Allah (SWT) has put within human beings the desire to excel and succeed. This desire varies amongst different people. Some people have a great deal of this drive, and some have a small amount of it. However, whether we have it or not, the effort to excel and go beyond what is average is the most precious thing a person can have in this world in terms worldly means that we have at our disposal. We can never take responsibility or guarantee that we will always be the most knowledgeable, skilled or talented person in the room, but there is one thing that you can always guarantee, and that is the desire to excel in whatever you do. That extra effort that you put in is what will take you beyond other people. Talent is a great bounty of Allah (SWT); however, it is also the most overrated thing in the world. More than 80% of talented people go to complete waste. This is in terms of brains, strength or whatever field people are applying themselves to. The ones that are actually doing things in the world are the ones that make the most effort. Allah (SWT) pushes us to make an effort, and says, “You will get nothing except what you work for. It is your efforts that will be seen and judged.”
Everyone has these lofty dreams of being a legend or important. That space between you and that dream is closed by effort. We will either make the effort or fall back on it, and every time we fall back on it, there is someone waiting to take that spot. This applies to our academic achievements, our worldly achievements, and our religious Islamic achievements. It applies to our maths and also our salah. How much effort are you willing to put in? The athletes that everyone looks up to today, the children who play take their names. They say, “He kicked the ball like this person.” or “He passed it like so-and-so.” They are taking the names of those people. They observe them and look up to them; they watch their movements. One of the easiest ways to attain greatness is to watch great people and observe them – to learn the lessons that they learned and make the efforts that they made. We do this in things that do not matter, and we miss out on the things that matter most.
My suggestion is for you to start reading about great people in whatever field interests you, especially in deen. Read about great people until you find someone that inspires you. Find a story that will touch your heart to the core and drive you towards excellence. Start to read more and more about that person and all you have to do is copy them. The desire to excel is all that you need in this world. When you do not have that desire and you do not have the desire to sacrifice for that excellence, we are missing out on what the world has to offer. Tomorrow, we will all be somewhere in the world and a lot of what you will be doing and what you will have depends on how much effort you put in compared to the next person. Prepare yourself now to work harder than the people close to you, the people next to you in class, the people attending school with you; do not be satisfied with average, because in the world, nobody is looking for the average. No one is waiting for the average person or putting up job posts to the average person and no one wants to marry their children to an average person. It is all about who is working to be above and beyond average. May Allah (SWT) inspire your hearts to achieve that desire to work for deen and dunya, and with a little bit of effort, Allah (SWT) will take you there.
