I’ve been doing transcendental mediation (TM) for the past month and a half. My mom bought the TM training for me as a birthday gift to help improve my sleep. I didn’t think that I would stick with it because meditating isn’t a personal goal and it’s a big ask of my time. I meditate forty minutes everyday- twenty minutes in the morning, twenty minutes in the afternoon. Because it was a gift I decided to give it a sincere effort and evaluate whether to continue it at some future point.

It has surprised me that I’ve kept with it. I have personal discipline in spades, but any ongoing activity has to be really rewarding for me to be willing to add it to the other  time-intensive tasks I do on a daily basis (lifting and writing). TM varies a little in its effects, but in general, it has improved my energy level. Beyond this benefit, what has made it easy to maintain is the training provided as part of TM. Specifically, the way you’re taught to self-evaluate meditation.

When you’re taught TM, they teach you to evaluate your meditation not on how you feel during meditation or whether you have thoughts or not, but on certain signals to watch for:

  • Did the mantra change?
  • Did you lose track of time?
  • Did your breathing get soft and slow?

This meta-evaluation directs attention towards the process instead of the outcome. It’s a winnable, controllable game because if you follow the TM instruction these signals will occur.

Similarly, I’m studying business operating systems and EOS has a similar mechanism. In EOS, they give you six categories of the operating system and ask you to self-evaluate your implementation of those categories on a regular basis. Rather than focusing on whether EOS is impacting profit, instead you’re attention is directed to how much of the system you have implemented with a goal of 80% criteria being met.

Tracking KPI’s in your business has a similar effect. The right KPI’s should create a game that focuses you and your team on activities that lead to good outcomes rather than on the current outcomes.

What are the signals that you’re engaging with the market in a way that supports your goals?