Credit GIOVANNI DIENSTMANN
NEVER ZERO The power of commitment
No matter how motivated you are, developing any new habit can be difficult. Motivation is the initial fuel you need to get going, but it can be as volatile as your mood. Once you’ve started, you’ll need commitment to make meditation part of your life for the long term.
It is commitment that keeps a married couple going, despite moments of conflict and difficult times. It is commitment that makes a burnt-out parent continue to strive to provide the best for their children. And it is commitment that will keep you meditating, even when you are feeling tired, busy, or demotivated.
In building a meditation habit, this commitment has a name: never zero. Never zero means that you tell yourself: “I will meditate every day. I won’t go to sleep without meditating, come what may! Even if I am tired, even if I am super busy, even if
I am travelling, I’ll make the time to sit for at least 5 minutes.” The moment you make this sincere commitment to yourself, meditation starts to take deep roots in your life. It means you have already won the first battle: that of discipline.
THE FREEDOM OF COMMITMENT
The never zero commitment frees up a lot of mental space: it means that you will never again need to decide if you will meditate today or not, or if you have time for it or not. If circumstances are particularly challenging in a given day, your only question needs to be: “When can I meditate today? And for how long?”
If you’re not ready to make this commitment
to yourself just yet, that’s okay. You can still explore meditation, learn more about it, and try it out. But
it is only once you make this commitment that you will be able to access all the benefits that meditation can bring for you.