In this YouTube monologue, brand strategist and TEDx speaker Zaakirah Muhammad shares her perspective on mental health and self‑care during Disability Pride Month, drawing on her experience as a childhood eye‑cancer survivor. She weaves personal anecdotes—most notably losing a laptop on a flight due to rushing—to illustrate the dangers of over‑exertion and the importance of pacing, patience, and listening to intuition. Throughout, she emphasizes the role of reciprocal, empathetic relationships, the power of prayer and a personal relationship with God, and the practice of gratitude and presence. She advises listeners to avoid FOMO, focus on impact over income, and align actions with their love language (e.g., using affirmation tools like NOTIQ). The talk also references astrology (new moon timing for intention‑setting), promotes her podcast “See Life Different,” upcoming documentary, book, and other digital projects, and includes a promotional code for affirmation products. The overall message is to move through life deliberately, stay present, and nurture both inner and external connections.
Chapters
Hi, I am Zaakirah Muhammad. I am a brand strategist, TEDx speaker, and an author of the book Seeing Life Through a Different Lens, which is also the podcast See Life Different. And so today we're going to talk about mental health, mental health awareness. So July is also Disability Pride Month. So with me being a childhood eye cancer survivor, I also will be sharing a different perspective. On how you should be managing your mental health by utilizing patience, by pacing yourself, and by praying. So I am currently in the warm city of New Orleans, and it's basically— the weather is okay. The weather's okay. It's basically just the tail end of the hurricane, so it's just gonna be rainy. I was born in South Florida, so it's nothing. But, you know, I think that the interesting part is that I've been reflecting on the fact that this is my first time in New Orleans since 2012. And when I was here in 2012, I was similarly doing the same thing that I'm doing. It's just, it was a shorter trip, but I was speaking on a panel, attended a conference, and I was speaking on a panel. And New Orleans had definitely changed a lot since then. So it's just been a matter of— seeing what's new, seeing what's out there. But as I've been reflecting, I was reflecting on the fact that it's been 12 years since I last came to New Orleans, and 12 years since I've just kind of been putting it out there and doing the work behind the scenes to be able to speak at Essence Festival. So that's pretty much what's going to be happening. But I wanted to reflect because there's one thing that I haven't often shared about is that when I was on my way back. At the time I was living in Washington, D.C. I was studying photography school, that's why I had to hurry back. But I was in photography school and so I was doing work for free. Say that, I was doing work for free, photography work for free. So I was trying to rush back and, you know, on the plane I was— it was so hot, I was so tired. I would not pace myself at that time, I'll tell you that by now. And so I decided to edit the photos on the But what happened was, maybe this is an undiagnosed color blindness, but I was flying Delta Airlines. And so Delta Airlines, their seat pockets are blue. My favorite color is blue, and my laptop cover was blue. So, you know, I probably was asleep for so long and to the point that I don't think I woke up until the plane hit the runway because we had arrived back, you know, to the destination. And so— Long story short, I left my laptop on the plane. That was my first time losing an item. This was before technology had, you know, find my this, find my that, had these warranties that lasted forever. So yeah, I lost that photographic work. And in a way, I kind of lost those opportunities too. Although, you know, the person who I was volunteer photography, doing photography for understood. I mean, I never got over that because I value relationships. And one of the biggest things about mental health is on the type of relationships you put yourself into, right? What kind of relationships are you going to involve yourself with? And are they reciprocal? Are they understanding? Are they empathetic, right? Because sure, I could wave it like a white flag, like, hey, I'm a cancer survivor. Hey, I'm hard of hearing. But that's also why I'm confidently able to advocate for myself. And if I can confidently pace myself, you know, I think really the pandemic should have showed us how to slow down and pace ourselves, but it still seems like we're going right back to running around with chickens with our heads cut off like we're chickens. So, you know, I want to make sure that you spend this month pacing yourself. Pacing yourself kind of also means listening to your intuition. Knowing when you need to rest. I think for me, I used to be so wanting to be on the go, wanting to be on the— just keep going, right? Because I'm like, I can't stop. I know that my life is so short, I can't stop. I got to keep going. But the more in tune you get to yourself and your purpose, the more you realize that you don't have to worry about FOMO or the fear of missing out on anything because you only get one life and what's for you will not miss you. And sometimes if, you know, moments like this, again, I'm going back to I'm here in New Orleans during Essence Festival weekend speaking at a panel on mental health and self-care on Saturday, July 6th. And so just reflecting on the fact that I've had Essence Fest on my vision board for the last 12 years should be that clear reminder that we're now in this season. I'm A huge fan of astrology. We are now in this season where you're going to be able to— you're— there's nothing blocking you. You're the only one who can get out of your own way. So there's a new moon on July 5th after you finish having your parties. Have fun if you're going to celebrate the second Independence Day and then have your fun. But on July 5th, July 6th, this weekend is really just to be intentional. We're in the middle of the summer. There's so many things going on in the world. So make sure that you are being able to sit down and be intentional on what it is that you have wanted for the last 12 years. And really, it will take a bit of deep diving. That's why you got to be patient with yourself. Deep dive and take a deep dive into what it is that you desire for yourself. What else you got? So I am— the only reason why I'm even able to talk to you today, one, is because of my relationship with God, right? Having survived a rare childhood eye cancer that, you know, with technology still improving, may not be able to— not many people may be able to survive if the technology continues to get undetected, right? Because my cancer is in the eye. It's a white glow. And back then you had to have the red glow in the photographs, and now people can Photoshop those white glows out. So, you know, because we still have a long way to go with detecting, I would not be here if it wasn't for that. So just understand that you are not always in control of everything, and don't beat yourself up when things don't happen your way, right? Everything— there's so many songs that you can search for. My favorite artist is Kem. I don't remember the name of the actual song, but he starts off the song with, you are right where you're supposed to be. So take a, you know, Google that, you are right where you're supposed to be by Kem, K-E-M, and take a look at that. So, you know, remember that. And then I also wanted to kind of bring up the quote about going kind of circling back to relationship, because I think what happens is we yearn for love and in so many ways that we look in the wrong places. But I think you tend to forget that people aren't going to remember what you said or what you did for them, but they will remember how you feel. Maya Angelou said it as a quote, and I'm reiterating it because I'm seeing it every single day as I continue to level up and see where I have been yearning for love in all the wrong places, both platonically and business-wise and in, you know, family and relationship that people will remember how you made them feel, right? So I think that's where I'm at with you today, that's where I wanted to share. So just to kind of recap where we've been and how we're gonna take this next season is make sure that you are patient with yourself because there is no There is no such thing as fear of missing out. You can't have it. I mean, obviously we're human, we're going to have fears, we're going to have those insecurities, we're going to have those doubts, we're going to wonder, but don't have fear of missing out. Your life is the only life that you're going to live. And then remember, when you're choosing a relationship that you want, that are manifesting, that are looking like the life that you want to live, make sure that you keep that Maya Angelou quote somewhere, posted somewhere, that they won't remember what you said or what you did, but they remember how you made them feel. So make sure it's a positive emotion, right? And then I think the last thing that I want to share is when it comes to pacing yourself, that remember that impact— remember impact over income. Sometimes we're always trying to chase the next best material item, the next technology item. Like, I'll be honest, I'm in this season right now where all of my technology items are not working for me, so I need a new one. And my friends will probably joke about me because I've had A phone and a purse. And, you know, my additional technology, the hearing aid, I've had it for so long, even too long, to the point where it's just gonna malfunction. But, you know, the word wealth is not always about money. Yes, you want to reach a certain financial goal. Yes, you want to, um, be able to live a comfortable life, live abundantly, because, you know, There is such thing, you can have heaven on earth. That is possible. I understand that. But I think sometimes it becomes such a rat race, or rat probably isn't even the word anymore, but it becomes such a race that you forget to stay present and stay grateful. Always stay present and always stay grateful. And I think my final, final tip for you is Depends on— it depends on your love language right now. For me, sometimes I gotta give myself some self-love. I gotta give myself some affirmation. And my favorite brand, um, should have saved it, but I do have a promo code. I'll probably put it in a comment somewhere. But I've— I found out about it at a conference that I attended, I attended and never, um, let go of it. So I'm looking forward to that as well. As soon as I leave this conference, what am I gonna— what item, what realistic item am I going to take away and hold on to for more than a year? But most importantly, what relationships am I going to build and continue to build? Or there's a lot of things that are happening right now that there are going to be some in-person connections that are going to become real-life connections too. But I say all that to say that, you know, take a look at— there's a lot of creative entrepreneurs out there making their variation of affirmation cards if that is your love language. Your love language meaning the language that You give to yourself because you did not receive it often. So make sure you find affirmation, but the ones that I use that I built a relationship with, N O T I Q, Notique, N O T I Q. And it's it's not a popular item, so you will have to do some digging on the website. But make sure you use the code word legacy. Use the code word legacy. To add N O T I Q for affirmation water bottle and or affirmation cards. That's that. Stay focused on your path. Don't rush your journey. And if you want more where this came from, I have over 100 podcast episodes on my podcast. See Life Through Different Free Content. You can actually search for it on YouTube. See Life Different with Zaakirah. Zaakirah and Iyo are my first name and my middle name. And search for the category of mental health. And then be sure to thank yourself for watching this. Thank yourself for choosing to watch this because you could have been anywhere but you chose to be here. So thank yourself for watching this and I thank you for watching this. And also be sure to continue to listen to the podcast. I think in this next season for me, what's next for me is More life, more life for sure, but more speaking engagements and more— we're going to bring the podcast back bigger than ever because we got some more content to get out there. And the podcast is just one digital arm of it all. The documentary is going to be another digital arm of it all. Another book in the works and just continue telling your story as well. But again, pace yourself, stay present, stay grateful, stay prayed up. And I will
