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Your Thoughts On Meditation?

jasonbuilds

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Thanks for sharing. My question would be how has meditation affected your business/entrepreneurship?

I have yet to see someone for whom it really had a positive effect on business. Sure, many people have been helped by it personally, and in terms of happiness. But on business I've seen it either have a negative or a neutral effect.

I'm not a big fan of the guy I'll mention next at all (lol), but I do agree with him on one thing: meditation - "You can go sit on top of a mountain top and meditate all day, but you're not going to change the world on a mountain top." Grant Cardone

I have discovered that business success is about being driven, taking action, staying motivated, and knowing how to connect with people, listen to them, and give them what they want.

I agree 100% that business and entrepreneurship is its own separate skill that must be exercised through practice and action.

I got into meditation when I was well into living the scripted life and depressed as hell. Graduated with no job and no prospects, ton of loans, and feeling like I wasted the last four years of my life. Meditation lifted me out of that hole. If I tried to go into business in that state, I would've failed miserably. I would've ended up even more gun shy about entrepreneurship and even deeper into the script.

I think of it this way: the path to business success (any success really) is a jungle full of rough and wild terrain. Meditation isn't going to clear the jungle for you. You still need to put in the work to clear the path in real life. But meditation helps with dealing with the obstacles in your mind. Things like procrastination, bad mood, low motivation, fear, lack of desire or desiring the wrong things, being unfocused, etc.

For me, meditation trains and clears my mind. I use that clarity to focus on taking action to build products and my skills. Having more awareness of my thoughts means I can "feed the right wolf" better. (Google "feed the right wolf story" if you haven't heard of it.) I believe I pay better attention to what people and the market are asking for. And all of that makes it easier to market (clear the jungle) and get myself and my product out there because I am not held back by a jungle in the mind.
 
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Shoshin

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The Untethered Soul is an amazing book, and The Untethered Soul at Work an amazing lecture (available on Audible). I like Michael Singer's approach to the topic.

Meditation, as mentioned many times here already, can take many forms. Explore and you will find one that fits you well (or heck, invent one). Just remember that the goal isn't to get better at meditating by practicing more or joining a group (nothing wrong with those!); the goal is to increase awareness and, from that increased awareness, take the appropriate action.

For me, meditation exposed my neuroticism and a very bully mindset towards myself. It wasn't an overnight realization, but it happened fast. The action I took after the realization was to consciously change my behaviour, or thought patterns, to reduce these default reactions.

Therefore, as much as there's a lot of value (for me!) to sit down for 5, 10 or 30 minutes and "do nothing" besides listening to the "silence" and tuning inwards, the real deal is the behavior change that comes from the mental taming.

A book that helped me see meditation from a pragmatic and yet deep view was The Book of Not Knowing. It's a delicious read, but slow. So much to unpack in each page that I don't recommend reading it fast or using the audio version. Buy the paperback, grab a highlighter and a notepad, and get to know yourself. It's going to be a deep journey!

Anyway, meditation and contemplation doesn't have to be mystical or mysterious. You can approach it from a very scientific point of view too. I do prefer the metaphysical shit, but there's a path for every taste.
 

mssharlenes

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Although most consider meditation essential, it's pretty boring. Especially when there's countless better things you could do.

If you want to meditate, find your own style. It doesn't need to be starring on a wall for half an hour. For me, for example, it's almost like a breathing exercise.
- While I rest between series (after lifting weights), I meditate.
- After I dive into the pool for over a minute, I breathe and meditate.

It doesn't follow the official term, but for me it's much better than reserving time to do nothing. I want to move!
I agree with this. I'm just starting to get into the classic seated meditation, but I also do what I call "walking meditation". It's nothing special. I just breathe deeply, absorb my surroundings, and ask myself, 'Where am I?'. "I", being the observer, the awareness. Should sound familiar if you've read "The Untethered Soul". That one question brings me back to the present like nothing else.
 
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Deleted74925

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Everyone on this thread who liked Untethered Soul may also benefit from Singer's book The Surrender Experiment. It tells how he quit his Phd program and went on to become a dot-come billionaire as the founding CEO of a software company. I found that it provides useful strategies for handling stress.

He was definitely "unscripted ". He dropped out of a phd program, used all of his savings to buy a piece of land, founded a housing construction company, then a religious organization, and bought one of the first computers and tought himself to code, selling software to medical providers. He grew the company to about 3 billion dollars, and then lost control in a lawsuit. Then he turned around this negative story by writing The Surrender Experiment, which is now an international best-seller.
 
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Shoshin

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Everyone on this thread who liked Untethered Soul may also benefit from Singer's book The Surrender Experiment. It tells how he quit his Phd program and went on to become a dot-come billionaire as the founding CEO of a software company. I found that it provides useful strategies for handling stress.

He was definitely "unscripted ". He dropped out of a phd program, used all of his savings to buy a piece of land, founded a housing construction company, then a religious organization, and bought one of the first computers and tought himself to code, selling software to medical providers. He grew the company to about 3 billion dollars, and then lost control in a lawsuit. Then he turned around this negative story by writing The Surrender Experiment, which is now an international best-seller.

I can second this, it's a fantastic book as well
 

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Meditation isn't just one thing. A lot of what it is, however, can be described as "owning your mind." There are many types of meditation, and they have various purposes.

There's a sub-thread here, "meditation won't make you rich." I'm not sure about that. Will being in control of your emotions make you rich? Will strengthening your intuitions make you rich? Will rare and extraordinary insights make you rich? Will deep problem solving make you rich? Will poise and composure make you rich? "Not always" might be an answer, but I think these things certainly contribute to "success," if success is what you are looking for (and let's assume here that the ability to become rich is part of that success).

Meditation can connect you to deep parts of the mind, and the way you think in those depths is nothing like the frantic, scattered everyday thought most people experience. All of existence can seem to be one thing, in one moment, and the insights of that perspective are different enough from the everyday that, at the very least, they can break you away from useless patterns, bad habits, and destructive beliefs.

So I wouldn't discount the practice at all. Learn more about it, and better yet, experience it and learn to apply it to your own needs.
 

Sanj Modha

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Meditation is the medication.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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I got into meditation when I was well into living the scripted life and depressed as hell. Graduated with no job and no prospects, ton of loans, and feeling like I wasted the last four years of my life. Meditation lifted me out of that hole. If I tried to go into business in that state, I would've failed miserably. I would've ended up even more gun shy about entrepreneurship and even deeper into the script.
Wow it sounds like it really helped you in a tough moment! :) Happy to hear that man.

Things like procrastination, bad mood, low motivation, fear, lack of desire or desiring the wrong things, being unfocused, etc.
Personally though, I feel if you're procrastinating, and the answer is let me do 15 minutes of meditation, that is just more procrastination. The only thing that isn't procrastination is getting the job done. So I think in such cases, meditation is really a cop-out, a fake solution. That's why I can't see how it can help with these issues people have when building their business.

It reminds me of this funny video of Jocko Willink:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3U_VnOJ_UI


"Turning Pro" as Steven Pressfield would say is about an attitude that you have, a mindset. Meditation itself doesn't help. All that you need to do is understand that unless you "go get some" you're not going to move ahead.

Think about it. Tony Robbins vs Eckhart Tolle for business - who'd you choose?
 

Black_Dragon43

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There's a sub-thread here, "meditation won't make you rich." I'm not sure about that. Will being in control of your emotions make you rich? Will strengthening your intuitions make you rich? Will rare and extraordinary insights make you rich? Will deep problem solving make you rich? Will poise and composure make you rich?
Have you ever met someone who BECAME rich because he was in control of his emotions? I have met many people who have STAYED rich because they are in control of their emotions, but certainly not BUILD UP that wealth. And there might be an exception, a poker player or something who became rich because of his emotional control - but for every such example you find, I can find 10 others who were the complete opposite - emotionally out of control and rich. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, Grant Cardone, etc,

Fact is that neither intuition, nor emotional control, not even deep problem solving will make you rich. The only thing that will make you rich is connecting with massive numbers of people whom you can help. Some of them will pay you, and you'll become rich. It's about the art of Winning Friends and Influencing People. Dale Carnegie didn't mention meditation, because it was never needed.

All that is needed is consistent application of a few principles and massive action. Everything else is procrastination when it comes to making money. Sure, I've spent time meditating, I've spent time reading, etc. - none of these put a single cent in my pocket. The only thing that does is the number of people I speak to.
 

Cyberthal

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Meditation didn't make a huge difference for me.

It did teach me how to breathe correctly through my nose. That made an epic difference.
 
G

Guest1413tpa

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Breathing meditation & grounding help me alot. I am just TERRIBLE at practicing them though.
Gotta remember, baby steps everyday.
 

Mircea Toma

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I tried to make meditation a habit for so many times.

All my 7 attempts were unsuccessful, the longest one being of 3 months of steady meditation.

I am now thinking about picking up this habit again and make it stick.

However, I consider going to gym 6 times a week enough meditation for me. It makes me feel good and also I can calm my mind after a good gym session.
 

jasonbuilds

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Wow it sounds like it really helped you in a tough moment! :) Happy to hear that man.

Thanks mate!

Personally though, I feel if you're procrastinating, and the answer is let me do 15 minutes of meditation, that is just more procrastination. The only thing that isn't procrastination is getting the job done. So I think in such cases, meditation is really a cop-out, a fake solution. That's why I can't see how it can help with these issues people have when building their business.

100% agree with you here. Meditation is not a replacement for building skill in other areas. I think a lot of people do get a little over the top about the benefits (I know I sometimes get carried away!). I'm not saying that meditation will build your business for you and anybody who says that is just plain wrong.

Meditation is just an exercise that strengthens your focus and awareness, which is a health benefit, but not a business benefit. Is meditation necessary for a strong, thriving business? No. Can meditation be used for action faking? Absolutely.

There are other activities which benefits your health but can also be used for action faking too. Going to the gym, reading books, socializing and going to networking events, having a healthy relationship with your family and friends, etc. You get health / mental / emotional benefits from those activities but it doesn't necessarily benefit your business. Your health is always in the background while you are building a business and if you have the time and are not action faking, it can be good for your business to take care of your health. To eat well, do some exercise, read books, and socialize with people that cares about you, (and to meditate!)

"Turning Pro" as Steven Pressfield would say is about an attitude that you have, a mindset. Meditation itself doesn't help. All that you need to do is understand that unless you "go get some" you're not going to move ahead.

Think about it. Tony Robbins vs Eckhart Tolle for business - who'd you choose?

Tony Robbins is a pretty consistent advocate for meditation! And he'll definitely agree with you that meditation isn't a replacement for building business skills.

I think the comparison here strengthens both our points. Meditation is not a replacement for business skills. It's all about how you use it. Tony uses it to destress and increase his focus so he can better serve his audience. Maybe in another universe, Eckhart Tolle would've been a fantastic businessman if he chose to spent his time focused on business. But he used it for his own purpose. In the end, he did end up writing a best selling book and has a major audience.

Business success is all about how you use your life. But your health can play a big part of it!
 

Black_Dragon43

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100% agree with you here. Meditation is not a replacement for building skill in other areas. I think a lot of people do get a little over the top about the benefits (I know I sometimes get carried away!). I'm not saying that meditation will build your business for you and anybody who says that is just plain wrong.

Meditation is just an exercise that strengthens your focus and awareness, which is a health benefit, but not a business benefit. Is meditation necessary for a strong, thriving business? No. Can meditation be used for action faking? Absolutely.

There are other activities which benefits your health but can also be used for action faking too. Going to the gym, reading books, socializing and going to networking events, having a healthy relationship with your family and friends, etc. You get health / mental / emotional benefits from those activities but it doesn't necessarily benefit your business. Your health is always in the background while you are building a business and if you have the time and are not action faking, it can be good for your business to take care of your health. To eat well, do some exercise, read books, and socialize with people that cares about you, (and to meditate!)
Okay, I see what you mean! It seems we are on the same page then :)

Tony Robbins is a pretty consistent advocate for meditation! And he'll definitely agree with you that meditation isn't a replacement for building business skills.

I think the comparison here strengthens both our points. Meditation is not a replacement for business skills. It's all about how you use it. Tony uses it to destress and increase his focus so he can better serve his audience. Maybe in another universe, Eckhart Tolle would've been a fantastic businessman if he chose to spent his time focused on business. But he used it for his own purpose. In the end, he did end up writing a best selling book and has a major audience.
Hmm I am not so sure about this. What Tony does (if you're referring to his priming ritual) bears a family resemblance to meditation, but I wouldn't call it meditation. Rather, it's a form of hypnosis (or self-hypnosis to be more precise).

At his core, Tony is a practitioner of NLP - neurolinguistic programming, which itself is a form of hypnosis. That is how he operates and does his magic to change people. Take a look at this:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eOJaprDCDA


So Tony works by "programming" you for success. Priming you for success, if you want. Of course, priming is setting something up, with a clear purpose in mind.

On the other hand, meditation - and I admit it is quite a vague term, so I prefer to stick to a clear definition such as the one provided by Jon Kabat Zinn here - is all about DEPROGRAMMING you. It's about going back to the source, unlearning all the programming that went into you, and experience life in the moment, anew.

Think how Eckhart would have handled the situation with the man stuttering that Tony handled above. Eckhart would have encouraged relaxation, do not worry about the stutter, it is here, part of who you are in the moment. Feel it, and accept. And then see if you can change it. And if you can't, no problem.

In fact, if you look at the self-help industry today, there are really two paths, which have some resemblances but are profoundly different. The path to "program" yourself for success (Tony, Cardone, etc.) and the path to open yourself up to the possibility of success and wherever life will take you (Tolle, Singer, etc.)

I think it's very important to realise that despite the surface similarities, they are different, have different origins, and differents ways of working.

Business success is all about how you use your life. But your health can play a big part of it!
Sure, I can 100% agree with this too :)
 
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evergreen_scene

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I rapidly and repeatedly switch information contexts in my workflow. This is easy while walking on a treadmill desk but hard when sitting down. While sitting, I tend to procrastinate with reading or writing while trying to clear my mind.

I found an effective method of breaking this costly habit. I already had a simple short conceptual sequence I used for meditation. Adding a physical ritual - tapping - allows me to rapidly switch info contexts even while tired and stressed.

The "tapping" or EFT movement is weird. I don't believe in Chinese meridians. However, distracting the brain with tapping does work. It purportedly relaxes the amygdala and definitely occupies nerve bandwidth, which can be useful for mitigating acute pain. During acute pain, I use wrist tapping and video game music videos.

I once saw a WW1-era video of a shellshocked soldier who could hardly walk due to chronic nervous tension. By learning to rub his thumb and fingerpads together hard, he was able to control his tension and walk normally with a smile.

World War 1 Shell Shock Victim Recovery (1910s) | War Archives
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Jll9_EiyA


Tapping is similar. So it's a no-joke method, despite the weirdness of tapping gurus about Chinese acupuncture and New Age affirmations.

My tapping method focuses on rhythmically tapping a body point with one finger, to vibrate bone and stimulate nerves. Vibrating bone feels weird.

In practice I mainly use three points. Between the eyebrows resets the intellect. Wrist radius and collarbone relax the body. Usually I only need to tap one point fewer than 10 times. That's enough to unstick a basic info context transition.

For dealing with nervous tension when tapping isn't feasible, perhaps the WW1 therapy of rubbing digit pads would work. It requires only one hand and is inconspicuous.
Wrist tapping should not be overlooked. It is especially helpful during times of epiglottis globis.

This man gives a great example:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG3xN38A9Gs&
 

Nick perry01

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When I meditated for the 3 or 4 days, I experienced certain emotions(jealousy,anger, and other emotions)not be soo, prominent in my daily life. Also I have had this fear of heights ever since I was 6, and with meditations, my fear was kind of disappeared. I think you should continue with it
 

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Have you ever met someone who BECAME rich because he was in control of his emotions? I have met many people who have STAYED rich because they are in control of their emotions, but certainly not BUILD UP that wealth.

I could argue the point, but I'm not saying you should replace everything with "mediation." That's kindof a straw argument. But if someone has emotional diarrhea, they're not going to get rich. At best, they might make a lot of income, and be high-income poor. They'll never resist buying the overpriced thing that sets them back 10 years. They'll be a crap negotiator. They'll have a panic attack when things don't go as expected, start drinking heavily, etc.

Ok, maybe I'm arguing a little. I don't disagree with "people ned to do stuff." As you can no doubt see from all my other posts. But I credit EQ with a lot of my own success, and while there are other ways to cultivate EQ, meditation ain't that bad. Keep in mind that motivation, the will to do stuff, the grit to keep going... all of that is emotional control. Someone with a frail emotional system will just quit, or retreat to safety. And for certain specializations like speculation, auctions, investing, emotional control is the absolute make or break skill.
 
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LiveEntrepreneur

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I began meditating 2 weeks ago. The reason was because I realized my mind has been drifting with thoughts for a very, long time. I guess most of you know our thoughts are the starting point for how we feel throughout the day and consequently, for how we act.

I noticed huge improvements. I can't describe this improvement exactly, but I feel more "mindful", especially in social interactions. You become aware of your thoughts and stop them before they develop into a chain of other, negative or useless thoughts.

I believe in today's age where we are bombarded with information, meditation is a must. Otherwise we are going to be taken away from this relentless river of information.

Anyways, in terms of "business", I didn't notice much improvement, however, I started being aware of the thoughts that made me wanna quit something, such as feelings of despair and thoughts related to shiny object syndrome ("there must be something better I can do").

What's your experience?
I done it a while back for a short period of time, maybe I didn't do it long enough to get results but from what I did I find it a waste of time. This is was in my action faking/reading books all day long phase. Depends on who you are I think it can be a form of procrastination.

If meditation has nothing to do with your goals in life, don't see what the point of it is. For me, it's not going to help me become more profitable, improve my skills, etc. Not even really improve my quality of life which I guess is the main point of it?

In regards to information overload, I get ya and information overload is a bitch. YouTube is filled with garbage and days of good content is mostly gone in my opinion just filled with people who have the primary intention of selling a course instead of helping you.

One thing I do is try avoid all that shit, and flashy titles/thumbnails, see what the creators intention is. I try look for bland videos are more generic in presentation, I find the most genuine content there.

These days I also try to completely avoid YouTube and particularly anything that has nothing to do with me and my goals.

Once I learned copywriting and what it was, I realized how much shit there was online with all the clickbait.

My final thoughts on the matter of mediation I feel like it's another piece of "noise" in the market if that makes sense. Like people promote cold showers, meditation, positive affirmations in the morning, watching motivational content, etc. To me it's all just extra things that your ramming your brain with with no strong purpose, usually done to make you think that you are being productive but in reality you are not.

Reading self help books is a BIG example of this. This is just my experience, but I imagine some people would draw benefits from some of these ideas.
 

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I don't disagree with "people ned to do stuff." As you can no doubt see from all my other posts. But I credit EQ with a lot of my own success, and while there are other ways to cultivate EQ, meditation ain't that bad. Keep in mind that motivation, the will to do stuff, the grit to keep going... all of that is emotional control. Someone with a frail emotional system will just quit, or retreat to safety. And for certain specializations like speculation, auctions, investing, emotional control is the absolute make or break skill.
Right but as we both know "doing stuff" is a secondary effect of your thinking (some people call this mindset). If you have the right mindset, you go out and you take action. Simple as that. So yes, you do need to get your thinking in the right place. But my entire argument is that meditation does NOT do that. It will not get your thinking in the right place. I am open to be shown otherwise, but I've seen many people go down this path with not so great results, which is why I'm so passionate about this topic :)

As I argue in this post above, most of what successful people in business do is hypnosis, and not meditation. What do you do when you think about your values? What do you do when you ask yourself what's your why? What do you do when you do future pacing (seeing yourself as succeeding, etc. etc)? What do you do when you work on your beliefs? What do you do when you associate immense PAIN with not taking action, and immense PLEASURE with taking action? That is ALL hypnosis.

If you think you're a loser and you're scared of taking action, no amount of meditation will get your head straight. It may help you disassociate from your belief that you're a loser (so you won't believe that anymore), but for sure it will not get you to replace that with the belief that you're a winner. It's your BELIEFS that drive you to take action. According to meditation, all beliefs are just your mind chattering, you need to stay centered and let go of that. It's bullshit, it's not who you truly are, which is the awareness behind the beliefs - that is your real identity. So if you think you're a loser... let go. If you think you're a winner... let go, it's not who you are.

This is well known by practitioners of meditation:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtmLXiMkL1g

Notice what he is saying... meditation is the opposite of hypnosis. It is the opposite of working on your beliefs. It is the opposite of working on your mindset. Yes, meditation can get you in a relaxed state. And yes, meditation can make you calmer, more peaceful, whatever you want. But it will NOT help you get rich. For that you need to use hypnosis.

Literarily ALL self-development literature is hypnosis. Napoleon Hill - his think and grow rich is all hypnosis - he even calls it auto-suggestion. Tony Robbins - his approach in Awaken the Giant Within is ALL hypnosis - all about breaking through disempowering beliefs and replacing them with empowering ones. Maxwell Maltz in Psychocybernetics - ALL hypnosis. Dale Carnegie - ALL hypnosis.

Something like The Power of Now is not hypnosis. That is meditation. It will help you be happier, more detached, and more centered. But it will NOT help you developer the killer mindset you need to succeed in business.

There are a few people who attribute their success to meditation: Ray Dalio, Michael Singer come to mind. But literarily everyone else is hypnosis-based for their mindset. Even someone like Ray Dalio, I'm not quite so sure if he doesn't actually use transcendental meditation to relax and get into his subconscious, and then once there plant the suggestions because that would be self-hypnosis.

Self-hypnosis is more powerful if you can lull your conscious mind into quietness, so that the suggestions you give yourself, what you visualize, etc. are not resisted and go straight into your subconscious, where they take root and bloom.

To summarize, getting rich is all about mindset. And mindset requires having certain beliefs. Beliefs are built through hypnosis. Meditation is the opposite of hypnosis and unhelpful in creating the beliefs required to succeed in business.
 

RayAndré

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Meditation has changed my life for the better and continues to do so on a daily basis.
And you bet this rolls over into business.

To put it VERY broadly...mediation "sharpens the axe"...and YOU are the axe. And when you're improved, everything you do will be improved: your life, friendships, relationships, business, general mindset, etc etc

I've been meditating for the past few years or so, and got really into it the the past one year or so. I've accomplished amazing, mind blowing, life changing things through meditation. Mostly around starting to change aspects of my personality I felt were holding me back as well as healing parts of my personality/mind/body that were also getting in the way.

Its way more than can be described in a post.

At the end of the day, I think it depends on what your weaknesses are. Both the ones you know you have and the ones you don't know you have. Imagine being you without those weaknesses. You might not even know what its like...

Feel free to shoot me a DM if anyone wants to chat more.
 
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Tommo

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I've heard some much about this book. I need it on the reading list.
I am reading it now and it blew my mind, it explains what has concerned me for so long about thoughts and self talk. Thanks to @MJ DeMarco for mentioning it.
 

RayAndré

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Ok I'll add more about my experience since its so interesting :)


Right but as we both know "doing stuff" is a secondary effect of your thinking (some people call this mindset). If you have the right mindset, you go out and you take action. Simple as that. So yes, you do need to get your thinking in the right place. But my entire argument is that meditation does NOT do that. It will not get your thinking in the right place. I am open to be shown otherwise, but I've seen many people go down this path with not so great results, which is why I'm so passionate about this topic :)

As I argue in this post above, most of what successful people in business do is hypnosis, and not meditation. What do you do when you think about your values? What do you do when you ask yourself what's your why? What do you do when you do future pacing (seeing yourself as succeeding, etc. etc)? What do you do when you work on your beliefs? What do you do when you associate immense PAIN with not taking action, and immense PLEASURE with taking action? That is ALL hypnosis.

Well if you're trying to get down the technical definition of what meditation is and isn't, then maybe you'll think what I do isn't meditation either.
But I'll tell you this its not hypnosis.

And if its neither, but "meditation" is how I get there, then that's what I call it and highly, highly, highly recommend it to people.
But most people wont.
And even if they do, I doubt they'll achieve what I've achieved...though I really hope they do.


So how do I meditate?
I've combined a few different techniques I've learned over the years into my own style that has done amazing things for me. If I had to give it a name, I'd call it "emotional release meditation".
Essentially, I focus my attention on what my body is feeling. I search/feel for an uncomfortable emotion, I then work to let that emotion fully grow and express itself in my body / in my nervous system, and when it does, it releases, like a firework pulsing through my body.
It sounds crazy, I know. But I've done it over and over and over again.

And so what happens? Well, a belief, thought, or idea is usually tied to each of these uncomfortable/negative emotions. And releasing that trapped energy releases the hold that that idea has on you. And by doing this over and over and over again (not just once), then you automatically and naturally start to change because the thing that was holding you back now has less energy, literally.

I could go on, but thats the base of it and I'm sure you get the idea. Its not a "let me just breathe and relax" sort of thing. Nor is it a "i'm going to re-brainwash myself" hypnosis sort of thing.
Its more of a healing process. And by healing/releasing the shit, your natural higher/better/best/etc self will come through.

But it takes a lot of time. A lot of persistence, determination, belief that it will even get you results, and doing it for like an hour a day. Which most people don't and won't do.


Someone once related the word "meditation" to the word "sports". If I told you, "I got successful via sports" it wouldn't tell you much of exactly what I did. And also there are pleeeenty of people who see successful athletes and then think to themselves that "sports" (whatever they choose) are going to make them successful. But we know they never will. It all comes down to mindset really.

You can use meditation/sports to become successful if you have the mindset to persist until the point of success.
And what does "success" mean in meditation anyway? Well I guess that depends on each individual. For me, it means annihilating negative thought patterns that have run my mind for most of my life. It means healing my nervous system in a way that even doctors don't understand. it means stripping my negative beliefs (I'm not good enough, people won't listen to me, I don't deserve it, etc) of their energy, so that now when I'm in a situation where I'm doing something, there is no longer anything there to hold me back.

And does that help in business? You bet your a$$ it does.
 

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What are some beginner books you guys recommend for meditation?
 
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RayAndré

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Everyone on this thread who liked Untethered Soul may also benefit from Singer's book The Surrender Experiment. It tells how he quit his Phd program and went on to become a dot-come billionaire as the founding CEO of a software company. I found that it provides useful strategies for handling stress.

He was definitely "unscripted ". He dropped out of a phd program, used all of his savings to buy a piece of land, founded a housing construction company, then a religious organization, and bought one of the first computers and tought himself to code, selling software to medical providers. He grew the company to about 3 billion dollars, and then lost control in a lawsuit. Then he turned around this negative story by writing The Surrender Experiment, which is now an international best-seller.

I was really surprised how many people mentioned Untethered Soul in here, but not The Surrender Experiment!

Those of you that liked Untethered Soul, and that are on this forum - you NEED to read/listen to The Surrender Experiment.
 

RealDreams

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For anyone interested, I started reading "The Mind Illuminated". Seems to be the most "scientific" book on meditation I've read so far.
 
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Determined2012

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I have recently started doing guided meditation 10 minutes a day with my Peloton app. I like it because it brings my attention/mind to intense thoughts of thankfulness, mindfulness, gratefulness, appreciation and gratitude for where I have been and where I am at now. Maybe thats not the point and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when those 10 minutes are up I am instantly empowered, rejuvenated, motivated and inspired to get things done with the rest of my day.

It's only been 2 weeks and somehow I have cried during every session. I am just so thankful for how fortunate and free I am and have been these last years.

SN:
I still credit my lot in life to applying the teachings and philosophies that I learned from the Fastlane book and Unscripted . I purchased 3 copies last week for friends and my 64 year old mother, whom I have wanted to read this book since 2012 has finally purchased a copy and began reading it- and that made me soooooo happy and thankful.

I think that meditation is extremely important. I plan to stick with it.
 

Lua

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I began meditating 2 weeks ago. The reason was because I realized my mind has been drifting with thoughts for a very, long time. I guess most of you know our thoughts are the starting point for how we feel throughout the day and consequently, for how we act.

I noticed huge improvements. I can't describe this improvement exactly, but I feel more "mindful", especially in social interactions. You become aware of your thoughts and stop them before they develop into a chain of other, negative or useless thoughts.

I believe in today's age where we are bombarded with information, meditation is a must. Otherwise we are going to be taken away from this relentless river of information.

Anyways, in terms of "business", I didn't notice much improvement, however, I started being aware of the thoughts that made me wanna quit something, such as feelings of despair and thoughts related to shiny object syndrome ("there must be something better I can do").

What's your experience?
Hi Vic,
It's great timing that you brought up meditation now. I personally find it essential to give me the focus I need for my peace of mind and as you stated to help on course with with whatever project that I have started to see it through to completion.

I began meditating 2 weeks ago. The reason was because I realized my mind has been drifting with thoughts for a very, long time. I guess most of you know our thoughts are the starting point for how we feel throughout the day and consequently, for how we act.

I noticed huge improvements. I can't describe this improvement exactly, but I feel more "mindful", especially in social interactions. You become aware of your thoughts and stop them before they develop into a chain of other, negative or useless thoughts.

I believe in today's age where we are bombarded with information, meditation is a must. Otherwise we are going to be taken away from this relentless river of information.

Anyways, in terms of "business", I didn't notice much improvement, however, I started being aware of the thoughts that made me wanna quit something, such as feelings of despair and thoughts related to shiny object syndrome ("there must be something better I can do").

What's your experience?
 

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