About Michael

I'm the founder of Forty Day Practice.

For most of my life, I searched for purpose where many men do—in achievement, strength, and self-reliance. I built businesses, competed as a powerlifter and professional wrestler, and dedicated decades to learning discipline through training, nutrition, recovery, and hard work. Those experiences taught me consistency, perseverance, and the value of showing up every day, even when motivation disappeared.

But despite everything I accomplished, something was still missing.

Raised without faith, I spent much of my life believing that determination alone could overcome any obstacle. Eventually, life proved otherwise. Business setbacks, physical injuries, chronic pain, and personal struggles exposed the limits of willpower. No amount of discipline could answer the deeper questions of the heart.

That search eventually led me to the Orthodox Church.

Through God's grace, I discovered a faith that was not only true but deeply practical—a faith that had spent two thousand years teaching ordinary men how to fight the battles within. I entered the catechumenate, was baptized into the Orthodox Church, and began the lifelong journey of learning to cooperate with God's grace.

One of the greatest discoveries I made was this: I didn't have to abandon the discipline I'd spent decades building.

God redeemed it.

The discipline that once pursued personal achievement became discipline in prayer. The perseverance I learned under a barbell became perseverance in repentance. The commitment I once gave to physical training became a commitment to spiritual growth.

Faith didn't make me disciplined.

Faith gave my discipline its true purpose.

That realization became the foundation of Forty Day Practice.

Everything I create reflects the two greatest lessons of my life. Years of training taught me that lasting change requires discipline, consistency, and intentional practice. The Orthodox Church taught me where that discipline belongs and the purpose it was always meant to serve.

Every resource I create is built on that foundation—combining practical principles learned through decades of discipline, habit formation, physical training, nutrition, and recovery with the timeless wisdom of Orthodox Christianity. The goal isn't simply to share information, but to provide practical, structured 40-day practices that help Christian men build lasting habits grounded in faith that strengthens their spiritual lives, and walk more intentionally with Christ.

Through Forty Day Practice, I am creating a library of practices that help Christian men grow one practice, one habit, and one season at a time. Each 40-day practice is designed to help men move beyond inspiration and into daily faithfulness.

I'm not a priest or a theologian, and I certainly haven't arrived. I'm simply a man who has learned that the greatest victories are rarely won in a single moment. They are built through faithful obedience, one day at a time.

If my journey has taught me anything, it's this: discipline without Christ easily becomes self-reliance, while faith without discipline rarely becomes a way of life. But when disciplined habits are surrendered to God, they become powerful instruments of His transforming grace.

That's the mission behind Forty Day Practice, and it's the journey I invite you to begin.

- Michael
Soul Force Rising