Making Cold Plunge A Habit: Crazy stat after only 10 days of cold plunges...

First 10 days of taking the plunge 🧊

Upcoming Coffee & Cold Plunge Events:
3/25 La Jolla, CA
4/22 Phoenix, AZ (link coming soon)

Thought of the week:

“Things do not change; we change.” - Henry David Thoreau

Stop waiting for things in your life to change before you allow yourself to feel better.

Don't rob yourself of that. How you feel is 100% in your control.

In this week's dose, I share what I did to create a morning habit that will actually stick.

The last month has been extra challenging for me to stay centered, think clearly, and keep focused on what's in front of me.

I started to experience a disconnection from myself and the ability to remain present.

I noticed I had been letting things irritate me and wasn't as patient as I've been.

It was a sign that something needs attention.

Enter my emergency plan...

A plan that I know will get me back to my baseline and feeling my best.

I know that whenever I feel off, it's because I have deviated from this plan.

I do this through little actions that help me slow down & be present like:

Smelling my fresh ground coffee beans, reading slowly, taking a guided meditation, and writing out what's going on in my mind + how I'd like to show up during the day.

In the past, it's included cold showers, but I wanted to try cold plunges and do them for 30 straight days.

A month ago, I strung together 6 days straight of plunging, and I found myself SEEKING out and looking forward to my next plunge.

Wasn't something I anticipated, but in hindsight, I should have expected it.

It's similar to when you start going to the gym, avoiding social media, eating clean, or waking up early.

It sucks at first.

It's full-on 100% effort and it feels like it'll never get easier.

But with time, it gets easier.

It doesn't feel like an uphill battle.

Then you start to anticipate + look forward to it and your body goes on autopilot to get it done.

So here's how I thought through adding the cold plunge habit to my emergency plan...

My goal:

Do a 3+ minute cold plunge in the morning for 30 days.

How I would do it:

1. Make it EASY, reduce friction.
   Have (2) 3.5-gallon blocks of ice frozen and ready to go in the freezer.
   Have trunks & towel out and ready to go.
2. STACK the habit.
   By slotting it into a time that I'm already in habit-mode, it makes it easier to complete.
   Make bed, check tank temp, add ice (if nec.), make coffee, read, plunge, meditate, start day.
3. Accountability.
   Record a video for social media each day.
   It's my way of checking the box.
4. Make it FUN.
   Film a video, try to make a joke, don't take myself too seriously.
   Jumping in ice water each morning is a little crazy. Laugh at being a little crazy.

What I've noticed:
The cold is becoming a friend.

I used feel the shock of the cold then struggle to catch my breath for 30-60 seconds.

Now, the shock only lasts about 1-2 seconds and I settle right in.

Speaking articulate thoughts is extremely hard and even harder when the temp gets below 47.

I now leverage my breath outside of the tank in moments of stress during the day to calm my nervous system.

I've had my highest average WHOOP recovery score for a 10-day stretch in 2 years since wearing the band!

My HRV has skyrocketed in the last 10 days.

*HRV measures the variance in time between your heartbeats while you are asleep. It's a great indicator of how well your body can adapt to its environment and perform.*

My average HRV has increased from 85 to 110 compared to the last 7 days.

This is a BIG increase and extremely encouraging that the cold plunges are helping.

I've felt the clarity I had been missing come back.

It's focused my mind to stay in the now, in the present moment.

(Because anxiety lives in the future, presence dissolves anxiety.)

Overall, it's been a HUGE win.

When building a new habit, remember to:

1. Reduce friction, make it easy.
2. Stack the habit.
3. Build in accountability.
4. Make it fun.

Let me know if you found this helpful!

Tim 🖤

3 ways I can help when you're ready:
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