Just wanted to share with you a quick strategy I learned that could be very helpful for you if you want the Daily Quran Habit…

It’s called the ‘4 Day Win’ strategy. Get a pen & paper, or open a ‘Word’ document and do it right NOW! It goes like this…

Step 1: Create A Daily Goal
Choose an amount of the Quran or an amount of time that you think is suitable to study the Quran each day. Your goal can be anything from reading 10 pages of translation to reading 1 page of Arabic to spending 5 mins with the Quran each day.

Write your daily goal down NOW!!

Step 2: Realize The Obvious

There is something so blindingly obvious about the daily goal you just set, that you probably overlooked it… this goal is not useful. That’s because if it was useful, you would already be doing it. You’ve probably been trying to force yourself to do this goal for quite some time, and yet you still don’t have the daily habit. If it worked, it would already be a habit – this is all the information you need to know that your daily goal is too big. Solution?

Step 3: Play Halves Until Your Goal Is Ridiculously Easy

Cut your goal in half. Is it ridiculously easy now? If not, cut your goal in half again. Would you consider it ridiculously easy now? If not… you get the picture.

Keep cutting your daily goal in half until it is ridiculously easy. If you feel you SHOULD be able to do more, but the thought of doing more leaves you cold or even a tiny bit chilly – its still too big, so cut it in half.

Write your ‘Ridiculously Easy’ daily goal right NOW!

Step 4: Tell Your Nafs To ‘Shut Up’

Your nafs (or ego) is the lazy part of you that doesn’t want you to read the Quran when you could be watching TV. Tell it to SHUT UP.

HOW? Right now, your nafs is probably telling you that your ‘ridiculously easy’ goal is too small, and that if you do that daily goal, your Quran studies will never go anywhere, and you SHOULD have a bigger daily goal… It’s also the part of you will tell you anything you need to hear to STOP you taking action. Ignore it. Even if it tells you that you are such a super intelligent religious bloke/lady that this ‘ridiculously easy’ goal is below you – tell it that inaction is below you, so “SHUT UP!”, and continue with the plan.

STEP 5: Identify A Daily Reward

Your daily reward could be anything. It could be watching a brain-less TV show that you love. It could be going out with your friends for dinner. It could be whatever you would probably do instead of reading the Quran, but now you can do it without feeling bad about it… in fact you can feel great about it, because your giving yourself the gift of a lifetime.

STEP 6: Identify A 4-Day Reward

This reward should be bigger than the daily reward. It should be something that your really really ****Really**** want but haven’t given yourself for a while. A pedicure, a double chocolate gateaux, a night out with your spouse, a Lad’s Night Out to the cinema & favourite restaurant… do whatever works!

STEP 7: Link The Action To The Rewards & Take Action Now!

When you take the ridiculously easy action, make sure you give yourself the reward, and enjoy it!

Take Action Now by getting a piece of A4 Paper and writing out:

Ridiculously Easy Daily Goal:

Daily Reward:

Slightly Larger 4-Day Reward:

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

Stick this sheet of paper in 3 places you will see it everyday – bathroom mirror, bedroom mirror, desk… and place a tick next to each day you take action.

If you don’t take action, go back to day 1, and make the daily goal smaller, and the rewards even bigger until you get yourself to have the daily habit – for at least 4 Days running…

Repeat this 5 more times, and you’ll have taken action for 24 days in a row – enough time to develop a new habit. After the first few days, you can increase the ‘ridiculously easy goal’, if you feel like it, as long as the new amount is still ridiculously easy for you.