Naval Ravikant on Wim Hof, His Advice to His Children, and How He Wants to Look Back on His Life

Your breath is one of the few places where your autonomous nervous system meets your voluntary nervous system. It's involuntary, but you can also control it. I think that's why a lot of meditation practices put such an emphasis on the breath because it is a gateway into your autonomous nervous system. There are many, many cases in the medical and spiritual literature of people controlling their bodies at levels that should be autonomous

As soon as I hear the voice in my head telling me how cold it's going to be, then that's when I know I have to walk in. In doing so, I learned a very important lesson which was that most of our suffering comes from avoidance. Most of the suffering from a cold shower is the tip toeing your way in. Once you're in, you're in. It's not suffering. It's just cold.

Benjamin Franklin had a famous quote, "An educated man should know something about everything, and everything about something." Knowing something about everything allows you to navigate life. But knowing everything about something can show you what depth has to offer. It also gives you a joy and appreciation for what life has to offer.