[00:00:00 – 00:00:01] In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
[00:00:04 – 00:00:07] Peace and blessings be upon the honorable messengers and messengers.
[00:00:07 – 00:00:10] Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and upon his family.
[00:00:11 – 00:00:11] He has given us many blessings.
[00:00:12 – 00:00:18] What is the meaning of structure?
[00:00:18 – 00:00:22] Structure means there has to be a timetable of what you will do.
[00:00:24 – 00:00:31] If you say exams, in two weeks you will have your finals.
[00:00:32 – 00:00:42] What is your structure for getting 4.9 or 4.5 GPA?
[00:00:44 – 00:00:45] What is the structure?
[00:00:46 – 00:00:48] It has to be very specific.
[00:00:48 – 00:00:53] I will wake up at this time, next I will do this, next I will do this, next I will do this.
[00:00:54 – 00:01:02] So say I will wake up at 4am, I will pray with the Holy Prophet, make dua, read some Quran, pray some Fajr, then I start studying,
[00:01:03 – 00:01:07] I study for two hours, then I have breakfast, I study for two hours, then I have something.
[00:01:07 – 00:01:10] And this complete structure for the whole day.
[00:01:12 – 00:01:14] And then you must follow that structure.
[00:01:14 – 00:01:17] It’s not enough simply to write a timetable and then throw it somewhere.
[00:01:18 – 00:01:24] No, write the timetable and follow the timetable, which will get you to the end result.
[00:01:25 – 00:01:30] If you don’t have that structure, then the intention alone will give you some kind of good feeling,
[00:01:30 – 00:01:32] yeah, well I have a good intention, I am working very hard.
[00:01:32 – 00:01:33] What is very hard?
[00:01:34 – 00:01:36] There is no such thing as very hard.
[00:01:38 – 00:01:40] There is no such thing as very hard.
[00:01:40 – 00:01:45] You are working effectively or unaffectively, that’s it.
[00:01:46 – 00:01:47] Ineffective work or effective work?
[00:01:47 – 00:01:51] Effective work means that there has to be a structure and you are working according to that structure.
[00:01:54 – 00:01:54] Right?
[00:01:54 – 00:01:55] Follow the drill.
[00:02:00 – 00:02:01] Follow the drill.
[00:02:02 – 00:02:11] If you take the greatest and most successful armies in the world,
[00:02:12 – 00:02:19] all of them have only one thing in common, and that is they fought according to structures.
[00:02:21 – 00:02:25] Not because of passion, not because of over-the-bill, but because of the drill.
[00:02:27 – 00:02:27] Structures.
[00:02:29 – 00:02:37] And they overcame the enemy who was equally brave if not braver, who was equally passionate if not more passionate,
[00:02:39 – 00:02:46] huge numbers, well armed, sometimes better armed than these armies, but they lost because there was no structure.
[00:02:48 – 00:02:49] Take the Robaragi for example.
[00:02:49 – 00:02:51] 2000 years they ruled the world.
[00:02:52 – 00:02:53] Right?
[00:02:53 – 00:02:54] Almost unbeatable.
[00:02:56 – 00:02:57] Why?
[00:02:57 – 00:02:59] Because of the discipline of the Roman legions.
[00:03:00 – 00:03:01] They were brutal.
[00:03:01 – 00:03:04] I mean their training was absolutely brutal.
[00:03:05 – 00:03:06] But it was solid.
[00:03:10 – 00:03:11] It was solid.
[00:03:13 – 00:03:23] A Roman soldier, a Roman legionary, a regular Roman soldier, his armor, his weapons, and his utensils on a march,
[00:03:23 – 00:03:26] what they carried was 50 kilograms.
[00:03:28 – 00:03:38] And with that 50 kilograms they marched, walked 25 miles in a day in six hours.
[00:03:41 – 00:03:49] And at the end of 25 miles they built a temporary fort, then they camped, put their tents, and they ate their food.
[00:03:49 – 00:03:51] They did this every single day.
[00:03:53 – 00:03:55] So what is the level of physical fitness?
[00:03:56 – 00:03:57] What is the level of strength?
[00:03:59 – 00:03:59] No half days.
[00:04:00 – 00:04:00] Today is Sunday.
[00:04:01 – 00:04:02] No, no, no, no Sunday, no Monday.
[00:04:03 – 00:04:04] This is what you do.
[00:04:06 – 00:04:10] Any soldier who was lax was beaten, literally brutally beaten.
[00:04:11 – 00:04:13] No, no, no escape.
[00:04:15 – 00:04:16] No slackers.
[00:04:17 – 00:04:17] Result?
[00:04:18 – 00:04:19] Nobody could be dead armed.
[00:04:20 – 00:04:21] Victories everywhere.
[00:04:23 – 00:04:23] Right?
[00:04:23 – 00:04:25] They fought in their formations.
[00:04:28 – 00:04:32] They did not suddenly, out of passion, suddenly attack, you know.
[00:04:32 – 00:04:33] They fought in their formations.
[00:04:34 – 00:04:36] And they fought until the last soldier dropped.
[00:04:36 – 00:04:41] If they were losing a battle, they fought in the same formation until the last soldier was killed.
[00:04:41 – 00:04:42] They didn’t break formation.
[00:04:44 – 00:04:45] They won.
[00:04:46 – 00:04:47] Right?
[00:04:49 – 00:04:51] And so also many, I mean I can give you example after example.
[00:04:51 – 00:04:55] You take the Mongols, you take the British Army, for example, right?
[00:04:55 – 00:04:59] One of the almost unbeatable armies, conquered the whole of India.
[00:05:00 – 00:05:07] Numbers of people, when the Marathas were fighting the Indore and Holkar and Gwalior,
[00:05:08 – 00:05:13] when the armies were fighting, they were almost four, five times the number of British soldiers.
[00:05:13 – 00:05:19] And British soldiers were, the majority of them were Indian soldiers, fighting under the command of British officers.
[00:05:21 – 00:05:27] But because of formations, because of structure, and because of discipline,
[00:05:29 – 00:05:35] they defeated armies which were much better equipped, more numbers, everything else.
[00:05:36 – 00:05:38] The same thing applies in life.
[00:05:43 – 00:05:44] People who win are people who are structured.
[00:05:46 – 00:05:48] So ask yourself, what is my structure?
[00:05:49 – 00:05:52] Is my structure something which will take me to success or not?
[00:05:52 – 00:05:59] Change that structure, make it fine-tune it.
[00:06:00 – 00:06:09] And use your problem that people have, I’m tired, I don’t have energy, I’m not feeling, you know, I’m within quote,
[00:06:09 – 00:06:10] depressed, whatever level.
[00:06:11 – 00:06:12] Forget all this.
[00:06:13 – 00:06:14] There’s no such thing as tired.
[00:06:17 – 00:06:17] What is when you’re tired?
[00:06:18 – 00:06:20] You say you’re tired, right?
[00:06:21 – 00:06:23] And suddenly there’s a fire. Will you run or you won’t run?
[00:06:23 – 00:06:27] You say, I’m tired. Let me die. Let me burn. No.
[00:06:28 – 00:06:29] Suddenly your tiredness will vanish.
[00:06:30 – 00:06:35] Forget the fire. You say you’re tired, and suddenly now you find somebody who you love very much.
[00:06:36 – 00:06:37] Now what will you do?
[00:06:38 – 00:06:39] I’ll go away, come tomorrow.
[00:06:41 – 00:06:41] No.
[00:06:44 – 00:06:45] So where is the tiredness?
[00:06:45 – 00:06:48] So when time for Salatul Fajar, Adhan Fajar,
[00:06:48 – 00:06:50] how come you’re tired?
[00:06:55 – 00:06:59] So question is who do you love more? Do you love Allah or you love whatever else?
[00:07:00 – 00:07:03] So forget all this. No excuses. No tiredness, no nothing.
[00:07:04 – 00:07:06] I have to do something, I will do it.
[00:07:06 – 00:07:11] The important thing is keep, make this into a matter of honor for you.
[00:07:11 – 00:07:15] It is the honor of a Muslim.
[00:07:16 – 00:07:17] His word is his honor.
[00:07:18 – 00:07:21] His word is what binds him.
[00:07:22 – 00:07:27] I tell you I will do something. The only way that will not happen is if I die.
[00:07:28 – 00:07:30] Otherwise I will do it.
[00:07:30 – 00:07:34] And if there is some reason I cannot do it, then I will get back to you before that.
[00:07:34 – 00:07:37] I say, I’m sorry, I promised this to you. I cannot do it for this reason.
[00:07:37 – 00:07:40] I will tell you, I won’t suddenly vanish. I won’t suddenly disappear.
[00:07:41 – 00:07:44] And you say, no, Sheikh Everson, he will do it. Now where is he?
[00:07:44 – 00:07:48] The job is not done. No, no, no. That would happen. Inshallah.
[00:07:49 – 00:07:52] I will tell you if I can. I’m not saying everything I can do.
[00:07:52 – 00:07:55] But whatever I can’t do, I will tell you and I will not abandon you midway.
[00:07:55 – 00:07:57] You will not have to guess.
[00:07:58 – 00:08:02] If you did not hear from me and it is still not done,
[00:08:03 – 00:08:06] then pray to Allah and make dua for me because I want to die.
[00:08:09 – 00:08:14] This should be the position of every Muslim.
[00:08:14 – 00:08:17] I will do my word is my honor. I have said something.
[00:08:19 – 00:08:21] It doesn’t need to have somebody standing behind me.
[00:08:22 – 00:08:24] What is the value of your word? Otherwise there is no value.
[00:08:25 – 00:08:26] I said something.
[00:08:29 – 00:08:35] So, very, very important structures in life and commitment.
[00:08:35 – 00:08:37] Commitment is to yourself. It’s not a question.
[00:08:37 – 00:08:40] Sometimes we say, how committed are you to the job? No.
[00:08:40 – 00:08:42] How committed are you to yourself?
[00:08:45 – 00:08:51] That commitment then expresses as commitment to the job,
[00:08:51 – 00:08:55] commitment to the family, friends, work, your study.
[00:08:55 – 00:08:56] Whatever.
[00:09:00 – 00:09:01] But the origin of the commitment is to myself.
[00:09:02 – 00:09:05] Who am I? I am somebody who does not go back on his word.
[00:09:07 – 00:09:08] Is that important for you?
[00:09:11 – 00:09:12] That is the thing.
[00:09:13 – 00:09:15] You know, I have given my tongue.
[00:09:18 – 00:09:20] I have given my tongue. I have given my word.
[00:09:20 – 00:09:23] Cause finished.
[00:09:26 – 00:09:27] It’s a matter of honor.
[00:09:27 – 00:09:31] This is the whole issue of being an honorable person.
[00:09:34 – 00:09:36] Is how reliable is your word?
[00:09:40 – 00:09:42] So, structures are very important.
[00:09:42 – 00:09:44] For success, we talked about Nia.
[00:09:44 – 00:09:46] Important to have the right Nia.
[00:09:46 – 00:09:52] Important to continue to check the Nia from time to time to ensure that it remains the right Nia.
[00:09:53 – 00:09:59] And then going forward from that, how will I accomplish whatever I set out to do?
[00:10:00 – 00:10:01] What is the game plan for that?
[00:10:02 – 00:10:03] That is the structure.
[00:10:03 – 00:10:08] Take that structure and bring it to a daily timetable.
[00:10:09 – 00:10:11] There will be an overall structure.
[00:10:13 – 00:10:16] You know, drill down to a daily timetable.
[00:10:18 – 00:10:19] Ideally, write it down.
[00:10:20 – 00:10:23] Write down the timetable, stick it on your wall or wherever you can see it every day.
[00:10:23 – 00:10:24] This is what I should be doing.
[00:10:24 – 00:10:27] 10 AM to 10.30 AM.
[00:10:28 – 00:10:31] There should be something that you have written there.
[00:10:32 – 00:10:33] It’s not guesswork.
[00:10:35 – 00:10:38] If it is, for example, 10 to 10.30 AM, I am, it’s by off time.
[00:10:38 – 00:10:39] I am going to relax.
[00:10:39 – 00:10:39] No problem.
[00:10:39 – 00:10:40] Write it there.
[00:10:41 – 00:10:41] Relax.
[00:10:42 – 00:10:44] 10.30 AM again, get up and do what you need to do.
[00:10:48 – 00:10:57] Final point is you have the Nia, you have the intention to put down the structure.
[00:10:58 – 00:10:59] You are following the structure.
[00:11:00 – 00:11:04] But neither you nor I, we are not Ali-Volgaith.
[00:11:04 – 00:11:06] We don’t know what is going to happen in the future.
[00:11:06 – 00:11:09] We don’t know that our structure is the best way.
[00:11:10 – 00:11:11] Maybe it is, maybe it is not.
[00:11:12 – 00:11:25] So also it is important to be able to have the flexibility, the mental flexibility and the material and physical flexibility to change course without changing the goal.
[00:11:27 – 00:11:29] Most important thing is don’t bring the standard down.
[00:11:30 – 00:11:31] But change course.
[00:11:31 – 00:11:32] This is the way to go.
[00:11:32 – 00:11:34] Maybe there is an alternate route.
[00:11:35 – 00:11:37] Instead of this route, I take another route.
[00:11:37 – 00:11:37] No problem.
[00:11:38 – 00:11:39] But the goal is the same.
[00:11:39 – 00:11:39] I am going to Boston.
[00:11:40 – 00:11:43] Do I go on I-91 or do I take Mass Pike?
[00:11:43 – 00:11:44] That’s the choice.
[00:11:46 – 00:11:48] But both are going to Boston.
[00:11:49 – 00:11:51] I didn’t suddenly say, no, no, okay, forget it.
[00:11:51 – 00:11:53] I will, let’s just, Booster is good enough.
[00:11:54 – 00:11:54] No, Booster is not good enough.
[00:11:54 – 00:11:56] We said Boston for a reason.
[00:11:56 – 00:11:57] You have to get to Boston.
[00:11:58 – 00:11:59] Booster is not good enough.
[00:12:01 – 00:12:05] But to get to Boston, is this the best road or that?
[00:12:05 – 00:12:05] But no problem.
[00:12:05 – 00:12:08] I am there, depending on what the situation is.
[00:12:10 – 00:12:20] So being able to course, the thing which happens with a lot of course correction is we scale down, first of all, we scale down the goal itself.
[00:12:20 – 00:12:21] So instead of Boston, we go Booster.
[00:12:23 – 00:12:24] No, never do that.
[00:12:24 – 00:12:41] Second thing is the reasons we change are, according to me, not good reasons, meaning there are reasons which are strategic or helping to get you to where you get to your goal faster, easier, in a better state, more quality.
[00:12:41 – 00:12:42] No, those reasons are laziness.
[00:12:44 – 00:12:48] I will change my structure because this timetable is too tough.
[00:12:49 – 00:12:50] I’m not getting enough sleep.
[00:12:52 – 00:12:54] I want some game time.
[00:12:54 – 00:12:57] I want some, you know, time with my friends.
[00:12:59 – 00:13:01] No, those are all wrong reasons.
[00:13:02 – 00:13:04] You do not change your structure for those reasons.
[00:13:06 – 00:13:11] So when the thought comes that I need to modify my structure, yes, no problem with that thought.
[00:13:12 – 00:13:15] Ask yourself, first question ask yourself is why?
[00:13:16 – 00:13:18] Why do I want to modify my structure?
[00:13:21 – 00:13:28] And as I always say, never lie to yourself because the only person in the world you can fool is yourself, nobody else.
[00:13:29 – 00:13:30] People know what you’re doing.
[00:13:31 – 00:13:32] In any case, it doesn’t matter what people know or don’t know.
[00:13:33 – 00:13:34] It’s yourself, your life.
[00:13:34 – 00:13:35] Never fool yourself.
[00:13:35 – 00:13:36] No, never lie to yourself.
[00:13:38 – 00:13:40] So face it and say, no, this is my laziness.
[00:13:42 – 00:13:46] Why don’t I want to get up and go for a walk in the morning because I’m lazy?
[00:13:46 – 00:13:47] Nothing else.
[00:13:47 – 00:13:49] I don’t need the sleep.
[00:13:49 – 00:13:51] I don’t need the rest. Blah, blah, blah.
[00:13:51 – 00:13:52] I just slept for four hours.
[00:13:52 – 00:13:54] I slept for five hours, slept for six hours.
[00:13:54 – 00:13:56] Nobody needs to sleep on that.
[00:13:59 – 00:14:00] Get up and go.
[00:14:01 – 00:14:04] No matter how difficult, the difficulty is all in the head.
[00:14:04 – 00:14:04] Believe me.
[00:14:05 – 00:14:11] And I told you, if the circumstances change, the same person who believes he cannot even get out of this, you’re running.
[00:14:14 – 00:14:18] So don’t wait for that emergency to happen.
[00:14:18 – 00:14:19] Force yourself.
[00:14:20 – 00:14:22] Once you force yourself, you will find that you will get the energy.
[00:14:26 – 00:14:28] You start enjoying it.
[00:14:28 – 00:14:36] Once you get out of the house, beautiful weather, clean air, you know, sights and sounds, very nice.
[00:14:37 – 00:14:37] You enjoy the walk.
[00:14:39 – 00:14:40] But you have to get out and do it.
[00:14:42 – 00:14:47] That determination is what separates the winners from the losers.
[00:14:49 – 00:14:53] It’s not circumstances, not how much wealth you’re born into or which family, which line is, I think.
[00:14:57 – 00:15:06] It’s how much of conscious, deliberate effort you are going to put into the task.
[00:15:06 – 00:15:21] Based on a clean and clear intention and based on a good, strong, robust structure and the willingness to modify that depending on the need.
[00:15:27 – 00:15:28] Any questions, thoughts?
[00:15:32 – 00:15:38] So it’s difficult to start something, but once you start it, then it becomes a day, a true day.
[00:15:38 – 00:15:40] You think that it’s going to be hard.
[00:15:42 – 00:15:44] And that’s a very good point also.
[00:15:45 – 00:15:50] See, also, never give yourself negative messages.
[00:15:52 – 00:15:54] Never start off by saying, oh, this will be hard.
[00:15:54 – 00:15:55] How do you know?
[00:15:56 – 00:15:57] It’s an intention.
[00:15:59 – 00:16:01] So at the point of beginning, you don’t know if it will be hard or easy.
[00:16:03 – 00:16:05] Number two, so what if it is hard?
[00:16:07 – 00:16:08] So what?
[00:16:08 – 00:16:14] Did you start out to say, I want to achieve this or did you start out to say, I want to achieve this only if it is easy?
[00:16:14 – 00:16:15] What was your intention?
[00:16:18 – 00:16:20] So when people say, oh, this is hard, so what?
[00:16:22 – 00:16:29] In life, as a rule, generally, inna masha’Allah, of course Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala can help anybody and we ask for Allah’s help.
[00:16:30 – 00:16:33] As a rule, anything worth doing is hard.
[00:16:37 – 00:16:37] Not easy.
[00:16:38 – 00:16:39] Nothing good comes easy.
[00:16:39 – 00:16:42] Nothing, without exception.
[00:16:46 – 00:16:52] No matter what it is, whether it is health, whether it is knowledge, whether it is good relationships,
[00:16:53 – 00:16:57] whether it is material success, whether it is ta’aluk with Allah,
[00:17:02 – 00:17:05] anything, anything, anything, without exceptions.
[00:17:06 – 00:17:13] If it is worthwhile, if it is good, if it is valuable, it comes with a level of difficulty.
[00:17:15 – 00:17:18] Not everything is equally difficult, but it comes with a level of difficulty.
[00:17:19 – 00:17:23] It will come only to those who are seriously interested in it.
[00:17:25 – 00:17:29] I mean, lottery is haram, but even to win a lottery, you have to buy a ticket, no?
[00:17:34 – 00:17:37] Say, don’t go and buy a ticket, say, I…
[00:17:37 – 00:17:43] But sure, I mean, it’s okay, suddenly I’m getting a million dollars, but it happened because the guy bought a ticket.
[00:17:44 – 00:17:45] He did something.
[00:17:48 – 00:17:52] So everything in this world, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala made the world like this.
[00:17:54 – 00:17:56] Everything involves effort.
[00:17:57 – 00:18:03] Say, how do you know about, like, how do you know about the thing, the way, the…
[00:18:03 – 00:18:09] I don’t know how to say, like, the structure you explain, how you learn about it, say, how you know about it?
[00:18:09 – 00:18:12] Okay. How did I learn? Yeah.
[00:18:13 – 00:18:15] Both, I mean, both by reading as well as my own experience.
[00:18:17 – 00:18:20] That’s a very good question. How did I come to this? The structure is important.
[00:18:21 – 00:18:23] Because I started operating with structures.
[00:18:24 – 00:18:28] I also read about this. This is a good, you can, almost anyone will tell you, structures are important.
[00:18:29 – 00:18:33] Structures are a fast-waved. But I have applied structures in my life throughout.
[00:18:34 – 00:18:37] And I find it works very well. So I’m sharing that with you.
[00:18:39 – 00:18:41] But as far as you are concerned, you’re hearing it now.
[00:18:42 – 00:18:44] But you will have to apply it in your life to see how it works.
[00:18:46 – 00:18:49] Right? Conscious living, see that. I’ll tell you something.
[00:18:50 – 00:18:54] In yoga, for example, there is something called pranayam, the way of breathing.
[00:18:54 – 00:19:01] So effectively, in short, you shut one nostril like this and you breathe through one,
[00:19:01 – 00:19:03] and then you shut this one and you breathe out through the other one.
[00:19:04 – 00:19:09] This is the way I’m doing it. So you sit down in the lotus position, shut your eyes, and you do this.
[00:19:10 – 00:19:15] Now, the people who practice yoga, teach yoga, who teach pranayam, they will tell you,
[00:19:15 – 00:19:19] Pranayam helps to increase mental concentration,
[00:19:20 – 00:19:27] pranayam will increase your physical and whatever strength and all kinds of things.
[00:19:27 – 00:19:30] It’s okay.
[00:19:32 – 00:19:37] So if you ask me and say, the person who is doing pranayam, what is he doing?
[00:19:37 – 00:19:40] He’s breathing. No? He’s breathing.
[00:19:40 – 00:19:42] He’s just giving a stretch.
[00:19:42 – 00:19:47] Now, which air is he breathing? Is it a special cylinder of pure oxygen? No?
[00:19:48 – 00:19:54] He’s sitting in the same place, breathing the same air, whether it is good air, bad air, polluted, not polluted.
[00:19:55 – 00:19:59] Same thing. Why are there benefits? Because of what he has said.
[00:19:59 – 00:20:07] He is giving it a structure. He is doing that thing according to a system and he is doing it consciously.
[00:20:07 – 00:20:11] He is counting his breath. They say, feel the air going in.
[00:20:12 – 00:20:19] I’ll give you another example. To build strength, muscle strength, what must you do? What kind of exercises?
[00:20:20 – 00:20:25] Should lift this. Lift weights, right? So, muscle strength doesn’t come from aerobics.
[00:20:25 – 00:20:28] Aerobic exercises, calisthenics, lifting of weights.
[00:20:28 – 00:20:38] What is the single biggest reason that travelers end up throwing out their back or spreading their back or single biggest reason?
[00:20:38 – 00:20:48] What is it? Lifting a suitcase from the luggage carousel or putting it in the overhead bin and taking it out.
[00:20:48 – 00:20:52] Single biggest reason. What is suitcase? 20 kilos.
[00:20:52 – 00:20:57] If it’s on the luggage carousel, if it is something which is, you know, checked in baggage, you did 20 kilos.
[00:20:58 – 00:21:02] From the overhead bin, it’s less than half of that. 10 kilos, 7 kilos, 8 kilos.
[00:21:04 – 00:21:09] So, the person doing weight lifting in a gym, what is he doing? Lifting weights.
[00:21:10 – 00:21:15] A guy picking up a suitcase, what is he doing? Lifting weight. How come this one benefits, that one is harmed?
[00:21:16 – 00:21:23] Because there is no system. The guy doing it in the gym is doing, he’s warming his body up.
[00:21:23 – 00:21:29] He’s getting the muscles, you know, start moving. And then he’s lifting weights according to a system.
[00:21:30 – 00:21:38] His coach will tell him, keep the back straight, bend the knees slightly, take the weight on the big thigh muscles, not on the back, right?
[00:21:39 – 00:21:41] So on, so on. So, he’s doing it according to a system.
[00:21:41 – 00:21:45] The guy picking up the thing from the, he just grabbed the suitcase, pull it, back is gone.
[00:21:47 – 00:21:51] Even though the one who is lifting weights in the gym is lifting a lot more than 20 kilograms,
[00:21:52 – 00:21:58] that guy with 20 kilogram, with less than 20 kilograms, he sprains his back, he sprains his, you know, whatever.
[00:21:58 – 00:22:05] Whereas the other guy is lifting maybe double that, maybe more than that, he’s benefiting from it because of a system.
[00:22:06 – 00:22:16] So anything in life, whether it is speaking consciously, people ask me, can you tell me how to speak powerfully?
[00:22:19 – 00:22:25] So I say, speaking powerfully starts from thinking powerfully and thinking clearly.
[00:22:27 – 00:22:32] When you’re speaking, thinking clearly, how clear, what is the level of clarity of thought in your mind?
[00:22:32 – 00:22:37] Can you structure your thought in your mind, point number one, point number two, point number three,
[00:22:37 – 00:22:42] and keep that structure and operate according to that, with no, no, no notes in your mind?
[00:22:43 – 00:22:47] Can you do that? If you can’t do that, you can’t speak.
[00:22:48 – 00:22:50] You will ramble all over the place.
[00:22:53 – 00:22:56] So it begins with that discipline of structured thought.
[00:22:57 – 00:23:00] Second thing is, where are you getting the thought from?
[00:23:01 – 00:23:04] Nobody gets Vahee. So where you get it from? From reading.
[00:23:05 – 00:23:10] From reading. Not even from watching videos, believe me. From reading.
[00:23:12 – 00:23:16] So how much do you read? You want to be a powerful speaker? How much do you read?
[00:23:21 – 00:23:27] Structured thought, reading, which is the material, then the ability to convert that into the message,
[00:23:27 – 00:23:32] which means how clear are you about the message that you want to convey?
[00:23:34 – 00:23:37] So I’ve got this whole bunch of stuff in my head, no doubt about that,
[00:23:37 – 00:23:41] but out of this whole bunch of stuff, what specifically do I want to tell you guys?
[00:23:42 – 00:23:43] Is that clear in my mind?
[00:23:47 – 00:23:51] Then we come to vocabulary. Do I have the language to convey that?
[00:23:52 – 00:23:54] How do I get the language? Back to reading.
[00:23:56 – 00:24:03] Back to conversation. Like today most people, they talk, I was like, I was like, I was like.
[00:24:03 – 00:24:06] I mean, isn’t there the whole English language, is only one word called like?
[00:24:08 – 00:24:12] I was like means what? I was the state of being. I was like.
[00:24:13 – 00:24:19] Like what would it mean? I was speaking, I was doing, I was running, I was dancing, I was dying, I was living.
[00:24:20 – 00:24:24] I mean, I was like. I was like, what the hell does I was like mean?
[00:24:24 – 00:24:28] So vocabulary is important. You need the number of words.
[00:24:28 – 00:24:30] How do you get vocabulary? From reading.
[00:24:31 – 00:24:39] From talking to people, consciously listening and saying, how does this person convey the same thought,
[00:24:40 – 00:24:46] but he or she conveys it in a way which is so inspiring and so beautiful and so graphic and so descriptive.
[00:24:46 – 00:24:50] How do they do that? Words, it’s all words.
[00:24:55 – 00:24:57] We have used to have come to the speaking.
[00:24:59 – 00:25:02] All of this is preparation for the speaking.
[00:25:03 – 00:25:06] So how do I become a powerful speaker? By doing all of this.
[00:25:07 – 00:25:13] If any of this is missing, you can talk till the cows come home and nothing will happen. Only the cows will come home.
[00:25:17 – 00:25:20] So structure and consciously, same action.
[00:25:22 – 00:25:24] I give you two examples. I can give you a number of examples.
[00:25:24 – 00:25:33] Same actions when they are done consciously, deliberately, according to a structure will give you value added benefits.
[00:25:36 – 00:25:37] Right?
[00:25:38 – 00:25:39] Can I ask a question?
[00:25:39 – 00:25:48] Yeah, you can ask them. Let’s say we have all the things you said, the vocabulary, the idiom, the knowledge of how to be able to overcome the fear of speaking in front of big crowds.
[00:25:48 – 00:25:49] By speaking.
[00:25:50 – 00:25:55] So here’s your question. I have everything that I mentioned, vocabulary, thought, structures.
[00:25:55 – 00:26:00] How can I overcome this fear of speaking before a crowd?
[00:26:01 – 00:26:02] Right? Big crowd, small crowd, big crowd.
[00:26:04 – 00:26:12] To give you a little trivia, somebody did a survey of the fears that people have.
[00:26:13 – 00:26:28] So fear of falling, right? Fear of heights, typical fears. Fear of drowning, fear of dogs, right? Fear of lizards, insects, of being, all of this, right?
[00:26:28 – 00:26:35] Fear of death. And they found that the fear of public speaking is even more than the fear of death.
[00:26:37 – 00:26:47] So the guy put a little funny note on that. He said, that means that the guy who is delivering the eulogy, you know, in Christian funeral, before the funeral, somebody stands there and makes us speak.
[00:26:47 – 00:26:51] He said the guy who is delivering the eulogy would rather be in the box.
[00:26:54 – 00:27:02] So first and foremost, fear of public speaking, the most common fear in the whole world, everyone and his wife has it, don’t worry about it.
[00:27:02 – 00:27:08] How do you overcome it? You overcome it in the way you overcome every other fear by doing it.
[00:27:09 – 00:27:13] The biggest issue with public speaking, the fear is what you said, being judged.
[00:27:14 – 00:27:17] So you’re standing there thinking, how will I look to the people?
[00:27:19 – 00:27:22] Forget that. It doesn’t matter how you look to the people.
[00:27:24 – 00:27:29] It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter. It’s okay. If you look bad, no problem. Look good, and you’ll learn.
[00:27:31 – 00:27:35] Do it. Then do it consciously, do it again and again, take feedback.
[00:27:36 – 00:27:38] One way to take feedback is that today it becomes very easy.
[00:27:39 – 00:27:43] There was a day when you were like, okay, hire somebody with a video camera, blah, blah, nothing. Today your phone is there.
[00:27:44 – 00:27:47] Right? Set up the phone, take your own video, watch it.
[00:27:49 – 00:27:50] And see, okay, this is what I did.
[00:27:52 – 00:27:58] Or if there’s no time to do all that, tell some of your friends, look, I’m giving this speech, I want you guys, right?
[00:27:58 – 00:28:00] Three of you, four of you? Give me feedback.
[00:28:02 – 00:28:06] When you get the feedback, make sure it is useful feedback.
[00:28:07 – 00:28:11] What useful feedback? Useful feedback is feedback that comes with data.
[00:28:12 – 00:28:15] You come and say, yes, this is a beautiful speech. Okay, Alhamdulillah, JazakAllah, thank you so much.
[00:28:15 – 00:28:19] Why was it beautiful? What did you like?
[00:28:22 – 00:28:22] Specific.
[00:28:23 – 00:28:26] Lousy speech. Alhamdulillah, JazakAllah, thanks for the feedback.
[00:28:26 – 00:28:30] What made it lousy? What specifically did you not like?
[00:28:32 – 00:28:34] Right? Don’t justify.
[00:28:35 – 00:28:37] How can you say, no, no.
[00:28:37 – 00:28:43] Okay, this is your, if you look in the mirror, you want to see a picture, your reflection, right?
[00:28:43 – 00:28:45] So if you don’t like the reflection, what do you do? Break the mirror?
[00:28:46 – 00:28:51] No. You change yourself, whatever. I mean, okay, my haircut looks bad, get a different haircut.
[00:28:54 – 00:28:57] Useful feedback is feedback that is backed by data.
[00:28:59 – 00:29:00] Not just like and dislike.
[00:29:02 – 00:29:03] With reasons.
[00:29:03 – 00:29:04] Reason. What is the reason?
[00:29:06 – 00:29:10] Like is good. I mean, you want to be liked and nothing wrong with that.
[00:29:10 – 00:29:17] But, what is the reason? The reason you ask for a reason is so that you can repeat the good stuff.
[00:29:21 – 00:29:22] Reinforcement of that.
[00:29:23 – 00:29:25] This is what worked. So I’m going to repeat what worked.
[00:29:26 – 00:29:27] What did not work.
[00:29:28 – 00:29:36] I’m going to see how can I either stop doing it or do it in a different way where the negative aspect of it is gone.
[00:29:39 – 00:29:39] Right?
[00:29:41 – 00:29:43] That’s the, what are you speaking?
[00:29:43 – 00:29:43]
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (20.5MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | Youtube Music | RSS