1301: The Cold Shower Challenge by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation on Remarkable Personal & Professional Growth

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[00:00:28] This is Optimal Work Daily, episode 1301, The Cold Shower Challenge by Nick Loper of

[00:00:35] SideHussellNation.com.

[00:00:36] And I'm Dan, I'm your host and I'm with you every single day of the week, including

[00:00:41] weekends and holidays, reading to you from these great blogs that cover all sorts of

[00:00:45] work-related topics, including entrepreneurship.

[00:00:48] And so let's hear now from Nick Loper as we optimize your life.

[00:00:55] The Cold Shower Challenge by Nick Loper of SideHussellNation.com.

[00:01:00] For the last two and a half months, I've only taken cold showers.

[00:01:04] Why?

[00:01:05] Because Nick Reese challenged me to do it and now I'm afraid if I break the streak

[00:01:09] I won't want to start again.

[00:01:11] Bryn and my friends think I'm crazy.

[00:01:12] They're probably right.

[00:01:14] But call it a coincidence, things have been going pretty well since I turned on

[00:01:17] that cold water.

[00:01:19] During that time, I launched and filled the first SideHussell Nation Inner Circle

[00:01:23] Mastermind Group, landed two new coaching clients and did several paid

[00:01:27] consulting calls, appeared on the homepage of SlideShare, appeared on the home page

[00:01:31] of Fiverr, and shattered my monthly record for podcast downloads.

[00:01:36] Why Cold Showers?

[00:01:38] Nick, who's more than 500 cold showers deep at this point, explains that it

[00:01:42] started as a fat-burning hack.

[00:01:44] Indeed, the tactic was mentioned in the four-hour body as a way to

[00:01:47] kickstart your metabolism and shock your body into burning calories to heat

[00:01:50] yourself back up afterwards.

[00:01:52] There's some thermodynamics involved.

[00:01:54] It's the same science that explains why Michael Phelps could eat 12,000

[00:01:58] calories in a day even though he wouldn't burn that number through exercise alone.

[00:02:02] He'd expend a few thousand calories heating his body, spending hours in

[00:02:06] the water, which is another reason why swimming is such great exercise but

[00:02:09] also explains why I'm always starving after I go.

[00:02:12] But beyond triggering weight loss, the cold showers became a mindset

[00:02:16] challenge for Nick.

[00:02:17] Yes, it's cold.

[00:02:18] Yes, it's uncomfortable.

[00:02:20] But it's also only five minutes and you're going to live through it.

[00:02:23] As much as it sucks, it's not life-threatening, kind of like a failed

[00:02:27] business project.

[00:02:28] It's a small act of defiance that prepares you to carpe the

[00:02:31] c** out of the DM.

[00:02:33] Confessions.

[00:02:34] One, I sometimes suddenly find a new list of things I should do before

[00:02:38] jumping in the shower.

[00:02:40] Even though it feels great after, the anticipation isn't awesome.

[00:02:44] Two, it took a while to break the now pointless habit of letting

[00:02:48] the water warm up before getting in.

[00:02:50] Three, sometimes I'll do some push-ups or kettlebell swings to warm

[00:02:54] myself up before getting in.

[00:02:56] Four, there's usually swearing involved.

[00:03:00] And five, a couple of days were particularly difficult.

[00:03:03] One was an afternoon session after walking the dog and getting hit by

[00:03:06] a cold rain halfway through.

[00:03:08] The other was after a day of skiing in a blizzard.

[00:03:11] But I survived.

[00:03:13] Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

[00:03:16] What calls the cold shower challenge getting comfortable with

[00:03:18] the uncomfortable?

[00:03:19] Have you heard the eat the frog story?

[00:03:22] An old saying is that if the first thing you do each morning is to

[00:03:25] eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the

[00:03:28] satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing

[00:03:30] that's going to happen to you all day long.

[00:03:33] Your frog is the one you are most likely to procrastinate

[00:03:36] on if you don't do something about it now.

[00:03:39] It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive

[00:03:42] impact on your life and results at the moment.

[00:03:45] If you've got an important task to get done or something that's

[00:03:48] been collecting dust on your to-do list for ages, it makes sense

[00:03:51] to knock it out first thing in the morning.

[00:03:53] Perhaps the cold shower is your frog or perhaps it will just

[00:03:56] get you pumped up to conquer your real frog.

[00:03:59] You'll feel accomplished and the rest of your work will

[00:04:01] seem like much less of a challenge.

[00:04:04] Take a deep breath and get her done.

[00:04:06] The first 30 seconds are the worst.

[00:04:08] I thought it was crazy too but it works.

[00:04:10] That's the weird thing.

[00:04:11] Since I cold turkeyed the hot water, I've gained a lot of

[00:04:14] positive momentum on my projects.

[00:04:16] But it just be coincidence or is there maybe something to it?

[00:04:20] Unfair advantages.

[00:04:22] It's never that cold here and I don't typically shower

[00:04:25] first thing in the morning.

[00:04:26] Cold shower placebo?

[00:04:28] One common pushback I hear is that the shower really

[00:04:31] isn't accomplishing anything on your task list.

[00:04:34] Whether the water is hot or cold, you'll still have

[00:04:36] the same amount of work to do when you get out.

[00:04:38] And that's true.

[00:04:39] But I found I emerge with a completely different attitude.

[00:04:43] Even if my task list is the same as it was before,

[00:04:46] those tasks are attacked with new hustle and vigor.

[00:04:49] Will you join the challenge?

[00:04:51] Who's with me?

[00:04:51] Five minutes a day for 30 days.

[00:04:54] You can do it.

[00:04:55] Prove it to yourself.

[00:04:56] A five minute daily reminder of your hustle

[00:04:58] and your goals.

[00:04:59] Circle back in 30 days to see if you can feel

[00:05:01] a difference in attitude, mindset, productivity

[00:05:04] and results.

[00:05:05] I'm confident you'll feel great.

[00:05:07] Remember, deep breaths.

[00:05:13] You just listened to the post titled

[00:05:15] The Cold Shower Challenge by Nick Loper

[00:05:17] of SightHustleNation.com.

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[00:07:34] Get started today.

[00:07:37] And a big thank you to our author today, Nick Loper.

[00:07:39] In addition to his blog,

[00:07:41] he's also the host of his own podcast

[00:07:43] called The Side Hustle Show.

[00:07:44] And that's going to be of interest

[00:07:45] to any part-time entrepreneurs

[00:07:47] who are looking for actionable tips

[00:07:49] to start or improve their businesses.

[00:07:51] It's a great show and you can usually find it

[00:07:53] in the top charts of the business podcast

[00:07:56] in Apple Podcasts.

[00:07:57] So definitely worth checking out.

[00:07:58] Of course, the blog is great too

[00:08:00] and I'll be bringing you a lot more content from that

[00:08:02] in the months ahead.

[00:08:04] So that's it for another edition of Optimal Work Daily.

[00:08:07] I appreciate you being here with me each and every day

[00:08:09] and clicking subscribe or following your podcast app.

[00:08:12] That's really a big help to us

[00:08:14] and I'll see you again tomorrow

[00:08:15] where your optimal life awaits.