Motivation
Mel Robbins: The 5 second rule that can change your life for ever
This simple trick has helped many people make better decisions about business, money, and even their eating habits.
Do you need to make a decision? Don’t overthink it; just count to five and decide. This is the ‘five-second rule, ‘coined by Mel Robbins in her book ‘The 5 Second Rule‘, and it makes you choose in this short period of time. Its author assures that most of the most exciting and impressive stories about people who have built and achieved success have always started from the same point.
“Knowing what you need to do to improve your life takes wisdom. Pushing yourself to do it takes courage” — Mel Robbins
Our lives are busy, we have different priorities, so it is normal for us to stop doing things that are going to consume us too much physical and emotional energy. Many do not have enough experience or financial resources, have little support, no contact and a short time. The important thing is what to do once you recognize where you are to reach the goal you want to achieve.
Robins argues that to get out of emotional and mental paralysis and start building what is so much desired, we must do so with two ideas: ‘ the five-second rule ‘ and stop saying that everything is “okay. ”
“It is straightforward.”
The rule is pretty easy: when the opportunity arises, don’t think about it, just count down (5-4-3-2-1) and decide. “This 5-second rule technique helps you avoid procrastination and overcome your fear of making a bad decision, ” Australian businessman Tim Denning tells ‘NBC News BETTER.’ It is your instinct, and your heart united at the same time instead of using a lot of logic, something that leads you to overthink, “he adds.
This attitude of delaying activities is a behaviour intended to help us cope with stress.
Denning works in a bank and claims that this rule helped him improve and advance his career and change his eating habits. “If someone says to me, ‘Tim, I want you to come and interview me for this particular job or role,’ instead of putting it off and overthinking it, I say, ‘yes, next week I will,’ closing the date and exploring the opportunities, “he explains.
“Every time I was tempted to eat something that I should not, I would count to five and tell myself that I could not take that. I would close the closet and walk away from making a bad decision, ” he says. And not only that, but it also helped him overcome his fear of flying: “I booked a ticket to Japan on a Friday and embarked on Monday morning. I stopped overthinking things .”
Burn your ships
To make sure he follows through with his decisions, Denning combines this trick with another called ‘ Burn the Boats. ‘ This philosophy, coined by Tony Robbins, ensures that there is no going back. What’s done is done. “Imagine that you sail with all the ships of your army towards an island, and once you are there, you burn them. That means there is no plan B. If you don’t get that territory and do whatever it takes to survive, then no, there is a way to return home because you no longer have a way to do it, “he explains.
“When it comes to goals, dreams, and changing your life, your inner wisdom is a genius. Your goal-related impulses, urges, and instincts are there to guide you. You need to learn to bet on them.” — Mel Robbins
In other words, create a situation where you must follow through with your decision. It would help if you did not let fear take over and get in your way. You count to five and accept quickly. The next step: “burn your ships.” Anyone can do it. Denning explains that this rule also helped him overcome procrastination and achieve goals. He never thought possible.
Procrastination
Like so many things we do, procrastination is a habit. We fall into it, and then we strive to get out. We play with ourselves and withhold rewards, or chain ourselves to a desk until we get the job done. The worst part is when you find yourself in that agony of procrastinating, and you feel like there is a wall you can’t get through. According to Robbins, the problem is that we really don’t understand it.
“Change your decisions and you’ll change your life. And what will change your decisions more than anything? Courage.” — Mel Robbins
Create a situation where you must follow through with your decision. It would be best if you did not let fear take over you and get in your way.
We see it as the result of being lazy, a lousy work ethic, or even ineptitude and incompetence. All of these negative ways we describe only fuel our own frustration. “Stop saying ‘I can’t do it’ or ‘I don’t want to,’ because it is possible,” Robbins says. This attitude of delaying activities or situations is a behaviour intended to help us cope with stress. Everything you put off is linked to something that stresses us out, and that’s why it’s a coping mechanism.
While you make a decision in so few seconds, you neither analyze nor dissect. You accept it directly. The expert calls it a courageous decision: “When you act with courage, your brain is not involved, your heart speaks first, and you listen. You face stress.” This time is critical in triggering the fast-acting part of your brain, as well as limiting the influence of the slow-acting part of your brain: decide and act.
How to use the 5 second rule
Remember this every time you have to make a decision: when an opportunity arises, don’t think about it; just count 5-4-3-2-1 and choose.
Use it in everyday things. This trick can help you with your career and overcome your fears.
Use in conjunction with ‘burn the ships.’ Don’t let fear stop you from following decisions. Once you’ve taken them, be responsible and forget the possibility of a plan B.
