how to go from lazy to disciplined - the 5 habits that changed my life

I used to be the most lazy, unorganized, undisciplined person ever. I didn't have anything going for me. I would wake up late every single day, and the first thing that I would do was check my phone. I would scroll on social media for two to three hours, and then I'd watch Netflix, order in fast food, drink sugary drinks, eat bags of chips, and I didn't have anything going for myself. And this is when I was living with my parents at the time. My parents thought that I was a failure. I mean, I also thought that I was a failure. I dropped out of college, and then I had a wake-up call, and I realized that I needed to change my life. I needed to get out of this funk that I was continuously in for about a year and a half, and that's when I turned my life around. I practiced these five habits that I'm going to be showing you today, and that's what really changed my life. Not only did it give me success in terms of worldly success, but I also got spiritual success as well, a deeper relationship with God. I became a content creator, and I grew my social media to millions of followers across platforms, a collection with Gymshark, recognition from Forbes, 30 Under 30, Vogue, Women's Health, and Time 100 Creators. But most importantly, a relationship with faith and being strong in faith, and that's the most important thing of all. And to be completely real, that is my opinion of what success really is, is when you feel in tune with your creator, when you feel so close to your faith, that is true success. Because everything else, every kind of worldly success feels so empty inside if you don't have God. So whether you are watching this for success, inspiration, trying to get out of a funk, or just to become better, then you will leave this video feeling so determined for change. And I'm telling you right now, it takes one day. It doesn't take a week, it doesn't take a month, it takes one day of you really committing to yourself that I am going to be a disciplined individual, and I'm going to start from today. And so at the end of this video, I want you to write down these five habits in your notes app, and you will look to them every single day, because these are the things that will give you the constant reminder of the change that you want in your life to finally feel fulfilled, and to also just gain the success that you want in your life in terms of with God, or with this worldly life. Because it is possible if you truly believe it is, and if your habits align with it. Because I'm telling you right now, God will reward those who truly want it, but who truly work for it as well. Now let's get into habit number one. I'm not a perfect person, I do maintain a pretty balanced diet. I would say it's more so 80-20, 90-10 in terms of 90% whole foods, and 10-20% of meals that I just want to give in to. So it could be the unhealthier option, but to be completely real, I don't like the way that unhealthy food makes me feel. It makes me feel sluggish, bloated, it breaks out my skin, and you don't have enough energy to get through your days. And I say nutrition because our gut is in our stomach, and I'm sure you guys know the phrase, your gut is your second brain, because your gut and your brain is linked. So all the food that you are putting into your body, and it goes into your gut, it's going to indirectly affect the brain. Your mind, your clarity, your focus, your mood, everything. And so when you start to think of the way that you are eating, it's like, okay, the foods that I'm consuming is going to directly affect my work ethic, my energy levels, so therefore let me choose the healthier options. I receive comments all the time of like, what if I can't afford healthier food? I'm telling you right now, the amount of money that I used to spend when I didn't have money to be spending on fast food, on unhealthy things, was actually adding up more money versus buying groceries or buying in bulk. You can go to grocery stores that are not that expensive and buy meat in bulk, buy groceries in bulk, and then meal prepping. It's so much easier. Don't buy a bunch of meat from expensive grocery stores, go to the grocery stores where you can buy in bulk. And when you are trying to find foods, you want to think about a range of fruits and veggies that are colorful, high in fiber, high in omega-3s, lots of iron in your diet, protein focused, unrefined carbs, so this is your quinoas, your brown rice, different kinds of seeds, so you can do pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, black seeds, and sesame seeds. All of those seeds you should be getting in your diet, and about a tablespoon of each of those seeds. You could do it daily, you could do it three times a week, but I would say daily. I try to do it as often as I can. Minimal dairy and gluten-free if you struggle with any kind of symptoms like IBS, acne, I think it might trigger women in PCOS as well. Obviously it might be different for every single woman, but I personally don't tolerate gluten very well. I also have to be very minimal with the dairy that I take, and also I opt for things like sheep or goat milk cheese. It's easier to digest and it doesn't leave me bloated versus drinking cow milk. I end up breaking out even though I love it so much. And if you are going to drink cow's milk, always look for A2 grass-fed. Same for your butter and yogurt. Little to no sugar. I know this is going to be a hard one for a lot of people because sugar is in so many things, so changing sugar for things like honey, monk fruit, maple syrup, especially if you're someone that struggles with bloating, gut issues, acne, or if you feel like you are low in energy and have a foggy mind, sugar will cause that. And sugar will also keep you up late at night. So I obviously have a sweet tooth, but I try to find things that are sweetened with honey, maple syrup, healthier alternatives than sugar. And I just want to leave you with one tip, meal prep. Meal prepping will change your life. It's allowed me to stay consistent with my eating habits and help me achieve the dream physique that I've always wanted. It's allowed me to eat the meals that I need to eat, eat the protein that I need to eat, because I know in my days I get busy and then I don't have time to cook, which then I would end up choosing the easier option by ordering in. When I order in, it's not as healthy. And obviously we live in different places of the world. I only eat halal, so it's very hard to find clean halal options. But it could be different for you, and it could be more affordable if it is healthier, but just always being mindful of the things that they are cooking with or what is in your food. But meal prepping has changed my life, and I highly recommend everyone goes on that journey, learns how to cook and romanticize cooking, fall in love with cooking, and sacrifice your Saturdays or your Sundays, literally just four hours out of the day, to spend that time meal prepping. Habit number two is fitness. Honestly, this is the one thing that has taught me so much discipline in my life, because it showed me that I was capable of putting myself through so much more than I ever thought that I was capable of. For example, when you were in the gym and you were increasing in weight, oftentimes we are afraid to do more reps, more weight, but when we do it, we feel so much stronger, we feel better in ourselves, and that's what the gym teaches you. It's like pushing past one more rep. It's showing you that you can take that same mindset and apply it to your life in terms of pushing yourself with work, with your career, with anything that you do in your life that feels difficult. It's just showing you that you are actually stronger than you think. And so when it comes to the gym, not only is it going to change your body, help you lose weight, but it's going to change your mindset, your outlook on life. It's boosts of serotonin when you wake up in the morning and you train, or at the end of the day, it's just reminding you that there's so much more to life. I don't know, it's this beauty in fitness or in movement, whatever you find that you enjoy, but it's so important that you put yourself through something physically challenging because it will turn into more mental strength. And so I would say out of all these habits, faith is going to be number one, but fitness is probably number two. Because when I have the gym, my life is so much better. And it's therapy to me in so many ways. And you should look at it in that way. Don't look at it as just, I'm going to move my body because I want to lose weight. You end up creating a negative relationship with the gym. But when you think of it as, no, this is something that is going to give me confidence, it's going to give me drive, it's going to show me that I can just put myself through so much more, then you end up falling in love with it. And so if you are someone who is wanting to go onto this journey, I would say the first thing is start off simple. Start with the basics, a simple program that is something you can stick to three to five times in the gym and then increasing from there. But honestly, having a program, plan your gym fit in advance and show up at the same time every single day or however many times you commit to. But don't negotiate with yourself because if you say tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, then it's never going to actually happen. And there's not a perfect time to start. So fitness is a priority and it's one of the most important habits of this whole video. So now let's get into habit number three, which is the power of your mindset. And I do this through journaling. The one thing that really helped me change my life was just shifting my identity. And I actually took this from a book called Atomic Habits. It's one of the books that have changed my life when it comes to just staying consistent with habits and shifting your identity to, I am a disciplined person or I am a person who is worthy of success or worthy of continuously getting better every single day. But if you have a mindset where it's consistently looking at the negatives or constantly criticizing every little thing or maybe it's just moaning about life, which I used to be guilty of this mindset until I really was like, I don't want to live in this kind of place anymore. So I started journaling and journaling was kind of when I started saying more affirmations to myself. And every single person that I've interviewed on my podcast has spoken about the power of affirmative beliefs. So they would listen to things in the morning, like affirmations and just things that they would say to themselves every single morning. Because when you start your day with that mindset, you go through the day with that mindset. And I always think about the law of attraction. Obviously I believe in God. So I always think of things coming from God. And you know, if you're grateful for your life, God is going to just open up more blessings for you and new doors for you. But if you are not grateful for your life, sorry, the birds here, but if you're not grateful for your life, then it's going to be easy to just find the negatives and everything. So there's so many ways that you can do it. You could do it either in the morning or you can do it at night. So if you're going to do a morning journaling approach, you can start with an affirmation, an intention for the day, or maybe just brain dump. Sooner or later, you'll get in the habit of just consistently talking to yourself, understanding what you're going through, how to work through the problems. And instead of like spiraling and turning to something to fill the void that you're going through with noise or distractions, you can just journal and communicate with yourself. I would say that's kind of a morning or daily journaling approach. And then if you want to journal at night, you can do a reflective style. So the reflective journaling approach, you can do it more so talk about how the day went, maybe an affirmation for the night to just set the intention in a positive light. And then you talk about what went well and then how to improve and then just a brain dump section. And I always bring things back to my faith and I'm pretty sure that reflective journaling was something that was practiced among the people that are like highly looked up to. Just always reflecting, thinking back about how you can consistently get better and where you went wrong in the day. Because we are our biggest critics and when you're self-aware, you can improve in your life in so many different ways. But when you are just going through the motions, not communicating with yourself, not understanding who you are, then it's incredibly difficult to improve if you don't even know what you're going through. So journaling is something that has significantly impacted my life and sometimes it can be a force. So pick up a habit, whether that's setting the journal by your bedside table, maybe it's somewhere on your table in the living room so you can write, or maybe make it a habit to bring it out with you on a walk and just sit and journal with nature. It's just so soothing. It helps the brain and it helps your prefrontal cortex. So let's get into habit number four. Habit number four is prayer. There's different ways you can do prayer. In Islam, we have the five daily prayers, which teaches you discipline. It teaches you to show up consistently. It's kind of like a meeting with the creator of the world and it allows you to have this moment of peace in your days where you can just step away from the world and reconnect with God. Tell him that you're grateful for your life. Tell him the struggles and the things that you might be going through. And it's also this different level of peace after you leave prayer because you could go in with so much anxiety, overthinking, the what-ifs of the world. Maybe you're stressed or you've just finished crying or maybe you're mad, but then you get on that prayer mat and you talk to God and then it just feels like everything goes away. You move on with your day. You continue to have a positive outlook because for five minutes of your day, you connected and you were in tune with God and you realized the things that you're going through are not that serious, even if it feels like the world is ending or if there's so many problems, but you just get this different level of peace. And it's so important to really be in tune and connect with your prayers because if you don't show up and be present in those prayers, then you're not going to get the benefit. And I think that in Islam, when you have five daily prayers, it can be very easy to just go through the motions or say the things quickly or not even understanding the words that you're reciting if Arabic is not your first language, because you really have to feel in tune with connecting to God. It can't just be something that you do. And you know, you might be in a journey where you are trying to be consistent with those five daily prayers and it's so important to prioritize them around your schedule and put them first because prayer is the foundation of your life. Truly it is. Without prayer, there's no blessing in your days. Like truly, there is no blessing in your days once you go from having prayer to no prayer. And obviously I'm speaking about this from like a very faithful perspective if you are someone who cares about your relationship with God, but you won't have that same feeling of blessing in your day when you don't have prayer, especially when you wake up in the morning and you start your day with God, and then you go on to having days without waking up and praying in the morning. It just feels different. It feels so different. And that's why I always say that prayer is the foundation of your life. And you should always prioritize that first. If you're wondering why God is not blessing you, if you're wondering why things are not working out, if you're wondering why you're not having structure in your day, are you praying your five daily prayers? Are you being present with them, not just going through the motions? And you know, if you're watching this from a different faith, set prayer times. The morning and the night. Start your day with God, end your day with God. Especially if you're someone who feels lonely in life or isolated, you have to lean on God in those moments. Truly. Because who else are you going to turn to? Humans. You can't continue to go to people with your problems and feel as if they will understand you or solve them. Because oftentimes they won't. The only one who is going to understand you and the things that you're going through is the creator of the world. The one who has given you that problem. Because there's a blessing, usually, in that problem to overcome it. And so whenever you are isolated or lonely, it's so important that you turn to God heavily in those moments. And I made a video on Instagram talking about truly trusting in God. And by trusting in him, I mean even in those moments of difficulty. Because those are the moments where your real faith is going to be tested. Are you going to fully fully trust in him? Or are you going to doubt because you are tested with hardship? And I always get asked this question of like, what does it mean to trust God though? For example, I actually reflected on this myself and I was like, trusting God means to make sure that I am being consistent. And what does consistency look like? Consistency in your habits? Consistency in your work? Consistency in trying to be a better individual every single day? And then the second thing that you can do is using what he has given you. So using all your opportunities, using everything that you have been given to try and get better, get smarter, become more disciplined, become more focused. And reflection. Like, that is such an important thing that we often overlook, is reflecting. How are we using our time? How are we showing up in the world? How are we treating other people? Because we aren't perfect as humans, but it's so important for us to reflect and also repent and try to become better in order for God to continue to bless us. And so when you have done those three things and you control what you can control, the rest is in God's hands. His timing, when he gives you something, all of these things are going to be in his hands. He is going to be the one in control of that. But you can confidently say, I have done what I can and now the rest is up to God. But if you're not being consistent, if you are not using what he has given you, if you are not being disciplined in your time, if you are not praying your prayers, if you are not doing all the things that you should be doing as a person who is trying to be strong in their faith, then of course it's going to be so hard to trust God because you're not even using the tools that he has given you. But then we just think that he's going to bless us no matter what. And you know, I made a YouTube video talking about and a lot of people say, oh, it's just dunya, which means, oh, it's just the world, like this worldly life. Like, no, you need to turn that perspective of, no, it's just worldly life, and to know this worldly life is going to help me have the best afterlife. If you care about afterlife, you need to care about this life. And all of your actions need to match to the version of who you expect yourself to be into getting into the afterlife. And obviously when I say afterlife, we view it as like heaven and hell, and making sure that you are working towards that, but using this life to get to that point. And that means being disciplined, that means being focused in your craft, that means using your time wisely, that means trying to be the best person you can possibly be, that means treating people with respect, that means lowering the ego and not having arrogance, that means reflecting and looking inward of where you need to evolve instead of us pointing the finger and trying to blame people for everything as well. It's about improving your character as a whole. And without prayer in your life, it's very hard to consistently do that. So let's get into habit number five, which is learning. I am talking about learning from a different perspective. So whether that is learning a new language, learning a new skill set, learning through books that you can buy and educate yourself, whether that be studies, nutritional facts, maybe it's about money or how to become better in finances, or even the way AI is being used today. And there's often a lot of people thinking that AI is going to replace people, but no, if you learn how to use AI, you're not going to be replaced. And I think that it's so important for us to be real with ourselves and understand that we can learn so much more, and we never know when skills are going to come in handy. For example, I have been taking Quran classes, which means I have to learn Arabic. And Arabic is probably one of the hardest languages in the world. And honestly, I memorized the whole alphabet in two weeks. And I got a teacher online, and a super cheap teacher. Like honestly, y'all, you can find language teachers online for so cheap, and you just prioritize it, wake up early in the morning, get it done. I also do the same with Spanish, because I am someone who is half Hispanic, half Arab, and I want to maintain my culture. And by maintaining your culture, you need to also learn the language that your family speaks. And so I am consistently learning Spanish, because I also am going to go to Uruguay in January, and I want to be able to speak the native language with the people there. And not only that, 50% of my community speaks Spanish. And I want to be able to meet you in person. And for the people that only speak Spanish, I want to be able to communicate with you. And so you never know when learning a language is going to come in handy. Then when it comes to learning the Quran, I am obviously reading it in Arabic, but how is this going to benefit my life? Not only is it going to help me learn about my faith so much more, but I'm also going to be able to recite when it comes to prayers. And honestly, just understanding the teachings and how to apply it to my life, which again is a skill set in itself, it's allowed me to gain so much knowledge and be able to share it with you all. But if I wasn't consistently learning and educating myself, I wouldn't be able to speak on topics that I can speak about, because I have studied them. And now let's talk about books that you read. So for example, I am a firm believer that if you are someone who wants to start reading, you should read topics or books that genuinely make you feel inspired to read them. Like for example, I'm in a chapter of life where I am just genuinely trying to fully be myself and not care what anyone thinks about me. So that is why I'm reading The Subtle Art of How to Not Give a... I'm just going to say F, because you know, I don't love cussing and it's not very faith-y. This is a great book in order to really just remove any kind of fear of perception or judgment and fully just be yourself. The next book that I want to talk about is Atomic Habits. So if you are someone who's trying to have a better routine, better habits, this is the book that changed my life. Not only does it help you set habits in your life, but it also rewires your brain in terms of thinking of, I am this person, I am a disciplined individual, I can be stronger, I can be focused. And it also gives you tools of how to set up your day in a way where you can actually maintain the habits. So this is a book that I highly recommend. And when you're reading, it's so important not to just flip through the pages. Highlight, journal, and take notes about the things that you are reading so you can have it actually stick to your brain and then so you can apply it into your life. Another book that I highly recommend if you are in a chapter of life of trying to overcome challenges is The Obstacle Is The Way. This is going to help you build more resilience and always find the positive in turning situations that seem tough into trying to continue to keep going and getting better every single day. And then there's also different kinds of books that are completely different. For example, I am reading something called The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies. Now I believe it's so important for us to be educated on the herbs that we have in this world, the things that God has given us in terms of natural remedies. Because everyone is so used to just going to the doctor and getting prescribed medication, but what about the things that God has literally given us on this earth? Like herbs, medicine that comes from the earth. You're telling me that God put all these things for no reason? There's always an intention, always a reason behind why he does certain things. And so it's so important to be in tune with whether that be statistics or facts or learning things in terms of not just taking one perception. For example, if a doctor tells you something, you should always, always question it. The point is like the awareness to have more knowledge and to always question things and to learn and teach yourself. Don't just take one answer or one thing that someone has told you. You should learn yourself and understand like why certain things are being taught. And I think that knowledge is just so important. And especially nowadays, the greatest asset is knowledge because so many people are literally just doom scrolling their life away and have no brain capacity to even want to sit with a book. So it's so important that you see this and you take action and not just let it sit. And then you continue to scroll your life away because y'all, we don't want to be four years old with no knowledge. The last book that I would say is The Creative Act. So this is to help someone who feels lost in terms of their purpose, or maybe it's a creative block. This honestly will help with you just being in tune with yourself, learning how to build a relationship with yourself, journaling, and really connecting with who you are. And then the very last point that I want to say is not only is it going to come from reading or learning new languages, but learning new skill sets. So I mentioned picking up different kinds of skills by using AI, or maybe it's content creation, learning how to create content, learning how to use AI to create content, or maybe it's yourself building a personal brand, or maybe it could be sewing. Who knows when you will use these things, but it's so important that you consistently try to just sharpen your skills and get better at doing things that you feel inclined to do, but making sure that you use your free time in a way that helps you improve as a person. And you're gonna feel so much better, but it's about choosing to learn, choosing to gain a knowledge, choosing the discipline to sit with a book and or educate yourself, rather than doing the easier option like watching movies, scrolling your life away with the free time that you do have. So I highly recommend that you spend time consistently learning and gaining new knowledge in your life that you can apply, and it will just come with so much benefit. These are the five habits that have changed my life, truly changed my life, and if you do these consistently almost every single day, I promise you your life will be completely different and you will become a new and improved version of yourself that you won't even recognize in 30 days. Try it out for 30 days, watch your life change, and comment below if you're gonna try it, and I'm sending you lots of love, and I will see you in the next YouTube video.