Doing stuff every day is hard.
No one wants to wash the dishes, take out the trash, or feed the dog. This lack of motivation in the little tasks snowball and result in good opportunities passing us by because we don’t have the time, motivation, or money.
So here is the one rule that completely changed my life and I guarantee that it will change yours too.
Excuses Excuses
We’ve all heard of the “five-second rule” when we were younger. Food that has been on the ground for no longer than five seconds is good to eat. Although it certainly had some flaws to it, there are some things that you can take away from it.
With the five-second rule, you had to act quickly and pick up your food within five seconds or your food would be gone. In life, if you need to take action on ideas immediately or you will begin to doubt yourself. “I’m not good enough.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.” “It’ll just be a waste of time.”
These are all excuses that will prevent you from reaching your goals in life.
Fear and self doubt have always been the greatest enemies of human potential — Brian Tracy
The Five-Second Rule
No this is not the 5-second rule that we discussed earlier.
Although similar, the 5-second rule can be broken down into the “ICA” acronym and it goes something like this:
Ideation: This occurs whenever you have the urge to do something. This can be as simple as seeing a pile of laundry that needs to be folded or thinking of a side hustle idea.
Countdown: After you get an urge to do something, you must count down “5,4,3,2,1” in your head
Action: Once you count down to 1, you need to actually take action. This would mean getting up and folding the clothes or researching how you can pursue the side hustle.
Now… why is this rule so effective?
To understand why the 5-second rule is so effective, we first need to understand human nature.
We as humans love to make excuses. We make excuses to procrastinate on our work and press the snooze button for 5 extra minutes of sleep after the alarm clock sounds each morning.
Although excuses are beneficial at times, they limit our potential.
The five-second rule teaches you to take action immediately and not overthink.
I personally have used the five-second rule to be more productive at work, wake up earlier, and it has even motivated me to start writing on Medium :)
Try this rule out for a week and I guarantee you will notice some great results. Let me know how this rule works for you in the comments below.
Quick Recap
Here is a quick recap on the five-second rule:
- Excuses: They prevent you from reaching the goals you want to achieve in life
- Five-second rule: Remember the ICA acronym. After you get an urge to do something, you must count down “5,4,3,2,1” in your head and take action
- Why it is so effective: The five-second rule prevents you from overthinking and forces you to take action
