Interview with Mel Robbins

This was interesting, putting everything into the context of: ourselves doing whatever they can to avoid pain.

I started doing a similar counting down thing a few years ago, in order to make myself get into ice cold showers in the middle of winter, before I was used to it :) I made it a game, I'd just go, "3, 2, 1, GO!" and then have to jump in no matter what. It worked well, now I always just jump in right away. It's still uncomfortable, but I just don't worry about it til I'm already in...

Never thought of doing it for negative thoughts. Though, is this sort of related? I have a little thing I say to myself, which I got from a book once - I say "I am me myself", and this is my cue to immediately be focused, calm and feeling like my most normal self... I've been doing it for years. Originally I started doing it almost as a joke, to dispel any entities which might be possessing me (this is what it was for in the book I read), but gradually it became a general "I don't feel like myself. I want to feel like myself now." thing. It's really quite weird how well it works, having inadvertently trained myself with that phrase.. Any mental noise immediately stops and I'm suddenly aware of how all of my body is feeling.

Gonna start doing the 5,4,3,2,1 now!

("5, 4, 3, 2, 1.5, 1.25, 1.125, 1.0625, 1.03125................." - Brandon "Zeno" W.)
 
Thanks for sharing this video. Never really thought that worry and hesitation might be bad habits we learned! This was an "aha" moment for me. It put things into a whole new perspective. I tend to worry and hesitate a lot, so now I have a nice tool to use when falling into these old habits! Cool!
 
Thanks Laura for sharing this knowledge. Negative mindset was such a significant problem of mine that most of my life I was living in that dark and destructive world. I was in my 50's before I realized I felt so much better and avoided this darkness when I went for long nature walks. I also noticed that on bad air days that darkness was back. I dubbed it Low Oxygen Brain. I learned to simply say something positive and complimentary as often as needed to avoid dark speak and keep my head out of the pits. I'll be adding 5-4-3-2-1 lets roll to my struggle with this low oxygen brain.
 
Thank you Laura, great video!
It is really important to realise that we are machines (body), almost everything works automatically and body will do everything to keeps it that way(inertia).
First step in order to change that is to be aware of it, too be aware automatism(patterns, loops) of thoughts,to register them and be able not to follow them.
So find time for your self, get calm (meditation is one great method), be aware of your thoughts and you will see how brain will do everything to keep you busy and maintain control. It is endless fight!
 
Really great video. Mel Robbins is changing lives for the better. IMO, it would seem to be the thoughts and thought loops we have to overcome and deal with, comparable to what Castaneda would describe as the Predator's Mind: (not his exact words) morose, mundane, fearful, etc.
FWIW.
 
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Thanks for sharing this. It's a technique I use to get into freezing cold lakes, but I didn't have the insight to apply anywhere else :lol: .

I've often been frustrated with how sometimes it just seems impossible to do certain good things, or to not do certain bad things, especially when it comes to thought loops and fears. Like free will might as well not exist! So it would be really handy to have an extra boost. I am experimenting with this technique now.
 
I just implemented the rule to take a plunge in our rainwater barrel, something I decided I will start doing like a week ago but keep talking myself out of.

As I'm undressing and getting ready to go outside there's a cacophony of little I's cycling one after the other, each one trying to pull the brakes on this seemingly horrible enterprise. "I don't really need to prove anything" and "it's too F'n cold" making finally way to "oh my god he's going to do it", "please don't do it". The little I's piling on top of each other, each one hoping its' voice will be the one to dissuade me.

Thanks for sharing this, it made my evening that much more exciting.
 
Thank you for sharing this video!
aragorn said:
I'm also going to check out her book, you can find it here:

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage/Hardcover

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage/Kindle
Click to expand...
Yesterday I listened to the first part of her book on audible on my drive home. Look forward to listening to more.
Wandering Star said:
"Don't try it, 5 4 3 2 1, do it!":-)
Click to expand...
The above brings to mind the following:-):
Laura said:
A: As Yoda said, no try, just do, if only a little. That will break the logjam. Butterfly wings and all that.
Click to expand...
 
Great share, Laura! This is a really interesting mental technique I've been playing around with for the last couple of days and it seems pretty effective. I really appreciate simple techniques that can help me get back on the right track. I don't know if anyone noticed this but at the end of the video Mel talks about a free course available to the viewers of the video:

Mel Robbins → Million Dollar Morning

www.melrobbins.com www.melrobbins.com
I signed up and got access to two free courses, together totaling to about 1.5-2 hours of content with free downloadable workbooks. I really like Mel because she breaks things down in a simple way and provides some great strategies for instigating changes in ourselves.
Her first course is called The Million Dollar Morning (I honestly hate the name, it's so cheesy lol). She stresses the importance of bringing out the genius mind (what we might think of as higher mind/true self/soul) and not allowing the robotic (automated) mind to take control by sharing 5 rules to govern the beginning of your day.
--Rule 1 is "Geniuses don't sleep with their phone" or check email/social media in the first hour upon waking. Automatically going to the phone/computer after we wake up starts our day off in the robotic mind mode.
--Which ties into Rule 2: "Geniuses let their minds wander." Giving your mind the space of an hour allows opportunity for creativity and aha moments and allows the inner genius mind time to come out.
-- Rule 3 is "Geniuses make progress not to-do lists." Here she suggests to sit down with your notebook/journal and create one priority for your day write it down and write why it matters to you. She discourages creating to-do lists as they tend to create overwhelm that then triggers procrastination. I can attest to this as I am a big lister who never seems to complete everything on my lists lol.
--Rule 4: "Geniuses take 30 minutes before 7:30am." This 30 minutes is dedicated time to put yourself first, to nourish yourself, and to do what is important to you. It could be exercise, meditation, reading, journaling, working on your dream, etc.
--Rule 5: "Geniuses know when to quit." Mel states that is important to have a set quitting time planned for when work will be over for the day and you can transition into rest mode/time with family. Because work expands to fill the time set for completion it's important to have a quit time in place.
Today was my first day doing the program, so it will be interesting to see what happens as I go along. I do normally check the forum and SOTT right after I wake up, but today I took the hour and wrote down my priority and journaled about it. It definitely pointed my day in a more productive direction. I've been doing the Arky Chi Gong exercises lately. Doing it first thing in the morning instead of in the afternoon definitely got my day off on the right foot. 🧘‍♀️
I highly recommend checking out the Reset course as well. If your feeling stuck anywhere, it can really help you evaluate where your at and identify the little things in your day to day life that you can change to make progress. The best thing I got out of this one is when she says "The number one mistake you are making is being overly focused on the big stuff. The secret to changing the big stuff is just focusing on getting the little things right." This is something I really struggle with, especially with all the knowledge that we have from Laura and the Cs. I forget sometimes that life is made up of the littlest things and those are what really matter and deserve our attention (not to downplay seeing the bigger picture at all). Anyway, this may not be incredibly groundbreaking, but I found it to be a helpful reminder to stay the course and use the time we have in an effective manner FWIW.
 
I have noticed that my mind favors 5-3-2-1 over 5-4-3-2-1, which could explain why 5-4-3-2-1 is so effective... because it delivers a shock!
  • 5-3-2-1 is basically Fibonacci in reverse!
  • 1-2-3, the standard Fibonacci, also "flows" well and is too comfortable!
I think the "4" in 5-4-3-2-1 sufficiently elongates the message sent to self, so that it breaks the "hypnotic" thought loop. As you can see below, there is a straight line when you say 5-4-3-2-1. Therefore, saying something "linear" like "ha!" versus something "curvy" like "mellow" could help focus an intention. In that sense, an intention could be carried solely based on the "shape" of the message!
5321.png54321.png
Change is uncomfortable. It takes energy to switch a mental context.
5-4-3-2-1, the electric shock!
 
Thank you Laura for sharing - great video, great woman!

I like how she throws all the motivational things in the bucket! I like when she says you decided this - it was a decision. ... since yesterday I've been busy counting 5 4 3 2 1. ... (Although I often forget the 4 🙈)

I have a question - remember she said, that repeatedly dealing with past situations or possible problems in the future, it tries to protect us from possible challenges and dangers. At that moment I said to myself, that the predator has this loop under his control - could that be?


Translated with DeepL
 
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