Need motivation, right now? Try this.

Imagine these scenarios:

1) You’re about to step into a boxing ring against a fierce opponent.

2) You’re a prisoner of war about to be interrogated.

3) You’re running for U.S. President and you’re about to lose.

How would you motivate yourself?

Senator John McCain, who’s faced all those challenges, has always rallied himself with a simple mantra:  “Game face on” (New York Times, 10/26/08).

A mantra is a word or phrase you tell yourself, silently, to evoke a desired quality.  Actors use a similar technique called inner monologue.

If you were an actor playing a love scene, it might be helpful, as you look at your romantic partner, to think, “You have lovely eyes.”  It would be less helpful to wonder, “Did you eat a pastrami sandwich for breakfast?”

Although mantras sound mysterious, they’re not.  You and I think certain thoughts, again and again, everyday.  These repetitive thoughts are mantras, they’re just not very useful.  For example:

1) “My boss is a complete idiot.”  Do you often think this?  Bingo—you’ve got a mantra!

Unfortunately, the “complete idiot” mantra will eventually leak into your behavior, so you may want to change it.  And no, it’s not much better to say, “Fine. My boss is an incomplete idiot.”

2) “There’s just no time to do that.”  “That” can be anything on your To Do list, as well as special projects like responding to email, eating lunch, breathing.

3) “Tired.”  When the alarm goes off in the morning, we often think, “tired.”  Then we attempt to calculate “X,” where X = how much sleep we got.

One thing we know for sure about X:  it wasn’t enough.

So, throughout the day, we remind ourselves how tired we are.  “How am I going to get through this meeting?” we wonder.  “I’ve got to get to bed early tonight, I may be coming down with something.”

Notice, when you think “tired,” your energy doesn’t suddenly skyrocket.  Just the opposite, you feel even more fatigued. The mantra works!

Feeling tired right now?  Ok, take a short walk around the office.  While walking, repeat a mantra, for a minute or so, to energize yourself.

Your mantra could be anything:  “Strength!”  “Vitality!”  “Pastrami sandwich!”

Tip:  Thoughts matter.  Watch your negative ones.  Experiment with positive mantras.

© Copyright 2018 Paul Hellman.  All rights reserved.

P.S. for more motivation:

1) Get my latest book: You’ve Got 8 Seconds: Communication Secrets for a Distracted World. Now in print, kindle & audio. Translated into 4 languages

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