In 2000, Antonio Damasio made a groundbreaking discovery while studying people with damaged amygdalae (the part of the brain where emotions are generated). He found that decisions or choices are almost ALWAYS based on emotions. So we make decisions based on how we FEEL.
Think about when your alarm goes off in the morning. What is the first thing you think or evaluate?
I would wager to bet that you start thinking about how you feel!
You start to think about how cozy your bed feels, how tired you are, your achy joints, your stuffy nose, etc.
THEN you make your decision on whether to get up based on these feelings.
And guess what? You’re most likely NOT going to feel like waking up early to work out. Your brain may know it is good for you and that your day will be better if you do, but your feelings will trump your logical thinking and keep you in bed where you are warm and comfortable.
Mel Robbins, creator of The 5 Second Rule (which is different than the one about dropping and eating food off the floor) says that “if you have an impulse to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill the idea”.
So here’s what you need to do:
When your alarm goes off, immediately count backwards from 5 and stand up.
That’s it!
Alarm goes off, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stand up.
Don’t stretch in bed, don’t rub your eyes, don’t think about ANYTHING. Just simply count and get out of bed.
Why does this work?
When you physically move, your brain starts to build new habits. When you do something you’re not used to doing, you are in the act of building new habits and erasing existing ones.
The 5 Second Rule is a form of metacognition, which means that it’s a way of tricking your brain in order to achieve your greater goals.
The Rule allows you to beat your brain at its own game and distract it from the ways that it tries to sabotage you.
Most of us live our lives in autopilot mode. In fact, research has shown that 40% of your day is spent in autopilot. When you’re on autopilot, you’re operating solely out of habit.
And for almost all of us, our habits are not serving us. You see, your brain wants to protect you. It wants to keep you safe.
It does this by keeping you from doing anything that feels scary, hard, or uncertain.
So, when it comes to staying in your warm cozy bed or doing some challenging work on the treadmill, your brain will always choose the safe cozy bed. Unless you don’t give it a chance to decide how you’re feeling.
So there you have it…Now 5,4,3,2,1 GO!! Go get uncomfortable and change your life!!
I hope you found this helpful! Let me know if you try this out!
Questions? Just ask!
Want to work with me 1:1 to create the perfect diet for you and/or your family? Contact me today at dana@thrivekin.com.