As a creative and independent business owner,

I’ve only been testing these mantras for 4 months now, so far, they seem to be utterly life changing. I wrote all of these sometime in December 2023, one of those days when you are just sick of yourself, annoyed by your thoughts and actions or more precisely, inaction. Please tell me you know what I’m talking about. 

I’ll try my best to explain the thought behind these briefly and accurately. 

My first mantra, and possibly the most important one, is actually more of a command than a mantra. There’s a severe tone to it when I read it. 

1. “ACTION.” yes, in capital letters. I believe in being nice to myself, but I don’t believe in being “too nice”. Too nice is never genuine or real, too nice is a bad habit enabler, too nice should never be trusted, not in ourselves, not in others. Action means to move, to start, to GO. It means to stand up if you are sitting, strut if you are walking, and to wake up and get your hands to work if you are day dreaming. 
2. “Create in the middle of chaos if you must, order is not necessary.” Creating in a perfectly organized space is an achievable dream, don’t get me wrong. But personally, I’ve wasted so much life waiting to have my space exactly how I’d like it to be. I decided disorder wouldn’t be an excuse for me not to work. The environment doesn’t have to be just right, my attitude does, and that I do have full control and responsibility over.
3. “Be an adult to remain playing the game.” I think it’s funny when people say “I don’t like playing games.” Everything in life is a game, no? Like, let’s face it, what is capitalism if not a very fucked up game? However, into it or not, we must play it to survive or to thrive. This mantra helps me deal with bureaucracy, which is possibly the most dreaded and procrastinated part of being not only a business owner but an adult in general. Things seem to go smoother for me if I treat it as a game. 
4. “Stop thinking, DO.” this is similar to the first one, to be honest I need multiple reminders throughout the day. As a gemini moon, rising virgo, my overthinking can be an excruciating drag. Ever since I was little I’ve been constantly reminding myself not to think, this is probably my oldest mantra . I don’t know if this is something that could work for everyone, but personally, my life gets better as soon as I stop being a thinker and become a maker. Let my hands do my brains work. Easiest way to untangle the brain is through the body. 
5. “Do not settle.” When it comes to creating a garment or print, putting something out that doesn’t fully satisfy you is a waste of time and money. However, waiting for something to be absolutely perfect is a waste of life. Shedding the fear of imperfection while striving to take our work to its highest expression, is the fine line to walk. 

These are not only written on my walls, I also have daily reminders on my phone at very strategic times. There’s usually a time during the day when I tend to overthink , that's when number #4 comes in. There’s a time when I feel most creative (number #1), there’s a time when I usually start feeling lazy (number #3). Targeting each reminder to a specific time according to my natural clock behavior is a solid life hack. 

I have at least 5 more mantras, but the point of sharing these is to hopefully motivate you to write your own. Write them with the intonation you need. Hear them in your head, make sure you want to follow that voice. 

I wrote all of these on a day that I was very angry and frustrated at myself, as hard as I was holding the sharpie, they still feel like little love messages from me to me when I read them every day. Good things come out of unpleasant feelings too if we are smart enough to let them.

Besos 

- Valeria