Five Second Rule for Goals:

Every day when you wake up, you have a sequence of options — countless options, in fact, more options than you imagine you have.

As a result, you must make choices because you cannot pursue all of your options in a single day.

There is enough time in the day to balance work and pleasure, just not enough time in the day to indulge in both. So we need the five-second rule.

First things first - this five-second guideline does not apply to picking up your food after it has fallen to the floor and then putting it in your mouth.

At any given time, you have the option of working on a project you care about or the option of doing something relaxing.

For example, getting home after work at 6:00 pm you can watch TV  for a few hours till bedtime or work on a side venture that someday may have a good payoff.

Netflix provides immediate pleasure (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! ), but working on a side business or doing extra study does not.

The usual pattern will be a mental tennis game - back and forth over which option to choose. Relaxation is most often most likely to be the winner.

We usually know what choices we should make, but we don’t always follow through because those choices seem complicated, uncomfortable, or dull.

Enter The Five-Second Rule:

  *  You figure out what you need to do.

  *  Then set your body in action towards your goal without wondering about anything else.

So, if your goal is to ......., you get up off your couch and get your laptop or pen and paper after counting down from five to one.

If your goal is to ............, you get up from your seat, change into your training clothes, and head to the gym after counting down from five to one.

If your objective is to prepare a ............ for yourself, you stroll to the kitchen after counting down from five to one and gather ingredients for whatever dish you want to prepare.

This strategy is effective because it forces you to:

  *  First, make a conscious decision to count numbers to centre and focus your attention,         and then do so.

  *  Allows no opportunity for arguments to arise by propelling your body into motion.

 We can’t get things done, take risks, or speak what’s on our minds if we spend too much time in our heads.

The Extension to this is Daily Routines:

The person who carefully designs their daily routine goes further than the person that negotiates with themselves every day.

The most successful people I know follow a routine to ensure the most important projects get the time they need.

A successful and busy friend decided to write a book not long ago. I asked him how he planned to do that given all of his responsibilities at home and at work He simply said, “I get up at 5 am, make a coffee, and write from 5:30 am to 7 am every day. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and I’ll do it until the book is done.” I knew right then he’d finish his book. Why? Because he designed part of his life to accomplish that goal.

There are two parts to using this approach. First, we must design your life so the default is to do the work. Second, and equally important, we can't negotiate with ourselves. (This is where the five second rule helps as it stops us doing the mental negotiations.)

One of the most valuable skills we can adopt in life is doing things when we don’t feel like doing them.

A lot of people get stuck negotiating with themselves. A little voice in their head says, “I don’t feel like doing this right now, let’s do it later.” The minute we entertain that thought, it’s over.

Design the defaults and don't negotiate with yourself.

So that's Anshul's strategy and some thoughts from 'Farnham Street' - a blog I subscribe to. I would love to hear if any of our school whānau try this and find it useful.