2017 Annual Motto

The Year Long Affirmation

Many years ago I stopped making New Years Resolutions. I was never able to stick to them and keep them going the year through. Not being able to keep up with such a lofty goal was frustrating. To say the least. And left me feeling defeated, not empowered.

I began seeing Resolutions as goals that set me up to Fail. What a negative and self-defeating concept. Setting yourself up to fail and feeling bad about not carrying through on the promise you made to yourself. How is this helpful? So I stopped making Resolutions and started making Mottoes that I could say when things got tough or when I needed a boost in my thinking!

My first motto was designed to do nothing more than get me through a day of frustration and anger. In 2001 I didn’t like my Boss, which meant I didn’t like my job either. But my Motto got me through those exceptionally rough days “I don’t care, I get paid.” And it worked. Pretty well actually. The group of people I managed at the time, took up my practice and new motto as well. Each time we hit a wall of frustration, someone would recite the motto and everyone would relax a little bit.

That experience proved to me that the Motto idea was so much better than a Resolution. It was there when you needed it. It worked FOR you, instead of being a promise to yourself that you needed to work toward. It gave you support instead of making you feel as though you might fail in keeping your promise. A small difference in perspective can mean all the difference in the world. The Annual Motto was born from that initially frustrating afternoon through today.

Each motto has been exactly what I needed to make it to the next New Years Celebration. And I’m happy to share these annual affirmations with you. I hope they give you strength when you need it the most, and help you to take the next step when you feel like sitting down and giving up.

So here it is, the Annual Motto for 2017: