Measuring progress

I want to add meditation to my daily routine as I have read so many positive things about it. I have tried several times over the last 2 years but it has never really worked for me. I seem to be able to get a routine going for a few weeks but then lose interest. This time, though “it will be different, I know it!”  This is what I tell myself. So once again I will give it a shot. I truly do believe that it has many benefits, but they must be subtle and I just haven’t noticed. I have seen this with other things, such as running. I had tried several times over the years to start running. I would set up a 3-4 day a week schedule, buy the shoes and heart rate monitor and then give it a shot. I would get to the point where I could run a mile or so…without walking! Pretty good for me, but then I wouldn’t see any progress for months..or at least I didn’t think there was any progress?? You see, I ended up getting a free app from Strava that could record my runs that showed me there was improvement. I would run the same route most of the time and the app would give me the times,compare it to other runs and I could see the improvement. So simple, duh, I should have done this before! I would see very small incremental improvements on this app., that I wasn’t able to feel.  This gave me hope, I was improving, slowly but it didn’t matter, as long as I was going the right direction, I was motivated to keep going. I still run 1-3 days per week and maintain my ability to do 3-5 miles without too much trouble.
So now back to meditation, how can I measure it so I know there are some results? Or at least know I am having some slight improvements? So that will be my challenge, to look for a way to measure my results. In the meantime I am starting a meditation routine again so I can at least be in the habit of meditating. My hope is two-fold:
1. That I can create a habit by continually taking 5-10 minutes a day to silently meditate.
2. That I can find or create a way to measure my results.
I am making a post out of this as I think it may help me continue even when I get discouraged or frustrated. Look for posts in the coming months telling you about the success I am having and the way I found to measure my progress.

2 thoughts on “Measuring progress

  1. Amysays

    I want to hear more about this. Let’s do some lake laps and you can fill me in on it at the post ride “coffee talk”.

    Reply
    1. RichSikrasays

      Thanks,that sounds good. Hopefully I will be making some progress in this area!

      Reply

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