Are You Weak? This Exercise Will Show You

[luniac]

If you measure manliness, or toughness, or whatever you want to call it, by the level of endurance in taking a cold shower, or doing tequila shots perhaps, then okay. Have at it. It's a meaningless goal. A waste of time. Facade. Proves nothing. Been there, done that. Probably too many times, in fact.

Think for a moment that I have been where you are, but maybe you have never been where I am. Not yet, anyway.

Your insinuated insults are a far cry from hitting their intended target. But nice try anyway. I expected more, but since I have been in the company of "muscle heads" I know from whence you speak. They relish the endurance tests such as your cold shower challenge. But, at least when my muscle head friends do a few more reps, there is something to gain. And their results certainly speak for themselves. Chiseled physiques. Think results - not just feeding your malnourished ego. Owie. That stings. A little payback for your swipes at me maybe? But mostly the truth.

A little testosterone goes a long ways. You'll realize that as you get older. Hopefully.

On the surface cold showers are about endurance.
On a deeper level, they're a spiritual experience.

I've been doing them awhile and only the first few seconds or minute are tough to endure, afterwards its not so hard and u start to feel a primal sense of well being and just life itself. no words can describe. bliss maybe?

 

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[I AM THE SENATE]

I gave it a try. I set the alarm on my phone for 2 minutes and hopped in. At first I was hesitant. I dipped my legs and immediately thought, F*ck THIS. But then I told myself, I'm not going to be weak . I put in the entire front of my body. I noticed myself breathing fast and I made myself calm down. This wasn't so bad. Then dunked my head and it felt refreshing until those ice cold tendrils snaked their way down my back and nethers. Holy crap, I won't lie, I jumped back. But I pushed forward and pushed my entire body under the water. I calmed my breathing and realized that it wasn't that bad.
Then my alarm went off and my two minutes were up. So I turned on the hot water as usual and realized it was too hot. I ended up with less than luke warm for the remainder. All in it wasn't that bad. It reminded me of the cold showers we used to take at boy scout camp. And if young me could take it, old me can too.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Cold showers? A piece of cake. A long time ago we had to take cold showers for about a month. Our water heater went out and had no money to replace. I actually enjoyed them. However, not too sure I'd willingly do that right now

 

[biophase]

Make sense? Maybe a little bit. I don't know how I got to this point, but I'm very comfortable at this "spot" and certainly see no need to climb a mountain or take a cold shower these days, and I don't miss those days when I did have that need.

I know how you got to this point. It was by slowing making your life more and more comfortable. I see that in many of my friends. There's nothing wrong with it, in fact it's what most of us ultimately want to achieve. I can see how you can't understand why some people purposefully stick themselves in agonizing situations. My one answer to you is that we do it voluntarily so that we can handle the agonizing situations that come up involuntarily.

I don't climb a mountain for the feeling of accomplishment, I don't get in to discomfort to win a game or prove something to myself. My main reason for doing so is so that I don't forget the feeling of discomfort. To me, it's like training a muscle, if you don't experience discomfort, you forget what it feels like and then the next small discomfort you have will seem devastating or insurmountable.

 

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[Real Deal Denver]

only the first few seconds or minute are tough to endure, afterwards its not so hard and u start to feel a primal sense of well being and just life itself. no words can describe. bliss maybe?

I get that way when I eat broiled walleye or halibut with a glass of wine. Prime rib also fills the bill.

Call it making up for the things I couldn't do when I was a kid. I have taken plenty of cold showers as a kid. Amazing how fast I could get clean. Camped out multiple times as a Boy Scout. Spent two weeks in the boundary waters, traveling by canoe in the day, portaging between lakes, and camping out by night. No camp grounds - I'm talking making a clearing and getting food somehow. No pre-made dinners. Daniel Boone. Ate well all the time, but lost 20 pounds by the time it was over. Now, my list of things to do is quite a bit different.

Hotels. Tours. Restaurants. Mint on my pillow every day. Animals made out of folded towels in my room every day (cruising!).

Just got back from a mini-vacation staying at the Embassy Suites. Once you stay there, you discover there is no reason to even consider staying anywhere else. We plan our trips to cities that have Embassy Suites. No Embassy Suites = no stopping by. My wife and I extremely enjoyed that, with plenty of bliss to spare!

Being weak isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

 

[SteveO]

Basic training as a Marine had us doing some of this. Nobody in the platoon said no. Standing outside in our undershorts at attention before the sun came up. Once the feet go numb, the body feels different. Washing ourselves and our clothes in cold water outside at midnight. This after we were punished by exercise and made to roll around in the soft dirt while covered with sweat. The occasional boot on top of our heads smashing our face into the dust. Pure submission once our strength was gone.

 

[Real Deal Denver]

if you don't experience discomfort, you forget what it feels like and then the next small discomfort you have will seem devastating or insurmountable.

You must know some real weaklings Bio.

I have never been devastated or found something insurmountable, and I've been through the mill. I wouldn't wish anyone to experience some of the things I've gone through in life. But that's a story for another day.

My wife and I have a running joke about people that are, what would be the word? Pitiful.

The joke line is "You had just one job." We saw funny videos on YouTube about how people could screw up the most basic things somehow. The videos were titled something like - you just/only had one job.

I've known many people like that. Some of them can't even manage themselves. They need a supervisor telling them what to do. Some can manage themselves, but could never be a supervisor. Some supervisors make things way too complicated and drawn out - and certainly could not run a business.

I think the truly able ones are very small. My guess would be less than one in 30. Gotta go to college to get a degree so you can get a job? How about cutting a job out of the wilderness for yourself by starting your own business from scratch? Nope. College is such a nice pre-planned path to success. Enough of that - we're on the same page there.

I don't give up easily. In fact, I never have given up at all. But I read a lot. I constantly feed my brain with solid information, as well as making sure it is positive and adequately motivated at all times.

Give me an example of what you think might be insurmountable. I've been through divorce, bankruptcy, losing all my customers in less than a week (the great recession accomplished that for me), and mastering several careers in my lifetime. Mastering meaning creating the methods and achieving world class results from nothing. Today I am working on doing a huge project, but it's a lot different. I have tons of books, some very powerful software, and technical support. It's like the difference of building a home by chopping down trees, compared to having Home Depot delivering all my supplies ready to install. About damn time things were easy for a change!

I'm not bragging. I guess you just have not met too many people that are perfectionists and over achievers. Those types can't be stopped. My Father and one Brother are that type, along with many of my friends, so it's second nature to me. I think I can also say that I've instilled that in my Sons, as well.

 

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[MTF]

of course the physical effects of the breath exercise is at least temporary increased circulation and oxygenation of the body.

I guess it works pretty similar to counting your breath to calm down. You focus on your breath, get more oxygen, and relax. Wim's exercise is just doing it more intensively.

Holy crap, I won't lie, I jumped back. But I pushed forward and pushed my entire body under the water. I calmed my breathing and realized that it wasn't that bad.

I still remember my first cold shower. After one minute my body was numb and I was hyperventilating. Now that I'm more used to cold showers (I'm not sure if you ever get 100% comfortable with them) I know that it was mostly a psychological reaction and not a physical one. Controlling your breath is one of the keys to get used to cold water more quickly (same for swimming in cold bodies of water).

Cold showers? A piece of cake. A long time ago we had to take cold showers for about a month. Our water heater went out and had no money to replace. I actually enjoyed them. However, not too sure I'd willingly do that right now

Since it was a long time ago, I assume it wasn't in Phoenix? A cold shower feels mighty different depending on the weather outside. It's relatively nice if it's hot outside and horrible if it's super cold.

Basic training as a Marine had us doing some of this.

I'm not a fan of the military, but I believe that it's probably one of the most powerful ways to toughen up. I'm not sure I'd be able to handle it, though. Hate blindly following orders and authority.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Since it was a long time ago, I assume it wasn't in Phoenix? A cold shower feels mighty different depending on the weather outside. It's relatively nice if it's hot outside and horrible if it's super cold.

LOL. For sure. However, summer in Arizona means the water is lukewarm, not cold.

 

[BucketHolly]

I always used staircase instead of elevators if I am too early for work.

 

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[Guest6814]

What you’re describing aligns closely with the difference between living with principles and living with values. Values are mutable; principles are not. One does not break a principle; one breaks oneself against the principle.

Health principles may dictate that a person runs or walks to a destination, rather than driving, even though driving there just takes a minute or two.

Religious principles may dictate that one refrain from doing certain things at certain times, or at all, even though others comfortably do those things.

Family principles may dictate that one marry in his or her 20s and have several children, even though much of the society promotes a different set of behaviors.

You get the idea. If one draws a line in the sand and decides, “From now on, I will adhere to Principle XYZ,” then one’s life will involve discomfort. Such a person will tolerate the discomfort, guided by that. principle.

One thing that I like about UNSCRIPTED is that it is principle-centered, and encourages decisions that can benefit a person, despite violating societal expectations.

 

[MTF]

@natew, it definitely makes sense what you're saying about principles. The key is to be able to follow them no matter the circumstances, and not just treat them as something you follow only when it's convenient (many people say things like "I don't drink alcohol before 7 pm but this time I'll make an exception").

Obviously you have to be flexible, but many people are so flexible that their principles aren't really principles, they're just something they do whenever they feel like doing it (which is completely against what having principles is about).

 

[Vigilante]

 

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[Jason "GrandK"]

When I used to practice law, I was very thankful for the weak and incompetent. Strong people, AKA antifragile as Taleb puts it, don't typically need help for personal problems they created because they seldom dig holes for themselves.

Granted, they do need help with solving problems and elevating their game, but once the problem is solved they may not need your service any longer. However, the clients that couldn't even tie their shoes, those clients were gold mines.

Entrepreneurs should seek to be antifragile. However, solving the problems of those who are fragile is good money and produces much value. In addition, if you can solve their problems and help them to grow simultaneously, even better.

 

[Real Deal Denver]

When I used to practice law, I was very thankful for the weak and incompetent. Strong people, AKA antifragile as Taleb puts it, don't typically need help for personal problems they created because they seldom dig holes for themselves.

Granted, they do need help with solving problems and elevating their game, but once the problem is solved they may not need your service any longer. However, the clients that couldn't even tie their shoes, those clients were gold mines.

Entrepreneurs should seek to be antifragile. However, solving the problems of those who are fragile is good money and produces much value. In addition, if you can solve their problems and help them to grow simultaneously, even better.

What a great post! You are exactly right on all counts. Your logic is so refreshing.

Let me put a twist on it. You may be right - I may be wrong - I may be crazy. But I just may be the lunatic you're looking for... (paraphrased Billy Joel, from his 1980 album "Glass Houses" if you didn't pick up on that!)

Strong people are confident and capable. Of course they need specialized assistance from time to time, but they become stronger and more able as a result of that, and they move on again. In your world - a lost client.

Weak people are missing that confidence. They measure themselves not against themselves and their own potential, but against others and strive to attain those perceived higher standards. Weak people need to validate their worth. One easy way to do that is to take a cold shower and tell yourself you're strong because you can tolerate discomfort. And tolerating discomfort is something only strong people can do.

Ha. Maybe though. I know a lot of strong people that could take a cold shower every day. If it mattered. But most of them are also smart people, and wouldn't do it. Because it only matters in their minds, and they have enough sustenance in their lives, and enough confidence that they don't need this "artificial supplement" to boost their egos.

Weak people play mind games that don't matter. Strong people chart a course and achieve meaningful results. Taking a cold shower is not meaningful, nor does it yield any tangible results. Except on the scale of having a reputation of being a man's man at the local tavern because one can slam straight tequila shots.

Impressive. Not.

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
You may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right

 

[The-J]

F*cking brilliant headline

 

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[Jason "GrandK"]

Weak people play mind games that don't matter. Strong people chart a course and achieve meaningful results. Taking a cold shower is not meaningful, nor does it yield any tangible results. Except on the scale of having a reputation of being a man's man at the local tavern because one can slam straight tequila shots.

Actually, I like the cold shower exercise. Even better is sitting in a tub of ice water. But I get your point and agree that doing macho things for the sake of personal glory is a waste of time and energy. However, doing uncomfortable, even painful things, such as fasting or sitting in an ice tub, for the sake of strengthening your mind and disciplining your body, that is a good thing.

 

[Roli]

After physiological needs, the most essential need of every human being is security and safety. You can't thrive as an entrepreneur if you constantly fear for your life the way people living in a war-torn country do.

However, if you're reading this, all of your basic needs are most likely well-taken care of. Fortunately, nowadays relatively few people (compared to history) lack safety and security which means that whenever you experience discomfort, it's likely the kind that will help you grow instead of putting your life at risk.

Which brings me to the point of this thread.... But first, the promised exercise which I guarantee will help you become a better entrepreneur and a better person, too.

Head to the bathroom. Get undressed (this isn't anything perverse, I promise). Turn on the cold water. Step into the shower and stand there for at least a minute (if you need some motivation, here are some benefits of cold showers).

If your initial reaction is to immediately turn the water to hot and say "screw it, that's bullshit, it's too uncomfortable"... YOU'RE WEAK.

(Obviously do it only if you're healthy. Shocking your body this way isn't safe if you suffer from heart-related disorders or any similar problems.)

And no, you aren't weak just because you don't like cold water. You're weak because I can safely assume that if you immediately seek the comfort of hot water and don't even try to endure willingly imposed discomfort just to test your strength, you probably make bad decisions in your business and personal life.

In the modern scripted society, the message we're being told is that you deserve comfort. You deserve to be protected from any kind of hardship. Ideally, you should never experience anything that will challenge you because it will crush your little fragile ego. You're considered crazy if you choose to forgo some pleasures in exchange to do the hard thing and reap long-term benefits.

And so, many people:

• are bad learners because the moment they're faced with something difficult to solve, they back out, annoyed that they aren't as perfect as they thought (you can't look bad, better to do easy stuff just so you can look like you're competent),
• experience mental breakdowns because they got a parking ticket or dropped their smartphone (which they immediately have to replace with another expensive iPhone because a single scratch will cut their precious sensitive soft fingers),
• eat (shitty food) every two to three hours because they absolutely can't experience hunger (and if they skip a meal for some reason, they're starving and never fail to announce it to everybody around),
• have extremely low pain tolerance (from my experience, women are much stronger than whingy men in this aspect),
• avoid all kinds of challenges which leads them to living a mediocre life while being envious of and criticizing successful people (they fail to realize that people become successful not because of luck, but because they're willing to suffer).

Very few people willingly opt for discomfort.

If there's a staircase and an elevator, most will choose the elevator. Few understand that even if the stairs aren't as comfortable, they offer you the opportunity to engage in a natural and healthy movement which most desk-bound people desperately need.

If a person feels hungry, they immediately run to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Few skip a meal or two, even fewer skip an entire day of eating just so they can grow their willpower and/or reset their bodies. After all, you'll die of starvation if you skip your daily portion of highly processed foods, right?

If a person is scared of heights or have any other fear that repeated exposure could eliminate, they avoid any situations where they can experience this type of fear. Few deliberately - despite feeling the exact same fear as the weak people - engage in scary situations to overcome their fear.

If a person gets diagnosed with high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, they'll choose a pill over implementing healthy habits in their lives. Few understand that as uncomfortable as establishing healthy habits is in the beginning, it's the only viable solution to stay healthy (barring any unpreventable conditions).

People will look at you like a crazy person if you start intermittent fasting, taking cold showers, walking more instead of driving, saving money, abstaining from alcohol, dressing better than an average slob, or traveling to exotic, uncomfortable destinations instead of staying at a 5-star hotel at the beach.

What's the moral?

If you can't tolerate willingly imposed discomfort that you can easily escape if you decide it's too difficult to handle, how likely are you to tolerate discomfort that you're guaranteed to experience on your entrepreneurial journey - discomfort that you can't evade?

The next time you experience discomfort, don't run away from it like every other weak person. Look at it as an opportunity to get stronger. Embrace the difficulty and the pain involved in handling the uncomfortable situation.

Rinse and repeat, and with each passing year, fewer things will bother you. Which is a nice side benefit: thanks to welcoming more discomfort in my life, I'm a much more laid-back person today than I was just a few years ago.

I still sometimes fail and find myself incapable of dealing with some situations, but just like entrepreneurship, it's a journey. You can start it today with a simple cold shower.

I did this exercise at the start of my entrepreneurship journey; Victor Pride's 30 days of discipline.

Cold bath every morning (don't have a shower) finish with dumping bucket of cold water over my head. (somewhat ironically while the ice bucket challenge craze was going on.)

100 sit ups, press ups, squats per day.

Meditate. (own addition)

Yoga. (own addition)

No carbs before 6 p.m.

No snacks whatsoever.

Keeping ideas journal.

At least one real action per day.

Best thing I ever did, would highly recommend.

 

[TimothyJS]

I went through a phase a few years ago where I was having (mostly) cold showers. Since then I've gone soft... can't wait for a cold one in the morning

 

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[ShellShock]

I do them occasionally. They make me feel pretty good afterwards. There are a lot of benefits attributed to cold showers, such as:
1. Improving the chances of dropping fat
2. Good for hair and skin
3. Relieves stress
And a few others.

 

[WinTheDay]

The key is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

 

[luniac]

I get that way when I eat broiled walleye or halibut with a glass of wine. Prime rib also fills the bill.

Call it making up for the things I couldn't do when I was a kid. I have taken plenty of cold showers as a kid. Amazing how fast I could get clean. Camped out multiple times as a Boy Scout. Spent two weeks in the boundary waters, traveling by canoe in the day, portaging between lakes, and camping out by night. No camp grounds - I'm talking making a clearing and getting food somehow. No pre-made dinners. Daniel Boone. Ate well all the time, but lost 20 pounds by the time it was over. Now, my list of things to do is quite a bit different.

Hotels. Tours. Restaurants. Mint on my pillow every day. Animals made out of folded towels in my room every day (cruising!).

Just got back from a mini-vacation staying at the Embassy Suites. Once you stay there, you discover there is no reason to even consider staying anywhere else. We plan our trips to cities that have Embassy Suites. No Embassy Suites = no stopping by. My wife and I extremely enjoyed that, with plenty of bliss to spare!

Being weak isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

well whatever floats your boat man.

 

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[luniac]

I guess it works pretty similar to counting your breath to calm down. You focus on your breath, get more oxygen, and relax. Wim's exercise is just doing it more intensively.

The truth of how the body oxygenates is non intuitive, even backwards.
The more you breathe, the less oxygen reaches your cells.
Normally the blood is 98% saturated with oxygen at all times.
The real key ingredient is Carbon Dioxide. The more carbon dioxide is flowing in your blood stream the better, and it's high CO2 levels that stimulate the feeling of needing to take a breath.

CO2 is what causes oxygen from the blood to move into your cells(google Bohr Effect), it also causes dilation of the blood vessels which improves circulation and reduces stress on the heart, and that improved circulation is what causes the feeling of warmness in your hands and body when you breathe slower. I've felt this many times because i get cold hands easily to the point where my fingernails are purple in color, but if i focus and meditate i can literally feel the warmth flow into my hands. I used to get cold feet too but i've pretty much beaten that now.

This is why modern yoga classes are harmful, they teach to do lots of deep breaths which is the opposite of what old school yoga taught

The wim hof method does controlled hyperventilation in the form of 30 relatively quick breaths, which lowers the CO2 in the blood, so that when you hold your breath afterwards as part of the exercise, you are able to hold it for an unusually long time.

The wim hof breathing exercise is like a work out for the muscles in your blood vessels, hyperventilation will constrict you vessels, and then holding the breath slowly dilates them as the CO2 builds up. Over time your CO2 tolerance increases and health improves further and further.

Same thing with taking cold showers but in a different way, the cold shower is a mental exercise as much as physical, the ice water forces your mind to focus on the present moment, teaching mindfulness in the process. If you're in the cold shower for a while the body will go from cold to warm. We've all experienced this in a cold pool or ocean, where at first its so cold but then we acclimate.

This is all stuff i've learned while researching yoga, wim hof, health stuff, asian internal martial arts, etc.
I feel this stuff is on the right track to longevity and youthfulness in old age.

 

[biophase]

The truth of how the body oxygenates is non intuitive, even backwards.
The more you breathe, the less oxygen reaches your cells.
Normally the blood is 98% saturated with oxygen at all times.
The real key ingredient is Carbon Dioxide. The more carbon dioxide is flowing in your blood stream the better, and it's high CO2 levels that stimulate the feeling of needing to take a breath.

CO2 is what causes oxygen from the blood to move into your cells(google Bohr Effect), it also causes dilation of the blood vessels which improves circulation and reduces stress on the heart, and that improved circulation is what causes the feeling of warmness in your hands and body when you breathe slower. I've felt this many times because i get cold hands easily to the point where my fingernails are purple in color, but if i focus and meditate i can literally feel the warmth flow into my hands. I used to get cold feet too but i've pretty much beaten that now.

This is why modern yoga classes are harmful, they teach to do lots of deep breaths which is the opposite of what old school yoga taught

The wim hof method does controlled hyperventilation in the form of 30 relatively quick breaths, which lowers the CO2 in the blood, so that when you hold your breath afterwards as part of the exercise, you are able to hold it for an unusually long time.

The wim hof breathing exercise is like a work out for the muscles in your blood vessels, hyperventilation will constrict you vessels, and then holding the breath slowly dilates them as the CO2 builds up. Over time your CO2 tolerance increases and health improves further and further.

Same thing with taking cold showers but in a different way, the cold shower is a mental exercise as much as physical, the ice water forces your mind to focus on the present moment, teaching mindfulness in the process. If you're in the cold shower for a while the body will go from cold to warm. We've all experienced this in a cold pool or ocean, where at first its so cold but then we acclimate.

This is all stuff i've learned while researching yoga, wim hof, health stuff, asian internal martial arts, etc.
I feel this stuff is on the right track to longevity and youthfulness in old age.

Yes, I learned that as well. The instructor made us hold our breath with empty lungs, meaning that you expel all the air out of your body and then hold your breath. Your body has this reflex to inhale but your brain is saying don't, I don't need to breathe. It's so weird because it feels like you are drawing O2 from your blood and you just keep holding your breath. I can definitely see how people can do it for minutes at a time. It feels weirdly comfortable.

Can 'brown fat' really help with weight loss?

One of the main things I learned at Wim Hof is the existence of brown fat and how your body reacts to cold. What happened to me is that my home is normally at 68 degrees in winter and I can sit and watch TV in T-shirt and shorts at this temp. My parents came to visit me for 1 month and since my mom is always cold I turned up the thermostat to 73. After a month, I was wearing long pants and a hoodie and getting cold at work and at home even though the room temperatures were warmer. After she left, I turned the temp back to 68 and within a few weeks, I back to my normal t-shirt and shorts. I thought it was really weird... It makes sense now why I'm always hot (this is why I don't like dressing up, a simple collar on my shirt makes he sweat) and why I have trouble gaining and keeping on weight. I guess I burn alot of calories doing nothing.

 

[MTF]

Speaking of discomfort, I've read @wade1mil recommendation (Living with a Seal by Jesse Itzler) and David Goggins (the SEAL from the book) is crazy. The way he pushes his limits is unbelievable. I watched Joe Rogan's interview with him and man, this is one of the best interviews I've ever listened to. Check it out:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSTk1083VY


Here are some of my raw notes from the interview:

• People fail to see that he was the complete opposite of who he is now (society's tendency to see events over processes).
  
• As a fat, comfortable guy working in a dead end job, he thought about his future in 50 years and looked back. He didn't want to regret the decisions he made so he decided to change.
  
• Create a new persona and become this person (it's like creating an alter ego of a person you'd like to become).
  
• We tell ourselves: "I'm not good enough." David says: "I'm going to make myself good enough."
• Work on your psoas muscle. It's key to preventing injuries. Also: yoga.
  
• Permanent results come from suffering. You have to endure shit. Reading won't help.
• It's easier to accept the fact that you're just not good enough, you weren't made to do that, but you have a lot more in yourself than you think.
• David says: "I'm not allowing myself to become civilized." You lose the fire if you get too comfortable (a full fridge, a lot of money, etc.). You never arrive (never rest on your laurels) and always seek more training and growth. He wants to become the most uncommon among uncommon people.
• When people say "triple down on your strengths" - that's the weakest shit in the world, you need to work on your weaknesses to find yourself while facing something that sucks.
  
• People ask him: "why don't you talk about the good times" - his answer, you know how to get through that shit, it's easy. What's hard is enduring the bad times and that's what people need to practice for by embracing suffering.

 

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[biophase]

Speaking of discomfort, I've read @wade1mil recommendation (Living with a Seal by Jesse Itzler) and David Goggins (the SEAL from the book) is crazy. The way he pushes his limits is unbelievable. I watched Joe Rogan's interview with him and man, this is one of the best interviews I've ever listened to. Check it out:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSTk1083VY


Here are some of my raw notes from the interview:

• People fail to see that he was the complete opposite of who he is now (society's tendency to see events over processes).
  
• As a fat, comfortable guy working in a dead end job, he thought about his future in 50 years and looked back. He didn't want to regret the decisions he made so he decided to change.
  
• Create a new persona and become this person (it's like creating an alter ego of a person you'd like to become).
  
• We tell ourselves: "I'm not good enough." David says: "I'm going to make myself good enough."
• Work on your psoas muscle. It's key to preventing injuries. Also: yoga.
  
• Permanent results come from suffering. You have to endure sh*t. Reading won't help.
• It's easier to accept the fact that you're just not good enough, you weren't made to do that, but you have a lot more in yourself than you think.
• David says: "I'm not allowing myself to become civilized." You lose the fire if you get too comfortable (a full fridge, a lot of money, etc.). You never arrive (never rest on your laurels) and always seek more training and growth. He wants to become the most uncommon among uncommon people.
• When people say "triple down on your strengths" - that's the weakest sh*t in the world, you need to work on your weaknesses to find yourself while facing something that sucks.
  
• People ask him: "why don't you talk about the good times" - his answer, you know how to get through that sh*t, it's easy. What's hard is enduring the bad times and that's what people need to practice for by embracing suffering.

Read the book and listened to the podcast too. You should also listen to his podcast on Impact Theory.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78I9dTB9vqM

 

[luniac]

Yes, I learned that as well. The instructor made us hold our breath with empty lungs, meaning that you expel all the air out of your body and then hold your breath. Your body has this reflex to inhale but your brain is saying don't, I don't need to breathe. It's so weird because it feels like you are drawing O2 from your blood and you just keep holding your breath. I can definitely see how people can do it for minutes at a time. It feels weirdly comfortable.

Can 'brown fat' really help with weight loss?

One of the main things I learned at Wim Hof is the existence of brown fat and how your body reacts to cold. What happened to me is that my home is normally at 68 degrees in winter and I can sit and watch TV in T-shirt and shorts at this temp. My parents came to visit me for 1 month and since my mom is always cold I turned up the thermostat to 73. After a month, I was wearing long pants and a hoodie and getting cold at work and at home even though the room temperatures were warmer. After she left, I turned the temp back to 68 and within a few weeks, I back to my normal t-shirt and shorts. I thought it was really weird... It makes sense now why I'm always hot (this is why I don't like dressing up, a simple collar on my shirt makes he sweat) and why I have trouble gaining and keeping on weight. I guess I burn alot of calories doing nothing.

oh yea i forgot about the brown fat, that's a another plus for cold showers, supposedly it stimulates the production of brown fat cells.
I've read babies have very high amount of brown fat cells but we lose them over time.

It's funny about your thermostat story, i've watched an interview with some biology professor type dude, and i think he said that our body responds to temperature in a piece wise way, so u may be cold at a higher temperature thats not high enough, but an even lower temperature will activate your brown fat cells and you'll become warmer.

 

[MTF]

Thanks, @biophase, just watched it. After watching the interview with Joe Rogan this one was a bit repetitive, but still good. I have a couple of notes:

• The things we're running away from: we're running from the truth.
• People tap dance around the truth. "I don't want to hurt you because you have thin skin." Thicken your skin, don't be afraid of the reflection in the mirror.
• If you do things you hate, there's greatness on the other side.
• If you choose to do something, attack it.

 

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[luniac]

Speaking of discomfort, I've read @wade1mil recommendation (Living with a Seal by Jesse Itzler) and David Goggins (the SEAL from the book) is crazy. The way he pushes his limits is unbelievable. I watched Joe Rogan's interview with him and man, this is one of the best interviews I've ever listened to. Check it out:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSTk1083VY


Here are some of my raw notes from the interview:

• People fail to see that he was the complete opposite of who he is now (society's tendency to see events over processes).
  
• As a fat, comfortable guy working in a dead end job, he thought about his future in 50 years and looked back. He didn't want to regret the decisions he made so he decided to change.
  
• Create a new persona and become this person (it's like creating an alter ego of a person you'd like to become).
  
• We tell ourselves: "I'm not good enough." David says: "I'm going to make myself good enough."
• Work on your psoas muscle. It's key to preventing injuries. Also: yoga.
  
• Permanent results come from suffering. You have to endure sh*t. Reading won't help.
• It's easier to accept the fact that you're just not good enough, you weren't made to do that, but you have a lot more in yourself than you think.
• David says: "I'm not allowing myself to become civilized." You lose the fire if you get too comfortable (a full fridge, a lot of money, etc.). You never arrive (never rest on your laurels) and always seek more training and growth. He wants to become the most uncommon among uncommon people.
• When people say "triple down on your strengths" - that's the weakest sh*t in the world, you need to work on your weaknesses to find yourself while facing something that sucks.
  
• People ask him: "why don't you talk about the good times" - his answer, you know how to get through that sh*t, it's easy. What's hard is enduring the bad times and that's what people need to practice for by embracing suffering.

awesome ill watch it.

I agree with the new persona view. it's like neo in the matrix, Mr Anderson had to experience the events of the film, death, love and rebirth to become Neo. Neo is still Mr Anderson at heart but also infinitely more.

Like the book Thick Face, Black Heart mentions, fear of success is much worse than fear of failure.
Most people including myself have always had all the tools and opportunity to succeed but i dare say that we self sabotage unconsciously.

The quote that always made me uneasy is:
"If we divided all the money in the world equally, in a short time the rich would be rich again, and the poor would be poor."

I think that's true, to succeed you must become the type of person that succeeds.
I'm not surprised i haven't achieved fastlane success yet, I have yet to fully overcome my social programming, habits, addictions, and especially flawed moral/ethical beliefs.

That's ok though, i still remember the exact moment i had my "F*ck this" event almost 5 years back, that epiphany unscripted my mind and immunized it. I'd rather die a failure than live scripted. Hurrah! lol

 

[thore]

After physiological needs, the most essential need of every human being is security and safety. You can't thrive as an entrepreneur if you constantly fear for your life the way people living in a war-torn country do.

However, if you're reading this, all of your basic needs are most likely well-taken care of. Fortunately, nowadays relatively few people (compared to history) lack safety and security which means that whenever you experience discomfort, it's likely the kind that will help you grow instead of putting your life at risk.

Which brings me to the point of this thread.... But first, the promised exercise which I guarantee will help you become a better entrepreneur and a better person, too.

Head to the bathroom. Get undressed (this isn't anything perverse, I promise). Turn on the cold water. Step into the shower and stand there for at least a minute (if you need some motivation, here are some benefits of cold showers).

If your initial reaction is to immediately turn the water to hot and say "screw it, that's bullshit, it's too uncomfortable"... YOU'RE WEAK.

(Obviously do it only if you're healthy. Shocking your body this way isn't safe if you suffer from heart-related disorders or any similar problems.)

And no, you aren't weak just because you don't like cold water. You're weak because I can safely assume that if you immediately seek the comfort of hot water and don't even try to endure willingly imposed discomfort just to test your strength, you probably make bad decisions in your business and personal life.

In the modern scripted society, the message we're being told is that you deserve comfort. You deserve to be protected from any kind of hardship. Ideally, you should never experience anything that will challenge you because it will crush your little fragile ego. You're considered crazy if you choose to forgo some pleasures in exchange to do the hard thing and reap long-term benefits.

And so, many people:

• are bad learners because the moment they're faced with something difficult to solve, they back out, annoyed that they aren't as perfect as they thought (you can't look bad, better to do easy stuff just so you can look like you're competent),
• experience mental breakdowns because they got a parking ticket or dropped their smartphone (which they immediately have to replace with another expensive iPhone because a single scratch will cut their precious sensitive soft fingers),
• eat (shitty food) every two to three hours because they absolutely can't experience hunger (and if they skip a meal for some reason, they're starving and never fail to announce it to everybody around),
• have extremely low pain tolerance (from my experience, women are much stronger than whingy men in this aspect),
• avoid all kinds of challenges which leads them to living a mediocre life while being envious of and criticizing successful people (they fail to realize that people become successful not because of luck, but because they're willing to suffer).

Very few people willingly opt for discomfort.

If there's a staircase and an elevator, most will choose the elevator. Few understand that even if the stairs aren't as comfortable, they offer you the opportunity to engage in a natural and healthy movement which most desk-bound people desperately need.

If a person feels hungry, they immediately run to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Few skip a meal or two, even fewer skip an entire day of eating just so they can grow their willpower and/or reset their bodies. After all, you'll die of starvation if you skip your daily portion of highly processed foods, right?

If a person is scared of heights or have any other fear that repeated exposure could eliminate, they avoid any situations where they can experience this type of fear. Few deliberately - despite feeling the exact same fear as the weak people - engage in scary situations to overcome their fear.

If a person gets diagnosed with high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, they'll choose a pill over implementing healthy habits in their lives. Few understand that as uncomfortable as establishing healthy habits is in the beginning, it's the only viable solution to stay healthy (barring any unpreventable conditions).

People will look at you like a crazy person if you start intermittent fasting, taking cold showers, walking more instead of driving, saving money, abstaining from alcohol, dressing better than an average slob, or traveling to exotic, uncomfortable destinations instead of staying at a 5-star hotel at the beach.

What's the moral?

If you can't tolerate willingly imposed discomfort that you can easily escape if you decide it's too difficult to handle, how likely are you to tolerate discomfort that you're guaranteed to experience on your entrepreneurial journey - discomfort that you can't evade?

The next time you experience discomfort, don't run away from it like every other weak person. Look at it as an opportunity to get stronger. Embrace the difficulty and the pain involved in handling the uncomfortable situation.

Rinse and repeat, and with each passing year, fewer things will bother you. Which is a nice side benefit: thanks to welcoming more discomfort in my life, I'm a much more laid-back person today than I was just a few years ago.

I still sometimes fail and find myself incapable of dealing with some situations, but just like entrepreneurship, it's a journey. You can start it today with a simple cold shower.

Thank you for sharing this wisdom