My Top 4 “Life Mottos”

Having a personal brand and values is invaluable. It helps define you as a person, and it shows the world who you want to be. Today, I want to share with you my “life mottos” that are the foundation to my own personal brand. These are the statements that I want people to think of when they hear or think of “Sammy Zellner.”

Knowing what your values are can be especially helpful when looking for a job. Working for a company that aligns with your personal brand and values will help you find the best fit for whatever organization you want to work for.

Defining what your personal brand and values are is also invaluable in job search. Being able to quickly answer the question “Tell me about yourself” with concrete statements will help you stand out from other applicants. It can also help you when tailoring your resume. Write out your personal brand in your objective statement, and then outline your accomplishments and past experiences to support what your personal brand is.

Let’s get into my top 4 life mottos!

1. Don’t make excuses.

I can’t stand making excuses. It’s one of the most annoying things in my opinion!

Everyone is human and makes mistakes. There is no getting around it, and, for that reason, I try not to hold people’s mistakes against them. What I do consider the most important is how someone (including myself) holds themselves accountable for their mistakes.

It can be so easy to make excuses for why things didn’t work out. You were late because traffic was bad. You messed up something at work because you didn’t receive the right training. You didn’t meet a deadline because the work too longer to complete than you thought it would.

Now, I’m not saying those reasons/excuses are invalid. But, it is much more impactful to your audience if you own your mistake and reflect on how to fix it so it won’t happen again. For example, let’s try turning those earlier mistakes and excuses around:

• “Yes, I realize I am late. Traffic was worse than I anticipated; however, I probably should have left earlier to get here on time. Next time, I’m going to make sure I account for the extra commute time now that I know how bad traffic can get.”
• “I made a mistake on the project. I wasn’t fully trained on how to do that part of the project; however, I should have asked for more guidance in the first place. Next time, I will ask more questions and get clarification on how to do it right the 1^st time.”
• “I missed the deadline on the proposal. The work took longer than expected; however, I probably waited too long to start the work in the first place. I now know that I need to start on these things earlier to have enough time to finish them.”

There will always be a reason why a mistake was made. But, rather than just relying on excuse alone, show your audience that you have learned from it and that you don’t intend for it to happen again.

2. If I say I’m going to do something, I will get it done. Follow through on commitments.

Similar to excuses, I can’t stand letting people down. If I say I’m going to do something, I will stop at nothing to get that thing done.

It can be really easy to let things slip, especially when they may not be that important to you. However, you don’t want to be known as someone who doesn’t follow through. Being dependable is one of the top values employers are looking for, so when you say you’re going to do something, do it!

3. Only apologize when something actually warrants an apology.

Over apologizing is something that a lot of us are guilty of! It can be really easy to slip into the habit of saying “I’m sorry” for everything.

For the last couple years, I have made an effort to notice when I want to say “I’m sorry”, and I pause and really consider if that moment warrants an apology. Did I not follow through on a promise I made to a friend or coworker? That situation would probably warrant an apology. Did I take a couple days to respond to an email? That situation most likely doesn’t warrant an apology.

Coming up with something to say other than “I’m sorry” can be really difficult though. I know it was for me! Here is a great YouTube video from one of my favorite creators, Amy Landino, on 7 things to say instead of “I’m sorry”. This helped me so much in my journey to stop over apologizing!

4. Show up when you are expected to show up. Always be present in a situation.

This life motto really ties together my life mottos #1 and #2. When you commit to something, show up on time when you are expected to be there. This is so important to showing others that you are dependable!

I haven’t always been great at being on time. Honestly, up until recently, I’ve really sucked at it. I was known as the “late” one in my friend group (and probably still am!). However, I make so much more of an effort to be on time for things now as compared to what I used to be.

I’m a big fan of reverse engineering my time. I figure out when I am expected to be somewhere, then I work backwards to figure out when I have time get ready, prepare for the event, leave, etc. So, if I know that I have to be at a meeting across town at 6 PM, and it takes 15 min to get there, I’ll probably leave at 5:30 PM to make sure that I have enough time to find parking and walk in and be on time! Knowing that I have to leave at 5:30 PM and that it takes me about an hour to get ready, I’ll probably want to start getting ready sometime between 4 and 4:30 PM. Working backwards like this takes all the guess work out of whether you will show up on time or not.

Being present in a situation is just as important as showing up. This is something I used to struggle with a lot in college. I would show up to class (trying my best to be on time but failing a lot), but I would spend a majority of the lecture on my phone, surfing the web, or working on other unrelated things – sorry past professors! I realized during my junior year – I am paying to be here. What is the point to showing up to class if I’m not even going to pay attention (besides getting the attendance points of course!)?

I didn’t like the message I was sending by not being present in the situation. More importantly, I want to be known as someone who is an active listener and who is fully interested and aware in the situation at hand. Whether you’re in a class, a work meeting, or an organized event, put away your phone, laptop, other work, and any other distractions around you, and be present at the next event you’re at.

These are my top 4 life mottos that I build my personal brand on! Keeping myself rooted in these values has helped me not only live a life I’m proud of, but show others (including potential employers) that I am someone they can count on and someone who would be a great addition to their team.

What is one of your life mottos?