10 Reasons You Need a Personal Motto of Life
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What’s a personal motto of life? and why you need one?
It’s a short, catchy phrase that encapsulates what’s important to you. A personal motto can be a powerful tool to help you stay focused and motivated in life.
Think about it this way: Your personal motto is like your own personal north star. It’s something you can always look to for guidance and inspiration.
Why is it so easy to lose sight of our lofty objectives—such as exercising for health, meditating for mental clarity, or eating healthier? Distraction, persuasion, and dealing with the daily issues of life tend to push what we wish to remember out of mind. What can you do if this happens to you?
Another option: Keep a motto or mantra on hand—or, better yet, in mind—to tie you to your most important values and goals. A motto, like a cup of coffee, can get you out of your mental rut and encourage you on. (For the purpose of simplicity, I’ll use the term “motto” as an overarching term for both mottos and mantras).
Your personal motto should:
1. Reflect your personality and values.
2. Be something you can live by.
3. Be memorable and easy to say.
4. Encourage you to take action.
5. Help you stay focused on what’s important.
Here are a few examples of personal mottos:
“Live each day as if it’s your last.”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.”
“Do what you love and love what you do.”
“I can and I will.”
“Every day is a new opportunity.”
“Don’t let anyone or anything hold you back.”
“Never give up on your dreams.”
“Believe in yourself and anything is possible.”
” Just keep swimming.”
Here are 10 reasons why you need a personal motto:
1. A personal motto can help you stay focused and motivated:
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
-Dr. Robert H. Schuller
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the best.”
-John D. Rockefeller
“I’d rather attempt something great and fail than attempt nothing at all.”
-Robert H. Schuller
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
-Steve Jobs
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
-Jim Rohn
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
-Will Rogers
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.”
-Anonymous
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
-Ernest Hemingway
“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.”
-J.M. Power
“You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
-Ronald Reagan
2. A personal motto can help you stay positive in tough times:
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”
-Maya Angelou
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
“There is no substitute for hard work.”
-Thomas Edison
“I am not a failure because I have failed, I am a failure because I have given up.”
-Denis Waitley
“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
“Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
3. A personal motto can help you make better decisions:
“When in doubt, do it.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
-John Quincy Adams
“You can’t put a limit on how much you can improve and how much you can do.”
-Michael Phelps
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.”
-J.M. Power
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
-Ernest Hemingway
“Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can’t help but have a successful company.”
-Tony Hsieh
“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.”
-Tony Gaskins
“I think it’s important to have a dream. It’s important to have something to aim for.”
-Miley Cyrus
“You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
-Ronald Reagan
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
4. A personal motto can help you live with intention:
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. A personal motto can help you stay on track when you feel lost:
“Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”
-David Lloyd George
“The best way to find out where you are is to get lost.”
-Anonymous
“Don’t worry about the destination, just enjoy the journey.”
6. A personal motto can help you be more productive:
“There is no substitute for hard work.”
-Thomas Edison
“I am not a failure because I have failed, I am a failure because I have given up.”
-Denis Waitley
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
7. A personal motto can help you simplify your life:
“Keep it simple, stupid.”
-Anonymous
“The less you own, the more free you are.”
-Christopher McCandless
“Live simply so that others may simply live.”
-Gandhi
8. A personal motto can help you let go of what’s not important:
“Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
“You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
-Ronald Reagan
9. A personal motto can help you connect with your true self:
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
-Ernest Hemingway
“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.”
-J.M. Power
“The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.”
-Anonymous
Takeaways:
10. A personal motto can help you find your purpose in life:
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
-Steve Jobs
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
-Steve Jobs
“If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”
– Steve Jobs
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
– Steve Jobs
“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
– Steve Jobs
Making Mottos More Impressive
You may design your own mottos or adapt prior ones. It doesn’t have to be clever; all you need is a reminder of what you’re worth or goal:
1. Keep it short and easy to remember.
2. It can even be one word: Compassion. Calm. Listen.
3. Make it emotionally intelligent. This simply means it will strike the right chord within you.
4. Boost your motto’s power with a rhyme or alliteration. If you use a rhyme, it will stick every time. Or, to be scientific about it, rhymes boost “processing fluency.”
Choose a couple of words to put in your “thought bubble” now. Repeat them at random periods and see whether they stimulate or calm you. If not, keep trying with new slogans.
Of course, there are negative mottos as well. Mottos that encourage people to wage war, use drugs, have affairs, or ignore their own best interests exist. You must keep an eye on what enters your mind at all times.
Finally, while many mottos are clichés, they are nonetheless true.
KEY POINTS
- While our immediate difficulties may distract us in everyday life, having a personal motto can assist us stay connected to our most important objectives.
- Mottos may accomplish a variety of things, from increasing your productivity to influencing you and convincing you to change a behavior.
- A motto’s effectiveness can be increased if it is concise, emotionally intelligent, and rhymed or alliterated.
- A personal motto should be chosen based on what you need or want in your life.
- Some popular mottos include “be the change you want to see in the world,” “what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us,” and “live simply so that others may simply live.”
