At this time of year, you might be thinking about making a New Year’s resolution to meditate every day. I used to make resolutions, too! Typically, these attempts were pretty weak, and sometimes I wouldn’t even get halfway through January before realizing I’d already missed a few days of meditation. In fact, days could go by without me even thinking about meditating.
This kind of situation creates a sense of failure, which can hurt our self-confidence and make us more likely to fail at other endeavors, too. The main issue I had was that these resolutions weren’t genuine resolutions. They weren’t things I was truly committed to; they were just ideas I had without a plan to make them happen. I hadn’t done what was needed to turn these resolutions into reality.
To make real changes, we need to do the right things and set up the right conditions. A resolution alone isn’t enough; it’s just a starting point. Here’s what you need to do if you want to fully commit.
Establishing a positive habit is more than just declaring you’ll do it. You need to spend some time (it doesn’t have to be a lot) making a plan and setting up supportive conditions.
If you need help setting up a regular meditation practice, we’re here for you! We offer a year-round program of meditation events to help you sustain and deepen your practice, along with a community of meditators who can offer support and encouragement. Feel free to join us in Wildmind’s meditation community.
I found success when I decided to meditate in my car before work. I have a consistent time window five days a week, thanks to flexible work hours. I usually pull into the parking lot around 7:40 and initially aimed for a 30-minute meditation, even if it made me a little late. After more than two years, I’m up to 50 minutes. My next goal is to wake up a bit earlier to see if I can reach a full hour.
On Sundays, I drop my family at mass and meditate under a tree for another 50 minutes. Saturdays are trickier, but I generally fit in a session if my wife works that morning and I have to drop her at the bus stop.
It took me about 30 years to really get started. There can never be too many tips on how to make resolutions stick, and I really appreciate the focus on meditation. I’m new to online Buddhism blogs and hope to contribute as well. It’s a very thoughtful article.
Namaste.