• The 5 Second Rule

  • Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
  • By: Mel Robbins
  • Narrated by: Mel Robbins
  • Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (50,899 ratings)

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The 5 Second Rule  By  cover art

The 5 Second Rule

By: Mel Robbins
Narrated by: Mel Robbins
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Publisher's summary

How to enrich your life and destroy doubt in five seconds.

Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends, and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?

Using the science of habits, riveting stories, and surprising facts from some of the most famous moments in history, art, and business, Mel Robbins will explain the power of a "push moment". Then, she'll give you one simple tool you can use to become your greatest self.

It takes just five seconds to use this tool, and every time you do you'll be in great company. More than eight million people have watched Mel's TEDx Talk, and executives inside of the world's largest brands are using the tool to increase productivity, collaboration, and engagement.

In The 5 Second Rule, you'll discover it takes just five seconds to:

  • Become confident
  • Break the habit of procrastination and self-doubt
  • Beat fear and uncertainty
  • Stop worrying and feel happier
  • Share your ideas with courage

The 5 Second Rule is a simple, one-size-fits-all solution for the one problem we all face - we hold ourselves back.

The secret isn't knowing what to do - it's knowing how to make yourself do it.

©2017 Mel Robbins (P)2017 Mel Robbins

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What listeners say about The 5 Second Rule

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,973
  • 2 Stars
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    4,480
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    1,568
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    662
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    964
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    1,968
  • 2 Stars
    899
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I turned it off after an hour.

It's a great tool. 54321 GO! It really does hijack your brain momentarily and get you moving.
However, the book is FULL of fluff. Her reading feedback from her fans about how they've used the '5 second rule' to make changes, over and over and over and over and over again is not my idea of a 'book'. It's a 'Ra Ra' rally and a waste of my time. In the end I found it annoying. The tool however does work to defeat procrastination. You can probably find a blog post or a TEDx talk somewhere that will give you all you need.

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1,969 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

After the first five minutes you don't need to continue. The rest is just examples to support this idea. I feel I wasted my credit this month

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984 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Would have been better as a motivational poster

I tried to listen to as much as this book as I could stomach, but there was just no substance. It was the same exact statement reworded over and over again a million different ways. On top of that the author likes to laugh at her quirks, at odd times.

As I'm trying to listen to it right now, the book is telling me, again, how the rule will help me, without specifying anything else about this rule. There are "volumes and volumes of research proving that it works," which aren't cited.

I would suggest skipping over this book, because the entire book is the author counting down from 5, over and over and over with fluff in between

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639 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Go

I just did the 54321 seconds rule, I'm writing a review...this alone is frightening for me. I think it's because deep down I always want to write, what I think and feel, but I never bother because I thought about it to much . It's simple and a small start will do, I just did. Thanks to Mel Robbins, I have re-connected within my self to force myself the "GO" push using her 54321. I recommend it to anyone, who desperately wants a change and a chance to find them self again. I totally love her tone of voice and stories she use to demonstrate her point across. The message is so clear, that I'm so glad I was listening. I hope you find my review useful, but most of all, that you find yourself doing the 54321, now Go!

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452 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

unnecessarily long

it is a nice and useful rule, but I think the amount of chapters is too much for the same... it just keeps repeating the same over and over again

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442 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good concept but couldn't relate

They tell a bunch of stories of other people and the story is said over about 20 min per person and then says the one little instance they used the 5 second rule. It's a book with tons of filler and not much substance

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417 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Count down 5,4,3,2,1... and do it

The 5-second rule is the moment you have an instinct to act on a goal, count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and physically move (or your brain will stop you with an excuse). This starting ritual will help to change many of your behaviors. There are 5-second moments all day long - wake up early, exercise, clean up, organize files, pay the bills, do the laundry, don't have that drink, don't smoke, update your resume, and speak up in a meeting. These are all simple actions that can be done (and you probably had these thoughts a hundred times already). Count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... do it. This is a better alternative to sitting there and worrying or complaining about it. There is no right time or the feeling of being ready; just count down and do it.

There isn't anything earth-shattering about this advice. If you tried it and it does work for you, read the book to stay motivated and be inspired by stories of other people who have changed their lives.

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352 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Just watch the Ted Talk

I barely got through half of this book, and I decided that I couldn’t move forward. I found it very repetitive and not extremely helpful. Just watch the Ted Talk that inspired this book, implement and move forward with your life.

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305 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simple and extremely powerful!

So I have about 190 Audible books in my library and this is my first full review. While there are so many books telling you what we can do to achieve greatness, this book provides a tool that truly works. I first tried it to get up in the morning to workout, and I literally was able because of this simple yet powerful tool. I highly recommend this to anyone who overthinks things and ends up not taking action. Thank you Mel, I will be passing this along.

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294 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Good concept but really annoying to hear her talk

Would you try another book from Mel Robbins and/or Mel Robbins?

I found her 5 second rule from a Youtube video of her talking about it and I applied it to waking up early. It was the only self help trick that actually gave me immediate results and I was so happy that I beat my habit of waking up late for years. Naturally I thought maybe this book would as inspiring. It is not. I've managed to force myself to listen up to Chapter 12 and find her very annoying after about the first hour of listening. The book is filled with examples of how her listeners have used this rule and not much about the science behind it or how you can apply it to yourself..and if I have to hear her say "5 4 3 2 1" again, I'll shoot myself. Basically there's a lot of fluff and little substance. I believe her main points can be summarized in an article and that a book was not necessary. I haven't gained much from it than what I already know from a quick video that she's done explaining the rule. I found the way she talked really annoying and I don't know how to explain it other than she doesn't sound humble. She sounds like someone that would talk way too much about herself if you had to talk to her in real life.

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194 people found this helpful