The 44 – Continuing Practice: The Struggle is the Path

Congratulations! You made it through the 44 Training Program!

We are done with the practices, and if you’ve worked through each practice, four days each, you’ve successfully completed the program. That is amazing. You might be asking yourself, “Where do I go from here?” We’ll talk about that below.

If you only did some of the practices, or missed some practice days, that is still amazing … I encourage you to continue the program by going back to the practices you missed and picking up where you left off.

If you haven’t done any of the practices, or barely any, this is not a problem … go back to the old emails and start again. Or start for the first time. The videos are still there, the emails should still be in your inbox or archive, just get started!

How to Continue Practice

Assuming you made it through the program doing most of the practices on most days (perfection is not required), then here’s what I recommend from here:

1. Continue a daily practice. The more you practice this, the better you get at these skills. We’ve trained ourselves for years to run from discomfort, to reject our experience, to be harsh with ourselves and others … now we have to train ourselves to react in a more helpful way. We want to learn to do that in all kinds of situations, but the ground of this learning is daily training to prepare us for all kinds of situations. Just 5-10 minutes a day is all you need. Longer practice is a bonus.
2. Keep a brief learning log. As you learn things about yourself in these areas, jot down a note about it. When you find yourself falling into old patterns, getting hooked or running from what scares you … write that down. What will emerge is what you need to focus on in training.
3. Pick one thing to focus on. If you find yourself getting impatient or losing your temper a lot, pick one of the practices that is a helpful reaction to that, and train in it. Keep that practice at the front of your mind during the day, leaving reminders to yourself all around. For example, you might have a note that says, “Loving kindness” or “Relax into the moment” … and then practice that whenever you can. You’re retraining yourself, one skill at a time.
4. Don’t give up. It’s easy to toss all this aside … after all, who wants to keep practicing at these skills? But don’t throw away all your progress. You have made incredible strides at becoming happier, more fearless, more at peace, more loving and connected to others. This is amazing! When you find yourself veering away from these practices, come back. Watch a video. Take just one minute to practice. You’ll be happy you did.

In a couple days, you’ll get the final email in this training program. It’ll be my final tips, and a farewell. It has been a pleasure, my friends.