The 3 best habits I have developed over the last decade or so are Meditating, Listening to Audiobooks (and podcasts) and Booking time to go into slow thinking mode.
On the other hand, I have gloriously failed in getting myself in shape by exercising regularly, while the jury is still out about eating better; I have made lots of improvements in the last few years but I don’t feel I have reached a stable stage yet.
Forming good habits can really change your life in ways that are really unexpected.
The best example that most people can relate to, is how much better you feel after you start exercising if you ‘ve been out of shape. Working out makes us feel better at every single thing we do even if that’s not related at all to physical activity.
We are in a better mood, we think more clearly, we sleep better and we enter into a positive spiral.
Note to self: Must.Start.Working.Out. No.Seriously
In this blog i`ll go into a little bit more depth into my first good habit – meditating.
Most people think of meditation as some exotic activity, where you sit down with your legs tied 3 times and your body in the most uncomfortable position, while you chant and mumble praising buddha, or a cow or god with 7 horns.
On the other end of the spectrum people believe that meditation is an activity that allows to control and alter our every thought – something they could not possibly do.
That’s Bullshit 🙂
Meditation is the simple act of trying to relax your head. You sit down (or take any other position that’s comfortable), you close your eyes, and you try to relax.
How do you do that? Well the most common technique is by simply trying to focus on your breath.
And when thoughts inevitably arrive (like half a millisecond after) you simply accept them, note them and try to let them go. But that’s also quite advanced.
To try it out you only need to spare 5 minutes, sit down, and try to focus on your breath 🙂
Why bother?
Meditation has a lot of scientifically proven benefits. You can start reading about it at the relevant Wikipedia page, and diverge from there. This is not hocus pocus, my grandma said that… stuff, but instead scientific facts that have been researched, tested and replicated many times 🙂
Based on my own research and understanding of the world, it’s one of those activities that have an excellent Return on Investment.
Wait…but…how?
So most rational people are semi-convinced when they do a bit of research online, and say OK I will give it a try. Then they usually open a YouTube video, do a session for 10 minutes; the majority of which is spent worrying if they are doing it right, and then they get up and give up saying this is not for them
I think guided meditation is the best path forward. There are a lot of great apps out there (I personally use Headspace and find it great) you can use and they will guide you through the path.
If you are reading this and you are still unconvinced, i`d say give it a try and do 10 test sessions in less than a month, and then i`ll we can discuss how that went over drinks 🙂 (I am buying)
