You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.
I have always heard of meditation from reading multiple non-fiction books but it is a practice, I hoped to start someday. But that changed in 2020 during the global COVID-19 lockdown; the rest they say is history. The lockdown was an anxious period for me and it was stressful with the uncertainty and rollercoaster of things happening in the world. I started meditating after watching a Lebron James calm advert on how meditation has helped him become a better basketball player and human. I am a Lebron fan and I am also obsessed with studying what makes great people thick. Lebron James has been on top of his game in the NBA for over 22 years and I was curious to get to know the backend that makes his frontend effortless. I started with the Train Your Mind with LeBron James calm session and I have been hooked ever since.
After the Lebron Session, I progressed to a daily Morning Wake Up session with Christian Slomka. The wake-up session is a series of 5-7 minutes of standing sequences, stretches and breathing sessions. After listening and experimenting with various guided meditations, masterclasses, series and breathing exercises, I finally developed a routine which involves listening to the following three guided meditations every morning for a total of 25-30 minutes per day:
The journey to day 1,000 has not been easy as there have been many stumbling blocks along the way as seen in the pictures. I started meditating consistently in 2020 and it took me more than a year to get my groove. Meditating daily is one of the most transformative routines that I have developed in the past decade and it is one of the most exciting. Engaging in one activity consistently for 1,000 days takes a lot of self-discipline, persistence and a big-picture thinking outlook. It was not easy pulling it off but I needed to pull it off to prove to myself that I can do anything that I set my mind to achieve. Just like the 10 Canadian Province Challenge that I embarked on in 2023, it was tough but by taking it a step at a time; I executed it.
Meditating daily has been transformative in my outlook and approach to life. I learn new things daily through the daily guided meditations such as impermanence, equanimity, constancy of purpose and integrity. As the Ancient Rome philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger once quipped “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” Meditating daily is a reminder that anything is possible and it is a great data point that consistency is the name of the game. Whether it is trying to run a marathon, start a business, return to schooling, amass wealth, pay off debt, reinvent yourself or stay focused, it all starts with a single step.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu
The hardest part of starting an endeavour is starting and staying consistent with it for a long time. We all make New Year resolutions every 365 days but most of us don’t follow through. We don’t follow through not because we don’t desire the outcome we seek but because our WHY is not usually strong enough. As the saying goes, he who has a strong WHY can deal with any HOW. One thing that maintaining a routine like the daily guided meditation practice has taught me is the power of showing up. 90% of the breakthrough comes from showing daily. Success is not guaranteed but the struggle is. You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.
All the Best in your quest to get better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
