3 Life Mottos I Live By for a Fulfilling and Successful Life

I think everyone has mottos they live by, even if they don't necessarily have it written out into a phrase. For me, I noticed that my ways of thinking lined up pretty well with some mottos that I have heard. Though my way of living came before I discovered the mottos, I find that thinking them to myself brings more awareness to the things I do and leads me to do them with more intention. Having mottos that I tend to live by makes me feel like there is more purpose in the things that I do and helps me forget about some of the struggle that I put myself through to achieve things. Below are some of my life mottos.

You Will Never Know What you can Achieve if you Don't try

There are so many things that I used to think I would never be able to do because I wasn't naturally gifted with it from the start. For example, I never thought I could successfully attend college, work anything other than an entry level job, or socialize without severe anxiety. I decided to go back to college after I had completed my associate's degree and not only did I graduate with a bachelor's degree, but I am around a third of the way done with my master's program! I've worked my way up multiple positions within my job and I am optimistic that I will be able to move up at least a few more. Though I was often asked if I could talk throughout junior high and high school, I now am able to have conversations and function (mostly) like someone with some average social skills (though I will admit I am somewhat socially awkward). All these things were once a brief daydream in my head where I thought to myself "well, that would be nice but oh well." Now, they are my reality. I now truly feel that anything is impossible. And if it's not, I will never know unless I give it a shot.

What you Aren't Changing, You're Choosing

I used to have many bad habits. Watching far too much television, eating excessively because I knew I would stay skinny, lounging around a lot instead of being active. I got to a point where I really wasn't happy with who I was. I felt lazy, unhealthy on the inside, and like I was never accomplishing anything significant. Eventually, I realized that things would never change unless I decided to change them. I knew I could not just exercise one day and feel productive in the long run. Some long term habits needed to be created and some needed to be broken. Now, I've gotten to a place where everyday I do yoga, meditate, and, if I have time, I exercise with my son, A. Before, I was choosing to be lazy and unproductive. Now that I've made many changes, I am choosing to be healthy, happy, and a good mother and example to A. Hopes and wishes of what I wanted to be never got me there. Changing my habits and making the first steps eventually got me there.

The Grass is Green Where you Water it

I've learned that to have something thrive, I need to put my time and effort into it. For example, I used to want to get good grades in school but would never complete the readings all the way through and never spent too much time studying except for a few days before a test. My grades weren't bad but they weren't consistently great either. I matured a bit and have since discovered that if I want to thoroughly understand something, I had to intentionally put in the effort. Now, I spend my free time reading books related to psychology, therapy, and the brain, I pay attention to what I am reading, and I make sure I have a good understanding before I move on. My grades are now consistently A's and A-'s. I feel like I really know what I am learning and am gaining the competence to use the skills I am being taught. Similarly, this applies to everything in my life. If I want to make memories with my family, I need to put time and effort into my family. If I want the house clean, I need to put my time and effort into cleaning. The grass is also not as green where it isn't watered, or not watered enough. For example, if I don't ever make time or put in the effort to take care of my yard, my yard does not thrive.