After taking the time to self reflect and figure out what inspires you, now what? Figuring out what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning is the first step. However, properly implementing these things into your everyday routine is the key to reaching your fullest potential. When trying to achieve your goals, there will always be moments of setback, or even self doubt, but you cannot let that stop you. Setbacks are inevitable, but it is how you approach them that makes the difference. At this point, you know what inspires you, and where you aspire to be in the future, so what is stopping you? The answer may be simpler than you think. It is you.
The saying is true, that you can truly be your worst enemy sometimes. Having a good mindset towards everything you encounter in life is the key to reaching your fullest potential. It is so easy to get caught up in the endless amount of homework, exams, and job applications to complete, but imagine looking at all of this with a different mindset. I’m not saying that this mindset comes naturally to me, but it is something I have tried to practice every day to prevent me from feeling overwhelmed.
Over the past few years, I have gotten into the habit of setting unreasonable expectations on myself with academics. This caused me to burn myself out, neglect my mental health, and caused me to struggle with being content with where I was at that moment. It has been a rollercoaster trying to push away from these habits, but I have found that having inspirational quotes or words of affirmation to look at when I am in a slump helps the most.
Here is a list of things I like to remind myself every day:
Take things day by day.
Remember that you are always moving forward.
You did not come all this way to stop.
When things get overwhelming, break it down.
Never forget your purpose.
Remember that this is just a small snippet of your entire life.
You have so much potential.
I think that when many people can relate to the idea of placing unreasonable expectations on yourself. It is good to have goals for yourself, but it has to be addressed in the right way. When I catch myself putting impractical expectations on myself, I like to remind myself of a quote from Dr. Steve Maraboli, “Expectation feeds frustration. It is an unhealthy attachment to people, things, and outcomes we wish we could control; but don’t.” You hold the key to reaching your fullest potential, but it all starts with your mindset. In the moments of setback, I would recommend looking at positive affirmations like the examples I provided, or even listen to a motivational speaker.