30 day Meditation Challenge

I have experimented on and off with various forms of meditation.  I have noticed that when I do well, I keep up with the practice for a couple of months and then fall off when a significant event happens in my life such as long vacation, or change in professional role, etc.

Lately, I started reading the book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” and it got me thinking about why I fell off the rails of consistency  so often in my life. Consider this website. When I started off, I was so full of enthusiasm and then all the interest tapered off. Even though I am reasonably successful in life, I have realized that my life would have been much better if I had the consistency.

The book mostly talks about cue-routine-reward. All of us have cues/triggers which make us fall into routines anticipating the rewards. For example, we feel hungry (cue) and the reward (happiness) we expect can be achieved by a routine (eating fast food). The author cites multiple examples to keep the cue and reward constant while actively striving to change the routine to seek the reward. In the earlier example, we can achieve this result by replacing fast food with healthy food and exercise. The key to this whole experiment is about identifying our personal cues and once they manifest, make changes in routine. Once routine becomes inner nature, you can keep the new routine going for a long time to come.

Most of us have felt stress in our lives. Sometimes stress is a good thing but is usually a bad thing if it continues for an extended period of time. I solve my  cues (stressful situations)  by routine (browsing , staying sedentary and watching videos) to attain reward (happiness). This made be obese and this is my journey to change my routine.

I am trying to teach myself to practice 30 minutes of meditation a day for 30 days chronicling the changes in my body and mind. I do not know what to expect except that I will have been a better person at the end of 30 days.