resolution

(We recommend that you spare time to think a few weeks before the next year planning. You can use this guide for your thinking process. Perhaps you want to take one section a day.

We’ve all got goals we want to reach in the coming year, and the new year is fast approaching. One thing many of us never stop asking for is success. We know there is always room for improvement, in ourselves and in our professional lives. 

Take advantage of five things before five others happen: your youth before you grow old; your health before you fall sick; your money before you become poor; your leisure before you become busy; and your life before you die.(The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said as recorded by Tirmidhi).

Throughout the Quran, Allah encourages us to think, wonder, consider, and imagine. He has even advised us that the successful people decide their affairs by putting their heads together:  Ameruhum Shura Bainahum (Quran 42:38).

Every year, we witness family and friends making resolutions to change for the better: “I will lose 20 lbs”; “I will start praying regularly”; “I will spend more time with the kids”; “I will seek a more fulfilling career”. But most of us stop at this stage, not planning in detail how we will reach our goals

Free people control their time and money. Slaves control neither. So let's take charge of ourselves through planning for ourselves now so there is a purpose to our lives beyond the mundane routines of earning and consuming.

Will you live to see 2008? What about June 2007? None of us knows. That's why planning and implementing our plans help us use our short time on this planet wisely. God wants us to live a thoughtful life of hope, working for the future of this world and the hereafter.