Week 2: When Life Tests the Commitment (Fever, Resistance, and the Guard at the Gate)
It is easy to write a inspiring post during Week 1 about changing your life, setting big goals, and reprogramming your mindset. It all sounds smooth on paper.
Then Week 2 hits.
If there is one thing I learned this past week, it’s that the moment you declare a new direction and set out to build new habits, life—or old inertia—will test every single ounce of your resolve.
The Friction of Real Life
This week was not a calm, orderly walk through personal growth. It was a pressure cooker:
* Running at 100 MPH: Managing multiple business locations, staying present for family life, and keeping up with the daily readings, sits, and commitments of the Master Key Experience.
* Home Projects in Motion: Trying to push final progress on my home theater room and new master closet renovation on top of an already packed schedule.
* The Dreaded “Man Cold”: To top off an extraordinarily busy week, a seasonal bug hit. For an entrepreneur used to operating at full speed, getting knocked flat by a illness is a brutal exercise in frustration.
When you’re running low on energy and the schedule is bursting at the seams, every old habit in your brain screams at you to drop the new routines. “Skip the sit today.” “Read the material tomorrow.” “You’re sick, take a break.”
Is It Old Habits Pulling Back—or Fuel for the Fire?
Standing watch at the door of my mind this week wasn’t a metaphor; it was a active daily battle.
I’ve come to believe that when friction like this shows up right as you begin making serious moves, it isn’t random. It’s the old programming, old comfort zones, and lower-level habits fighting for survival. It’s that invisible pull trying to drag you back to the path of least resistance.
But recognizing that pull changes everything. Instead of seeing the busy schedule, the sickness, and the chaos as reasons to pause, I started viewing them as indicators that I’m on the right track. Every time I forced myself to sit in silence, recite my blueprint, and honor my commitments despite being wiped out, it added fuel to the fire.
Course-Correcting the DMP
Amidst the noise, I also took time this week to refine my Definite Major Purpose (DMP).
Refining the blueprint meant sharpening my language, keeping every command strictly in the present tense, and completely stripping away any subtle language tied to past struggles. The subconscious mind needs total clarity and unwavering focus on the ultimate outcome, regardless of whatever temporary noise is happening on the outside.
Onward to Week 3
Growth doesn’t happen when conditions are perfect. It happens when you hold the line when everything in your environment gives you an excuse to fold.
I’m entering Week 3 a little battle-tested, completely focused, and more committed than ever to staying the course and making substantial change.
The lessons you are learning about the process are what keep you going. Friction doesn’t mean “Danger, Danger, Stop at all Cost!” Instead, this is a sign I’m doing the right thing. It’s supposed to happen this way. So important.
Congrats James on holding the line! “battle-tested, completely focused and more committed”
Great blog, James! Sometimes the cement doesn’t want to come off, but consistency chips away at the layers. As you rewrite and refine your DMP, Subby kicks in and starts helping you achieve your purpose.