The 5 Second Rule Book Review
Counting down from 5 turns out to be the cure-all
“If you have an impulse to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill the idea.”
This is the premise of The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins, renowned TED talker and anti-motivation powerhouse.
This small mental trick can be used to move towards what you want (and away from what you don't)
There are 3 core themes:
Courage and Compounding Interest
The Right Time Will Never Come
Your Never Going to Feel Like It
Courage and Compounding Interest
Every small act of courage builds upon itself, like a muscle.
That could be avoiding something that is unhealthy, having a difficult conversation or dragging yourself out of bed when your alarm goes off and working out.
You don't go from zero to hundred day one but you start advocating for the person you'd like to become, as Mel did when her life was in ruins, one moment at a time.
The Right Time Will Never Come
Waiting for things to change is a sure way for it never to happen.
The weight, the debt or the relationship won't magically fix themselves without you doing something.
Also expect a 'right time' for it to happen or to count on being motivated to do so, to quote Mel herself:
‘Forget motivation; it’s a myth.
I don’t know when we all bought into the idea that in order to change you must “feel” eager or “feel” motivated to act.
It’s complete garbage. The moment it’s time to assert yourself, you will not feel motivated.
If you want to improve your life, you’ll need to get off your rear end and kick your own butt.’
The 5 second rule breaks that waiting spell and prompts us to act in the here and now despite the fact...
- Your Never Going to Feel Like It
We are feeling creatures who think, not thinking creatures who feel.
For the majority of us, we're never going to feel like doing things that are in our best interest.
It's easier to eat and drink and partake in pleasure than it is to put ourselves through pain voluntarily.
Yet Mel digs into it and suggestions feelings are akin to suggestions, as professional athletes think of them.
Think of the 5 second rule as mini phycological intervention with yourself to overrule your feelings and change your behavior to impact how you feel, rather than hoping for the process to happen in reverse.
Final Thoughts
I've found some success with this concept for getting up early or cutting a brain dead evening activity short. I think i'm scratching the surface of what it can do and look forward to more expirments.
Cheers,
Alex.