Build the Evidence

My summer break has been a rush of traveling and work with a little bit of rest thrown into the mix. The rest that comes with taking time off of school is lovely but I also tend to generate some anxiety as I think about the stress of getting back into the swing of paper writing, endless reading assignments, and studying. I do not handle the transition from 0 to 4 classes very well. It is easy for me to begin to worry, to let myself fret over the first paper... or five. 

This tendency to worry got me thinking, I wondered how I could combat against fearing the future and I think it lies in gathering the evidence from my life and my lived experiences. I have survived through the last two semesters at grad school (because of hard work and a lot of time spent studying, also friends, and food, and coffee). So if I think back to that first semester, and the fact that I had to use the evidence from the fact that I was accepted into the program as the reason why I could handle the load, I can now look ahead to my fall semester and remember the ridiculous number of papers written and hours logged studying and know that I have a shot at achieving my goals again. 

If you are thinking about a goal and you are struggling with motivation or even with feeling worthy for it, gather the evidence and remind yourself of what you have done. Build motivational fodder for your fire through remembering the experiences you have already had. Baby steps can get us toward our goals and I think there is power in remembering where you have come from. If you cannot think of something to motivate you to read that book or take a new yoga class, remember when you have read something in the past or remember when you have done something out of the box before. If you did it then, you can probably do it now. 

Happy Monday! Keep moving.