Do you have a personal catchphrase? By John Wood

Do you have a personal catchphrase?

A snappy line that you use to motivate and guide you through life.

Nike’s “Just Do It” is one of the more famous catchphrases of recent years.

Recently I was watching the DVDs of “The Furey Formula for Making a Fortune with Email” where Matthew Furey talked about the one he uses.

Matthew’s catch phrase?

“Figure it Out”

I like it so much; I adopted it as my own. Perhaps you may want to use it too.

It seems pretty simplistic, but it’s really not. For three words, there’s a lot going on. I like it because it does the following:

• It’s encourages you to take action – It’s proactive. It forces you to think out a solution to the problem you face or the obstacle in your way – and then take action.
• It implies there’s a solution – Despite what we may think, very few problems are unsolvable.

So if you have a problem that needs solving …figure it out.

Do you need to mend a broken relationship with a friend or relative?

Figure it out. Maybe an apology is in order …or maybe it’s simply time to let bygones be bygones. But one thing is for sure, if you don’t figure out how to repair your relationship, nothing will change.

Do you need to make more money?

Figure it out. Put together a game plan. Maybe it involves taking a course or going back to school …or starting up something part-time during evenings and on the weekend. Whatever it may be – figure it out.

Do you need to lose weight?

If you could afford to shed a few pounds, figure out how to do it. Find out what works for others …look into the best foods to eat that encourage weight loss …avoid fatty foods …put together an exercise program. In other words, figure it out.

For most of life’s problems there are solutions. But all too often we either choose to ignore them or stress out about them – instead of finding how to conquer them.

So if one of your problems is you don’t have a snappy catch phrase.

Why not “figure it out”?

Of course, you can have more than one snappy catchphrase in your arsenal. As a copywriter, you might also want to pin this Voltaire quote up beside your desk:

“Perfect is the enemy of the good.”

You’ll write more copy if you keep it in mind.

I love catchphrases that remind you that you’re responsible for your own destiny, such as “If it is to be, it is up to me” and “If you can believe it, you can achieve it”.

After last year’s Bootcamp, many of the attendees adopted Joe Vitale’s catchphrase – “Money loves speed.”

And, of course, there’s Michael Masterson’s: Ready, Fire, Aim.

In the song “My Way” Frank Sinatra sings “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention. I did, what I had to do, and saw it through, without exemption.”

Two memorable lines.

They remind me of the catchphrase “I’d rather regret doing something, than regret doing nothing.”

Winston Churchill once said “Never, never, never give up.” Not a bad line to remember when the going gets tough. Because we all know “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

So remember “Who Dares Wins” and always “Aspire to Inspire” – and if you’re not sure how to “Aspire to Inspire …

 …figure it out.

John Wood, AWAI Copywriter
For The Golden Thread

P.S. Do you have a catchphrase? Share it with you fellow members on the AWAI Forum.