Blog post 8/30 - Reflections

 Start time: 02:21pm

January comes to an end today. It has not been as productive as I hoped. I set plans and rules to follow and I almost failed in all of them. It has been a complete failure. How does it feel falling down in the first 100m of a marathon? Will you find the breath to get up and keep running or will you give up and quit? I guess we will find out the reply within February.

To reflect the first month of this year, it gets a rating of 5/10. The 50% that has worked was;

1. Workshop: the January workshop was a success. We managed to do it three times for three different cohorts on 12 and 13th of the month. A total close to 150 participants took part and I hope I had an impact on at least 30% of them.

2. Podcast: the other area that has worked this month was my podcast. I recorded 4 episodes so far and finishing off tonight with the 5th episode of the month. I am planning to do 8 episodes next month on every Monday and Thursday inshalah. Please be tuned and keep showing us your love.

The rest of my goals, aspirations and routines failed terribly. I started morning runs and only ran one day. I planned Netflix to be only for Friday and almost watched daily. My morning and evening routines were terrible too. Time to restrategize and plan better for February.

I am looking forward to starting a new hobby this month and maybe travel outside the city a couple of days. I am also planning to launch a big project with a friend and that might be the highlight of the coming month.

What I have to work on is getting a job. I am still unemployed and 4 months and a half here. It’s time to put more effort on nailing a position Inshalaah. 

To conclude my reflection, I advice you to celebrate more the little wins and learn more from the setbacks. If you are given a new day to live, it is always an opportunity to be grateful and put in more work than the one you put yesterday. Keep praying more and if you have belief on it, I promise they will all be answered. Prayers are powerful and they change destinies. Whatever you make your mind believe, trust me you will conceive.

End time: 02:33pm

Blog post 7/30 - unedited

 Start time: 11:40pm

Hey pals, welcome back to another day of writing. I promise it won’t be feelings today. I want to do a little comparison of two similar generations living in different cities. I always ask people how their childhood was and I get different answers.

You might ask someone who grew up abroad and this will be his reply. 

“My childhood was pretty Ok. I lived with both my parents. They loved us and took care of us. I went to school from nursery till I finished. I had a Quran tutor at home after classes. Sometimes I watched tv before I slept and sometimes my homework was too much and I was not allowed tv. On weekends, I had different types of games at home. I used to go to the park to play with my friends and it was always fun. I loved visiting my extended family too. We lived in the same neighborhood most of my childhood days. I miss my childhood and I wish I could relive the memory”

The reply for the same question when asked someone who grew up in Somalia will be this.

“My childhood was happy and sometimes tough. We were a big family and we lived together. I went to different madrasas and school and we moved a lot. I remember when I was class 5 and we had to leave the city. We stopped studying for a year and when I came back, I had to redo the same class all over again. I missed almost two years repeating classes and this made school tough. Family wise, I had a happy growing up and love from all sides of my family. I wish I lived abroad and I wouldn’t have seen wars and migrations”

You ask me the same question and my reply would be the image I have on May 1999.

“ I also moved a lot when I was a child. I lived in Bosaso, Kismayu and Mombasa. I remember not having a consecutive months in Dugsi because a war had to break out in Kismayo. I remember vividly on a Friday in 1999 when I got ready to go to the Friday prayers with Aabo and a war broke out. It was our clan who had the territory at that time and the other clan attacked and due to that, our fathers had to run for their lives. I remember been happy for not having Dugsi tomorrow and being very sad for watching my dad run away for his life. For anyone who grew up in southern Somalia, we all have the same experiences of running away for safety at least once in our lives and yet, for most of us, we had happy days growing up. We did not know or understand much the wars and its effects and we always had a smile on our face. We played on broken houses and bullet leftovers, we smiled not knowing how our parents struggled to provide us food and shelter. We survived everything. We are strong and fully capable to build our own mess if we just understand that. Where you grew up has no effect on you at all, what you take away from it has every impact on you. Let’s learn from our struggles to earn our satisfaction.

End time: 11:57pm

Blog post 6/30 - unedited

 Start time: 09:31pm

I have been home all day. Imagine I haven’t even seen the sun today. I feel sick now. I hate spending days on bed. I am more of the loud type guy who always wants to be out in the crowd. Now I am uninspired, I don’t even know what to write at all. By the way, this is my personal space, my public journal. If you see more of Is and Mes, please understand.

I failed posting last nights podcast episode but Alhamdulilah finished recording now and posted already. It is time to fill up my evening pages before I head out for a walk outside. If I missed the sun today, I won’t miss the Xamar night life, never.

My feelings? My feelings has been more of frustrations than fun lately. I hate to talk about it and yet I always bring it up. This is how I feel like. I feel like I joined a football team, wore their jersey and even played every practice game. I have shown the world how much committed I was with them and how much contented I felt. When the game day reached, I was not in the lineup. It was just a dream all these practice days and fun nights. How will that feel?

I don’t feel sad being left out of the lineup at all, I feel super mad showing the world our connection. I feel too bad making everyone believe I was with them unknowingly. Now it’s the same conversation everyday with every team I say hello to, how’s your team Ismile? I feel like taking a microphone in the streets and shouting my lungs out that I don’t belong with any team. I am in the transfer market, with no team and Hungary to join any team that could afford me. But how do I do this? I know writing this is wrong too and I will get a couple comments from friends on why I am even doing it. I promised myself that in this challenge, I write 500 words of purely my feelings for 30 days and many more are coming, please don’t judge me Lol. I also hate talking about it but I have to.

I am very enthusiastic and a public person. Wherever I go, I show my enthusiasm and affection to the whole world. I can’t be anywhere with one leg or less passion. I am there fully or be no where near there, it’s just simple. These are my rules and I don’t know how I will survive in Xamar with my rules. Imagine I have been having strong feelings of going back to Nairobi and giving up too soon. I know it’s been 132 days only and I should have faith but will I really survive in this environment? Will I survive around people like these? I am not sure if I will and I hope Allah shows me the light that I need to decide on my next path. I don’t even see it imagine. No plan B again. This reminds me of June 5th 2019 when I received my Chevening rejection and I didn’t have any plan B. Yaaay it’s 540 words, let me go for my walk now and Goodnight to whoever reads it.

End time: 09:47pm

Blog post 5/30 - unedited

 Start time: 08:11pm

Sitting on Liido beach for the first time in 2022, it feels like it’s my first time ever. There are some feelings you can’t explain at all, like being hit by the passing wind, or watching the waves dance in between the sea and the shores, or seeing the Somali youth have fun in their land and walk side by side happily in a peaceful environment.

Liido beach is the most beautiful spot in Mogadishu, according to my opinion. Every time I come, part of me comes to life. My beliefs of living and working for my country forever grows anytime I come by these sides. Tonight it’s different, it’s full of youth enjoying their weekends and forget their workloads. There are mothers on the shores selling Shaax and Cambuulo. They sit on small stools building dreams for young students going to universities locally and abroad. The future of Somalia has always been women and it will always be them. 

Above these mothers on the shores are big hotels selling the same shaax over one dollar. Our fathers, the men who forgot this country, are sipping their teas discussing political agendas and siding with different sides, the same people who ruin us on their reigns.

My favorite things here are; seeing the waves and hearing to their sounds. I can’t tell whether they are happy or sad, to be in a country that throws its rubbish on them. I can’t tell whether these waves are arguing over something or agree on everything. I can’t tell whether these waves would take away the dark feelings in me and plant in me hope that I need. 

If I were to talk to the waves, I would tell them to listen to me and not judge. I would tell them to know my worth and give me what I deserve. I would tell them to take me as I am and never let me go. I would tell them to give me the powers  to bless everyone. I would tell them to see the intentions in me and not what I show. I would tell them everything and nothing.

Sometimes I wonder, why would I sink in the sea and the boats always float? Is it that I am made of flesh and they are made of wood? Or is it they adapted to it and I am learning to adapt? How long do I have to take to adapt to it? How long do I take to grab my chances? How long do I take until I am needed? How long do I stand here and clean my feelings for a heart that does not need them? Let me go back to my seat and maybe play a game with the team. I am signing off for now. Goodnight.

End time: 08:32pm

Blog post 4/30 - unedited

 Start time: 10:51pm

I might have had a dark moody day but I am going to write about a milestone that made me the happiest man ever. Let’s get to it, shall we?

It was a wonderful Wednesday, in Mogadishu. This day has been a moment I waited for a very long time. I remember visioning it all the time. I played it in movies and dreams most of the time. It finally came, it was my wedding day. In the past 5 years, I had marriage in my top new year resolutions and today was an end to it. It was that moment I had to tick it off the list.

A week ago, we set the date, invited our families and booked the location. I planned for this day to become the best memory of my life so far and I was about to make it come true. I was marrying a woman I just met 7 months ago but it felt like we knew each other longer than that. We were both ready to take this responsibility and make life as we envisioned. 

I woke up early, did my morning routine as usual. What was to happen today was just a dream and I didn’t want it to ruin my morning routine. I came back home, showered and almost dressed for work. I stopped myself in the mirror, looked into my face deeply just to check if I was dreaming. I got my phone for the first time in the day and called a number. It was saved with just a love emoji. She picked up sounding jubilant and shouted good morning husband to be. I was still surprised, I did not want to believe this dream. I had to make sure this was not only a dream but becoming a reality in hours. We had a little chat and hang up.

Fast forward to lunch time, I was dressed in black as if I was mourning someone. Black will always be my color and I had to wear it on my happiest day too. I wore a black Macawis, a black Armani shirt and a black cimamad with sandals. I hate suits and simple was always my attire. I arrived in the hotel accompanied by my younger sibling. Sat before me, were my dad, her dad and my favorite Sheikh Said Rageah. I was not loving the whole speech and talk agendas and just couldn’t wait to get to the part I say I accept. It reached and I shouted I accept. This was all I have been waiting for. I could not wait for the lunch to be served or pictures to be taken for my plane was waiting. I left the hotel to receive my beautiful wife. 

She wore a white gown and even looked prettier. We left the country holding hands and waving byes to our families. Our honeymoon kicked off.

I was woken up by a loud bang on my door, that was Aabo waking us up for Fajr. I realized it was just a dream.

End time: 11:05pm

Blog post 3/30 - unedited

 Start time: 10:18pm

I have already filled my morning pages today and I could not write again. I journaled in the morning, of course I journallled my thoughts and feelings and I cannot share that. Let me write todays blog now here on my notes app because I could not use my morning pages and which means I can’t tell how many words I will write. 

On this post, I will share one advice that I wanted to hear today and I am sure most of you would want to hear too. This is my advice. Happy reading.

“Stop feeling guilty for speaking up about the things that are bothering you. Someone we are put on a lot that we cannot carry and out of respect, we choose to be silent. Sometimes we are given bigger responsibilities and again wanting to please others, we kill ourselves. Sometimes we are given contracts we don’t deserve and out of the fear of loosing it, we accept disrespecting ourselves. It is ok to say No to what does not grow you. It is ok to lose and throw away to what you don’t deserve. Embrace your worthiness to attract what you are worth. Decline and reject anything below your standards for what you deserve to find you. Stop feeling guilty for losing things, stop regretting about the decisions you took and stop not speaking up for yourself. You are your own champion and you have to guard yourself even stronger. You deserve way better. You deserve respect and appreciations. Don’t be hard on yourself. Speak up for yourself. And finally, stop feeling guilty for speaking up about the things that are bothering you”

Regards

Ismail

End time: 10:26pm

Blog post 2/30 - unedited

 Start time: 9.14pm

This is day 2 of my writing challenge. It is called write from your heart and although I am hating to express at this moment, but I will go through with the challenge and write from my heart.

My head is exploding. It is full with lots of thoughts. Most of it could be sad thoughts but again there are some positive thoughts too. When I couldn’t handle them, I chose to record tonight’s podcast episode and maybe see if that settles me down. I have been locked in a dark room talking for 50mins over the phone doing what I love doing the most, sharing my voice and impacting the community. Sometimes doing what we love settles down our moods. I am kinda cheered up now and getting lots of calls. Sorry guys I won’t be picking up tonight, please understand.

What are you worth? Or let me rephrase, how much are you worth? Do you have an hourly rate of your time? How much is spending or doing 1hr of something worth to you?

For me, my time is worth lots. I know I seem free and doing lots of fun stuff most of the time but I still have untouchable time too. What’s more worth than even my time is my mind. I feel like our mind is the biggest resource we have, bigger and more expensive than lots of golds. Combine these two and you get my point..

Whatever you put your time and mind on has to be worth how much you are worth. If you expect my time and my ideas and thoughts, it has to be worth how much I make it worth. It has to be what I deserve, how much input I am adding, how much efforts I am bringing, how much ideas I am generating and how much influence I am having. If I don’t bring any of these; inputs, efforts, ideas, thoughts, influence and impact, then I might be worth zero to you. But when I bring all these, and you price me way lower than my worth, then that’s disrespect. I hope this sums up my thoughts tonight and I still have 150 more words to write, let me try to make it something sweet lol.

As I was writing this, 3 other guys were in my room and one of them asked, what kind of people does Somalia need? A Burundian friend answered pointing at me. I stopped writing happy to receive such a compliment but then I asked him why me? And this was his reply, it definitely made my night bright and I hope you learn and take the wisdom from it.

Hassan said, “ he knows what he is doing, he doesn’t sleep without finishing his work. He has a target and unless he reaches, his day does not end. Somalia needs more of him” 

I never imagined how small words could brighten and change feelings in a second. I was hating these three guys being in the room, I wanted my loneliness but I had to finish my podcast and blog. I got words which still makes me happy this second. And finally, I wrote over 500 words again, for a second consecutive day. Thank you for bearing with me as I throw out my feelings which might not be what you wanted to hear. If you read till here, I appreciate you. Goodnight.

End time: 9:38pm

Blog Post 1/30-unedited

 

Start time: 8.45pm

I am reading one of my favorite people’s blogs and I came across an interesting article and idea. Ali Abdaal mentioned something on public journals and morning pages. What also came up here was chatting to Mathew Dicks, the author of Storyworthy and an expert in storytelling. He shared how he has been blogging everyday since 2003 and this gave me lots of ideas.

First I downloaded morning pages and I started sharing my first post on 8.45pm on a Sunday night. I am planning to write 500 words daily and also writing a blog post everyday. I don’t know if I will get that energy or drive to continue but the only way to Find out is by trying. Let me keep writing this post and maybe make it online without edits or delays. Coming up tonight is my first blog post pals, but what should I write on. Let me use Mathew’s example and generate my thoughts.

And here is where I start…..

I have been thinking about management and innovation lately. I have been thinking about design thinking and making projects come to life. I have been thinking about podcasts and rebranding. I have been having lots of doubts on many issues ongoing in my life right now. Let’s talk about all this, I don’t feel like they should be private anymore, let’s share what’s on my mind just like how much Facebook wants us to. 

What’s on your mind? 

My first job in Mogadishu is becoming a manager. I don’t only manage few of my friends but I am managing big plans for a big community. I have lots of ideas to impact our community and what a better time than now to turn all my thoughts into concrete actions. I am looking forward to turning different lights to a community that lived in the darkness. I know they only expect a small light to light their path but they definitely deserve different shades of lights to brighten their lives. Our community deserves its own people to think of them but not eat them out. I am blessed to have crossed this path now because I know together with my team, we will lit a whole world for our community. 

I might have had dreams of becoming a construction manager but then, right after I became one, I felt like I should be a community leader. I felt the happiness and the satisfaction it came with, I don’t see the time on the field or the less money I benefit, all I see is impacting one life everyday. Being a leader is not only enjoying the fame part, but it’s sweating in the game part and producing real results.

I feel like I have lots more to share and my words are coming to end. I will stop here for today and I will definitely write more words tomorrow Inshaalah.

Writing these, my friend is playing with his camera taking pictures beside me and I will definitely use of those images as a thumbnail for this. Thank you for giving me your time to read this and if you are still reading it, please stop now Lol, like it and if you enjoyed, share it on your pages. Thank you and be blessed always.

End time: 9.03pm

2021 Recap

 

2021 Recap

I started 2021 celebrating on the balcony of my apartment in Nairobi, shouting out my lungs and welcoming 2021 in style. I posted on my status a little short resolution saying “2021 a year of more traveling, a year of more service, a year to fall in love and a year full of blessings. To a year of growth and learning Inshaalah”

365 days later, looking back and reflecting, I feel like I had a big year. I am not one to feel pride in myself but the past 12 months has treated me well and taught me a lot.

My year started slow. I just got back from visiting family in Somalia and I was supposed to be in a great mood. There was nothing like that. January started with lots of hopes and goals but in the middle, career problems, loneliness, obstacles, depression  and pain hit me bad. I dealt with it as best as I could and made books my closest friends. I left social media and spent January either on bed sleeping or reading books in my little balcony on the 5th floor of an apartment in Pangani facing the sunset and sipping my homemade coffee. My routine was simple and always the same, bed or books. The digital detox helped and I ended January shooting a YouTube video to explain my slump and provide solutions to anyone facing the same issues.

February came with its own fun and it brought me back to social media, with a little focus knowing what I wanted to do. I shot another 4 videos for YouTube, numerous others for Tiktok and increased my reading to double taking my tally to 13 books in 2 months. I spoke on 2 stages and my hopes for 2021 became brighter. My February came to a close with a workshop on values and purpose.

March was all about more MCeeing, reading, speaking, traveling and serving the community. It started with travelling to Nakuru and Kericho and spending time in the green. I MCeed an event, spoke and mentored a boarding secondary school and took part in Ajarso Afuri- a program that serves the Eastleigh community by providing them with a month worth foodstuff for Ramadan.

My April kicked off with a public speaking workshop and trained 20 young youth. The impact this training had on a young girl was enormous. She came to the training not able to utter a word infront of others and today she confidentally speaks on stages. This is what she texted me two months ago “Assalam caleykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh, I hope you're doing good. On Sunday I'll be on stage for the 3rd time Alhamdulillah. I am very very happy and I feel like I am now living the life I have denied myself for 22 years of my life. Before I could not stand infront of even two unknown pple and talk. I was dealing with self esteem issues and zero confidence and this limited me from doing what a lot of people do but I remember the first time I met you at awjamac I didn't know that the workshop you held would impact me greatly and this is another day of appreciation ,Thank you so much And May Allah bless you every day”

The rest of April was enjoying the Ramadan Barakah, doing food deliveries and working harder on my spiritual side. My friends and I were able to conduct two Ramadan competitions for youth on general education and rewarded them at the end. It has always been fun for me organising and bringing together many youth.

On 7th of May, I have achieved one of my biggest goals of the year and launched my podcast. It is called Ismile Inspires show and it is available on every podcasting platform. We will have video series too on youtube starting this thursday 6th January. I also challenged myself to do a 30 day vlogs on my youtube channel and this has been teaching me discipline and consistency. We hit 1000 subscribers on youtube and May ended well.

June is the most important month of the year for me personally. People are born twice, once when they come to the world and also when they find themselves. This month happens to combine both my birthdays and I call it Birth and Reflect month. The tradition for the past 3 years was to take a break from 5th June, to pause, reflect and plan for the coming year. This year, I travelled to a nearby town, disconnected my line, went offline and took a week of solititude. I created new goals and plan for 12 months to come and I will reflect on this on June 2022 Inshaalah.

June also gave me more opportunities and I MCeed two other events, spoke on stages and did a workshop on finding your passion. My retreat week gave me more clarity and focus and I was working on a high speed again.

July was a low month again, I felt too bad about my state and I wanted a stop. From June’s reflection, my biggest problem was being dependent and I gave myself 3 month for that to stop. Having this feeling, I decided to move to family and spend sometime with them atleast to smile again. I travelled with family to Mombasa for vacation and came back to organise and MC Ambassador Americo’s book launch. These two have cheered me up and blessed my July.

August started with a mentorship talk to young boys followed by 3 other speaking engagements in schools and book launches. Apart from the talks, I journalled alot this month and looked for solutions to my dependency status. I had to stop being fed by family and be responsible for myself.

Lots of thoughts and journalling welcomed my September and I reached a random decision to move to Mogadishu. I saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel but I was scared to fail in Mogadishu. I had to move and try rather than stay on a comfortable zone and be dependent on my sister. I took a hard decision and arrived in Mogadishu on 19th of September. I did not have family or lots of friends apart from my online friends and a friend welcomed me to his home. Mogadishu welcomed me so perfectly and changed lots of online friends to real life friends and made new ones. The last two weeks of September in Mogadishu was the most amazing days of the whole year so far. Now I feel like it has been a correct decision moving here and I am loving it everyday.

October was all about meeting more friends, seeing new places, writing more blogs and doing two contracts on communication.

November was a busy month of work and fun. I started giving a 10 min talk at Simad University. I also had an online workshop with an organisation in the UK for youth all around the world. My topic was on finding your passion and it went well.

The stand out moment of November was my work trip to Uganda. I have been away from 17th to 28th of November and spent some beautiful days in Kampala, Nairobi and Garissa.

December had two big events planned and I was part of both. First up was the Mogadishu book fair where I did storytelling for school children representing Awjama. Next up was Mogadishu Tech Summit and I was part of the communication team that made the conference trend for 3 days on every social media platform. It was followed by my first workshop in Mogadishu on Personal Development that attracted over 100 youth for two days. 

I end my December on a retreat and reflection week and I travelled with a team to WarSheikh to spend 5 days here. So far, it has been very effective and taught me a lot and I hope I will be doing vlogs here too. 

Indeed, 2021 has been a year of travelling more, doing more service for the community, falling in love that later broke lol and I attracted lots of blessing which I am deeply grateful for. It has been a year full of growth and learning and it has led me to a different new city to live in, make new friends and get to work here. I read 100 books and I am so proud of achieving that goal.

If I were to rate 2021, I will give it a 8/10 and I am so happy with my progress.

I hope and pray for even a better 2022 and my biggest goals are to have an impact on 22 people, make 22k savings and marry Inshaalah. It will be a year of more impact, income and building a new family.

Coversation With The Waves

 

I had a conversation with the waves today and asked why there is rubbish in its doors (the shore)

The waves Said, “ I am the care takers of the sea, I clean it to give a living to its inhabitants. My job is to take out the rubbish from inside the sea, push it out to the shores and let mankind do the rest. The problem I have with my neighbors ( the mankind) is that they want to ignore their job ( collecting the rubbish) and come to our house to enjoy swimming on us and leave us for their warm shelters. All I ever ask of them is to pay back to us, after every swim, collect the rubbish and throw it away. That way we would be interdependent on each other and succeed together to have a beautiful and clean beach”

My little encounter with the waves today reminds us that we all need each other. Animals take in Oxygen and give out carbon dioxide while plants take in that and in return give us oxygen. Human beings give plants to animals and in return get food, animals eat plants to get us food and in return give the plants their shit to act as nutrients for plants to grow. Everything and everyone on this planet need each other. As much as we need the sea to swim and have fun, it needs us to collect the rubbish and clean it too.

If Everyone does what they are supposed to do, everything will be as we need it to be. Simple Maths.

#TeamSeas

Takes From Anything You Want

 

Author: Derek Sivers

Genres: Business, Start up, Entrepreneurship, Money

Rating: Lifechanging

The Book in One Sentence

Anything you want teaches you 40 lessons every entrepreneur needs to know before setting up any business starting from being who you are and making your business anything you want without following the rules in the market.

Impressions

This book has completely changed my life in terms of how I thought of business. The authors beginning in 1997 mostly resonated with where I am today and of course the end of the book is what I dream to reach in the next 5 years.

Who should read it?

This book should be a must read for every human who wants to start a business, grow it and get out of it anytime they feel like.

How the book changed me

Biggest change and transformation for me from the book is that execution is key. My execution has been zero to none and I wasted lots of ideas due to the less actions. After reading it, I started setting up execution strategies for whatever idea that came to mind.

My top 3 Quotes

1. Never forget why you are really doing what you are doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn’t that enough?

2. Most people don’t know why they are doing what they are doing. They imitate others, go with the flow and follow paths without making their own.

3. Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.

My top 3 Lessons

1. Rule number 1 of service business, care about your customers more than about yourself, and you will do well. 

2. Know your personal philosophy. Whatever you make, it’s your creation, so make it your personal dream come true.

3. Do what makes you happy and don’t imitate others. Keep inventing and improving and learn to switch when it is not a hit.

Girl Child

 

I wake up early for Fajr prayers and she is already up in the kitchen. I sleep late watching Football and she is stuck in the kitchen cleaning and making breakfast cajiin.

I go to school to compete her and I always come second to her. She leads the class and still has no time for friends at Duhr, because Lunch has to be prepared at home.

 When she struggles to give birth while the dads are away, she takes care of herself. When there is a small argument and He reaches out for divorce, she gets to take care of her children. She never has enough appreciation and support and yet, she perfectly knows what to do. 

She here is every somali girl out there. I cherish you, celebrate you and respect you. I know how brave, strong and smart you are because I have a queen and 3 princesses in our household, another 20 I am blessed with as eedos and Habaryaros, 30 more as close cousins, nieces and nephews and above 100 as close friends and shields. I succeed and shine daily because I am raised by somali queens. I beat my competition everyday because I am surrounded by Somali queens.

I am never disrespecting the male here but I know the female deserve way more praise now and forever.

Do you know why they say behind every successful man, there is a woman? Hear the reason out and try to understand.

A woman gives birth to you, a woman teaches you to talk, walk and play, a woman consoles you at the end of everyday, motivates you and teaches you what happiness is, a woman will cry for you, miss you and be by your bedside when you get to say goodbye. All this are things 90% of women do everyday without getting tired or expecting something back.

If you know all this and understand with me, who are we to disrespect any woman? 

Let us celebrate the international girl day today and learn to respect every female every day.

A Friend In DEEN Is A Friend InDEED

 

We all pray and ask Allah for what we long for. Some of us are so lucky to still have parents who pray for them every now and then, and others even have friends who pray for them too. Sometimes our prayers are answered directly, other times we get things we didn’t ask for but needed and sometimes we get things we never asked for and never thought we even needed. This category is the best one and only those who are lucky enough get them. 

For me personally, there are times my prayers are answered directly like being protected and given what I ask for. There are also times when my prayers gave me a different thing that I needed but never asked for, like being rejected for a scholarship and redirected to the field of coaching and personal development. Now due to my prayers and those of my loved ones, I got what I never asked for and never thought I needed. Keep reading this blog post and I hope you are feeling well wherever you are pal.

Friends are always a blessing. I believe we all need friends who are there for us on our ups and downs, who cheer us and feel low for us, who champion us and challenge us too. I am someone who has all the friends I need in this life, or l believe that. My Mother – the love of my life – always prays for me to find the best of friends out there. Allah on the other end, answers her prayers and provides me who I need most in my life. Sometimes, I feel down and exhausted and most times I don’t get the reason. But every time in these scenarios, I used to make a friend who was always there for me but I mostly become too busy on them. Due to that, our meetings decrease and it turns to be text messages here and there.

The reason I am sharing all this is because I want you to shuffle your friends and find the person who pushes and pressures you on sides of your life you don’t want to talk about at all. For me, my deen side has always been a secret. I practiced it and I was just an Okay person in that sector. I made friends who always pushed me on the deen side and I listened to them. All these friends used to be male figures in my life who I still regard so high status in my life, but at the same time, I either cut them off or our meetings hasn’t been so regular anymore.

I recently made a new female friend. We only meet three times so far and in all these occasions, she kept on pushing me on my Deen side and showed me ways I had to improve to succeed in this life. Now is when I understand that all my prayers are answered. I push myself harder to succeed and all success starts from the Deen. This is Allah showing me that I needed a big improvement on my spiritual life to succeed in this life. Allah gave me male friends who showed me that but I pushed them away. Now this shows me How Allah is giving me a female friend, knowing that I don’t push away any female friend and in turn, her pushing me on my spiritual side.

My main point here is for any friendships that you ever make, have one who will always remind you of your deen and it will always be hard to lose them or push them away. Remember, A friend in DEEN is a friend INDEED.

Positivity Brings Opportunity

 

If everyone could understand what we have infront of us is an opportunity, we would see the world in a difrerent lens than the one we are using now.

We meet people daily. We read books every now and then. We watch movies occassionaly. All these are opportunities too, if only we see it that way. Think back of a person you met randomly and ended up being useful some other time. Think of a book you once read and it’s content played a role in your life. Look at how all the pictures we see online or the movies we watch come into play.

Opportunities are everywhere around us only if we put on a different lens than we use now. We are all clouded with negativity. We see the black ink dot in the white paper when it is only occupying less than 1% of the area. We keep on telling people to improve and change in this area and never mention all the correct things they do daily.  We keep on trying catching out employees doing the wrong things at work when we can catch them doing the right thing and leave them to be motivated and energized.

Everything in this life can be learned through trials and practice. Let us take the next 30 days putting more effort on positivity than negativity. Let us compliment ourselves when we do a right thing and forget about the one wrong thing we do. Let us learn to see this world with a different lens than the one we use now. Positivity wins you more things in life than negativity does. Opportunities are scattered around us more than problems are.

Dear Reader

 

Dear You

Yes, You Reading This.

I am rich. I am rich with lots of dreams inside me. I am rich with lots of expectations I have of my people. I am rich with how much I want to bring change to this world. Any change I dream of starts with me and sometimes I don’t even know how to change myself. I am never complete, never enough neither doing enough. The Sabr that I have, knowing I will succeed, gives me enough satisfaction to sleep every night. You should have the same patience too. You are created to fulfil your dreams and live the best life possible. Don’t lose hope for the pain you are facing now, the problems that are overtaking you now or the obstacles you keep on hitting on a daily basis. Have hope in the fact that you still wake up in the morning. Have hope in the fact that you still take a step daily. Have hope in the fact that you too are capable of anything out there only if you are willing to think straight.

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8900782342192139"

     crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

I am writing this to my inner self knowing too well that one other person needs too. Words are never enough to make anyone feel right but I hope my words will turn on the engine inside you to think straight. They work for me sometimes but not always. When they work for you, well and Good but when they don’t, don’t leave in despair, find a friend.

I have too many friends out there. I don’t communicate with them mostly and I blame myself for that. Each one of them have a purpose in my life. I have those I spend my good days with, those I spend my bad days with, those I go to them to relax, those I take advices from and even those I just sit around them feeling peace and tranquility. My point in friends is this, have one friend who you can go to anytime and cry out to them, tell them all your worries and problems, bring out every vulnerability inside you and sit back to hear from them. From experience, I know their words will be powerful. They will give you the hope you need to wake up from the pain you live in at that moment. Friends play a major part in my growth and I hope they do it for you too.

Life is beautiful and never fair. We need more hope so that we don’t give up easily. Be your number 1 fan and give yourself that hope or get a friend who is there for you at all cost. Any moment you feel low or down, any moment you want someone to talk to, Please do not hesitate to contact me. I might not pick up your call or reply in time, but any text you send me gets back a reply for sure. Leave me a long text on my social media pages and expect a long audio voice note to give you hope and show you the light that got deemed in your life

7 Takes From Atomic Habits

 

7 Takes From Atomic Habits

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Disclaimer: Everything I share here are my opinions, thoughts and views.

Hello IsmileWorld, Welcome back to the review of another great read. I first read the atomic habits on March, 2020 and my last read of this book was few days ago. This book has helped me build a whole workshop on habit formation and has personally taught me how to make and break habits.

The author James Clear is a writer and a speaker focused on habits, decision-making and continuous improvement. His thoughts on the book are:

Atomic Habits is the most comprehensive and practical guide on how to create good habits, break bad ones, and get 1 percent better every day. I do not believe you will find a more actionable book on the subject of habits and improvement.

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system.

Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change but because you have the wrong system for change. This is one of the core philosophies of Atomic Habits: You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. In this book, you’ll get a proven plan that can take you to new heights.

Here are my 7 key take-aways from the book:

          1. How Habits shape your identity

To change your identity, you first have to change your outcomes and processes. Your outcomes are the goals you set and processes are the systems and routines you follow. In other words, outcomes are what you get, processes are what you do and identity is what you believe. The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on what you wish to become.

I remember when I started my reading journey. I was never interested in which book I read or if I finished it. My main goal was to become a reader. I went to the library daily from morning and stayed till late afternoons reading every book I see. When I got bored, I read the next one in line. These processes and outcomes gave me the identity of a reader. Today, friends ask me if I read this book and if I would recommend them to read. I might have not read all the books they ask but I know the outcome they might get from it and can recommend them a book.

Don’t think like ‘I want to read this book (outcome) and if I read 30 pages a day, I will finish it (process).

The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.

The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.

The goal is not to wake up early, the goal is to be productive in the mornings.

 

2.      2. The Four Stages of Habit Formation

Simply, the four stages are two problem phases and two solution phases. The two problem phases are the cue and craving and the solution phases are the response and the reward.

·         Cue: the trigger which predicts a reward: the buzzing of your phone with a new SMS;

·         Craving: the motivational force behind every habit; what makes you act; in the case above, you want to learn the content of the message;

·         Response: the actual habit you perform: you grab your phone and read the text;

·         Reward: the end goal of every habit: the cue is all about noticing the reward, the craving about wanting it, and the response about obtaining it; once the reward comes your way, your craving is satisfied;

I am a visual student and explain better visually, if you need to understand more on this, Please let me know in the comments and I will make a video out of it Inshaalah.

 

3.     3.  How to Create a Good Habit

1^st Law (Cue): Make it obvious

2^nd Law (Craving): Make it attractive

3^rd Law (Response): Make it easy

4^th Law (Reward): Make it satisfying

 

The main idea about habit formation is to fall in love with something. To fall in love, all the good things that make us happy has to align there. The 4 laws mentioned above are just mindset shifts, working on the mind falling in love with an activity. For example, I want to become a reader. To do that, I have to make my cue and triggers very obvious. If you want to make people see you to be smart, you dress smart and speak smart. If you want to be seen strong, you show off your muscles and strength. If you want to be seen a reader, you should be making it more obvious. Carry books around, network with other readers and put your books around you all the time. Your mind will be tempted and triggered to read and that is the start of your habit formation. Always carry a notebook to jot down all ideas you gather along the way and come back to reading them another time.

The second law is to make your craving attractive. Everything that makes you act has to be attractive. Choose a good book you will fall in love with. Read the reviews and the talking points from other people. Do anything that will make you be attracted to your next read.

The third law is to make your response easy. This is the part you grab your phone to read that juicy text from your girlfriend. Start with 50 pages book then move to 70 pages and up you go. When I get lazy and unmotivated today, I either reread an old book, listen to an audiobook or read books under 50 pages. Every finish of a book gives me more energy and love for the next book, which is why I sometimes read 2 books in a day.

The last law is to make the reward satisfying. Read a book on your field or on something you want to learn. When you know what you want from a book, that gives you the satisfaction factor and you end up being happy afterwards and easily makes you achieve your goals.

 

4.      4. How to Break a Bad Habit

Invert all the systems mentioned above.

1^st law (Cue): Make it invisible

2^nd law (Craving): Make it unattractive

3^rd law (Response): Make it difficult

4^th law (Reward): Make it unsatisfying

5.      5. Role of Family and Friends in shaping your Habits

The culture we live in determines which behaviours are attractive to us. We tend to imitate the habits of 3 social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe) and the powerful (those with status and prestige). Normally, if a behaviour can get us approval, respect and praise, we find it attractive. It is like cleaning the streets of your hometown and making it a habit or helping old ladies carry their grocery.

Now think of why our Somali community has less readers? It is because we are surrounded by social groups who are not giving us the approval, respect and praise we deserve. To overcome this, we have to join a culture where we already have something in common with the group. Make friends who are readers, join book clubs and follow anyone who reads more than you.

6.      6. True Stories

The book has a lot of true stories of Olympic gold medalist, award winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians and star comedians. To be better at what you do, study the examples and stories of those who did before. Somalis say ‘Sadar Muuqda Suaal Ka Dhan’ meaning, what you see before you or the line in front of you does not need questions to be asked, you see it for yourself.

7.      7. Habit Journals

My last and key take away is journals and keeping the progress of habits. Keep a daily journal and think of the happenings of everyday, keep a gratitude journal and remember what you are grateful for each day. Keep a productivity journal and list your most important task every day. Keeping journals shows you the progress of your habits and the system you follow on a daily basis.

I have enjoyed writing these and I hope you take away something from it. Leave a comment and let me know of your thoughts. Do not forget to share with family and friends too. Till our next read, Happy Reading.

Ismile Inspires