Imagine you lift an entire city with the motion of your finger. Lift not only the city, but its people, its emotions, and ultimately lift the veil of ignorance from the faces and hearts of people. Read on to find out how.
I’ve come across many people who have amazing ideas but refuse to act on the idea due to the simple fact that they believe that its not going to end up perfect. They hold the “F.E.A.R.” of failure in their minds and forget that they aren’t responsible for the results in the end.
I said “F.E.A.R.” because that’s exactly what it is. A couple years back I used to work at a marketing firm. During a meeting my boss asked the team, “What is fear?”
Every one gave their answers, but it wasnt what he was looking for. He said, “Give me a definition.”
Again everyone gave a different answer. He responded, “Write this down…
- False
- Experience
- Appears
- Real “
If you focus is on what you’re afraid of, you will be blinded to the real possibilities thus no action will take place.
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I want to use the example of the 1877-Why Islam Subway ad campaign. A couple weeks before Annual ICNA-MAS Convention, Omar Ranginwala (former Young Muslims National Coordinator and ICNA volunteer) was going around getting video from different leaders to put together a promotional video for the project.
The end result wasn’t very perfect (far from it), but then again NOTHING IS PERFECT. The video itself has been posted on YouTube and in about a week its got 8000+ views. The video itself has been shown on all the major news networks. Yes the news coverage overall has been negative, but New Yorkers are intelligent enough to see for themselves.
Watch this video to see what I mean:
This Ad campaign has gotten major news coverage and it hasn’t even come out yet. It wont be out for atleast another month or so.
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The point I’m trying to hit home is when it comes to getting your message across;
- Face your F.E.A.R. - Move foward and do not hesitate.
- Understand the means that you have. Take an account of what you CAN do and work within that, and make it the best you possibily can.
- Be SINCERE in your actions.
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30 Jul 08
2:45 pm
Couldn’t agree more.
It’s interesting to see in retrospect that right on the opposite side of fear lies great opportunities and success.
Someone said:
“Do the very thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”
That sums it up.
30 Jul 08
3:10 pm
Assalmualaykum, Wah Rahmatullahi Wah Baraktuh,
excellent post mashallah!
BTW belal, if you were wondering where that False Evidence Appearing Real comes from originally (where your boss probably learned it from) is from the really amazing motivational speaker; Zig Ziglar. You can have access to his free podcasts here:
http://zigziglar.libsyn.com/
If you listen to this guy, and take notes on not only his very valuable advice, but on the way he actually delivers it, you’ll hit the jackpot when it comes to secrets of presentation! For example; he include humble humor to disarm the audience and to get them into a relaxed state of mind, and then pounds them with clear and simple metaphors that really illustrate the advice he gives.
I seriously recommend you listen to his stuff for personal development, AND for the concept of mastering your message presentation.
Just to get a taste, listen to the podcast and then go and buy the CD’s yourself if you really like it.
30 Jul 08
3:12 pm
Jazakallahu khairun for the suggestion. I’ll def look into it.
30 Jul 08
3:15 pm
hmmm… I googled it up and I guess Ziggy-boy may NOT have been the first to come up with this - my bad. I assumed this b/c a lot of corporations, and firms, send their employees to seminars from this guy, and I thought maybe that’s where your boss learned it from. Nevertheless, Ziglar’s material is something you want to invest your time in!
30 Jul 08
4:19 pm
MashaAllah, this project sounds amazing and one which we had envisaged over here in London and our own ’subway’ - the London Underground tube system. Unfortunately the financial costs of advertising in london are astronmical so its been shelved. But I’ll keep an eye on what these brothers and sisters will achieve and maybe we can take lessons from that.
I ask Allah to assist you on this superb dawah project and make it a means for our path to Jannah. Ameen.
30 Jul 08
6:21 pm
I am kinda understood some of the project, but still I feel I need to know more about what it is, and other details
Thank you for telling me
31 Jul 08
8:43 pm
MashaAllah, that was a pretty good post!
02 Aug 08
6:10 pm
Asalamu Aleykum
Mashallah good post…. thank you brother \cos I was having this fear and couldnt make next step toward acting and shoting my video at the moment i am thinking about four projects among which two are very important for me and I do hope having some lessons and inspiration from your and rest psts that i have seen and with the help of Allah jj i will try to do my best. Once again thank you for being sebep. May Allah jj help you!!!