How can you create a motto in life that will help you the road to success?

A personal motto in life sums up your beliefs, values and aspirations, so whatever you choose is basically a statement about what drives you to make the choices you make in life. To an extent your attitude and even hidden desires will be represented in whatever motto you choose for yourself.

The first step to choosing a motto that really resonates with you is to be honest with yourself and get really clear within your own mind about your core values and what you want in life. This is not an exercise you want to rush because it relates to the heart of whatever personal motto you choose for yourself. Ultimately what you want to end up with is a few keywords that will become the anchor for creating your motto.

There are a number of ways to stimulate your imagination and begin to identify or create your personal success motto …

Inspirational Quotes: Quotations are a wonderful resource for finding inspiration. There are very few experiences in life that are completely unique...the perspective of someone who has gone though a similar situation and learned some lessons can simply be invaluable to us, both to lift the spirit and to give us a reason to press on.

• Either you run the day, or the day runs you. ~Jim Rohn
• Other people’s opinions of you does not have to become your reality. ~Les Brown
• The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. ~Arthur C. Clarke
• If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been. ~Robert H. Schuller

Listen to Music: When you find a song that really speaks to you, there's a good chance that it contains a phrase you can choose as your personal motto. One of my personal favorite mottos for particularly challenging goals is the title from Tim McGraw's song "How Bad Do You Want It." 

Seek Advice From Heroes: Sometimes the people you look up to most, especially those who have already achieved success in your field, are the ones who coin phrases that sum up your views and can become a personal motto in life.

Here are a few examples of popular success mottos:

• Success is more attitude than aptitude
• Success comes in cans; failure comes in cants.
• Past failures are guideposts for future success.
• Success is not a destination, it's a journey.
• If it is to be, it’s up to me.

Once you define your personal motto you’ll want to keep it visible and read it occasionally throughout the day. Also, keep in mind that as you grow and achieve more goals in life it’s entirely possible that at some point you’ll find yourself not thinking about your motto anymore, and that’s a sure sign it no longer provides the motivation that it once did, so you may want to rethink it and create a new motto in life that will inspire you for the next part of your life journey.

Understanding how to motivate yourself is an invaluable trait and will help you view life’s inevitable obstacles and challenges as opportunities for growth rather than roadblocks to achieving your dreams.