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Image: jupiterimages.comThere were 5 candidates for the challenge this month, 3 of which received an equal number of votes from the Mark of Success community.
Note: If you would like to see the list of proposed challenges and vote for your favorite ones for next month, click here. If you would like to suggest any new challenges, you can do so by commenting on the Challenges & Experiments page here.
Alright then! Taking the liberty to choose one from amongst those three, our next challenge, for August 2010, will be:
“Meditate for 15 minutes each day”
Now this was originally meant to be a 30 minute activity, but I figured that it might be a little too ambitions to aim for that duration, especially when many of us might need to make the time for this activity and fit it into our daily schedule, which would be a challenge in itself.
Many of us get trapped into the rat race. Our days get so busy that we do not have time for ourselves. We go through our daily life responding to the many demands put on us by many different people, be it at work, at home, in our social circles, or even by our own limited thinking. We get drowned into doing more and more, and doing things faster than ever before.
However, what if you were trying very hard and working very diligently, but only in the wrong direction?
Direction in life is more important than the speed of moving forward. It pays no dividends to get somewhere just to find that it was not where you wanted to go in the first place.
When we speak about meditation, many people think it is very difficult. But we do not need to reach heightened levels like that of ancient sages in order to reap some benefits from it. In the context of success, we will look into meditation as a means of relaxation and higher guidance, and not something that is complicated and takes years to master.
So for now let’s say that meditation is a means of reflecting on your life and the direction in which it is headed. Practicing it daily helps us receive guidance from the universe and take our life forward in the right direction.
So, here is one way of setting the Logical Goal for the challenge for this month:
Triggers:
1) Sometimes life gets too busy and it seems that there is no time for “myself”.
2) I have my doubts whether what I am doing is what I would really like to do with my life. May be I have not yet found my true purpose in life.
3) I’m not very sure whether my priorities are set right, or whether I am really acting based on my priorities.
4) I feel I need to make time to ponder upon my life and make important and effective changes where necessary.
Target (The Challenge):
Just for the next 21 days, I will:
1. Set aside 15 minutes for myself each day. Define the exact time like, for example, 10:30PM to 10:45PM.
2. Relax and meditate/ponder upon my life and the direction in which it is headed.
3. Think about whether I have my priorities set in life and whether I am acting based on those priorities.
4. List down areas of improvement and changes that I must do in my life.
(You can schedule the activity for morning or evening/night depending on your situation and the feasibility of making the time required for it)
Foreseen Risks and Planned Measures:
| # | Risk | Action/Response |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | There might be doubts regarding how to go about doing the meditation. | Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea of doing meditation. For now, just think about it as laying comfortably in your chair/bed, preferably with eyes closed, and just pondering on your life. You can take down notes after the 15 minutes of pondering. |
| 2 | Sudden appointments / emergencies at the time scheduled for the challenge. | Reschedule to a different set of 15 minutes on the same day. |
| 3 | Working extra hours at the “9 to 6” job, or increase in personal responsibilities, leading to difficulties in making time for the challenge. | Doesn’t matter. 15 minutes is not too long a duration to take out of your daily routine. This time must be taken out for yourself and there’s no two ways about it. |
| 4 | The temptation to do some other work rather than do meditation. | Control. Remember, direction in life is more important than the speed of moving forward. You must re-assess your direction, daily! |
Conditions:
1) Other important responsibilities in personal life, especially those towards family members, must in no way be compromised. The time for meditation should be taken out from other less important activities like television, reading, etc.
2) When meditating, you should not focus on your problems. Just focus on the direction you want to steer your life in, and the positive changes that you need to do and can do in order to move forward in that direction.
Timeline:
Daily, from August 14, 2010 to September 3, 2010
(Yes, we are late in starting the challenge this month. Let’s try to show more dedication and commitment towards the Challenges & Experiments series going forward. Your comments and contribution will go a long way in building up and maintaining the required enthusiasm)
Vision:
(There’s a reason why this is written in the present tense. I’ll talk about that in another post)
1. Having a set time that is meant for nothing and no one, but just for myself, helps me in maintaining a balance amidst all the hustle bustle of my life.
2. It helps me get more clarity on the purpose of my life, and keeps a check on whether I am doing what I would really like to do.
3. It gives me a much required opportunity to re-assess my priorities in life, and to evaluate whether my actions are in alignment with those priorities.
4. It also helps me list down the areas of improvement and changes that I must do in my life to achieve more success.
That’s the Logical Goal for this challenge. It starts today, and I’m looking forward to delivering on it. How about you?
I’ll be posting comments on this post to update you all on my progress on this challenge, and would be most glad to see you join in on this challenge and post your comments too.
Let’s Meditate to Success!
Mark,
I like the part about setting a specific time. It would be way to easy to let something like that slip when “big” things come up.
Though I am personally not into meditation “per se” I am curious to hear how it works out for you.
Though I do not “meditate” I do distance running every single day and I think this give me time to “meditate” “focus” or whatever you want to call it
Three days on this challenge, and it’s been an interesting experience so far.
On the first day, I found it difficult to keep my eyes closed. I opened my eyes 3 to 4 times within the span of 15 minutes. The 15 minutes seemed so long as compared to how fast time seems to fly otherwise.
It does make a special difference to keep the time aside for this activity. It’s a different feeling altogether. Of course this is not the first time I’m doing meditation, but it’s been a while. Moreover, doing it as part of this challenges series gives it a special meaning.
I’ll provide some more updates tomorrow. Meanwhile, is anyone else working on this challenge along with me? If so, please do leave a comment.
Steve,
I fished out your comment from the spam folder this time. Was surprised to see that it got there.
Yes, it matters a lot to set a specific time. Initially I chose a time that was close to sleeping time. However, I noticed that night time brings uncertainty into the act of meditation. That’s because sometimes when the day has been exhausting, when I start to meditate with my eyes closed, I tend to doze of into sleep. Meditation requires that we are fully awake, though eyes are kept closed. So I changed my meditation time to an after-shower activity. That way I am fresh when doing meditation. This change in meditation time has been very beneficial to me.
It’s good that you do a distance running. If that works out well for you and gives you the time to focus on and review the direction in which your life is progressing, then I believe you do not need a separate “meditation” sitting.
If you noticed the image I used for this post, it is one that many would least expect for a topic like meditation. Some may have jumped to the premature conclusion that I know nothing about meditation. But the point I wanted to make was that meditation need not necessarily be an act of sitting with legs folded and back upright in a yogic pose. What matters is taking the time out to be with oneself, and to be one with the universe.