What Cold Showers and Bungee Jumping Have in Common

A few days ago I was talking with someone who’d signed up for Cold Shower Therapy™. They were pumped about it and were planning on going to the World Domination Summit in July, so I asked them if they were going to come out to Plummet at the Summit with us in Portland in July. They responded in a way I’ve heard a lot of times before.

Cold showers are one thing. Jumping off a bridge is another!

I get this response (or something like it) whenever I do something scary and people decline to do it too because it’s “a whole other thing” that’s too scary.

That’s the thing. These things aren’t “a whole other thing.”

The hesitation you feel as you’re about to turn the shower knob to cold is the exact same hesitation you feel when you stand at the top of a bridge and decide to jump off.

IT’S THE EXACT SAME THING.

It might feel like they’re big, different, scary things, but they’re not.

That hesitation – that flinch – that makes you back down from doing something because you’re scared of it or uncertain of the outcome is the exact same thing that holds you back from running a triathlon, asking out that girl, jumping out of a plane, asking for a raise, running a marathon, quitting your job, joining a knitting club, or doing whatever else you think is impossible.

That hesitation is a decision point. It’s there that you get to choose your own adventure and choose how to build your life, your character, and your story.

Every time you give in to it, your character gets weaker and your story gets more boring. Every time you face it and overcome it, you get stronger and your story gets more exciting.

Choose to get stronger.

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Here are a few practical opportunities coming up to get out of your comfort zone and test your limits.

The Cold Shower Therapy™ Challenge sign-up closes this Tuesday (June 12th). The challenge starts June 15th. The entire point of the challenge is to teach yourself to recognize that hesitation – the same hesitation that’s keeping you stuck – and to teach yourself to lean into it rather than run away from it. Registration closes on Tuesday.

Plummet at the Summit. Come and jump off a bridge (bungee jumping) with twenty other awesome people on June 6th just outside of Portland. There are just a few spots left. The sign-up closes on June 15th.

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For some reason, lots of people tell me it’s “tempting” to do something they want to do, but they never actually do it. Saying “it’s tempting” is pointless. I’m not trying to tempt anyone to do anything they don’t want to do and there’s no such thing as “almost” signing up.

If you want to do something, just do it already.

It’s that simple.