23 Mottos to Live By

When I applied for my first teaching job, the principal asked me a question: “What is a phrase that would describe your life.” At the time I couldn’t think of anything. As soon as the interview was over, though, I thought of something: Hakkuna Matata (it means no worries for the rest of your days). It’s something I felt I was good at.

Whenever my kids ask, “What are we doing tomorrow?” I always reply, “The same thing we do every day. . .try to take over the world.” I say that because it reminds me of a cartoon I watched as a kid. But I also think, in a way, we are trying to take of the world. We are making changes and one person at a time we are going to change the world.

A few weeks ago I heard a talk. The young lady said that she had a motto: “Come as you are but don’t plan to stay as you are.”

I love the idea of having a personal motto.

A motto is a short phrase that encapsulates the beliefs guiding a person. It also helps you set goals and make decisions.

I found a cool blog that talks about why mottos are effective tools, then walks you through how to create and implement a motto, and even gives examples of powerful mottos to live by.

Here are a few (23!) of my favorites.

1. Have Courage and Be Kind
2. We Must Become the Change We Wish To See In the World – Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
3. Every Wall Has a Door
4. You Are What You Think About All Day Long– Dr. Robert Schuller
5. If You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Going – Winston Churchill
6. Today Was Good. Tomorrow Will Be Better
7. We Are All a Work In Progress
8. Be Intentional
9. He Who Has A Why to Live Can Bear Almost Any How – Fredrick Nietzsche
10. You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take – Wayne Gretzsky
11. Count Your Blessings
12. Courage Is Not the Absence of Fear It Is the Ability to Act In The Presence Of Fear
13. Being Negative Only Makes a Difficult Journey More Difficult. You May Be Given a Cactus, But You Don’t Have To Sit On it
14. It’s The Journey, Not the Destination
15. Mama Said There’d Be Days like This
16. Walk a Mile, See a Mile
17. Don’t Pray For an Easy Life, Pray To Be Stronger
18. Be A Little Bit Better Than You Were Yesterday
19. I Am Good Enough To Start
20. Don’t Be Afraid Of Being Different, Be Afraid Of Being the Same as Everyone Else
21. Your Playing Small Does Not Serve the World
22. 20 Years from Now You Will Be More Disappointed By The Things That You Didn’t Do Than By The Ones You Did Do – Mark Twain
23. See challenges as an opportunity.

Do you have a motto or mottos you live by?