Meditation

How can you do more each day? By doing nothing for a few minutes each day. Let me
explain...

Meditation is one of the most powerful habits you can build. It's also one of the simplest
(you're quite literally doing nothing)... but I'll get into the "how" a bit later. Let's first cover the
"why" - why meditation is so powerful.

After a few weeks of regular meditation, studies seem to suggest the brain starts to change.
The amygdala (the region involved in fear/threat responses) shrinks [1]. Also, the prefrontal
cortex (the region involved in planning, attention, and impulse control) grows. The result? Put
simply, better emotional control.

Why is emotional control important? Well, many of the things which limit your performance
are based on emotions. For example, when you have a big task on your plate but you
procrastinate and avoid it, that's usually because your emotions are directing you. It's kinda
like your emotions say "let's watch Netflix for now and write that article later." Without
emotional control, you usually go along with your feelings and you procrastinate.

You may be aware that you really should be writing that article. But since your emotional
control isn't strong enough (yet), you may not be able to stop yourself from putting the task off
til later... usually, til right before the deadline.

This can start changing when you increase your emotional control. You become more aware
of when your emotions are trying to pull you away from a task. You also have an easier time
resisting those pulls. Your emotions say "let's watch Netflix..." and you say "no, I'm writing the
article now."

Meditation has many more benefits, including increased mindfulness, happiness, and focus.

So there's the why. Here's the how:

Meditation is simple. Many people think meditation is about silencing your thoughts - but
that's false. Meditation is moreso about focusing on something (usually your
breath) despite your thoughts - though you don't have to focus on anything at all.
It's kinda like you're lying on the grass in a park, watching fluffy white clouds pass through the
sky. You're not trying to stop the clouds - after all, that's impossible, and there'd be no
point. You're simply relaxing and observing them as they pass.

Your thoughts are like the clouds. They're going to float by regardless of what you do. When
you're meditating, you're letting them float by. You're focusing instead on something like the
feeling of your breath passing in and out of your nose or chest while you keep your eyes
closed.

Do this where nothing will distract you. If you've never meditated before, I recommend
starting off with 2 to 3 minutes of meditation. Do this every day, right after waking or right
before sleeping. As you go, increase the time by 1 minute every 2 or 3 days, building up to 12
to 15 minute sessions every day.

If you try this and have a difficult time, don't give up! You can use guided meditation apps like
Headspace, Calm, and Waking Up to help you. These apps have recordings that you listen to
while you meditate. These recordings guide you along through the practice. Think of them as
training wheels for your new meditation habit.

You’ve always heard that you should be thankful for what you have, but you probably wrote
that off as being cliche.

When we’re working to improve ourselves, we get so focused on getting the things we don’t
currently have, we forget to appreciate the things we do have.

In our defense, that’s human nature - we're often focused on doing and getting more instead
of being happy with what we’ve already done and gotten.

But taking time to show gratitude for the things and people in our lives has many positive
effects.

Regular exercises in gratitude can improve long-term well-being. Gratitude has frequently
been found to be positively correlated with happiness, optimism, and life satisfaction,
and negatively correlated with anxiety and depression.
These effects are hypothesized to be linked to greater physiological coherence - physiological
meaning “of the body and its systems” and coherence meaning consistency - consistency of the
body and its systems.

I personally don’t think enough research has been done specifically on physiological coherence
yet to prove the hypothesized link between it and the positive effects I just mentioned. But the
link between gratitude and those positive effects themselves is well established.

How can you harness that power for yourself?

First, set aside a few minutes each day and think about a few things you’re grateful for. This
can range from one thing to ten things - it's totally up to you.

Second, you take just a few more seconds and write those things down. Many daily
productivity journals have a section where you write in a few things you’re grateful for as part
of your daily check-in.

Of course, you don’t have to have a fancy journal to do this - you can use a blank notebook,
index cards, or a notetaking app. It doesn’t really matter where your daily gratitudes are
stored. What matters is that you take the time to actually write them.

A problem people face when starting daily gratitude exercises is they list the same things every
day. That’s actually okay. It’s simply about being grateful, not so much what you’re grateful for
- just as long as you’re mindful about the exercise and not robotically going through the
motions when you’re doing it.

So those were private displays of gratitude, but it’s also good to publicly show gratitude as
well, so...

Third, do something you should already be doing - sincerely thanking your barista, server, or
whoever else helps you when you go somewhere.

You can also call a friend or family member and let them know they’re appreciated. This will
not only give you the positive effects of gratitude, it will also make the other person happier
and provide a little positive reinforcement for whatever they did that you’re grateful for!

Thank you for reading - that's what I'm thankful for today.