Gordon Ramsay - and the power of a good slogan

For years after becoming a mum and struggling with energy levels, I used the Nike slogan “Just do it!” to motivate myself in the face of a seemingly impossible task (like clearing the toys away!).

This past summer, I started watching old Gordon Ramsay episodes from the UK and US series of Kitchen Nightmares. I didn’t enjoy watching Gordon when I was younger - I found him aggressive and crass. But with older eyes and the joy of YouTube comments, I realised something very important about Gordon: he is extremely passionate and proud about his profession and maintaining the best of standards. I found it inspiring that he finds such meaning and value within his work.

It made me reflect back on my power slogan of the past decade - “Just do it!”. It’s motivating, for sure, and helped get the job at hand done - but it wasn’t particularly kind to myself, didn’t engender pride in the “doing well”, or acknowledge the worth in the job itself.

I realised I needed a new slogan. I wanted something that still motivated me, but also recognised the worth of the job that was to be done, and to be done well with pride. I wanted something that spoke about this in a personal way to myself, so that rather than almost bullying myself into doing a job with my previous slogan, I could take my time and pride in a job that ultimately served in making my life better in some way large or small.

So what do you think about my new slogan that I’ve borrowed from L’oreal? -

“Because I’m worth it!”