Do hard things first

Do hard things first

From Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center by Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

June 6, 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of tackling difficult tasks first as a key to success, illustrated through a metaphor involving filling a jar with different sized objects.

Auto-generated transcript: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين و الصلاة والسلام على شرف الأنبياء والمرسلين، محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تسليماً كثيراً. My brothers and sisters, in America there is a system where when a professor retires, he gives what is called the last lecture. So it's more of a recap of some words of wisdom, his experiences, and so on. It's a very important lecture. One of the Stanford professors, Graham Weaver, had his last lecture. I was reading it; he said some wonderful things which have great relevance for us. He basically said four things: the first thing he said was "do hard things first." The secret of success is to do hard things first. I remember another lecture at MIT where this professor actually demonstrated that he brought a big glass jar on his table. He put that jar, then he put some golf balls, then he put some smaller marbles, and then he put some gravel—that are the final parts—and then sand. Four things. And then he said we have to fill this jar with all of these things. So, what will you put in first? Different people said different things. Then he started doing it to show them, and then he said just because you are a man—if…

People in this episode

Host: Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

Topics covered

  • success
  • hard work
  • life lessons
  • education
  • personal development

Keywords

  • hard things
  • success
  • life lessons
  • Graham Weaver
  • Stanford
  • MIT
  • personal development

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford, MIT

More episodes of Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center podcast page.