Update for 12th September 2022

as Salaamu Alaykum,

I'm currently working on a very exciting coaching program that will be the main product/service that I will use to turn the project into a business in sha Allah. This is something I have thought about for a long time albeit it has come earlier than I had initially planned for. As I have mentioned previously, when I began the project in 2017, I was prepared for the long-haul with a win-win intention (in sha Allah) of attaining ajr whilst working on a passion project and being of benefit to Muslims. I also intended for it to be a means of sadaqah jariya and to capitalise on the good deed multiplier effect by using the leverage of social media, something unprecedented in human history (for good or bad).

If this program can be successfully monetised, I will then be able to focus most of my time and energy on the project as a whole with a view toward spending more time studying Islamic sciences and psychology in the coming years in sha Allah.

A Self Development Idea I was thinking about this week:

I was reflecting on the main ideas or practices I feel that I have benefitted from the most over the last 10 or so years of learning in this space. If I think about it, the core "self-development" ideas and practices are few - I could possibly list them in a short paragraph - but what is more difficult to express is the hidden shaper (if you like) of human behaviour. This is the mindset, beliefs or habitual thought patterns that can be seen as the fertile soil upon which these ideas can flourish. So, something I wrestle with when trying to convey the information is that whilst people want the quick tools and practices, oftentimes the underlying mindset is lacking. An analogy with spiritual self-development and tazikyyah al -nafs is apt. An example that comes to mind first due to the social media age we live in is how people often assume bad about others online and interpret whatever message they have in the worst of ways instead of the best. This is often due to a spiritual illness that has never been identified and worked on. But the person suffering will not realise until they finally become aware and tackle the issue.

Or in self-development terms, if someone does not have a "growth mindset", it is very difficult for them to view any self-development content in a positive light, as fundamentally their cognitive framing of the issue blocks it at the front door.

Hadith Science

Al-Adab Al-Mufrad With Full Commentary by Adil Salahi

Conformity of the ḥadīth: It is important that the ḥadīth conforms with similar ḥadīths on the same topic which are stronger than it. This conformity should be both in the chain of transmitters and the text. Non-conformity in the chain of transmitters for example, might be if one of the transmitters in the chain is different than in a stronger version of the same ḥadīth. Non-conformity in text would imply divergence in the meaning of the ḥadīth with one which is stronger

An Islamic Reminder

This makes one wonder if Sufyan al-Thawri said this, imagine what his private good deeds amounted to. Something to take inspiration from.

Health: managing dopamine for motivation :

Spotlighting. Dopamine interacts with the visual system. Dr. Emily Balcetis, a professor of psychology at New York University (NYU), discussed on the Huberman Lab Podcast how physically focusing your visual attention on a specific point (or “spotlight”) will help maintain focus during bouts of goal work. When you focus on a particular point, a medley of neurochemicals (dopamine, epinephrine and others) are recruited and put you into a state of readiness and clear focus

Dr Andrew Huberman Newsletter

Book Review

Al-Adab Al-Mufrad With Full Commentary

Product

An update on my Kindle Device purchase. I much prefer using the app on my phone. It has a better interface and is overall smoother and nicer to use. The assumed positive benefit of being further away from distractions whilst using the Kindle device also isn't that great a benefit considering I have been a relatively good reader for years using the app. Not sure why I didn't think of that before buying it lol.

Some quotes from my readings:

Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman

While talent has proved to be roughly measurable, it has turned out to be depressingly hard to increase. Cram courses for SATs can raise pupils’ scores somewhat; they leave untouched the true level of talent.

How to Use Your Enemies by Baltasar Gracián

Nothing is more worthy of applause than speaking well of someone who speaks ill of you, and no revenge more heroic than merit and talent conquering and tormenting envy.

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, John David Mann

When you start at the beginning of anything, you’re at the highest level of anxiety. As you learn—through study and doing, information and experience, book smarts and street smarts—you gradually lower your level of anxiety by raising your level of mastery.

Something unrelated but I found interesting:

You likely use a term popularized by Luntz daily without knowing it: “Climate Change.”

When Luntz consulted for the Bush administration, “global warming” was a growing concern that the White House didn’t want to deal with. So Luntz suggested shifting from calling it “global warming,” which sounds scary, to calling it “climate change,” which at the time at least sounded much less intimidating. It was apparently luck that it ended up being the more accurate term anyway.

Luntz’s work is fascinating because it highlights how important language is for shaping our beliefs. If someone uses the right words on us, they can change how we feel about important topics without realizing it.

“When we are in love, we are not rational; we are emotional. ... my job is to look for the words that trigger the emotion. ... We know that words and emotion together are the most powerful force known to mankind." - Luntz.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science

Delivery/waiting time - This video by Rory Sutherland, a British marketing executive, explains why the Uber map is a psychological moonshot. Uber understood that what bothered us about waiting for a Taxi was not the duration but the degree of uncertainty.

One question to ask ourselves

If you could not improve then why would you be held accountable by Allah ﷻ

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