Three To Thrive
Written by Ben K
Hey Tribe,
Welcome!
Somedays I wake up feeling broken.
I’ve spent thousands of hours (and dollars) trying different routines, therapies and strategies to feel better. Very few are consistently effective.
I’ve distilled down what works.
For me and many of my closest friends, they have become powerful tools.
Try them.
1 / HAPPINESS IS A STATE OF BODY
Take a cold shower immediately after you get up.
If you’ve never done this, welcome to your new life.
It’s hard to overstate how much this changed my day to day experience.
Start with 15 seconds of complete cold over your shoulders. Add 5 seconds per day until you get to 3 minutes.
"Proper exposure to the cold starts a cascade of health benefits, including the buildup of brown adipose tissue and resultant fat loss, reduced inflammation that facilitates a fortified immune system, balanced hormone levels, improved sleep quality, and the production of endorphins— the feel-good chemicals in the brain that naturally elevate your mood.”
— Wim Hof. Dutch athlete who has led extensive scientific research into the benefits of cold exposure.
Cold showers build testosterone. Which will build confidence. Which will inspire excitement.
You feel happier, more motivated and stronger. More ideas flow and solutions occur which would never have presented themselves with a typical shower.
You have to shower anyway, so just finish it on complete cold and see what happens.
It’s never failed to make me feel better.
Never.
2 / DISSOLVE NEGATIVE EMOTION
Anger, grief, confusion and fear manifest as physical sensations in the body.
If you can watch these emotions as a pattern of energy without wrapping further thoughts around them, you will fundamentally change your life experience.
Start by using a negative emotion as an internal alarm.
When you feel it, sit down and close your eyes. Answer these questions
→ Where is the tension in your body?
Is there heat, pressure or tingling in your stomach, your chest or your throat?
→ Can you visualise it as a colour?
→ What shape is it?
Try this for ten minutes with a difficult emotion. Eventually the feeling will evaporate or change.
If you lose concentration and are consumed by thoughts about the situation, simply ask one of the above questions again.
It’s natural to have to keep bringing yourself back to the questions.
It is an an energy moving through you, NOT who you actually are at that moment.
When you understand this, the feelings no longer have power over you.
You can let them go.
3/ FUTURE WISDOM
Visualise your self ten years from today.
→ You have a job fuelling your passion that pays handsomely.
→ You have a strong social circle of deep friendships.
→ You have a partner who makes you excited to be alive.
Imagine how it feels to be your future self.
This future self is with you now. Ask them:
"How would you solve my current problem?"
Take out a notebook. Put your specific problem at the top of the page. It can be anything you are currently struggling with in your life.
Now write down whatever you think your future successful self would say to you. Keep writing for ten minutes. Don’t stop. Anything is fair game. You can destroy the page afterwards if necessary.
Minimum ten minutes. If you’re stuck then write about the problem. Define it more accurately but keep writing. Sometimes the answer is in the question.
PROVEN PATHS
My three to thrive are thoroughly stress tested. They will work immediately, but their true power comes with consistency. The benefits compound over time.
The cold shower stimulates the energy and motivation to watch your thoughts and write. Both are powerful forms of self expression which are the keys to mastering your emotions and living a richer life.
To summarise, when you wake up
1/ Cold shower (3 mins).
2/ Sit and watch your emotions as a pattern of energy (10 mins).
3/ Journal answers from your future self (10 mins).
They’re free and easy to execute anywhere.
Congratulations! You’re about to have a different day.
I’d love to hear how you get on.
Cheers,