Five seconds. That’s all it takes. Five seconds of checking-in with yourself to turn impulsiveness to intentionality.
What you’re going to do is establish a five-second-filter, a grace period, between feeling an impulse and deciding what to do with it.
First create a mental image of a threshold you can physically move through. Picture it in your mind simply as a door, a gate, or a bridge. Maybe a more captivating image holds your attention like a portal, passing through a waterfall, or jumping over a deep crevasse on a mountain.
The imagery of a threshold represents the separation between feeling an impulse and making a choice. On this side of your threshold you feel a lot of impulses. As you cross that threshold, your intentionality, purpose, standards, and skill decide what to do with that impulse.
Whether to embrace it and act on it.
Whether to adjust it and observe more.
Whether to quiet it and kill it.
Or some other combination.
Now what really matters is how you move from impulse, across your threshold, to intentional decision. That’s why we’re establishing this five-second-filter.
As always, keep it simple, clear and focused.
When you feel an impulse, use five-seconds before responding to answer three questions:
- Is this who I want to be?
- Will this bring me closer to the things I want and value?
- How important is this moment?
Five seconds. That’s all it takes. Five seconds of checking-in with yourself to turn impulsiveness to intentionality.
Everything is training for something. Do the work.
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