The Psychology of Having a Mantra

Unathi Matlala

Have you ever heard of "New Year's Resolutions"? I don't think the concept of initiating supposedly life changing goals is anything foreign in modern times. The start of a new calendar has always embedded the idea of renewal in society for ages, but have you ever wondered why most people have already given up on their resolutions by the time the February air hits?

Aside from over-ambition, social comparison and societal pressure, there's plenty of factors that influence your psyche when it comes to sticking by a word. A "word" does not have to be a literal word that is composed of a handful of letters, it can be a mantra — a phrase that holds psychological meaning.

Everybody's different, not everyone is going to resonate with next person's personal mantra. And that's what I'm here for today, the psychology behind a mantra.

My classmates and I held a conference discussion on these personal mantras that some of them live by, but the fascinating part was that not everyone was consistently following their mantras. There's nothing wrong with that, it's human, but it does bring me up to my next point.

Motivation versus habit. In the same class discussion, a learner believed that motivation is an inferior aspect when it comes to appliance of having a mantra. This is where I'm going to refer back to the New Year's resolutions. Motivation is inconsistent due to the fact that it fluctuates all the time based on emotions, hormones and energy levels. It's easy to skip leg day when "I'm not feeling like it". Motivation is too inconsistent to be a reliable aspect.

Habits have a different story to tell, they keep you in line whether you like it or not. Repetition is the body's best friend, especially your mind's. Habits create these neural pathways that attach your mantra to results, eventually it's second nature. The same way you brush your teeth every morning after waking up, but only after blasting blue-light into your brain for a few hours. Those things are habits and in the same way, a mantra isn't just motivation but a reminder to act. Although, that's not to say you're not allowed to use motivation to build a habit. Teach yourself how to fish and don't rely on a fisherman.

There's also the personal alignment when regarding a mantra. Your beliefs matter, mantras are often affirmations of identity. It's not about who you are, that's not your identity, it's about who you want to become. The destination only matters in the post credits, the journey is tenfolds more valuable. There will be ups and downs. But living by a mantra, in my fully honest opinion, makes the highs sure worth living for.