As Salaam alaykum .

Ramadan Mubarak 😊! Alhamdulilah, it’s day 6 already and I want to ask; how is it going on your end? How are you feeling?

Ease and khayr for you and yours bi ithnillah. May Allah grant us all the goodness of this blessed month. Ameen.

, a few days before Ramadan kicked in, I took a course on a High Performance Ramadan by Mohammed Faris of The Productive Muslim Company. My biggest takeaway from that course is the inspiration behind my letter to you today; approaching Ramadan with an abundance and not a scarcity mindset.

What does this mean in the context of Ramadan? A scarcity mindset is a way of thinking where we base our Ramadan goals, activities, and schedule on the back of an anticipated fear of lack of energy, anxiety and/or overwhelm etc.

Fear to a scarcity mindset is as manure is to a seed.

Trust me, the fear is valid because Ramadan burnout and lethargy is real. What is not okay, is for us to plan and live out a blessed month such as this with fear as the driving motivation and force.

, planning and approaching Ramadan with a scarcity mindset makes us limit ourselves before we even start. Unknowingly we set goals that are baseline or 'just' above the baseline and our efforts inevitably follow suit. We ‘settle’.

On the other hand, is the mindset of abundance. This mindset is borne out of a deep conviction that Allah will not burden us with more than we can bear and He has created us with an outstanding inherent capacity to both worship Him AND go about our worldly activities.

This conviction breeds the hope and confidence to go big on your intentions and goals for the month and trust that Allah will provide you with the risq and energy to accomplish it to the best of your ability.

In the past few years, I have shunned anything that looked and felt like doing too much (disguise word for leaving my comfort zone); including activities I like doing because I was worried about overwhelm. Yet, I realise now that if I stretch myself just a little more, with Allah's help I could make it work and earn amazing rewards without the world falling apart. Bi ithnillah, that is changing from this Ramadan onwards.

Please note: increasing quantity is not the same as stretching yourself. I am not saying you should go and pack on a million and one things on your to-do lists rather what I am saying is there are some acts of worship that are tugging hard at your heart and that you know will be good for you when especially when it comes to attaining the ultimate goal of this month; God consciousness..... but you feel like you have nothing left to give.

Stretch yourself a little bit , I promise there is something more for you to give. That extra 30mins of reflection? that extra round of dhikr, that extra recitation? That extra page of tafsir? The longer time in sujood that your heart has been yearning for? Hosting that iftar? Organising that halaqah? That extra N500 OR $ in charity? The several attempts at concentrating in Salat? Go for it!

, you are stronger and capable of so much more than you think!

The key here is in knowing yourself and what acts of worship will move you closer to your goal for this blessed month... then stretchhhhh.

There is a 40% rule popular amongst the Navy SEALs that says that when an individual’s mind begins to tell them that they are physically and emotionally maxed out, the reality is that they have only pushed themselves to 40% of their full capacity.

, Allah is worth that extra 60%. Go for it!

Look, if there is any month that deserves your exertion, it is this month of Ramadan. Go beyond your comfort zone and try to mop up as many good deeds as possible. Assume an abundance mindset and go BIG for Ramadan.

Some words of caution: Even if you do not achieve all your goals, I promise that with this mindset and approach, you will land in a far better place than if your goals and plans were barely just scratching the baseline from the get-go.

So tell me , have I pushed you to stretch yourself this Ramadan? Let me know ! We are just 6 days in, there is still time to re-visit your intentions, goals and routine.

May Allah assist you and I. Ameen.

🤔🤔🤔 An afterthought: isn’t it amusing that even our yearning for quality requires a significant amount of quantity? Sigh.

Some information for you:

1.  If you would like to watch the High-Performance Ramadan course by Mohammed Faris, you can access it here for free

2.  I have a Juz Quran ( I don’t know the exact name its called but you know those Qurans that are divided into the 30 Juz )🤷🏼‍♀️. I bought it last year with the intention of gifting someone who would like to stretch themselves in terms of their recitation this Ramadan.

My late father-in-law, may Allah reward and have mercy on him gave me his copy of this Juz Quran before he passed away and it has been most beneficial for me particularly during Ramadan. It makes my recitation goals less daunting and easier to manage.

N.B It is purely in Arabic and does not have transliteration, so it is best suited for someone who can proficiently read Arabic. If it has your name written over it and you promise to utilise it, I would like to gift it to you. Do respond to this email and I will have it sent to you in shaa Allah. Nigeria ONLY please, T for tenks!

Cheering you on,

Your sister

Sekinat.