Today, we're going to be talking about the power of 5 seconds and how one simple rule
can truly transform your leadership.
It's called the 5 second rule.
What if I told you that your life could be completely changed by a series of 5 second
decisions?
You know, from the time you have a great idea until your brain talks you out of it is about
5 seconds.
And all change requires one thing, it requires courage.
What if you were able to drop excuses, overcome fear and become courageous?
Even if that's not in your personality, you see yourself as an introvert.
You know, the 5 second rule is a very powerful way to release courage, but more importantly
to disrupt those patterns in your mind.
In a previous session, we talked about the idea that there are certain thoughts in your
mind, like pathways in a forest for instance.
And if we keep walking down that same pathway, it gets stronger and wider and more established.
And what we need is a pattern interrupt, something that forces us to take a different pathway
in our minds and create new pathways.
This is what we refer to as change.
Now, what's fascinating is as fantastical as this sounds, science actually backs up
this whole idea.
This concept is based on a book by Mel Robbins called The 5 Second Rule.
You know, it started as a turning point in her own life.
There was a moment of truth for her.
Mel was herself a successful professional, at least on paper, but internally she was
fighting a battle that many leaders face.
The gap between potential and performance, despite her capabilities and her professionalism,
she found herself sort of trapped in a cycle of procrastination and self-doubt.
Perhaps you know what she's feeling like.
You know, her mornings were chaotic.
She had little kids that often missed school buses, forgotten lunches, and just that constant
sense of falling behind or just not being able to keep up.
Many of us know exactly what this struggle feels like.
You know, as leaders we're expected to be decisive, energetic and inspiring, and yet
sometimes in our own personal lives we find ourselves paralyzed by the very decisions
that actually could move us forward.
And so we need to have that same moment that Mel had, which we could call the rocket launch
moment.
She was watching television and during a routine commercial featuring rocket countdown
she just heard 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff.
This simple sequence sparked what would become a transformative leadership principle.
The next morning she put it into practice immediately.
Instead of succumbing to the usual process of when the alarm went off to just keep hitting
the snooze button, this time she counted backwards 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and launched herself
out of bed.
The next moment she was standing in her bathroom.
There was no time for second guessing.
There was no room for doubt.
You know, what Mel had accidentally discovered is really backed by the science of decision
making.
So, what makes this approach so powerful?
The answer lies in our brain's architecture.
The 5 second rule works by engaging our prefrontal cortex, that's the command center for focus
and change and deliberate action.
When we count backwards, we create a pattern interrupt because the brain doesn't know what's
coming next.
If I go 1, 2, 3, 4, your brain knows what comes after that, 5, 6, 7, 8.
But when we count down to zero, the brain knows something's going to happen but it does
not know what.
And so what it does is it puts that old, those old behaviors, those old habits on hold to
find out from you what's going to happen.
And this is what gives you the advantage.
It's in this moment you take command of your own thinking.
We call this metacognition, being aware of how we think.
Now putting the science aside for a minute, the simple idea of counting backwards creates
a pattern interrupt that puts you in command because your brain now stops its usual process,
it doesn't make assumptions about which pathway it's going to run down and it waits for you.
Isn't that an amazing discovery?
And this is particularly critical in leadership because often we know what decision we need
to make but we avoid those decisions.
We develop.
avoidance habits. But actually, we can rewrite all our leadership instincts.
Here are three quick examples of how one might apply the 5 second rule in a professional
context.
So let's say you are facing a challenging situation. You notice that one of the team
members who is normally a high performing team member, their work is declining. What's
the traditional response here? Well, we'll just postpone the conversation and we hope
it resolves itself. In other words, we avoid it.
What does the 5 second rule application look like? Well, the moment you think of, I should
check in with them, there's the thought, you've got 5 seconds before your brain talks you
out of it and you just start the countdown. You override your brain's ability to talk
you out and you say 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and immediately walk to their desk or immediately schedule
that meeting.
So the result would be by acting so quickly, you address the issue that normally escalates
and at the same time, you're demonstrating supportive leadership.
Let's give another example. Some of us have to do a lot of public speaking and the scenario
is that during a meeting or you're in a brainstorming session and during the meeting there's that
moment you have an important insight to share. Now what's the traditional response? You second
guess yourself, that's the idea, 5 seconds later you've talked yourself out of that idea
because you're waiting for the perfect moment. And ultimately what do you end up doing? Staying
silent. We've all done this. Every one of us has experienced that moment.
What would be the 5 second rule application? When that thought hits, count 5, 4, 3, 2,
1 and raise your hand or speak up.
The result is your contribution of valuable insights will build your reputation as an
engaged thoughtful participant. Can you see how 5 seconds is completely changing how you
present yourself to your team? How you're seen? You're representing yourself and your
ideas in a far more bold and clear way.
And this is what we foundationally refer to as leadership. Remember, leadership is intentionally
managing your influence. Leadership isn't about holding a position and people reporting
to you, that's just a structural framework. What leadership is you managing your influence
and this 5 second rule is a powerful way for you to manage that influence.
Let me give you one more example. Let's say you have an innovation implementation. Here's
the scenario. You have an idea for improving the business process. What's the traditional
response? You spend weeks perfecting the proposal waiting for the right time to present it.
Well, what if you didn't do that? What if you took the 5 second rule approach? The moment
your idea was validated and you know it's viable, you count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and send an
email to the stakeholders requesting a meeting to discuss it. I love that. What's the result?
Your idea gets considered. While it's still relevant, sometimes waiting for the perfect
time, we've actually missed the window of opportunity to participate in the solution.
So you then build a reputation of being proactive and solution oriented. That is an incredible
reputation that we all want.
So here's a couple of things I'd like us to think about. Firstly, Mel's story is every
leader story. We all struggle with old patterns of thinking that are holding us back. In fact,
they're holding us captive. And why this works, the neuroscience behind it is absolutely amazing.
While it's so extremely simple and you can apply it immediately, it's unbelievably powerful.
Its simplicity kind of disguises its neurological power. Because not only does it create a pattern
interrupt, it's literally changing your brain physiologically. Isn't that incredible? Because
you're interrupting your default thinking. When you start counting down, your brain doesn't
know which option and which pathway to take. So it puts everything on hold and waits for
you. And it puts you in command in that moment. This is right at the heartbeat, right at the
center of all change. It distracts your mind from the old ways, really. And while it's
changing your physiology, it learns to follow your lead. Instead of your brain just automatically
going to autopilot and picking old habits, now it's learning a new way of working with
you. Because now you're in control, especially if you're using the 5 second rule.
Rule multiple times a day. Perhaps in your personal life, maybe you're single and you
see somebody you want to initiate a conversation with. Instead of waiting 5 seconds for your brain
to talk you out of that, go 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and walk across the room and introduce yourself.
This rule can be applied everywhere. It is unbelievable.
But let me do this. Let me end this with a direct quote from Mel herself. And she says,
It takes just 5 seconds to change your life. Sound like a gimmick? It isn't.
It's science. I'll prove it to you. You change your life one 5 second decision at a time.
In fact, it's the only way you change. The 5 second rule has transformed the lives
of millions of people around the world. The rule is easy to learn and its impact is profound.
It's the secret to changing anything. Once you learn the rule, you can start using it
immediately. The rule will help you live, love, work and speak with greater confidence
and give you courage every single day. It wakes up your inner genius, your leader,
the rock star, the athlete, the artist, the change agent inside of you.
Well, I hope you found that as inspiring as I did because here's the bottom line. You can
completely rewire your brain through action and the 5 second rule gives you the tool to do that.
It puts you in command of your thinking and your feelings. So, have fun taking charge
and using the 5 second rule to rewire your brain and be in command of your own actions
and of your own life. Enjoy.