This content was created by Lewis Howes. This content was uploaded by Lewis Howes. This is a YouTube video titled "5 Seconds Can Change Your Life!" featuring Mel Robbins discussing the concept of a five-second window to act on instincts and urges before the brain suppresses them, using a technique of counting backwards to overcome hesitation.
Chapters
There's a five second window between the instincts, the shoulds, the urges, the inner wisdom, the things that can change your life. If you listen to it. Got a 5 second window from the moment you feel that instinct to move. And if you don't, your brain is actually designed to kill it. Five seconds is all you have. The second you feel yourself hesitating, that is a moment of huge power. Because what's happened is you've just started to pull back from something that you need to lean into. And if you count backwards, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And this is the neuroscience behind why this stupid little trick works. Counting is an action. Counting backwards requires focus. It's also not a habit for you yet. So when you feel yourself hesitate, you're triggering your mind that something's up. Like Lewis didn't hesitate when he pulled on his pants. He didn't hesitate when he's drinking his coffee, didn't hesitate when he walked out the door to the gym. But now he's hesitating to make that call. Your mind now goes into a cognitive bias called the spotlight effect. It magnifies whatever it was that you hesitated doing.
