It’s always your move and there is always a way to be helpful.

This year, I worked with my friends Pete, a small business owner, and Steve, a Marketing Professor at the University of Illinois, on a branding exercise for an organization. As part of the process, we spent hours talking about audience, messaging, and goals. But what stuck with me most was that the goal wasn’t a polished mission statements or clever taglines—it was the concept of a mantra.

I’ll admit, at first, I didn’t get it. My process-oriented brain kept asking, “How is this different from a mission statement or a tagline?” Mission statements are the stuff that hangs on walls and gets forgotten. Taglines are useful for saying what you do, but they don’t dive deep enough. A mantra, as Pete and Steve explained, is something entirely different. It’s the heartbeat of an organization—the rhythm that keeps everything moving in the right direction. Even when the brain is overthinking or the mouth is fumbling for the right words, the mantra is steady. It’s always there, quietly guiding you back to your purpose.

This idea intrigued me. I left that session determined to figure out my own mantra—not just for my business, but for myself. Around that same time, I picked up Give to Grow, a book I’ve read and re-read this year. One of its key messages hit me like a lightning bolt: It’s always your move, and there’s always a way to be helpful. That phrase felt like it was written just for me. It spoke to the push and pull I feel between my need to plan and the reality of running a business where plans rarely play out the way I expect. It reminded me that while I can’t control everything, I can always take the next step. I can always find a way to turn opportunities—expected or not—into growth.

Why Your Mantra Matters

After that session with Pete and Steve, I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea of a mantra. It felt bigger than just a tool for organizations—it felt deeply personal. At the time, my business was shifting and evolving in ways I couldn’t always predict. I wanted to be intentional about those changes, but the reality of running a business meant that “intentional” often took a backseat to “just keep up.”

So I started digging. What would my mantra be? How could I find a phrase that balanced my Type-A need for structure with the entrepreneurial drive that thrives on chasing opportunities as they arise? I asked myself tough questions, wrote pages of notes, and tried to distill what mattered most to me.

Then I read Give to Grow. When I came across the phrase It’s always your move, and there’s always a way to be helpful, everything clicked. This was it. This was the message I needed to guide me. The thing I needed to remind myself of when my carefully laid plans went sideways or when I started questioning whether the work I was doing was making an impact.

That mantra gave me permission to keep planning—not because the plan would always go perfectly, but because the act of planning helps me see opportunities, even unexpected ones. It reminded me that the effort itself matters, that every move I make has the potential to open doors, even if I don’t see them right away. And it challenged me to show up every day with the question, “How can I help?”

Finding Your Own Mantra

Mantras aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re deeply personal, tied to your goals, your values, and the challenges you’re navigating. That’s why, when I work with leaders on developing their personal mantras, I always start with this question: What keeps coming back to you? What’s that thought, that feeling, that rhythm in the background, guiding you through the noise?

From there, it’s about uncovering the why behind that rhythm. What are you striving for? What values matter most to you? What challenges are you facing, and how do you want to show up for them? These aren’t quick questions, and the answers often take time to surface. But the beauty of a mantra is its simplicity. Once you find it, it becomes the steady beat you can rely on, no matter how chaotic life or business gets.

The Power of a Mantra

A mantra isn’t magic—it won’t solve your problems or guarantee success. But it will give you something to hold onto, a steady rhythm to guide you when the path ahead feels unclear. For me, It’s always your move, and there’s always a way to be helpful is more than just a reminder to act; it’s a challenge to see possibility everywhere and to embrace growth, even when it looks nothing like I’d planned.

As we head into a new year, it’s the perfect time to find your own mantra—a heartbeat that will carry you through the opportunities, challenges, and changes ahead. Think about what keeps showing up for you. What words or ideas resonate with who you are and who you want to become? Let your mantra reflect not just where you are now, but where you’re headed.

What’s Your Mantra?

If you’re ready to find it, we’re here to help.