How One Habit Can Rewire Your Mind, Heal Your Mental Health & Change Your Life

The Story That Started It All

I studied Islamic thought for two years, and one of the things my teacher said was:

Start with the Quran & never leave it off. EVER. If you finish, start again until your last breath.

I was young then, but those words stayed with me.

Now, after six years of going line by line through the Quran, I’ve started to understand the depth of this advice.

When I shared how this one piece of advice rewired my subconscious mind, helped me unlearn religious brainwashing, and removed cultural baggage—it struck a nerve. Over 503,000 views (watch here) >>

Why?
Because it maximized my mental health, changed the way I view myself, and gave me peace in a world full of pressure and performance.

What You’ll Learn Today

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through:

• How the world rewires your subconscious mind (using the habit loop).
• How the habit of Quran engagement (Tadabbur) can counter and restore your mindset and heart state.
• My 4-step method to practically make it a regular habit—even if you’re busy or a total beginner.

I’ve been studying habits for over 10 years and hold a degree in systems engineering. So, I approach this with a systems-thinking lens—but for everyday people, especially busy Muslims.

Because ultimately, our habits shape our lives—in this world and the next.

Let’s dive in.

1. How Your Subconscious Mind Holds You Back

Most people don’t realize that 80% of life transformation is mindset. And mindset is shaped by our beliefs.

Example: The School System

Let’s break it down with a familiar example:

• You grew up in a school system that constantly rewarded 100% or A+.
• Every time you didn’t get that, you were made to feel bad—or even punished.

That’s years (17+ years, including college) of repetition.

Eventually, it forms your identity.

Your subconscious now believes:

“There’s no point in trying.”
“I am a failure.”

Fun fact: Your conscious mind makes up just 5% of your daily decisions.
Your subconscious controls 95%.

So if your environment, experiences, and emotions repeated a certain belief, that belief now controls how you show up, how you feel, and how you live.

The pressure to be perfect didn’t come from nowhere.
You weren’t born that way.

It was programmed into you—by school, by authority figures, and even by religious or self-help spaces that overemphasize performance.

And if you don’t actively reprogram your subconscious, it keeps you stuck in:

• guilt
• stress
• self-doubt

2. How the Quran Rewires Your Mindset

This is where Tadabbur (deep reflection on the Quran) comes in.

Tadabbur = Reflecting on the Quran’s meaning, purpose, and practical life implications.

It’s not just reciting—it’s engaging, understanding, and applying.

Example: Rewiring the Habit Loop

Let’s go back to that same school example:

• Trigger: Desire to get 100% (perfection)
• Emotion: Feel bad when you don’t
• Thought: “I’m a failure”

But now, new behavior: Pick up the Quran. Reflect on it consistently.

And you start seeing verses like:

• 13:6 – “Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing.”
• 11:114 – “Surely good deeds wipe out evil deeds.”
• 7:153 – “Whoever commits sins, repents, and believes—your Lord is forgiving and merciful.”
• 5:74 – “Will they not turn to Allah in repentance and seek His forgiveness? Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

You run into these again and again. For me, it’s been 6 years straight.

People ask me why I seem confident.
It’s Tadabbur. That’s it.

This one habit reframes your perspective.

It shows you:

• Progress, not perfection, is the goal.
• Your worth is not tied to grades, productivity, or numbers.
• True success = Trying, falling, getting up, and trying again.

Tadabbur helps you unlearn what the world has embedded into your subconscious.
It brings your ruh (soul) back into alignment with who you’re truly meant to be.

3. How to Build the Habit of Tadabbur

Whether you’re a beginner or super busy—this is for everyone.

1. Set Clear Rules

• Rule 1: Start and never stop.
  Emotions will come. You’ll want to skip. Don’t.
• Rule 2: No skipping around.
  Stick to the order. Tadabbur reveals patterns.
• Rule 3: Use tools.
  • Choose a good translation WITH commentary (My favorite: physical version or Free PDF version).
  • Look at extra tafsirs for more depth: ibn kathir(abridged), Ma’arif Al-Qur’an, Tazkirul Quran
  • Corpus.Quran.com and Arabic-to-English dictionary are great.

Translations are helpful, but the Arabic Quran holds a richness that can’t be replaced.

2. Small is Powerful

Start small. Even one verse is enough if it touches your heart.

Some of the sahabah would stop at one verse and read it repeatedly.

Don’t rush. You have the rest of your life.

3. Stack It with Your Routine

You need more than a mindset—you need action.

• I read mine after Fajr. That’s when my mind is clear.
• Create a small space, clean it, and anchor the habit with something physical (for me: a sticky bookmark , stacking my Quran & Dua book on my mantle, my prayer mat & outfit in one bin).
• For night owls: Isha might work better for you.

4. Reflect in Writing (Or Share)

Especially at the start, write down your reflections. That’s how it sticks.

Now, 6 years in, I reflect in my head or on social media. But early on?
Journaling was everything.

Reflection helps your conscious mind focus, instead of getting caught in drama or distractions.

It’s the opposite of “cognitive blindness”—your day becomes guided.

Real Talk: My Life is Hectic Too

I’ve got two kids under four. I’m pregnant with my third.
Life is not calm. Life is chaos.

But this one habit—Tadabbur—has transformed my inner world.

And that’s what matters most.

Your goal is to engage with the Quran. Daily, weekly, biweekly… just never let it become zero.

Start Today

If you’re ready to begin, I’ve linked a free PDF Quran below, which has been reviewed by multiple scholars.
Download it. Start today.

Then tell me in the comments how it’s going for you.

And if you want more help with mental health and habit-building, check out my Habit Systems Bundle—over 40+ people have used it to create real, practical transformation with my 3-step method.

✨ Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more content like this.
Until next time—peace.

🖥️Your transformation starts today.

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@ayyuilm

My favorite life changing daily/weekly habit. #habitformation #muslimtiktoks #quran #muslimwomen #blackmuslimwomen #musliminamerica #productivemuslim #muslimhabits #musliminamerica #successfulmuslims #happymuslim

♬ original sound – Ayyu | Deen & Habit Systems