365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

WEEK 19

Day 127: On Cold Exposure

Take cold showers first thing in the morning. As soon as you get up.

Jump in the shower. Close your eyes and turn the temperature to cold. Not

just  cold.  Not  ice  cold.  Try  we-just-piped-this-water-in-from-Antarctica-

because-the-penguins-won’t-swim-in-it-cold.  Do  this  for  thirty  days  in  a

row. I call it Cold Shower Therapy because it, quite literally, is therapy.

—Joel Runyon

 

121

Doing a two-month challenge of only taking cold showers was one of

my first deliberate endeavors to improve my self-control. Unlike other goals

that  I  pursued  for  the  specific  benefits  that  they  would  give  me,  my  cold

shower challenge was primarily about testing myself.

During  those  two  months,  I  learned  a  great  deal  about  how  to

overcome  temptations  and  how  my  own  mechanisms  of  self-control  work

(and when they cease to function).

I strongly recommend taking up a similar challenge to push your limits

and  toughen  up.  Is  an  entire  month  or  two  necessary  to  benefit  from  this

exercise? Not really. Even just a few cold showers can be valuable lessons

that will strengthen your self-control. Willingly exposing yourself to such a

torture is something very few people are capable of doing, so this in itself is

a great accomplishment.

If  your  health  doesn’t  allow  you  to  take  cold  showers  (and  as  a  side

note,  please  note  that  you  should  always  speak  with  your  doctor  before

making any decisions of such a nature), try other ways of cold exposure.

Underdress in cold weather, submerge the lower part of your body in a

cold  bath,  or  turn  your  thermostat  down.  Voluntarily  exposing  yourself  to

the discomfort you feel when you’re cold, no matter if it’s a cold shower or

something  less  extreme,  will  still  be  an  excellent  way  to  improve  your

impulse control and become tougher.

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