“You learn to be the alchemist of your own body and your own mind.”
In short: Wim Hof, the Dutch athlete known as the Iceman, answers Brian Rose’s closing Success Secrets questions in this short London Real clip, recorded in 2019: what he would tell his 20-year-old self, the best advice he has received, and what he wants young people to know about cold, breath and the mind.
Brian asks Wim what he would say to the young man who had already discovered the cold. His answer is brief and cheerful: keep going, because that young man was already on the path.
He then explains where he has found his best advice. It was not from gurus but from humble people, from a man sitting cross-legged in India to his own mother, his wife and the simple moments of raising a child.
Key takeaways
- Keep going. Wim’s message to his 20-year-old self is that he was already on the right path and just had to continue.
- The best advice is often humble. The person who impressed him most in India was a quiet man sitting cross-legged in India, whose grace and humility stayed with him.
- Cold teaches you to be quiet. In nature and in the cold, Wim says, you learn to stop boasting, make an inner connection and feel great afterwards.
- Know that there is more. His advice to young people raised on hyperconnectivity and stress is that they are born to be more than the normal standard.
- Use breath, conviction and a cold shower. He points to neurological control of the mind through your own breath and conviction as the route to being happy, strong and healthy.
Advice from the humblest teachers
Wim recalls going to India 43 years earlier with very little money, expecting to meet gurus. The person who impressed him most was a small man who sat cross-legged at a crossing for days, hand-rolling something that took him about 15 minutes, and who asked only a fraction of a rupee.
Wim says his real teachers have been just as simple: his mother, his wife and the everyday moments of being a parent. Boasting with your ego, he argues, gets you nowhere, while the cold humbles you and makes you simple. Great advice, he adds, is around us all the time if we look for it.
A message to the next generation
Asked what a 20-year-old born into stress hormones and constant connection should do, Wim tells a story about standing in ice in Cologne for a Guinness World Record. A doctor joked that the Dutch only win the World Cup by pressing a button on a computer.
His point is that the real prize is not a game score. The best in you is waiting, he says: become happy, strong and healthy through neurological control of your own mind, your breath, your conviction and a cold shower, and be the alchemist of your body and mind.
Who is Wim Hof?
Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete known as the Iceman for his ability to withstand extreme cold. In this clip he refers to standing in ice for a Guinness World Record in a studio in Cologne, and he credits cold exposure, breathing and mindset for his health and strength.
Frequently asked questions
He tells them to know there is more, and that they are born to be stronger than the normal standard. He points to breath, conviction and a cold shower as ways to build control over mind and body.
He says it often comes from humble, simple people. He describes a quiet man in India and his own mother and wife as his most impressive teachers.
He means taking responsibility for your own health and mindset, using your breath, your conviction and cold exposure to become happier, stronger and healthier.
You can watch the full Wim Hof Success Secrets clip free on this page.
