This quote from a Lululemon bag has been stuck in my head for years now. It’s very simple and doesn’t seem to hold a lot of meaning when you just read it once. In addition to this quote, a similar thing that stuck with me is a concept that Mel Robbins has been teaching the world, which is the power and the science behind making 5 second decisions. She found that once we have a gut feeling about what we need to do to make something happen, it only takes 5 seconds for our mind to start defending itself and protecting us from any potential dangers.
It can be anything from very small decisions to very big decisions, but either way, I absolutely believe “doing it now” without giving your brain enough time to think of why you shouldn’t is a great way to get things done. For example, if you want the dishes to be done before you go to bed so you can wake up to a clean kitchen, just go do them. If you wait to long your mind might say, “well I could just do them tomorrow morning, I would rather keep watching TV.” How does this make any difference at all? Well in the morning, you will wake up to a pile of dishes which is bound to make you feel lazy and/or put you in a negative mood. You might end up leaving them to do later, keep adding more dishes, and by the time you actually do them it takes an hour to clean and you have just lost time to yourself, not to mention how awful it would be to wash dishes for an entire hour.
Mel Robbins said she started with counting down from 5 in the mornings to help her wake up to her alarm, rather than hitting snooze multiple times. How easy is it to tell yourself the night before that you want to “wake up early and be more productive,” but when the time comes all of a sudden you hear the alarm, then think “oh yeah I wanted to wake up early today” …followed by, “but I feel tired and it’s warm in here and I don’t NEED to wake up?” Most of the time we know what we need to do to make changes, and that being lazy and putting things off never feels good in the end. I think by making these small changes, it can lead to the bigger changes you have been hoping to accomplish.
I decided to write about this today because this morning I didn’t wake up when I said I would, had to do all of the dishes from the day before, couldn’t find anything to wear since the laundry has piled up, was too lazy to workout, didn’t want to write a blog, and just didn’t feel like doing anything in general. Luckily, I remembered this quote and realized I needed to meditate to change my mindset. I meditated for 4 minutes just listening to my breaths.
For the past few days, I’ve said I want to wake up early with my boyfriend who is still going to work, to meditate in the mornings to start my day with a positive mindset, and to exercise to keep up with my physical health. After I meditated, my negative thoughts changed and I realized I have been doing a lot of “thinking” and not a lot of “doing.” I don’t think it’s possible to always remember this rule every second of the day, however, it is something to keep in the back of your mind for when you are feeling unmotivated. I’m glad I had the morning I did, otherwise I would have been stuck in a lazy and unmotivated routine for more than just a couple of days. When I had the thought again that I should write a blog today, I just stood up, went to the computer, and started writing. It’s as easy as that! Don’t give your brain time to talk yourself out of doing something productive.
If you are reading this, I challenge you to stick to your decisions and act on them before the 5 second window approaches especially during quarantine where you can lose motivation in a split second. Start small, and perhaps this will help you with bigger, more uncomfortable decisions in your life.
Ashley's Adventures 