The way to change your life, Elizabeth Gilbert told Oprah, is to, \u201cGet a new mantra.\u201d She wasn\u2019t talking about mantras in the spiritual sense, but as a personal motto or phrase that inspires you or expresses something you believe in.<\/p>\n
Many mantras begin with the words \u201cI am\u201d and are a powerful force for shaping our lives. If we\u2019re unaware of the mantras we\u2019re thinking and saying, we may miss the connection to what we\u2019re becoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was reminded of this when I received an e-mail from a man I\u2019d met seven or eight years ago, but hadn\u2019t had much contact with recently. I wrote back asking for an update and received a mantra-filled reply. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n
I am still trying to make the best of an employed life and I find that I am not that happy. I am trying to make it work for the steady paycheck and health insurance.\u00a0I do not believe that I can match my current income and benefits on my own, and I need to support the family.\u00a0 Yet, it takes so much out of me, I have no energy to start anything outside of it.\u00a0 Each day, I force myself \u00a0to be on time, force myself to comply to the ongoing, overwhelming requirements made of me, and come home exhausted.<\/em><\/p>\n Compare that to the mantras in Angela O\u2019Brien\u2019s message:<\/p>\n My business is better than ever right now and I have no fears about layoffs. I work as a private math tutor and babysitter and had to adjust my ego because I can’t tell people I have some lofty position.\u00a0 What I have is daily freedom, joy, and independence.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0I am learning to live on a lot less money and it is fine.\u00a0 My motto is “there is always more than one (or two) answers”.\u00a0\u00a0I am no longer sacrificing my health in order to have what society has always told me I should have.\u00a0 My boyfriend is an independent massage therapist and his business has never been better, either.\u00a0 We keep saying, “Wow, there’s no recession for us!”\u00a0 I don’t have a big retirement account and neither does he, but we feel so confident in our ability to take care of ourselves that it doesn’t matter!\u00a0 Self-bossing is the best!<\/em> See the difference? Pretty hard not to see it, but it\u2019s a bit trickier to hear our own mantras and see how they are impacting our lives. Start by listening to the mantras that you are using to create your life. Are they a reflection of your dreams or your fears? Either way, consider adopting a brand new 2009 mantra for yourself.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s what Sue Hibbetts, SupportBuddy on Twitter, shared with us on Sunday. She wrote, \u201cAt Jubilee Church the minister said, \u2018What if your dreams are closer than you think?\u2019 Today, my mantra\u00a0 is, \u2018My dreams are closer than I think!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And don\u2019t just write a mantra for yourself. Your business deserves them, too. In fact, Guy Kawasaki says, “Forget mission statements \u2014 they’re worthless; instead create a powerful mantra for yourself.”<\/p>\n So write those mantras and, if you’re feeling frisky, share them with the rest of us. Or if you’ve already seen the power of a mantra, tell us that story, too.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The problem with getting bigger is that getting bigger costs you. Not just in time and money, but in focus and standards and principles. Moving your way to the biggest part of the curve means appealing to an ever broader audience, becoming (by definition) more average. More, more, more is rarely the mantra of a successful person. ~ Seth Godin<\/em><\/p>\n \u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0<\/em><\/p>\n
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