Just do it. It's everywhere you want to be. Got milk?

You know you want to run right now to the grocery store in yournew sneaks and buy a gallon of milk with your Visa card.

That's the power of a good slogan. It succinctly communicates abroader message, attitude or philosophy; and experts say the bestones prompt us to action. This is why sports teams have long usedthem to motivate their players, and why sales organizations oftenco-opt them. How many sales meetings have you attended with a themelike, “Teamwork makes the dream work?”

When the world changed a couple of years ago, all our bad habitscaught up with us. We were coasting in some respects, doing whatwas convenient or comfortable; having fallen into an “order taker”role in our daily interactions. Now, we're working twice as hardfor half the results.

An annual sales number that wouldn't have broken the Top 10 fiveyears ago is now good enough for No. 1. That's when that voiceinside your head starts telling you the sky is falling. In myexperience, there's only one way to handle that voice: You have tomeet him out back with a big stick.

It's true that sales trainers get excited about the cheesierthings in life, but I believe the big stick you need is yourpersonal slogan—something to prompt you to think outside the bun,er, box. So I was quite pleased with myself when I coined thephrase, “Astound Yourself Today.” I like it so much, I trademarkedit. Seriously. I'm that cheesy.

Of course, by now you're like the YouTube double rainbow guy,asking, “What does it mean?!” I'm glad you asked.

Thomas Edison's legacy is much bigger than the lightbulb. Heheld so many patents (1,093) that it took until 2005 for someone topass him in total patents issued. Nobody has influenced the way welive today quite like Edison.

It's been said that he dreamed of a new world and then hecreated it. I believe you and I go to work every day because wedream of creating a new world, too. Edison chose inventions; wechoose benefits, but the dream is essentially the same.

Of course, it only takes one day in the field to learn it'seasier to dream it than to do it. Then what? I believe you listento someone who created a new world at a very high level. In ourcase, that's Edison who said: “If we all did the things we'recapable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

So, the secret to creating an astounding new world for yourselfis simply doing what you're capable of doing. That'sstraightforward enough, yet people miss it everyday because it'sliterally a daily decision.

Thus, I keep my slogan somewhere I can see it every day. I needa daily reminder that choosing comfortable, content and convenientequals average; but capable—and only capable—creates astounding newworlds.