Leo Babauta: "…As silly as you may feel by repeating a mantra, I think they have great use — they ingrain an idea in your head and serve as a reminder of something important….

To give you an example: I’m running my second marathon this weekend, and the biggest concern I have is not my physical fitness, but a mental one — I tend to run too fast because I get caught up in the excitement of a race, or get competitive with the other runners around me… So I’ve created a mantra to tell myself during this marathon, to help me stay away from trying to keep up with other runners: “Forget Them. Run Your Pace.” And I know my pace, if I’m able to block out the other runners, and if I do that, I’ll have a nice, relaxed, fun marathon. So I plan to repeat my mantra every time I feel myself getting caught up in the race.

I’ve used other mantras to great success. Last year, 2007, I had only one goal — to use my blog and freelance writing to liberate myself from my day job. My mantra for the entire year: “Liberate Yourself”. I repeated that every day, and almost every action I did was somehow aligned with that mantra. It worked.

Another mantra I’ve been using recently is a quote by Thich Naht Hanh that I’ve used in a recent post: “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” This mantra helps me to slow down and relax anytime in my daily life that I begin to feel rushed and begin to lose my focus on the present. It also helps me smile more, which is nicer for the people around me and gives me a good feeling as well.

TTD:
- Create & test your own mantras