Mel Robbins: The 5 Second Rule and The High 5 Habit

Mel Robbins is an American lawyer, television host, author, and motivational speaker. She is known for covering the George Zimmerman trial for CNN, her TEDx talk, How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over and her books, “The 5 Second Rule” and “The High 5 Habit”. She also has multiple podcast series’ hosted on Audible.

This past week, I watched her podcast interview with Dr Rangan Chatterjee entitled, “Do This First Thing in The Morning To Stop Procrastination and Never Be Lazy Again!”.

In this video, she discusses how using her two creations, The 5 Second Rule and The High 5 Habit have impacted her life as well as the lives of thousands of people. In this article, I will explain her two mental creations and how you can incorporate them into your morning routine in Mel Robbins: The 5 Second Rule and The High 5 Habit!

1. The 5 Second Rule

Mel Robbins has observed that many people are stuck on the thinking stage and never move to the doing or action stage. People are stuck in jobs they do not like and think about leaving but never make the step to quit. People are aware that their health is not in the best state but do not take steps to get their health back on track.

People are unhappy in their careers but do not dare to leave their jobs and attempt a different path. These are just a few examples of what Mel sees: people are constantly thinking about what they should do but never actually end up doing it in the long run.

To solve this, Mel recommends people to use the five-second rule. With this rule, you countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 when you know you have a specific task to complete. After you finish the micro countdown, you generate momentum to do the task you’re supposed to do and successfully avoid procrastinating.

Interestingly, in this interview, Dr Rangan Chatterjee gives two instances, one in his work life and the other in his personal life, where he has seen this rule work. In the first instance, Dr Chatterjee uses his worker, Stef, who is a huge fan of Mel Robbins. Stef credits Mel Robbins as being the reason she left her job and moved on to work with Dr Chatterjee.

In the second instance, Dr Chatterjee saw it work with his son. His son uses this rule when it comes to getting ready for school. His son uses it to get himself ready to get into the shower. His son also uses it when it’s time for him to put on his school uniform after coming out of the shower.

2. The High 5 Habit

With the high five habit, you simply look into the mirror when you wake up and give yourself a high-five. Mel sees this as a good way to cheer yourself on and take on the day.

In her interview with Dr Chatterjee, she even mentions how she has incorporated this habit into her life herself. She mentions how at a particular time in her life, she was feeling beat down. She had a zoom call in 8 minutes and was not prepared, she picked on herself about her physical appearance and she had not done some of her morning tasks like feeding her dog, for instance.

However, when she looked in the mirror, she decided to give herself a high five because she felt her reflection needed it. As a result, her energy changed from her dampening mood to looking forward to the day. She kept doing this for a few more days and noticed that her energy changed even further.

Mel believes that many people cannot look at themselves in the mirror because they either hate themselves or they are constantly judging themselves. However, she believes that when people incorporate the high five habit into their lives, they become more excited about life and feel more ready and charged to take on the day.

Mel Robbins also believes that the high five habit is a step one can take to practice self-love. It is a way to cheer yourself on. It is a way to validate yourself and not rely on validation from other people.

Are you a fan of motivational gurus such as Mel Robbins? Which of her insights and tips did you find most helpful from the above? Let us know in the comments below and join in the conversation on FacebookTwitter & Instagram

Anaya Nsarkoh

Anaya is an international student from Ghana who is pursuing her undergraduate education in Canada. After the first semester of her undergraduate journey, she started working out. As a result, exercising has become an essential part of her routine with the goal of hitting the gym at least three to four times a week. In the gym, she favours the exercise bike, outside the gym, she enjoys walking and swimming.

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