Using meditation to formulate your goals
The other day we posted an article about a writing exercise for goal setting here(link How to form a goal). The first step, and the most important one, we had said was to formulate a true goal. A goal that is not simply a superficial one like achieving a certain success in work or life, but the actual emotion you are hoping to bring into your life from achieving that goal. We focused on this because oftentimes the things we think will bring us happiness are not what we actually need in life. Too often we get wrapped up in the rat race and think we will finally be alive or happy once we get this car, or this job, or make this amount of money, and yet when we get there we feel empty because that was only part of the equation. Our goals in life always have an emotional component; even the most stoic person has an emotional desire they want their life to fulfill. The problem is, we rarely give ourselves the permission to access these emotions and instead just focus on the superficial accomplishments. This misstep follows us into our goal setting as we keep setting new goals that are not wrong, but are not feeding our souls. We must feed our souls and make our hearts happy to accomplish true meaning and happiness in life, but how do we access ourselves in that way?
We realized that this step needed more guidance so we have devised this free form meditation to help you get to your goals. This meditation is designed to be repeated as many times as necessary until you feel happy with the goals you have set for yourself. We would suggest at least 3-5 times a week or even daily, if your schedule allows, sessions for one to two weeks, but there is no true timeline here. The goal of this meditation is to give yourself time to think and for your subconscious to come to the forefront. So often we are so active that we do not give ourselves times to think. Thinking and even being bored is so important. There is a lot to say on the benefits of boredom but we will save that for another article. This meditation works best if you have already been practicing mindfulness and some of our other meditation articles, so if you haven't already, be sure to stop by some of our past articles for a good starting point on mindfulness and meditation.
To begin this meditation, make a schedule. You are going to put these sessions in your calendar just like any other important meeting. Treat these dates with as much precedence as a work meeting or lunch date, set a reminder and schedule around it. You will want to give yourself about 30 minutes, but feel free to extend the time if you find you need more. The ideal schedule is two to four 30 minute sessions and then an hour session towards the end of the week to determine any progress and if you want to go another week. Now that you have made the appointments with yourself, it is time to get into the actual meditation.
Ultimately this meditation is a quiet walk. If you don't have a quiet place to walk you can simply go to your normal spot for meditation or sit outside somewhere. I personally find walking beneficial as the light physical activity and natural views help me think. It also is very symbolic for me to have a journey, but if this is not possible you can substitute the walk for 10 minutes of mindful breathing and a body scan. Walk for 10 minutes then find a place to sit and start your mindful breathing. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Let your mind empty and just be in the present moment, feeling the world around you. Go through all your senses, smell the air, taste your saliva, see the world, touch the grass, hear the birds and wind and simply be in the moment. After going through your senses sit in this place in contemplation. When your timer goes off, slowly come to standing and walk back in the same quietness.
On your walk back, if you find you are thinking about a lot of things, about your goals, bring out your phone and audio record yourself. But, do not force this; quiet may still be what is in order at the moment. The first couple times you take this walk your mind will probably feel very empty and you may not even know why you are doing this, but trust us, your subconscious is working things out and when it is ready it will reveal itself to you. Quite suddenly you will be told and it may feel like it was all of a sudden, but it has been germinating from these meditation walks. After you have completed a few of these walks and started having some ideas you will want to write or record them. After this you are ready for your hour guided meditation which will be in the part two of this article here.
The most important thing about this exercise is to acknowledge your own personal timelines. You may need to continue with the cycle of walks and guided meditations several times before you feel ready, or you may be able to complete the whole cycle in one week. Do not rush yourself or feel that there is a right or wrong way to complete this exercise. Keep track of your emotions and desires, pay attention to your sudden thoughts and dreams in this period and keep an open mind ready to receive what your subconscious wants to tell you. I understand this may feel a little “new age” but the concept of quiet contemplation is quite old and tested true so do not be put off by the semi-mystical feel of the project, but rather embrace it.
Do you set goals in your life? Have you achieved them? What were the steps you did to discover these goals? Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com with your comments and questions.