During the month of Ramadan it is easy to fall into a self-scrutinising mindset about the “lack” of what we are achieving compared to others. This has increased with what we see on a daily basis from others especially on social media. Social media is an excellent tool to help you connect with others and to be inspired, but it can also be toxic when we paint what our Ramadan should look like. We can relate to this method of comparison with many aspects of our life.
A healthy mindset involves finding ways to grow your thoughts rather than letting them control your life. Rather than dwelling on a negative thought until it overwhelms you and takes the focus away of the true meaning of this month, the healthy mindset tries to move beyond that thought and adjust it to be more practical and useful.
We explored setting intentions in our previous post but there are also other ways to create a healthy mindset during this month.
- Clarity - Having a clear idea of what’s important to you is key during this month. So much of our brain space gets taken up when we’re unsure of who we are and what we want. When you get clear on your priorities, goals, and values, you can remove the overwhelm.
- Calmness - The month of Ramadan is about creating some calmness in our lives to focus on worship and our relationship with Allah. Whilst it may be difficult to create that sense calm in a busy world with work, appointments and children, we can try to ignore the noise from the world or social media. If something that others are doing inspires you that’s great but if it puts pressure on you then focus on creating calmness in your mind.
- Compassion - One of the biggest contributors to an unhealthy mindset is a lack of compassion towards yourself. When you’re constantly comparing yourself to others, pressuring yourselfto be perfect, and doubting your own abilities, you only sabotage your success. Compassion allows you to accept yourself, set healthy expectations, and trust yourself and the journey you’re on.
- Concentration - Concentration is about commitment and dedication to yourself. We live in the age of distractions, which makes it all too easy to lose track of what’s important to you and even who you are. When you focus on what other people are doing instead of your own path, you get stuck.