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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
All the Time You Need to Stop Counter-Productive Habits and Get the Results You Want
Four Seconds by Peter Bregman is a self-help book that emphasizes the importance of being intentional in everything we do. It encourages us to take a step back and consider our actions before acting impulsively, leading to greater productivity and personal satisfaction.
When you’re in a stressful situation, do you sometimes react in a way that ends up making you feel even worse? Many people respond to stress in self-defeating, counter-productive ways, such as yelling or starting an argument with someone. So how do we transform this unhelpful behavior into habits that save our time, energy and sanity?
The first step is pausing and breathing for four seconds.
Four seconds is the amount of time you need to take one deep breath in and out.
When you pause and breathe, this puts you in a state that allows you to make better decisions and consider the outcomes of your actions before you take them.
Say your kids are refusing to brush their teeth before school. It’s the third time this week and you can feel the anger bubbling up inside of you. You’re about to lose your cool and start yelling. But instead, you resist, pause and breathe. After doing so, you feel a little calmer and clearer. Maybe you even come up with a tooth-brushing game instead of succumbing to the counter-productive reaction of shouting.
In addition to the four-second breath, in a stressful situation it’s a good idea to identify an area of focus, rather than a goal.
Goal setting is often accompanied by temptations to cheat or to take unnecessary risks, whereas an area of focus motivates you without offering up such negative temptations.
For example, you own a store that sells a certain product. In recent years, your goal has been to increase your revenue. This, however, has led to some of your staff using questionable methods to hit targets, such as lying about particular features of the product, because all they care about are the sales.
But this year, you’ve set an area of focus, which is to talk more with the customers. The results? At the year’s end, you realize that the revenue has increased, thanks to focusing more on the customers than on increasing revenue.
Four Seconds (2015) gives precise examples of how to rid yourself of self-defeating habits at work, at home and in your relationships. A four-second pause helps slow down hasty, unhappy reactions and is the first step to reworking the way you communicate with others and receive feedback from them. You really can be prepared for anything if you just take a breath first.
Four Seconds (2015) explores the power of pauses and intentional choices in our daily lives, providing a roadmap for making better decisions and living a more fulfilled life. Here are three reasons why this book is well worth a read:
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Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Get startedBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
What is the main message of Four Seconds?
To make every moment count and use four seconds to improve our lives.
How long does it take to read Four Seconds?
Reading time for Four Seconds varies, but the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Four Seconds a good book? Is it worth reading?
Four Seconds is worth reading as it teaches strategies for maximizing our time, potential, and happiness.
Who is the author of Four Seconds?
Peter Bregman is the author of Four Seconds.