My Stumble into the Stephen Bass Mindset Thing
Alright, so I was kicking around online the other day, just browsing, you know? And the name Stephen Bass popped up, connected to the Navy SEALs. Don’t know a whole lot specifically about the guy himself, more about the whole SEAL legend, right? Tough dudes, crazy discipline, the whole nine yards. It got me thinking, not about becoming a SEAL, obviously, but about that mental grit they talk about.
So, I decided to try something. Not some insane workout, my body’s not exactly SEAL-ready these days. No, I focused on that idea of just… doing the uncomfortable thing. Getting used to stuff that sucks a little bit. I figured, these guys face way worse, maybe there’s something to just pushing yourself a tiny bit daily.
The Cold Shower Experiment
What did I pick? The classic: cold showers. Sounds simple, maybe even dumb, but man, the thought of it… especially first thing in the morning when the bed’s all warm.
Here’s how it went down:
- Day 1: Stood there, looking at the faucet. Took forever to actually turn it to full cold. Jumped in, gasped like a fish out of water. Probably lasted 15 seconds. Felt awful, but kinda… awake?
- Day 2-3: Still sucked. Still hesitated. Maybe lasted 30 seconds. Started doing this weird little dance to keep warm. Not very SEAL-like, I imagine.
- Week 1: Got a bit easier to turn the handle. Still hated the initial shock, but I could stand under it for a minute or two. The dread beforehand was almost worse than the shower itself.
- Week 2 onwards: Okay, I wasn’t perfectly consistent. Some days I chickened out, went for lukewarm. Other days I managed the full cold blast. It wasn’t some magic transformation.
What I Reckon I Learned
So, did I become Stephen Bass? Nope. Did I unlock some secret SEAL power? Definitely not. But here’s the thing: forcing myself to do that little unpleasant thing, even just sometimes, was interesting. It wasn’t really about the cold water after a while.
It was more about this:
- Making a decision to do something slightly hard.
- Actually following through, even when my brain was screaming ‘NOPE’.
- Realizing that the anticipation is often worse than the actual event.
It’s a small thing, right? Just a cold shower. But it kinda puts things in perspective. You hear about guys like Stephen Bass and the insane stuff they endure, the real hardship. And here I am, struggling with cold water for 60 seconds. It’s a good reminder that discipline isn’t just for the elite operators. It’s a muscle anyone can flex, even if it’s just turning a stupid shower knob. It didn’t change my life, but it was a decent little experiment sparked by reading a name. Made me think about tackling other annoying tasks first thing instead of putting them off. Sometimes you just gotta jump in, you know?