Random musings: How long does it take to change your life?

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

How long does it take to change your life?

A day? A year? A lifetime? According to author and speaker Mel Robbins, it only takes 5 seconds to change your life! That's the premise of her book "The 5 Second Rule". Ms. Robbins was another presenter for AT&T managers, like my post Lions and Dolphins and Bears (and Wolves) Oh my! from last week.

How does the 5 second rule work? You have 5 seconds to make something happen. If you dread getting out of bed, when the alarm goes off you count 5-4-3-2-1 and then you get out of bed. Or, if you know you need to exercise but you don't feel like doing it...5-4-3-2-1 start exercising. There are 2 reasons this works...1) it doesn't give your brain enough time to talk you out of it, 2) counting backwards distracts your brain.

It also works to remove fear and anxiety.5-4-3-2-1 change your thoughts. Counting down interrupts the negative thoughts and enables you to change them to something more positive.

Here's a TEDx talk that she did and she only mentions the 5 second rule at the very end, but it started a revolution. Are you ready to join?

I used this getting out of bed today and a couple of other times throughout the day...it seems to work pretty well. Try it out and let me know if it works for you!