How Meditation Increases Your Performance
Meditation might be the closest thing to a silver bullet for performance: regular practice reduces stress, improves creativity, and increases focus and memory.
Entrepreneurs like Loic Le Meur and Evan Williams meditate to build better companies. Athletes like Kobe Bryant do it to play better on the court.
Participants in our recent mediation challenge reported gains in their own effectiveness, too: 75% told us that meditation improved their focus at work and 90% learned skills that they could apply to other areas of their life. What kind of skills can you build while sitting in silence?
Meditation Trains Your Brain for the Big Game: Your Life
You’ll learn mindfulness techniques in meditation that will train your mental muscles how to pay attention. For instance, you’ll practice taking breaths, scanning your body, and concentrating on how things feel, taste or sound.
Meditating for a few minutes every day is like shooting freethrows at the end of basketball practice. Instead of training your arms for the perfect shot, you’re teaching your brain how to think with focus for maximum mental performance.
Since you use your brain all of the time, you’ll notice improvements in every task you do. For instance, Lift survey participants told us they:
- Talked to their spouse without thinking about checking their phone messages
- Stayed calm when a customer screamed at them by practicing their breathing techniques
- Resolved a bout of insomnia by scanning their body to find the stress and let it go
It’s easy to get started with meditation, too. You have a 90% chance of continuing a meditation habit after 11 days according to our research.That’s as easy as taking your vitamins every day.
How to start building this habit:
Right Now: Get tips and free guided meditations on Lift.
The collection features relaxations from Calm.com, positive affirmations, short meditations great for breaks during the day and even a Middle Earth Meditation for Lord of the Rings fans.
