March 2024

What is going to be your legacy?

Self / /

As we wrap up this month’s theme, we have come to the last article regarding Purpose. Now let’s focus on what impact your purpose will have once you’re gone. I know it’s a dark subject and some might not want to look that far ahead. But have you asked yourself what you will leave behind once you pass away? What will be your legacy? Life is fleeting and before you know it, your time is up. In Islam, we have something called Sadaqah Jariyah which loosely translates to ongoing charity. By engaging in this type of charity, you will be encouraged to think about your legacy.

What’s your legacy?

When we consider the day-to-day activities. Earning money, buying products, finding new hobbies, and spending time with family and friends. We think it all means something and it does to some extent because we need that now, but imagine 20 years after you’ve passed away. Will someone really remember all the money you’ve spent? Well, it depends on how you spend it.

Impact of your purpose

The impact of your purpose will be transparent once you talk to someone after a while. Look at people who win awards and their favorite elementary or high school teacher surprises them with a lovely speech. No matter how famous that person is, they end up in tears because that teacher has played a crucial role in their growth. In the end, people will remember how you made them feel.

What will you leave behind?

Now let’s consider helping people you don’t know and having them benefit from it for years to come. The best example of Sadaqah Jariyah is planting a tree. You might not see that tree grow fully in your lifetime. But your children and their children will reap the benefits from that tree, hence produce to survive for years. Another example is gaining and then sharing knowledge. Because if someone has benefited from that knowledge and they go ahead and teach it to someone else, you will also be rewarded.

Source image: Unsplash Eyoel Kahssay

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Ubuntu: how to become better as a team

Business / /

There is an African proverb that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” In this life, we need to have a team. And a team works best when all the team players have synergy. In this post, I will explain why the concept of Ubuntu is crucial for a team.

The playbook

I discovered this word through the Netflix series: ” The Playbook “. In this series, a couple of coaches tell their stories. One of those coaches was Doc Rivers. At the time he was the coach for the Boston Celtics and the players were all just thinking of themselves. In Basketball, the ego plays a big role. To win a championship, he needed the team to play together as a team. One evening a woman walks up to him and mentions the concept of Ubuntu. He looked it up and was hooked immediately.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an African way of life that holds the value of the group in great regard. The saying goes:

I am because we are.

This way you hold each other accountable. But more importantly, you help each other when needed. Doc Rivers translated this to: “I can’t be all I can be unless you are all you can be”. So for the players needed to be at their best game, they needed their teammates to be their best too. As a consequence, they regarded the team as a family and really looked out for each other on and off the field. As a result, they got better as a team.

Not only on the field

Now this is great for a sports team to win. But Ubuntu can also be used in “real life”. Just consider how many teams you’re part of. Family team, friends team, work team. Whether you’re a manager or part of a team at work, you have a responsibility to the team. Now I’m not saying work your ass off for the company until you burn out. But rather, what can you do for others within your team so that they can perform at their best. And therefore you can improve your “A” game.

Source Image: Unsplash, Ian Macharia

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How to perfect your craft with Ikigai

Business / /

Imagine choosing one craft and dedicating your professional life to perfecting that craft. The Japanese lifestyle called Ikigai supports this mindset. And here is what we can learn from it. Once people find their Ikigai, they spend their entire lives perfecting their craft.

Finding you Ikigai

Similar to Dharma the concept of Ikigai contains four principles; What I am good at, What I love, What the world needs, and What I can be rewarded for. Nowadays there are so many different options in jobs and careers that it can be difficult to choose one. And the question is: “Can we have it all?” But the answer to this question is saved for another time.

Source: Forbes

Regardless of whether you want to do several things in your career or focus on one thing. You still have to start with becoming better at one craft. Take, for example, the best athletes in their field or artists. They might have talent but they also work their asses off.

Reaching a state of flow

It is no secret that when you try to be the best at something, you need to put in lots of time and energy. More importantly, while you’re working on that craft, you need to be completely focused. Some call this state “the state of flow”. In this state, you lose sense of time and get completely hooked by the thing you are working on. It could be, music, drawing, cooking, writing, creating, weaving, or anything else.

The motion picture “Soul” describes this state of flow visually. Joe Gardner is a music teacher but has dreamed of playing piano on stage. In the clip below, Joe can audition for a gig. At first, he is caught off guard a little. But when he plays the piano, he reaches that state of flow.

Attention to detail

Attention to detail is crucial to becoming the best at something. Take the well-known documentary of Jiro Dreams of Sushi where chef Jiro Ono provides his customers with the best sushi possible. In his restaurant, they pay attention to every detail while preparing the food. They even have a technique for how to massage the octopus.

Where else do we recognize perfecting a craft?

Not only in the Japanese culture do we see the art of perfecting your craft. With the project of One Square Meter Berber, artist Minah Abourzahra connects women from the Amazigh in Morocco with Dutch designers. She celebrates the craft of weaving that has been in the families of these women for centuries. The women explain that when they make a rug, it becomes part of that community. Because the craft of weaving is woven into their lifestyle. It also brings the women together.

Another example is Zazi Vintage. Jeanne de Kroon was forming a fashion brand centered around women’s collectives, artisanal crafts, and our connection to earth. In her quest, she discovered the Saheli Women organization in India. She partnered with the women to co-create collections. I quote from the Zazi website: “The inherent circularity and connectedness to nature, community and culture that Jeanne discovered in the first collaborations would inspire a growing vision to platform and celebrate artisanal craft, nature, and weaving women’s narratives through cloth.”

Source Cover Image: Unsplash Alva Pratt

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How to give like a monk

Self / /

Do you feel stuck in your life? Do you lack direction? Well, today we are focusing on purpose. And what better way to kick off this month’s theme than with Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty is a former monk and is globally known for his work in the (mental) health world. He has a podcast called: “On Purpose” where he interviews celebs as well as scientists.

Jay Shetty discovered his calling during his time as a monk. In his book “Think Like a Monk” he describes the meaning of purpose. In Sanskrit the closest translation is Dharma which is loosely translated to your calling. Jay Shetty describes it as:

Dharma:
when your talent and passions connect with what the universe needs, 
you are living in your dharma (purpose)

How to find your Dharma

If we keep our minds open and curious, our dharmas announce themselves. Jay breaks it down into four categories: passion, skill, compassion and usefulness.

Source: Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty

Moving on to gratitude

I am a deep thinker and sometimes I find it difficult to understand what I am doing here, i.e. on earth. It could be because I have a lot on my mind, or that I see people suffering and ask myself why I worry about all the small things happening in my life. Instead of being grateful for all that I have, I just focus on the negative feelings. As a result, I lack the motivation to do the simple stuff in life. But if you stay in this state too long you can get depressed. The solution is being grateful through acts of service.

Why should we be grateful? Well first of all the practice of gratitude makes you realize all that you have. But also, Jay Shetty said, When you’re present in gratitude you can’t be anywhere else. So you can’t be in your mind with all those (negative thoughts).

Gratitude through service

By doing for others we do for ourselves because charity does as much for the giver as for the receiver. We like to think: I’m doing this selfless thing but in hindsight, we are getting something out of it. Service helps you transform negative emotions.

Acts of service can be anything. As long as you help someone. It could even be doing groceries for your elderly neighbor or helping your sister/brother with their young children. Simultaneously, it could be helping someone who has less.

The benefits of gratitude through service:

  • You feel needed (usefulness).
  • You experience compassion.
  • You become grateful for the life you have.
  • Or you realize which aspects you want to add to your life.
  • You access a broader view of life, and problems, by giving.

Source image: Unsplash, Quinten de Graaf

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