keep not settling.

my mother visited me at school a couple of weeks ago, & she said something to me on our lunch date that has been in the back of my head ever since. 

"you settle for the b, when you know you can get the a."

i realized that this statement applies to all areas of my life.

i settle with my grades & accept them, even when i know i can do better. i settle with relationships & accept treatment that i don't deserve. i settle with my job. i settle with my faith. i settle with my body. settle. settle. settle.

this isn't where i want to be.

let's face it, giving your all, 100%, everyday is a damn hard job. it's exhausting. but, when i look to where i want to be in five years, i know i'm not going to get there by being average. you've got to bust your ass in your professional life & your personal life to maintain above a 70% in your life outcomes.

i don't want this to sound like i drag my feet in everything i do. but, i think my problem lies in staying motivated. i get these big gusts of motivation that only stay with me for a couple weeks & then i unfortunately go back to my half-assing ways. 

this got me thinking. how can i keep my gusts of motivation to stay with me for the long run? 

remind yourself of your short term goals & your long term goals. write them out. sing them out. dance them out. just get them out.

keep yourself moving, some hard work is only temporary. 

reward yourself for accomplishing your goals. have your eyes been glued to a pair of shoes? buy them (within reason). 

let your mistakes be your biggest motivators. finding out the correct way to do things gets me that much more excited to get it done right the second time around. 

you can silently shout a big "f-you" to people who tell you you can't do something. if there's one thing you don't need, it's negative energy. 

you will never get what you don't ask for.

i'm letting this serve as my reminder that i don't have to settle in any area of my life. i don't want to be a settler & therefore, i'm not going to be a settler. i have the strength & ability to keep pushing myself until my goals are reached to the high standards i give myself. 

you do too.

xoxo. lauren.