If you are a follower of me, you know I FUCKING LOVE READING! If I could make a living off reading books on my own time (without being told what to do lol) I would. My dream, is to have my own library in my home someday. Preferably with a hidden room behind a bookshelf where I can lock myself away when I want to and a sliding ladder like Belle had in Beauty and the Beast! Anyway, that’s not what this is about! While I love a good smut filled dark romance, I also love to read personal development books that I can then share with my clients.

I recently read The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins, which is not new by any means, but it was recently republished and I’ve heard great things about it. First and foremost, my only criticism is that the book could have been MUCH shorter had she just kept to her own writing versus sharing 7283343 testimonials or tweets/posts from people implementing the rule. I UNDERSTAND why that is important as it hits home for people to hear many different accounts as to why it works and not just the creator’s word for it. But it did get a little redundant and slightly irritating at times. Nevertheless, I did read it very quickly and had a lot of takeaways from it.
Mel Robbins created The 5 Second Rule when her life was in literal shambles and she was barely functioning. She knew what needed to be done in order to get out of the rubble but struggled to implement anything day after day. One night she told herself she would NOT hit snooze the next day, she was being intentional with her words and told herself tomorrow would be different. Well, tomorrow came and it was not different. It wasn’t until she was on her way to bed and seen a rocket being launched and heard the 5,4,3,2,1 countdown that she said “that’s it, I’ll countdown from 5 and launch myself outta bed like a rocket!” And from there on out, she used this rule for basically everything in life.

The entire rule is basically kicking fear in the ass and not allowing your brain to takeover before doing something. Instead, the first inclination you want to do something, before you can talk yourself out of doing it, you countdown from 5 and just do it. For example, you are asked to do a speaking gig in front of a hundred people and before your imposter syndrome has time to kick in, you count down, 5,4,3,2,1 and agree to it! It is crucial to note you MUST count DOWN. If you count UP to 5 there is potential to keep counting therefore, you’ll never make a move! There were some very moving stories of people who were at their lowest and feeling suicidal and before acting on their urges, they counted down and instead called for help or removed themselves from the unsafe situation.
She had an entire chapter on anxiety and how to use the rule which I absolutely loved. She basically states that once you identify that your anxiety is beginning to take over, you countdown from 5 and regain control of your thoughts. Instead of just telling yourself to “stop worrying” or “don’t think about that”, you countdown from 5 and choose something else you want to think about. For example, you are experiencing anxiety about the potential of something terrible happening to your child, instead of spiraling about all of the horrible things that could happen, you choose to focus on what you are currently experiencing with your child and the memories you are making in that moment!
She also introduces the idea of an “anchor thought”. She had an intense fear of flying and would often have panic attacks on planes. She learned to utilize the rule while also giving herself an anchoring thought. For example, if I have a fear of flying and was flying to see my brother in California, I would implement the rule, countdown from 5 and have the anchoring thought of how I couldn’t wait to be in his apartment hanging out with him and my nephew, aka Bruiser, his dog! One other aspect she covers is using different words to label your anxiety. Anxiety and excitement, physiologically, feel the same in our body. So instead of always identifying with the anxiety, with the potential for that anxiety to grow to panic, we can stay “I’m anxious but excited” or even just “I’m excited!” The power of words in our mind and how we speak to ourselves is monumental in how we behave! I definitely recommend picking this one up as it is a very helpful tool to implement! Happy reading! ~Stef
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