Perhaps you have heard of the 3-second rule where you drop you food and you can still pick it up and eat it if it is within 3 seconds. Recently, I heard of the most interesting 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. It is a brain hack where you count down 5-4-3-2-1 to interrupt your habit loops and prompts you into action. Instead of hitting the alarm clock snooze button, you count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed!
Basically, it is a fact that we are never going to feel like doing the things we should do (e.g. exercise), hence we need to stop waiting to feel like doing it. We need to determine what we want, and practically force ourselves to do it. Just like how our parents used to force us to our homework and do house chores, now we need to “parent”, or force, ourselves to do it.
When you want to do something or have an interesting idea, act upon it within 5 seconds, before your brain hijacks you and talks you out of it. When you see someone interesting and want to talk to him/her, go over and say ‘Hi!’. If you think longer about it, you will most likely “chicken out”. When you think of exercising, quickly put on your proper gear and walk out, before you change your mind. When the alarm clock rings in the morning, count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed. Overcome your inertia or procrastination by this simple 5-second rule! Your daily battles come down to this 5-second decisions you make every day! You need to determine what you want, then do what you need to do to get what you want! Try this 5-Second Rule!!!
The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.
– Mel Robbins –