Ramadan Planning

I was planning to post this 10 days ago (Q1: so why didn’t you do so?)
And to be honest, I was going to skip today also (Q2: so what made you post it then?).

The ironic thing is that the content that I’m posting now is not what I had in my mind (Q3: so what was in your mind?). Worst, I don’t even know what was in my mind (Q4: how come?).

You see? The story of my posting is just like the story of most of us with Ramadan. We know it’s a rewarding month, and we know that we should do something about it. But we slack because we take Ramadan for granted; and we procrastinate because we are passively waiting for a perfect moment to start a perfect Ramadan. And if someone asks us, “What are you waiting for?” we really don’t know, except that today is not a perfect day.

But, what if today IS the last day?

Answers for the questions I posted above:
A1: No accountability, gain nothing for posting, lose nothing for not posting.
A2: I set a deadline and announced it to my readers.
A3: I don’t know but something “perfect” that worth the wait for (i.e. to procrastinate).
A4: I had no clue what to post. I lacked clarity.

Now, on a blank sheet of paper, list 20 ways to make this Ramadan your best Ramadan ever, as you reach half of the list, you may feel that you have nothing more to write, just think harder and more creatively. Write your list using the personal ”I” pronoun followed by a positive present tense verb, e.g. instead of, “Not over eating at Iftar,” write, “I eat Iftar moderately using my small plate.”

After you listed 20 ways to make this Ramadan your best, choose two of them that can make the most impact if you achieved them. On a seperate sheet of paper, write what's the purpose for achieving these two outcomes, and list the steps that you will take to achieve them and by when.

After you achived the two outcomes you picked (or you started working toward them, if any of them are month-long outcomes), pick another two or three and repeat the process.

Make dua as you go, may Allah grant you the most amazing Ramadan ever.

.