Get What You Want in Life – Can Meditation Help?

I watched a video this morning in which Jordan Peterson spoke about getting what you want in life, and something clicked in my head that I’d like to share with you.

The thought relates to a post I published a week ago, 3 Simple Meditation Habits You Can Practice Immediately. I have to be honest here. My goal was to perform 10 minutes of meditation each day, and I haven’t met that goal. So, I’ve been feeling a little guilty about not following through.

Then, this morning, Jordan Peterson’s words struck a chord with me:

One of the main reasons that people don’t get what they want is because they don’t actually figure out what it is.

And I thought to myself, “I think that’s what meditation is meant to do. It quiets your brain down so you can figure out what you’re meant to do and then focus on it.”

So, it’s a new day, and I am going to meditate today! So far, I’ve used the same meditation video (link below) each time I’ve meditated, and I really like it. But, it’s probably time to try a different one today.

Although I haven’t performed a dedicated 10-minute meditation every day, I have been using 2 of the 3 habits I suggested every day. I have no doubt that there are benefits to meditation. Here’s what I’ve noticed so far.

1. On the days I meditated, I felt happier. Why? I have no idea. Maybe just because I thought I would, but, no matter the reason, the effect was real.
2. Centering is quickly becoming a habit for me. As soon as I feel my brain getting busy, ramping up to enter anxiety mode, I start using the “hello” technique I talked about in my prior post. It works like a charm, and I feel calm and focused again in less than 30 seconds usually.
3. I’ve also realized that we should not fight our thoughts because doing so causes a lot of stress and anxiety. The fact is, we have tons of random thoughts that we don’t control. I read somewhere that 95% of our thoughts are uncontrolled, so of course stuff is going to pop into our heads that we don’t want to think about. And when we automatically try to stop the thought, feel guilty for thinking the thought, or feel like we’re a failure for having the thought, we feel stress and anxiety. Instead, what I’m practicing is accepting the thought for what it is, a random thought, and letting it pass on by without interacting with it. I’m getting pretty good at doing this, and it definitely reduces anxiety.

Keep scrolling for concluding thoughts.