Why Travel is Awesome

By Shazad

Both Ahsan and I love to travel and we have been fortunate to see a number of countries and cultures. I have personally been across both Canada and USA from coast to coast and have also visited UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Pakistan. I plan to visit many more cities and countries to improve my awareness and understanding of humanity. Let’s look at 3 reasons why I think Travel is an awesome part of the journey of #HumanTransformation.

Travel helps you become more aware of people around you and their background. By going to a different place with a different language, you get some more perspective on what people value and think compared to you. You will often find a lot of common points with all people of the world no matter where you go.

Travel gets you out of your comfort zone and forces you to grow through challenges as well as pleasant experiences. That delicious new dish you eat for the first time or the awkward hand waving conversation you have with someone who speaks a different language changes you for the better. This is how some great memories are made!

Travel is movement for the body, mind and soul. You can look back in time at historical places and cultures as well as look towards the future by seeing new kinds of thinking or new ways of doing things. You will experience holistic change in your being without the use of any special pharmaceuticals.

I hope you are inspired to travel more and will make 2019 the year you get out there to discover a new place or return to an old favourite one with new perspective. See what you might have missed and go where the people are because the world is meant to be seen!

How To Solve Your Biggest Challenges

As long as we continue to breathe, we will all have challenges. Overcoming our challenges is what makes life both interesting and well…challenging.

We tend to find varying solutions to our challenges, many of which the school of life teaches us.

These solutions may seem random when compared to the previous ones we used; however, they do have an underlying commonality in their birth. It is the purpose of this article to draw your awareness to what is the common denominator of all these solutions.

Solutions to problems are often born out of deep contemplation and often flash into our minds. They feel intuitively ideal, when they do.

The common denominator is awareness. Being aware, is the initial step to progress in any challenge, endeavour or goal you might have. 

Become aware.

AWARE---that is to say Accept Willingly All Reality Empathetically.

Be accepting of the situation and circumstances.

Do this willingly, that is do not resist or ignore your issue/challenge.

This mindset is to be applied to all of your knotty challenges/problems/conundrums.

Handle your challenges by asking what is the reality of things.

Be empathetic and kind to yourself so that you can see and accept your situation.

Use your emotional and intellectual intelligence to get to the heart of your challenges. Contemplate. Deeply.

Awareness is an overlooked aspect of overcoming challenges. Let’s look at a few examples below:

To be grateful for your many blessings, you must be aware of them. Gratitude requires awareness. To improve your marks in school you must be aware of your study habits in the classroom and at home. Good marks require awareness. To excel at your career or business, you must be aware of the key skills you need to address. Career/Business success requires awareness. To be healthy you need to be aware of your diet, sleep, exercise, and stress habits. Good health requires awareness. Once we are aware, we can start to see the obvious next steps.

Don’t despair, become AWARE. Beware of not being AWARE.

Accept willingly all reality empathetically so as to advance yourself. You are not an average person if you are reading an article like this, in this day and age. You are one of the seekers and an obvious winner.  By becoming

AWARE you will separate yourself from the crowd. 
Action Steps
1. Make a list of 5 things you feel you need to address in your life right now.

2. Let's say it is: 1) Improving your health 2) Paying off debts 3) Strengthening a relationship 4) Improving your happiness and 5) Organizing your important personal files and documents. Think deeply and summon your power of awareness, as you consider each item, one by one.

3. List each revelation and turn it into an action step. 1)Eating more vegetables on a daily basis. 2) Earning more by taking a course. 3) Giving attention to your significant other. 4) Spending dedicated time daily, to enjoy a hobby. 5) Carving out time to clean up and update your files on a weekly basis. 

4. Implement. And bask in the glory of your sense of accomplishment from having acted.

5. Share AWARE often and always!

How Do You Eliminate Fear?

By Ahsan

I am sure you are eager to find out the answer to this important question. The interesting thing is that the answer may not satisfy you because you might think it is too simple.

Fearing something is not an unnatural thing to do. We all have fears. The majority of us have two or more major fears. These fears can often make our lives difficult and sometimes make life miserable.

Let us imagine for a moment that you have a fear of going out to new places, so much so that your life is now limited to living at home, going to work, visiting your best friend and the local mall. You routinely decline invitations to go out with coworkers or to the movies with friends with the excuse of being busy. Your life is limited.

So how do you eliminate fear? Just follow this two step process:

The first step to is to ask: Why eliminate fear?

If you think about it, life is most enjoyed when we are feeling relaxed and happy; not tense and fearful. This is why we should give attention to the question of: Why eliminate fear? So you can fully live life and enjoy it. Life is short and it should be awesome!

The second step is to do what you fear.

It was the American Philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain”. Start accepting invitations and see how it goes. Hopefully you can try. I know this is easier said than done. You might find that it is not as bad as you imagine. Your imagination is part to blame. We make monsters in our heads and we need to chase them away by doing the things that we see as horror movies.

This then, is how you eliminate fears.

Ask why you should eliminate your fear. Face it and do it, even if it is in baby steps (psychologists call this desensitization). Get yourself a bit more comfortable each time you “face and do”. Just give it a try. Fears are indeed personal. Fears are best understood by the person who deals with them. They are however, handcuffs on your wrists for a crime you never committed. Try to unlock them with the key of “face and do” and start to really enjoy your life! Live Awesome!

Be Awesome NOT Average

By Shazad

Many people spend so much of their time blending in or joining crowds of average people. We then wonder why we cant stand out from everyone else when looking for a job, a partner in life or in a service we are trying to offer to the public.

I want you to think of “average” as a bad word for many areas of life. It means being lumped together with the masses of people and not having an individual personality or voice in your life. It’s better to make your own path and your own future by being extraordinary in whatever you do. If you are looking for an amazing place to work or to establish an amazing business, you have to become that yourself. You need to raise the bar and go above and beyond expectations. It’s the same for finding a partner in life who should not be just an average human being that you can tolerate. You want to have lifelong bliss and growth with a person who believes that life gets even better when two above average people get together. These same two people have children who they encourage to aim high and live up to their full potential in everything they do. That’s how we break away from the majority of people who are just trying to survive life.

In the future as in the present, it’s not doing anyone any good to blend in and become an ‘average’ person. The world needs every one of us to live up to our highest capabilities on a regular basis to move ourselves and society forward. This is the only way we can each win in work, relationship and life as a whole.

Are You Driven to be AWSM?

By Shazad

Acronyms help us remember important things. Those things we know we should develop in our life or become. The familiar gear pattern in an automatic car has the acronym PRND. I want to give you a new one to think about to drive your life - the acronym is AWSM.

AWSM stands for Awareness Wisdom System Management and each word represents a “gear” you will cycle through to live your best life. Awareness means being aware of what’s happening around you, inside your own mind as well as your responses to situations. Using the best practices and thinking from all of human history to deal with daily life is called wisdom. A step by step approach to improving yourself in a structured way with daily practices that work together is your systems “gear”. The 4’th “gear” in AWSM is like the Drive gear in your car. This is the one that involves taking all the awareness, wisdom and systems and putting them into motion to get somewhere. The Management gear is where you move your entire being towards a greater goal and keep moving until you achieve that goal. The M also stands for movement. You keep moving faster by building strength, guidance and focus from the A-W-S gears to accelerate forward. This will put you on the road to many Awesome destinations in life!

3 Skills for the Future

By Shazad

Many people are concerned about what the future of jobs will look like 5, 10 and even 20 years from now. I believe many of the top skills of today will be amplified in the near future for success in the coming years. I will briefly cover 3 of these high demand skills below.

First, the power of curiosity and desire to learn cannot be understated. Whatever your age is or will be, you need to learn and keep on learning. Learning to learn new things is the ultimate career and life skill humanity will always need.

Second, the ability to communicate clearly and in multiple formats for multiple audiences. Whether this means you become a better speaker or writer or online video content creator, the choice is yours. Find out what areas you need to improve upon and work on them to become recognized leader in your field.

Third, and certainly not the least important, is the ability to make sense of information so that it becomes wisdom. There is so much information being generated and transmitted today and it will increase even more in the future. Those who can extract meaning and useful knowledge will become leaders of tomorrow. Those few who can combine the knowledge to make it into a big picture viewpoint will be the Leader of leaders and the most valuable for humanity.

Don’t wait for the future to arrive. It’s just a day away and your ability to develop yourself in the 3 key areas above will determine how well you do. Prepare today for an Awesome future.

Join a Team to Multiply your success!

By Shazad

There is a lot we can do on our own but so much more we can do when we join forces with other people who are focused on improving themselves and changing the world.

Find someone who is willing to give up short term gain for long term success. Partner with one or more people like this to work on problems together. It can be simple things in your community or bigger issues affecting the world. The concentrated effort of many people working on improving things cannot be understated. There is nothing that has changed the world as much as groups of people working together to solve problems.

Even superheroes get stronger when they work as part of a team. Who will be in your team of Awesome people?

How To Make Progress in Your Career and Life

By Shazad

Having progress or forward momentum in life is what makes life interesting as well as giving us purpose. That feeling of being stuck or standing still for many days without progress can make a person seriously ill as well as non-productive. I’m going to offer some ideas on how to move forward and keep moving forward every year.

Step 1 is to Increase your awareness of the industry you work in and learn the industry vocabulary as much as you can. Learn new terms, phrases and ideas every month by reading your industry blogs, newsletters and articles.

Step 2 is to Design your work using a specific and detailed career plan. This helps to make sure you are heading in direction you intended through your daily and weekly work. Write out your ideal next level in your career or business.  Describe in detail what your daily routine would be, what your expected income will be and how you would feel during the day.  You should list your top 3 responsibilities in this next level role and what you will be contributing to society when you reach this higher level.

Step 3 is to Review your career development plan.  Revise or confirm your plan as needed with more detail or refine it to take out any unnecessary parts. Check your current actions, beliefs and habits to make sure they align with what you are aiming for. If they do not align,  adjust to get back on track to achieve your ideal future state.

That’s it. Just 3 steps to become more aware, develop a forward moving plan and then executing on that plan every day. The goal is to keep creating and achieving higher quality plans in life and not stopping once you have achieved the immediate next level plan. This is how you keep making progress and keep growing in life.

Start a New Year in September

By Shazad

In my opinion, it feels like a new year every September!  Young and older students are heading back to school while others are headed back to full-time work after some vacation time.  The weather usually starts to change  and everyone seems to be focussed on achievement again.

This is perfect time to review your goals and renew your pledge to achieve them.  Perhaps you want to start new goals in September and get a head start on next year by marking this month as your New Years moment.  Everything around you is offering motivation for doing so and it's not likely to be any easier on January 1. Use this energy to make changes and become better.  Make this month your time to start or re-start something great and Live Awesome!

When the Coachable Student is ready, the Teacher appears

In business and in life, there are teaching moments worth noting. This is especially true in the beginning when you are starting something new and may feel you are not able to do anything right. It can be frustrating time for anyone starting a job or a new business but it’s normal to go through the pain.  You should have some more senior people around you can coach you and you should listen to them!

You will receive useful guidance on how to address problems as well as follow through on important tasks.  You will, no doubt, make some mistakes along the way which is expected and you will get feedback quickly about your mistakes - listen to it!  That feedback is valuable coaching for you to listen to and understand and then act on.  Make sure you understand what went wrong and then follow the coaching you are getting for improvement. This will make your progress at work a lot faster and your productivity that much better.  Remember, it's not personal criticism and we all need good coaches in our lives to get to the next level.

Managers and Business people are not looking for “Perfect” people to work with but they are looking for coachable people that will listen and learn.  If you become one of these people from the very start and then remain coachable throughout your working life, you will always have opportunities to advance and succeed.

Why You Need to Think Big to Be Happy

By Ahsan

Have you ever been hit with the blues? Have you ever lost a bit of that pep in your step or just felt a bit aimless? Contrast that with how you feel when you are preparing for a big occasion, like a night out with friends or attending a wedding. Usually, the feeling is one of being engaged, focused and generally happy. When we are feeling off, it is usually because we are thinking about things in the past and ruminating over a “I wish I had…” thoughts or we are looking at the present and feeling bored.

It is in the future that we begin to see ourselves in motion and start feeling engaged, focussed and happier. In other words, when you are feeling blue and with nothing to do, pivot your thoughts to a bigger future.

What does this mean? A bigger future is all about challenging yourself to be, do or have something that represents growth and change from your current situation. It could mean pursuing higher education, it could mean becoming fitter and stronger, it could mean adding one hundred thousand dollars to your present investments by working on your earning abilities.

Why does this work as a way for getting out of a funk? It’s simple isn’t it? You become engaged in planning how you will build your bigger future, you get focussed on the doing and action steps and habits and all the while, compared to being in Bluesville, you change your address to happy town.

Action Steps:

1. Sit down with yourself and or a good friend and brainstorm something that you want for your future. Here we mean a “be”, “do”, or “have” type desire.

2. Repeat step one another two times so you have three things in front of you.

3. Now that you have the three things to contemplate, imagine yourself accomplishing your bigger future.

4. Note and internally capture that feeling.

5. Get working on the one you intuitively feel most excited about.

6. Keep the other two handy so you can begin on them when you know the time is right.

There you go. Don’t stay in first gear, get going by seeing a bigger future for yourself and multiply your happiness.

Live Awesome, Not Average!

Too many people in this world spend their life trying to fit in and become average.  Nothing could be worse for your health and well-being since the average person is overweight, in debt and unhappy with life.  if you aim for the middle of the pack, you will get their lifestyle - some good and some bad. If you instead look for ways to live like the best people with the best habits and health, you are pursuing something worthwhile that will make you a better person.

So how can you do this?  Look at where you stand today and where you want to be.  What kind of lifestyle, emotions and outcomes do you want to experience?  Do you think being mediocre or middle of the pack will get you results? It's clearly not going to work so try something different. Be bolder, wiser and break free from the masses.  Do the things that few people are doing and get great results in terms of health, happiness and quality of life.  Don't eat, spend and waste time like most people do unless you want your life to become the border line existence between sickness and health, or happiness and depression.  Why not seek to have a fulfilling life where each day gives you the opportunity to thrive and be happy and healthy.  Wealth comes along with a better lifestyle and focus on self improvement.   Lasting peace of mind and deeper spiritual connection are also possible when you live according to your full potential in life.

To be Awesome and maintain this kind of life, you have to be able to see where you are and what it takes to reach that higher level in your own life.  Only when you stop being average and commit to a better life will you be able to Live Awesome. So what are you waiting for?

How To Communicate Like A Master

By Ahsan

It has been said that many people communicate however very few connect.

If you think about your best friend and how they talk to you, you might begin to get an instant feeling of happiness and calm. Your best friend is your best friend because of them winning a special place in your heart. Others may be good friends of yours, however, your best friend has a deep connection with you.  The feeling of connection is what makes your relationship with your friend special and deep.

What if you could have this level of connection with your friends, friends, spouse, children, colleauges, managers, and clients? What if you could communicate and achieve the deep level of connection with them as you do with your best friend? How much would this skill improve your life?

If you are all in and want to learn this art and skill, let’s begin. The framework is based on simple and often overlooked common sense.

Firstly, you might like to begin with the mindset of winning people over and being a person who is a source of happiness and value to others. In other words, create the conditions for such a relationship. After all, we have a relationship with everyone we meet, even if it is a brief encounter with a barista who pours your coffee or a person down on his luck, that you decided to give a few dollars to. Make it count. Make it a connection that is felt by the other person. Try at least by being aware of the whole idea of not just communicating but connecting. The concept of communi-connection is a new word that you can add to your dictionary.

The idea of connection with a person is not something to be taken lightly and it might not be for you. To really connect when you communicate will take on the verbal aspect and non-verbal aspect of communication. Some of you may feel uncomfortable giving of yourself in this way. Interesting language I am using…I know. I say giving of yourself because all this, is a sort of devotion. If you are devoted to someone, you are quite invested in making sure that there is a connection, a true relationship. You will not take the art of communication lightly if you really care. Be devoted and think of your words as being an arrangement of not just words but a bouquet of flowers.

Now you might like to put on the charm when you talk to others as a spot of good measure. How charming are you? To be charming all you have to do is develop a habit of complimenting people when you interact with them. An encounter with your friend could be enhanced by telling them how much you appreciate the time they spent with you. A date with your spouse could begin by letting them know how good their outfit looks. Even a teaching opportunity to an employee or child could be started with a compliment of what they do well and a short and sweet suggestion to improve the thing that you want them to. There are other ways to be charming too, feel free to think of other ways.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, and especially on Mondays…make your connection deep.

Here, I am referring to the surface level chats we have with people on a Monday that starts with, “how was your weekend”? This is better than nothing but if that is all you end up doing with others when you meet them, you may miss the chance to connect. So, how do you go deeper? Let’s say your co-worker says they had a busy weekend and spent time volunteering at the food bank. If you say that’s cool and switch over to topics like the weather, you earn five points for at least caring to ask about their weekend. However, if you were to segue into a follow up question like, how did you get interested in doing that? You will get into a deeper level of knowing them. It is in knowing someone that you connect.

Your best friend knows you and that is why you feel connected to them. Be interested in others with no other motive than to pass through this life with the mindset of being of value to others and asking a question or two about what they say to you. Don’t just communicate…lots of people do that. Be that uncommon person that not only communicates but connects, and sometimes deeply, with devotion, as deep as the Pacific Ocean.

What's Your Brand?

By Shazad

Apple, Disney and Starbucks have one.  Canada and various countries have their own brands as do individuals like athletes and celebrities. Every successful product, service, person or nation was built around a brand.  All have shaped their image into a brand that they intentionally work on.  You also need to develop your brand whether you work in a job or your own business.  You are creating a public image whether you realize it or not. People around you are watching and making judgement about you all the time. They are estimating what you believe and what you stand for so why not actively create your brand instead of leaving it up to others to guess?

It starts with your daily habits and the quality of work you do.  You will become known for the outcomes you produce but also the way you handle the process of getting things done.  How you treat people around you and what your relationship is with management all define your brand.  What you say when relaxed and also under pressure is what people will remember so be mindful of your behaviour.  Self awareness and being honest with yourself is key.

The best way to be understood and have a clear message about what you stand for is to actively work on this.  It will never be perfect but it will be something that you can start from as a foundation.  Do you want to be known as a punctual, hard working and cheerful man? Become that way every day so it's what everyone sees about you.  Would you like to be recognized as a life-long learner who is also a good listener and takes care of her health? Become that person and it will be your brand.  Do the things that you want to define you and they become parts of your brand.

Don't leave it up to others to define you or misunderstand what you are about. Be consistent with your beliefs and your actions so they match. Take hold of your personal brand today and share it with the world. Make it Awesome!

What Should You Do If You Fail A Test?

By Ahsan

Little Johnny is sitting at his desk writing a test. His test is a straight forward spelling test. He needs to spell 20 words related to his recent study unit on government.
The test comes back and out of the 20 words, he ends up getting seven right and thirteen wrong. He goes home with his head down and shows the piece of paper to his mother. She remarks, “hey Johnny, you got seven right, look at what you can do, all you need to do now is go and work on those other thirteen”.

The moral of the story is that most people focus on what they cannot do and what they haven’t achieved. This type of approach to life cannot lead to success and happiness. A more empowering and effective way to approach things is to become focussed on what you can do and work on the things you need to do.

Some people become deflated when they fail a test or don’t get something they want in life. Some people become deflated and defeated! How unfortunate is a setback that becomes a shattered self-image?
If you think about things like Johnny’s mother does, how much better would your life be? Could you be more successful and happy?

No Tribal Membership Required

By Shazad

Do you have to be Hindu or a born in India to practice Yoga and derive it's benefits?  Do you need to be a trained chef or food critic to enjoy a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant?  How about getting healthy and strong without a Nutrition degree or certification as Personal Trainer?

It used to be that special skills and cultural practices were handed down in very strict way for a limited number of people belonging to the same culture or tribe as the teacher.  Formal lines of training and years of practice were needed to advance even small amounts in a given practice...if the master thought you were worthy.  Potential students from another tribe were often shunned and in some cases, even forbidden from knowing about certain skills!  There were secret societies and private clubs of people who only discussed things with peers of the same social status.

Today's world allows us much more freedom and opportunity to explore all kinds of teachings belonging to other cultures and nations. We can dabble in things to see if we like it or, we can get fully immersed in foreign practices [to everyone but Chinese people] like Kung Fu despite having no Chinese ancestry and decades of training at a Shaolin temple.  Modern technology, an abundance of willing teachers, sincere effort and a passion to learn new things is all we really need! It's easier than ever to grasp just about any new skill so why not try something new?

Anyone, anywhere can explore anything without "official" membership credentials. The colour of your skin, your age, the place you were born or your gender don't really matter any more.  New 'tribes' of people are being created based on interest, achievement level and passion for a given skill or practice. Sometimes you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home to learn something new but we strongly recommend you do for maximum enjoyment and experience.

So figure out what new skill or practice you want to know something about and get to work!  You may find a new calling in life or just an enjoyable hobby that makes you a better human being. Doesn't matter what race you are or what your college major was...you can still learn anything!  Find the experts in the field you are interested in and let the learning begin! It's that easy...and no membership required so what are you waiting for?

Why Can't i Be You?

By Ahsan

Have you ever wished that you could be someone else? When you look at your life, your career, your physical traits or mental abilities or just plain old circumstances, have you not thought this way?

This has got to be one of the most common thoughts that strikes us from time to time.

But Why Do We Have These Thoughts?

We know that this is probably not a good thing to do but yet we do it. We do it for one primary reason, we all yearn to be happy. Sometimes we look at our situation in comparison to someone else and think we would be so much happier if we were in their shoes. To be happy is one of our strongest desires in life. And as you know, the grass is not always greener on the other side. If we want to be happy, we need to find a way to be happy given the situation we have now, even if it seems tough to do so.

Let us remind ourselves that our thoughts influence our feelings. If you want to feel happy, then think happy thoughts. We should not do the opposite, which is to think thoughts that bring you feelings of misery. In summary, you can choose to be happy and joyful or miserable and blue.

So how do you do sow and cultivate personal happiness?

1. Stop comparing yourself to others. If someone seems to have a better life than you, wish them well and silence the voice of envy. Now you are being kind to yourself.

2. If at all possible, and it should be…why not think about what you wish you had and work out a plan to achieve it! Now you are being proactive.

3. Spend some time every day where you take a time out for yourself and think about three things that you are grateful for. Be the most grateful person you know. Now you are becoming more self-aware.

Whatever your scenario happens to be, focus on what is good in your life and by doing so, harvest the crop of happiness and do away with the weeds of misery.

Be the Awesome Change you want to see in the world

By Shazad

I see many issues in the world and I wish things were different. Noticing the problems and wishing things were better is not going to work.  So what does?

First, not adding to the problems by doing my part to make things better.  If I want more justice and peace in the world, I need to live my own life in a way that promotes these values. I   can’t want one thing but live a different way.

Second, I need to take care of my own health so I’m not a burden to the healthcare system.  This means mind, body and soul needs regular maintenance and improvement.  Better habits performed daily will achieve the results.

Third, I can encourage everyone around me to live their best lives by doing their part.  Small changes to behaviour, lifestyle and mindset will help everyone to live better by adding up all the positive changes.

There you have it. Be consistent with what kind of world you want to live in and don’t be a hypocrite. You’ll know when you are living according to your beliefs when you see the world getting a little more awesome each day. Make it happen!

The ONE virtue that will multiply your prosperity

By Ahsan

There are many virtues and characteristics that come to mind. One should be truthful, or dependable, or courageous, or likeable. Honestly, the virtue that I am thinking about is none of these. If I am being honest, I should reveal this one virtue quickly because it is so powerful that it continually ripples in a vast ocean of prosperity that is boundless.

This virtue is honesty. If you are honest, the whole world will love you. On the other hand, if you are crooked, no one will want to have anything to do with you. You are done. Finished.

The world is in search of an honest person who fulfills her obligations to her fellow human beings.

In fact, prosperity for an honest person is assured if not guaranteed. People are drawn to truthful people who are honest. People lean on dependable people who are honest. People seek refuge with people who are courageous and are honest. And, people love people who are honest.

Your personal reputation is the sum total of all your actions and how you conduct those actions with honesty. Keep striving in this way. Add the resolute element of honesty in all the other virtues that you display. The world will open its arms to you and open many doors for you. The more honest you are the more prosperous you will be.

Slow Down and Go Fast

By Shazad

"Fasting is the first principle of medicine; fast and see the strength of the spirit reveal itself. " + Rumi

The holy month of Ramadhan has started and practicing Muslims everywhere have been fasting for a few days now.  This blessed month and this ancient practice reminds us to focus on what is important, what really matters and what sacrifice feels like.  

In a typical day, we are usually going so fast and trying to get so much done that we forget to pay attention to living.  By observing fasting during Ramadhan and periodically throughout the year, we can stop and reflect at different times of the day.  We get a chance to withdraw from all unnecessary things to focus on the essentials.  Every time I experience Ramadhan, I feel stronger and more self aware. I often feel that I can do anything I put my focus on because I've seen how capable I am after giving up food and drink for many hours each day.  

There are physical and spiritual benefits to Fasting as you can imagine. There are also mental benefits to withdrawing from the constant buzz and chatter of the world.  It let's me listen to my inner voice and it can do the same for you without having to become a hermit or shunning modern technology.

3 Exercises to Consider:

1. Make a list of your daily activities during weekdays and weekends so you know how you currently spend your time.

2. How many things on your list are things you must do vs. what others tell you should be doing? Spend at least one week just focussed on doing the things that you must do and give up everything else.  What things are just entertainment or time waisting things that you don't really enjoy?

3. Rate how your experience on how you feel after doing just the necessary things and refine your daily tasks so that is how you spend your days from now on.