Do You Have A Personal Mantra?

I loved the 20ll movie, The Help, starring Viola Davis.  In the movie, Davis played a black maid named Aibileen Clack. In one scene of the movie, she is holding a little girl, Mae, and telling her “You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important.”  The little girl repeats it back, “I is kind, I is smart, I is important.”

In the movie, Mae’s mom was not particularly nice to little Mae, and Aibileen wanted to make sure this sweet little girl will forever remember these amazing qualities about herself.

My friend, Shelley, has a mantra. It’s defined by three words:

Brave  *  Bright  *  Badass

Shelley shared:

I played around with Brave or Bold and landed on Brave. Here’s what it means to me:

• Brave: Have courage. Beautiful girl, you can do hard things. Accept the challenge. Take the next step. Go for it.
• Bright: Be the light in your world. Share that heart-warming meme. Send a positive message via text or a hand-written card to someone you think could use it.
• Badass: This one life is not about being mediocre. Let out the rebel girl that was fighting for her voice and place in the world in high school and college. Wear the tight dress, why not? Swim against the stream. Don’t be afraid of the attention. God gave you a voice; you were meant to be seen and heard.

What words will help you on your journey to rediscover your purpose?

Okay, so how do you get started to create your Mantra?

Below is a template you can use—a simple one—to envision as your end result.

I am ___________________________.

I am ___________________________.

I am ___________________________.

Just like Shelley did above.

• I am Brave.
• I am Bright.
• I am Badass.

To land on your top three words, you may need to play around with several.

Think about these words as the ones that will give you strength and courage when times are tough.  In fact, “Strong” or “Courageous” may even become your mantra.

Five Steps to Discover Your Personal Mantra

Step One:  Answer some questions.  

To get your creativity flowing, below are a few questions. Read the question, and write down the first one or two words that come to mind:

1. Thinking about a time where you accomplished something that you felt really proud of, how would you finish this sentence? “I accomplished this big thing, and when it was all over, I felt  ”
2. Write down the name of a woman you really admire? This could be your friend, boss, mom, sister….  What three words would you use to describe her?
3. What is a quality you have that other people are highly aware of? You might hear them say, “You are so _____________________________.”
4. What is another quality others see in you?
5. What are one or two of your favorite qualities about yourself?
6. What is a quality you’ve always wished you had?

Step Two:  Finish some incomplete thoughts.

Below are some unfinished thoughts. Again, without overthinking your answer, read the statement and fill in the blank with the first word that comes to mind.

1. I really admire women who are _____________________.
2. I want to be more ___________________________.
3. And….I want to be more _________________________________.
4. In three words, I would describe myself as ____________________, _________________________ and ______________________________.
5. I want to be ____________________, _________________________ and ______________________________.

Step Three:  Make a list of all of the words from steps one and two.

Step Four:  Net it down to your three favorites.

For this step, be sure to ask others what they think if you’re having difficulty.  You may need to tackle this step in a few phases.  Cut down your list to five or six. Then to three.

I am ___________________________.

I am ___________________________.

I am ___________________________.

Step Five:  Define what each word means to you.

Refresh your memory by looking at what Shelley did above with Brave, Bold and Badass.

There you have it.

Your mantra can remain a living, breathing part of your life. Don’t fret too much if you’re having difficulty deciding. You can revisit this and change your words as you evolve and learn more about who you are and who you want to be.

Have fun with it!

XOXO  Aleta