Jeem's 7 Steps For Making (and Keeping) New Year's Resolutions

"A flower can only blossom if it has the right amount of air light and water. Don't expect your imaan to blossom without the rainy days."⁣

⁣2024 has undoubtedly been a challenging year that has pushed many of us to our limits. Cherishing what we have has never been more important. ⁣It's a perfect time to harness the power of gratitude and embed it in our daily routines. As the New Year approaches, it’s an opportunity to focus on what’s important, what perhaps needs to be more important and what can be cast aside!

A third of resolutions don’t make it beyond January. More often than not it’s because they’re not the right resolutions. So how does one make the right resolutions?

So here are seven steps to help make resolutions for 2025 that have a greater chance of sticking.

5 Tips for Heading Back to the Office Post-COVID

After more than a year of working-from-home, it’s time for some of us to head back to our workplaces. While going back to the office and working without distractions comes with a sigh of relief for some, many of us are worried about getting back into the morning routine.

Whether you are excited to get back to your desk or dreading the change, there is no doubt that going back to the workplace is a significant shift after a long period of lockdown. With all the changes, adjusting can be difficult.

We’ve put together some tips to help you adjust into the new routine. 

Q&A with Nafisa Insan | Jeem's New Brand Ambassador

Jeemers, we’ve got some exciting news for you!⁠
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We’re incredibly excited and feel blessed to have PhD student and academia/lifestyle blogger, Nafisa Insan, onboard as Jeem Life's new brand ambassador.
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Overflowing with energy, focus and reflections, Nafisa doesn’t just inspire through her adventures in the world of higher education, but also uses her platform to promote mental, physical and spiritual well-being. 

At the core of everything we do at Jeem lies the principle of inspiring peace, purpose and productivity. As a committed journaler with a desire to help people optimise their habits and routines, we believe Nafisa, as our brand ambassador is the perfect union.⁠
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Get to know Nafisa in our Q&A below and hear directly from Nafisa herself about getting married during the pandemic and how to structure your daily routines.

Light: the secret to great sleep

 "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth...light upon light..." - Holy Qur'an (24:35)

 "Among His signs are your sleep..." - Holy Qur'an (30:23)

The pivotal role of light to life is unquestionable. From photosynthesis to solar power, the significance of the largest star in our solar system cannot be overstated.

An emerging body of research is now shining more and more light on the role of light itself in establishing and maintaining our 24-hour body clocks - circadian rhythms - that determine so many of our internal systems and processes.

We can all struggle with sleep at some point. The effects can be dramatic and deleterious. It's perhaps no surprise that since ancient times sleep deprivation has been used as a potent tool of torture.

It is now increasingly evident that one of the biggest optimisations available to us is not through supplements or diets, but through improving our sleep.

Hurling pebbles at ourselves...

 "Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff." - Richard Carlson

Despite yet again being unable to physically participate in the rituals in these unprecedented times, how can we bottle up some of its spiritual essence to make our lives more fragrant?

This life is essentially a journey from Allah to Allah and a stripping back of the ego. The Hajj serves as a concentrated crash course in both. Yet the lessons gleaned from Hajj live on long after completing that final tawaf.

Let's take a closer look at one of the most symbolic rituals of the pilgrimage the stoning of the Satan.

If you’ve ever had any building work done at home you’ll know that there’s a lot of Shawshank before you experience any Redemption. There’s the dust for starters. Multiple decisions need to be made simultaneously often under extreme time and financial pressure. Then there’s the dust. Well-intentioned plans need to be redrawn. Did I mention the dust? However, despite the intensity of the building period, the end result - a new extension, a loft conversion or even a redecorated room - certainly sparks joy and reminds us of the art of the possible.

In a similar vein the physical and spiritual struggles of the month of Ramadan are akin to the challenges a building project presents. Except in this situation the project to  be remodelled and reconstructed is you!

Hopefully we wave goodbye to the month of Ramadan with a spiritually spring-cleaned interior.

"Be conscious of Allah wherever you may be; follow up an evil deed with a good one which will wipe (the former) out, and behave good-naturedly towards people." - Prophet Muhammad

As we move past the half-way mark of this month of reformation let's build upon the foundations we've hopefully laid so far. ⠀
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Now is the time to target habits that don't serve us. We all have behaviours that almost seem hard-wired into our psyche that we wish we could replace or improve upon. Let's capitalise on this month by stripping away the unnecessary and focusing on what's truly important to us. ⠀
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We've created a free one-page downloadable PDF - the Jeem Habit Maker, designed to help you break old habits and make new habits.⠀
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Take some time to examine the triggers, reasons and motivations for certain behaviours and use the same technique to forge a new way forward.⠀