Sign Posts On The Journey

Welcome to Mind Focused Monday, where I support you in remembering the POWER of a still, TRULY FOCUSED MIND.

This week, let me support you in creating a quicker, more efficient path up the mountain. To know that you are ascending on life's climbs towards your worldly and spiritual goals you need to start measuring the impact of all the efforts you are making. Think about it as spiritual efficiency, so when most people are engaged in practices that send them around or down their mountain, you are making continual and steady progress upwards.

Finding the optimal routes to the top and knowing you are progressing is somehow magically supportive. I will emphasize keywords of guidance, like Measure Twice, Now Proceed, as words for you to use either out loud or in your mind’s eye, as a guide, a reminder or a mantra in the week ahead.

Let’s dive into an example to magnify your self-awareness and understanding. So, before undertaking any practices e.g. yoga, meditation, breathwork or journaling, set an outcome or goal so that you can Measure Twice, Now Proceed to recognise the ascending impact of your practice along the way.

Not all practices are born equal and each practice can positively support different people in very different ways. Most people have their favourite practice, their number 1, but be alert, it doesn’t mean it’s the most suitable or effective for you!!

The reason for setting the Outcome or Goal is to allow you to know when you reach the destination, right, that is the top of your current climb?

Setting the outcome or goal also gives you the opportunity to see the road markers or signposts along the way, right?

So let’s say in the spirit of Mind Focused Monday that we set our goal as enjoying clearly focused attention and a quiet mind space throughout our waking hours.

I think that’s worth repeating, we set our Outcome or Goal as enjoying clearly focused attention and a quiet mind space throughout our waking hours.

Brilliant, so now we can begin to work backward from Outcome or Goal regarding some of the things we would expect to see, hear, feel or say to ourselves along the way. This is clearly your Measure Twice, Now Proceed stage.

It’s just like deciding to go on a trip to London, you now know your clearly intended ultimate destination. Furthermore, you now know and expect certain events to happen along the way to indicate clear, discernible progress.

Let’s look at events along the way in a little more detail

Clear progress might include seeing road signs or passing well-known landmarks en route. It may also include seeing other destinations prior to London along the route, if we are heading from the north then places like Birmingham then Luton or Oxford would appear. You might choose to pay attention to the number of miles to London and therefore, see the number gradually decreasing as you make progress.

This might sound simple at first glance, yet in the areas of mindfulness, Measure Twice, Now Proceed is rarely applied, even though it is a master key to increasing the chance of success.

Back to our outcome of enjoying clearly focused attention and a quiet mind space throughout our waking hours.

What are some of the signposts we would expect to see, hear, feel or say to ourselves along the way? What can we Measure Twice, Now Proceed with?

Let’s start with a move from being distracted easily, to a place of increased ability to focus for longer periods of time.

Now consider a shift from negative mental chatter to decreasing negative mental chatter, to neutral chatter and then eventually to positive self-talk, finally arriving at silence whilst enjoying one thought at a time.

With your measurements, not only will you appreciate your clear and steady progress, you will know when to celebrate your success as well as having an increased ability to teach others how to create a journey that is more likely to be successful.

Have an amazing week and remember that for those of you ready for change, commit to a measured life, a life in which you apply the golden rule of Measure Twice, Now Proceed. Do also remember to take action by setting a Goal or Outcome and starting a practice now.

This really is about a deeply intended life, with aspirational effort, working towards your goals and outcomes, moment to moment, one breath at a time.

The journey towards a quiet mind begins with an efficient Measure Twice, Now Proceed approach to Goals/Outcomes and commitment to a personalised practice. You know you deserve it, your true self-awakening, a quiet focused mind, that is you loving peacefully.

Taking steps daily towards the new you may inspire you to want to consider taking on your biggest challenges now and at The Quantum Questions, we are here to provide support while guiding you.

Join me for live meditation online, free on Mondays 8.30 pm - 9 pm (UK time). Register now to get your free introduction to meditation and join me live on Zoom for 30 minutes. 

For additional reassurance, help, support, and inspiration check out everything we offer at The Quantum Questions.