Can Meditation Improve Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving Abilities? : A Personal Journey

You don't need to meditate! Yes, you don't need to meditate if you aren't interested in gaining clarity, improving focus, controlling your thoughts, and not letting your thoughts control you, keeping your mood elevated, zoned out in the middle of conversations, improving communication, critical thinking, and decision-making skills. But meditation can be a game changer for you. It helps you in ways you would never have imagined. This is not just theoretical knowledge; I have experienced these changes for myself and am eager to share them with others.

To give you a quick overview, I am someone who gets easily distracted, lacks focus, suffers from absent-mindedness, and is pretty impulsive when making decisions. I often zone out in conversations, which can be somewhat off-putting for others. I constantly need something to entertain myself, and this habit has substantially jeopardized my career due to excessive procrastination. I knew I had a problem, and the solution was right before me, but I was too lazy and a bit reluctant to take action.

A Moment of Realization

One incident changed everything. I was on a discovery call with a potential copywriting client, and to be on the safe side, I sought their permission to record the call so I wouldn't miss any details. But that day, I completely forgot to record the call. I had no clue what we discussed. In the fear of not being considered a bad listener, I didn't ask for another call and sent deliverables with the selective information I could retain.
I still remember being reprimanded so harshly and being called out for being a pathetic listener. I couldn't defend myself because I knew I was at fault. I knew I wasted his precious time, and I knew my habit could tarnish my entire career. And that's when I started meditating. I knew it wouldn't be easy but kept going. I knew I wouldn't get instant results, but I made it my non-negotiable.

And I can say that meditation has helped me substantially. I won't claim to have seen any superficial results, but it has made my life better than it was a few months ago. I don't know the science behind it, but I can vouch that it has significantly improved many aspects of my life:

Focus

I can focus on what is really important at a time and silence all the noise around.

Clarity

I have comparatively better clarity on what needs to be done at a certain point and a drastic change in my brain fog issues.

Better Reflexes

I don’t know whether other people experience this change due to meditation or not, but in my case, my reflexes have improved.

Improved Communication Skills

There is no rocket science behind it; when your mind thinks clearly, your mouth speaks clearly too.

Improved Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Skills

Needless to say, how clarity and structured thinking promote better decision-making and problem-solving skills that are not impulse-driven.

Patience

This has to be my biggest reward from meditation. It has made me significantly more patient than I used to be.

Improved Mood

Meditation works at filtering nonsense thoughts and keeping the ones that are actually important. This eventually helps in improving overall mood on a daily basis.

I won't claim to have seen a 360° change in my life, but the changes have been worthwhile. My advice to anyone who is thinking of starting to meditate would be to just go for it. It's not going to show results in one or two days but can potentially change your life in the long run.