The hot water heater busted where I was staying in San Francisco a few months ago. It was after a very sweaty run around the city, so I had to get clean. I knew an unintended cold shower was in my near future. So, I soaped up and jumped in. It was cold. Breathtakingly cold. Uncontrollable funny noises cold.

After I rinsed off, I noticed something happened as I stood there shivering and drying off. I felt alive! Better then I had in a long time. I felt like I could slay a dragon!!

So, I did it again the next day. I didn’t bother to call about the busted hot water heater. It was the weekend anyway, and I didn’t want to bug anybody about it (I was a guest after all). I just hopped in the cold water ready for the challenge. New day, same feeling. Ready to start the day. Ready to take on the world. Ready to do everything on my to-do list and more.

Monday came and they fixed the hot water heater, but that didn’t stop me. I was hooked. Crank it to cold, soap up and rinse off. I felt like I was in the army. Like if I could survive this, then the rest of the day would be easy.

Well, I have been doing this for a few months now and it’s effects haven’t worn off. The showers are still breathtakingly cold, but not miserable. I actually look forward to it. It’s better than coffee. It gets me in the right state of mind. In a state of control, not comfort. The perfect mood for making the world work for me instead of merely reacting to the world around me.

Here are a few notes if you want to try the cold shower for yourself

A word to app developers and others interested. Any time there is a new iPhone launched, app sales go up. Here is the graph for the last thirty days for combined sales of both my apps.

It’s probably a combination of a few things. First, new iPhone users hitting the market and they may be asking their friends what apps they need. Hopefully, if I did a good job, they are recommending mine. Second, a very highly social period comes with a new phone as everyone shows off what it can do, including the new camera. And, as we know, whenever people flip their phone around to show off an app or a photo, there is a higher chance of a sale.

I just backed this beautiful annual clock that tells time in seasons rather than hours. Sure, it will look good hanging on my wall, but more importantly, I hope that it will remind me to think about what I have really done with my limited time every time I look at it. Sometimes, it’s to easy for me to get caught up in day to day reactive work at the expense of long term plans and goals.