5 Ways to Create an Inspiring & Fabulous Year in 2016! (Guest Post)

Hi Everyone!

With the new year that just began, here’s a guest post about how YOU can create a fabulous year for yourself!

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Having a beautiful life, bursting with happiness and gratitude isn’t reserved for a few chosen people. Being that incredible, radiant woman that you’ve always dreamed of isn’t out of reach. It’s actually closer and simpler than you think – but that doesn’t make it easy. I’ve listed 5 ways to help you create a beautiful and inspiring year. By following these 5 suggestions, you’ll allow for permanent change to take place in your life and to ultimately become the women you’ve always aspired to be. So let’s dive in:

1. Fill Your Self–Love Vessel

Self-love is the most nourishing gift that you could possibly give to yourself. You can be the most pious, God- fearing woman on this earth but without self-love, you’d be an angry woman frustrated at your weaknesses. You can have the most lavish lifestyle and high-flying career but without self-love you’d be empty inside, desperately seeking the glitter of this world to fill that void inside of you.

Self-love comes down to giving to yourself what you desperately seek from others. We all crave love, affection and acceptance. But before we can receive them wholly from our family and friends, we must first give them to ourselves. This year make the intention to include self-love as part of your daily ritual. Every day, spend a few minutes on doing that which lights up your soul, ignites your feminine energy and make you feel happy to be alive.

Perhaps it’s a flick of mascara that makes you feel pretty. Or gazing into the sky that fills you in awe of Allah’s grandeur. These small, seemingly unimportant actions nourish that beautiful vessel inside of you. As a result, you show up as the highest version of yourself. When you’re overflowing with self-love, you show up as a happier and pleasant woman. A woman who can share her gifts and love to the world because she is nurtured from within.

2. Nurture Your Daily Habits

You are the sum of your daily habits. Any significant change will always stem from the depth of your heart and manifest in small/big shifts in your daily life. How you spend each day is therefore so important because that is how you’ll spend your life. What you do today and every other day will determine where you end up in a year’s time.

Where in your life today, could you make small adjustments for a better future? Simple rituals like reading 20 minutes a day, an extra nafl salah or waking up 20 minutes earlier result in significant outcomes. It’s those little powerful habits, repeated consistently that determine your success or failure (for not doing so).

3. Give Thanks To Allah

At the core of every happy and successful woman is a grateful heart in awe and appreciation of Allah’s blessings. Gratitude is the quickest way to open and soften your heart whilst climbing the ladder of success. Allah (the Most High) says: “If you are grateful, I will surely give you more and more” (Ibrahim 14:7).

This is great news for you. When you desire more in this coming year, be grateful for what you already have.  That is sure-fire guaranteed way to get you ahead in this world. In 2016, would you like more love? A better home? A new job? Regardless of what you desire, be immensely grateful for your current blessings. Gratitude will unlock hidden doors and open extraordinary surprises, where your actions alone would not be able.

4. Explore Your Core Feelings

When you set a goal, what you’re truly craving is the feeling it will give you. The feeling of freedom from purchasing your own home. The feeling of health and vitality from attaining your dream body. Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket and getting attached to the outcome, focus on the feelings you want to experience in this year.

For example, if you set the intention to feel inner peace and contentment, there are many pathways to attain it. You could aim for praying your sunnahs consistently, memorising a surah or hadith in Arabic, praying tajajjud weekly or practising forgiveness every night. The pathways are limitless. Therefore you’re less likely to feel defeated or give up after missing a practise.

In 2016 what do you really want to feel? Do you want to feel vibrant, playful, love, openhearted, adventure, light, purposeful? Make a huge list of all the emotions that you want to experience this year. Then circle the top 5 emotions that really speak to your soul. Once you’ve narrowed your emotions, then write and seek out ways to fulfil them. This is such a refreshing and graceful way to set goals as opposed to the traditional new years resolutions (which are often broken by the second week of January!).

5. Let Go Of ‘Should-ing’ Yourself

Have you ever spoken to yourself like this before?

‘You should exercise at least 3 times a week. You should call your parents more often – they’ve sacrificed so much for you. You should completely stop eating sugar and gluten. Girl you’re putting on so much weight! You should stop losing your temper so quickly, especially with your kids – come on, they don’t deserve that.’

Sounds awful, doesn’t it? 

Every time you ‘should’ yourself, you come from a place of fear and worry. When you make a change because you ‘should’ – as opposed to really desiring the change you set yourself up for failure. Ultimately you’re seeking to change yourself through force and discipline. As a result, it won’t be long before you give in and your willpower dries up because you never truly wanted the change in the first place.

Instead of ‘should-ing’ yourself find ways to enjoy the change you’re seeking. The only way to create lasting change is by enriching the deliciousness of your life. Once you experience the thrill and adrenaline rush from regular exercise, there’s no way you’d go back to slopping on the sofa all day. Once you experience the tears and heart-felt harmony from prostrating to Allah, there’s no way you’d go back to intentionally missing salah. Once you show up as you highest, radiant and glowing self, there’s no way you’d go back being miserable and cranky all the time.

In 2016, ease up on yourself. Let go of all the ‘shoulds’ and allow the change to flow from a place of love. When change comes from a place of love, your much more likely to stick with it. When you can see the rewards of pursuing your dreams, fighting the temptation to go astray becomes much easier.

In fact, the journey to becoming a radiant, glowing woman becomes much more exciting and pleasant. It’s no longer an uphill struggle to eat healthy or to stop gossiping. Rather all the vices you used to indulge in become less appealing. Before you know it, you’ll be jumping out of bed with excitement and joy – ready to tackle the day ahead.
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Umme Hafsa is a life coach, self-love teacher and alimiyyah graduate. Her mission is to inspire Muslim women to create a beautiful life, infused with love, fiercely igniting their soul to help manifest their wildest dreams.

Give her a follow on her Website, Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest

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Thanks so much again Umme Hafsa for this fabulous post! I hope this inspires all of our readers to make 2016 their best year yet!

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Until next time, XOXO