If someone asked you what you thought of yourself, what would your response be? If thinking about that makes you uncomfortable, I’ll tell you a secret: more people than you think have a negative self-image, so you are not alone. The average person doesn’t like talking about himself or herself.

Can you serve on the Student Activities Committee? Can you help solicit donations for the next fundraiser? Can you attend the annual alumni dinner and give a speech? Can you help me with my lab report? Can you go pick up our t-shirt order? Can you help me finish my paper due tomorrow? Can you help coach the parliamentary procedure team? When someone asks you to do something, do you always answer “Yes?” If so, I am right there with you!

One simple three-letter word can be the cause of all your stress and worries.

It is easy for us to get caught up the busy, fast-paced world surrounding us. “Every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this! And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what is important.” This quote I found on Pinterest explained exactly how I was feeling.

I’m all for independence. After all, Independence Day is definitely a top ten holiday, and “Independent Women” by Destiny’s Child is the perfect throwback jam. Today, we live in a culture that places an incredible amount of emphasis on being independent—but what if our strong-willed perspective is doing us more harm than good?

Last semester, I finally got tired of acting like I had it all together on my own.

To Do Today:

Fly to the moon
Climb Mount Everest
Run a marathon

Zig Ziglar, a famous author, salesman, and motivational speaker once said that, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Everyone should have goals, whether they are big or small, short term or long term, and so on.

The One Thing

Wake up, bleary-eyed and in serious need of a coffee. Stumble into the shower and blast yourself with hot water that only makes you sleepier. Sometime between your drive to work and lunch you begin to feel like a fully operational human.

“You’ve got to be before you can do and do before you can have.” -Zig Ziglar

It was well past three in the morning on a school night. My fingers felt weak as the position of the pencil had left an firm imprint on the side of my knuckle. I had been writing all night and it was about to all come to an end.

Do you ever crawl into bed at the end of the day and wonder where in the world the day went? As college students, we are known to intake excessive amounts of caffeine, take ridiculously long naps, and stay up super late trying to finish that homework assignment we have known about for weeks, but just started an hour ago.

Mr. Zig Ziglar said, “Go as far as you can see, and then you will see farther.”

We have all had those mountaintop experiences that inspire us to do more, be more and have more than we ever thought possible. The view from the top of the mountain is always an incredible one.