Four Ways Meditating for Just 10 Minutes a Day Made Me a Better Man

If I want to train my body, then it’s a no-brainer to seek out a weight room.

If I want to train my mind, then I should start meditating. I wasn’t too sure about that notion. Meditation wasn’t for people like me—or so I thought.

I thought meditation was for Buddhist monks or for those people who sit around all day in silence slowly whispering mantras.

I didn’t think meditation was for the everyday citizens of the world. Meditating seemed intimidating and weird. How can I shut off my mind? Do I really have to sit for thirty minutes or longer? Do I have to chant weird mantras?

These were a few of the many initial worries.

Nevertheless, I decided to give meditation a chance and committed to 10 minutes every day. The first week or two, it wasn’t an earth-shattering change of difference in my life. However, as I continued to stick with this habit, little things in my life began changing.

Here are the four benefits I gained from consistently meditating.

1. I stopped judging others as much

As human beings, we have a natural tendency to place judgment on an assortment of things. Whether it’s celebrities we see on tv, people in our news feeds, or own selves—we’re constantly judging and forming an opinion about something.

Judging was something that I did without having to even think about it. It was second nature. Through meditation, I uncovered that this constant judgment was rooted predominately in jealousy.

Very few of those people warranted the judgment that I gave. From the guy who was great with women to the writer with the drove of fans—these were things I wanted in my life—or so I thought.

The beautiful thing about meditation is that it trains your brain to focus on observing your thoughts and feelings, instead of judging them.

After I became more in tuned with my thoughts, I caught myself when I began to judge others, which freed up my thoughts toward more productive things such as focusing on my own writing, business, and developing myself into a better man—one that would attract the type of quality woman that I desired.

If you’re always judging others, you’re wasting valuable time spent on others instead of engineering yourself into the best possible version of yourself.

2. My stress and anxiety decreased

Meditation is far from being a magic potion that erases all your stressors, worries, and anxieties in life. Instead, meditation is effective against these types of feelings because it helps you stay in the present moment and not waste time traveling to the past or future.

Fixating on the past only brought me guilt, sadness, and regret over things that can’t be fixed. Fixating on the future made me anxious and brought about a thousand what ifs—none of which were certain to happen.

What if I’ll never become a good entrepreneur? What if no one buys my books? What if I run out of money? What if I never find a girl who likes me for me? What if I never travel the world and live out a dream?

These worries serve no benefit to me at this moment because they’re distracting me from taking action and making those dreams into a possibility.

By meditating, I’m able to stay grounded and in the present moment–which is ultimately the only moment I have complete control of. Fixating on the present allows me to shape the future to my liking by allowing me to take the essential actions today that allow for the possibility of a tomorrow that I desire.

3. I started to understand myself more

How many of us can say that we know who we exactly are? Very few and I’m not included in that group just yet.

I’m getting close, but I’m not there just yet. Throughout our lives, there’s a disconnect between our mind and body. This disconnect leads to self-destructive behaviors.

I had a highly impulsive behavior that manifested in impulsive purchases used to temporarily make me feel good and mask any discomfort throughout my daily life. Also, my impulsive behavior prevented me from sticking with decisions in my business which in turn, led me to spinning my wheels and becoming frustrated.

Without taking control of our internal world, these self-destructive behaviors serve as a natural defense mechanism against our true selves. This disconnect from our true selves is why many resort to drugs, alcohol, other promiscuous behaviors.

Meditation allows us to focus more on who we want to be. It leads to a process of learning who we are, who we want to be, and how to get there.

Most importantly, meditation allows you to get a mind-body connection. It helps you to develop more meaningful connections and go deeper into why you want something or why you act in a particular way.

4. My self-esteemed improved

To ultimately succeed in life and manifest into the best version of ourselves, we need to have a healthy dose of confidence. This was something that I lacked in business, relationships, and many other ventures in life.

How does low confidence become a fixture in our lives?

It’s born from the stories we tell ourselves, the negative thoughts, our perceptions, and our environments. Meditation allows you to recognize that thoughts are just thoughts not necessarily who you actually are.

Meditation allows you to believe in yourself and show up as a better version of yourself because you begin to separate this false version built up in your head from the real you.

Meditating isn’t just for the elite, the yogis, the mantra chatting community or the monks in the mountains. It’s for anyone who desires to quiet the inner chatter going on; thus become a better man in life, business, and relationships.

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Photo: Getty Images

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