25 meditation goals, from 2 minutes a day to a steady daily practice

Meditation goals for beginners

Beginner goals are tiny on purpose, because the hard part is sitting down at all.

• Sit for 2 minutes a day for 2 weeks.
• Sit for 5 minutes every morning for 21 days.
• Count 10 breaths without losing count.
• Finish one 10 minute guided session.
• Sit in the same place at the same time for a week.

Daily meditation goals and 30 day challenges

A day-count challenge is the natural shape for meditation: you sat today, or you did not. If you sit in the evening to wind down, sleep goals pair well with it.

• Meditate 10 minutes a day for 30 days.
• Meditate on 25 days out of 30.
• Sit twice a day, 5 minutes each, for 2 weeks.
• Meditate on 100 days this year.
• Meditate on 300 days this year.

Meditation time goals

Time goals count minutes, either in one sitting or added up over a month or a year.

• Sit for 20 minutes without checking the time.
• Sit for 30 minutes in one go.
• Meditate for 10 hours in a month. That is 20 minutes a day.
• Meditate for 100 hours in a year. That is about 16 minutes a day.
• Sit in silence for one full hour, once.

Mindfulness goals for the rest of the day

Mindfulness goals take the same attention off the cushion and into something you already do.

• Eat one meal a week with no screen.
• Walk for 10 minutes paying attention only to your steps.
• Take 3 slow breaths before you pick up your phone each morning, for 2 weeks.
• Do one chore a day with your full attention for a week.
• Take a 3 minute breathing pause at midday on 20 working days.

Goals for a deeper practice

Deeper goals try a new method or a longer stretch. If sitting still is the hard part, the moving version is in yoga goals.

• Try 3 styles: breath, body scan and kindness practice.
• Do a 30 minute body scan.
• Sit with a group once a week for 2 months.
• Meditate without an app for 2 weeks.
• Do a one day retreat.

What is a good meditation goal?

A good meditation goal counts the sitting, not the result. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Be calmer" is not specific, and it is not something you can do. "Sit 10 minutes a day for 30 days" is both.

It also helps to know what the practice can and cannot do. A review of 47 trials with 3,515 people found moderate evidence that mindfulness meditation programmes improved anxiety, depression and pain, and low evidence for stress. That is a real effect, not a cure, and it came from programmes people kept up for weeks.

So aim for the weeks. One study of how long it takes to form a habit found a median of 66 days, with a range from 18 to 254, and found that missing a single day did not undo it.

How to track meditation goals

Tick the day as soon as you get up from the sitting. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Days sat are a day count. Minutes are an amount that adds up. Many self care challenge ideas use the first shape, because a tick is all a quiet habit needs.

Do not grade the sittings. A distracted one counts the same as a clear one. A picture that fills up one sitting at a time shows only that you came back.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good meditation goal for a beginner?

Two minutes a day for 2 weeks, at the same time each day. It is short enough that there is no good reason to skip it. Move to 5 minutes, then 10, once the two minutes happen without a debate.

How long should I meditate each day?

Long enough that you still do it tomorrow. Ten minutes a day is a common goal, and it adds up to about 60 hours in a year. A shorter daily sitting beats a long one you skip.

Does meditation actually work?

A review of 47 trials found moderate evidence that mindfulness meditation programmes improved anxiety, depression and pain. The same review found low evidence for stress and little evidence for many other claims. It is worth doing, and worth not overselling.