May 27, 2025 • 18 mins
In this powerful exploration of action versus inspiration, we uncover why the human brain isn't designed for constant motivational highs. While society glorifies "feeling inspired" as a prerequisite for meaningful work, true success comes from showing up when you don't feel like it.
Your brain doesn't actually break under pressure, it builds. It's anti-fragile, meaning it doesn't just survive stress, it transforms and strengthens through it. When left without clear targets, your mind creates elaborate distractions, turning to judgment, excessive research, and scrolling, all sophisticated forms of avoidance that feel productive but keep you stuck.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Islamic Life Coach School Podcast.
Apply tools that you learn inthis podcast and your life will
be unrecognizably successful.
Now your host, dr Kamal Aftar.
Hello, hello, hello everyone.
Peace and blessings be upon allof you.
Among many topics that I coachwomen on, one of the most
frequently visited topics isabout time management and how to
(00:25):
actually get things done.
I can't count how many times Iput something on my calendar
with the hope to get it done,something that truly matters to
me, only to wake up and not feellike doing it in the moment.
It used to be about swimminglessons, or it could be about
recording a podcast or launchinga new part of my business.
That moment that I planned onahead of time, that I know will
(00:46):
move the needle in my business,in my spiritual life or in my
personal life.
That moment always comes, butit also very frequently comes
with the slump, the resistance,the ugh.
Okay, I'm going to maybe do ittomorrow.
Instead of waiting for amagical surge of motivation,
though, I borrow gratitude frommy future self.
I picture her saying thank youfor doing this when it was hard,
(01:09):
thank you for not flaking,thank you for showing up, and
just like that, I start moving.
Consistency does not always haveto be fueled by inspiration.
It can be fueled by discipline,self-respect or acting when you
don't feel like it.
You're not entitled to feelinspiration all the time, and
that is the topic of my podcasttoday, words and phrases that
(01:31):
come up during coaching all thetime is my motivation is lacking
.
I don't feel inspired to do thework.
I don't feel aligned.
I'm going to talk about allthree of these one at a time.
Inspiration is a gift.
It's not a guarantee.
Your brain is not designed togenerate a constant stream of
motivational and inspirationalhigh.
It's designed to conserveenergy.
(01:51):
That is its basic premise.
Waiting to feel inspired beforeaction is like waiting for the
perfect weather before plantinga seed.
You will miss the entire season.
The growth happens when you actwithout the emotional high.
Motivation in itself is anemotion.
It's not a plan.
It rises and falls like anyother emotion affected by sleep,
(02:14):
hormones, environment,thousands of other things, but
mostly motivation comes fromyour thought, because we know
it's an emotion.
When you rely on motivation toguide your behavior, it's going
to be as flaky as your thoughts,unless you're masterful at
controlling your mind and cangenerate motivation on cue.
If that doesn't happen, you'rehanding your destiny to a
(02:35):
chemical cocktail which youhaven't mastered control over.
And if you haven't, you don'tneed motivation.
You need structure, discipline,trust in your why.
And then, lastly, alignment hasbeen mostly misunderstood.
It's not supposed to feel likefloating on a spiritual cloud
all the time.
Real alignment is likeresistance, repetition, doing
(02:58):
the hard things because that'sthe right thing.
And sometimes that's whatalignment is.
It's acting in congruence withyour values, not through your
comfort.
You may feel uncertain, boredor even afraid, and still be
deeply aligned.
You are not entitled toconstantly feel inspired,
motivated or aligned before youtake action.
(03:21):
True alignment with your values,your goals, your purpose very
frequently feels uncomfortable.
It's that kind of discomfortthat comes with doing something
new, something repetitive,something that looks like
mundane but you know is going tomake a difference.
And it's still alignment.
So if you've been waiting tofeel inspired before you start
(03:42):
doing something meaningful, letthis podcast be your wake-up
call.
In many cases, you're notwaiting for alignment, you're
avoiding discomfort.
And that is natural, becauseyour brain is not wired for
greatness, it's not wired formastery, it's not even wired for
consistency.
It's wired only for survivaland comfort.
(04:02):
It's wired for energyconservation.
When you're waiting to feelinspired and only use that very
addicting emotion as a fuel ofyour meaningful action, the
discomfort becomes a giantroadblock to those actions.
In that case the brain doesn'thave a target to move towards
because it's still waiting forinspiration.
And unfortunately, the braindoes not work with voids very
(04:26):
well.
It cannot just not think.
If you don't give your brain aclear mission, it will make one
up.
It doesn't matter if it's aconstructive or a destructive
mission, it will just makesomething up while you're
waiting to feel inspired.
A brain without a target towork towards is like a toddler
with a crayon and no paper.
(04:47):
It colors walls and writes oneverything it gets his hand on,
creating chaos just to feel busy.
It cannot sit idly.
When you're waiting for positiveemotions like inspiration,
motivation and alignment, you'remaking room for the brain to
create its own distraction.
You think you're being gentleto yourself, waiting for the
(05:08):
right time and the resistance tolift, but really you're deep
cleaning your pantry instead ofwriting the first page of your
book.
You're planning another familyvacation instead of launching
your business.
You're researching more insteadof making the call you already
know you need to make.
You're worrying about yourchild's entire future.
(05:28):
Instead of addressing the taskthat's actually urgent and
important today, you're doingeverything but that one thing
that moves the needle in yourlife.
This is the misfiring of yoursurvival mode.
While it waits for you to findmotivation, your brain will
always choose the easiestdopamine hit Scrolling, snacking
, fantasizing, venting,researching, overcleaning all of
(05:52):
this over the long-term rewardof deep, focused work.
And the most cruel part is, themore you delay your goal, the
more you start to believe thatthe delay is who you are.
You start thinking I'm just notthat disciplined.
Delay is who you are.
You start thinking I'm just notthat disciplined.
I'm someone who always needsexternal accountability.
I can't finish things on time.
But none of that is actuallytrue.
Not being able to accomplishyour vision is not written in
(06:15):
your DNA or in your personality.
When you don't give your brain atarget, it starts shooting at
everything.
It judges people to feelsuperior.
It gets angry just to feelpowerful.
It obsesses over what's missingto avoid what's possible.
It will start targetingjudgment because tearing others
down is easier than buildingyourself up.
(06:37):
It will feel anger because itfeels justified Rage.
Feels powerful even when it'swasted energy.
It starts targetingdissatisfaction because it's
easier to complain about lifethan to change it.
If you don't put your brain towork, it will make work for
itself, creating problems wherenone exist, inventing reasons to
(06:59):
procrastinate, manufactureself-doubt just to keep itself
busy.
And all of that feelsproductive, worry feels like
planning, research feels likeaction, comparison feels like
strategy.
But none of that is true.
Your brain is just trying tosurvive boredom, trying to hit
targets that don't exist,boredom that's being generated
(07:23):
from you, waiting to feelinspired.
But all of this time you'redesigned to grow through
challenge, the same challengethat you are so desperately
subconsciously avoiding.
Brain thrives under thatpressure.
Your brain doesn't break underpressure, it builds under
pressure.
Your brain is not fragile.
It does not break like glass.
(07:45):
Your brain is anti-fragile,meaning it doesn't just survive
stress, it grows stronger fromit.
It adapts, it rewires, itexpands under pressure.
It is designed for challenge,for problem solving, for pushing
limits.
Not only can it handlediscomfort, it needs discomfort
to stay alive.
Without it, it starts to decay.
(08:07):
Without discomfort, it startsto create the meaningless
discomfort that I mentioned.
It turns against you, buildingan internal war of excuses,
self-sabotage, instead of afortress of discipline and
resilience.
All of this means that the moreyou challenge it, the stronger
it becomes.
The more resistance it faces,the more resilience it builds,
(08:31):
the more discomfort it feels theone that comes from you, taking
action without inspiration.
That means the more disciplinedyour brain will be.
And yet many of us have beentrained to treat discomfort like
danger.
We treat struggle like it's asign of us doing something wrong
.
Anti-fragility means your mindadapts when things get hard and
(08:55):
gets better.
It converts stress intostrength.
When you choose action overavoidance, you're making
progress and you're makingneurons.
You're building new wiring.
But you avoid pressure longenough, waiting to feel inspired
.
Your brain will decay in itsown comfort.
It gets soft, it forgets how towork, it turns against you and
(09:20):
turns to shame, overthinkingself-sabotage.
And when that happens, youdon't just lose time, you lose
trust in yourself, and that is aprecious commodity.
So when a client tells me Idon't know if I can handle this,
I feel scared, I feel blocked.
(09:40):
There's no time to coddle fear.
I celebrate it and I teach herhow to celebrate it, because
it's not a weakness, it's asignal that your brain is ready
to wake up.
It's anti-fragility, ready tokick in.
I've seen women walk into jobinterviews that they thought
they'd never be ready for lifesituations that they thought
they could never face.
Launch businesses, write books,set clean boundaries All of
(10:00):
that means something's workingIn the meanwhile.
I also want to make you awareof the other side of the coin,
which is there's nothing wrongwith comfort.
You need rest, recovery, joy,naps, trips to the beach, bubble
baths, stillness, playfulnessall of that is required.
But then I want to alsointroduce you to this character.
(10:21):
Her name is auntie cozy.
She's the version of you thatsounds like she's protecting
your peace while waiting forcomfort and inspiration, but
she's actually robbing you blind.
She's the auntie that's got allof the luggage for self-care
but none of the self-respect Toexcuse your behavior.
She'll say maybe you're justtired today, maybe you need a
(10:42):
little snack now, maybe it's notthe aligned time, maybe you're
just not the get things donekind of person, and that's okay.
She is the main character inyour procrastination and your
entitlement to feel inspiration.
She's smooth, convincing and aprofessional gaslighter In her
presence.
You've rested for three hours,but you still feel anxious.
(11:03):
You've scrolled through 37videos on productivity while
actually doing nothingproductive.
You rushed through your pairmindlessly in the name of
needing to unwind.
Later you told yourself thatNetflix is the new therapy.
Auntie Cozy will not let yourrest time be restful, while you
need rest, and Auntie Cozy isn'toffering you rest.
(11:26):
She's offering you avoidancedressed as leisure.
She wants you to feel good nowand feel like a failure later.
Because what's happening iswhen this quote-unquote comfort
time ends, your brain returnswith a report card and it says
that you failed at every task.
This is what I call rotting incomfort.
When it doesn't smell like rot,it smells like delicious
(11:50):
cinnamon rolls, but afterwardsyou feel like you've constantly
betrayed yourself.
So the next time you hearAuntie Cozy or something similar
, whispering sweet nothings inyour ear, try to tell her this
Thank you for your concern,auntie, but my future self is
waiting for me, and right now isnot the time to eat popcorn or
(12:10):
any other snack.
Your comfort zone is not yourenemy, but staying trapped in it
is.
You don't need inspiration, youneed integrity.
Real alignment that puts you onthe path of mastery, of
greatness, of accomplishment,doesn't always feel comfortable.
Sometimes it feels like pushingthrough friction, stepping into
(12:33):
the unknown, wrestling withyour own doubt and moving
forward despite of all of thesethings, when every fiber of your
body is screaming for comfort.
Your body doesn't grow strongerwithout resistance.
Your mind does not grow sharperwithout challenge, and your
success arrives dragging theweight of every moment.
You chose to show up when youdidn't feel like it.
(12:55):
If everything you just heardlanded, if you now realize that
you're not entitled to feelinspiration before you move,
here's what I want you to startdoing from today.
Not tomorrow, not when it feelsflowy, but today.
Your realignment checklist isgoing to look something like
this Pause and name the task.
(13:16):
The thing I'm avoiding rightnow is fill in the blanks.
Next, identify the falsecomfort.
Instead of doing the thing Ineed, I'm reaching for.
Fill in the blanks.
Is it snacks, youtube research,more playtime with the kids?
Number three ask yourself wouldmy future self be grateful?
(13:39):
I did this now?
If the answer is yes, moveforward.
If the answer is no, check.
If you're being hijacked byAuntie Cozy.
Number four do this for thefirst 30 to 60 seconds only.
That's it, just a small amountof awareness, and going through
these questions is going tobring enough light to the matter
(14:00):
that you will break the cycle.
And the fifth and the last stepis end with identity
reinforcement.
I am the kind of woman whomoves without inspiration, I am
becoming the woman who trustsherself to show up, because
highest form of integrity isn'tjust about being honest with
others, but about doing what youtold yourself you would do,
(14:22):
especially when no one'swatching and no one's holding
you accountable.
That level of self-integritybuilds empires.
It raises leaders.
It raises the consciousness ofdharma.
The mantras that I've tattooedon myself, and you can borrow
too, are discipline is the newdopamine.
Comfort is a nice place tovisit, but not a place to build
(14:46):
a house.
Inspiration is a guest andaction is ongoing.
My future self is watching andshe's going to be proud.
So I'm going to summarize allof these in the next few lines.
Which is?
Motivation is not a prerequisitefor action.
Your brain is wired forsurvival, not success.
(15:06):
If left untrained, it willalways choose short-term comfort
over long-term growth.
Waiting to feel aligneddisguises avoidance as wisdom,
but real alignment feelsuncomfortable, repetitive and
unfamiliar.
Your brain needs resistance togrow.
(15:26):
It's anti-fragile, it thrivesunder pressure, and that is when
you act despite fear.
Just for the sake of inertiaand movement, the
comfort-seeking part of you,like this comical auntie cozy,
will offer false rest to keepyou from doing true work.
While you're welcome to rest,integrity means what you
(15:51):
promised yourself you will dowhen you assigned yourself to do
it.
Use a simple realignmentchecklist and remember that
inspiration, while present, iswelcomed, it is a guest.
It is not a constant guide.
Inspiration is incredible whenit's there and when you can use
it to fuel your action.
(16:11):
But when it's not present, it'snot going to hurt you to take
action in its absence.
If anything, taking action willhelp you because when you're
busy with action, your toddlerbrain will not be creating
distracting work for you, yourbrain will be getting stronger
and you will be getting a lifethat you want to live.
While you're not entitled toconstant inspiration, use that
(16:35):
to stop feeling like a victim.
When you don't feel like doingthings, inspiration alignment
are exceptions to the rule.
The rule is that the primalbrain will be afraid to be seen,
to fail, to be judged, and allof those things don't feel like
abundance and inspiration.
They feel like resistance inyour body.
When you do feel inspired,cherish it, soak in it, really
(17:01):
anchor it in your body, memorizeit, but don't always expect for
it to be there.
With that, I pray to Allah SWT.
Ya Allah, grant me the strengthto act when I feel nothing, the
discipline to move forward whenI crave comfort.
Allow my rest to be peacefuland rejuvenating when the time
(17:22):
is right.
Allow me the clarity to knowthat Barakah lives in effort,
not in ease.
Make me consistent in mystriving, sincere in my
intention, and let my futureself be grateful to the person
who I'm becoming today while Iuse courage.
Ya Allah, allow me courage anddiscipline and allow me
(17:44):
inspiration when the time isright.
Ameen, ya Rabbul, ameen, pleasekeep me in your da'as.
I will talk to you guys nexttime.
Welcome to Islamic Life Coach School Podcast.
Apply tools that you learn inthis podcast and your life will
be unrecognizably successful.
Now your host, dr Kamal Aftar.
Hello, hello, hello everyone.
Peace and blessings be upon allof you.
Among many topics that I coachwomen on, one of the most
frequently visited topics isabout time management and how to
(00:25):
actually get things done.
I can't count how many times Iput something on my calendar
with the hope to get it done,something that truly matters to
me, only to wake up and not feellike doing it in the moment.
It used to be about swimminglessons, or it could be about
recording a podcast or launchinga new part of my business.
That moment that I planned onahead of time, that I know will
(00:46):
move the needle in my business,in my spiritual life or in my
personal life.
That moment always comes, butit also very frequently comes
with the slump, the resistance,the ugh.
Okay, I'm going to maybe do ittomorrow.
Instead of waiting for amagical surge of motivation,
though, I borrow gratitude frommy future self.
I picture her saying thank youfor doing this when it was hard,
(01:09):
thank you for not flaking,thank you for showing up, and
just like that, I start moving.
Consistency does not always haveto be fueled by inspiration.
It can be fueled by discipline,self-respect or acting when you
don't feel like it.
You're not entitled to feelinspiration all the time, and
that is the topic of my podcasttoday, words and phrases that
(01:31):
come up during coaching all thetime is my motivation is lacking
.
I don't feel inspired to do thework.
I don't feel aligned.
I'm going to talk about allthree of these one at a time.
Inspiration is a gift.
It's not a guarantee.
Your brain is not designed togenerate a constant stream of
motivational and inspirationalhigh.
It's designed to conserveenergy.
(01:51):
That is its basic premise.
Waiting to feel inspired beforeaction is like waiting for the
perfect weather before plantinga seed.
You will miss the entire season.
The growth happens when you actwithout the emotional high.
Motivation in itself is anemotion.
It's not a plan.
It rises and falls like anyother emotion affected by sleep,
(02:14):
hormones, environment,thousands of other things, but
mostly motivation comes fromyour thought, because we know
it's an emotion.
When you rely on motivation toguide your behavior, it's going
to be as flaky as your thoughts,unless you're masterful at
controlling your mind and cangenerate motivation on cue.
If that doesn't happen, you'rehanding your destiny to a
(02:35):
chemical cocktail which youhaven't mastered control over.
And if you haven't, you don'tneed motivation.
You need structure, discipline,trust in your why.
And then, lastly, alignment hasbeen mostly misunderstood.
It's not supposed to feel likefloating on a spiritual cloud
all the time.
Real alignment is likeresistance, repetition, doing
(02:58):
the hard things because that'sthe right thing.
And sometimes that's whatalignment is.
It's acting in congruence withyour values, not through your
comfort.
You may feel uncertain, boredor even afraid, and still be
deeply aligned.
You are not entitled toconstantly feel inspired,
motivated or aligned before youtake action.
(03:21):
True alignment with your values,your goals, your purpose very
frequently feels uncomfortable.
It's that kind of discomfortthat comes with doing something
new, something repetitive,something that looks like
mundane but you know is going tomake a difference.
And it's still alignment.
So if you've been waiting tofeel inspired before you start
(03:42):
doing something meaningful, letthis podcast be your wake-up
call.
In many cases, you're notwaiting for alignment, you're
avoiding discomfort.
And that is natural, becauseyour brain is not wired for
greatness, it's not wired formastery, it's not even wired for
consistency.
It's wired only for survivaland comfort.
(04:02):
It's wired for energyconservation.
When you're waiting to feelinspired and only use that very
addicting emotion as a fuel ofyour meaningful action, the
discomfort becomes a giantroadblock to those actions.
In that case the brain doesn'thave a target to move towards
because it's still waiting forinspiration.
And unfortunately, the braindoes not work with voids very
(04:26):
well.
It cannot just not think.
If you don't give your brain aclear mission, it will make one
up.
It doesn't matter if it's aconstructive or a destructive
mission, it will just makesomething up while you're
waiting to feel inspired.
A brain without a target towork towards is like a toddler
with a crayon and no paper.
(04:47):
It colors walls and writes oneverything it gets his hand on,
creating chaos just to feel busy.
It cannot sit idly.
When you're waiting for positiveemotions like inspiration,
motivation and alignment, you'remaking room for the brain to
create its own distraction.
You think you're being gentleto yourself, waiting for the
(05:08):
right time and the resistance tolift, but really you're deep
cleaning your pantry instead ofwriting the first page of your
book.
You're planning another familyvacation instead of launching
your business.
You're researching more insteadof making the call you already
know you need to make.
You're worrying about yourchild's entire future.
(05:28):
Instead of addressing the taskthat's actually urgent and
important today, you're doingeverything but that one thing
that moves the needle in yourlife.
This is the misfiring of yoursurvival mode.
While it waits for you to findmotivation, your brain will
always choose the easiestdopamine hit Scrolling, snacking
, fantasizing, venting,researching, overcleaning all of
(05:52):
this over the long-term rewardof deep, focused work.
And the most cruel part is, themore you delay your goal, the
more you start to believe thatthe delay is who you are.
You start thinking I'm just notthat disciplined.
Delay is who you are.
You start thinking I'm just notthat disciplined.
I'm someone who always needsexternal accountability.
I can't finish things on time.
But none of that is actuallytrue.
Not being able to accomplishyour vision is not written in
(06:15):
your DNA or in your personality.
When you don't give your brain atarget, it starts shooting at
everything.
It judges people to feelsuperior.
It gets angry just to feelpowerful.
It obsesses over what's missingto avoid what's possible.
It will start targetingjudgment because tearing others
down is easier than buildingyourself up.
(06:37):
It will feel anger because itfeels justified Rage.
Feels powerful even when it'swasted energy.
It starts targetingdissatisfaction because it's
easier to complain about lifethan to change it.
If you don't put your brain towork, it will make work for
itself, creating problems wherenone exist, inventing reasons to
(06:59):
procrastinate, manufactureself-doubt just to keep itself
busy.
And all of that feelsproductive, worry feels like
planning, research feels likeaction, comparison feels like
strategy.
But none of that is true.
Your brain is just trying tosurvive boredom, trying to hit
targets that don't exist,boredom that's being generated
(07:23):
from you, waiting to feelinspired.
But all of this time you'redesigned to grow through
challenge, the same challengethat you are so desperately
subconsciously avoiding.
Brain thrives under thatpressure.
Your brain doesn't break underpressure, it builds under
pressure.
Your brain is not fragile.
It does not break like glass.
(07:45):
Your brain is anti-fragile,meaning it doesn't just survive
stress, it grows stronger fromit.
It adapts, it rewires, itexpands under pressure.
It is designed for challenge,for problem solving, for pushing
limits.
Not only can it handlediscomfort, it needs discomfort
to stay alive.
Without it, it starts to decay.
(08:07):
Without discomfort, it startsto create the meaningless
discomfort that I mentioned.
It turns against you, buildingan internal war of excuses,
self-sabotage, instead of afortress of discipline and
resilience.
All of this means that the moreyou challenge it, the stronger
it becomes.
The more resistance it faces,the more resilience it builds,
(08:31):
the more discomfort it feels theone that comes from you, taking
action without inspiration.
That means the more disciplinedyour brain will be.
And yet many of us have beentrained to treat discomfort like
danger.
We treat struggle like it's asign of us doing something wrong
.
Anti-fragility means your mindadapts when things get hard and
(08:55):
gets better.
It converts stress intostrength.
When you choose action overavoidance, you're making
progress and you're makingneurons.
You're building new wiring.
But you avoid pressure longenough, waiting to feel inspired
.
Your brain will decay in itsown comfort.
It gets soft, it forgets how towork, it turns against you and
(09:20):
turns to shame, overthinkingself-sabotage.
And when that happens, youdon't just lose time, you lose
trust in yourself, and that is aprecious commodity.
So when a client tells me Idon't know if I can handle this,
I feel scared, I feel blocked.
(09:40):
There's no time to coddle fear.
I celebrate it and I teach herhow to celebrate it, because
it's not a weakness, it's asignal that your brain is ready
to wake up.
It's anti-fragility, ready tokick in.
I've seen women walk into jobinterviews that they thought
they'd never be ready for lifesituations that they thought
they could never face.
Launch businesses, write books,set clean boundaries All of
(10:00):
that means something's workingIn the meanwhile.
I also want to make you awareof the other side of the coin,
which is there's nothing wrongwith comfort.
You need rest, recovery, joy,naps, trips to the beach, bubble
baths, stillness, playfulnessall of that is required.
But then I want to alsointroduce you to this character.
(10:21):
Her name is auntie cozy.
She's the version of you thatsounds like she's protecting
your peace while waiting forcomfort and inspiration, but
she's actually robbing you blind.
She's the auntie that's got allof the luggage for self-care
but none of the self-respect Toexcuse your behavior.
She'll say maybe you're justtired today, maybe you need a
(10:42):
little snack now, maybe it's notthe aligned time, maybe you're
just not the get things donekind of person, and that's okay.
She is the main character inyour procrastination and your
entitlement to feel inspiration.
She's smooth, convincing and aprofessional gaslighter In her
presence.
You've rested for three hours,but you still feel anxious.
(11:03):
You've scrolled through 37videos on productivity while
actually doing nothingproductive.
You rushed through your pairmindlessly in the name of
needing to unwind.
Later you told yourself thatNetflix is the new therapy.
Auntie Cozy will not let yourrest time be restful, while you
need rest, and Auntie Cozy isn'toffering you rest.
(11:26):
She's offering you avoidancedressed as leisure.
She wants you to feel good nowand feel like a failure later.
Because what's happening iswhen this quote-unquote comfort
time ends, your brain returnswith a report card and it says
that you failed at every task.
This is what I call rotting incomfort.
When it doesn't smell like rot,it smells like delicious
(11:50):
cinnamon rolls, but afterwardsyou feel like you've constantly
betrayed yourself.
So the next time you hearAuntie Cozy or something similar
, whispering sweet nothings inyour ear, try to tell her this
Thank you for your concern,auntie, but my future self is
waiting for me, and right now isnot the time to eat popcorn or
(12:10):
any other snack.
Your comfort zone is not yourenemy, but staying trapped in it
is.
You don't need inspiration, youneed integrity.
Real alignment that puts you onthe path of mastery, of
greatness, of accomplishment,doesn't always feel comfortable.
Sometimes it feels like pushingthrough friction, stepping into
(12:33):
the unknown, wrestling withyour own doubt and moving
forward despite of all of thesethings, when every fiber of your
body is screaming for comfort.
Your body doesn't grow strongerwithout resistance.
Your mind does not grow sharperwithout challenge, and your
success arrives dragging theweight of every moment.
You chose to show up when youdidn't feel like it.
(12:55):
If everything you just heardlanded, if you now realize that
you're not entitled to feelinspiration before you move,
here's what I want you to startdoing from today.
Not tomorrow, not when it feelsflowy, but today.
Your realignment checklist isgoing to look something like
this Pause and name the task.
(13:16):
The thing I'm avoiding rightnow is fill in the blanks.
Next, identify the falsecomfort.
Instead of doing the thing Ineed, I'm reaching for.
Fill in the blanks.
Is it snacks, youtube research,more playtime with the kids?
Number three ask yourself wouldmy future self be grateful?
(13:39):
I did this now?
If the answer is yes, moveforward.
If the answer is no, check.
If you're being hijacked byAuntie Cozy.
Number four do this for thefirst 30 to 60 seconds only.
That's it, just a small amountof awareness, and going through
these questions is going tobring enough light to the matter
(14:00):
that you will break the cycle.
And the fifth and the last stepis end with identity
reinforcement.
I am the kind of woman whomoves without inspiration, I am
becoming the woman who trustsherself to show up, because
highest form of integrity isn'tjust about being honest with
others, but about doing what youtold yourself you would do,
(14:22):
especially when no one'swatching and no one's holding
you accountable.
That level of self-integritybuilds empires.
It raises leaders.
It raises the consciousness ofdharma.
The mantras that I've tattooedon myself, and you can borrow
too, are discipline is the newdopamine.
Comfort is a nice place tovisit, but not a place to build
(14:46):
a house.
Inspiration is a guest andaction is ongoing.
My future self is watching andshe's going to be proud.
So I'm going to summarize allof these in the next few lines.
Which is?
Motivation is not a prerequisitefor action.
Your brain is wired forsurvival, not success.
(15:06):
If left untrained, it willalways choose short-term comfort
over long-term growth.
Waiting to feel aligneddisguises avoidance as wisdom,
but real alignment feelsuncomfortable, repetitive and
unfamiliar.
Your brain needs resistance togrow.
(15:26):
It's anti-fragile, it thrivesunder pressure, and that is when
you act despite fear.
Just for the sake of inertiaand movement, the
comfort-seeking part of you,like this comical auntie cozy,
will offer false rest to keepyou from doing true work.
While you're welcome to rest,integrity means what you
(15:51):
promised yourself you will dowhen you assigned yourself to do
it.
Use a simple realignmentchecklist and remember that
inspiration, while present, iswelcomed, it is a guest.
It is not a constant guide.
Inspiration is incredible whenit's there and when you can use
it to fuel your action.
(16:11):
But when it's not present, it'snot going to hurt you to take
action in its absence.
If anything, taking action willhelp you because when you're
busy with action, your toddlerbrain will not be creating
distracting work for you, yourbrain will be getting stronger
and you will be getting a lifethat you want to live.
While you're not entitled toconstant inspiration, use that
(16:35):
to stop feeling like a victim.
When you don't feel like doingthings, inspiration alignment
are exceptions to the rule.
The rule is that the primalbrain will be afraid to be seen,
to fail, to be judged, and allof those things don't feel like
abundance and inspiration.
They feel like resistance inyour body.
When you do feel inspired,cherish it, soak in it, really
(17:01):
anchor it in your body, memorizeit, but don't always expect for
it to be there.
With that, I pray to Allah SWT.
Ya Allah, grant me the strengthto act when I feel nothing, the
discipline to move forward whenI crave comfort.
Allow my rest to be peacefuland rejuvenating when the time
(17:22):
is right.
Allow me the clarity to knowthat Barakah lives in effort,
not in ease.
Make me consistent in mystriving, sincere in my
intention, and let my futureself be grateful to the person
who I'm becoming today while Iuse courage.
Ya Allah, allow me courage anddiscipline and allow me
(17:44):
inspiration when the time isright.
Ameen, ya Rabbul, ameen, pleasekeep me in your da'as.
I will talk to you guys nexttime.
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