A Guide To Develop A Personal Plan

Please note: You know yourself better than anyone else except God Almighty. So you know how to plan for yourself. This is just a guide. Modify it as you like. If possible, spare a week of contemplation, and reflect for a few weeks before you use this guideline to plan. Here is a self-evaluation outline. But if you are limited in time, just get started with the guide below. Do consider our recommendations on what each Muslim must do in 2025 and on how to incorporate 3 success strategies of the Prophet in this year’s plan. Bismillah!

God Almighty, the Lord of the Universe wants us to be thinking people. That is why Allah constantly challenges us in the Quran to use our brains to think, to wonder, to go deep in our thinking process. 

In the following verse of the Quran, God commanded each one of us to personally think and plan for a better future:

“O you who believe! Fear God. And let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow. And fear God. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do” (Quran 59:18)

Developing a personal plan helps us be in control of our time and our money. Otherwise, there is a substantial risk of getting lost in the wilderness of more and more materialism until we hit the grave. (Quran, chapter 102). 

The following Dua (supplication) taught to us by God Almighty which we often use in our prayers is an excellent guide for developing our annual plan. 

“Our Lord! Grant us the good of this world and the Hereafter and protect us from the torment of the Fire” (Quran 2:201).

Allah, the All-Wise, the All-Aware, wants us to be successful. Therefore, for years, following this Dua, I have divided my annual plan into the following three sections:

1. Success Here: A twelve-month plan to be successful in this world. 
2. Success in Hereafter: Action plan of the year to earn Jannah in the forever life. 
3. Freedom from Hellfire: How to save myself from hellfire while I still have a chance. 

Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your busyness, and your life before your death” (Bayhaqī). 

Below is a guide you can use to develop your personal plan for any period of time Please note that this is just a guide. Feel free to change it in any way you like. Anything you think is important can and should be planned for.

A good plan should include SMART goals and considerations, that is “Specific,” “Measurable,” “Attainable,” “Relevant,” and “Time-bound.”

----My Plan-----

Name: _____________________ Plan Period: _____________________

Success Here

1. List Your Goals For This Year

• How you plan to achieve these goals

2. Time Management

• There are 168 hours in a week. If you sleep 8 hours a day, that is 56 hours. If you work and commute 50 hours a week, you still have 62 hours at your disposal to plan. 
• Please write down how much time in each of the following categories you intend to spend:

• • Time to pursue your mission in life
  • Quality time with children
  • Quality time with spouse 
  • Home chores like cleaning, laundry, and food preparation
  • Personal study time
  • Exercise 
  • Connecting with neighbors
  • Masjid time
  • Volunteer time for Muslim empowerment
  • Homework if you are student
  • Learning communication skills
  • Networking within your profession, your neighborhood, and your village
  • Taking care of the hungry and the homeless
  • Standing up for justice 
  • Relaxing, scrolling, watching TV
• What tools are you using to develop your daily to-do list?

3. Money:

• When will you develop an annual budget? 
  • Do include the following in the budget
    • How much you plan to save this year
    • How much you plan to invest this year
• What are your plans to earn more money?
• What challenges are you currently facing in earning more? 
• What skills, knowledge, or experiences would enhance your capacity to earn more money and how do you plan to achieve that? 
• What potential challenges do you anticipate encountering? How can you address and overcome these challenges?

4. Children:

• What day and time of the week will you be able to regularly sit down with children, mostly to listen to them.
• How do you plan to prepare them to be good students, good neighbors, and good citizens? 
• Are you guiding them to select a good career path based on job market projections for the next ten years?  
• Are you encouraging them to be masters of their own income by having them consider entrepreneurship by starting a business which has good growth prospects. 
• How can you learn to be a better parent?

5. Family

• What is the schedule for the weekly family Shura meeting?
• Please mark the dates in your calendar when you will hold the family meeting to plan for Ramadan, both Eids, family vacation, next year’s plan, and for eating out.
• What changes in the family can make it a better, more cohesive unit run on the basis of love, mercy, and with the goal of serving Allah to gain the best of this world and the Next?

6. Winning Communication Skills

Considering that better communication skills essentially make you more successful, how do you plan to enhance your communication skills?

• Can you give a speech? How can you improve your speaking and conversational abilities?
• What can you do to improve your writing skills?
• When can you spare time to learn better social media skills?
• What other skills can you develop to be a better communicator? 

7. Networking

Networking helps you grow in whatever field you are in. 

• What are your plans to learn to network better?
• What networks do you plan to join? These don’t have to be only in your field of study or career path. They can include neighborhood, district, school, and other places you can build relationships to better serve your family and community. 

1. What Is Your Mission In Life?

Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, was given a mission by God Almighty. In his last sermon he assigned that mission to all Muslims. Please read about adopting that mission for a purposeful life here to intentionally adopt that mission in your own personal life.

2. You Ask Allah To Guide You While Reciting Al-Fatihah: But The Quran Is Right There.

• Do you understand the meaning of the Quran you recite or listen to?
• What time of the day can you allocate to read a portion of the Quran on a daily basis?
• What chapters of the Quran do you plan to master, with the help of translations and Tafseers (interpretation of the Quran by scholars)?
• What new portions of the Quran you intend to memorize?
• Develop a Quran Journal to write what you learn or questions which might arise. 

We recommend the QuranHive website and app (see here and here) as an excellent source of learning Quran.

3. Obligatory Worship (Fardh Ibadah)

• How many prayers can you offer in a Jama’ah (congregation) and/or at the mosque every day?
• What day, in addition to Juma (Friday), can you take your family with you?
• How many times in a day can your family pray together at home?
• Can you establish a little Masjid in a dedicated space at home?
• What is your plan to make up missing obligatory prayers?
• If there are some missing obligatory fasting days, when do you plan to make them up?

4. Optional Worship (Nafil)

Considering that good deeds wipe out bad deeds, following the example of the Prophets, you may want to plan for some optional worship. 

•  What days in a month do you plan to fast? There is great reward for it.
• What days do you plan to stand up for an optional salat at Tahajjud time? This is the last third of the night, right before the start of Fajr prayer.
• What routine do you plan to adopt for Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah, specifically verbal remembrances like saying Subhaan Allah, Alhamdu lillah, as well as Duas (supplications) that our Prophet recommended at various points of our day?
• What routine can you adopt to thank Allah? God says if you are thankful He will give us more (Quran 14:7). And the Prophet says that if you are not thankful to people you are not thankful to Allah. Maybe you can set a day to send thank you texts, messages, and hand-written cards to do this. 
• What routine do you plan to adopt for making an extended Dua (supplication) for yourself, your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings, your community, your country and your Ummah?

5. Learning About The Beautiful Path Of The Prophet

• Can you place on your calendar the days when you devote a couple of hours to read the Seerah (biography) of the Prophet?
• Plan on reading a book to understand what Ibadah (worship) actually means. 
• Plan to buy a few Islamic books to understand our responsibilities as Muslims.

6. Sharing Islam: Inviting Humanity To God Almighty (Dawa)

The approval rating of Islam amongst Americans who are not Muslim is 20% lower than the approval rating of Muslims. Allah will ask us about it since God has commanded us to be witnesses unto humankind (Shuhada Alan Nas) by sharing the message of Islam. 

• Write down the names of the individuals you plan to share Islam with this year?
• What opportunities can you create for a conversation about your faith?
• How many hours a week do you plan to devote for this primary duty in Islam?
• Write down the names of Muslims you plan to reach out to to remind them of the Islamic mission of Shahadah (witnessing Islam by living it and sharing it with others). 
• Write down the names of Muslims you plan to encourage to become members of their local Masjid and at least one national organization of Muslims.

7. Becoming A Better Neighbor

• How do you plan to connect with your neighbors this year?
• Are you a part of the neighborhood WhatsApp, Facebook, or other online group like NextDoor?
• Can you invite them to your home for Ramadan and Eid?
• Can you write the names of coworkers, classmates, or those you supervise to whom you can be helpful in their work?
• Are you known as the smiling person who always thanks others in your neighborhood?

8. Becoming A Better Citizen

• Which local politician do you plan to develop a relationship with so that you can build a coalition to better your community with?
• Can you support a good person to run for office?
• Can you learn how to organize and mobilize for any cause?
• Can you run for office yourself?
• Can you become a member of an organization which is focused on political empowerment?
• Can you join or create a civic engagement committee at your Masjid?

9. Strengthening The Family Fort

• What can you do this year to strengthen your family?
• What improvement do you plan to bring into family life?
• What day and time will be the regular family circle to learn together, in which each one family member participates in sharing?
• Which meal of the day must all family members be present for together?
• What are the areas in which Shaitan (Satan) is infiltrating your family? How can you prevent it?

10. Time and Money

Your time and wealth should be a part of Islam. Sacrifice is what a Muslim does to please Allah. What can you sacrifice for the sake of Allah this year which you have not done before? On the Day of Judgement, each of us will be asked about our wealth and how we earned and spent it (Tirmidhi).

• How many hours a week and what days would you like to volunteer for Islam?
• How much money do you intend to donate to strengthen Islam in your community?

11. Being A Part Of Struggle For Justice, Freedom, And Islam

• Can you join or volunteer for Justice For All?
• Can you join a local coalition against hunger and homelessness?
• Can you establish a local team for the boycott of products which are hurting humanity?

Freedom from Hellfire

1. The Sins

• Make a secret list of your sins which you want to liberate yourself from this year. (Use code words for sins and don’t share with anyone. Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, discouraged us from telling others about our sins). 
• Do you think it is a good idea to make a poster of all major sins and place them on some wall at home?

2. The Daily To-Do List

Unless your plan translates into a daily calendar and a daily routine, you may lapse and forget your plan

• What time of the day will you develop your daily to do list?

3. The Daily Audit

• What time of the day can you allocate to evaluate yourself on a daily basis about your daily to do list? Can you do it after you offer the Fajr prayer?
• Can you do your daily evaluation as soon as you go to bed, saying Alhamdu lillah (Praise be to God) for each regretful thing you did, and saying Subhaan Allah (Glory be to Allah) for things you forgot and were unable to do, as well as seeking forgiveness of God for any sin you might have committed that day? This way you can make dua and go to sleep.
• Can you take just a minute before each obligatory prayer to think about if you ended up committing any sins since the last prayer?

4. Watch Out:

• Shaitan (Satan) has power. During the day, in dreams, he just keeps encouraging each one of us to slip from the Straight Path all the time. So surround yourself with the Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah. Don’t allow your mind to be idle. Each time he whispers, get rid of him by seeking refuge in God Almighty by saying Aoothu billahi minash shaitan ir rajeem, which means “I seek refuge in Allah from shaytan the accursed”
• Are you keeping your eyes and ears away from watching or hearing Haram (forbidden things), with the rule of thumb being that if it is Haram to do, it is also Haram to watch.)
• What can you do to save your family from the Hellfire, whose fuel will be people and stones as God Almighty has told us (Quran 66:6)?

5. Seeking Forgiveness from Allah

• Begin the new year by seeking forgiveness from Allah for all the sins committed over the past year. God forgives all sins if you seek repentance, recommit to your faith, and commit to a life of good deeds. 
• How many times in a day can you seek God’s forgiveness by saying Astaghfirullah Rabbi Min Kulle Zanbin wa atoobo ilay "I ask forgiveness of my sins from Allah who is my Lord and I Repent to Him”. The Prophet used to seek God’s forgiveness 70-plus times a day. Someone asked him why he did so many times while God had forgiven all of his sins. He responded saying, “don’t you want me to be a thankful person?”

Once again dear Brothers and Sisters, this is just a guide. Feel free to modify it any way you like. Anything you think you must do should be planned for here.

Related Articles:

What Is Your Mission In Life?

Six Things You Must Do For Yourself And The Ummah In 2025

Quranic Advice To Consider When Assessing Our Own Selves

Thinking before planning: a short self-evaluation guide