If you’re like me, you have probably wondered if your goals are attainable. One of the hardest parts of writing and meeting goals is making them measurable. It’s not impossible to meet goals without having milestones in place, but it depends more on luck than I’m comfortable with. Happily, I can report after one week that I met my markers. So, how did I do?
Breathing
I have to thank my friend Jeff. He walked me through a simple process that allows me to focus more on breath without actually focusing on the breath. My mind has always run at about 1M mph. This is great when I was doing heavy analytical work, but not so much when trying to quiet my mind. By intercepting the thoughts and not following them down the rabbit holes, I’ve seen a marked improvement in this area. And the breathing itself slows down the rest of my systems as well. I haven’t had nearly as many headaches in the last few months. I’ve been much more receptive to just letting things play out as they play out instead of gaming possible outcomes and trying to steer the processes. So thank you, Jeff!
Cultivating my QI
Not going to lie, December was pretty hit or miss between school, holidays, family updates, and the like. January has been much better. I did not get in multiple hours of meditation every day. I did perhaps half of the days, and have gotten in at least 20m every day. Ultimately, more to do in this area, but I can feel progress happening and I’m excited about that.
Doing for others
This area isn’t hard for me if I actually leave the house or if there is someone here at home with me. Without having actual knowledge about this (I’ve never taken a class in psychology) I feel like there is some psychological benefit for myself to just smiling and that it is contagious.
In an age of concern over contagions, this is one I’m ok with spreading. But, more concretely, I feel better when I let someone go through the door first. I feel better if I can help someone through manual labor or simple advice. Knowing I’ve improved someone’s day in some way, even if it goes unacknowledged (I don’t keep a running tally, which also makes me feel better). I was once asked by another friend, Kevin, “What do I gotta do to be more like Mike?”. I told him he had to be kind. We laughed and laughed after he responded with a “Why do you have to make it impossible?”.
Learn something new
This is a little counter intuitive, but stay with me. I learned (again) that going into the weeds isn’t always the best way. I’m taking an online Taiji Chuan class once a week. I wasn’t able to make one session because I’m not super tech-savvy. However, I did start a project to write down every little detail I could remember. I figured I could make sure I’m not missing anything. Well, I am actually missing a lot and overthinking everything.
This hurts me because it gets me back up into my head (1M mph, remember?) rather than staying in my body. I should go with muscle memory and make the small, incremental changes needed to refine my cultivation and practice. I’m reminded of a lesson I learned from an Army SGT (I met him in training before a deployment in 2005-6. While he was teaching a small group of us how to clear a building he said something that stuck. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, fast is deadly.” I recognize that I’m on a long journey and the fast is deadly part isn’t really required. Heck, even the smooth is fast part isn’t really required. But the mantra still rings true for me. I can continue to practice and smooth out the steps along the way and eventually I’ll get there.
