When to Skip the Cold Shower

The Pros and Cons of Voluntary Discomfort in Stoicism

Do I really need to take a cold shower? A lot of lifehacker types and gurus advise making yourself regularly uncomfortable. For example, here’s Tim Ferriss:

I expose myself to a lot of duress and pain in say, the form of ice baths and cold exposure simply to develop my tolerance for the then unavoidable pain and disruption that comes to all of us. The more you schedule and practice discomfort deliberately, the less unplanned discomfort will throw off your life and control your life.

This practice derives from, as Tim Ferriss notes, ancient Stoic philosophers like Seneca:

Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: “Is this the condition that I feared?” It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence.

Seneca is fundamentally right about this, the practice of voluntary discomfort can be exceptionally valuable. However, I’ll argue that one needs to be intentional about its implementation. There are risks.