Here’s a story about overcoming obstacles …

Like many people, Jane started meditating because she knew it would improve her life. When it was new and the enthusiasm was there, she found it easy.

Once the novelty wore off, however, Jane wasn’t that excited about meditation anymore.

It didn’t feel that great. She tired of it easily. She couldn’t stop wondering what was happening on Facebook.

She quickly found her meditations went from 30 minutes a day to 30 seconds. “I’m just not in the flow, today,” Jane would say as she pulled out the IPad to check her emails.

This approach of “I’ll do something when it’s going good but quit when it’s not going so well” is destroying people’s will power – whether they are trying to meditate, paint a portrait or get in shape.

That’s why I tell people to time their meditations. Set an alarm. Have a goal. This forces you to say to yourself: “It doesn’t matter if my meditation is good or bad… I’m just going to finish it.”

Whatever you want to do to improve your life — set a timer.

Take it a step further by keeping a log or journal – tracking your progress.

Now, once you overcome this barrier to your will power then an inner force (like a mental “virus” that tries to stop you from living a fulfilling life) will use another far more cunning tactic…

Let’s say Jane has committed to meditating five minutes each day whether she’s in the mood or not. It’s a little difficult at first, but after a few weeks she’s really enjoying it.

Then one day she’s experiencing a very deep meditation and doesn’t want to stop when the alarm goes off. So she keeps on meditating as long as she continues to feel this deep state of peace.

Sounds good, right? Not so fast…

Now, when will she actually stop her meditation since the alarm has already gone off? When her meditation starts going bad. That’s when.

So now Jane’s giving up. Again.

I recommend that you meditate for whatever time you know you can consistently commit to every day. Then if you’re having a great meditation one day and you want to meditate more, wait until the timer goes and set it again for another five minutes (or whatever time you decide).

The same goes for exercise. If you’re on a runner’s high after two miles then set another goal. Maybe aim for another mile. Or do the same route again. But don’t just keep on running until you don’t feel like it anymore.

Otherwise you’ll let the virus continue to dictate your actions and sabotage our life.