365 Days at 36.5 Degrees: Cold Exposure and Intention in Leadership and Life

What will 365 consecutive days of ice baths at 36.5 degrees do for you as a leader and human being?

Let’s find out together!

I have been working on a personal challenge for a few months now, and I’m excited to finally share it. I call it 365 at 36.5. In short, I have challenged myself to take an ice bath every day for 1 year. Luckily, I own a freezer in my garage, which I have converted into a cold plunge, so I have no excuse NOT to get in the ice every day. The purpose of the challenge for me is to use the cold exposure to focus on my intentions, both in leadership and in life. Specifically, I want to study in myself the role cold exposure plays to ensure I am leading in every aspect of my life.

Let me give you an example, have you ever come home from work feeling tired and cranky? When you walked in the door (or these days for many of us, down or up from your home office) did you simply expect everyone to understand what a difficult day you had and act accordingly? Were you frustrated and irritated when your expectations were not met? Or did you realize that work and home are two different and distinct areas of your life (despite the fact that many of us are working from our homes) and that a new intention was needed as you transition from your work day to your home life? Were you able to make that necessary transition from work to home like the person you want to be, or did you fall short?

The 365 at 36.5 challenge will provide examples for all aspects of your life in which you can learn a new way to live and lead with clarity and intention. Not general clarity and intention, but specific and targeted clarity and intention that will not only guide you from day to day or week to week, but hour to hour and minute to minute.

365 at 36.5 has become a way of life for me and I plan to share with you all the ways you can use this habit to enhance every aspect of your life. I’ll share where I was going wrong as the leader of my home and how cold exposure set me right; how I’ve used 365 at 36.5 to show grace and forgiveness with myself as I’ve traveled the bumpy road of personal improvement. Most importantly, I’ll show you through my own experiences how you can use 365 at 36.5 to become the leader you’ve always wanted to become: a leader of family, a leader of friends, a leader of colleagues, a leader of community, a leader of business, a leader of yourself.

I hope you’ll follow along through this journey, I’ll be posting about it regularly on my Instagram (follow the hashtag #Leader193cold) and I hope to update you weekly here on the blog. You can also learn more about how I use cold exposure as a leadership tool in my book The Process, Art, and Science of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Confidence and Clarity in Combat, in the Boardroom, and at the Kitchen Table.

Errol Doebler is the founder of Leader 193, a leadership consulting firm. After successful careers as a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander and FBI Special Agent, Errol founded Leader 193 to realize his passion of empowering great leaders and better human beings. Errol provides executive coaching, keynote speaking, and corporate retreats to individuals and teams across the world.