top of page

THE 5-SECOND RULE (Chapter 11): Ending Procrastination | Keto Mom Book Club


Keto Mom Here!


	"For a long time, everyone believed that procrastination meant poor time management skills or a lack of willpower or self-discipline. Boy, was she wrong. Procrastination is not a form of laziness, it's a coping mechanism for stress" ~ Mel Robbins

Points To Ponder:


01:56 Rain or Shine by Scott Alexander

02:11 Book Giveaways

05:42 Ending Procrastination

06:17 You Need Tools

06:48 Reading And Working

07:31 Destructive vs Productive Procrastination

08:31 It's Not Laziness, It's Stress

09:10 How Five Seconds Helped

10:04 Coping Mechanism For Stress

10:41 Awareness

11:50 What Causes Stress?

13:26 There's No Perfect Time

14:00 Forgive Yourself

15:24 Take control

16:04 What Does My Future Look Like

16:25 Replace Bad Habits

17:55 Attack What You're Avoiding

18:37 How Do You Eat An Elephant

19:22 Find A Way Or Find An Excuse

20:29 Give The Gift Of Knowledge

20:40 You Are A Leader


Full Episode Transcript:


Good morning! Welcome to the Keto Mom page. My name is Stephanie and we are diving into"The 5 Second Rule" by Mel Robbins. If you are new to the page, welcome! Every morning we go through a book, I give you a thought or just something to think about. So as you go throughout your day, you've got something positive to think about or something to help you along your day so that you're not in negative mind space. That is the goal! And as you're tuning in, where are you tuning in from? I know I say that a lot but I'm actually curious.

Welcome to Day 12 of our Book 9 session

I'm from Minnesota and I know the weather talk happens when you chat with people and don't have anything else to say. But let's just talk about the weather real quick. I'm from Minnesota and it's December, we should have a foot of snow by now. But if you look outside my window, I live on a lake, it's hazy, it's foggy and it looks like it's raining. It's supposed to be almost sixty degrees and we got a huge snowstorm on Friday. Now, it's supposed to be sixty degrees and we've got potential tornadoes. What in the world? It's December which is supposed to be sledding weather. Does anybody else who has weird weather?...

Alright! First of all, Thank you for sharing the video, and I did draw some names yesterday afternoon. I do a live video every morning where we talk about a book. We've gotten through a ton of books since April. Yesterday, I did a drawing to give away four of these books, "Rain or Shine" by Scott Alexander.

Make sure to check yesterday's video, it was at 2:30 central time. And then today, if you press the share button, let me know that you shared. Because this afternoon I'm going to be giving away the book that we're going to do next month, "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth" by John Maxwell. I have one copy left I'll be giving away, and a couple more "Rain or Shine" books. Make sure you pressed the share button, let me know you shared, and I'll be giving away some books this afternoon. The live video will probably be around two o'clock. I can't promise you though, I have some zooms and some phone calls to make. Our kids have their Christmas program tonight and we have to deal with the weather, but we're going to be adaptable...

Okay! We're going through this book today, "The 5 Second Rule" by Mel Robbins. Do you know what's so funny? I was fumbling around the house trying to find my hat. And I've had people throughout the years message me asking, "Why do you always have a hat on your head?" or "Why don't you take your hat off?".

We have four daughters, we homeschool and I work from home. So it's not like I get up and I get office-ready. I only get ready on Sundays when we go to church. Or if I'm singing on the worship team that Sunday, then I'm going to do my hair. But when I'm talking online, I'm like, "Oh, gotta have a hat". Years ago, when our girls were babies, I would pack them up and go do errands or run to the grocery store. I always put on a hat, and this may sound silly, maybe some of you can relate. I would put on a hat because I felt like I had a whole spacesuit on or like a helmet. I felt like I was hidden and protected from anybody that would recognize me. Because I was not outfit ready, I had to go do a couple of things. So I put on my hat and I feel like nobody can see my face, and nobody knows who I am.

I remember walking to the grocery store one time and all of a sudden somebody said "Hey, Stephanie!". And I thought to myself, "You can't see me! I have my space helmet on. It's so funny because when I put it on I always feel like it changes the way I look...

Because let's be real, I live at home all the time. My kids aren't awkward even though they're homeschooled, they're very great at communicating. It's just funny how our minds tell us something and you truly believe it. And then all of a sudden somebody tells you otherwise, and you're like, "Excuse me! You can't see me! I'm in disguise". I always feel like when I put a hat on, I'm put together... Alright! We're going to get to the book. I just wanted to make you giggle this morning and to talk about the weather. So the 5 Second Rule is incredible! If you've been following along, you understand that backward counting (5-4-3-2-1), to get yourself to do something. If you've not been following along, then I tell you, this is an incredible book. Basically, the author was in a state of depression because her whole life was falling apart.

You need tools to help you reach your goals

One day, she needed to get out of bed and she said (5-4-3-2-1), like a rocket she launch herself out of bed. And from there she used that five seconds to do lots of things in her life. We talked about health two days ago. There are a lot of different ways you can use the five-second rule. We talked about increasing productivity, and today we're talking about ending procrastination. You might wonder, "Why in the world is this being talked about on a Keto page or with my health?", or "I'm trying to lose 20 pounds!"...


I just want you to listen because your mindset is important. If you have tools in your tool belt to help you get to your goals, you will be more motivated to hit those goals. I often get messages saying, "I don't need to drink ketones, my body makes them". And I say, "Awesome! Let me know how long that lasts for you". Some would say, "This isn't that big of a deal. It's just a diet, I can totally do that". And I would respond, "Let me know how long that lasts for you"... Because if you don't have tools to get you to where you want to go, our world is full of excuses, junk, and things right around the corner to derail you.


You need to have the right mindset and certain tools to help keep you going. We've been doing this lifestyle for six and a half years. I've got tools like certain water bottles, I read every single day, "Out of sight, out of mind", the tip is to flip, and also drinking ketones. There are certain other things that I know I need to do to keep me on track so that I don't start over every single year. One of the tools would be reading and working on your mindset. If you don't have the right mindset then it's going to be easy for you to have something affect you in your life, get derailed, and then start back over in six months or maybe a year, because you can't get back on track.

Reading is a tool! Even if you don't read it for yourself and you just tune in here. My hope is to give you something to think about, and then to keep you going. So let's talk about procrastination. How many people procrastinate on even just starting, or anything in their life? I used to think procrastination was laziness, and so did Mel Robbins.
Destructive vs Productive Procrastination

She said, "The 5-second rule is an incredible weapon in the fight against procrastination. There are two different types of procrastination, destructive and productive. Productive procrastination is when you're working on an assignment, a project, something for work. It's okay to have procrastination because it helps with your creativity. Destructive procrastination is an entirely different animal. It's when we avoid the work that needs to be done, knowing that there will be negative consequences"...


It's like avoiding going to the grocery store, changing your lifestyle, cleaning up the refrigerator, or maybe going to the gym. It's doing all of those things, which will give you destruction and will create negative consequences in your life. There's positive, like when you're working on a project, which stirs up creativity, and there's also negative. I feel like more people are in the procrastination of negative. It's actually not laziness, but it's based on stress.

This chapter is super interesting, she said, "Every one of us has piles of stuff that we can't seem to get to. Updating photo albums, analyzing spreadsheets, finalizing proposals, cleaning out houses, plowing through to-do lists. One of my writers, Evelyn said, 'One day I was done with it! I said (5-4-3-2-1) and I pushed myself to do something that I didn't know I could do"... What's great about the book is she shared what people wrote and their stories.

It's NOT Laziness, It's coping for Stress

One of them said, "Mel, I got up yesterday after I put the rule into effect. I have questioned everything about myself and my life for years. I said, stop it! I told myself to stop it! I'm nothing. But you know what? I am something. I got up (5-4-3-2-1), I cleaned my living room, my kitchen, and seven loads of laundry. I feel amazing and that's what I'm going to do. (5-4-3-2-1). I'm not going to think about it and overthink it. I'm just going to do the things that I know need to be done"... 
And Mel Robbins said, "For a long time everyone believed that procrastination meant poor time management skills or a lack of willpower or self-discipline. Boy, was she wrong. Procrastination is not a form of laziness, it's a coping mechanism for stress"...

Everybody handles stress differently and stress comes into your life daily. The environments around us, the people around us, our jobs, our kids, and schooling. It's how you manage your emotions. Some people eat while, some people procrastinate, or some people buy things. There are so many different ways that we handle stress. You just need to have the awareness of what you're doing, so that you can go back and fix that habit. I have never been more aware of this word, "Aware".


And I've never been more aware of how many people are "Not Aware". This is something that I talk to my husband about daily. Whether I'm talking to people, or I'm around friends or family. I realized our children need to have an awareness of other people, situations, circumstances, their words, how they act, and when they're in certain environments. Because I have to bite my tongue a lot. I sometimes question how in the world are others not aware of the situation that they're in? I'm not talking about anything in front of you, I'm referring to just the people I'm around. I sometimes question like, "Are you serious? You just need an awareness that not everything is about you"...

Awareness is super important. For you, awareness today could be, "What causes me stress?", "What do I do in stressful moments?", "Do I overeat?", "Do I procrastinate?", "Do I self-sabotage in some way, shape, or form?", "Do I act out in my emotions?", "Do I say hurtful words?", Do I digress to myself when I should be talking to other people?".
If you procrastinate, your work just builds up!

So that's awareness, right now we're talking about procrastination. But remember, awareness is super important. Alright! A couple more things before I'm going to let you go. And thanks for tuning in, your presence matters. I appreciate you and I hope that you learn something today... Okay!


She said, "We procrastinate because we feel stressed. It's like emotional eating for the mind. When you avoid something that feels hard, you get a sense of relief. Plus, when you do something that you enjoy, like surfing Facebook, surfing the internet, or laughing at viral videos. You get a short boost of dopamine. The more often that you procrastinate, the more you're most likely to repeat the bad behavior. Here's the problem! While you get a small boost of relief when you watch the videos, over time the work that you've been avoiding builds, and that creates more stress in your life"...


Listen! The longer you wait to start your health journey, the more pounds you may gain, or the more you might feel like garbage. The more you're going to tell yourself, "I can't do this", and you might talk yourself out of even starting. There's no perfect time and there is no perfect environment. It is a decision, and it's the choices you make every single day, that will get you to where you want to go. If you keep procrastinating, you need to figure out why you're doing it. Are you stressed? What is it, you're going to say, "No!", "(5-4-3-2-1 I'm done!", "I'm done telling myself I'm not worth it", "I'm done talking negatively", "I'm done!"...

And so she said, "Number one, you have to forgive yourself. The first thing research tells us is you need to forgive yourself for procrastinating". Tell yourself, "I'm done. I forgive myself for avoiding all of the things that need to be done", "5-4-3-2-1, I'm going to take it fifteen minutes at a time and I'm going to do one thing"...
You need to forgive yourself first

So what you should do today is make a list of things that need to get done in your life. What do you need to do? When you have all those things up in your head, you're going to constantly think about it and you won't be able to do anything else. Take five minutes and write it down. I need to finish shopping or I need to get my outfit. Just go brain dump real quick. Then you can prioritize and go (5-4-3-2-1), what can I get done in fifteen minutes? Go! You could do this every morning for five minutes. What needs to get done today?...


Alright! She said, "Instead of beating yourself up, there's no longer procrastination. Step one, stop the cycle by forgiving yourself. I forgave myself for upsetting people, falling behind, and not working on my full potential. If you recognize that your stress is about finances, or it's driving the procrastination, now you have a chance to assert yourself and take control. By the way, you want to take control so that you can achieve your goals. Number two, oftentimes we think of today (the present), but what would my future self say about my life right now?"...


She said when you create vision boards, or if you age somebody on a computer screen. All of a sudden they start thinking about, "I need to save for retirement" or "I want to do these things before I get to that age". What does your future self want, or what do you want your future self to look like? Maybe that will give you a different way of thinking, so you can stop procrastination, the self-doubt and take some action. The next thing she said is, "Get started with the 5-second rule. If procrastinating is a habit, you have to replace the bad habit, the pattern, the avoidance with a new one. The moment that you feel yourself hesitating to do an easy task, or avoiding a hard task, (5-4-3-2-1) push yourself to just simply get started. Procrastination makes you feel like you have no control over yourself. When you assert yourself and just get started, you are taking control of the moments in your life"...

Break the bad habit, create a starting ritual

This is super powerful. Are you getting anything out of this? I hope it's helping you. So she said, "I also told you that my snooze button habit was a form of procrastination. Now I understand why it gave me momentary relief from a larger stress of my life. That's why I hit the snooze button. When I reflect back, I now know that I broke my habit by creating a starting ritual. So 5-4-3-2-1 start! That was the ritual to get out of a bad habit. My snooze button habit got replaced with a positive new one, counting backward, which I still do today. So in some, here's how can you can be most effective with your 5-second rule, by beating procrastination. Use it to make yourself start small, attack what you are avoiding for fifteen minutes at a time. Then take a break, and go watch a cat video. And for crying out loud, give yourself a break for blowing things off until now. All of this stuff is common sense"...

We just have to be aware, count five seconds, and then get started. Here's the book, "The 5-Second Rule" by Mel Robbins... I have one last question for you. How do you eat an elephant? I'll tell you, it's one bite at a time. How do you clean a room? One section at a time. How do you lose a hundred pounds? One pound at a time. And how do you do that? One step at a time.

By going to the gym for five minutes, not eating the doughnut, putting the doughnut down, and driving past the drive-thru. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time... Lastly, she said, "What you are learning over and over in this book is that, unless you beat the feelings and the triggers of your bad habits, and you push yourself to get started, you will never change. You'll either find a way or you'll find an excuse"...

Give the gift of knowledge this Christmas

What is it for you? Sometimes I think people just need a little bit of sternness to realize, "I don't want to feel like this or look like this", or "I have these bad habits I want to change". That's why you need tools, you need to learn the tools and put them into play. You can't just watch, you have to take action. My challenge to you is, What do you want your future self to look like? When we're done, go brain dump, take fifteen minutes (5-4-3-2-1) and get one of those things done. You'll feel accomplished, you'll have a positive rush of dopamine and then you'll want to do something else. Take control of your life five seconds at a time.


Go get yourself the book for Christmas or get it for somebody else in your family. Give the gift of knowledge and learning. Leaders are learners. You are a leader because you're leading yourself, and you can't lead anybody else until you lead yourself. As soon as you lead yourself, other people will need you. Whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, somebody or somewhere is watching you and they need you to inspire them...


I hope you have a great day I will be coming on later today to do a live video and give away some more books. If you press the share button, your name will go into a drawing. Let me know that you shared, just comment "I shared". I hope you have a great day, and as always there are tons of recipes, tips, tricks, and everything that has to do with Keto on this page. You can go to ketomomsecrets.com, there are tons of information and recipes there for you too. Otherwise, send me a message and I will answer any question that you have. I get questions about homeschooling, marriage, parenting keto books, mindset, or even Christmas gifts. Just send me a message I'm here to help and guide you. Have a great day. I appreciate you all, your presence matters. And I love seeing you on here. I promise it helps me as well. So we'll talk to you soon. Bye, everybody!


Hit me up on IG! @ketomomsecrets

Join me on Facebook: Keto Mom

Check out our videos: Keto Mom

Join my newsletter at ketomomsecrets.com

Text Me! 507-363-3483


YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:








Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page