50 pages • 1 hour read
Mel RobbinsThe 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3, Chapters 9-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Courage Changes Your Behavior”
Chapter 9 Summary: “Improve Your Health”
Robbins argues that the #5SecondRule can be applied to any kind of behavioral change, from establishing a new, positive habit to getting rid of an old, destructive one. In this section, Robbins addresses the three most common areas people seek to change: health, productivity, and procrastination.
Chapter 9 focuses on the issue of improving health. Robbins argues that there are ample resources online on healthy diets and how to achieve any body shape people wish. The problem is not a lack of information but people’s feelings, which prevent them from maintaining a healthy diet. People do not usually enjoy strenuous exercise or eating bland but healthy foods, hence why simply thinking about wanting to become healthy will not help people enact necessary changes. Similarly, people enjoy doing things that “feel easy,” hence why it is much easier to decide to browse social media than to go to spinning class.
The #5SecondRule forces people to stop thinking about how they feel. What matters is only what they decide to do. Robbins uses Charlie’s successful journey toward weight loss as a case in point: For 529 consecutive days, he forced himself to drink healthy green juices and lost 176 pounds in a little under a year. He points out that he did not feel like doing any of this; he did it because he said he would and acted.
Sometimes, self-doubt can hold people back from seeking change. A woman named Pakinam wrote to Robbins saying that she had been overweight her whole life and that the very thought of dieting for the first time was daunting. Robbins believes that it takes courage to even start, especially when the goal seems impossible to achieve. No matter how hard it may seem, striving toward our goal can never be worse than letting our minds abuse us. These hard decisions can sometimes be lifesaving: Amy Robach, who hosts Good Morning America, overcame her hang-ups about doing a mammogram on air for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In the process, she found out she had breast cancer and was able to seek immediate treatment.
Robbins concludes that life is about decisions; though people cannot choose how they feel, they can always choose how to act. Becoming healthy is not about how people feel, but about taking concrete steps toward change.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Increase Productivity”
Productivity is dependent on two types of focus. The first is moment-to-moment concentration that can help accomplish a task efficiently. The second is a focus on the larger picture, which helps with staying on track for long-term goals. The #5SecondRule can help with both, Robbins argues, and its effectiveness is backed up by the latest scientific research.
People can remain focused moment-to-moment if they remove the things that distract them. This is done in two steps: First, people must determine what their distractions are, and second, they must remove them. Although this is very simple to do, it is not an easy step to take. The #5SecondRule can help people bridge the gap between wishing and acting. For example, Kendall, Robbins’s daughter, decided to delete her social media accounts, including Instagram and VSCO, in order to better focus on her schoolwork and not compare herself to supermodels. Without the temptation of the app, Kendall quickly learned how unimportant they are to her daily life and personal growth.
Robbins believes that the second type of focus, which keeps track of the long term or bigger picture, is much harder to achieve. She found that mastering her mornings was the single act that allowed her to reassess, every day, her long-term goals. According to Dan Ariely, a professor at Duke University, people are most productive in the first few hours after waking up. Robbins researched the science behind morning productivity. She provides her own morning routine as a guide for how to remain productive throughout the day:
First, she wakes up when her alarm rings and does not snooze. This is because productivity is determined not only by an individual’s quality of sleep but also by how they wake up. The human body sleeps in cycles that last 90 to 110 minutes. Two hours before an individual’s usual wake-up time, the cycle ends, and the body prepares for coming out of sleep. However, by hitting the snooze button and falling back asleep, people force the cortical region of their brains to re-enter a 90-to-110-minute cycle, which is then interrupted 15 minutes later by the alarm sounding again. This induces grogginess and affects people’s alertness, self-control, and decision-making. This is why Robbins insists on never using the snooze button.
Second, Robbins leaves her phone in the bathroom. After waking up, she forces her body to leave the bedroom and walk to the bathroom to turn off the alarm. This prevents her from falling into the temptation of remaining in bed to check her emails or waking up in the middle of the night and reaching for her phone.
Third, as she brushes her teeth and washes her face, Robbins spends three to five minutes thinking about things she must accomplish during the day to reach her big-picture goals. She emphasizes that this is not a to-do list; it is a “must list” of one or two things she absolutely must accomplish during the day. She models these tasks after what researchers call SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) goals. They are usually “crap” that Robbins does not feel like doing but knows she must.
Fourth, Robbins gets dressed, makes her bed, pours herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, and does not check her phone. Once she looks at her phone, outside influences such as friends, family, work, and media will begin to take precedence over herself and her goals. Robbins does not want to use her productive morning hours on other people; this is the time she uses to focus on herself.
Fifth, Robbins commits to her daily planner one to three “musts” and writes down why they are important. Research by Dr. Gail Matthews from the Dominican University of California reveals that people are 42% more likely to achieve their goals if they write them down.
Sixth, Robbins takes 30 minutes before 7:30 a.m. to plan her day and start on two or three of her daily “musts.” Those she cannot start on immediately will be penned in for later in the day. These 30 minutes are “critical” to her success because they are, according to research, the most productive time for the brain. They are crucial to her personal development. Relegating these important tasks to later is self-defeating. Robbins argues that “answering emails, taking phone calls, and sitting in meetings have a way of taking over your schedule and rarely lead to making major improvements in your life” (138).
Finally, Robbins determines when she will stop working for the day. This helps her better employ the time she has and increases her productivity. Parkinson’s Law (coined by British naval historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson) argues that “work expands to whatever time you give it” (140). Therefore, it is important for mental health to set a limit and to know when to count down from five and then turn off the computer.
By setting her big-picture goals in the morning, starting her day right, and eliminating the distractions of checking her phone, Robbins finds she can significantly improve her productivity while retaining a clear mind. If she strays from her goals during the day, she uses the #5SecondRule to get back on track. Over time, she says, this has become a habit that has helped her and many others achieve their goals and own their lives.
Chapter 11 Summary: “End Procrastination”
Robbins believes readers must first understand what procrastination is before attempting to end it. There are two kinds of procrastination: The first is destructive; the second is productive.
Productive procrastination is useful in moderation. Sometimes, taking breaks helps the creative process by broadening the mind and inviting “divergent” ideas. Robbins herself took breaks between writing The 5 Second Rule, which pushed back its deadline by seven months yet ultimately made it better.
Destructive procrastination is the process of avoiding work knowing there will be a negative consequence. People often procrastinate not because of poor time management skills or a lack of determination, but as a coping mechanism for stress. According to psychology professor Timothy Pychyl, procrastinating on important work is a way for people to feel an immediate sense of relief by taking a break. It allows the body to receive a “short-term boost of dopamine” (145), which becomes addictive the more it is repeated. People are usually not stressed about the task they are avoiding, but about money, their careers, or life in general. Procrastinating, though relieving in the short term, contributes to greater stress about life in the long run.
The first step toward resetting this vicious cycle is for procrastinators to forgive themselves for procrastinating. Dr. Pychyl’s research reveals that procrastinators are usually hard on themselves; they will have more success getting out of the habit if they forgive themselves for their past failures.
The second step is to project an image of one’s future self. Research shows that people who were shown a picture of themselves aged up are more likely to save for retirement. Thus, having a mental image of themselves as they would like to be in the future helps people push themselves in the present.
The third and final step is to use the #5SecondRule to get started and create new habits. This first step toward breaking a pattern is incredibly important because it helps people feel more in control of their lives. With a greater sense of control, people tend to feel more empowered and in control of their lives, which in turn helps with creating good long-term habits. Whenever the urge to procrastinate surges, people can reset their thoughts by counting back from five and resuming their work. This can be done in small intervals to ensure productivity.
In the end, Robbins reminds readers that starting is what matters. The steps can be very small initially. Concentration can be in intervals of just 15 minutes. Taking breaks is also healthy, and humans can make mistakes and fall short. What is most important is to take the first step despite not feeling ready or not wanting to. Without this first step, there is no hope for change.
Part 3, Chapters 9-11 Analysis
These chapters explore the different applications of the #5SecondRule. Robbins gives specific, diverse examples of how the Rule can bring concrete benefits to readers who challenge themselves. Rhetorically, this equips readers—especially those who still remain unconvinced about the Rule’s applicability—with the ability to envision how the Rule can benefit them personally. These chapters specifically target aspects of life that most people struggle with, including improving health, being more productive, and preventing procrastination.
All three chapters delve into how Everyday Courage Is the Key to Gaining Long-Term Confidence. For example, in Chapter 9, Robbins emphasizes that building healthy habits such as waking up early, not drinking too much, partaking of a clean diet, or going to the gym regularly is, at first, easier said than done. People who are used to staying at home or hitting the snooze button find it difficult to face change because they already have a familiar routine. Since it is easier to maintain a habit than embrace the uncertainties of change, people find it difficult to build new habits, even when they know these habits will help them improve their health.
Similarly, in Chapters 10 and 11, Robbins explains that people who find themselves procrastinating for the sake of immediate gratification will often be tempted to do it again. If not regulated, this can become a bad habit and impact the ability to be proactive in the future. The only way out of this vicious cycle is to find the courage to make the first step toward change—and this is most easily done using the #5SecondRule. Although it is never easy building up the focus to accomplish difficult or tiring tasks, people will find that the small successes they have daily will build toward their confidence over time. As a result, the longer people maintain a pattern of behavior—such as going to the gym or forgoing unhealthy snacks—the easier it becomes to maintain this pattern in the long run.
Section 3 also discusses how The #5SecondRule Gives People the Necessary Push to Start—Akin to Activation Energy. Because long-term habits are founded on everyday effort, the first step is the most painful. This is especially true if people want to get rid of past habits and build new ones—the activation energy to make the first step toward transformation is incredibly high. However, once people overcome their apprehension for change using the #5SecondRule, their initial success will pave the way to a proactive future where subsequent decisions become easier to make. Even though going to the gym may never be easy, later attempts will not require as much activation energy as the initial step. Once people develop the habit of going to the gym or completing their work without putting it off, it will come more naturally to them.
