Hal Elrod shares the most effective tool he’s learned to quickly handle anything life throws at you.

When I was 20 years old, my car was hit head-on by a drunk driver at 70 miles per hour, and I was found dead at the scene. I broke 11 bones, died for 6 minutes, spent 6 days in a coma. When I came out of the coma, I was told I would never walk again. I had learned a year and a half prior this technique called the 5-minute rule from my mentor. And he said, when you go through challenges in life, and he said it could be as little as traffic or major life events, you set your timer on your phone for 5 minutes and give yourself 5 minutes to fully feel your emotions. You know, it sucks. I hate that. I wanted it so bad. Whatever. I can't believe I lost that person or whatever it is. You feel it fully and express it. Don't suppress it. Don't deflect. And he said, but when the 5-minute timer goes off and you've allowed yourself to fully feel all the things and think all the thoughts, you say 3 very liberating words: can't change it. And it's an acknowledgment, right? I can't change what happened 5 minutes ago. And it's this timer went off. Now I have to make a choice. I can continue to resist my reality and wish it were different and be upset over something that I cannot change. Or, and he said, The only logical choice you have is to accept your reality exactly as it is, choose to be at peace with it, not happy. The difference is this: happiness is that emotional state that's fleeting, and you can jostle between happy and unhappy. Peace is an ever-present state of being. It's, I live in a state of acceptance. And so when I got out of the hospital, I was like, the 5-minute rule applies. Even though this is the most unimaginable thing I could have ever faced, I can't change it. If I'm in a wheelchair the rest of my life, and that's my reality, I can't change it. I'll be at peace with whatever ever happens.