Take Control of Your Life

I have always been that type of person who was skeptical when it came to mind coaching and self-motivation speech.

But this woman really caught me off guard. If I consider how catchy and involving she was—and with all her passion and relentless work she has been put on to encouraging thousands of people in the rocky path called Life. Her smile, her attitude, and her warm words definitely get her a long way through. Last and not least, I adore how she wears her must-have colourful sneakers with such a bubbling confidence. And all this began with a simple video on Instagram.

Mel and the Changes

When I played the first video, I was immediately caught by her colourful outfit and not less important her energetic way of speaking. Mel does have a gift and starts her speech with that incredible sense of communion; this is due to her past experiences, whose terrible memories brought her where she is now:

Have you ever felt so stuck you wanted to give up? Well, that was me. One night, I was drowning my sorrows in bourbon, feeling like the world's biggest loser, when suddenly a rocket shot across my TV screen during a commercial and gave me a crazy idea: "What if, when the alarm rang, instead of thinking, I launched myself out of bed like a rocket?"

From then on, she said she tried something simple that really did change her life: "The next morning I started counting. Backwards."

5 4321

She put herself out there, using her own face, past sorrow, and hardship to shape her speech and build the powerful network she is surrounded by.

The 5 Second Rule: Close the gap between thinking and actually doing.

The 5 Second Rule helps you activate your prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain in charge of decision making, strategic thinking, acting with courage, learning new behaviours, and working towards goals. She is firmly convinced that our life is determined by the gap between what happens to you and your reaction to it. To change, you’ve got to override habits. Counting 5-4-3-2-1 acts as a “starting ritual” that overrides your bad habits and draws focus to your prefrontal cortex so you can take immediate control of your thoughts and actions—and help you create positive new habits. Researchers call this nifty brain trick “metacognition.” I call it life-changing.

Once you get stuck in a tough situation or decision, your way out is snapped by how you decide to react and move forward to the solution—instead dwelling on it and moping over it. In between, most of the time, there are just excuses.

Currently, I have been following her on Instagram, and every other time possible, I watch her speech or simply read her quotes along with her live videos. This is not going to be simple (every breakthrough in your routine and state of mind requires considerable inner strength), however, the fist step is what it counts. What makes everything simple is, literally, counting backwards and feeling your brain listen to you, rewiring itself, and preparing to bounce out of bed like Mel's rocket on her TV screen.

I am a 35-year-old girl who has been through several ups and downs in the last four years. Taking in consideration that I packed my bag at that time and, completely by myself, I took a big turn in my life, leaving my hometown for Rome to Melbourne! But so far, so good, and I am proud of my choices and constantly learning something new and trying to stay positive.

Thanks Mel!