Cold showers have a ton of benefits. Cold showers help with things like circulation, alertness, stress, and weight loss.

The other thing that happens when you go to take a cold shower is you hesitate. You fear the slight discomfort of stepping under a shower head. You force yourself to think about how you don’t HAVE to do this. You think to yourself, “I could just take the comfy warm shower, I could just relax.”

But you aren’t afraid of a little discomfort! If you are afraid of a little discomfort how will you accomplish far more complicated goals. You will face the same hesitant inner voice when writing, performing or creating anything else in your life. Why not learn to manage it with a little daily discipline?

Once you get in, it starts to feel good, and afterwards, you feel great. I’m sure you can easily see how the cold shower is a metaphor for doing the work, avoiding procrastination, and becoming more comfortable outside of a comfort zone.

It’s a silly little habit but there are so many reasons I do it. Most importantly, I get a bit fired up every time and in some cases will have a deep belly laugh to myself about how ridiculous I am.

Who would have thought, 1 minute in a cold shower could have so much meaning to me?

2. I say daily affirmations to myself

Half of the reason I laugh when I come out of the shower is because I tell myself affirmations while I’m standing under an ice cold shower.

I tell myself things like “You can choose how you react to the world”. This is tremendously helpful because you are choosing how to react to this cold fucking show you are standing in.

I tell myself a ton of other stuff too, you know, shit inspired by philosophy, religion, oh and Cool Runnings.

“I SEE PRIDE, I SEE POWER, I SEE A BAD ASS MOTHER, WHO DON’T TAKE NO CRAP OUT OF NOBODY” (tweet)

I edited the last part of that statement for my own affirmation to make it a little less hostile. Hostility isn’t a good thing when it comes to affirmations.

Affirmations are one of those things often cited to COMPLETELY TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE AS A PART OF 5 EASY STEPS. I don’t believe there are any easy steps for transforming your life. Affirmations are awesome, but sitting around talking to yourself about how awesome you are, isn’t going to make you more awesome. You have to get out there and do the work.

BUT! Affirmations are fun, don’t hurt, and are a great way to remind yourself of the type of person you want to be every day.

3. I step on the scale every day

I lost a bunch of weight and ran a marathon because I stepped on the scale every day. Well, not exactly, but stepping on the scale daily allows me to check in with my body to see if I’m treating it right. At first I wanted to see the number go down, now I just want to see it stay the same. It’s a quick way to find out if your fitness is spiralling out of control or not.

4. I write something

I’ve written something almost every morning for the past 5 months. I’m now in the process of completing a book. I have maybe 60 articles I would consider publishing to places like Medium… Articles just like this.

As much as I hope any article will inspire someone else — writing is my process for clarifying my thoughts. So everything I write is for me first and foremost. But, when I publish something, it is because I hope it can add value to others… Writing for myself ensures I’m not wasting my time even if no one reads this.

(PLEASE CLICK TO SHARE IT!)

5. I listen to a podcast while working out.

What have you learned today? You should learn something new every day, whether you apply it or not. Exposure to new ideas helps us grow our perspective. I started doing this while running and eventually was able to run long distances because of what I could learn from a podcast. One of the things I learned while running… taking cold showers is good for you.

Some new stuff I’m trying

6. I get out of bed when my eyes open.

Usually, I would fall back asleep, and snooze until I HAVE to wake up because of my alarm, oh and then we snooze again.

When my eyes open in the morning without an alarm, it is probably one of the best times for me to wake up. When we wake up organically like this, it is most likely to be the stage in our sleep cycle where we are intended to get up. One of the best things you can do for wakefulness is wake up at the right time in your sleep cycle.

So now I try to pop out of bed, turn on my light therapy light (highly recommended), then do 5 pushups and breathing exercises in a power pose.

Sounds like a lot of little habits in one, but usually the best habits aren’t isolated.

7. The Wind Down workout + reading before bed.

What is The Wind Down work out? I don’t know I just made it up as a title for this section. But maybe it’s a thing? Or it could be one?

The Wind Down Workout ™ (can I do that yet)

Step 1: I do 50–60 pushups in a row (I want to get to 100) + 5–10 pull-ups using one of those bars you hang on your bedroom door + 100 ab related movements which change depending on how lazy I feel.

Step 2: I lay on back with my ass against the wall and grab a book. I start reading. At the same time put my legs against the wall and point my toes down — this stretches my hamstrings and according to the person who told me about it, it helps with circulation. I then move through some other positions by spreading my legs and sliding back to stretch my glutes, etc., etc. I do this until I’ve read 1 chapter of a book.

Step 3: go to bed.

8. I sleep on left side

Speaks for itself? Open to suggestions as to why another side is better? Still a new consideration I’m making, I had never thought about it previously…

I hope this inspires you to examine your daily actions and take more control over what are undoubtedly one of the biggest forces driving your life, your habits.

The Creator’s Path is a weekly newsletter that curates the best articles and ideas I came across that week. You can check out past editions too.

What are your daily habits? What do you do every day? What should I try next?