Embrace The 90 Second Rule
July 17, 2022
Decisions and actions we take in the heat of the moment rarely lead to good outcomes. Harsh words uttered in anger, investing decisions made in haste because of greed or panic, and life decisions made in the grip of FOMO(fear of missing out), we all know, always lead to unhappiness or regret, later.
How can we protect ourselves from letting our emotions dictate our actions?
The 90-second rule is a simple mental model that we can all adopt and benefit from.
Whenever you are feeling triggered to a point where you know your emotions are getting the better of you, figure out a way to buy yourself 90 seconds- that is all. If you can do this, you will give yourself the power to not let your emotions run riot and cause regret later.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Below is a picture I came across shared by @doodledwellness that illustrates the idea of the 90 Second Rule better than any words can describe.
I don’t tire of quoting Victor Frankl’s immortal lines –“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
The 90-second rule creates the space we require to pivot from reacting to our emotions to responding with intention.
