#1206 It’s Motto Time!

Think about the year to come.  I hope you’re setting some goals and envisioning 2026 in a way that pleases you.  You know, you become what you think about most often.  Earl Nightingale said that 75 years ago, before vision boards, or “The Secret.”

Not long after Earl, Napoleon Hill wrote the enduring classic, Think and Grow Rich. One of the great quotes from that book is “Thoughts are things.”

The Bible says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find.”

This works consciously or unconsciously. Consciously, we can envision the world the way we’d like it to unfold. The funny thing is that when you do this, even when it doesn’t unfold in the way you’d hoped, it mostly still unfolds in a way that pleases you. Somehow, hoping for the best makes the less-than-best seem better.

Goal setting and motto creation lend themselves to this wisdom. Deciding what you’d like your year to look like makes your year more likely to look like what you’ve chosen.

Mottos are a part of this.  My Cugino Steve got me started on yearly mottoes, something like twenty years ago, and I’ve done one every year since.

 Each December, I think about the coming year.  I set goals in personal development, finance, material things, and business, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect my mood for the year. When I think about the coming year in terms of my motto, I’m thinking about where I am in the world and how best to convey a piece of my current philosophy succinctly.

I’ve narrowed it down to a few and am wordsmithing to be sure I am sending the proper message and imbuing my words with the sentiment I feel.

At the risk of overplaying my hand, I strongly encourage you to create a motto of your own and add it to your email signature.  It continually reinforces your intention for the year and lets other folks know a bit more about you.

2026 is gonna be a great year!