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October Challenge Week 4: Define Your Mantra

So far in October we’ve found a few things that move us to action, visualized them, and taken a small step toward living that vision.  This week we’re going to engage yet another part of our brains by crafting a mantra – a short phrase that inspires you, energizes you, refreshes you, or reminds you why you want to keep going even when the going gets hard.

There are no rules about what your phrase should be!  Maybe something standard like “pain is temporary but quitting is forever” is what gets you through those last repetitions in each set, or maybe “my best me” resonates with you more.  Does the Under Armour “I will what I want” campaign inspire you? Genius running coach Jeff Galloway also has three interesting takes on the mantra (1, 2, 3) that might spark some ideas for you. This phrase will change for you over time, so don’t overthink it now – just listen to your heart.

You may have noticed the words on the walls at the Tiny Fitness studio: “SHINE” and “better every day”.  Those are some of the phrases that have inspired me along my journey, and I wanted to share them with all of you every time we work out!  But how did I come to choose them?

“Shine” reminds us each to shine every day, no matter where we are along our paths, because we are each unique and the world needs each one of us in order to be complete. Every day is a gift, and the least we can do is shine – to share our talents and love with others, to give back to those who have given to us, and maybe even to make the world a brighter place with our happiness.  I know that the fitness journey can be tough; every plateau and inevitable setback can seem like the end of the world. If you shine your way through it, you will enjoy the process much more and maybe find yourself at your goals even sooner.

“Better every day” goes back to my distaste for perfection. You don’t need to be perfect.  You will never be perfect. Your journey is not about becoming perfect, eating perfectly, or working out perfectly…it’s about taking small steps each day toward your goals. The end goal isn’t perfection, it’s just to be better every day! As long as you take one tiny step each day, you will reach your goals.

Some of my other fitness mantras in the past have been:

  • One more rep
  • Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best
  • Make yourself (yep, borrowed from Nike)
  • Destroy what destroys you
  • Unstoppable

But you don’t need to use one of mine!  These are very personal, just like your vision, and it’s perfectly fine if my mantras sound ridiculous to you.  Give it a shot and see what you come up with for your own inspirational phrase!