Give Yourself a Personal Motto
Dr. Davis explains one of the secrets Nobel Prize winners, and Benjamin Franklin, have used to keep their focus on what is most important to them.
Give Yourself a Personal Motto!
In Ben Franklin's Autobiography, one of the great books in American Literature, Franklin says over and over again that the secret to success is industry and frugality. These two words form, in my opinion, Franklin's personal motto.
If someone woke him from his eternal slumber now, 200 years after his passing, and asked Ben what the secret to success was I know he would answer: Industry and Frugality!
In reading biographies of great people, one of my favorite pastimes, I am amazed how frequently the wisest and greatest can reduce their entire lives to a few words.
Mother Theresa said: "If I have a purpose, it is to care for the poor."
Albert Einstein said: "I want to discover how God created the universe."
Albert Schweitzer said, "My philosophy is Reverence for Life."
And these people walked their talk! They became Nobel Prize winners because they put their purposes above themselves and their own comforts.
You do not have to go to Africa or make a vow of poverty, but having a few words you live by may prove very comforting and useful.
Step-by-Step Process:
1. Read biographies of people you admire. Watch TV specials or rent movies about your heroes. Did they have personal mottos or credos they lived by? If they did not have spoken or written mottos, could you make up one for them? A motto, as I use the term, is a short distinctive, descriptive phrase that governs a person's actions on a daily basis.
2. List mottos you can imagine would be useful to have. List mottos you might like to have yourself.
3. Select a motto you will attempt to live by for one week.
4. Give your motto a week's test drive. During the week, think of your motto frequently. Enjoy your motto. Believe in it. Let it by your guide to positive action.
5. How was your first week with your motto? Were you comforted by your motto? Was life enhanced? If you can answer Yes to either of these questions, you may want to continue using your motto. If not, you can search for another motto, give your motto another week's trial, or simply abandon mottos altogether.
Note: A phrase, repeated over and over with belief, will develop tremendous power. Don't try to force a phrase or idea on your brain. The process should be easy and natural. When I became interested in memory, I immediately began to bill myself as a Memory Expert in my mind. Because I thought this way, I have never had a problem learning memory techniques, applying them, or teaching them. By the same token, I have always thought of myself as unmusical. The last several years, however, I have changed my motto to I Can Make Music. My wife and cats will tell you I now make music all day long!
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