The Best Blessing: The blessing from a friend. A friend’s blessing

Happy Birthday Tayyiba, contributor of www.abetoday.com and contributor of goodness to the world. Thank you for being you – loving, caring and with the greatest beauty in the world – a soul of sweet goodness.  

This is a birthday tribute from Tayyiba’s friends on Tayyiba’s birthday.

SOUL SENSATIONSouls connect, expressions invest, and this world bloomed into happiness when my Tayyiba aapi came into this world :).

BLESSED ALL AROUND
To the prettiest, sweetest, awesome, beautiful and amazing soul in this whole world , my Tayyiba aapi, wishing you happiest of birthday with love, care, affection and prayers of success, eternal happiness, good health and life with purpose for yourself, family and everyone around you.

POWERFUL PRAYERMay you keep spreading the radiation of your amazing persona to all of us; in the best possible way you can and may ALLAH keep you in His choicest of people and keep blessing you with His Unginath Barkaat and Rehmaat :).

Aameen !

Indescribable Blessings 
I am blessed to be part of your world; and this blessing can never be described  because what you gave in terms of love, care and affection will always be memorable and close to heart.

Beyond FantasyEven fantasies don’t give you that much pleasure which you gave me in reality not for a second or minute or hour or day or week or month but for infinite moments since you embraced me as your bro :).

Infinite Fun
I fight with you almost every single second :), but in return I have always got utmost care and affection from you in infinite ways.

Model of Patience
What Patience can achieve in one’s life is what you have taught us with your way of living.

Making my Day
Your “dafa ho” always makes the day; as your smile just broadens and broadens our souls in the appreciation of Almighty creation of avatar in the form of YOU my aapi :)

Secret Code 
Your “Ok” lets us know that there’s way much more that we can do than this and the desire to achieve more must go on in Life :)

Always with us
World needs to know you, your struggle, your persona, your way of living and how one should really be in Life. I am glad and thankful to Almighty that I know you and you’re always with me my appi .

Book of Life 
Thank You for sharing an amazing insight of your upcoming Book on your Wisdom and Poetry with me.

Connectivity with AllIt feels awesome to have YOU in my Life, witness YOUR journey, abundance of knowledge which you Possess, Purest feelings which you Hold, Desire to achieve something in Life, Connectivity with ALLAH Almighty which You Cherish, Love in the sweetest form which you VALUE, Respect for family, friends and above all Humanity which you Hold in High Esteem.

Gracious Guide 
I am waiting for New Year when I will be having the first copy of your published book of Wisdom and Poetry as well in my hand to guide me through eternity because I know it’s awesome :)

To those who are reading this message  Prebook your orders with Tayyiba . otherwise you'll be missing out something awesome in your life that's for sure .

You’re my Star my aapi :)
“ Muskurata Tera Jahan Rahey,
Har Mushkil Teri Aasaan Rahey
Arsh Pe Le Jaye Tujhey Tera Naseeb
Tu Zameen Pe Ban Ke Aaasmaan Rahey”.
Aameen
Wishing you an awesome day ahead :)
Regards
Yasin Ali and family :)

Birthday BlessingB:  Blessed are those who give and share. Bless you and thank you Tayyiba for the blessings you bless the world with.L:  Love, care and affection are fill our minds and hearts when we think of Tayyiba.
E:  Eternal happiness and expressions of every thing good are what we feel when Tayyiba is around.
S: Soul goodness and soul love are what Tayyiba has in abundance.
S: Shining Star you are and then you for guiding us to a more loving way of life.
I:  Incredible love and care you give us, and we appreciate this divine love and care.
N:  Number us among your friends because your friendship blesses us, refreshes us and makes this world a great place to be.
G:  God gave you the best of characters and I thank God that you share your goodness with us. 

Happy Birthday Tayyiba. Blessings

Translation of Urdu to English by Muhammad Mohsan Zaki - Thanks MMZ

aapi (Elder Sister)
May ALLAH keep you in His choicest of people and keep blessing you with His Unginath (countless) Barkaat and Rehmaat (Kindness) :).
Aameen !

Your “dafa ho” (go away) (it's a kind of word when we usually say in Punjabi, it shows love and affection) always makes the day

You’re my Star my aapi :)
“ Muskurata Tera Jahan Rahey, (May your world keep smiling)
Har Mushkil Teri Aasaan Rahey (May all your problems be solved)
Arsh Pe Le Jaye Tujhey Tera Naseeb (May your destiny lead you to the new horizons)
Tu Zameen Pe Ban Ke Aaasmaan Rahey”. (May you live like a legend on the earth)
Aameen

When Somebody Shares, Everybody wins (Jim Rohn). Tayyiba shares her favorite transformations

Pure PowerWhatever We Think About, and Thank about, We Bring About. What we do NOW, Truly Echoes in ETERNITY ... If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.

The Power WithinYou have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world (Harriet Tubman)

Transforming Power
May you be an Embodiment of Love who transforms any fearsome volcanic form with your cool form of Love. ♥

Victory for Souls
Those who have the power of Transformation are loved by everyone. They have the power to mold themselves. They never say: Why were my ideas, my plans not accepted when they were so good? They bring about transformation in themselves and are then loved by everyone and become a number one victorious soul.

Lucky Love
Love your Loved Ones So Much that When You are with Them They Fall in LOVE with Themselves! That is the Height of Greatness in any Relation that You Elevate your Partners always in all ways. Never Utter those words Which Shatter their Self Esteem. Just Know One Thing Love Encompasses ALL. Make them Feel the LUCKIEST on This Planet ever. ♥  From Quotes by Tayyiba Iram

Inner Test
Courage is not limited to the battlefield. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you're misunderstood (Charles Swindoll).

Tasting Love and Life
You have to Love. You have to Feel. It is the reason You are here on Earth. You are here to Risk your heart. You are here to be Swallowed up. And when it happens that you are Broken, or Betrayed, or Left, or Hurt, or Death brushes near, Let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could. (Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP).

Sit by a beautiful tree and enjoy the kiss of nature

Mirror of Love
A loving person lives in a world of love. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. Instead of being quick to judge, be quick to forgive. Future is not a gift, it is a creation. We create as we live.

Loving BlessingB:  Be the change you want to see in the world is one of the most powerful statements made by Gandhi. Believe that you can implement the changes you want to see in your life.
L:  Let there be more love in your life by seeing light in your heart. Light up your heart by having thoughts of love.
E:  Embody love and aim to be an embodiment of love.
S:  Share smiles, share lovely thoughts, share lovely actions and share what love you have.
S:  Strengthen your resolve that you will be on the side of love more by thanking as much as you can for as much as you have.
I:  Impress yourself with your plans and actions. Impressions imprint themselves on our soul and our soul radiates with these impressions. Impress your soul and work outwards.
N:  Never give up – yes there will be ups and downs in your thinking – but wipe your tears and have another go.
G:  Go for love – get up again after a fall and carry on and one day you will be more loving and experience more love.

God fills the heart of married couples, says Rehana Matri

Cool Passion
There is a case for arranged marriages says Rehana Matri. “Arranged marriages, even if the couples get engaged and get to know each other, are not marriages of the heart but of the brain. And so they are missing that fire that love marriages bring with them from day one. Some fires that were really huge burn out very quickly after marriage. Arranged marriages often remain cool and without passion, but remain in good working order and without complication,” believes German-born Rehana Matri.

Rehana is talking about arranged marriages between Muslims and adds:  “What people forget is that it is God who fills the hearts of married couples with love for each other. If you have got God in your heart, hearts catch fire.”

Marital FateRehana considers the failure rate: “Most love marriages burn out sooner or later and yes, marriages that are of the brain fail too if one of the two cannot live without fire.”  Rehana is convinced that the only marriages that last forever are between hearts that burn with the love for God.

Fizzling Out
Susan McKenzie: It is sad that the majority of love marriages fizzle out even if the people do not divorce. Arranged marriages I am sure have their hits and misses too, but I feel that we should not compare the two as if one is superior or inferior or better or worse.  Perhaps this is a case of comparing apples and oranges. Each have their unique aspects and it is pointless to try to evaluate which is the best form of marriage.

I feel arranged marriages give more protection because in love marriages in the West you start a relationship and then one person leaves the other, and you have given yourself to that person and then it goes on and on. To me it is not about love but protection of both the man and the woman that they might actually get a pure person or as near as possible to purity that is possible for a human being to achieve. Even if this not so true in the modern world but because the arranged marriage is still around usually Muslims have had less sexual partners and that is good for both their moral wellbeing and the physical wellbeing. In my country England, people think there is something wrong with you if you say you are a virgin. I have actually been told I am stupid if I wait until marriage and I think hardly any man would be prepared to wait until marriage. There are actually people who believe it is stupid not to have sex before marriage – these are the consequences of having a society that only has so-called love marriages. No form of marriage works perfectly but once you have a society that only has love marriages then the next stage kicks in - you must have sex before marriage and if you don't find the right one that in effect means more than one sexual partner.

Rehana Matri: Islamic marriages are marriages for the sake of God. You marry someone because you want to have a family and that is a service to God. When you marry someone who is not a believer that love in the heart for God which binds hearts together, and causes the flame of love to remain, does not burn and love will burn out after a while between such people. So Islamic marriages are marriages you do with your brain because in your heart there should not be anyone but God. When God is in the hearts of two people love is kindled in their hearts by the grace of God. Sex before marriage does not arise when you have got God in your heart. Human love burns out after a few years unless it is sustained by the love of God.

About Rehana Matri
German-born Rehana Matri is a mother, a grandmother, an artist and an interior designer. Raised in a liberal Christian family, after Rehana studied comparative religion, she embraced Islam. 

Make your mark as a brand because your brand can change the world! 7 ways to brand yourself for success

1. Entrepreneurial ExcellenceIn The Craft of Selling Yourself, Ashraf Chaudhry says we are all entrepreneurs. Everyone - yes you - will benefit if you develop this business-orientated mindset. Labels have a great impact on our mindset. In fact they determine our mindset, action and life.

2. Brand PositioningAshraf Chaudhry says: Treat yourself like a brand and an enterprise. Be a brand because you are a brand. Indeed, what we stand for and are is us and is our brand. This is the reality of you. You know what a brand is – think Porsche for cars and Prada for clothes. You can also think McDonald’s or KFC – all bring different images to mind. So what do people think of you –  do they think of you as a quality person (brand) or the exact opposite!

3. Enterprising Energy
Brands are enterprises. The word enterprise has a number of meanings, all of them having validity for fueling your mindset. Yes fuel – a driving force.  If you are enterprising in your mindset and action you are ready to act confidently with initiative and drive. To successfully run an enterprise you need boldness, energy and industrious action. You also need an adventurous spirit and ingenuity (clever, savvy action). An enterprise is an organization for business purposes. You are an entity, so how enterprising an entity are you and will you be?

4. Organizational Entity
If you need to earn money then you have a business purpose and it makes sense to maximize your business purposes. You have a business purpose; you are a one-person business and an organization for business purposes.

5. Product Line
You have to start with tuning up your mindset. If you now understand that then you are taking the advice of Ashraf Chaudhry who said in his book: Treat yourself like an enterprise. You need to bring out your entrepreneurial skills to push yourself forward. Your skills are your product and service. And you’re CEO of You, Inc. The CEO’s job is to sell all the time: to sell change; to sell his ideas; to sell his vision and to sell his image.

6. Magnified Mind 
Your mindset matters and some types of thinking will take you further.  When it comes to thinking certain mind thoughts give better direction to your life purpose and goals.  This means if you change a name and a thought into something more concrete you can power your life to greater heights.

7. Bring out the Best Blessing
B:  Bring out the best in you and your life by switching to an enterprising mode and mindset.
L:  Labels and names affect our mindsets and our understanding. Labels we give to ourselves have a great impact on our mindset, determining our mindset, action and life.
E:  Entrepreneurial mindset is the actual mindset that we need to develop if we want to be more daring and confident in our business life.
S:  Second nature is a state of being where we do things automatically, so if we develop an entrepreneurial mindset that is our second nature we will  be in the flow of capitalizing upon business opportunities.
S:  Switch to a character framework that sees you with the best entrepreneurial mindset when you approach your business life. Switch to putting your best foot forward with adopting the best practices of the best enterprises.
I:  Imagination is the invention of the mind. Imagination is our creation, and so we can create more things if our mind is tuned for best efficiency.
N:  Names are important because the best names come with deep meaning, symbolism and can help to propel believers to greater action.
G:   Goals are the markers of achievement in our lives and we can fuel our journey toward our goals with an enterprising, entrepreneurial mindset. Getting to our goals is our life purpose and it makes sense to develop the mindset that gets us to our goals swiftly, easily and perfectly.

ASHRAF CHAUDHRY SPEAKS

Author of The Craft of Selling Yourself, Ashraf Chaudhry says you are a unique brand, a brand called you. Ashraf believes you need to think like a sales manager, managing yourself and providing services employers require. Moreover, see yourself as CEO of You, an enterprise where your skills are both product and service. Ashraf is an authority on performance in the world of work, from how to brand yourself to promoting and selling the brand called You. Either we are selling something or we are sleeping. Wake up and keep awake athttp://ashrafchaudhryblog.com/

THE CRAFT OF SELLING YOURSELF – where to get it

http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Selling-YOURSELF-Ashraf-Chaudhry/dp/1590958314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=12460404

Author of The Craft of Selling Yourself, Ashraf Chaudhry
says you are a unique brand, a brand called you

6 Secrets to be a great website to boost tech startups

Blog Boost
“Good exposure is really needed for startups to get out in front of more people and early adopters,” says Muhammad Nasrullah, founder and CTO of Pringit.com. “There just isn’t a great single source covering the tech industry in Pakistan,” he laments.

State of Play
“The closest thing we have is ProPakistani.pk but they primarily cover the Telecom sector,” adds Muhammad Nasrullah. “You will see posts on new mobile packages and news on hiring/firing in the telecom industry which would not interest more hardcore techies.”

Fizzling Out
One of the best efforts was made by Osama Hashmi in the form of Green and White (greenwhite.org). Unfortunately, it ran out of steam. But one great thing that happened was that greenwhite was made "opensourced" which meant anyone could contribute. But the quality of content on the site lacks the former passion it had.

Missed Opportunities
Muhammad Nasrullah relates examples of how bad the coverage has been: Badar Khushnood with Bramerz had a whole launch event for their Mobile App / Pakistani Foursquare called olaround.me. This was a big deal because Google Pakistan participated in the launch and was a first Google/Local tech private sector venture. None of the common-named blogs like ProPakistani or CIOPakistan had a post on it. The worst offender is PASHA(Pakistan Software Houses Association) – not only because they represent the local industry but they were also part of the launch event. There's no article about the launch on their website. They just have a general article at  http://pasha.org.pk/?s=olaround

Similarly, the biggest IT event in Pakistan is ITCN Asia. It's not great but it's the only large scale industry effort. Yet, the coverage for this is terrible. This is CIOPakistan's coverage of the event: http://ciopakistan.com/2012/09/itcn-asia-2012-goes-on/

It's dry and written like a boring PR release. Compare this with what Osama used to write four years ago: http://greenwhite.org/blog/2008/05/19/marketing-via-easyload-stoppks-approach-to-increasing-signups/

Passionate, Positive and Responsive
There is a fundamentally different writing style of entrepreneurs: it's passionate, it's positive and it's always asking for feedback. This is what makes Desi Back to Desh: http://blog.alchemya.com/ such a good read.

Everybody else writing about the startup world ends up missing the point altogether.

But once again, Desi is too busy to continue writing regularly, as is the case with all other personal blogs like Jehan's. Afterall, this is a time consuming hobby.

6 ways to be a great website according to Muhammad Nasrulalh

1. Cover Everyone:

Don't pick and choose about what news to drop so long as it's not marketing fluff.

1. Live Event Coverage:

Send people to major events and cover them live!

1. Video:

Take videos at the events. Do interviews!

1. Good Analysis:

Don't just cover the news, we need to hear an expert's opinion. Is this great news? What implications does it have for the industry?

1. Great Community:

It's very important to build a community of tech people. People who want to hear about startups, people who run startups, investors, mentors, advisers.

1. Great Contributors:

Get people from the industry to write. It would be great to get their knowledge and insight out for the public.

Last Point: ProPakistani clarified that they weren't invited to the olaround launch because it was a closed event.  It goes without saying, the local industry needs to work with the bloggers as well.

Muhammad Nasrullah
is the founder and CTO
of Pakistan’s biggest
social network Pring

Enterprising Centers: Getting a leg up from the Center for International Private Enterprise

Enterprise at its BestThe Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is an NGO, existing to support, nurture, encourage and make real private enterprise. This Washington-based organization with offices in countries such as Pakistan accepts that one solution does not fit all but nevertheless cross-regional learning may have a value and be a catalyst for success.

Participants at the Young Entrepreneurs' Forum event. (Photo: CIPE Staff)

Track Record
CIPE has been around for 30 years, building up experience since the 1980s and sharing leading practices. Last year CIPE launched a Leading Practices Competition to draw attention to innovative projects. The 2012 winners include The Prosperity Foundation in Nepal, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the capital city of Pakistan and the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, PakistanThe capital city Chamber of Commerce came in second in this competition. Pakistan is a country where almost 60 per cent of the population are under the age of 30 and unemployment continues to rise.

Step by StepThe Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has taken steps to unleash the economic potential of Pakistan’s youth.

Young Entrepreneurs ForumICCI created the Young Entrepreneurs Forum to motivate youth towards entrepreneurship so that young people can enter the business world, embark on an entrepreneurial career, and contribute positively to developing the national economy.

Youth ForumICCI held youth forums, conferences, and round tables to highlight entrepreneurship development.

Entrepreneurship, Microfinance, Skill development and Internship
University students, policy makers, academics, and young professionals deliberated important issues and recommended solutions. These recommendations have since been incorporated into Pakistan’s National Youth Policy.

http://www.moya.gov.pk/national_youth_policy.html

In the past this Youth Policy has been criticized as mere words  http://tribune.com.pk/story/57994/a-critique-of-the-national-youth-policy/

However, ICCI action has gone past mere words with some real action.

Building LinksWhile ICCI was the first chamber in Pakistan to take such action, links between entrepreneurs and local chambers across the country continue to develop and the Entrepreneurship Development Center has been established to provide young entrepreneurs with the tools for success.

Entrepreneurship Development CenterThe Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), thanks to the support of a CIPE grant, launched its Entrepreneurship Development Center (EDC). The EDC provides both guidance to those interested in setting up businesses, as well as assistance to current entrepreneurs seeking to promote their businesses.

Local universities will work with ICCI through the EDC to build links between academics and the business community, offering training programs to develop skills and build capacity. ICCI will ensure the sustainability of the EDC by contributing its own funds on an ongoing basis. In addition, the EDC will conduct research into issues of entrepreneurship, which will be publicized on the ICCI website.

The EDC will complement a previous ICCI initiative funded under a CIPE grant – the Young Entrepreneurship Forum – which seeks to promote young entrepreneurs through technical assistance forum. Here they discuss the challenges faced as young entrepreneurs and facilitate opportunities to advocate for policy reform.

Rooting Out CorruptionWith the support of Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE),  ICCI has completed the project “Addressing the Institutional Causes of Corruption” to improve the business environment in Pakistan by advocating for regulatory reform and help reduce corruption.

ICCI, through its Young Entrepreneur’s Forum, worked for over six months under a grant from CIPE Pakistan to survey entrepreneurs about their perceptions of corruption.

To share the findings of the survey, a conference was organized. Participants stressed the need to continue the process by holding conferences and round tables to further develop a plan to address the causes of corruption in partnership with public and private organizations.

CIPE has been building the Islamabad Chamber’s capacity to support youth entrepreneurship since 2007 with key initiatives including the Young Entrepreneur’s Forum, approval of youth policy, establishment of an Entrepreneurship Development Center, and the design and organization of two youth conferences. This latest effort helps to better understand one of the biggest obstacles faced by young entrepreneurs.

For more information about what the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is doing:

http://leading-practices.cipe.wikispaces.net/Islamabad+Chamber+of+Commerce+and+Industry%2C+Pakistan

Concrete Action

• The ICCI Youth Conference developed recommendations that were incorporated in the National Youth Policy of the Government of Pakistan.

• Ministry of Youth Affairs has conferred Jinnah Youth Award and cash prize to ICCI on International Youth Day for promoting entrepreneurship culture among youth and taking effective initiatives for youth development.

• The effort ensured significant representation of youth in the Executive Committee/Board that comes through a democratic election process.

• Formation of Young Entrepreneurs Forum with a continuously growing membership.

• Links between youth groups of local Chambers across the country have been created resulting in visible participation of youth in business associations’ activities and exchange.

• The Entrepreneurship Development Center has been established and interaction with the universities has increased as groups of students regularly visit the Chamber to receive guidance on starting a business venture and the business process.

• Through the Export Display Center, which will be completed within a year, incubation centers shall be established to develop new entrepreneurs.

• Businessmen provide internships for university students so that they may experience the entrepreneurial culture.

• Businessmen are now being encouraged to provide financial support for good business projects that are selected in business plan competitions.

  Pakistan's Entrepreneurs 

  http://abetoday.com/2012/10/08/entrepreneurial-success-10-keys-by-muhammad-nasrullah/

  http://abetoday.com/2012/10/09/everything-is-an-experience-there-is-no-such-thing-as-failure-two-asian-entrepreneurs-cut-to-the-chase-of-success/

  http://abetoday.com/2012/10/08/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-muhammad-nasrullah-and-faizan-laghari-share-their-journey-to-star-entrepreneur-status/

  http://abetoday.com/2012/10/15/7-keys-of-high-tech-start-up-success/

7 tips to achieve the mindset for mega riches

Blooming RoseShakespeare penned that a rose is still a rose by whatever name you call it. I have always grappled with this famous statement – is it really true that the essential character stays the same whatever name we give it? I have always had my doubts. 

Importance of NamesNames are important because a name or a label affects our mindsets, our understanding and our courses of action. We imbue things with our understanding, our meaning and our perception (what we think about something).  Thus a name has a meaning and is a trigger to the meaning we see in our mind.

Your NameIf you are a Christian, Jew or a Muslim your parents will have given you a name steeped in meaning.

Deeper MeaningThink about the deeper meaning of your name. My name is Susan and it has a Hebrew origin meaning purity and as pure as a white lily.  

Muhammad and JesusMany Muslims have the name Muhammad to express their respect for the Holy Prophet, while some Christians will have the name Christine or Christian in their name to honor Jesus Christ. Thus names have deeper meaning.  

Incredible ImportanceMuslims are told that name selection is very important in the life of every Muslim family and they are advised to choose the best names according to meaning, history and characteristics associated with each name. Nasrullah, for example, means Victory of God, while Ashraf means more distinguished. Many Muslims have the name Allah in their names too.  Nasruallah for example. 

Nasrullah means Victory of God.
Many Muslims have the name Allah in their names too.

10 Rillington PlaceIn England where there has been a particularly gruesome murder and the road has become infamous because of it, the name of the road has been changed. 10 Rillington Place is the most famous example. At least 8 women were strangled there and the road was renamed Rushton Close.

1. Business MindsetIn his seminal book The Craft of Selling Yourself, Ashraf Chaudhry tells us that we are all entrepreneurs and that is the mindset we should develop. Labels we give to ourselves have a great impact on our mindset. In fact they determine our mindset, action and life.

2. Branding MindsetAshraf Chaudhry tells us to treat ourselves like a brand and an enterprise. You know what a brand is – think Ferrari for cars and Prada for fashion.  Alternatively you can think McDonald’s or KFC – all bring different images to mind. So what do people think of you –  do they think of you as a quality person (brand) or the exact opposite.

3. Enterprising SpiritBrands are enterprises. The word enterprise has a number of meanings, all of them having validity for fueling your mindset. Yes fuel – a driving force.  If you are enterprising in your mindset and action you are ready to act confidently with initiative and drive. To successfully run an enterprise you need boldness, energy and industrious action. You also need an adventurous spirit and ingenuity (clever, savvy action). An enterprise is an organization for business purposes.

4. Get OrganizedIf you need to earn money then you have a business purpose and it makes sense to maximize your business purposes. You have a business purpose; you are a one-person business and an organization for business purposes.

5. Tuning UpYou have to start with tuning up your mindset. If you now understand that then you are taking the advice of Ashraf Chaudhry who said in his book: Treat yourself like an enterprise. You need to bring out your entrepreneurial skills to push yourself forward. Your skills are your product and service. And you’re CEO of You, Inc. The CEO’s job is to sell all the time: to sell change; to sell his ideas; to sell his vision and to sell his image.

6. Mindset MattersYour mindset matters and some types of thinking will take you further, so whether you agree or disagree with Shakespeare when it comes to thinking certain mind thoughts give better direction to your life purpose and goals.  This means if you change a name and a thought into something more concrete you can power your life to greater heights.

7. Best Mindset Blessings
B:  Bring out the best in you and your life by switching to an enterprising mode and mindset.
L:  Labels and names affect our mindsets and our understanding. Labels we give to ourselves have a great impact on our mindset, determining our mindset, action and life.
E:  Entrepreneurial mindset is the actual mindset that we need to develop if we want to be more daring and confident in our business life.
S:  Second nature is a state of being where we do things automatically, so if we develop an entrepreneurial mindset that is our second nature we will  be in the flow of capitalizing upon business opportunities.
S:  Switch to a character framework that sees you with the best entrepreneurial mindset when you approach your business life. Switch to putting your best foot forward with adopting the best practices of the best enterprises.
I:  Imagination is the invention of the mind. Imagination is our creation, and so we can create more things if our mind is tuned for best efficiency.
N:  Names are important because the best names come with deep meaning, symbolism and can help to propel believers to greater action.
G:   Goals are the markers of achievement in our lives and we can fuel our journey toward our goals with an enterprising, entrepreneurial mindset. Getting to our goals is our life purpose and it makes sense to develop the mindset that gets us to our goals swiftly, easily and perfectly.

Pic credit - Pic by Nadeem Faraz. thank you Nadeem.  

7 Keys of High Tech Start-up Success

Founder and CTO of Pringit.com, Muhammad Nasrullah shares how he has kept his high tech start-up afloat and booming. Good ideas might seem to be the most challenging aspect of start-up success but getting it up and running and revving up to booming depends on attracting and building up the right talent. Muhammad Nasrullah has identified 7 challenges which he has an uphill task to overcome.

1. Talent Scout

   Problems are talent related. Your process, your product, your success depends upon finding great people who believe in the idea. Technology problems are secondary but a good team can always solve them. There's no such thing as a bad team and good technology. Scouting for top talent is a top priority.

   2. Reality Check

   Contrary to popular belief there’s not enough good talent in the market. Pick any growing software shop, finding good software skills remains a challenge. This problem is further exacerbated for startups who need really, really great software practitioners to lay a strong foundation. Again securing top talent is imperative for maintaining high tech start-up success.

3. Raw Material
   Related: Universities are churning out low quality graduates: In Muhammad Nasrullah’s experience: “Per university batch, you would be lucky to find three to four really good computer programmers who have worked on  non-academic projects, who have contributed to open source and are in the field out of choice rather lack of choice.”

4. Off the Beaten Track

Also Related: Adaption to new technology by the local development community is slow: Trying to find experts in any field other than the mainstream technologies is challenging. You can find many people working on Java and PHP but not enough on things like Ruby, Erlang and Bootstrap. Nevertheless CTOs must target those who display abilities to adapt to new technology.

5. Steady Stability
Pakistanis are highly risk averse and very few will work for a startup. The most talented students and developers want stability rather than taking on the responsibility of changing the technology landscape.

6.  Being One’s Own Role Model

There is very little industrial support. Unfortunately, you're all alone in this. There are very few people who can help you out. Almost no one has "made it." As a result, any local advice you get is untested and any foreign advice you get is un-adapted.

7. Making up for the Lack of Infrastructure

Local infrastructure is substandard. You can't rely on local power, internet or phones. You need to have a backup of a backup and even then it will break. It is near impossible to host locally within Pakistan because of the hosting costs.

Rough Road Ahead

“These problems are there because we are at a very early stage in the industry and maturity will take time for systems to evolve to support technical companies. Till then, the early entrepreneurs have a very tough road ahead,” concludes Muhammad Nasrullah.

Confessions of a Tatler editor and English teacher: Best compliment or worst insult!

Princess PartyBelieve it or not every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) I currently teach more than 10 classes at different levels - it is great fun to meet so many students and parents. One of my classes is an all-girls class at Primary 2 level (they are 8 years of age going on 9). They love princesses and have been pestering me to have a princess party. After getting the parents permission we finally had our party last Saturday.

What is a Princess Party?
This is my first time to attend one and what do you need? Here is how it went down.

Private Party
Now this is a private party, so no cameras because as you know royalty don’t like to be photographed when they are off duty. So there are no pics of our event.

Walflower
Now all the P2 students were princesses and when I suggested I was also a princess that was rejected swiftly and sharply.  I was dejected – not even in the land of make-believe could I be accepted as a princess.  The look of disappointment must have been so palpable that one student suggested I could be the queen. I readily agreed but hoped they were not thinking of how Queen Elizabeth II looks today! I have never been a princess but went straight to being the queen!

Tiara Time
Every princess donned a tiara and the table was overflowing with colorful baubles. Next necklaces and other jewels were donned and even I got a  pretty one.

Makeup
Well princesses wear lip gloss! Now does a queen?  The princesses were not of one mind on this but in the end the majority decided I should also wear lip gloss.
Harmless fun I hope you will agree. Decked out in all our finery we then had our class.

Déjà Vu
After the class as I looked back I was reminded of the time when I was sub-editor of Singapore Tatler and we had numerous discussions whether we should use the word Princess in the heading or text when doing a personality piece about someone from high society.  When we think of princesses we think of the best from the real world or from fantasy.  Diana, Princess of Wales comes to mind in modern times and Princess Rapunzel (by marriage) from fairy-tale land.  So isn't describing a successful pretty leader of high society as a princess a compliment and not an insult? – the problem is the collocation complication.

When we think of princesses we think of the best.
Diana, Princess of Wales comes to mind in modern times

Collocation Complication 
Collocations are words that go together and when they go together they often can take on a whole new meaning and can be the opposite of what you thought and derogatory at times. The use of the word princess is one such example.

She’s such a Princess!
The informal meaning which means the meaning as  understood by legions of native speakers is that a princess is a pampered girl who has been sheltered all her life to the extent that she doesn’t have much idea about the real world.

She is such a princess means that she is so pampered and spoiled. In other words, a spoilt brat.  She may also have a superior air about her. She may be high maintenance and is used to getting her way. Thus if you are described as a princess it may not be the best compliment and coming back to my Primary 2 students – I always tell them that true beauties look physically nice and also beautiful words come from their mouths. Now that is the definition of a lovely lady and perhaps an angel too.

Fairy-tale Rapunzel married a prince and became a princess

Should English-speaking Muslims lace their language with Arabic terms when others do not understand?

Sloppy Speech?
Rehana Matri sparked a response when she expressed: I wish Muslims would stop speaking English sprinkled with Arabic terminology because every word that is in Arabic can also be said in English.  Why this mix of language, it does not help anyone who is not learned in the Arabic language. Just read someone writing about the concept of Ibadah. What is Ibadah? Even if a Muslim knows the meaning of the word a non Muslim would stumble on the word and will have no clue what the article is all about. So why be so sloppy in your speech?

Closer to Allah
Saima Waqas: Most people think as the Quran (Muslim Holy Book) was revealed in Arabic, if we call him in Arabic he will pay more attention or they feel closer to Allah when they say Masha’Allah (beautiful, all appreciation to God), Alhamdolillah (all praise is due to God alone), Suhban’Allah (Glory to God).

Wisdom First
Rehana Matri: Yes they turned the Arabic language into a sacred language just because God chose to make it an Arabic Qur'an. People worship the person or the language that God chose to deliver His guidance to mankind. God has said that He made it an Arabic Qur'an so we may learn wisdom, not so that we may not understand.

Arabic First
Lamia Alami: One has to learn Arabic in order to read Allah’s words. It should be mandatory for all Muslims (more mandatory than learning English as a first or second language).

Lighting Candles
Rehana Matri: If it cannot be translated you cannot learn the true meaning. Only when you translate a word can someone who is not born Arab get the meaning. The Qur'an is the Light that has come down from God, contained in the Arabic ayats (verses from the Quran). That Light of Allah can be passed on in another language too just as you can light one candle from another candle.

Translation Terrors
Lamia Alami: It's a translation linked with someone's point of view and interpretation hence one has to be careful. I've read translations in French and English and was appalled (some words were even a contradiction of the Arabic word). Allah wrote it in Arabic for many reasons, so one has to learn Arabic. The Quran contains the lights, but translations are not that pure light, otherwise Allah would have sent it in many languages.

Light Language
Rehana Matri: Allah revealed Ayats. These Ayats contain the Light of Allah. You cannot take individual words and translate it without considering the entire Ayat as to its meaning. The way the words are placed and in what context all has to be considered in translation. Allah didn’t write it in Arabic, it came down in the form of Light to the heart of Muhammed. The writing was done by scribes.

Touched by Revelation
Just translating a particular word is totally misleading. There may be translations that are misleading as to its true meaning but knowing the meaning of a word does not mean you now know the meaning either. It is a matter of revelation!

Too Simplistic
Lamia Alami: The Quran, the light of Allah, the words of Allah were descended in Arabic and the writing was done by Mohammed SAS with his right hand (the ayats are clear on that). Learning the Arabic language and going deeper into the metaphors and meanings go hand in hand. English is unfortunately too simplistic of a language to encompass the Arabic metaphors of the Quran plus the fact that the words of Allah are stained by someone's personal interpretation. The miracle of the Quran is that it touches one's soul (even its Arabic recitation) even if one doesn't understand a word. But Allah says read, which means many things but also read Allah's words. Insha’Allah (if God wills it) Muslims will make efforts to read, learn and understand the Arabic language of the Quran so as to follow Allah's command of read, not read someone else’s interpretation and translation. Allah told us that it was descended in Arabic for us to ponder and mediate about that fact. Allah Akbar means more than God is great, but God is greater than. We as Muslims, have to encourage the study of Arabic, not limit ourselves to all the other language derivatives of the Quran.

Second Hand
Saima Waqas: We should learn Arabic to understand the Quran because a translation is second-hand knowledge. Even in the translation you see the explanation in brackets. This is the translator’s understanding so it is better to learn Arabic. As for as using Arabic terminologies, people think when using these terminologies they are good Muslims and this has become the standard of a good Muslim.

Treasury
Jimoh Basheer Olawale:  The Arabic language is the richest language. This is why Allah said in the Holy Quran 41 verse 44: And if we had sent this as Quran in foreign language other than Arabic they would have said, Why are its verses not explained in detail (in our language), and Quran 12 verse 2: Verily we have sent it down as an Arabic Quran in order for you to understand. So it is a must for every Muslim to understand Arabic even if it’s a little that he or she will be using when praying.

Rehana Matri: By learning the Arabic language you may understand the Arabic Qur'an but it does not guarantee you that you are getting the revelation. For the Qur'an is what is within the Arabic verses, the light, the knowledge, the instruction, the revelation and that is by the grace of God. Only those who are clean can touch the Qur'an, meaning you can get to the Light, the knowledge, the instruction the revelation.

Lost in Translation
Susan McKenzie:I have been a book editor and one of my functions was to arrange for the translation of books from Japanese to English and Korean to English – it used to take many months because the Japanese publishers always felt we had lost the nuances in various passages and we had many emails going back and forward trying to agree the exact meaning and keep the nuance. There were even times when the Japanese publishers would not even approve some parts of the translations – they did not feel we had done justice to the Japanese. We are supposed to follow the Sunnah (way of life) – the Sunnah would be Arabic and so therefore we should study Arabic if we are Muslim. As for using Arabic words in our conversations – we should be respectful and explain the Arabic meaning.  By the way Ibadah means worship.

About Rehana Matri
German-born Rehana Matri is a mother, a grandmother, an artist and an interior designer. Raised in a liberal Christian family, after Rehana studied comparative religion, she embraced Islam.

Everything is an experience. There is no such thing as failure. Two Asian entrepreneurs cut to the chase of success

Hitting the Mark

Vision, motivation, action, direction and creation are the drivers underpinning entrepreneurial success. Some entrepreneurs, however, miss the mark. Pringit.com founder Muhammad Nasrullah has seen many start-ups stall because entrepreneurs attempt to do too much, creating too many ventures and in the process losing focus and their way.

Fingers in Every Pie

Rehan Allahwalla begs to differ, charging full-steam ahead with business creation upon business creation, from small to big, from traditional to cutting edge. Founder of more than 50 businesses so far, Rehan Allahwalla admits not all are cash cows but his start-ups are in areas he feels he should be in.

Successful entrepreneurship

Super success is defined by pointing to numbers – the millions and billions of users and the millions and billions of dollar potential and actuality. But an equally valid definition of successful entrepreneur is someone who earns as much or more than he/she would as an employee. Both Muhammad Nasrullah and Rehan Allahwalla surpass by millions this humbler definition of success.

Revolutionary Change

Rehan Allahwalla buys into all entrepreneurship models – mini to mega, micro to macro. His core business is profitable, dynamic and cutting edge – IT, software solutions and selling phone numbers worldwide. While not all his enterprises make money, he explains why he does it: “I am involved in projects I feel need to be done such as HealthManagementSystem.net and SchoolManagementSystem.net." What Rehan Allahwalla looks for and is inspired by are initiatives that will change the way things are done.

Positive Poverty

Rehan Allahwalla takes energy from poverty in the sense that he wants to be a beacon of hope: “I want people to have hope and to become whatever they would like to become. I would like to see more people being able to help themselves.”

Transforming Time

Boredom is what got Rehan Allahwalla started at the age of 13. There was no pocket money or television in his Karachi home, so he decided to spend afternoons (about three hours) after school developing Pakistan Computers selling computer games. “You don’t have to incorporate to start a business in Pakistan. I didn’t incorporate. That’s a great advantage.” By the age of 16 he had created commodore computer accessories including Voice Digitizers, modems, Speed Increasers.

Scientific Spark

In their formative years, these Asian entrepreneurs displayed inventive flair in childhood science competitions. When still at school Rehan Allahwalla topped a science competition while Muhammad Nasrullah came second in a Young Scientist contest.

Hitting Hard

According to Rehan Allahwalla: “Everything is an experience. There is no such thing as failure.” He is driven by the quest of finding projects with high mass impact. Vision, passion, garnering experience and service have been the main supports of his entrepreneurial adventures.

The World is Our Oyster

Muhammad Nasrullah and Rehan Allahwalla have made their mark and built business thanks to the Internet. “We can do things at a lower price such as for a few cents per unit when we do it on a mass global basis,” reveals Rehan Allahwalla.

Entrepreneurial Architect

Rehan Allahwala is well known in Asia in the fields of VOIP, ERP Systems, CRM Systems Architecture and VOIP Network Design.

He founded SuperTec Foundation with the mission to eradicate poverty and is working on creating processes to help develop one million new businesses by 2014, each starting with only 100 dollars and generating at least 300 dollars a month.

He is founder of:

DIDx.net, Virtual Phone Line, Super Phone, Muntwo Video Productions, Techistan Magazine, Tv Pakistan, Paki.com, IP PABX, Health Management System, School Management System,

Building Management System and Rehan Autos.

Pring It

Muhammad Nasrullah is the founder and CTO of Pakistan’s biggest social network Pring – pringit.com. Currently over 12 million text messages are generated daily on pringit.com.

Rehan and Nasrullah

Pillars of SuccessAction, right direction and creation are the drivers underpinning many of the entrepreneurial success stories. For Rehan Allahwalla and Muhammad Nasurallah, vision, passion, garnering experience and service have been the main supports of their entrepreneurial adventures.

Hitting the markDespite being armed with all the enthusiasm in the world, some entrepreneurs, however, miss the mark. Pringit.com founder Muhammad Nasrullah has seen many start-ups stall because entrepreneurs attempt to do too much, creating too many ventures and in the process losing focus and their way.

Fingers in Every Pie
Rehan Allahwalla begs to differ with the bold statement: “Everything is an experience. There is no such thing as failure.” Charging full-steam ahead with business creation upon business creation, from small to big, from traditional to cutting edge, Rehan Allahwalla is the founder of more than 50 businesses so far and with more in the pipeline.

Successful entrepreneurship
Super success is defined by pointing to numbers – the millions and billions of users and the millions and billions of dollar potential and actuality. But an equally valid definition of successful entrepreneur is someone who earns as much or more than he/she would as an employee. Both Muhammad Nasrullah and Rehan Allahwalla surpass by millions this more humbler definition of success.

Self Inspiration
Rehan Allahwalla buys into all entrepreneurship models – mini to mega, micro to macro. His core business is profitable, dynamic and cutting edge – IT, software solutions and selling phone numbers worldwide.

Hitting Hard
Rehan Allahwalla admits not all his start-ups are cash cows but he's in areas he feels he should be in. He is driven by the quest of finding projects with high mass impact.

Noble Transformation
Rehan Allahwalla looks for and is inspired by initiatives that will change the way things are done. He wants to be a beacon of hope for the poor: “I want people to have hope and to become whatever they would like to become. I would like to see more people being able to help themselves.” This is why he runs enterprises that do not make money: “I am involved in projects I feel need to be done such as HealthManagementSystem.net and SchoolManagementSystem.net."

In the BeginningBoredom is what got Rehan Allahwalla started at the age of 13. There was no pocket money or television in his Karachi home, so he decided to spend afternoons (about three hours) after school developing Pakistan Computers selling computer games. “You don’t have to incorporate to start a business in Pakistan. I didn’t incorporate. That’s a great advantage.” By the age of 16 he had created commodore computer accessories including Voice Digitizers, modems, Speed Increasers.

Scientific SparkIn their formative years, these Asian entrepreneurs displayed inventive flair in science competitions. When still at school Rehan Allahwalla topped a science competition while Muhammad Nasrullah came second in a Young Scientist contest.

The World is Our Oyster
Muhammad Nasrullah and Rehan Allahwalla have made their mark and built business thanks to the Internet. “We can do things at a lower price such as for a few cents per unit when we do it on a mass global basis,” reveals Rehan Allahwalla.

Entrepreneurial Architect
Rehan Allahwala is well known in Asia in the fields of VOIP, ERP Systems, CRM Systems Architecture and VOIP Network Design.

He founded SuperTec Foundation with the mission to eradicate poverty and is working on creating processes to help develop one million new businesses by 2014, each starting with only 100 dollars and generating at least 300 dollars a month.

He is founder of:

DIDx.net, Virtual Phone Line, Super Phone, Muntwo Video Productions, Techistan Magazine, Tv Pakistan, Paki.com, IP PABX, Health Management System, School Management System, Building Management System and Rehan Autos.

One million businesses
is the Rehan Allahawalla approach to entrepreneurship

Pring It
Muhammad Nasrullah is the founder and CTO of Pakistan’s biggest social network Pring – pringit.com. Currently over 12 million text messages are generated daily on pringit.com. Pring is a product of e-Business (Pvt) Ltd. http://www.ebusiness-pg.com/