What is A Moment of Pause Worth?

As-salamu alaykum,

It’s the Winter season in the Northern hemisphere and for many healthcare workers on this side of the globe, this is synonymous with one of the busiest times of the year. The end-of-year-rush to get procedures done due to the nuances of the US healthcare insurance landscape also adds to the burden of work around this time for many in the procedure-heavy specialties.

The reality is that the intensity of healthcare work around this time of the year is unlikely to slow down without an intentional effort to do so.

Not slowing down, even if for just half an hour, could be quite costly - one might be resigning to another year of overwhelm, chronic stress, or even burnout…!

How might we then leverage this time of the year purposefully to create wins and make gains in the new year?

Start with a pause.

Pause Before You Posit

The turn of the calendar year is a great time to pause and reflect on what has transpired in the year that's rounding out to make space for gratitude while capturing deep insights and lessons upon which to build forward into the new year.

I wrote a post about how to do just that a year ago in the newsletter, “Slowing Down to Speed Up: Review the Past Year and Build Forward with Intention - Part 1” Please take a few minutes to slow down and consider the following questions;

1. What went well in key areas of your life in 2024?

2. What could you have done better?

3. What have you learnt about yourself?

Block out 60-90 minutes on your calendar to slow down and dive into the previous post on this and do your very own annual review. Trust me, you will be amazed at how much you will learn in a relatively short time, not to mention the ripple effect on your growth in the coming year in sha Allah. 

Wisdom from a Pious Predecessor

Umar Ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said about reviewing ourselves in a hadith narrated by Thabit ibn al-Hajjaj (may Allah be pleased with him), “Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable and evaluate yourselves before you are evaluated, for the Reckoning will be easier upon you tomorrow if you hold yourselves accountable today.” [Muḥāsabat al-Nafs li-Ibn Abī Dunyā 2]

A Reason to Pause: Beehiiv 2024 Rewind

At SakeenahMD, we took some time to do our own annual review with help from Beehiiv, who shared some insightful data with us this past week about how the SakeenahMD newsletter did in 2024, our 1st year, Alhamdulillah. Here are some of the highlights;

1. Almost 60,000 words written over 79 posts.

For some context, a quick google search revealed the average non-fiction book has between 70000-120000 words. This first year the SakeenahMD newsletter output was close to a sizable portion of the average non-fiction book.

2. Average Open Rate of 58.9%

Another cause for gratitude is that more than half of you, esteemed readers of the SakeenahMD newsletter, do open the newsletter as compared to the average 15 - 25% open rate for similar newsletters again based on a cursory google search. 

3. SakeenahMD newsletter audience has grown by 22% in 2024

By Allah’s bounty, we have also seen significant growth much of which has been organic. A huge thank you to each and everyone of you for reading and sharing.

A Reflection on Writing 

Mohammed Faris, Founder and CEO of the The Productive Muslim Company, recently shared this reflection in a LinkedIn post;

“Alhamdulillah, grateful for the gift of writing...✍🏽

For the time and space to write...

You might wonder what's the point of writing in an age of generative AI.

Trust me - you want to write, you need to write.

Writing is the bridge between confusion and clarity. It empties your mind and brings together your hand, heart, and soul into something beautiful.

More than that - writing has always been the seed of change in our world.

Nations have risen and fallen by the power of written words. Revolutions started because of pages written in quiet rooms. Ideas that changed the course of history began with someone brave enough to write them down.

If you want the Ummah to change - Write! And teach your children to write. When they learn to write well, they learn to think clearly. And when they think clearly, they gain the power to change the world.

May Allah SWT accept all that we've written and all that we'll write, and may He enable us all to write for His sake. Ameen!”

I couldn't agree more with the essence of the message. 

My own journey to this point was through the nudge of someone else's communication - much of it through their writing - to get me out of my comfort zone, to learn, and to grow, while sharing lessons learned along the way in hopes that it might spark even if only a miniscule of change and help someone become a more resilient and God-centered healthcare worker.

You too can join this train. Write even if small, share when you feel comfortable enough and see your words in action.

Taking Action: Introducing a White Days Pause

In an attempt to build in a system of pauses into the SakeenahMD newsletter writing journey and create space to intentionally look back as much as we lean in and build forward, we will take a pause from posting a SakeenahMD newsletter for the week that coincides with the White Days such as this past week.

This pause will give you some time to integrate and take action on what we have shared over the preceding 3-4 weeks in sha Allah. 

Colleagues and friends, don’t miss the golden opportunity to reflect on the gains you have made in 2024 to supercharge your growth plan for 2025 with practical insights that you will undoubtedly glean from this short but incredibly powerful exercise!

May Allah, the Most High, enable us to make smart investments in ourselves today that reap exponential results in growth, resilience and impact tomorrow in this life and the hereafter. Amin 

Sincerely,

Sulyman

P.S. Please share the subscribe link with your friends & colleagues: https://sakeenahmd-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

P.P.S. We are working on an online workshop to help you definitively address healthcare work-life balance in 2025 and build sustainably toward Ramadan 2025 in a few weeks in sha Allah. Please reply to this email with the header “Interested” if you would like to be a part of this growth opportunity by Allah’s will.