The Way to Prepare Yourself

What we do: we talk about things that don't need talking about; we spend time on things that don't deserve our time. We give time to everyone, we give time to everything. We slip into Facebook for just a moment and emerge two hours later, perfectly content. We cling to every possible instrument of time-wasting.

You must understand—since you're on a journey, this journey is an act of worship for you. This journey will determine your sustenance. Yes, this journey is your prayer, your devotion. In the house of worship, there's no room for shortcuts; if you cheat in worship, the worship is never complete! Be careful not to take that shortcut.

Why must you give time to everyone? You can give plenty of time to your friends later. Make your beloved understand—you're in preparation mode now. If you keep talking to your beloved twenty-four times a day like before, how will anything work out?! That friend of yours who hasn't spoken even once in twenty-four days—if he doesn't get the job, will you get it instead?

And breakups happen sooner or later anyway, don't they? Breakups are common now. Ninety-six percent of love affairs end in breakup! Truth be told, no matter how much you say about your own love—this bond will never break, our love is immortal love, you are mine and I am yours, flowers fall and leaves rustle... I remember you, you and I... everything else is nonsense—whatever you say, she'll leave, she does leave.

And it's no big deal, really no big deal at all. Loving someone and getting someone are different things, not the same thing. The person you love, you do love them indeed! But you might not get them. But you can get that job—the chances of getting it are relatively higher. So it's your choice which one you'll prioritize.

You can fall in love even after thirty, but you won't get a good job after thirty—keep that in mind. You can get married after thirty, but you won't get a job after thirty, you won't even be able to sit for job exams. So you must remove yourself from all the unnecessary tasks, all the pointless activities, before it's too late.

If you can't change yourself, if you hold onto your old lifestyle, yet still expect to achieve something good—tell me, brother, why are you hoping for that? You must first change yourself, move away from your old lifestyle, adapt to a new lifestyle. Without doing that, it's truly difficult to complete this journey properly! But if you can do this much, then I can guarantee you have the ability to place in a competitive exam. Yes, you will certainly place!

And if you do place, there are many advantages, as you know. Those who rank high on the merit list get promoted first. That's a huge advantage! They should get a lot of respect in their departments too. Yes, there are troubles too. What kind of troubles? Let me tell you... Say you come first, then you'll be told, "You came first, you can't not know this!" When the class topper doesn't know an answer, he gets more punishment than when the last boy in class doesn't know the same answer.

My dear student Soumya Chowdhury came second in the administration cadre in the BCS exam. When he got an MCQ wrong in class... writing this reminds me of my beloved students, whom I mention everywhere, I remember them so much, I used to teach them, binding them with love and discipline! Anyway, when this Soumya Chowdhury got a multiple choice question wrong, the beating he got from me, the cane strokes he received—if a student who wasn't as good made the same mistake, I wouldn't have hit him as much. I would have thought, what he managed was alhamdulillah enough!

You'd see Soumya Chowdhury got four wrong out of a hundred objectives, and for those four mistakes he got ten cane strokes from me. His friend got fourteen wrong out of a hundred objectives, but I said "Bravo" to him. I said happily, "Very good! Very good! Very good!"

When you enter the job having come first, you'll see you're facing more troubles than your colleagues. There's nothing to be done about it. People develop certain expectations. And for these extra troubles, you won't get any extra reward either. I'll tell you all—there's no need to come first! Just get into the job, that's enough. Coming first brings many troubles too! Really, many troubles!

Remember, the job can be obtained. Before getting the job, it seems like everything—golden deer, silver deer, clay deer, leather deer, flesh deer! It seems like so many things. But after getting the job, you think, "I worried so much about this... for this too! This is so simple!" At the end of the day, Nelson Mandela's words ring true: "It always seems impossible until it's done." And after you can do it, it doesn't seem like much at all!

When I used to visit Dhaka University sometimes, passing in front of IBA, I would think, "Good heavens!! These people are aliens; those who study here are aliens!" Later I took the admission test, got in, graduated from there, and now it doesn't seem like anything special. Yes, that's how the world is. As long as we don't have it, everything seems so significant! But when we get it, it doesn't seem like much. To those who think it's incredibly difficult, incredibly challenging, I say, please, stop talking to people who make the exam seem incredibly difficult to you.

Remember, you don't need to talk to everyone! Why talk to those who destroy your confidence, who hinder your dream journey? Talk to yourself instead. It's best if you can't find anyone better to talk to, if you can't find a better person—then talk to yourself! You are the best person for yourself in the world! You are the finest person for yourself.

We talk extensively with others, and as a result, we no longer have time to talk with ourselves. Try talking to yourself. Many problems will be solved when you talk to yourself. Because various auto-suggestions will emerge from within you—automatically, someone inside will say things. They'll say, do this, do that, if you do this then that will happen, if you do that then this will happen. You need to think about these things with your eyes and ears open. If you think, much is possible, much good is possible. This is what I believe.

One more thing. Never compare yourself to anyone else. Make sure today's you surpasses yesterday's you—pay attention to that. Keep trying to surpass yourself every day. The rest will happen on its own.