There is a common misconception that the goal of meditation is to clear your mind. This is only partially true.
Turn off the TV, put away the phone, stop texting, quit stressing over the unchangeable past and stop worrying about a future that likely won’t happen.
This practice can make a world of difference to how you manage your bank, credit union or marketing deportment.
Three days per week, I try to whip out a zafu cushion and sit, still and silently for about an hour.
Now, for the passersby looking in, I’m just sitting, being lazy … but this is training!
There is a common misconception that the goal of meditation is to clear your mind. This is only partially true.
Take a moment while you’re reading this and close your eyes. Sit in your office for 30-seconds in quiet. In your noggin, it might sound a little somethin’ like this:
“Okay, here I am sitting quiet. I really should be checking email. Did someone just walk by my office? Oh crap, they’re going to think I’m sleeping. Did I turn off the iron? Did I remember to lock the door? I wonder what my dog’s doing right now. What’s for lunch? Will I have time for lunch? Maybe, if I eat at my desk, they’ll think I’m working harder. Oh, God, what if that person thought I was sleeping? What would I say to my boss? ‘I swear, this crazy marketing guy asked me to meditate.’ Has it been 30-seconds yet? This is stupid, I have to get back to work.”
We call this “Monkey Mind,” when your thoughts hop from branch to branch, subject to subject.” Yes, in meditation, you want to clear those thoughts. But that’s just the first step. The ultimate goal is to focus. Go back to the thoughts you had while sitting. In 30-seconds, you probably had a ton of different thoughts dancing around, right? And of those thoughts, nearly all of them had to do with the past, “Did I remember to lock the door,” or the future, “What’s for lunch.” This is clutter. But the most detrimental of the thoughts included items that you have no control over, “What if they thought I was sleeping?”
This is how your brain works nearly every second of the day, its a tad overwhelming, isn’t it?
Meditation is about focusing your mind on right now. Not rehashing things that you can’t change. Not worrying about things you have little control over.
When you can turn off the TV, put away the phone, stop texting, quit stressing over the unchangeable past and stop worrying about a future that likely won’t happen you are in greater control. Your mind is free to focus on what matters, right now and only the items that you have the power to control.
As thoughts arise, determine how they make you feel, identify if you can do anything about it, consider if they matter in the larger scheme, then let them fade away. This is what you’re training to do through meditation.
This practice can make a world of difference to how you manage your bank, credit union or marketing department. None of us have the time or resources to spend on what we have no control over. Turn your stress and worry into action and power.
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