What is the purpose of meditation?

First let me start my saying that I am not qualified to answer any questions about meditation other than my own direct experience.

I have been practicing meditation for the last three years under the guidance of some incredibly knowledgeable individuals, and yet meditation is prehistoric. It literally has been around longer than we have recorded history! (So cool) I feel like I'm still on the first or second step of a very long journey, so anything that comes next is from personal experience and not expertise.

I first became interested in meditation by listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast (thanks Tim!). He'd interview world class performers, experts and wildly successful people, and the topic of meditation would come up over and over again. Once I made the plunge into the world of meditation, I was hooked.

So, what's the purpose of meditation?

Honestly, that question is like asking what's the purpose of writing. It could mean so many things to so many different people. Meditation can be useful for reducing stress, increasing calmness, finding inner peace and on and on.

Here's what can be difficult about meditation:

The purpose of practicing meditation isn't to become better meditators.

When we practice soccer, piano or ballet, we are doing so in order to become better at playing soccer, piano or ballet. With meditation it's different though. There's no such thing as a perfect medtiation session.

What's extremely interesting to me is how we can use meditation to help us be better leaders and creators. And in this regard, I've found two types of meditation to be most useful.

Mindfulness Meditation

The first type of meditation that I've found particularly useful as an entrepreneur and leader is a mindfulness practice. There are many styles and types of meditations that can accomplish this, and generally these bring awareness to our thoughts.

Mindfulness meditations help us become more present in our day to day interactions. It's about becoming more comfortable with our own mind and thoughts. This creates more self-awareness which then allows us to make better decisions and be better leaders.

I've seen such profound effects in my own personal awareness over these past few years. This particularly shows up when things may not be going so smoothly. I've noticed how differently I now show up when new obstacles and challenges present themselves, and it is FASCINATING. I'm not perfect, but I'm way better.

Insight Meditation

I have "found" many answers through meditation. There are certain types of meditation (Vipassana in particular) that help us create space in our minds where the answers can come to us. I've found it similar to discovering new ideas in the shower or solving problems in my sleep, only this is a much more intentional approach.

Insight meditations have helped me to approach problems from new and unexpected perspectives, detach and untangle myself from messy situations to see what I'm not seeing and to create space for entirely new ideas to come through. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I've found that many times I've already had the answers and just needed to be in the right headspace to receive them and understand them.

I've also had other-worldly experiences with heart opening meditations, somatic meditations, collective and dynamic meditations, but mindfulness and insight meditations have been the most useful to me as a creator.

As we look to unlock the next level of the video game and build the things we are here to build, there's no doubt that meditation will be a key ingredient.

Now what?

Now what? is such a delightful question. Depending on the context and syntax, it has this amazing versatility to it, and I've been intentionally leaving more and more space to answer this question myself.

Now what? could be a wonderful question to ask at the completion of a major project or as we're about to hit a significant milestone.

Now what? could signify the closing of a chapter, the end of an experiment, a relationship, or a business.

Now what? could be a question that comes when seemingly all other options have been exhausted.

Now what? could reflect an openness to create with what the universe has given you.

I really like that this question seems to have a built in listening component to it. When I ask myself now what?, I am open and receptive to what answers will come through. I may have an idea or suspicion of what the answer might be, but just by pausing to contemplate this question I am leaving the door open.

One of the most powerful attributes I've seen in entrepreneurs is the ability to be flexible in their approach to solving problems. They have certainty in where they are going and simultaneously are open to all the avenues that will take them there.

When we ask now what?, we are allowing ourselves to be curious with alternative approaches that may not yet have revealed themselves.

Why am I not further along on my journey?

Having spent the last few years with top performers from all over the country, there is one question that comes up over and over again that can cause so much pain and anxiety:

"Why am I not further along on my journey?"

Why don't I have a bigger bank account? Why don't I have a job that I love? Why don't I live in my dream home? Why don't I have the perfect partner and wonderful kids? Why haven't I got that promotion that should be mine?

I could go on and on with these questions. And the crazy part is, they can always be present for us no matter how much success we may have already had.

Why don't I have my second investment property yet? Why haven't I raised my third VC fund? Why is my fourth startup not taking off as fast as my first three did?

We have these expectations instilled upon us that we "should" be further along on our journey than we are. We see someone else who may be two steps ahead of us in one particular thing we are measuring them against and that in some way makes us feel inferior or as if we are not enough.

I do this. ALL. THE. TIME.

I've just done it again with writing on this site. I want to write every day. I can feel the benefits of writing consistently and see others who do it. I know it's possible, and yet I'm not there yet. Hell, I don't even have stable place to call home right now. So why am I trying to project myself forward into this place where I have the structures in place to publish a post every morning? I want to be in that place, I am not there yet, and I've allowed this to cause internal friction.

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Whenever I experience this "I should be further along" feeling, I do a few things:

1. I bring awareness to this feeling. I consciously recognize that I am having this thought (again) where my mind projects where I "should" be. I see you thoughts.
2. I have compassion for myself and these beautiful thoughts that simply want a better life for me. Thank you, mind, for seeing the future better than it currently is. What a gift!
3. I find gratitude. Mostly this shows up as gratitude for being exactly where I am at on my journey. My past has led me to this exact moment, and I wouldn't change a thing. My experiences have shaped me into the human that am I, and I am forever grateful for that.

Part of being a Creator is that we are bringing new things into this world that don't exist. We see the opportunity for change, the possibility of building a better future. From that place, it feels natural to have feelings about why we aren't further along.

When we can bring awareness and compassion to those feelings and have gratitude for exactly where we are at, we can harness this energy to pull us forward and release any negativity we might associate with being exactly where we are at in this moment.

Are we getting to the good part?

I had a thought this morning about "getting to the good part." It comes at a time of exciting business things happening, the closing of a major personal open loop, craziness in the White House and geopolitical news, and also a bigger movement happening that's hard to put into words.

There were two things that came up with this thought that felt worth sharing.

1. It feels like we are in between the old and the new. We know we no longer want the old, and yet we're not quite at the new just yet. But we can taste it. We long for it. And it's coming. I've felt this for me personally, some close friends, and society in general in a way. It's exciting. And it's frustrating.
2. On the flip side of that, if we were truly "getting to the good part," that would imply that things aren't good now. And I categorically reject that. Things are not perfect, not even close. There's always opportunity to improve. And even in the middle of turmoil, chaos and uncertainty, this is the most amazing time to be alive.

The conclusion I came to this morning is that it does feel like things are getting better which is exciting, and at the same time, even with whatever nonsense may be going on at the moment, things are pretty damn good.