8/3/2019 The Pearls of Islam Reminder Series 4.4 - Goals

1/1

Pearls of Islam Reminder Series

GoalsBy Bilal Sahib

Aswe approachthe last fewweeksof term, it is

importanttotakestockandreflectuponwhatwe

haveachievedthisyearthusfar.Whetherac;vely

orinadvertently,wehaveallsetgoalsforourselves

over the last term and will have, with varying

degrees of success, achieved some of them by

now. Goals and targets are of course ubiquitous

andnotlimitedtothelastfewweeksormonthsat

Imperial.Thetasksthatweorganiseforourselves

in our personal lives on a day-to-day basis are

indeedshort-termgoalswithinthemselves,whist

striving toul;matelybecome a doctor is a long-

termgoal.

Summarisingsix yearsofourlives(andmanyyears

beyond gradua;on) into a lengthy to-do list is

prey uninspiring. However it is important torealise the importance of seng short and long

termgoals,andregularlyharkingbacktothem.In

theshortterm,weonlyhavealimitednumberof

hoursperday,soitisimportanttoorganisethem

efficiently. If wedonot keep track of how many

hourswespendasleep, andhow much ;mewe

have aKer lectures, it becomes all too easy to

assumethataKera dayof toilonfirmsor inSAF

we don't have ;me to do anything significant

when weget back home. In the long term, its

importanttomakesurethatwespendourweeks,

months and years partaking in a balance of

ac;vi;essothat attheendof ourcourseweare

notjust doctors. Its human nature to priori;se

tasks that we need to do urgently for fear of

immediateconsequences,such asexamsthatwe

risk failing every summer, and delay other tasks

thatwe willnot beimmediatelyreprimanded for

neglec;ng,suchasseekingknowledgethatbrings

usclosertoGod.Forthisreason,itisimportantto

con;nually appraisethe waywespendour ;me,

tomakesureournegligentnaturedoesnotcarve

outourpathsinthelong-term.

To conclude, goal seng and ;ck-boxing is

mundane,but denying thatweneed to do it is

essen;ally denying that we are forgeQul, fallible

and with finite ;me. As medical students, it ishumblingtoreflectbackandrealisethatwhilewe

have (hopefully) aained a lot of worldly

knowledge, it is oKen not at balance with our

spiritual development. Simple things such as

keepinga dailydiaryof thingstodocanimprove

produc;vity and act as a subtle reminder that

even with such busy lives, Allah is the best of

plannersandthatour priority shouldbeseeking

closenesstoHim.

Haveyouachievedyourgoalsforthisterm?

THE PEARLS OF ISLAM

REMINDER SERIES

Monday 21st November 2011 25 Dhul - Hijjah 1432 Volume 4 Issue 4

$ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $$$ $ $$ $$ $ $

$ $ $ $ $$$$$ $$$

$ $ $ $

( (

( ( ( ($ $ $ $

(

( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( (

( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

(

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( ( ( ( ((

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

( ( (( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (

!!

!

!

B y t i m e ,

I n d e e d , m a n k i n d i s a t a l o s s

E x c e p t f o r t h o s e w h o h a v e b e l i e v e d

a n d d o n e r i g h t e o u s d e e d s a n d

a d v i s e d e a c h o t h e r t o t r u t h a n d

a d v i s e d e a c h o t h e r t o p a t i e n c e .