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 your new sneaks and buy a gallon of milk with your Visa card.

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

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

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

It's true that sales trainers get excited about the cheesier things in life, but I believe the big stick you need is your personal slogan—something to prompt you to think outside the bun, er, box. So I was quite pleased with myself when I coined the phrase, “Astound Yourself Today.” I like it so much, I trademarked it. 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. He held so many patents (1,093) that it took until 2005 for someone to pass him in total patents issued. Nobody has influenced the way we live today quite like Edison.

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

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

So, the secret to creating an astounding new world for yourself is simply doing what you're capable of doing. That's straightforward enough, yet people miss it everyday because it's literally a daily decision.

Thus, I keep my slogan somewhere I can see it every day. I need a daily reminder that choosing comfortable, content and convenient equals average; but capable—and only capable—creates astounding new worlds.

Instant Insights /

Personal slogans are cheesy&mdash;and you need one

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Personal slogans are cheesy—and you need one