I take a cold shower every single day.
Not for the health benefits.
But because afterward, nothing in the day feels that hard anymore. Discomfort doesn't stop me.
This morning, my Uber driver told me he does the same.
He wakes up at 5am, does a quick workout, takes a cold shower.
“It makes me feel right,” he said. “Calmer. More confident. More disciplined. My friends laugh at me, but when I skip it, my brain just doesn’t feel right.”
I smiled.
Because he’s right. And research agrees.
I often remind people in my workshops on emotional intelligence and stress resilience:
“Exercise is 1.5 times more effective than therapy or medication.”
Your brain really isn’t quite right when you don’t do what you were designed to do — movement.
Maybe cold showers aren’t that essential. But I have my reasons to keep doing it. Just like my Uber driver this morning has his.
Then he asked me,
“How do I motivate my friends to do more of things like this?”
After years of coaching, I’ve learned that motivation, the REASON we act, is deeply personal.
The reason I take a cold shower might be completely different from yours.
But the secret is always the same: you have to connect what you do to why it matters to you.
If you want to do the right things — the things that make you better — you first have to know why they matter.
Find the payoff, that’s personal, then the action.
Draw a bright line between what’s already important to you and what you need to do more of.
Nietzsche said it best:
“He who has a why can bear almost any how.”
Want to help people change?
Help them figure out THEIR why, or at least, help them start asking the question.
