What if someone told you that you could change your life in five seconds?
The first time I read this sentence, it stopped me in my tracks because of how ridiculous it sounded. So of course, I was intrigued. It was from a woman who had dark eyeglasses, blonde hair, and a mouth like a drill sergeant. Her name is Mel Robbins and she’s the author of the book The Five Second Rule. In her book, she talks about the science on how five seconds can alter anyone’s life for the better. Now if I’m being totally honest (which I always am) – this sounded really stupid.
Because I mean come on, how in the world can five seconds alter your life? If it was so simple, everyone in the world would be doing it. But it turns out, we all are…and we’re all doing it wrong. Robbins might be up to something. Let me explain…
What is The Five Second Rule?
In Robbins book The Five Second Rule, she discusses this technique and how to effectively use it not just on your overall wellness, but for every day decision-making. If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within five seconds or your brain will kill it. Why? Because the brain is designed to stop us from changing.
Whoa what? Yeah, our brain literally hijacks us from living our best life.
Now it’s not to say your brain is not on your side, in fact it’s doing what it was meant to do which is protect. Whenever we’re about to start something new, whether its a workout regimen, starting a new job, or asking someone on a date, our brain sends a fear signal saying “Wait this is something new I don’t like it” and automatically stops you out of pure survival mode. Our brain is trying to do its job of protecting us which is nice and all…but we can’t evolve from this state.
There’s a system in our brain that stops us changing and the five second rule breaks the pattern.
How does The Five Second Rule work?
It allows you to rewire your brain pattern. If you look at your day to day, you’ll see that you procrastinate and hesitate all the time. In fact we do this all day long without even knowing. This happens out of pure habit but it also happens out of fear: fear of the unknown or the end result might not be what we want.
Before we feel the fear and anxiety rise when we take on something new, what you do is count backwards from five – four – three – two – one, and then move towards want to do. This simple trick allows you to not only break long-term habits but it create an internal locus. What does that mean? It’s a fancy psychology term that means you are in control of your life. You can create a new pattern and habit in your brain so that YOU can take control and not the other way around.
Does it work? Based on science and personal use – the answer it yes!
Try it out today!
Is there something that you have been dying to do but just can’t seem to take action? Try the five second rule and let me know how that works out! Did you like this post? Leave a comment below and start the conversation. Also if you like this post, make sure you share it with friends and family.
Til next time homies,
Photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash