The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins | Improve your habit | discipline

Stalin · Jan 1, 2023

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Lesson 1: The 5 Second Rule builds courage like compounding interest.

When we read stories or books about biographies of historical figures, we tend to see people who are extraordinarily courageous and brave.

However, many of them started out being just as shy, anxious, and afraid as you and I.

Throughout their life, they started to make a lot of small, courageous choices, which added up, like compound interest. And that allowed them to achieve what they have accomplished.

Lesson 2: Stop waiting for the right time, because it will never come.

We all want to change our lives for the better. But most of us spend most of our time waiting for that change to magically occur.

Our excuse sounds something like this: Im waiting for the right moment. But that does not exist.

We all know "the right time" will never come. Mel Robbins tells us why that is.

She names three reasons:

1. Change is always new.

2. It always comes with uncertainty.

3. Its always scary.

Whatever goal you want to achieve, will always require doing new, scary, and uncertain things, which makes waiting a day longer before taking action nothing but an excuse and a waste of time.

Lesson 3: Use psychological intervention to override your feelings, because feelings are just suggestions.

Okay, so we need the courage to stop waiting, but why do we wait so much anyway?

To answer this, Mel refers to the book by Antonio Damasio, "Descartes Error".

He lays out the results of his research that suggest as much as 95% of our decisions are ultimately decided by feelings, not facts.

The sequence of events are like this: we doesnt think, then act, but we feel, then act.

In conclusion, the simple reason we often dont take action is that we dont feel like it.
To create a solution for this problem, Mel Robbins suggests we should let professional athletes inspire us.

Athletes override their feelings and push towards their goal, because they consider feelings suggestions, rather than absolutes.

If you ever thought you couldnt swim, run, or bike any further, but did anyway, you know this is possible.

What youre doing then is called psychological intervention:

Youre changing your behavior to impact how you feel, instead of hoping for the process to happen in reverse.

A simple saying you can remember this idea with is Senecas Do good, be good.

Choose good behavior and good feelings will follow. Start to act! 54321 go!