The Cost of Becoming Your Best Self

Bismillah Assalam alaykum. You're listening to the Baraka Blueprint podcast. This is the podcast that talks about the one blueprint for success. The one blueprint for success in this life without sacrificing or compromising your success in the next life. This podcast is for you who wants to build the best version of themselves. What I have done in this podcast so far is that I have accumulated lessons that I have learned and lessons that I'm learning from other guests that I have on this podcast. If this is the first time you're listening to the Baraka blueprint, then let me tell you about the goal that I have for this podcast. The goal that I have is whoever listens to this is becoming the best version of themselves regardless of where they are in their journey. Therefore, before I even proceed with the podcast, I have one simple ask from you. If this podcast has brought you any benefit, I will kindly ask you to help me achieve my goal. Subscribe to my channels, like the video, share it with everyone that you think will benefit from this, and leave me a review on Spotify or any of the other channels so that I know what I'm doing that is good and beneficial or what I can do better to improve the delivery of this crucial message. My name is Ibrahim Sharif and I'm actually not sure if this episode is going to be released, but I'll give it a shot anyway. I want to reflect a little bit. I want to reflect on my journey so far in this podcast actually in my journey as a whole. I am on a journey to become a CEO. I have launched a new company where I together with my business partners deliver services in the areas of expertise that I have accumulated project management, graphic design, film making, content creation and automation workflows. And today's episode is somewhat of a reflection on what this journey has become for me, the pain points, the successes and the lessons that I have learned. what I want to reflect here on is something together with the help of three books. Three books that I have found to be very inspirational for me and in my journey and three books that I highly recommend to anyone who is building whatever it is, whatever business or whatever model they're building. If you're building something, if you are building a product, not necessarily a product that you're selling, but a product that you're building, meaning anything that you're building really, if this makes sense, you're at at the same time you're building yourself. And bear with me. Why I'm saying this is because when you are when you're building a product, you're putting in your effort. I believe that the best products are built withan and two very important concepts. Excellence in terms of the effort that you're building or the effort that you're putting. Sorry. But excellence in the execution as well. Excellence. Excellence is not about building with perfection. Excellence is about attaining perfection. And you don't start off perfect, but you're building towards perfection. the three books I don't even know if I even if I mentioned them but [laughter] uh to reiterate if I did mention them uh atomic habits the lean startup and start with why three crucial books and these books have helped me in my journey a lot so I want to talk about the cost of becoming or trying to become the best version of yourself. One thing that I have noticed is, and I'm going to be completely honest with you, I feel like I've been working too much. I have my uh profession as a project manager, something that takes roughly what 9 to5 of my of my day. Uh once I'm done with that, I spend time on my podcast, the Baraka Blueprints. Uh I try to put time for the school community, um for my other pages as well where I'm releasing content, for my newsletter as well, uh even my LinkedIn page. at the same time I'm building my company together with my business partners and I feel like I'm working around the clock which means that I rarely have time for other things like for example very often um I'm getting asked why I'm not spending time with people uh why I'm not doing other activities that I'm that I used to do before together with people I'm realizing that this is a sacrifice that some that many people are not comfortable making myself included if I'm going to be very very honest and with that being said I'm reminded by something that I said before even wrote about it in the uh in the newsletter. To those of you that are part of the newsletter, if you want to be part of the newsletter, by the way, just enter startyouhra.com and just fill out your email address and I'll make sure to send you the um these the uh the newsletters uh regarding any lesson that I have learned. I I I I talked before about the iterative approach that we as builders and aspiring CEOs are taking in in this life. And the book the lean startup talks about this framework of build, measure and learn which basically means that you start building you have an assumption of what it is that you're trying to build. For me, for example, I want to build a media hub through my product and podcast, the Baraka Blueprint. I measure what has been working in that particular approach where I'll see that some things have worked quite fine, other things are lacking and need further improvement. And then comes the other step, learn. You learn from your mistakes. You learn from the um mishaps. You learn from the things that you've missed. And then comes the second cycle of build, measure, learn, build, measure, learn. Because in the learn, in the review part, you you acquire the lessons that you have learned throughout your journey. you acquire the um things that you want to do differently so that once you enter the second cycle or the third or fourth or 75th you build on those gaps and again you measure maybe successful maybe not maybe successful according to the standards that you set for yourself and again you learn from that this tells you something. It tells you that this is not a piece of cake. It's not something that takes as little as a snap of a finger and then that's it. You're done. Actually, it's so much more. You need to do this constantly. This is a consistent constant journey. It doesn't stop because this taught me something about consistency that I wanted to talk about. There is a there's a difference between consistency and consistency. Bear with me. What I mean here is this. There is a difference between being consistent for the results and being consistent for the skill. So if you're showing up to working on whatever product you're building or whatever self you're building, if you're doing this because you want to be rich or you're doing this because you want to be famous or you want to be influential or whatever it is, you're do you're doing it for the results. This particular consistency will set you up for failure. Let me tell you what I mean by this. If you're being consistent, if you're being consistent in, I don't know, for example, let's say you want to consistently build yourself to be a graphic designer, a skillful graphic designer. Let's say you're not doing it for the skill. Let's say you're doing it for the result of getting six or seven figures on a monthly basis. This this is what you want to achieve. One of two things will happen. Either you'll succeed or you will fail. If you fail, you will not be running on alignment energy. You'll be running on achievement energy. So when that achievement isn't well achieved and it's not realized suddenly what's going to happen is you're not going to be as motivated to continue which means your consistency will falter which is why I'm saying being consistent for the sake of achieving results is something that will set you up for failure at the same time it's also applicable if you succeed. So let's say you achieve the um five or six or seven figures that you're generating. Let's say if you're generating four or five figures monthly or seven, eight figures annually, you will you won't be as motivated to be consistent once you have achieved that result because again you're consistent for the sake of the achievement. Once that achievement is realized, well, what motivates you to remain consistent? I mean you could argue and say yeah this is you you are being consist you are going to continue to be consistent because you wanna you you you want to remain within that bracket. Sure. True. But there is no denying that once you achieve your results more often than not you're not going to be motivated to continue. You're going to be relaxed because you've you've finally crossed the finish line. You're not going to continue running in the race or in the marathon. You've crossed the finish line. That's it. The race or the marathon is over. That's also why many people say don't speak out loud about your goals to people that aren't really going to help you in your journey because you're putting yourself in the pseudo mental position that you have achieved the goal. But if you're instead telling people that can hold you accountable, they will be able to follow up and you know motivate you, push you. Let's say if you're not consistent, they'll be able to, you know, drag you by the collar and then tell you, "Hey, what's going on? Get your stuff together, right?" However, if you are consistent for the sake of your skills, you are consistent because you want to become a skillful graphic designer. the five figure monthly salary or your 7 figure annual uh revenue or profit is just a byproduct. This is also why I recommend the book the atomic habits because the author there talks about the importance of setting up a working system. You're not going to rise to the level of your goals. You will rise to the level of the systems that you have set up. Yes, you should definitely set up goals for yourself. This is step number one. You set up a goal of what it is that you want. Who who is your ideal version. Who is the ideal Ibraim for example or ideal listener X or Y? But then you start setting up the system. What is the system that will enable you to achieve that goal? And the more the stronger the system is the less likelihood for that system that it will set you up for failure, the higher level of a system that you have. For example, in the in the recent episode that I had with Murad, and those of you who haven't listened to that episode, stop. go and listen to the episode and come back. Um, episode 29 of the Baraka Blueprint podcast. Uh, we talked about the importance of putting in the necessary work so that failure is an unreasonable outcome. This is something that Murad said and I found that quite insightful. He talked about the importance of putting in so much work and effort and showing up. For example, he he's he talked about a part in his journey that when he wanted to apply to uh technical jobs in the UAE, he made sure to start his day at 5:00 a.m. every single day because he realized that is the time when the um hiring managers and recruiters are active. I didn't ask him about the specifics, but I believe he was in the UK. If Murad is listening to this, Murad, correct me if I'm mistaken. Uh, but I believe this was in the UK because what is it? 3 to four hours time difference to GST, Gulf Standard Time, which is what UAE abides by. this basically allowed him to alhamdulillah land uh land a job and I would say even many jobs here in the UAE. Alhamdulillah. So again uh tying tying this to the importance of set of of putting [snorts] in so much work that failure is an unreasonable outcome and I believe I believe Murad will agree with me on this when I say that this is also about your system. The same applies to your system. You set a system for yourself that is so strong and destined to work to the point that For example, if your system cons contains a fitness routine as part of well, whatever habits you're you are automatically guaranteed to be more fit mentally, meaning that you have a stronger likelihood and possib I would say best possibility, but also a stronger probability to make more mature decisions or or more correct decisions. And that being said, let me see if I can is this something that will work better? No. This is definitely not the time to work on the uh this is definit I'm trying to say this is definitely not the time to work on the lights. Those of you that are listening to the to the episode, you're good. Uh there's not don't worry about this, but those of you that are watching, I apologize. Anyway, uh [laughter] [gasps] uh why am I doing this? actually well taking me to the book start with why but I'm getting to it. Um another point that I wanted to talk about because again uh the t the title of this episode is the cost of becoming the best version of yourself. I'm going to tell you it's not fun. Honestly like the I'm going to be honest with you so many times in this recent month where I've been contemplating whether I should continue. Honestly, um I'm not going to lie, like this is something that comes up very very frequently. Alhamdulillah, I'm I'm consistent in my release schedule. I'm consistent in all of my platforms. Um and it's not really the results that motivate me because I'm it's I don't have the numbers to justify the results. But I'm if I'm going to be honest, I'm I'm really and God is my witness. And whoever is listening to this is a witness as well. Really, I'm doing this for for the skill. I have seen podcasters, professional podcasters, professional uh hosts and even journalists multilingually. I mean I've seen what is it ankash from AB talks another Arabic podcast or the diary of a CEO Alex Horoszi. So all of these personalities I actually like what they're doing honestly. I like the confidence. I like the quality in what they're what they have built and what they're continuing to build because I'm pretty sure any of them if they were to listen to this they would be very very quick to tell me and maybe correct me if I was to say otherwise that their product is not complete. They're still building because again these are people that are not building and consistent for the achievement and the result only. No, this is about the skill. You continue to refine the skills that you're trying to build. And even if others were to perceive you as a successful business owner uh or successful podcaster or successful content creator, it doesn't matter. You still continue. And this has to do with your why. Because as as was mentioned in the book Start with Why, when you're when you're losing your sense of why or when you when you're losing sight of your why, even meaningful work will start to feel meaningless. So, that being said, sometimes, and I'm I'm I'm trying to reflect out loud here, and I'm inviting anybody who has any feedback to me to just let me know and share with me some wisdom here. Sometimes I feel like I do lose my my why or I don't have it in my core or I don't have it in my central view. And at the same time I can very quickly feel overwhelmed by well the amount of things that need to be done. Like for example I haven't been very active in my school community. I'm calling people to come and join my school community and yet I have not been as active as I wanted to be. I'm yet to have the uh the community events for example and I did promise myself that this season season two of the Baraka blueprint will have we'll have live podcast episodes. So inshallah it's something that I'm going to try to accompany in the um in the podcast very very soon inshallah. So be on the lookout. And also if anyone has any advice on how I can do this better, I welcome it with with open arms. So why am I suddenly becoming speechless? [laughter] I guess one thing I really need to remind myself about is the final verse of Allah subhana wa ta'ala says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not burden a soul more than that which it has capacity for. And at the same time, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, you get what you you you reap the rewards of the good that you have done and you reap the consequences of the bad that you have accumulated. Subhan Allah. This verse is is reminding us about balance. balance the the the importance of remaining balanced. Yes, you won't be you you you won't be given a burden that you're not able to bear. But at the same time, if something feels difficult, it doesn't excuse you to, you know, do whatever you want. There are still boundaries. There are still limits. So I guess a reminder for for myself first and foremost and then to you my dear listener is if I'm going to be honest I don't even know which listener I'm I'm advising because I do have a v I I do have a variet iety of listener profiles. But I guess this reminds me as well because I am also going through a um I'm going through this course by Matt Davella about the uh content creation strategy in YouTube but also the the execution and one of the things that I haven't done a really good job in is to define this ICP or this profile of the Baraka blueprint listener who is actually listening to this podcast in terms of if I can imagine this character and If you're hearing noises, there are people outside that are um having fun with fireworks. No, but um if I'm going to think of a of this character, who's this character that is listening to the baraka blueprints? The character is a person, male or female. They want to make hijra is one. It's not necessarily the only thing or the central the central points but it's definitely a major point m you my main target is you guys uh Muslim brothers and sisters that are living in the west and that are thinking or contemplating about the the idea of hijah the idea of relocating to a Muslim country although I'm going to correct myself mainly My target audience is young Muslim brothers and sisters that want to become the best version of themselves. Their best version in faith and their best version in focus and execution to achieve tangible results be it when it comes to product building, brand building, skill building. that I'm not the one to give you advice because I have achieved greatness. No, I've said it even before to those of you that have subscribed to the to the 5-day blueprint, which is free by the way, again, at startyoura.com, I've been very very clear with saying that I am treating all of my products as experiments and with myself as a test subject. And I want people to to learn from my journey because and Abu Bakr Muhajar said this in a very like he said he he said this and very correctly. Subhan Allah. Now smart person learns from his own mistakes and the wise person learns from the mistakes of the the others and the fool never learns. So don't be the fool. Be the wise man. Learn from the mistakes of others. Now, alhamdulillah, we have we're we're in an era of like multiple podcasts and of course your favorite podcast is the Baraka Blueprint, guys. But there are other podcasts as well and you're going to hear people talking about their mistakes, what they have gone through, what they wish they would have done differently. Like you're hearing this for example, what advice would you give to your younger self in other podcasts or in other talking points or even in TED talks when you hear that question now listen very very carefully because there you're going to hear people's lesson lessons learned experts in their respective fields or someone who has achieved something that you want to achieve. So be the wise man and learn or the wise person and learn from the mistakes of others so that you avoid those pitfalls. I guess that being said, I I feel like this is a good note to end the podcast on. So again I have a very very sincere ask to you my dear listener and I'm asking you something please if you have found any of my content beneficial please help me help me in this journey help me to achieve this goal that I have. And like I said, the the mission and the goal of the Baraka blueprint is to help as many Muslims as possible, as many Muslim men and women to achieve their goal of becoming the best version of themselves. Be it in terms of their journey in their faith, their hijra, in their uh in their journey to build their company or their product. or even figuring out their journey. If you believe that this is something that actually works and if you trust in the mission of this podcast because it has affected you and you have and you have found benefits. If you haven't found any benefit, of course, I wouldn't I wouldn't tell you to recommend this to anybody. In that case, I have another ask which is please feedback me. Let me know what I'm doing that is beneficial or good or what I am what I should be doing more of or what I should I should stop doing so that the delivery of this crucial message reaches as many people as possible advantageously and in the best way possible because the umah the nation of the best creation on earth the best creation to have ever walked the face of the the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam He was the best. His nation needs to be the best in all times. Which means that we need to have optimal specimen. That means that we need to the best to be the best version of ourselves intellectually, mentally, financially, enter our skill passports. So if you believe in this mission, please subscribe, like the videos, share with your friends and family, and I ask Allahh to give you a part of the reward. That being said, thank you so much for tuning in to the Baraka Blueprint podcast. Remember to like, share, and even turn on the bell notifications to get notified in YouTube. uh leave a review in Spotify or in your podcast application of choice so that more people can uh find this podcast and get some benefit from it as well. Remember I also have a free school community that you can join where I have shared many resources, notion templates uh and uh even an AI prompt uh playbook and vault that I have done and tried and tested myself so that you can be uh part of it and enjoy the benefits as well where future community events will happen inshallah. uh be it skilluing events or even live podcast episodes if you're interesting if you're interested and preferably interesting as well to be part of the baraka blueprint live recordings and remember remember your why remember your nia remember your intention and always purify it and if it is pure purify it even more Remember what you want to achieve. Remember your ideal version. Who is who who is your ideal version. Keep that in your central view and built towards that. And remember it's not about attaining excellence immediately. Leave this pseudo perfectionism aside. This is not going to help you. that version you're when you when you realize that version and when you become that version you will realize that this is not what you wanted at the at the end of the day anyway which is fine that means it's working and is is is this microphone working it is perfect okay um if there's one lesson that you that you could have derived from this podcast it is be consistent for the right reason don't be consistent just for the achievement the achievement should only be the byproduct. Consistency should be for the person that you're building. One crucial element is your skill passport. Do it for the skill. Like for example, like this this this podcast is also, if I'm going to be very honest, it's experimental. You've seen my days when I had tools that's had that had a video at 24 fps and horrible horrible audio quality and even video quality. And now, alhamdulillah, um maybe this is not maybe I'm going to look at this 20 episodes later and say, "What on earth is that?" Um hopefully better audio quality as well. And again it's it's just iteration. We we you build and you measure and from that you learn and then the cycle is repeated over and over and over again. I was supposed to have ended the episode. Why am I even continuing? Anyway, um may Allah subhana wa ta'ala grant you and success in whatever you are building and whoever you are building. Remember your focus, remember your why. And remember the mission and execute in Baraka style. People, that being said, thank you for tuning in.