I am here for you and I’m here for you
because I believe there is greatness in
you and I know you feel it don’t you you
feel that there is more you feel that
there is there is something to do and
there is and so I am here to teach you
how to push that greatness to the
surface how to use one simple tool one
simple tool to find the clarity to
listen to your inner wisdom and the
courage to take action and the
confidence to keep going to keep going
despite what goes on because what I’m
about to show you I’m gonna prove it to
you is that you can change anything in
five seconds and that fact will change
everything about your life everything
now this what I’m about to talk about it
this was my secret weapon for a long
time and I never intended on sharing it
with anybody because it sounds kind of
stupid when you talk about it hey you
can change your legs for five seconds
you know just count the fudge yeah right
Mel uh-huh you’re trying to sell a book
I know seriously I don’t want you to
dismiss the power in the ideas that I’m
about to share with you because they’re
so simple and what’s funny is I never
intended on talking about this I never
intended on talking about it because I
discovered it by mistake seriously about
eight years ago my life looked totally
different than it does today I was
unemployed
my husband had a small business that was
that was failing and failing miserably
and it took our home equity line and the
kids college savings and our 401k plans
right down the drain with it and we have
the liens hitting the house we of course
were fighting like crazy because you
know when life blows what do you do you
point the finger you say oh it’s your
fault though it’s my boss’s fault it’s
the economy’s fault
oh this isn’t fair you know what’s
interesting about the way that human
beings are designed have you ever
noticed that when you blame somebody
else and you point the finger there’s
three fingers pointing right back at you
it’s a big reminder that the power is in
you
but waking up every morning unemployed I
certainly didn’t feel powerful you know
what I needed I needed confidence that
was tapped out
I needed courage move nope didn’t have
any of that when the alarm rang this is
what I felt like doing with the clock
have you ever had one of those mornings
right where you’re like not today no not
today I do not want to get out of bed
today I would lie in bed the alarm would
go off and I would start thinking about
the day ahead and I would start feeling
overwhelmed and I would feel this sense
of dread and I would feel like such a
failure you know I remember this period
of our life and I remember having those
moments where I’d be at the grocery
store and the items would be scanning
and I would feel the fear rising up
because I didn’t know if the check card
was going to go through because I didn’t
have the courage to look at the bank
account and so as I would lie in bed in
the morning and I would know by the way
my inner wisdom was there and your inner
wisdom is always there it’s always there
kind of nudging you pushing you begging
you to go forward my heroism was like
mal you need to get up and I’d be like
yeah I don’t feel like it I developed
this habit of hitting the snooze button
over and over and over again every
morning I became one of those those
parents where the kids were always late
and and you know here’s the thing about
life we don’t we don’t do this we don’t
ever kind of go to wake up in the
morning go go you know what I’m gonna do
today today today I’m going to screw up
my life today I’m gonna hit the snooze
button four times I’m gonna blow off
exercise I’m gonna eat that whole tray
of doughnuts then I’m gonna go to work
and snap at people I’m gonna blow off
working at my business I’m gonna come
home and be mean to my spouse and
patient with my kids then I’m gonna
drink a ton it’s gonna be amazing
right you know we don’t do that what
happens is when you’re not paying
attention when you’re not really focused
on what you want when you’re not clear
you make these small decisions all day
long that slowly take you off course
decisions based and self-doubt decisions
based in fear decisions based in in
panic decisions based in resignation and
suddenly you wake up one morning like I
didn’t you’re like wait a minute wait
how did I get over there and more
importantly how do I get over here
you know we all know we need to change
but change is hard it’s hard when you
don’t feel confident it’s hard when you
don’t feel certain and that’s exactly
how I felt and I struggled and I
struggled and then one night it’s a
really stupid story I saw this rocket
launching and you know we’re gonna talk
about this word courage now when you
hear the word courage you think about
the big stuff don’t you you think about
a life-or-death moment you think about
your heroes I want you to consider that
courage is what you need every day that
there are conversations you have to have
that require courage
for me I need a courage to get out of
bed because our problems just felt so
big so I struggled and struggled because
I knew what to do but I couldn’t make
myself do it if you ever felt that way
like so frustrated with yourself you
knew you need to exercise but you don’t
do it you know you need to drink less
but you don’t do it you know you need to
stop procrastinating but you don’t do it
you know you need to have the tough
conversations but you don’t do it you’re
stuck that’s how I was and then one
night I see this rocket launch and I say
oh oh my gosh that that’s it that’s it
I’m gonna launch myself out of bed like
a rocket ship tomorrow morning it is
gonna be amazing I’m gonna move so fast
that my mind cannot talk me out of this
now it could have been the four
manhattan’s talking you know that gave
me that idea because I had a drinking
problem that’s one of the things you do
you get emotional you reach for the
booze well for whatever reason the very
next morning I woke up I still had all
the same problems liens on the house
talking divorce with my husband of now
20 years just felt like such a loser I
did not feel like getting up I will
never forget this morning it was a cold
dark winter morning in February outside
of Boston Massachusetts and I just did
not feel like doing anything different
but I did one thing one thing that
changed everything I started counting
backwards five four three two one and
then all of a sudden I stood up and I
was like what the hell just happened and
the next morning five four three two one
I did it again and it worked five four
three two one I did it again and it
worked I couldn’t believe it and now
that I’m almost 50 I still use it at
2:30 in the morning when I wake up and I
have to go the bathroom it you know like
instead of like you know trying to go
back to bed five four three two one and
eat it here’s what I noticed I noticed
something that when I say this to you
you’re gonna be like oh my god she’s
right there is a five-second window
between the moment that your inner
wisdom tells you you need to speak up
you need to get to the gym you need to
say something you need to get to work
and your mind killing it
and if you start counting backwards five
four three two one you can close the gap
between the greatness and you that’s
dying to come to the surface and the
excuses that keep snuffing it down now I
never intended to tell anybody about
this because I started use this to get
up on time it started use it to
self-monitor so I didn’t snap the Kris
so I stopped drinking so much I started
to use it to go on job interviews and it
literally changed everything because I
started to change I stopped being the
kind of person that would think about
everything and I five four three two one
became the kind of person that started
acting and every time I took action I
started to build confidence now I gave
this talk a couple years ago about how
it changed my career so many times and
again I wasn’t gonna talk about the
five-second rule cuz it sounds stupid
and in full disclosure I didn’t know why
it worked and plus I didn’t want you to
have it this was working for me so why
would I want you to have it right so at
the end of this talk this was the spurge
first speech I had ever given so if you
ever want to see somebody have a 21
minute long panic attack this is what it
looks like I get off stage and I’m like
I’m never doing that again
and somebody puts the talk online and
something crazy started to happen people
from around the world started to write
and they were all writing about this
stupid simple very powerful five-second
rule they were using it to find the
courage to reach out to people they were
using it to become number one in sales
they were sharing it with their teams we
know of 13 people that have stopped
themselves from committing suicide using
this rule this gentleman was a veteran
and he boarded the ferry with the
intention of jumping over he gets to the
railing and his inner wisdom kicks in
I’m sure how low you get I don’t care
how high you get your inner wisdom is
always there and when you hear it it is
magic when you listen to it it changes
everything is inner wisdom said this is
not the answer he went 5 4 3 2 1 and he
turned and he walked away we hear from
people all over the world people that
are using it to be more productive to
quit smoking after 20
three years license plates tattoos for
crying out loud look when people start
tattooing this thing on their body like
I started to feel a moral obligation to
figure out why it worked so I’m gonna
tell you some of the science behind this
I’m gonna explain how you can use it and
then I’m going to show you how five
second decisions change everything so we
all hear this just do it right most
famous tagline in the world what’s the
difference between just do it and the
five-second rule this is a concept
concepts make you go upstairs I don’t
want you upstairs
this is behind enemy lines you’re not
gonna grow your business grow yourself
by thinking you got to take action right
before you’re about to do anything even
if you’re an Olympic athlete what do you
do you stop and you think and that’s the
kiss of death now stop and think if
you’re gonna get tattoo or sign a
contract but on the little stuff do not
stop and think because what happens when
your feelings of failure kick in and
they will you start to think and that
leads you to doubting yourself doesn’t
it and the same thing happens when you
feel nervous same thing happens when you
feel unsure the same thing happens when
you feel like you’re a fake the same
thing happens when you feel overwhelmed
look at all these feelings they’re
triggering you to think that’s the last
thing you should do this is what we call
a habit loop any pattern that you repeat
becomes a habit something you do without
even thinking so how do you break it you
train yourself to take action you train
yourself at the moment you feel nervous
you move why because when you take
action you actually build confidence
when you feel unsure and you move
forward anyway 5 4 3 2 1 you are
building the skill of confidence you are
bringing that greatness to the surface
now look south that’s normal feeling
overwhelmed is normal the people we
admire the most felt the same way you
ever heard the story of Michelangelo so
in the late and early 1500s he had never
painted a thing the Pope goes over to
see him and in his studio as he’s
carving a statue in the Pope Julius the
second turns to Michelangelo and says
hey Michelangelo I got some frescoes I
want you to paint in Vatican City
you know what Michelangelo felt totally
unsure do you know what he did he left
town
he hid from the Pope for two years
that’s how unsure he was you know what
the Pope that he stalked him for two
years
pushed him until he actually painted
those frescoes how about a more recent
one how many of you heard of Hamilton
yeah
Hamilton hit musical guess what three
and a half years ago it wasn’t even
finished
lin-manuel the guy that wrote it was
busy messaging with his wife Vanessa
what was he saying he was saying
something you and I can relate to when
it doesn’t happen as fast as I’d like it
to I have a hard time finding the
balance between not beating myself up
and not wasting time can’t you relate to
that she’s like you’re not unique dude
we all struggle with this we all all all
need the encouragement and the push you
know in this MIT this photo makes me sad
because when I think about this kid
right and standing there the longer he
looks the more he thinks about it the
less likely he’s going imagine the
difference that a push makes imagine a
coach behind him right right a coach a
coach going come on Sammy you got this
buddy you got this or an older brother
the problem is in life usually there’s
nobody there to push you it’s up to you
that’s why the five-second rule is your
new best friend this is what you’re
gonna use to push yourself the moment
you have an instinct to act on a goal
you know you should do some but you
don’t feel like getting out of bed I
don’t care 5 4 3 2 1 you don’t feel like
being nice to your spouse I don’t care 5
4 3 2 1 use this for behaviors that you
need to do and for those things that are
emotional that are killing you drinking
too much eating a bunch of garbage
smoking gambling addiction when you feel
the emotion drawing you towards it 5 4 3
2 1 physically move away from it what is
this actually doing in your mind when
you count backwards it’s pretty
remarkable how such a simple thing does
something extraordinary when you start
counting backwards it is an action when
you start counting backwards it requires
focus when you start counting
backwards you are manually switching the
part of the brain that you’re using
you’re activating your prefrontal cortex
you’re interrupting the habit loops of
self-doubt of procrastination of fear of
anxiety and you are taking control one
five-second decision at a time it truly
is that simple I didn’t say it was easy
but it is this simple and it’s not gonna
be easy because you’re gonna fight
yourself now there are three ways that
you can use this we’ve heard of
literally hundreds of thousands of waves
we’ve heard of from hundreds of
thousands of people in 90 different
countries that are using this rule and
they fall into kind of three buckets you
can use this rule to change any behavior
five four three two one push yourself to
do something that you know you need to
do five four three two one
pull yourself away from something that
you know you should not be doing you can
use it for courage five four three two
one step into that risk five four three
two one push yourself outside your
comfort zone and the most important way
you can use it is you can use it for
mind control this one matters the most
to me so let me explain to you how to
use it so a lot of people see me on
stage or on CNN and they’re like ooh
that chick was just born very confident
very annoying and I don’t you laugh
because it’s true
not true I suffered from panic attacks
for over 20 years they started when I
was 19 years old they got so bad that I
was on Zoloft it was a miracle drug for
me and as I started to use the
five-second rule to literally I mean
change everything to go from facing
bankruptcy to running multi-million
dollar companies joining the teams at
CNN being a contributor to dr. oz and
success changing my marriage and how I
behaved changing my health habits
changing everything because what the
rule does is it gives you control over
your decisions it gives you control over
those five-second moments that change
everything for you because in those
five-second moments it’s where all the
opportunity and the joy in your life is
so I wondered about five years ago I
wonder if you could use this simple
stupid
brilliant rule to cure yourself of
anxiety the answer is yes you can so
I’ve been off meds for five years I
haven’t had a panic attack since hell I
don’t even worry about anything yes
because I have used this rule to
completely rewire how I think you’re
gonna hear a lot about mindset today you
want to adopt a growth mindset you want
to change your habits this is a starting
ritual that you can use for any of them
let me explain how you do it in the
mental game so if you ever noticed how
your thoughts drift right you’re sitting
in a meeting and suddenly your thoughts
are like blah blah blah blah blah
garbage garbage garbage
you suck suck suck suck right you know
whatever it is the second that you get
your thoughts drifting you’re going to
go 5 4 3 2 1 and yank them back here now
the counting backwards is essential it
doesn’t work to just try to change your
thoughts inserting the
five-four-three-two-one interrupts the
pattern of bad talk to yourself and self
doubt and anxiety it awakens your
prefrontal cortex so your brain is ready
ready to receive a new thought you know
I’m gonna use an example that we can all
relate to to explain specifically how to
do this because I think this is so
important I used to be a nutcase about
flying I would get to the airport and
I’d be in the boarding area and I’d be
looking for Bishop TD jakes
and I’d be looking for babies and men
and women in uniform because I would say
if they’re getting on my plane God is
not letting this go down so then I I get
on the plane and I would buckle up and
then I’d start to feel the panic rising
and as soon as we take off and the plane
does that scary thing where you get up
and then all of a sudden it feels like
it’s like turning off as it’s leveling
off then I would start to panic and I
would pull out my phone and I would
start texting my children you know mommy
loves you emoji emoji emoji because if
I’m gonna die in a plane crash I want
the kids to know that at my last act as
a human being was to be the best mom on
the planet and then plus they’ve got it
for the eulogy when they do the
PowerPoint so they can prove it to
everybody and you giggle you giggle
because we’re sick human beings we’re
all sick right if we were to put a
speaker on your head and broadcast the
garbage you say to yourself you wouldn’t
be at success live you’d be in an insane
asylum for crying out loud
but here’s the problem we listen to it
we listen to it you let it rob you of
your precious lifetime you let it keep
you
from stepping into your greatness you
let it stop you from saying what you
really believe you don’t have to second
you catch yourself thinking anything
that doesn’t serve you five four three
two one
take control five four three two one
insert a different thought every time I
talk about this when I fly I step on the
plane with an anchor thought I think
about where I’m gonna go and I flew here
you know what I thought about I thought
about you so every time the turbulence
happened I went 5 4 3 2 1 I thought
about you and my brain went oh she’s not
nervous about the plane she’s so excited
to see everybody at success live this
makes sense one of you many of you are
gonna text me right after this and be
like I can’t believe this mal I use that
stupid simple thing you just talked
about and this is the first time I’ve
ever been able to get on a plane you can
change how you think five seconds at a
time
do not ever underestimate your power to
change the things that matter most to
you this is one of the most shared
stories in the history of social media a
lot of you are gonna recognize this is
Brittany and her dad Todd now what you
can’t tell from this story is that it’s
been a horrible decade for this family
you see Brittany and Brittany’s dad and
her mom got divorced and it’s been an
ugly divorce you know a lot of fighting
and the spouses can’t the new spouses
can’t stand each other well today is
Brittany’s wedding day and Todd is
walking his new wife up the aisle and he
has this inner wisdom kick in and he
says to himself today I’m gonna heal
this family doesn’t stop and think he
turns he walks back down the aisle and
instead of grabbing his daughter he
grabs her stepfather a man he hates I
mean look at the expression on the lady
next to them for crying out loud
and he invites him to walk their
daughter down the aisle five seconds
changes everything and I can tell you
firsthand because we interviewed this
family for CNN it certainly changed this
one so whether you are gonna use the
rule – five four three two one get out
of your head and start that nonprofit
you’ve been thinking about for two
decades or you’re just gonna five four
three two one
get yourself out of bed because you said
you would or you find yourself in one of
the darkest places of your life like
Adam did so on March 1st Adam was over
in London he’s a lawyer over there and
he was sitting with a bottle of pills
and he was three pills in and his inner
wisdom kicked in he knew that this was
not the answer and he also knew the
five-second rule anyone five four three
two one and he got up and he got in his
car and he drove to his doctor’s office
and he had the courage to listen he had
the clarity to seek help and he’s been
using it ever since and it’s like he has
a friend with him and he uses it to not
interrupt judges when he gets mad and as
he writes to us he says it’s not only
literally saved his life but he’s
actually doing pretty good and I’d like
to introduce you to because he’s flown
here
[Applause]
[Applause]
I’m so proud of you don’t ever doubt
your ability to change your life to
change your life you know you have power
in you and now you know thank you it is
a privilege to share this with you thank
you please please please use it and
please let me know how you use it
seriously I I it is such a I feel like
I’m just a messenger for something
that’s making a difference for people
everywhere so thank you for the
opportunity to share this with you
because I believe there is greatness in
you and I know you feel it don’t you you
feel that there is more you feel that
there is there is something to do and
there is and so I am here to teach you
how to push that greatness to the
surface how to use one simple tool one
simple tool to find the clarity to
listen to your inner wisdom and the
courage to take action and the
confidence to keep going to keep going
despite what goes on because what I’m
about to show you I’m gonna prove it to
you is that you can change anything in
five seconds and that fact will change
everything about your life everything
now this what I’m about to talk about it
this was my secret weapon for a long
time and I never intended on sharing it
with anybody because it sounds kind of
stupid when you talk about it hey you
can change your legs for five seconds
you know just count the fudge yeah right
Mel uh-huh you’re trying to sell a book
I know seriously I don’t want you to
dismiss the power in the ideas that I’m
about to share with you because they’re
so simple and what’s funny is I never
intended on talking about this I never
intended on talking about it because I
discovered it by mistake seriously about
eight years ago my life looked totally
different than it does today I was
unemployed
my husband had a small business that was
that was failing and failing miserably
and it took our home equity line and the
kids college savings and our 401k plans
right down the drain with it and we have
the liens hitting the house we of course
were fighting like crazy because you
know when life blows what do you do you
point the finger you say oh it’s your
fault though it’s my boss’s fault it’s
the economy’s fault
oh this isn’t fair you know what’s
interesting about the way that human
beings are designed have you ever
noticed that when you blame somebody
else and you point the finger there’s
three fingers pointing right back at you
it’s a big reminder that the power is in
you
but waking up every morning unemployed I
certainly didn’t feel powerful you know
what I needed I needed confidence that
was tapped out
I needed courage move nope didn’t have
any of that when the alarm rang this is
what I felt like doing with the clock
have you ever had one of those mornings
right where you’re like not today no not
today I do not want to get out of bed
today I would lie in bed the alarm would
go off and I would start thinking about
the day ahead and I would start feeling
overwhelmed and I would feel this sense
of dread and I would feel like such a
failure you know I remember this period
of our life and I remember having those
moments where I’d be at the grocery
store and the items would be scanning
and I would feel the fear rising up
because I didn’t know if the check card
was going to go through because I didn’t
have the courage to look at the bank
account and so as I would lie in bed in
the morning and I would know by the way
my inner wisdom was there and your inner
wisdom is always there it’s always there
kind of nudging you pushing you begging
you to go forward my heroism was like
mal you need to get up and I’d be like
yeah I don’t feel like it I developed
this habit of hitting the snooze button
over and over and over again every
morning I became one of those those
parents where the kids were always late
and and you know here’s the thing about
life we don’t we don’t do this we don’t
ever kind of go to wake up in the
morning go go you know what I’m gonna do
today today today I’m going to screw up
my life today I’m gonna hit the snooze
button four times I’m gonna blow off
exercise I’m gonna eat that whole tray
of doughnuts then I’m gonna go to work
and snap at people I’m gonna blow off
working at my business I’m gonna come
home and be mean to my spouse and
patient with my kids then I’m gonna
drink a ton it’s gonna be amazing
right you know we don’t do that what
happens is when you’re not paying
attention when you’re not really focused
on what you want when you’re not clear
you make these small decisions all day
long that slowly take you off course
decisions based and self-doubt decisions
based in fear decisions based in in
panic decisions based in resignation and
suddenly you wake up one morning like I
didn’t you’re like wait a minute wait
how did I get over there and more
importantly how do I get over here
you know we all know we need to change
but change is hard it’s hard when you
don’t feel confident it’s hard when you
don’t feel certain and that’s exactly
how I felt and I struggled and I
struggled and then one night it’s a
really stupid story I saw this rocket
launching and you know we’re gonna talk
about this word courage now when you
hear the word courage you think about
the big stuff don’t you you think about
a life-or-death moment you think about
your heroes I want you to consider that
courage is what you need every day that
there are conversations you have to have
that require courage
for me I need a courage to get out of
bed because our problems just felt so
big so I struggled and struggled because
I knew what to do but I couldn’t make
myself do it if you ever felt that way
like so frustrated with yourself you
knew you need to exercise but you don’t
do it you know you need to drink less
but you don’t do it you know you need to
stop procrastinating but you don’t do it
you know you need to have the tough
conversations but you don’t do it you’re
stuck that’s how I was and then one
night I see this rocket launch and I say
oh oh my gosh that that’s it that’s it
I’m gonna launch myself out of bed like
a rocket ship tomorrow morning it is
gonna be amazing I’m gonna move so fast
that my mind cannot talk me out of this
now it could have been the four
manhattan’s talking you know that gave
me that idea because I had a drinking
problem that’s one of the things you do
you get emotional you reach for the
booze well for whatever reason the very
next morning I woke up I still had all
the same problems liens on the house
talking divorce with my husband of now
20 years just felt like such a loser I
did not feel like getting up I will
never forget this morning it was a cold
dark winter morning in February outside
of Boston Massachusetts and I just did
not feel like doing anything different
but I did one thing one thing that
changed everything I started counting
backwards five four three two one and
then all of a sudden I stood up and I
was like what the hell just happened and
the next morning five four three two one
I did it again and it worked five four
three two one I did it again and it
worked I couldn’t believe it and now
that I’m almost 50 I still use it at
2:30 in the morning when I wake up and I
have to go the bathroom it you know like
instead of like you know trying to go
back to bed five four three two one and
eat it here’s what I noticed I noticed
something that when I say this to you
you’re gonna be like oh my god she’s
right there is a five-second window
between the moment that your inner
wisdom tells you you need to speak up
you need to get to the gym you need to
say something you need to get to work
and your mind killing it
and if you start counting backwards five
four three two one you can close the gap
between the greatness and you that’s
dying to come to the surface and the
excuses that keep snuffing it down now I
never intended to tell anybody about
this because I started use this to get
up on time it started use it to
self-monitor so I didn’t snap the Kris
so I stopped drinking so much I started
to use it to go on job interviews and it
literally changed everything because I
started to change I stopped being the
kind of person that would think about
everything and I five four three two one
became the kind of person that started
acting and every time I took action I
started to build confidence now I gave
this talk a couple years ago about how
it changed my career so many times and
again I wasn’t gonna talk about the
five-second rule cuz it sounds stupid
and in full disclosure I didn’t know why
it worked and plus I didn’t want you to
have it this was working for me so why
would I want you to have it right so at
the end of this talk this was the spurge
first speech I had ever given so if you
ever want to see somebody have a 21
minute long panic attack this is what it
looks like I get off stage and I’m like
I’m never doing that again
and somebody puts the talk online and
something crazy started to happen people
from around the world started to write
and they were all writing about this
stupid simple very powerful five-second
rule they were using it to find the
courage to reach out to people they were
using it to become number one in sales
they were sharing it with their teams we
know of 13 people that have stopped
themselves from committing suicide using
this rule this gentleman was a veteran
and he boarded the ferry with the
intention of jumping over he gets to the
railing and his inner wisdom kicks in
I’m sure how low you get I don’t care
how high you get your inner wisdom is
always there and when you hear it it is
magic when you listen to it it changes
everything is inner wisdom said this is
not the answer he went 5 4 3 2 1 and he
turned and he walked away we hear from
people all over the world people that
are using it to be more productive to
quit smoking after 20
three years license plates tattoos for
crying out loud look when people start
tattooing this thing on their body like
I started to feel a moral obligation to
figure out why it worked so I’m gonna
tell you some of the science behind this
I’m gonna explain how you can use it and
then I’m going to show you how five
second decisions change everything so we
all hear this just do it right most
famous tagline in the world what’s the
difference between just do it and the
five-second rule this is a concept
concepts make you go upstairs I don’t
want you upstairs
this is behind enemy lines you’re not
gonna grow your business grow yourself
by thinking you got to take action right
before you’re about to do anything even
if you’re an Olympic athlete what do you
do you stop and you think and that’s the
kiss of death now stop and think if
you’re gonna get tattoo or sign a
contract but on the little stuff do not
stop and think because what happens when
your feelings of failure kick in and
they will you start to think and that
leads you to doubting yourself doesn’t
it and the same thing happens when you
feel nervous same thing happens when you
feel unsure the same thing happens when
you feel like you’re a fake the same
thing happens when you feel overwhelmed
look at all these feelings they’re
triggering you to think that’s the last
thing you should do this is what we call
a habit loop any pattern that you repeat
becomes a habit something you do without
even thinking so how do you break it you
train yourself to take action you train
yourself at the moment you feel nervous
you move why because when you take
action you actually build confidence
when you feel unsure and you move
forward anyway 5 4 3 2 1 you are
building the skill of confidence you are
bringing that greatness to the surface
now look south that’s normal feeling
overwhelmed is normal the people we
admire the most felt the same way you
ever heard the story of Michelangelo so
in the late and early 1500s he had never
painted a thing the Pope goes over to
see him and in his studio as he’s
carving a statue in the Pope Julius the
second turns to Michelangelo and says
hey Michelangelo I got some frescoes I
want you to paint in Vatican City
you know what Michelangelo felt totally
unsure do you know what he did he left
town
he hid from the Pope for two years
that’s how unsure he was you know what
the Pope that he stalked him for two
years
pushed him until he actually painted
those frescoes how about a more recent
one how many of you heard of Hamilton
yeah
Hamilton hit musical guess what three
and a half years ago it wasn’t even
finished
lin-manuel the guy that wrote it was
busy messaging with his wife Vanessa
what was he saying he was saying
something you and I can relate to when
it doesn’t happen as fast as I’d like it
to I have a hard time finding the
balance between not beating myself up
and not wasting time can’t you relate to
that she’s like you’re not unique dude
we all struggle with this we all all all
need the encouragement and the push you
know in this MIT this photo makes me sad
because when I think about this kid
right and standing there the longer he
looks the more he thinks about it the
less likely he’s going imagine the
difference that a push makes imagine a
coach behind him right right a coach a
coach going come on Sammy you got this
buddy you got this or an older brother
the problem is in life usually there’s
nobody there to push you it’s up to you
that’s why the five-second rule is your
new best friend this is what you’re
gonna use to push yourself the moment
you have an instinct to act on a goal
you know you should do some but you
don’t feel like getting out of bed I
don’t care 5 4 3 2 1 you don’t feel like
being nice to your spouse I don’t care 5
4 3 2 1 use this for behaviors that you
need to do and for those things that are
emotional that are killing you drinking
too much eating a bunch of garbage
smoking gambling addiction when you feel
the emotion drawing you towards it 5 4 3
2 1 physically move away from it what is
this actually doing in your mind when
you count backwards it’s pretty
remarkable how such a simple thing does
something extraordinary when you start
counting backwards it is an action when
you start counting backwards it requires
focus when you start counting
backwards you are manually switching the
part of the brain that you’re using
you’re activating your prefrontal cortex
you’re interrupting the habit loops of
self-doubt of procrastination of fear of
anxiety and you are taking control one
five-second decision at a time it truly
is that simple I didn’t say it was easy
but it is this simple and it’s not gonna
be easy because you’re gonna fight
yourself now there are three ways that
you can use this we’ve heard of
literally hundreds of thousands of waves
we’ve heard of from hundreds of
thousands of people in 90 different
countries that are using this rule and
they fall into kind of three buckets you
can use this rule to change any behavior
five four three two one push yourself to
do something that you know you need to
do five four three two one
pull yourself away from something that
you know you should not be doing you can
use it for courage five four three two
one step into that risk five four three
two one push yourself outside your
comfort zone and the most important way
you can use it is you can use it for
mind control this one matters the most
to me so let me explain to you how to
use it so a lot of people see me on
stage or on CNN and they’re like ooh
that chick was just born very confident
very annoying and I don’t you laugh
because it’s true
not true I suffered from panic attacks
for over 20 years they started when I
was 19 years old they got so bad that I
was on Zoloft it was a miracle drug for
me and as I started to use the
five-second rule to literally I mean
change everything to go from facing
bankruptcy to running multi-million
dollar companies joining the teams at
CNN being a contributor to dr. oz and
success changing my marriage and how I
behaved changing my health habits
changing everything because what the
rule does is it gives you control over
your decisions it gives you control over
those five-second moments that change
everything for you because in those
five-second moments it’s where all the
opportunity and the joy in your life is
so I wondered about five years ago I
wonder if you could use this simple
stupid
brilliant rule to cure yourself of
anxiety the answer is yes you can so
I’ve been off meds for five years I
haven’t had a panic attack since hell I
don’t even worry about anything yes
because I have used this rule to
completely rewire how I think you’re
gonna hear a lot about mindset today you
want to adopt a growth mindset you want
to change your habits this is a starting
ritual that you can use for any of them
let me explain how you do it in the
mental game so if you ever noticed how
your thoughts drift right you’re sitting
in a meeting and suddenly your thoughts
are like blah blah blah blah blah
garbage garbage garbage
you suck suck suck suck right you know
whatever it is the second that you get
your thoughts drifting you’re going to
go 5 4 3 2 1 and yank them back here now
the counting backwards is essential it
doesn’t work to just try to change your
thoughts inserting the
five-four-three-two-one interrupts the
pattern of bad talk to yourself and self
doubt and anxiety it awakens your
prefrontal cortex so your brain is ready
ready to receive a new thought you know
I’m gonna use an example that we can all
relate to to explain specifically how to
do this because I think this is so
important I used to be a nutcase about
flying I would get to the airport and
I’d be in the boarding area and I’d be
looking for Bishop TD jakes
and I’d be looking for babies and men
and women in uniform because I would say
if they’re getting on my plane God is
not letting this go down so then I I get
on the plane and I would buckle up and
then I’d start to feel the panic rising
and as soon as we take off and the plane
does that scary thing where you get up
and then all of a sudden it feels like
it’s like turning off as it’s leveling
off then I would start to panic and I
would pull out my phone and I would
start texting my children you know mommy
loves you emoji emoji emoji because if
I’m gonna die in a plane crash I want
the kids to know that at my last act as
a human being was to be the best mom on
the planet and then plus they’ve got it
for the eulogy when they do the
PowerPoint so they can prove it to
everybody and you giggle you giggle
because we’re sick human beings we’re
all sick right if we were to put a
speaker on your head and broadcast the
garbage you say to yourself you wouldn’t
be at success live you’d be in an insane
asylum for crying out loud
but here’s the problem we listen to it
we listen to it you let it rob you of
your precious lifetime you let it keep
you
from stepping into your greatness you
let it stop you from saying what you
really believe you don’t have to second
you catch yourself thinking anything
that doesn’t serve you five four three
two one
take control five four three two one
insert a different thought every time I
talk about this when I fly I step on the
plane with an anchor thought I think
about where I’m gonna go and I flew here
you know what I thought about I thought
about you so every time the turbulence
happened I went 5 4 3 2 1 I thought
about you and my brain went oh she’s not
nervous about the plane she’s so excited
to see everybody at success live this
makes sense one of you many of you are
gonna text me right after this and be
like I can’t believe this mal I use that
stupid simple thing you just talked
about and this is the first time I’ve
ever been able to get on a plane you can
change how you think five seconds at a
time
do not ever underestimate your power to
change the things that matter most to
you this is one of the most shared
stories in the history of social media a
lot of you are gonna recognize this is
Brittany and her dad Todd now what you
can’t tell from this story is that it’s
been a horrible decade for this family
you see Brittany and Brittany’s dad and
her mom got divorced and it’s been an
ugly divorce you know a lot of fighting
and the spouses can’t the new spouses
can’t stand each other well today is
Brittany’s wedding day and Todd is
walking his new wife up the aisle and he
has this inner wisdom kick in and he
says to himself today I’m gonna heal
this family doesn’t stop and think he
turns he walks back down the aisle and
instead of grabbing his daughter he
grabs her stepfather a man he hates I
mean look at the expression on the lady
next to them for crying out loud
and he invites him to walk their
daughter down the aisle five seconds
changes everything and I can tell you
firsthand because we interviewed this
family for CNN it certainly changed this
one so whether you are gonna use the
rule – five four three two one get out
of your head and start that nonprofit
you’ve been thinking about for two
decades or you’re just gonna five four
three two one
get yourself out of bed because you said
you would or you find yourself in one of
the darkest places of your life like
Adam did so on March 1st Adam was over
in London he’s a lawyer over there and
he was sitting with a bottle of pills
and he was three pills in and his inner
wisdom kicked in he knew that this was
not the answer and he also knew the
five-second rule anyone five four three
two one and he got up and he got in his
car and he drove to his doctor’s office
and he had the courage to listen he had
the clarity to seek help and he’s been
using it ever since and it’s like he has
a friend with him and he uses it to not
interrupt judges when he gets mad and as
he writes to us he says it’s not only
literally saved his life but he’s
actually doing pretty good and I’d like
to introduce you to because he’s flown
here
[Applause]
[Applause]
I’m so proud of you don’t ever doubt
your ability to change your life to
change your life you know you have power
in you and now you know thank you it is
a privilege to share this with you thank
you please please please use it and
please let me know how you use it
seriously I I it is such a I feel like
I’m just a messenger for something
that’s making a difference for people
everywhere so thank you for the
opportunity to share this with you
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