#SUCCESS: Tips to Stay Motivated and Accomplish Anything.

I heard this once and I will never forget this phrase “Motivation is fleeting.”

If you think about it, how many times have you wanted to give up? And during those times how hard it is to think of WHY you started in the first place.

I myself, have had so many moments of frustration and hopelessness in America about my dreams, my goals and aspirations. It’s nerve-wrecking to keep calm and positive when I’m waiting for my college decisions. Not to mention, I have a bad habit of comparing myself to others and that makes my motivation go down the drain 🙁 I am a very goal-orientated person and I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish in my life. (If you guys saw my Google Calendar and saw how obsessed I am with color coding everything you’d laugh! 😛 )

But one issue I’ve always encountered while working towards my goal is lack of motivation.

Some days I feel like I’m on top of the world, I feel positive and happy and some days I feel so hopeless, and feel like I’ll never be able to achieve my goals. But life is not perfect and linear as much as want that! Life is zig zag, a spiral, and sometimes when you least expect it good/bad things happen to you. But, don’t let these “uncontrollable” things consume you. When bad things or things that don’t go my way happen to me I cry a lot, I blame other people and I victimize myself. It wasn’t until a few months ago where I just took a step back and decided to take action. When unexpected things happen to me nowadays, I look at it and try my best to deal with the situation I’ve been given. Even if I cry and look like a mess I still work towards a solution. At the end of the day you cannot be mad at yourself, for trying the best that you can.

There is so much you can do right now to control your life, stay motivated, be happy while working towards your goal. You have more power than you think.

My tips to staying motivated:

1.  Plan A and Plan B: My Professor once told me its nice to reach for the stars but you need to be realistic. Have a Plan A but remember Plan B is necessary. Plan C is even better.  You need something to fall back on, incase Plan A does not work out. Always prepare yourself. The best way to keep motivated is when you have a plan. Even when your Plan A doesn’t work out at least you have a Plan B. Remember your emotional well-being is just as important. Don’t put all your eggs in the basket and cross your fingers hoping everything will be as you wish.
2. Make time for yourself: When you’re always busy, running, rushing, working towards your goal, you will never have the time to think for yourself. A very smart person once said health is wealth 🙂  And for me the gym is my therapy! I love lifting because I know during the time at the gym my mind is only focused on my sets/reps and nothing else. And after I leave the gym I feel more refreshed, happy and excited! Didn’t we all learn that exercising releases “endorphins” Yes! And it is true. Endorphins make me happy! So while working towards your goal, take good care of your body. Because no one else will.
3. Good nights rest: Working towards your goal and sleep deprived? NO! Sleep is very important. You need to function properly. I try my best to get in bed every night by 10pm. I get up around 6am in the morning. 8 hours of sleep!
4. Laugh: When was the last time you laughed? I mean seriously! We live in such a chaotic world. Make some time to have fun and laugh 🙂 Keeps you younger! For me when I have time I Youtube “Fat French Bulldogs” and I get a kick out of watching these!! Haha! I can watch these videos all day and I will never be bored.
5. Last but not least, try not to care what others think of you. (trust me, this one is hard for me to do. because I do care about what others think of me and I’m still learning how to not let that get to me day by day) My parents are very successful in Vietnam and I get compared to my mom a lot and sometimes my dad too. I used to let all these comments  get the best out of me. One time someone said to me “You’ll never be as pretty or accomplished like your mother.” I went home feeling really down because I just didn’t get why I was treated like that. When I was in high school I cared so much about what others thought of me. But now, not so much. I love embracing who I am. And truth is I will never be like my mother. I am my own person and I love the person I am today. Being indifferent about what others think of you will come with sometime. I promise. But remember who you are, what you believe in and never ever let anyone make you feel unworthy. 😉

There have been PLENTY of times where I cry myself to sleep because I am worried about my future. Its because I care, but I cry and I let it all out then I get back up the next day. Don’t ever think that you’re alone. College in America is overwhelming. I’m not going to sugar coat it but you can DO IT. And each day it gets easier. But when you first come here don’t expect everything given to you in a nice brochure with step by step guide. You learn to figure things out on your own and its ok.  You get out, you make mistakes and then you learn. Welcome to America!

The weather is so nice today in California. I plan on finishing up some homework, I have a French test on Tuesday so got to revise all those pronoms complement d’objet direct et indirect 🙁 haha! And then go to the gym. Today is leg day.

What are your plans for the weekend?