Picture that messy pile of mail that lives on the counter waiting to be sorted, growing each week.
Instead of going through it, we stuff it in a drawer. On the surface, the house looks clean — but in the back of our minds, we can’t avoid the thought that there’s a messy drawer of mail.
Hiding the pile of mail can be useful if we need a temporary solution, but to many, this becomes the norm and their mail is rarely sorted properly.
Unfortunately, us humans deal with our thoughts the same way we sort our mail.
We all have that backlog of random thoughts on our minds — stressful projects at work, homework for school, a conversation that bothered us, unfinished laundry that needs to get done, needing to go to the gym more, etc.
We attempt to distract our minds by getting outside, going on hikes, riding bikes, and surfing, but no matter what we do, these thoughts still manage to creep their way back into our heads, re-appearing randomly and unwanted in our consciousness.
Clearing our minds when our eyes are open is extremely difficult. When our eyes are open, our primary focus will almost always be what we are visibly seeing. No matter how hard we try to focus our attention on our thoughts, there will always be a visual layer of distraction in front of our eyes.
There is an easier way to examine our thoughts, though, and the solution is quite simple — you just have to close your eyes. Below is my recommended routine. When you do it for the first time, you’ll be amazed at how easy and powerful it is.
- Find a comfortable area to sit upright (a couch or an office chair is fine)
- Set a timer for 60 minutes (it goes by quick)
- Close your eyes and allow your mind to wander until the timer goes off (explained below)
The key is to let thoughts appear as they desire without your control. Once a thought appears, hold onto it for a minute and do some examination. There’s a reason this thought popped into your mind, so it’s important to figure out the root cause and how to come to terms with it.
If this thought causes strain on you, diagnose where this strain is coming from and come up with a resolution or a plan of action to deal with it.
If your mind pulls you towards someone who bothers you, think deeply about that person and identify the reason you feel this way. Notice how this affects you and think about how to settle this feeling. Maybe you need to speak with them about something. Or maybe you’ve built this conflict in your own head without them even realizing it.
If you are concerned about not having achieved your personal goals, think deeply about why that’s the case. Is it because these aren’t goals anymore? Do you doubt yourself? If yes, why? If these are still goals, what are the first actionable steps you can take TODAY to get there? Are there things preventing you from achieving them?
Whatever the situation may be, dive deep and examine it closely. Sometimes this means setting the ego aside. Keep doing this for every thought that pops into your mind until the thoughts stop appearing.
The point is to deeply analyze your thoughts so you can stop storing them in your head and make yourself current or up-to-date with the present moment. You can think of your thoughts as a Spotify queue and the only way to silence them is to listen through each song once.
Going back to the mail analogy, this is equivalent to opening each envelope and deciding what to do with each one. Eventually, you’ll get through the entire pile and there will be no more stack of mail.
This meditation practice is all about addressing your thoughts as they appear, living in them momentarily, and then reconciling them one at a time.
Like most things in life, the secret sauce is consistency. Trying this once and expecting lasting results is the same as going to the gym once and expecting to be in shape for life. I do this routine once every 2-4 weeks. Find what works for you, and stick to it.
This is an extremely powerful tool that changed my life and I wish the same results for you. Good luck.