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Counting down 5 seconds is all you need to take control back, and take action. In this motivational video, This One Brain Hack Backed by Science Will Change Your Life. Here’s How Mel Robbins (commentator, television host, life coach, author, and motivational speaker) draws upon her findings from her groundbreaking book and explains how 5 seconds is the most powerful tool to turn your life around.

You’ve got to stop thinking and start living before the system in your head stops you.

How often do you find your mind holding you back from doing things that may seem risky, scary or new. You’re not alone. Our brains are programmed to protect us, and we get used to our habits and routines. For Mel, however, people need to stop thinking and start living before this system in our heads puts a stop to us taking action and progressing. In this introductory video, Mel touches upon the difference between people who believe that they are in control of their lives on the one hand, in contrast to people who believe they are a victim, and life is just happening to them on the other. She argues, people who believe they are in control are irrefutably happier, more successful and able to harness that all-important locus of control. With this power and understanding, Mel asserts that you will be able to create a bias towards action within yourself. With every five second decision, you are proving to yourself over and over again that you can take control and take action into your own hands. You begin to subvert your habits and develop a behavioural flexibility that allows you to thrive and become more confident.

Using the findings of Professor Timothy Wilson, legendary psychological researcher and lecturer at the University of Virginia, Mel argues that you can’t think your way to being happier or better, you really do have to do something and TAKE ACTION. Yet, taking action action isn’t always easy. How often do you struggle to get to the gym, get out of bed, get started on that project that’s constantly niggling away at the back of your mind. This, Mel believes, boils down to a principle called Activation Energy, a phrase coined by renowned University of Chicago Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. She suggests that In order to start any kind of chemical reaction it takes a tremendous amount of energy to create that initial spark. You need a lot more initial energy to start something than to keep that energy going. Just as, once you begin the process of changing, it’s easier to push yourself into that new direction. You need a trigger, and yes... that trigger is the 5 second rule - releasing activation energy within you. To find out more, take a look at Mel's book The 5 Second Rule and see how 5 quick seconds could transform your life.