How to develop a campaign mantra 🤓
(OR, HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING REALLY, REALLY BADLY.)
Shutup, we KNOW it sounds lame, but keep reading.
Why are you running for office?
This is the question you will be asked over and over again during your campaign. Developing a compelling narrative and smart messaging strategy will be a critical component to your victory as well as the thread that ties your entire operation together (no pressure!). But for the time being, put the voters, donors, and journalists aside and focus on an audience of one. That's you.
Yes, you.
Write down why you want to run for office.
This is one of very first things — and one of the most important things — you should do once you decide to run.
Call it an affirmation/mantra/motto/whatever, but the most important thing is that you do it and you're 100% honest during the process. Understanding why you want to run for office — what motivates you, drives you, inspires you — will make it a lot easier to face the hardest days on the campaign trail.
Get specific and get personal.
This is for your eyes only, so there's no need to keep it politically correct. There is no right or wrong answer, only the truth. Maybe you're running because you have dreams of jump-starting a program in your community, or protecting the environment, or making your city safer, or maybe all of the above and also there was that one time in middle school when Becky called you a loser, and hell yeah, you will prove them all wrong.
Remember, this is a judgement-free zone.
Don't be modest.
This is not the time to let your inner critic sneak in and start listing your every perceived flaw. This is not the time to start thinking about how you aren't qualified (by the way, you are). This is the time to give yourself space to unpack your ambition and to acknowledge all the really awesome things about yourself.
To get started, answer some variation of the following:
Why do you want to run for office?
Why this seat in particular?
What are you fighting for/against?
Who are you fighting for/against?
Why are you uniquely suited for this position? [Insert your awesomeness here.]
Do be motivational.
Again, this is for your eyes only, so get cheesy if you need to. What's the nicest thing that someone could say to you on a really bad day? The most inspirational?
Got it? Write it down and put it somewhere safe.
Seriously, write it down. This is what you'll turn back to, over and over again, when things get tough. And yes, things will get tough. A lot.
There will be many, many days on the campaign trail when everything feels like it's going badly, and many days when things do go badly. There will be moments when you honestly-for-the-life-of-you can't remember why you're doing it, and wouldn't it be easier to just quit or maybe fire your entire campaign staff? There will be moments when you question your entire campaign strategy, or maybe even start to *believe* the negative attacks being lobbed at you.
This is when that earlier mantra/affirmation/reminder of your badassness will come in handy. Towards the end of the campaign you may need to read it every day.
