Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I moved back to Ann Arbor.

Actually, I’m subleasing from a friend while I look for something more long term (so if you know of any housing arrangements available in Ann Arbor, let me know)

Anyways, this apartment is lovely. They have a community turtle that lives in a tank and they take care of. This turtle reminds me of a personality test I recently took due to my girlfriend’s little sister persisting. My results told me that I was a turtle.

My reaction to the test was about the same as my reaction to seeing the turtle in this apartment. Why? *including frustrated undertones.

Here was my thought process: A turtle. Ugh. A tortoise. The classic tortoise and the hare story. “Slow and steady”. Wait. Maybe being a turtle is not so bad.

This is how I came up with the theme of this newsletter. Not slow and steady, but the idea of mantras.

Mantras are all around us.

They hype us up - “just do it!”

They calm us down - “peace be with you.”

Mantras anchor us to a feeling, emotion, or idea.

I was working with a client who struggled with boundaries. They were never taught healthy boundaries and they were too easily manipulated by others. They said yes too easily and they struggled to say no. I shared a website with 70 positive affirmations for healthy boundaries with them. Out of the 70, their favorite was “it’s okay to say no.”

This person repeated their mantra on a daily basis and over time they reported feeling more confident saying no. They used this mantra to anchor themselves to reality, to the truth.

Mantras anchor us in the waves of lies we hear from others and from ourselves.

It’s 2025. Here’s what I can do for you. I can ask you this question:

What is your mantra?

If you don’t have one, let me share one of my favorites.

I am loved. I am beautiful. I am worthy. I am enough.

Yes, I know my audience is mostly men. This is a mantra men need to hear. You are not excluded from this mantra because you are a man.

Repeat this daily and report back how it made you feel.

Here’s what you can do for me. Get this message in the hands of the person who needs to hear this.

Come back next week and I will tell you what my mantra is.

Ethan