By Christi Nation
“Imagine your best future self, and start acting like that person today.” – Brendon Burchard from his book High Performance Habits
“When Brendon was nineteen years old and struggling to bounce back from a car accident, three one-word commands helped turn his life around. These commands were inspired by the lessons he had learned about life when he faced his own mortality. The three words are simple and concise: LIVE. LOVE. MATTER.
He said, “These three words became my clarity checkpoint in life.” These words are like a mantra for Brendon. He taught this technique to one of his clients to “identify three aspirational words that would describe her future self. She came up with: ALIVE. PLAYFUL. GRATEFUL.”
One morning I was driving to the speech class I teach and heard Brendon tell about this on his above quoted audio book. It inspired me to give my students a speech assignment about choosing their own three word commands (mantra) to help them be their best future selves. It was quite eye-opening and introspective for them. It was fascinating to hear about their three words and why they chose them. It inspired their classmates as well.
Of course, Brendon inspired me to establish my own mantra: INSPIRE. CONSISTENT. PEACE. The beauty of my three words is that they can be interpreted one way individually and another way as a sentence.
This column is the beginning of a series about the words we choose for our mantras. Until next time, here are your Happiness Actions:
- Create your own three one-word commands (mantra) to help you be your best
future self.
- Say those words to yourself each day to keep on track.
- Tell your friends about this new technique and see if they would like to create
their own.
- Share your words on our Happiness Actions Facebook page and we might
share them in a future column with your permission.
You never know how many people you can help achieve their version of happiness with your actions.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C. S. Lewis
