We all need a Mantra

In Fast Company's recent Repeat After Me: Your Company Needs A Mantra by Shane Snow, he addresses the need of a company to adopt a Mantra. Aside from bringing everyone on board in a common end, the Mantra should speak to the core belief of the company.

If a company needs a mantra, then why not one for ourselves? See it, believe it, paint it on the first wall you see each morning, what a great way to begin each day.

 What’s your personal mantra, who are you in the world? In three or four short words how do you choose to live your life? Stay calm, Be happy, Aim for the Best, Laugh (Run/Read/Paint) More or Get More Rest are all good Mantras. 

So how do we define what this mantra should be? What are you striving for? Let your mantra speak to that goal. Who we are inside should be so easy that we don’t even have to put it on in the morning. As we move from one stage of our lives to the next, it is wonderful to create a new Mantra.

My natural default is to be reserved (what was called "painfully shy" when I was a youngster). Still to this day in some new situations, I have to pull out my I am amazing and there’s only one me Mantra in order to face a group of strangers. My natural default is to disappear into the crowd, usually into a corner with a plate of crab cakes. My mantra now says Be Authentic, Be Yourself. I like the flexibility this offers me, some days I can barely keep quiet, other days it’s into the quiet corner I go. I've learned to recognize that both are valuable parts of me, both are authentic, and I love them both.

If you are choosing a mantra for the first time, you will recognize how your mind will easily go to the correct choice. We always know that there is a very best part of us inside, if we are fortunate it is close to the surface, although sometimes we need to dig a little deeper. 

Today, Shout your Mantra from the highest building. We can be outside what we are inside.