Ice Cold Showers For Mental Resilience
- Harshal
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Daily Training Like A Mind Gym For Life’s Icy Moments
Every morning at 6 AM, I take a cold shower in Ireland. No steam. No warm-up. Just ice-cold water. And I do it by choice.
I started it as a workaround because I had a small hot water tank, got inconsistent temperature when I opened the tap, and to optimize my family’s morning bath time. Over time, cold morning showers became more than that. This routine has become my way of practicing discomfort, discipline, and focus.
If I can breathe through 8 °C (46°F) water at dawn, client fires and creative blocks feel lukewarm by comparison.
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1 - Eat That Frog: Start With The Hardest Thing
Cold showers are my way of doing the hardest thing first. Brian Tracy calls it Eat That Frog. You take on your biggest challenge first and build momentum for the day.
I prove to myself that I can master procrastination.
When I stand under 8°C water at dawn, I train myself to face other hard things. Client fires, creative blocks—they all feel easier. This builds what I call "excuse immunity." I do one hard thing first, and the rest of the day follows.
Each shower is a small win. It builds willpower. Over time, the habit compounds. I’m more focused, more grounded, and less shaken by discomfort.
2 - A No Escape, No Distraction Lesson
When I feel discomfort in life, I might delay it, avoid it, or distract myself while doing the task. But with a cold shower, there’s no scroll, no distraction. You just step in. It’s cold. You stay with it.
This teaches me to stay present. No past, no future. Just now. I bring that presence into work and life. It sharpens focus. It trains me to sit with discomfort without running away from it.
It reminds me of a story from Four Thousand Weeks, where a monk-aspirant learns to bathe in ice water by focusing on the sensation. I apply that lesson here to not fight discomfort but focus on it. That’s how I can get through.
It becomes a form of meditation. The shock forces presence. There’s no overthinking, no past or future. Just now. That sharp, clear moment of now becomes the start of my day.
This practice reminds me of praemeditatio malorum, a Stoic habit (e.g. from Ryan Holiday) of mentally preparing for discomfort. Cold showers are that, in real life. I don't enjoy them, but I do them anyway. That’s the training.
When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.
I start each day with a challenge. My breath deepens. My mind quiets. My body resists, but I do it anyway. I show myself I can handle difficulty. And I move forward from there. My body says “this is hard,” and I learn to say, “I’m doing it anyway.”
3 - A Self-Improvement Ritual
Self-improvement is part of my identity. I even have a tattoo about it.
This habit started from a plumbing issue. I changed it to a choice. That choice turned into a ritual.
Now, I step in with intention. I don’t hesitate. I prove to myself that I accomplish difficult tasks every single day.
I prove to myself that I am someone who does hard things. I am someone who doesn’t back down from discomfort. I am someone who builds resilience. Kind of like affirmations.
A Mindset Shift
Cold showers started because of the way our plumbing worked. But it taught me about expectations. When I expect warm and get cold, I feel thrown off. But when I expect cold and own it, I feel in control. That mindset—"let it be cold"—helps me handle life’s surprises. It’s not easier. But it’s on my terms.
Interestingly, after a few seconds in a cold shower, the water starts to feel hot.
Ultrahuman or Insanity?
Cold showers don’t make me ultrahuman. But they remind me, every single morning, that I don’t need things to be easy to show up fully. I just need to show up.
It’s my daily rehearsal for life’s icy moments.
And when real challenges hit, I’m already used to the cold.
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