In the first week of the semester I think we were all feeling a little unmotivated—and maybe some of us still are—given the current situation, but somehow, we have officially made it to week five! In an attempt to stay inspired and find my motivation again, I started keeping a list of quotes I came across whether on Instagram, through my professors or things people have said to me along the way that have stuck with me.
Now that the semester is in full swing and “zoomiversity” is kicking most, if not all, of our asses, I thought it was the perfect time to share some of these quotes to give you a little boost with midterms right around the corner.
1. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do all the things the unsuccessful people don’t want to do.
If I’m being honest, I have no idea where I saw this quote, but I do remember it was the first week of the semester when I saw this and it got me to get up and get sh*t done. It’s a simple quote and it sounds obvious, but it made me realize that if I expect to reach the level of success I want to, I need to get out of this six-month-long corona funk and get my life together.
2. Listen to your inner voice because it will never allow you to perform your work badly.
So I also don’t quite remember where I found this quote (short term memory loss maybe?) but I I know I’m guilty of rushing through things or taking the easy way out when I know I could do better. This was a reminder that we all have that inner voice that keeps telling us to push ourselves and I think it’s time we start listening to it a little more often.
3. Get up, dress up, and show up.
Now, this may not seem applicable right now due to the pandemic currently taking place, however, it can still apply to virtual career fairs or joining clubs. No matter how exhausted—or maybe a little hungover—you are, you’re doing yourself a favor by going to networking events or showing up to class. I know we can all come up with a million excuses to sit in bed and watch The Vampire Diaries all day, but the Salvatore brothers will still be there for you when you get home.
4. Stop selling yourself short.
In the spring semester of freshman year my WRA professor told me to stop selling myself short and it’s stuck with me ever since. She explained to me how it was obvious I was doing the bare minimum because I didn’t set aside enough time, but I had great potential if I gave myself the time. This forced me to hold myself accountable for the minimal effort I had been putting in and ever since then, I’ve been producing great work.
While I do love to procrastinate, allowing myself more time to put forth my best effort has helped me grow as a student and as a person. In my opinion, we tend to sell ourselves short way too much. We don’t think we’re good enough for a position so we don’t go for it, or we fear others judgement so we don’t follow our dreams, or whatever it may be. The moral of this quote is to believe in your work, trust yourself and find your confidence and the results will follow.
5. Be proud of who you are.
Last but not least, be proud of who you are. Be proud of what you’ve been through and that you’re still here; be proud of all that you’ve accomplished despite the immense challenges 2020 has brought us. In these crazy times, take a minute to reminisce and remind yourself that you went through this and came out of it alive and that is something to be proud of.
I hope these quotes were a reminder to keep putting forth your best efforts because hard work will pay off in the end—even if it doesn’t feel like it right now. While the world is crazy right now, sit back, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you will get through this.