What is a mantra in simple terms? A mantra is a phrase you repeat to focus your mind and shape your beliefs.
In my family, we use mantras when committing to a goal. When my oldest son Henry stated he wanted to be the varsity stroke of his rowing club’s top eight oared boat, his mantra became, “I am the Varsity stroke.”
Charlie, John, and Yummy have done similar mantras for their sports in water polo and football. When you are setting a goal, creating an initial identity mantra is extremely helpful in focusing your mind on what you seek to attain.
Identity mantras are a great first step in your journey of achieving something new to you. The key to an identity mantra is crafting it in the present tense: “I am (insert your goal here).”
The point is to get yourself accustomed to thinking in the state of already achieving your goal. When you think like this, your focus changes and thoughts start bubbling up that are aligned with what you seek to accomplish. At first, it is subtle because you have not really convinced yourself that you can actually achieve your goal. Herein lies one of the most important elements of a mantra, helping you believe you can do it. I call a mantra a “belief-in-training.”
Beliefs are thoughts that you have decided are true, and when going after something new to you, believing you can achieve that new something is your fuel to keep trying.
The actual word mantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit language meaning “man = mind” and “tra = tool.”
It literally means a “mind tool,” which makes sense because when you practice a mantra, you are activating your mind’s attention, shaping your thoughts, and regulating your emotions and actions toward your objective.
You need more than a great mantra to achieve that new thing, but mantras work best when they are paired with repeated action for a compounding effect.
This attitude is a large part of my Turning P.R.O. mentality.
Identity mantras are the first step in developing a new belief system on your journey to transforming yourself.
However, there are also other categories of mantras that are required along the way. You will need mantras to raise your performance, and you will need mantras when you face seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
I call these performance mantras and adversity mantras.
Three years ago, four of my closest friends and I flew to Argentina to climb the tallest mountain in South America, Aconcagua.
At the time, it was the tallest mountain any of us had ever climbed. There was a moment on the mountain when things were looking bleak. We were huddled in a cave-like opening that gave us some protection from the high winds. We were cold, a couple of us were battling dysentery, and we were all exhausted. Our rate of climb had slowed to the point where we were pushing up against our turn-around time.
Our guide, Walt, turned to us and said, “Fellas, here’s the deal, we’re 1,000 feet from the summit. The air is thin. I want you thinking about one thing and one thing only: 2 steps and a breath.”
He then looked at each of us and said, “Repeat after me: 2 steps and a breath.” At first we mumbled the phrase, then we slowly started chanting it together, “2 steps and a breath. 2 steps and a breath.” For the next couple of hours, Walt would chant it and we would chant along with him. That mantra focused our minds on a very specific performance and carried us to the summit.
Performing better is a necessary step to achieving something new. Whether it is writing, singing, studying, painting, or moving better, it all starts with your mind. A mantra works by focusing your mind on exactly what you need to do in that moment. When you need to perform better, use a mantra that is zeroed in on the exact action required.
My second son Charlie has used performance mantras as a water polo goalie in high school, college, and on the national team to improve his penalty shot blocking percentage. Last summer, he blocked the game-winning shot against Serbia that put the US Men’s U20 team into the gold medal world championship game for the first time in US history.
Performance mantras work, if you focus and take action on them.
Nothing can stop you faster than an obstacle you have never encountered before. Obstacles have a way of taking over your focus, which clouds your ability to see the opportunity in front of you. Many times, you will need a mantra just to keep moving forward. When faced with adversity, build a mantra like: “I can find a way.”
They told me my leadership was the reason people were quitting. They told me I was going to get SEALs killed, and then they told me to quit.
I remember standing there exhausted, cold, and trying to process everything they were saying. As I lifted my foot to walk toward the bell, a thought flashed into my mind: “Alden, you got this. Take it one leadership opportunity at a time.” I stopped, turned to them, and said, “Thanks, but I’m not quitting.” As I walked away, I heard one of them say, “Damn, I thought we had him.”
That might not sound like much of a mantra, but it stayed with me. I have used mantras to overcome bankruptcy, three different times. I have used them to help my family see the positive side of moving to a foreign country. I have used them when staring at a blank page, battling doubt. Mantras activate the power of our minds to help you lock in and find a way forward.
All goals are achieved the same way, by continuing to press on regardless of failures, setbacks, or obstacles. When you begin your goal journey, start with the mental transformation of believing you can do it. When you believe, you set yourself up to achieve. That is what mantras help you do. They help you believe in yourself.
Be Unstoppable!
Alden