How do you turn inaction into action? You’ve got great ideas, supportive people around you and the resources to move forward, but somehow you’re still at square one. Maybe you’re unwilling to embrace the inherent uncertainty of walking the path less traveled, or maybe you need a mindset shift to start building momentum. Whatever your situation, my guest today, Mel Robbins, is here to share hardcore, actionable advice, including her world-famous “5 second rule (watch the Ted Talk if you haven’t already) to help you break out of your rut you’re stuck in.
Mel Robbins is the most booked female speaker in the world, an American on-air CNN commentator and television host, contributing editor for Success magazine and author of The 5-Second Rule. Her TED Talk around the 5-second Rule is a simple framework to turn inaction into action and has garnered over 10 million views.
Mel’s research around the science of habit, self-doubt and confidence drives much of what we talk about today. She’s on a mission to share everything she’s learned.
In today’s episode:
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- We talk a lot about anxiety. Mel says she was born a worrier, and around age 21, the panic attacks started becoming paralyzing. Not everyone has dealt with depression and anxiety, but we’ve all had gone through hard times. And the open & thoughtful tools Mel shares are useful for everyone.
- Mel says “you don’t have to think the way you have to think.” The basis of her book is the 5-second rule, which is taking the world by storm. There is a connection between our wellbeing and our thoughts. Mel and I go deep into her technique the 5-second rule to change habits.
- We also get a sneak peek of a technique Mel is currently researching that works every time to help you find your passion, make choices, and audit your life. I cannot wait for you to hear it.
Enjoy!
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Some Questions I Ask:
- Talk to me about your early career in radio. [4:27]
- You were a public defender and just got your law degree on the side? [5:40]
- So you experimented? [6:20]
- Let’s talk about anxiety. [18:18]
- How do you get out of your own way with being able to control your thoughts? [29:57]
- Walk us through some of the results you’ve seen from employing the 5 second rule. [35:48]
- So you sold a bunch of books but audio is where it went kapow? [47:00]
- How do people define what they want? [48:50]
- Is it your philosophy that by tuning in and following what’s energizing you that is the path to pursue? [55:38]
- Talk about the lack of diversity in the personal development space. [1:01:25]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Why I shoot cjLIVE in black and white. [1:00]
- How Mel used misery and anxiety to propel her out of her paralegal temp job and into law school. [6:27]
- Why you need to fight your own high tolerance for suckiness. [10:10]
- Mel came out of having her first child with postpartum depression and an awakening that she no longer wanted to be a lawyer. Her husband sounds about as cut and dry as Mel does, encouraging her to find another way to make $60k. [11:20]
- Mel quit her law job at her own baby shower. [13:27]
- “People who live with anxiety have not yet made a decision to move on.” [14:00]
- The progression of Mel’s anxiety, from childhood to college and how it shaped her personality. [18:25]
- Why Mel considers self monitoring the single greatest skill. [21:41]
- Why Mel likens treating anxiety like one would diabetes, and suggests not being afraid of drugs. [23:17]
- Mel replaced Zoloft with the 5-second rule and thousands of others have followed suit to fight depression, anxiety and free your minds [25:00]
- You don’t have to think the way you think. Anxiety is a mechanism for staying alive in the wilderness but you can be the boss of your brain. [27:00]
- Being a worrier is making you less money. [28:42]
- How to use the 5 second rule and why it works. Mel developed it 8 years ago to get herself out of bed and she still uses it ever [30:10]
- Why acquiring knowledge can be a trap if you aren’t acquiring the tools to apply what you’re learning. [36:48]
- You’re one decision away from a totally different life. [38:34]
- If you want to be a shark of a negotiator like Mel, master self monitoring and know what you want. [40:00]
- Why Mel shut down her ego and decided to self publish her book. [42:07]
- Listen to your gut! Mel’s book sold out of Amazon and Barnes and Noble, so people bought it on Audible. Her gut told her to keep rights for the audio version, and lucky she did. [44:25]
- You can buy your way onto best seller lists, end caps, and airport bookstores. [48:00]
- Any trick or tactic won’t get you where you want if you don’t know where you want to go. [48:50]
- How to figure out what you actually want and then make the right decisions to get there; look at what energizes you and do more of it. [50:10]
- If you can’t master the little stuff, you will never get to the big stuff. [57:00]
- There’s enough success and happiness for everybody. Be generous. [58:00]
- Why Mel won’t market herself as a brand for women. [1:06:00]
- Why Mel loves it when she’s attacked for the things she says. [1:09:00]
- Check out Mel’s class on CreativeLive. [1:13:20]
This podcast is brought to you by CreativeLive. CreativeLive is the world’s largest hub for online creative education in photo/video, art/design, music/audio, craft/maker, money/life and the ability to make a living in any of those disciplines. They are high quality, highly curated classes taught by the world’s top experts — Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy Award winners, New York Times best selling authors and the best entrepreneurs of our times.
