife. But, as I thought about this, I recognized that this is merely a day in my life, and that if I want something, I shouldn’t put a timeline on it. Instead, I should keep making dua for what I’m seeking if it’s what I truly want, ask Allah for guidance and patience, and then, let things flow. Not a single day has passed since May 4th of last year (when I became truly serious about marriage) that I haven’t made dua asking Allah for guidance, patience, success, and ease in getting married to the woman that will be best for bringing out the best in me, in the matters of this life and the Hereafter. As is the prerequisite for Dua being answered, I hold complete conviction that Allah will make my dua a reality, or will replace my dua with something better, insha Allah. I will continue to make dua until He helps me and the woman I’m supposed to marry, insha Allah, find the courage, strength, and faith to take the leap of faith and pursue marriage, without concerns of what’s to come in the future because our conviction in faith that Allah will take care of us. At first, I was hesitant about pursuing marriage, but the Salatul-Isthikhaarah I prayed in May last year has repeated itself every single time since with a positive answer in this respect, and so, I’ve decided to hold strong to my faith and not give up, insha Allah. If this isn’t right for me, I know that Allah will remove it from my heart. Until then, I refuse to give up. Please make dua that I find success and ease with this, insha Allah 🙂

This pursuit of marriage, along with my ambitions and efforts towards entrepreneurship, Da’wah (the relaying of the teachings of Islam), and getting into shape, have helped me monumentally in becoming a better Muslim. I can’t express to you how much of a roller-coaster this last year has been with my Imaan (faith). I won’t go into details because I believe that is one of those things that should always be kept between you and Allah, and maybe with your spouse (for the sake of support), but this year definitely took its toll, and it still does. Every day, I wake up and wonder if I’ll have the opportunity to live through the day, because when death will come is uncertain. All we can do is our best, and make the most of every moment. If there is something you’re afraid to do, or something you feel uncertain of, take the leap of faith, and live! I know I always talk about taking a leap of faith, but honestly, it’s so important in living life to the fullest. We often live in fear of not living up to, achieving, or finding perfection in all we do and embrace as a part of our lives. We worry that we don’t deserve things because we think that we won’t be able to live up to the blessings Allah has given us. But, that’s not the case, because had it not been something we could have handled, Allah wouldn’t have blessed us with it! Embrace your blessings, and don’t question why you got it! Instead, do whatever it takes to embrace and show your gratitude to Allah for those blessings!

When it comes to my career, I’ve learned that pursuing your dreams, and shutting down (and if possible, removing yourself from the company of) naysayers is very important. So many people constantly tell me that I will not succeed, and that I won’t be able to achieve the goals I’ve set out for. They say it’s out of my scope of abilities, skills, and talents. They say I’m wasting away my life, while others are out there having jobs at big companies and starting families, while I’m sitting here trying to build something out of nothing. What I’ve learned is that those comments are irrelevant. All the power to those who are able and comfortable to live with nine-to-five jobs, but that’s not for me. I like to be in control. I like to feel that I am in charge of my own destiny. I am as successful as I’m willing to work towards being. (Of course, this is all with the Help and Provision of Allah, of course.) I’m not saying that’s not possible without being an entrepreneur. I just personally feel that I’m limited through having a “job”. I work whenever I want. I don’t have to clock in and out. I love what I do, and if I start to get tired, frustrated, or irritated by something I’m doing, I remind myself of my ultimate goal, and it reignites the fire in my heart towards pushing harder and further towards my dreams. So, to naysayers, I say, “No.”

As a person, I have also seen myself grow a lot in the last year. I used to be weak in confidence, patience, optimism, and overall drive. I had the ambition, but I lacked the drive to push forward. I used to be confident, but things happened in the last year that shattered my confidence time and time again. That shattering, however, only lead to me rebuilding my confidence stronger each time, Alhamdulillah. My patience was tested like never before this year, and even today, I still get tested with patience in the same matters that have tested me this entire year. But, with practice comes perfection. Allah has answered all of my prayers so far, so I have no reason to doubt that He will answer what is yet to be answered. Optimism has been my greatest friend in this process of ups and downs in faith and in the events of my life. Optimism is so much better for the heart, mind, and soul. Alhamdulillah for the advice of the Prophet (SAW) to be optimistic. It makes peace come with far more ease. Alhamdulillah times a million.

As I wrote this post, I came upon the realization that I haven’t fully answered the question of where I’m headed. That’s because I don’t know. I do, however, feel that the answer lies in between the sentences, words, and letters of this post, as each one signifies the variety of my life, and how things will fall into place as they will. My only task is to do right by Allah, work hard towards my dreams, and never give up until I’ve achieved what Allah places in my heart. Simple as that. Life is simple. I don’t want to complicate it.

Today, I have gotten a year closer to my death. The Day I will return to my Lord, with a record I can either be proud of or ashamed of. On that Day, I will depend on His Love and Mercy to grant me an entrance into Paradise. Until that Day, I need to prove my love to Him, so that I’d be deserving of Paradise. Today, I don’t celebrate – I reevaluate, thank Him for 25 years of opportunities, pray for another 100 years to keep trying to please Him, open my eyes to the reality of life’s fleeting nature, and grasp my heart and hands on what will help me in the Eternal Life.

When I first began in the business world, I thought that the business plan was the most important factor to any business’ success. I heard about statistics that would tell me that 80 or some other huge percentage of businesses that started without a business plan failed within the first year. That’s not something I liked hearing, especially considering how building the weight and responsibilities attached to something usually deters me from doing it. I like to always simplify things in my mind and remove the pressure from my mind so that I can address it with a clear mind. That’s may just be me though.

Regardless, as a person who often looks over his business plans to make sure his businesses are sticking to the vision they had set out to accomplish, I am starting to realize that using that business plan is actually limiting the lengths my visions would go to. It would limit my imagination and ambition, because it would bring it statistics, thoughts of competitors, and all of that nonsense, which would leave me at a plateau of confusion.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I have heard time and time again from friends of mine that are successful in their businesses AND are very happy, is that if you are passionate about something, relaying that passion is truly the key to finding success in your business. Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life. Not only have I heard this from friends, but when I would watch/read interviews with some of the most successful business people in the world, they all said the same thing.

So, how does this reflect in a business plan? In order for imagination and creativity to truly soar to their greatest lengths, they can’t be limited by drafted thoughts and ideas. Instead, they need to be set free, and allowed to flow in the directions life takes them. With the rapid growth and change of our society and the world of business, making some really long business plan, created over a span of days, weeks, months, or even years (yes, I’ve seen people take that long), is truly useless. By the time you finish writing the plan, your demographic, industry, etc. all would have changed.

When I think of a business plan, I think that it should be kept to simply expressing what the name implies: a plan for your business. That should answer basic questions, and shouldn’t go beyond a couple of pages (not the 150 or so pages I’ve seen with some businesses!). Here are the questions I ask myself when I write and re-evaluate my “business plans”:

1. Why am I starting this project/business? Ask yourself what your vision is, and try to maintain this vision throughout the process of owning your business/project. Far too often, we forget our initial visions when our businesses become successful. Never forget why you started this. Reminding yourself of this vision will keep you grounded and focused.
2. What do I want to provide to my audience? Figure out what it is your audience needs in order for you to fulfill your vision.
3. How will I provide these things to my audience? Now that you know what you want to provide to your audience, ask yourself what venues and methods you can use to make your vision known, as well as how you can provide them the products and services they need to experience what you have envisioned for them.
4. What will it cost me to provide these things? Figure out how much it will cost you to provide your products or services. This is the stuff that’s more “business-y”, but unfortunately, it’s necessary to keep you aware of what’s happening with your business/project, and how well you can truly provide your audience with what you hope to.
5. How will I cover my costs? You are only as valuable to others as you make yourself to you. Basically, if you aren’t taking care of yourself and your costs, you won’t be able to give your audience the best version of you, and that’s dangerous not only to your business, but to your physical and mental health as well. Figure out what amount of money you need to cover your costs at the most basic level. If you’re anything like me, thinking about big numbers of clients and how much it’ll cost you to maintain your business will leave you feeling incredibly intimidated and vulnerable. Keep it simple, and know what you need to know at the most basic level.
6. How do I give back to my community with my business? One of the things I’ve always believed in with all of my projects and companies is that it’s incredibly important to give back to the community in some way or other. Giving back always lead to more success, because not only are you helping people through their struggles, but you also feel more satisfied, and you get more clients coming your way after seeing that you’re not just about the money, but that you actually care.

Well, these are just some of my tips towards planning for your business. Keep it simple and don’t be the cause of your own panic attacks. Life is about experiences, and living them out in the best way possible. You have a vision, go after it, and make it a reality. And constantly remind yourself of your passion for it, and experience life. As I always tell my clients, “People spend too much time making a living that, in the process, they forget to actually live. Don’t be like those people. Remember to live.”

At least once a week, my family gets together with my uncle and his family, and sometimes with some family friends, to eat good food and play cards till the wee hours of the morning. I love it because of the fact that it’s something that gets me back in check after a week of work and constantly being on the go, ticking things off my to-do lists.

After dinner, the card-playing begins. It’s a simple game that our family has been playing for years. I don’t know where it originated though. At first, I thought it was a game passed on within our family, until I taught it to my best friend one day, only to learn that his dad had played an almost identical game back home (we are Ethiopian, he is Eritrean). The game is called Conquer and is played as a series of mini-games, where the objective is to get rid of your cards and be left with the lowest ranking cards in the end. Each card is equivalent in points to what number it has on it (for example, a 2 of any suit would count as two points). At the end of each mini-game, the points are tallied, and written on a score sheet. When the players decide to stop playing, the points of all the games are added together, and the person with the lowest score wins. There are more details to it, but I’ll leave that for some other time.

Family night is something that has become more and more important over the years, as my siblings and I have all been getting busier as we get older. With school, work, and other side projects/events/etc., the family finding time to spend together without any interruptions is a tough thing to do. So, we make it a point to spend at least one day/night every week with each other, doing anything we want, on the condition that we limit our use of the internet, cell phones, iPods, etc. down to only what is necessary.

If you don’t already do something like this, I highly recommend trying this out. Family is incredibly important, and if the relationships with our family members are not taken care of, it’s possible to fall into a state of just being no more than people that happen to be related living together. Effort is necessary in any and every relationship, but the ones we share with family will last us a lifetime, and perhaps two, if we are blessed to have our families together in Paradise.

I intend on continuing this after I’m married and have children, insha Allah. I pray that Allah makes it possible for all of us to appreciate and make the most of the relationships we have been blessed with. Ameen.

Today is one of my mini-vacation days, where I go out and just spend time alone around the city, or at a park or beachfront, or find a remote place to sit, meditate, think, and write. The reason today became an opportunity for my mini-vacation is because I had an appointment for  a much needed haircut (I was getting annoyed ‘cuz my hair was touching my ears haha) and a dinner with my grandma (who’s visiting from Toronto).

I’m writing this right before my hair appointment at this place I’ve never been to. My sisters go there all the time though, and they seem to like it. And, because it’s a school, they charge the same amount I would pay at some random place, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I used to get my hair cut by a stylist friend who would do it for me at home, but she moved to Toronto with her family, so that’s a no go 🙁 Anyways, I’m about to head over to the salon. I’ll continue, with a review of the place, once I get back, insha Allah.

After the haircut…

Okay, that was great! Sure, it was the LONGEST haircut I’ve ever had (3 hours!!), but it was nice. The people were great, and they were really detailed and focused on making sure the haircut looked perfect. After the cut, I felt great cuz it made me feel like I lifted a weight off of my shoulders! Literally. (Da dum tum TSS! hahaha) Anyways, after the haircut, I didn’t have any time to walk around downtown, so I rushed home to take a quick shower and get ready for my date with my Grandma.

I had this whole plan to take her to the oceanfront by my house to watch the sunset, then to go pray Maghrib, then go to the restaurant, and then go out for dessert. But, as life would have it, that didn’t happen.

I rushed home, got ready, and prayed Maghrib. Then, as we were about to head out for the restaurant, I decided to take my mom with us, so she got ready and we head out. It was nice seeing the two of them so happy and enjoying their mother-daughter time together 🙂 So, we went to one restaurant that decided that they wanted to be closed today (*sigh*), so we head off to a restaurant we’d never heard of. I’m glad we did, because I wasn’t too big of a fan of our first restaurant choice. This new place was great in the food quality, portions, service. But, what made it even better was that we were the only people in the restaurant, so we got the full attention of the staff 😛

After that, we went over to my sisters’ school to pick them up, because they had just finished up with a meeting for one of the school clubs they’re in. Well, there’s a recap of my great day. Might be a little lame to tell you all of this stuff, but it was an awesome day, so I thought I’d share it with all of you. I hope all of you had a great day as well, with many more to come!

Check out some of the pictures from the day: