How Morning Meditation Will Transform Your Life (In Just 20 Minutes a Day)

When people hear about meditation, they usually get this image in their head of some weird monk sitting in a Buddhist monastery.

They think that meditation is something that only Buddhists do, or weird, spiritual hippies…but what if I told you that meditation is actually one of the most common habits of the successful?

Yup, that’s right. From Russell Simmons, the multi-millionaire founder of Def Jam Records, to Oprah Winfrey herself, a lot of highly successful people meditate every day.

Meditation, if you do it right, will supercharge your self-development. You’ll literally re-wire your brain to be calm, collected, and hyper-focused. Here’s how:

The Now

Meditation is based off of the premise that the only moment that we have, is the present moment. We do not have access to the future, we do not have access to the past…we can only act in the present moment.

Yes, we can certainly think about the past or the future, but we can’t actually do anything in them. The goal of meditation is to create a deep presence, where you’re completely engaged with and aware of your current reality.

Far too many people agonize over their past, wishing they would’ve done things differently, or worry about their future, about things that may never happen. They fret about things they could’ve done or should’ve done, and things they will do, or have to do.

Meditation is meant to lessen this. It allows you to use thought, rather than IT using YOU. Meditation trains you to stop worrying or agonizing over things you can’t change.

It also trains you to be focused on whatever the task is at hand, which allows you to be incredibly productive, compared to someone who’s frequently daydreaming or checking their Twitter feed in between doing work.

Meditation and Mood

“When a man is dwelling in the past, he is depressed. When a man is thinking of the future, he is anxious. When a man is in the present, he is serene.” -Buddha

When you take the time out to meditate just 20 minutes a day, you’ll start to realize how often your mind wanders. When I first started meditating, I was literally dumbfounded at how often I worried about the past and future.

…and what’s so horrible too, is that it’s so common, that nobody even realizes it! Most of us spend our lives worrying and fretting, depressed over the past, or anxious over the future, not realizing just how much we do so.

When you practice morning meditation, you train your mind to focus on the present moment. Rather than being depressed or anxious, over the past or future, you’re calm and collected, fully engaged with NOW.

Meditation has been shown to positively affect your mood in numerous ways. Here are some of the mental benefits of a morning meditation practice:

• Better concentration
• Lessened anxiety
• Improved serotonin production
• Increased energy
• More emotional stability
• Higher intuition
• More accurate memory

Meditation also has a large number of physical benefits, from decreasing inflammation to improving cortisol levels to lowering blood pressure. For the amount of time that you put into it, meditation has one of the biggest ROI’s, which is why I recommend every man start meditating when he begins the journey of self-development.

How to Meditate

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.” -Buddha

I’ve already written a quick 5-step guide on meditation, but I’d like to go into more detail about how I personally meditate. I’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding meditation lately, so I think that this will clear things up.

First things first, I aim to meditate 20 minutes in the morning, soon after waking, and 20 minutes in the night, soon before going to bed. Science has shown us that your brain is most receptive to change right after you wake up, and right before you go to bed, so this is when I meditate.

In the morning, I follow my morning routine for zen-like focus. I wake up, do my “gratefulness exercise,” have some coffee, watch a subliminal video, use a vision board, meditate, and then do some stretches. Meditation is an integral part of my morning routine, because it leaves me calm and collected, so that I can conquer the day like a boss.

I also use binaural beats, monaural beats, and isochronic tones when I meditate—if you’re a beginner I urge you to use these with caution.

The way that they work, is basically you wear earphones, and they emit certain frequencies that “trains” your brain to enter into a certain wavelength more easily. Depending on the frequency, there will be different effects:

• Beta frequency (13 to 30 Hz): Awake and alert, slightly anxious.
• Alpha frequency (8 to 12 Hz): Relaxed and alert, ideal for creativeness and focus.
• Theta frequency (4 to 7 Hz): The “mental twilight zone,” between sleep and wakefulness, intensely relaxed.
• Delta frequency (1 to 3 Hz): The “Buddhist Monk,” state. Most people only experience delta frequency when they’re asleep.

I personally use Brain FM when I meditate, although others have used similar programs such as Holosync or Hemisync, and have also had great results. If you’re a beginner, I HIGHLY URGE you to start off at “Level 10.” Do NOT jump down past this.

The reason why is your brain can’t handle certain frequencies without intense practice. Life Flow will increase the rate that your brain adapts and re-wires itself, but you shouldn’t jump too far ahead of yourself, otherwise it can cause massive panic attacks and existential angst.

Why Morning Meditation

Although you can still get the benefits of meditation if you do it, say, during the day time or something, in order to get the maximum benefit I recommend you meditate shortly after waking, and shortly before you go to bed.

When you meditate early in the morning, you prime your mind to tackle the day from a detached, serene, and alert state—this is ideal for work, gym time, or game.

You’ll be absolutely amazing at the benefits you get from meditating just 20 minutes in the morning. If you want to get even more benefits, you can always do the entire morning routine that I recommend, but meditating is a great start.

When you take the time to meditate for just 20 minutes in the morning, you’ll find that everything you do that day will be done more effectively. Why is this? Again, it’s because you’re training your mind to stay focused in the present moment.

Rather than your mind wandering around, when you’re at the gym, or trying to get work done, or trying to get a girl’s number, you’ll be completely focused on the present moment, and you can focus all of your mental energy on doing the task at hand.

How Meditation Impacts Game

Most of the problems that guys encounter with women can be entirely fixed, or at least seriously lessened, by meditating. When I started meditating 20 minutes in the morning, and 20 minutes at night, I noticed that the quality and quantity of women in my life skyrocketed.

When you meditate, you teach your brain to be present, which is a direct cure for approach anxiety. Because, what is approach anxiety, after all, but just you worrying about what MIGHT happen? If you’re in the present moment, that worry doesn’t exist.

Or maybe you’re nervous about what some girl will think about you. Are you worried that she’s going to judge you, or think you’re a loser, or that you’re unattractive? Again, that comes from you worrying about the FUTURE. In other words, it can be fixed with meditation.

Are you angry about an ex-girlfriend? Depressed that she left you? Or maybe you feel insecure, because she cheated on you. Well, you’re dwelling in the past, my friend…and this is something that meditation will fix.

Do you see how applicable meditation is to your dating life? Women LOVE IT when you can just be with them, and not worry about the past or future, but just enjoy the moment. So, not only will they be more attracted to you, but you’ll enjoy spending time with them even more.

How Meditation Impacts Finances

There’s a reason why most successful individuals meditate every single day—when you’re in a calm and collected state, you can make business decisions much easier. When you aren’t worried about “what if this happens,” or “what if that happens,” you can focus on the evidence and decide which direction to take your business in fairly quickly.

When you meditate every day, you improve your ability to focus—this translates directly to more productive work days.

You’re working on a startup out in Silicon Valley? Great, meditation will help you work 16 hour days with uninterrupted focus. You’re an entrepreneur, trying to find a perfect market to enter into? Great, meditation will help you do niche research for hours on end.

…or maybe you’re just trying to get a promotion? Again, meditation will allow you to put in your absolute best work, which your boss will be guaranteed to notice. Meditation impacts every aspect of your financial life, because it literally enhances your ability to concentrate on working more effectively.

Just 20 Minutes a Day

As I hope I’ve made clear, meditation will impact literally every aspect of your life. When you’re at the gym, you’ll be able to focus solely on destroying the weights. When you’re with friends, you can focus on the present moment and enjoy having a good time with them.

When you’re working, you’ll have laser focus on whatever task you’re working on. When you’re spending time with a girl, you’ll be fully engaged with her, in a calm and collected state, without fear or anxiety. This is extremely liberating.

You can have all of these benefits, for literally just 20 minutes a day. This small investment in your self-growth will repay itself 100 fold.

Meditation is one of my best habits for men, specifically because it’s that powerful. In literally just 20 minutes a day, you can completely transform your life…and no, this is not an exaggeration.

Imagine how you’d feel if you could walk through life, in a state of pure mental bliss, at ease? Well, that’s the goal—obviously there will be ups and downs, but meditation will make the downs a hell of a lot better, and the ups absolutely serene.

Summary

In short, meditation is probably the biggest return on investment for your time. Just a 20 minute investment each day can yield MASSIVE transformations, in every single aspect of your life.

The best times to meditate are shortly after waking up, and shortly before going to bed—studies have shown that these are the best times to permanently re-wire your brain, which is why morning and evening rituals are so important.

If you want to start meditating, but don’t know how, check out my guide. I recommend you use Life Flow, even if you’re a beginner, but start at Level 10, and stick there for at least a month or two. Don’t be stupid and jump to Level 1 like I did, because you’ll freak the fuck out.

Anyways, if you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to let me know…and, as always, I’ll see you next time!