Let’s start our preparation for this week by taking a few minutes to brainstorm some things that are impermanent and subject to loss. Try to include a broad range of difficulty, as Epictetus recommends.

Now rate each item you listed above on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of difficulty, with 1 being easy to deal with if lost, and 10 being difficult.

Finally, using the table, lay out a new item to work with each day of the week. Start with the easiest item on your list on Monday, and gradually increase in difficulty throughout the week. For each item, write an implementation intention to help remind yourself of the impermanence of the item whenever you encounter it.

To print a blank version of this exercise, please go to our web page for the book: theexperimentpublishing.com/?isbn=9781615195336.

Day of the week	Item of impermanence and its rating	Implementation intention
Example	My television (2)	Whenever I sit down to watch TV, I’ll say to myself, “This will break one day.”

Each morning, come back to this table. Whenever you encounter what you’re working with for the day, remind yourself of its impermanence as you laid out in your implementation intention.

This exercise is a kind of premeditatio malorum, which you practiced in Week 6. By constantly reminding yourself of the impermanent nature of externals, the sting of surprise will slowly diminish over time should the unfortunate event happen. Think of this exercise as a vaccine against impermanence and loss—it inoculates and strengthens your psychological immune system to change. It isn’t just about preventing negative passions from occurring; many who practice this exercise find that it also instills a sense of gratitude, allowing you to appreciate what you have while you have it.

How did this week’s exercise go? Did you experience gratitude while practicing? Were you less distressed as the week went on?

This week’s theme was about the impermanence of the things in your life. Next week, we’ll continue by working with the impermanence of life.