The 5 Percent Rule

Not so long ago, I learned a simple "trick". It's so simple that you might wonder how it could anything so simple possibly work. But it does, ever time. I guess you could call it a brain hack. How had I not come across this before?

Whenever I hesitate to do anything, whenever I have an instinct that I should do something, I simply count backwards from Five:- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and take action. Simple!

Mel Robbins, who discovered this technique, says she also discovered it by accident at a time in her life when she could hardly muster the energy to get out of bed; she heard the countdown launch and applied it to her life. From a small footnote at the end of a Ted Talk, it grew until she became one of the world's most in-demand speakers.

The 5-second rule is, I think, so powerful because it is so simple. Since its discovery, it has been backed by scientific study and endless testimonials from people who have applied it to their lives.

Robbins describes the rule and how to use it as follows:

"The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and physically move before you brain kills it".

Mel Robbins.

What happens is that this acts as a trigger to take action before your conscious mind kicks in. In my experience, the more often you use it, the more it becomes associated with taking immediate action, to the point at which even the thought that you might use it to get yourself to do something triggers the response. It's becoming harder and harder to ignore and more potent in implementing any action you wish to take.

The 5 Second Rule distracts from anxieties and directs your attention to what you should be doing by breaking negative cycles. If at any moment you feel like putting something off that you know you should be doing, simply count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and take action.

LOCUS OF CONTROL.

We all feel, at one time or another, that things happen outside of our control. The feeling that there are forces outside our control, yet we know that when we are more in control, we become more productive and have a better sense of purpose and direction.

When we take control, we assert our position and direction on our environment. This is what Robbins call The Power of the Push. Pushing out of our comfort zone and pushing past fear leads to a greater sense of satisfaction. Acting rather than thinking. We must interrupt the desire to avoid taking action, which is why the quickness of the count down works before our assumptions and thought have a chance to take control of what we know we ought to do.

This is true also for any form of creative thinking. You have to push past your comfort zone and just a little beyond your skill level to benefit from that feeling that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow. Being in only just in control where time falls away int the background, and you are in the moment.

There is never the right time to start pushing forward towards your dreams; the best time is now before you start thinking yourself out of what you need or want to do.

ACTION-ORIENTED.

By being action-oriented, we put aside the nay-sayer that exists in all of us. This doesn't mean that you don't also need time to think, but it does mean that we can move forward and allocate specific time to doing nothing and just thinking.

What you can control are your actions; what you often can't control are your feelings. The 5 Second rule, when applied, allows you to push through the feeling of quitting or inadequacy before those feelings overwhelm the need to take action. You can catch yourself when fears or worries are about to kick in, which may stop you.

You can change your behaviour before you can change how you feel about yourself. We know, from research, that if you behave and act in a certain way, you will begin to change how you think. When we change how we think, this influences how we behave. Our world-view changes. It doesn't happen all at once; it does take time.

Behaviour change is difficult to achieve, but by starting with small gains and not overthinking things, gradual changes begin to happen.

PROCRASTINATION.

There are two different types of procrastination.

The first happens because the creative mind needs time to incubate ideas. So, when working on a creative project or anything that involves ideation and problem solving, it's often best to define and clarify the problem and then set it aside to allow the subconscious mind to work quietly in the background. This is why we often get our best ideas and solutions when we're not thinking about them or relaxing. Walking or taking a shower are often quoted as being good for solving problems. Brains need time to work on problems and challenges.

The second type of procrastination is used to avoid anxiety and stress. Often, we procrastinate as a side effect of how we deal with stress. Procrastination of this type gives us instant gratification and temporary relief from stress. It is an avoidance strategy that allows us to put our life on pause and avoid stress. This is why smartphones, which were initially supposed to make us more efficient, have succeeded in giving plenty of reasons to distract ourselves from daily life.

When we procrastinate, we give up control of what we know we should do in favour of what will take us away from the task at hand. This is where the 5 Second Rule can help. By simply counting down, we are compelled to assert control and take action.

CHANGE.

It is a myth that once we have reached a certain age or maturity that we cannot change. Recent studies have shown that we continue throughout our lives to generate new brain cells and have the ability to adapt and change. However, if we don't stimulate our minds, many new cells are discarded because they are of no use. Like muscles, they need to be exercised and stimulated to retain strength or to grow.

We are not set in stone; we can change, although that ability becomes less prevalent when we are older because we have established strong neural pathways, which form into habits and beliefs.

A simple trigger like the countdown is effective because it causes you to take action before that instinct is subjected to your inner critic.

HOW NOT WHAT.

The 5 Second Rule teaches HOW to change, not What to change. It can be used for a variety of different purposes: to push yourself to take action, to stick with your goals, to gain more influence by being more engaged in what is happening in the moment, in finding courage and reducing anxiety, in becoming more productive and controlling emotions and also in managing depression by taking action.

It's only through action that things really come to life. Be able to feel that you are in control of your life and your destiny is crucial to finding purpose in everything you do. It does take some courage, though, to chase your passions. As we all know, information without action gets you nowhere.

Just counting doesn't work. If you count upwards, well, you might just as well continue counting and avoid taking action. It reaches "1", and you know that there is no further you can go seems to work as the trigger to taking action. Although I don't know much about it, I assume this works similarly to hypnotism. Once an idea is established in the recipient's mind, a simple trigger will bring about the action, almost without control. The difference is that the 5 Second rule works with your conscious control but doesn't allow sufficient time for your thinking mind to kick in and squash your initial instinct.

The 5 Second Rule is the simplest, easiest and most effective life-skill I have ever come across. Once you begin to implement it with small, simple things, it's power grows, and I've found that the trigger of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - snaps you into action.

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