Member-only story
I started to put my clothes back on, but I still couldn’t feel my body.
I had just plunged into the icy waters of Lake Michigan, honoring a 40-year-old tradition of my University. Five early mornings of “winter preparation” through martial arts, dance, and meditation. And on the last day — it’s the polar plunge.
If you go to all five days, you get a free shirt!
Getting 1,000 college kids up at 6:30 AM to do some yoga is a daunting task. But as someone who did it every single day (despite my many yawns in class), it was worth it. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it the whole five days, not even considering the polar plunge into sub-40-degree water at the end of the week, but I did it.
Maybe I’m sounding dramatic, but for those of you that haven’t swum in water at that temperature, do it before you talk. Your body immediately goes numb. Every extremity feels like it got a shot of Novocain as pins and needles stick in your body without a clear understanding of when it will end.
The Driver of Behavior Change
A year ago, I don’t think I would have done this. Even now, I could count several reasons not to: the cold and lack of sleep the most prominent among them. But I did.
Productivity-focused and trying to maximize my health and progress, I over-optimized.
