How many times have you thought about starting your own online business? How often are you commuting to or from work and thinking about how much you’d love to work from home?
From the moment I got my first computer, I dreamed of making money online and changing my work commute from 30 miles to walking downstairs. But it took 20 years to make that dream a reality–why? I finally realized that it was a lack of motivation caused by fear.
That realization came after discovering some self-motivation techniques that really resonated with me and my situation. But one in particular became a huge benefit for me in terms of getting me to take action. This was the 5-Second Rule by inspirational speaker, Mel Robbins, and I’ll share a video below that will help you understand this technique.
My Struggle After Being Scammed
It took me about 5 years from the time I got my first computer before I took action to start an online business. I attended a seminar that taught you how to start a website and sell products online. By the time it was done, I had spent $1,999 and was sure that I could make a full time income online within just a few short months.
Of course, every week after that I was getting phone calls and emails letting me know that success was
just around the corner if I just bought this program and that add on, and so on and so on. Two years later I had spent a lot of time working on my business, made a little bit of money, but had spent over $15,000!!
I also was smarter by then and realized that I had let myself get taken in by a program that had a lot of flash and promises, but was really just a way to keep upselling me more and more worthless programs. It’s amazing what you will believe when someone is telling you everything you really want to hear!
Unfortunately, the hit to our pocketbook was accompanied by a huge hit to my confidence, and I stopped working on my business. To make things even worse, I felt I had totally let my husband down when he had supported me making these big investments.
But the dream of making money from home never went away, and I knew how much it would benefit our family if I could make it a success. Several years later, three things happened together that changed everything.
Do Good Things Come In 3’s? I’m A Believer!
I was working as the Hotel & Banquet Manager at our local casino, but the job was not working out well for our family life at the time. The stress and long hours were taking a toll, and my husband and I rarely saw each other due to our schedules conflicting. The strain was taking both of us to the breaking point.
Then the first wonderful thing happened! I stumbled upon a video called The Secret to Self-Motivation by Mel Robbins. Now I’ve never been a big one to have motivational sayings on my walls or to listen to motivational tapes. But something made me click on that video and listen to what she had to say.
She told her story of the personal and financial problems that she faced and how everything overwhelmed her into backing away from taking any action to help her circumstances. I really identified with her struggle and realized that I was doing the same thing.
She talked about what she calls her 5-Second Rule–and no, it has nothing to do with how long dropped food is good on the floor! Here’s how it works:
Whenever you are faced with a situation where you need to take action, your brain knows what it should do, but within about 5 seconds it will always try to convince you to do whatever action is easier or protects you from getting hurt. Instead, Mel tells you to countdown 5..4..3..2..1 and then immediately do the action you know you should do.
By doing this, you will stop your brain before it tries to protect you and talk you out of doing it. Essentially, you’re breaking the habit loops that have been holding you back from taking an action that you want to do, but it’s out of your comfort zone to do it.
So I decided that I’d try this technique for a week and see if it would work for me. To my surprise, whenever I consciously did the countdown and took action, it actually worked! I wasn’t in my own head so much and started doing instead of just thinking!
Then the second great thing happened!
I was browsing the internet looking for a homemade soap recipe (love homemade soap!), and I saw an article asking the question–Can you make money selling homemade soap online?
The article detailed the process of marketing and selling soap, as well as the amount of money you can realistically make. But what caught my attention was that the author suggested a better way to make money online–start a blog about making homemade soap and make money by monetizing the site!
He outlined the program he used to start his blog and explained that you could join free and see what it offered without even putting a credit card down. It was very different from all the other money making platforms I was finding, and I wanted to know more about it.
Without even thinking, I counted 5..4..3..2..1 and signed up for their free membership! The program was Wealthy Affiliate, and I spent the next few days looking it over, creating my first website, and taking lessons. I got more information in those few days with their free membership than I ever did spending $15,000 before!
The only other program Wealthy Affiliate offers is a premium membership for $49 a month, there were no other upsells. After a week I knew that this was legitimate and wanted to start an online business again. But I was frustrated because I knew I wouldn’t have the time to devote to it.
That’s when I firmly became a believer that good things come in 3’s!
The Third Piece Of The Puzzle
Within a couple of days a friend of mine, who worked as a rural carrier for the post office, called to say that her sub had quit, and they had an opening. This was a part-time job, but paid well, and she knew I was wanted to get out of the grueling 60-70 hour work weeks at the casino.
This was exactly what I was looking for–a job with a decent salary and time to pursue my dream of making money online! I grabbed the opportunity and am so glad I did.
Without the self motivating techniques I learned to give me more confidence, I doubt I would have taken the chance that changed the course of my career. I currently have multiple websites, retired early, and have a passive stream of income in retirement!
The 5-Second Rule Video
Here is a video with Mel Robbins who explains her 5-Second Rule. If you’re stuck in a spot where you’re overwhelmed and having trouble taking actions to improve your life, this video is for you!
What self-motivating techniques do you use? Are there any motivational speakers or videos that inspire you? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
Wow, I can tell that this article is definitely what I needed because I’ve been struggling financially lately and have had trouble at times keeping motivated and taking the right kind of action. I never heard of the 5 second rule, but now that I read about it, I am definitely going to implement it. It will help me so much more and keep on track to tacking this debt and keep taking action on my 2 blogs. Thank you so much for sharing this and I can tell that it has had a great and positive impact on your life. Do you have other friends or family that you have shared this with and has it made a positive impact on their lives?
I’m so glad that it helped! It has definitely had a positive impact on my life. My husband and 2 daughters are all very decisive, and I don’t think they’ve ever needed a push to get them motivated about anything!
Our other 2 daughters are more like me and tend to overthink things and feel overwhelmed a bit. So they’ve both watched Mel Robbin’s videos and embraced the concept. If one of us is talking about something and wondering what to do, someone else will say, “Five second rule!”, lol.
Good luck on your blogs, and I wish you great success!
Sure do like this advice! I only took 5 minutes to read, but it sure packs a punch. It was so easy to take in the message with your story and a hard hitting video.
5-4-3-2-1 and back to working on my own site, after taking a look at some more of your blogs!
It is definitely great advice and packs a punch if you put it into use. Good luck with your site!
Lately I became interested on how to make online business and unfortunately I also got scammed. There are a lot of scammers out there, especially when you look for how to make money online.
Just like you, I tried again and found Wealthy Affiliate, I was suspicious at first but slowly I realized they can be trusted.
This 5 seconds countdown sounds good, I’ll try it the next time I’ll have some decisions to make:)
Sorry to hear you had a experience with a scammer, but I’m so glad that you found what I did at Wealthy Affiliate! Thank you for stopping by!
You have provided us with a very interesting and useful post. Although I never lost the amount of money that you did only because I did not have that kind of money available to me. The five second rule will be very useful to me. I, like many people, suffer from procrastination due to fear.I will try and use the five second rule. Thank you for this post.
Procrastination is something I’ve struggled with all my life. Anything I can use to help keep me motivated and moving forward is great, and this method works for me!
First let me say this is a great post, with good useful information. I absolutely loved the video, and how true it is. I gave out a little chuckle with the 5 second rule, because I have done this on many occasions, and its spot on. I like how you took us through your story.and the stages of the 3, which im a firm believer in. I have also gone through a few scams my self be fore finally landing at W.A., and let me tell you, I have never once said this is a waste of my time, and or money. Keep up the good work , and I’ll be back to get some more , much needed tips!
I’m so glad you found this helpful, and I’ll keep doing product reviews and giving tips, so keep coming back!
It is interesting that your blessings came in 3 as this is the triune nature of God, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. There many things in nature that have this imprint of 3 on them, time (past, present, future) is one.
There are days I don’t feel like working on my blog, but I really want the accomplishment so I do it anyway. Mel Robbins’ 5 second rule looks effective and I will practice this – thank you.
It’s definitely been a great motivator for me, I hope you find it helps you too!
Hello Janelle, your story is so similar to mine, I felt identified with you in so many aspects. I did not know that technique, I love it! and I’m going to put it into practice right now. And I do believe that if you want something and change your thoughts, things appear and you open paths where before you could find no way out.
Something similar happened to me, looking for something else I accidentally came across a review of Wealthy affiliate, at that time I was desperate to find a way to make money and it came to me, without looking for it.Pao
I truly think that things happen for a reason at a time they’re meant to happen–my daughters have heard me say that so many times!
I was working as a rural carrier with the post office, and we were right in the middle of our heavy holiday time when I came upon the article about Wealthy Affiliate. I liked my job, but another winter of delivering packages on snow covered roads until 8:00 at night was weighing heavily on me. If I had seen the article in the middle of the summer, I probably wouldn’t have given it as much thought!
I’ve now retired early, have 5 websites, and I’m getting great enjoyment out of being the one to take my grandson back and forth to school everyday. Wealthy Affiliate couldn’t have come along at a better time!
I agree with you, I think self discipline and motivation are key to starting an online business, or any business for that matter. Very sorry to hear how you were a victim of a scam, it is very unfortunate, and the sad reality is that’s just how the internet is. But I am very glad to hear of your comeuppance and how you got to where you are now. Keep up the hard work!
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger! Once I started acting out of knowledge and experience and not out of fear, many of the choices in front of me were crystal clear and the fear wasn’t there anymore.
I definitely want to review programs that are out there and give my readers information so they can make better choices than I made years ago. So I will keep it up–thanks!