Push yourself.
The self who comes up short tomorrow, is going to look back in contempt at the self who went down easy today. Only you can choose to believe. Only you can discover your limits. Only you can decide how badly you fucking want it.
Carve your own fucking path.
The best way to exceed expectations is to ignore them. Your work has to be meaningful to you before it can be worthwhile to anyone else. Even failure is a source of pride when it happens on your terms.
Defy fucking convention.
You’ll never be heard if you’re unwilling to stand on your own. If you never exercise your voice, it will atrophy. If you don’t test your will against the dissent of the world, it can never grow stronger.
The sadness and struggle of life are like water for your soul. Let it seep in. It must penetrate where the light can’t reach. Life begins in darkness. You can’t see the mystery at work. Emotions change like weather. Events pass like clouds. You need both rain and sun to grow.
Being a good person doesn’t mean being miserable. Holding on to someone else’s problems is more likely to sink you than it is to buoy them. If your only goal in life is to make other people happy, do you really have a life?
If you believe, but you can’t say why, it’s worth it. If it’s too far, too much, too soon, too big, too new, it’s worth it. If it’s crazy and it makes you afraid, it’s worth it. If it’s demanding, if it requires you to do your best, it’s going to change you, and that’s worth it.