Is it still meditation when you direct your thoughts to what you want the future to look like, or is that just day-dreaming?

I think it is yes. If you are thinking about the future while meditating you are not focusing on the present and bringing your thoughts to how you feel now.

I believe thinking about something you pick and of interest to you would not count as meditation. This is because, meditation requires you to be in the present moment and experience all your sensations with utmost relaxation. When you start contemplating what the future will be like gives only something to think about but you will not experience the present moment.

It is meditation if it’s done with intention and the feelings are brought back to the present, so that we can improve our present self to achieve our desired future self

Although there are many approaches to meditation, to me in essence meditating has to do with going beneath the thinking mind. The thinking mind, our intellect, is useful to deal with the outside world, we need it and it’s a great tool for us humans, but it’s not appropriate to approach Spirit. Picture your thinking mind like the surface of a body of water, where the winds (your thoughts) restlessly blow. The purpose of my meditation practice is diving below the surface, into stillness, into the depth of myself, where Spirit is. So to me, meditation is practicing stillness, and isn’t compatible with thinking. Thinking has other purposes, planning the future for example, but I don’t think it should be considered meditation.

I think that meditation means different things to different people, but in my opinion, no, thinking about your future isn’t meditation. Sure, it can be meditative, have some of the same focusing and calming effects of meditation, but it is not necessarily meditation itself. Meditation to me is not thinking. It’s learning how to quiet the mind and learning how to control it.

No, in my eyes that is not meditation. Meditation is about self awareness and having a real sense of self. Meditation is the 'Art of doing nothing'. By which I mean, if meditation is used correctly, many things can be accomplished at once just by simply learning to be and letting go of the things that cannot be controlled, whilst identifying the things that we can have an affect on, I.e. ourselves, our thoughts, feelings, behaviours etc…

I would say that is more like visualization. It is important to reflect on what you want your life to look like. experience it and feel as it has already happened. Get all of your senses involved and get as detailed as possible. This is visualization. This and meditation are very important. I would meditate after visualization to sort of solidify what it is you have seen for yourself and for your life.

I think some people would call that visualization and affirmation, and while it is a useful exercise when you’re setting your goals, it isn’t helping your focus and mindfulness and inner peace, so it’s not really meditation.

Yes, but mediation is about concentration, peace and calm.., so make you focus and concentrate on what you wanted to became to make dream, true……..

Depends, are you doing it with thoughtfulness and intent? There are visualisation types of meditation, but they should be done with an awareness of the thoughts and what they mean in the big picture.