In it’s original sense, a mantra is a mystical formula of invocation in Hinduism and Buddhism and has all sort of religious and spiritual significance. In the more secular sense it is a word or phrase that can be repeated frequently for motivation.
Recently I have adopted two mantras that have helped me a lot to keep myself from slipping into inactivity and laziness. This is very important to me because if I start down the spiral of laziness my mental health suffers and it’s very hard to get back on track.
The first one is quite simple but extremely powerful, I read it on the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. It helps get many little annoying things out of the way before they have a chance to pile up and become overwhelming. In my case the most valuable contribution this has had in my life is to help me keep my kitchen sink clean. I used to just put my dishes in the sink and let them accumulate until washing the dishes became a huge annoying chore that I ended up delaying. It’s not fun to spend an hour cleaning days old disgusting dirty kitchenware, and I haven’t had to do that in months because any dish or piece of silverware that I use is washed immediately thank to the two minute rule.
If it takes less than two minutes, do it now.
david allen – Getting things done
The other mantra that I have been using has been invaluable for my music practice, this is something I came up with myself but I’m sure it’s not an original thought and someone else must have penned it somewhere. It has helped me progress much more effectively on my music practice, on physical exercise and even at work.
When you feel like giving up, try just one more time
It sounds simple, it sounds dumb, but it’s deceptively powerful. It gives you permission to quit without guilt after just one more try, but more often than not you don’t try only once more. In my experience I either get it right in that “last” attempt, or get close enough that I get a second wind and finish my practice session. Mantras can be an effective tool to improve your resilience.