60 Minutes, 60 Days: A Meditation Challenge to Reclaim My Focus

I've been meditating for almost 5 years, but never consistently.

I first got into meditation in college, when I became fascinated with the work of Sam Harris. A modern day philosopher and meditation teacher, Harris had just released his meditation app, Waking Up. I downloaded it and eagerly started the beginner course.

I like Sam's app because it's devoid of any spirituality or quasi-religious teachings.

It's all about the meditation, focusing on the moment at hand, and nothing more. At its core, this is what meditation is all about. Simply noticing, without judgement.

The benefits of meditation are massive.

Your focus improves, you become less reactive, and you're better able to manage your emotions and thoughts. In the modern world, it's an invaluable practice. I've felt the benefits of it and can attest to them.

But for a long time, I haven't been consistent with it.

I don't know why I find it so difficult to carve out ten minutes a day to practice, but I do. I think most people do, actually. It's like any other habit that's good for us--we know that devoting just a small amount of time to it each day can make a huge difference, but so few of us actually do.

It's time to get back into meditation.

I need to reclaim my focus. For the last few months, since moving to New York City and starting a new job, I've never felt as distracted as I've been lately. I'm not sure why, but I know why I'm distracting myself--I want to escape reality.

Handling the pressures of a new job, which I'll talk more about in future posts, plus living in the most expensive, hectic city on earth, has made me want to escape into my own world more often than not.

For a while, I didn't think too much about how big of a problem this is. It was easier to just keep distracting myself. But I know that if I keep ignoring the problem, it'll only get worse.

So, I'm on a mission to reclaim my attention.

For the next 60 days, I'll be meditating 60 minutes each day. This specific practice that was first popularized by Naval Ravikant, who carves out 60 minutes each day to do nothing else but sit with his thoughts.

Why 60 minutes?

According to Naval:

As someone who takes at least 30 minutes each day to exercise, this makes intuitive sense.

I need to approach my meditation routine the same way I approach my exercise routine. Methodically, rigorously, and religiously (minus the theology).

The challenge starts tomorrow. In addition to meditating 60 minutes each day, I'll also be journaling and posting here on my site everyday for the next 60 days. I view meditation as a form of reflection, which is also one of the reasons I'm taking on this challenge. Writing is one of the best tools for self-reflection, so I'll be writing every day as well.

So, here we go.

Until tomorrow,

James