My 3 new year resolutions
#155 - Reflections on investing and life from building my holding company
Dear reader,
New year, new resolutions. Here are my 3. Feel free to hold me accountable—and share yours if you want.
20 minutes of transcendental meditation every morning
.1 Why
I started last October with no particular expectations. Just curiosity. Everyone won't shut up about meditation and I felt like an idiot for never trying. FOMO made me do it. Not exactly enlightened motivation.
I paid for a mini course—3 sessions where they explained the practice and gave me a secret mantra I'm not supposed to share.
The practice turned out to be hard. I was inconsistent. But I caught glimpses of something. Not hours in nirvana—seconds where I seemed to transcend, lose the sense of my self. Fractions of time when the noise in my head stopped. Paradise.
Maybe imagined, maybe real. Only one way to find out… So I'm giving myself a year. Sustainable, consistent practice. To see if this actually works.
.2 How to make it stick
My alarm goes off at 6. Twenty minutes for my personal reboot—figure out where I am in the world, bathroom pleasantries, get downstairs with a teapot of freshly made tea.
At 6:30 the meditation begins. By 6:50 it's done. I drink my now lukewarm tea and prepare breakfast for me and my daughters, who will appear hungry at 7:30.
I've been testing this routine through December and it seems to stick. If I miss the morning, I do it before lunch. If I miss lunch, before dinner. Backup slots are safety nets, but not the plan. Morning is the slot.
I like that the first step of every day is always the same. A space of my own between the dreams of the night and the chaos of the day.
.3 Want to try it?
Sit comfortably. Cushion behind your back.
20-minute timer.
Close your eyes after a couple of breaths.
Repeat a mantra—a couple of syllables, no rhythm.
Thought interrupts? Notice it. That's half the work.
Return to the mantra.
The secret word is Irin. Use it freely. The secrecy is a business model, not a spiritual practice. Good things should be shared.
Fuck the gurus.
Next week, intention number 2...