Ever started a meditation practice, excited at first, and then met with constant frustration and quitting?

So why, then, do so many meditation journeys end before they barely even begin?

The number one mistake people make when building any new habit is setting the bar too high. You know the cycle, the "New Year, New Me" hype that rolls around every year. The promise to start training again, going all in the first week trying to show up at the gym six days a week, only to face-plant by week two.

What happens?

You dive in with all that excitement but only to be slammed by something nobody warns you about: sheer resistance and the feeling of an untamed mind.

The problem isn't you, or even the habit itself. The problem is that starting is often approached in the wrong way, setting the bar too high, trying too hard. You promise yourself that you'll start a meditation practice and becoming enlightened like Buddha within your first session. Only...it it creates tension and resistance.

You've been taking advice from a Youtuber, read a book about it, something gave you some inspiration... Now, you commit with excitement only to be slammed by resistance.

But here’s what happens next, and it’s the part nobody warns you about.

You dive in with excitement, only to be slammed by resistance, frustration, and a monkey mind on steroids.

Why Most Meditation Journeys End Before They Even Begin

You sit down to find peace.

You close your eyes.

And within seconds, your mind turns into a battlefield — racing thoughts, restless body, frustration building.

You wanted calm.

Instead, you get chaos.

The harder you try to force stillness, the louder everything becomes.

Until eventually, you give up, wondering if something is wrong with you.

And you're not alone.

I've been practicing meditation for over eight years. I know exactly why this happens — and how brutal it can feel.

I used to think I was crazy — unable to quiet my mind, unable to sit still for even a minute.

Boredom. Frustration. Restlessness. It built up fast. My legs twitched, my mind raced, and I remember thinking:

I quit before I even really started.

Just like the New Year’s promises to hit the gym and get fit for summer —

My dream of becoming enlightened and free vanished before it ever had a chance to takes roots.

I consumed videos, books, and advice from every influencer talking about meditation. But none of them prepared me for what really happens when you close your eyes and face yourself.

The compounding Effect

The answer to this was the art of compounding effect and understanding that a habit like meditation, was a long-term process, not a one day solution.

If you don't know, the compounding effect is how tiny daily efforts add up to big transformations over time, even if progress feels invisible at first.

For example, when you plant a seed, you don’t see anything happening above the ground for days — sometimes weeks.

But beneath the surface, roots are growing.

The same thing happens with meditation: you might not feel different during the practice, but over time, the roots of mindfulness take hold and begin to transform your daily life.

At first, I didn’t realize this. I thought mindfulness would feel amazing during every session — but the real changes showed up quietly, later, in my daily life.

Why You Can't Force Stillness

I started to understand that the effects of being more mindful is something that take root after the practices. Not during it.

And most importantly, I learned that the monkey mind was a common thing among most human beings, and trying to stop it would never work.

The mind is like a pool of water — the more you fight it, the more it ripples. But if you stay still and just watch, it becomes calm by itself.

The same goes for the monkey mind.

You can't force it to stop. You have to observe it without fighting, and eventually, it settles on its own.

The frustration of not being able to sit more than 5 minutes and shutting down my mind, was because I approached the process in the wrong way.

Understanding this changed everything.

So what actually worked?

Not another technique. Not another app.

Just one shift — the thing nobody talks about but makes all the difference.

The Small Shift That Changes Everything

You've been lied to.

The duration of your meditation practise doesn't matter as much as how consistent you are.

5 minutes a day will take you further than one 45-minute session once a week.

It’s much easier to start with 5 minutes than to force yourself through a long session.

When you start small, you’ll notice:

• Less resistance every time you sit down.
• More self-esteem, knowing you showed up and followed through.
• A strong sense of momentum that compounds into real transformation.

And it all begins with a small shift —one that most people overlook, yet makes all the difference.

The meditation industry sells you a fantasy: light a candle, sit on a cushion, breathe for 20 minutes — and boom, inner peace. But the stats don’t lie. Most people quit within two weeks.

Why?

Because the guidance they receive ignores the fundamental psychology of habit formation.

What if I told you that the solution isn’t more time meditating — but a smarter way to build consistency?

Here’s what works instead.

How to Build a Meditation Habit That Lasts

To build a habit that actually lasts, you have to ignore most of the advice out there.

What you're told to do — and what actually works — are often complete opposites.

Let’s break down why most people fail at building a meditation habit, and what to focus on instead.

The Meditation Myth That Sets You Up For Failure

Most guidance you hear about meditation is deceptive.

They tell you all about the practice, outcomes, benefits and how 30 minutes of meditation will transform your life and set your free.

They're not wrong.

You'll reap tremendous benefits from a daily practice of 30 min mindfulness.

I know that, because I've practiced it for years. The benefit came in different levels, from when I started the first time, until today, 8 years later.

Back when I started, I remember setting a 30 min timer and barely lasting 2.

I focused on my breath for a couple of seconds and then suddenly, GONE, into my mental movie, caught up in some random scenario.

I felt awful and thought something was wrong with me.

But this is completely normal.

What the guidance forgot to include into the formula is that meditation isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.

The advice you get to meditate for 30 min, or promising immediate results sets you up for failure.

And that’s exactly where most people give up — not because meditation doesn't work, but because the approach was flawed from the start.

It's like telling a non-runner to start with a marathon.

The runner needs some time to practice. Kilometer per kilometer, starting low and increasing with time. Until accustomed and trained enough to run the whole marathon.

As we've mentioned before, you have to start small in order to reduce the resistance and friction, from moving from one level (your current comfort zone), to another level (a new zone).

Why Busy People Need a Different Approach

The people who seem to struggle most with cultivating this habit are the busy, stressed, overactive person.

The person who needs it most.

You sit down, mind racing, thinking about emails or the dishes. You open your app, start the timer, and by minute 2, you’re already checking your phone.

Because who has 30 minutes for meditation?

Life requires hours of work, family, kids, or any other obligation.

And here's the brutal truth about what really happens when you try to force it, you end up in this bad cycle of:

You end up sitting there like a discount version of Buddha — legs crossed, eyes closed, but mentally answering emails and making grocery lists.

As mentioned earlier, I used to struggle with meditation too. Then I learned about the compound effect.

I realized it wasn’t about forcing 30 minutes of silence.

It was about showing up daily, even for a few minutes, and letting the small efforts compound.

That shift changed everything.

But there's something even deeper you need to understand before meditation truly clicks.

The Meditation Misconception That's Sabotaging Your Practice

This one insight changes everything.

Here 's what almost everyone gets wrong: Meditation isn't about achieving a special state — it's about seeing your current state clearly.

People believe that meditation is supposed to instantly clear their mind, create bliss, or make them feel peaceful — and when that doesn’t happen, they think they’re doing it wrong.

Expecting a blissful state from start is setting yourself up for failure.

You sit down, ready to feel peace... but instead, your mind turns into a circus. Thoughts jump from emails to errands to old memories. You try harder, but the harder you try, the worse it gets. Soon, frustration sets in. You wonder if you’re broken, if meditation just isn't for you.

This mirrors our earlier discussion about marathon runners, expecting to be enlightened in your first meditation session is like expecting to run 26 miles your first day of training.

It's not about perfection. It's about consistent practice.

Just like physical training gradually builds strength, meditation works by slowly removing layers.You never actually gain anything from meditation, but instead remove the clutter that veils your true untouched nature. Meditation isn't about having no thoughts, it's about changing your relationship with thoughts.

This shift in perspective is crucial, because it changes what you're aiming for.

Seeking bliss shouldn't be your highest priority but instead recognize it as a natural result of consistent daily meditation over a period of time.

You don’t plant a seed and demand a tree the next day. You water it daily, trusting what you can't yet see. Meditation works the same way.

The True Path to Meditation Success

You'll reap the benefits, but you have to focus on the process. When you observe your mind, and change how you react and engage with thoughts, you'll start to feel a difference. Keeping your attention on your breath and bringing it back when you wander away in your mind is a skill. The more often you practice, the more you expand your level of awareness.

This will aid your relationship with thoughts.

When I started out, it felt like trying to hold a wild monkey still with my bare hands—the more I resisted, the more it fought back. One moment I was focused on my breath, and the next I was deep in imaginary conversations, solving problems that didn't exist yet.

This wild monkey mind is exactly what I was experiencing when I earlier explained how I could barely focus for 2 minutes. I would focus on my breath for a few seconds, then, like a trapdoor opening, I'd fall straight into a mental movie.

I hated it.

You're here because you want something different. A way to stay with the practice, even when it feels messy. To trust the process, not just chase a perfect session.

The Transformation Waiting for You

I promise you, if you keep this practice consistent, you'll reap wonderful benefits:

So how do we get there?

How do we build a practice that actually delivers these benefits when so many people try and fail?

The Simple System for Consistent Meditation

Imagine meditation like a back and forth, ping-pong game.

1. You focus all your attention on your breath.
2. You get stuck in your mind wandering into a story on what you have to do in 3 weeks.
3. After a while, you notice that you're caught up, and bring back you attention to your breath. You don't feel any guilt but gently coming back.
4. The cycle repeat itself.

By know, you should be aware of the compound effect and how small daily action will increase your level of awareness and strengthen your attention, minimising the resistance and friction of showing up everyday.

This approach isn't just simple and work for the busiest person, but it also brings beautiful benefits over time.

So how do we get there? How do we build a practice that actually delivers these benefits when so many people try and fail?

After 8 years of meditation practice and studying why most people quit, I've collected 5 steps to help you cultivate a daily meditation practise and reap the long-term benefits.

Let me break down exactly how to implement each of these principles into a system that works even for the busiest, most distracted minds.

1) Starting Small

Begin with just 5 minutes of mindfulness meditation daily.

Remember, in order to run the marathon , you have to build up the habit one small step at a time. This isn't about lowering your standards, it's about setting yourself up for sustainable success.

When I first committed to just 5 minutes daily instead of forcing myself to do 30, something surprising happened . Not only did I actually follow through, but the quality of my practice improved because I wasn't sitting there watching the clock , wondering when the torture would end.

For many people, this shift from duration to consistency is the turning point.

A friend of mine, a busy mother of two who "never had time to meditate" found that 5 minutes while her coffee brewed was doable every single day. Within three weeks, she had established her first-ever consistent practice.

The key here is to find a level that reduces the friction of showing up each day. Don't worry about the time, you'll increase it gradually as your practice strengthens.

Think of it like strength training: you wouldn't start with the heaviest weights on day one.

You build capacity over time.

If you're already familiar with meditation, you can absolutely start with longer sessions.

But be honest with yourself, is 20 minutes truly sustainable given your current life?

I've seen even experienced meditators benefit from temporarily scaling back to rebuild consistency.

Action step:

Choose a specific time tomorrow for your 5-minute session. Set a gentle alarm, and commit to sitting for just those 5 minutes, focusing on your breath. When thoughts arise (and they will), gently return your focus to your breath without judgment.

Feel free to use any background sound, apps or Youtube.

The important thing is to actually do the session and show up.

If you want to go a little deeper — and give your mind and body an even stronger reset — there’s one more simple practice you can add.

It's totally optional, but it made a huge difference for me when I first started.

2) The Wim Hof Method

When I started out with meditation some years ago, I didn't start with mindfulness practise. It came with time.

What got me into it was discovering Wim Hof, aka "The Iceman", and his breathing technique.

I tried it once and got chocked by the immediate results from it:

• Deep physical relaxation
• Sharp mental clarity
• Boosted energy
• A natural high
• Calm

All of it, within a 10 minute practise.

This is actually rooted in ancient spiritual traditions, where practices like Pranayama were used to balance the mind, body, and energy before meditation.

To this day, I still start with 3–4 rounds of breathing to calm my body and clear my mind before I sit to meditate.

Here's how to do it:

1. Sit or lie down comfortably — somewhere safe where you can fully relax (never standing or driving).
2. Take 30 deep breaths — inhale fully through the nose or mouth, and let go naturally without forcing the exhale. (Think: fully in, letting go.)
3. After the 30th breath, exhale fully (just let it go naturally, not forced) and hold your breath — hold it until you feel the natural urge to breathe again.
4. When you feel the urge, inhale fully and hold for 10-15 seconds — then let go.
5. Repeat for 3–4 rounds — each round deepens the calm and focus.

Action Step: Try Your First Wim Hof Session

Here’s a free beginner guided session by Wim Hof himself: Wim Hof Breathing Guided Session (YouTube)​

Find a quiet place, press play, and follow along for one full session. It only takes about 10 minutes.

This practice is completely optional, if it feels like too much, just stick with the 5 minutes of mindfulness.

But if you want a deeper reset, adding a few rounds of breathing can make it even easier to calm your mind before you start.

Of course, doing it once isn’t the goal.

Real change comes from showing up daily — even in small ways — and letting the benefits build over time.

And this leads us to the next step.

3) Progressive Building

With time, you'll notice meditation becomes easier.

The 5 minutes that once felt like an eternity will begin to fly by, and you won't be caught up in your thinking mind as much.

This is exactly what happened to me after some weeks of consistent practice.

I remember checking my timer, convinced it was broken because surely more than 5 minutes had passed.

It had been 6-10 minutes.

My practice wasn't "perfect" – I still got caught up in thoughts – but I wasn't fighting them as much. More importantly, I didn't get as annoyed and tired sitting down a bit longer.

When to Level Up Your Practice

Just like with strength training, progression needs to be intentional and strategic.

After establishing a solid 7-day streak of consistent 5 -minute sessions, consider adding 1 minutes to your practice. Not 10 minutes, not even 5 more minutes – just 1.

Why such a small increase?

Because the goal isn't to meditate longer, the goal is to build an unbreakable consistency. It's common that people jump from 5 minutes to 20 minutes and promptly abandon their practice altogether.

Here's what a sensible progression might look like:

• Days 1-7: 5 minutes daily
• Days 8-14: 6 minutes daily
• Days 15-21: 8-10 minutes daily
• Days 22-30: 12-15 minutes daily

Signs You're Ready to Increase Duration:

• Your current sessions feel almost too short
• You're no longer watching the clock
• You've maintained at least a 7-day streak
• You actually look forward to your sessions
• The initial resistance to sitting down has diminished

Warning Signs You've Increased Too Quickly:

• You start finding excuses to skip days
• You feel dread before sessions
• You're constantly checking the time
• You feel more frustrated than before

The "Extra Credit" Approach

Here's a powerful mindset shift: set your official session length, but give yourself permission to continue if it feels right. If your goal is 7 minutes but you're feeling good and want to sit for 10, that's "extra credit" – a bonus, not a new standard you must maintain.

This approach worked wonders for my own practice . Some days I'd sit for just my minimum time, other days I'd continue for twice as long. Both were victories, and this flexibility kept me consistent when a rigid approach would have failed.

When to Scale Back

Don't be afraid to temporarily decrease your meditation time if life gets especially hectic or stressful. Reducing from 10 minutes to 5 minutes is infinitely better than skipping entirely. Remember my marathon analogy – even elite runners have easier training days.

What matters most isn't the duration of any single session, but the consistency of showing up day after day. This is how you build the neural pathways that transform your relationship with your thoughts.

Action Step:

In your meditation tracker (which we'll discuss next), map out your progression plan for the next 30 days. Start with your current time, then schedule small increases every 7 days. Write this down now, but also give yourself permission to adjust as you learn what works best for your unique situation and schedule.

4) The Meditation Tracker

When forming a new habit, I like to use some kind of tracker for a period of time.

It's a good way to keep myself accountable, making sure I show up everyday, but also be able to track my progress and adjust the goal based on feedback data.

Tracking your meditation practice does more than just record data, it taps into powerful psychological principles that support habit formation. Research shows that the simple act of marking a day complete activates the reward centers in your brain, creating a satisfying 'win' feeling that motivates continued action.

Visually seeing your streak grow provides concrete evidence of your commitment, making you less likely to break the chain once it's established. This is why even the simplest tracking system can dramatically increase your chances of maintaining your practice long-term.

It doesn't have to be complicated:

• A table in your notebook.
• A habit tracking app.
• A system in your notion page.

Whatever works for you.

The key to remember is not to make it too complicated. This isn't about building the perfect tracker, but making sure to take action and make progress.

To make it easier for you, I've created The 5-Minute Meditation Revolution Workbook that includes:

• 30-Day Meditation Tracker - Mark your daily practice, duration, and add optional mood notes
• Two Practice Options - Track standard 5-minute mindfulness or the enhanced Wim Hof + meditation method
• Goal Setting Framework - Set realistic, progressive targets that grow with your practice
• Step-by-Step Practice Guide - Clear instructions for both beginners and intermediate meditators
• Common Meditation Myths Debunked - Understand why traditional approaches fail most people
• The Observation vs. Control Mindset - Learn the fundamental shift that makes meditation click
• Micro-Consistency Method - My personal approach that finally made meditation stick

You can use the workbook digitally or print it out for a physical tracker—whatever feels right for your style. This isn't about perfection; it's about progress.

Get your free Meditation Workbook here: https://evolvee.kit.com/6c661b0efd​

5) Real -Life Integration

Meditation isn't just a sitting practice. It's our true nature. The more you do it, the more you'll realize that it's more about being present in the moment, and less in your mind. That's why it's important not to leave it inside the practice only, but bring it into your daily life.

Finding Mindful Moments:

• Waiting in line
• Being stuck in traffic
• Walking outside
• During daily routines (brushing teeth, showering)
• The first bite of any meal
• When your phone notifications sound

What I like to do is create "trigger cues" – reminders to come back to the present moment. As soon as I have to wait in line, I remember to stay present and not react to the mental chatter about having to wait.

Or when I'm stuck in traffic and people honk, instead of reacting and spiraling into negative energy, I use it as a trigger to come back to my breath and the present moment.

I know how challenging this can be at first. You'll forget. You'll get caught up in reactions. That's completely normal and part of the process. Each time you remember, even if it's hours later, is a small victory.

With consistent practice, you'll begin to notice something remarkable: the gap between events and your reactions will widen. You'll catch yourself before getting pulled into old patterns. What once bothered you for hours might only affect you for minutes, then seconds.

This is where the true power of meditation reveals itself – not just in the calm of your sitting practice, but in how you navigate the chaos of everyday life. Your formal practice strengthens the muscle; real-life integration puts that strength to use.

Action Step:

Choose just one daily trigger that happens regularly in your life – a door you walk through, a specific sound, or an activity. For the next week, whenever you encounter this trigger, take one conscious breath and notice your surroundings. Just one trigger, one breath. This small practice can open the door to living more mindfully throughout your day.

These five principles form the foundation of a meditation practice that actually sticks. By focusing on consistency rather than duration, you're setting yourself up for transformative results that most people never experience.

Reply to this email and let me know which of these principles resonated most with you. I read every response.

To your inner peace,

Tomas

P.S. If you are interested in my new program where you change your hidden limiting belies and transform your life in 30 days, join the waitlist here: https://shift.evolvee.me/​