Dear Reader,

I was looking for a mantra to keep me inspired while pursuing a new personal project and during my typical workday.

Usually, I refer to two “classics” for inspiration. The first is from my favourite book:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Bene Gesserit Lithany Against Fear – Dune – Frank Herbert

The second is from the stoic Master himself, and faces me every time I open my PC desktop:

The impediment to action advances action.
That which stands in the way becomes the way.

Marcus Aurelius

However, as good as these are, they are not personal, they do not come from inside me.

So, I started a chain of thoughts that I’d like to share with you.

I started from:

I do the motion

It’s personal, it starts with “I” so it’s inner-focused (which I think is right for inspiring individual action), it signals that there is work to be done… but in some sense it gives the wrong signal to my subconscious: it seems like I have to do all the work by myself, and that is not good!

So I was led to:

I set things in motion

That’s better! I make things move, but not necessarily by myself. I am permitting myself to engage other people, to delegate, to make stuff happen because I bring together the right people at the right time. That resonates well with my daily job as project-manager. However… what about the quality of the results?

Next iteration:

I set good things in motion

What a relief! There is no point in making all the fuss to produce sub-par outcomes. But you only live once, so maybe it would be better to say…

I set remarkable things in motion

I think that by now you should presume that we are all set and done, do you? Well, the answer is no! I asked myself a final question: what are you doing your work for? Just for yourself? Of course, you are not! You (I) want to be altruistic and provide help to others. So, why not take the last concept, add a little bit of “service”, and reflect it to the people that make my life richer and happier?

I help to set remarkable things in motion

That’s it. I got it right, that is what I want to repeat myself every time I sit down to work. Let’s try it out and see what happens! If it’s true that the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our thoughts, soon I should see some effects if I keep repeating it.

Until next time, help to set remarkable things in motions.