Industry Magazine Get JACK'D Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 17

IN MY speeches, I teach people
about a tool that has changed my life. I
first introduced this tool, The 5 Second
Rule, in a 2011 TEDx Talk, and since
then, I’ve heard from over 100,000
people who have used The Rule to push
past fear, self-doubt and hesitation.
Looking back, it’s amazing to see
how much has changed over the past
eight years – much of it thanks to The
Rule. It also turns out that the The Five
Second Rule is backed by science and
works for absolutely anyone.
I want to introduce you to this tool
because I believe that it has the power
to change your life. It changed mine,
and I’m going to tell you my story right
now.
The story of how I discovered the
Rule is personal, but it also provides a
ton of context. I used it to change my
life – and I know that you can too.
How I Found The Five Second
Rule
In 2009, things weren’t going too
well in my life.
When the alarm went off each
morning, all I felt was dread.
I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t
want to wake up and face the day
ahead of me.
So what did I do? I hit the snooze
button over and over and over again.
At this point in my life, I felt defeated.
I was facing serious problems related
to money, work and my marriage.
I had changed careers so many times
that I felt like the jack of all trades and
the master of none. I got a big break to
host a show on TV and then the show
was cancelled, leaving me without
work and bound by a contract that
wouldn’t allow me to work in the media
business for a year.
At the same time, my family was in
financial free-fall after pouring our
life savings, home equity, and college
tuition savings into a pizza business
“TOMORROW, I’LL WAKE UP
EARLIER. I’LL HAVE A BETTER
ATTITUDE. I’LL BE NICE TO MY
HUSBAND. I WON’T DRINK SO MUCH.
I’LL GO TO THE GYM.”
that failed – and left us in major debt.
Our problems seemed way too big
for me to solve and I had no energy to
change things.
Sleep had become my escape – until
the alarm would go off in the morning
and pull me back to reality.
I felt trapped, so I started drinking
too much.
I would think and think about my
situation. The more I thought, the more
afraid I became.
All that I needed to do was wake up,
make breakfast, get my kids onto the
bus and then look for a job.
It wasn’t earth shattering and it
wasn’t complicated. It was just a few
simple things. I didn’t need to end
world hunger. All I needed to do was
wake up and face the morning.
However, even the small things, like
getting up to make breakfast, felt so
hard.
Every night, I would tell myself that
the next day would be different.
Tomorrow, I’ll wake up earlier. I’ll
have a better attitude. I’ll be nice to my
husband. I won’t drink so much. I’ll go to
the gym.
When the alarm would ring in the
morning, though, these empowering
thoughts were replaced by the same
old fears, and I would keep sleeping.
My Transition Moment
One morning, I decided to break the
habit.
I still felt the same feelings that I had
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experienced for months: fear, dread
and anxiety.
In this moment, though, I noticed a
tiny window of time.
I had a desire to change my life for
the better. There was a moment – a
brief window of time – before my mind
killed this positive thought.
So, I did something I had never done
before. Instead of hitting snooze, I
started counting backwards.
5-4-3-2-1.
The night before, while watching a
commercial, I had seen a rocket launch
into the sky.
I decided, what the heck, why not
to just launch myself up like a rocket.
Couldn’t hurt.
5-4-3-2-1.
And then… I stood up. I launched
myself right out of bed, something I
hadn’t been able to do for months.
This was the exact moment that I
discovered The 5 Second Rule.
I used the same countdown the next
day, and it worked. In fact, it’s worked
every single time I’ve used it.
And you know what? I started to see
these moments all the time, these five
second windows.
So, I made a promise to myself: If I
had an instinct to do something that
would improve my life, then I would use
this new rule to push myself forward.
This is the basis of The Five Second
Rule.
The Rule states: The moment you