How To Pick Yourself Up Post Ramadan

Assalamu alaikum,

The days after Ramadan feel like a spiritual, physical, and emotional rollercoaster ride.

Between feasting, celebrating Eid, and letting your guard down regarding your spiritual habits and routines, you might struggle to get yourself into a positive and productive post-Ramadan path.

However, before you lose hope and think there's not much you can do about it, I wanted to share two ideas to help you design your post-Ramadan experience:

1. Think Realistically

Have you heard yourself say, "After Ramadan, I'll pray tahajjud every night, fast every Monday and Thursday, give to charity every day, etc."? What happens when you don't live up to those expectations? You fall for the classic Shaytaan trick of making you feel terrible that you didn't meet your expectations.

So how do you tackle this classic Shaytaan trick? The key is to set small, realistic expectations and then guard them with all your might until they become solid habits before you set higher expectations.

Here's how this works: You want to pray tahajjud every night? Start by committing to pray 1 x rak'ah of witr prayer after Isha prayers and before you sleep. It's a small commitment, but you want to do it no matter what, even when you are tired or don’t feel like it. And even if you slip one day, don't feel bad; pick yourself up the next day with a stronger resolve than ever.

Once you've established this routine long enough and it has become part and parcel of your life, upgrade yourself and aim for the next level, e.g. praying 3 rak’ahs before going to bed.

2. Think Long-Term

One of the primary reasons people give up their post-Ramadan resolutions is that they measure their success or failure based on a short time frame, i.e., they measure how well they are performing in the first 2-3 weeks post-Ramadan. If they see no improvement, they give up!

Someone might say, "I tried fasting Mondays and Thursdays after Ramadan, but it was too hard, so I gave up."

What if we expanded our self-development journey beyond these first two weeks instead? What if we asked ourselves - how can I develop this new habit/routine in 12 months?

Here's a thought: We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period but underestimate what we can do over a long period.

Yes, waking up for fajr might seem hard in those first 2-3 weeks after Ramadan, but if you focus on developing this habit over 3, 6, or 9 months, you'll eventually crack it, and it'll become easy for you.

A good metaphor for thinking long-term is that of a gardener. When the gardener plants his seed, waters his garden, and works hard all day on his farm. He doesn't expect to see a mature tree the next day! He understands that growing a tree takes time, and much energy, focus, and time goes into becoming a tree. Similarly, new habits and routines take time to take root, nurture, and grow; if you think of them as a long-term project and work on it daily, you're more likely to succeed.

If you found these ideas useful, check out my full article on this topic, I cover even more practical ways to improve the post-Ramadan experience.

If you enjoy this newsletter, consider inviting your family and friends to join this self-development journey. I appreciate your support!

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