When I was in college, I was the type of person that would hit the snooze button at least
four times before finally waking up just to rush out the door because guess what? I was
already late for class. I had this uncanny ability to almost always and I mean always
hand in my essays and my projects literally minutes right before the deadline. This was
definitely not something that I was proud of. We all have amazing things that we tell
ourselves that we are going to go outside and do, but for the most part we have trouble
finding the motivation and the inspiration to actually go out there and do them. And
I am sure you can relate to this. What finally helped me was this little trick that I learned
from a mentor of mine. It's called the 3 2 1 and it's actually very simple and very effective.
The next time your confronted with a task that you don't want to do, even by the slightest
bit, you start counting down from 3. You go 3...2...1 and once you hit one, you stop whatever you're
doing and then finish that task. The only rules are that whatever it is has to be something
that's possible and it has to be something that you can do right then and right there
at the moment. Let's say for example you just came home and you notice that the trash bin
is full. "Oh man...I should go and take out the trash. You know what I'll do it after
I check my email. Wait stop. Take out the trash 3...2...1 and you have to drop your
phone, stand up, and you have to take out the trash. Now the key to this trick is to
make it into a habit. They say that it takes about 21 days to form a habit. However in
my personal experience it didn't take any longer than about a week and a half for this
trick to settle in. The key is to apply it to just about every single annoying task that
you find throughout the day. "Oh the dishes are piling up. Well 3...2...1 go and wash
the dishes." "Oh the dog looks hungry. 3..2..1 go feed the dog." "Should I brush my teeth?
3...2...1 go and brush your teeth." "Oh I am kind of hungry right now too! 3..2..1 go
cook yourself a meal." After doing this for a while you'll find that your met with less
resistance every time you count down from 3. And it's at this point that you've unlocked
the true potential behind this trick. The point of this trick was not to give you a
way to take out the trash or always hand in your homework on time. Yes that is going to
be helpful, but the true potential behind this trick is to give you the ability to build
positive new habits. Let's say that you've been trying to go to the gym for a while now.
You know all of the positive benefits. You know logically that it is the right thing
to do. Yet you've never found the motivation to actually go out there and do it. Now all
you have to do is say, "Sign up for a gym membership online, 3...2...1, and you'll go
and do it." And then immediately afterwards you can say, "Get dressed and go to the gym,
3...2...1 ," and you'll go and do it. The key here is to make sure that the 3 2 1 is
ingrained enough in your mind so that when you do say it, no matter what it is that you've
challenged yourself to do, you will do it. And the same thing can be applied for quitting
negative habits. Things like smoking or drinking.If you've ingrained the 3 2 1 strongly enough in your brain, you can
resist those temptations. But the biggest and the hardest thing that you have to do
in order to make this trick work is to take that FIRST STEP TODAY to start implementing
the 3 2 1 trick into your lifestyle. I challenge you to think of something right now that you
have to do. Something on your to do list, that you've been pushing aside.
3....2.....1
GO AND DO IT!