MONDivation: Going Places

I think daydreaming is one of the most underrated past times.  I could sit and imagine myself in different future situations for hours.  On the cover of Vogue, with my own talk show making people laugh, helping others achieve their dreams, being surrounded by tons of 300 lb dogs, having a massive closet just for my size 11 shoes, drinking champagne all day and not being hungover... I could go on.  And because I'm a HUGE believer in visualizing the things we want to achieve and places we hope to someday be, I think it is absolutely a wonderful use of one's time.

I absolutely love this quote and I think anybody can relate to it.  He or She, and whatever place you are at in your life.  Having the knowledge that we can always be improving upon ourselves and working to better our situation gives us the freedom to dream up anything we could possibly want... and go for it!

I feel like this a lot.  I feel like there are big things coming for me.  Huge positive changes.  New and Inspiring people.  Bigger and Better goals to achieve.  And I have no idea how I will get there or when they will occur... but by God... they are coming!   And I think as long as I believe that (which I truly do)... then what will be, will be.

Have a wonderful week!

MONDivation: Dreams Work When We Do

I probably have a collection of at least 30 quotes and images that say some version of the same thing.  To sum them all up, we must take action towards what we want if we truly expect for our dreams to come true.  Goals must be achieved or they won't mean much to you at all.  We must work for what we want rather than sitting around and waiting for that lucky day to come upon us.  If we don't move forward, we're always in the same place. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it is true.  Every single version of this statement, no matter how it is phrased, talks about putting our goals into action.  Making the necessary moves or taking the crucial steps that will draw us one step closer to the goals we set for ourselves.

I have, of course, been guilty of sitting around and waiting for things to happen, but as I get older and learn from my experiences, I learn each day that we can't wait for anything or anyone to call us up, offer us our dreams, or sweep us off our feet... without putting in some form of legwork in the meantime.  I've quickly learned that if I want something to happen, then I need to take the necessary steps in the direction of that dream.  Oftentimes, the universe finds a way of helping us out along the path and drawing the right people to us.  From what I know so far, as long as we take a few tiny steps each day, we can really only be moving forward!

MONDivation: Do Your Best

I tend to be really hard on myself when it comes to my expectations for just how much I can get done.  The last few weeks have been hectic and I needed a little down time for myself.  Some time to online shop, browse pinterest for hours, turn on the TV for the first time in months, and just relax with friends.  I did it at the expense of some of my usual responsibilities, and when I realized I hadn't produced blog posts, answered emails, and cleaned my room in days, I began to beat myself up a little bit.

And with all this newfound time to think, I realized that as long as I do my best, then that is good enough.  I can't expect myself to work 18 hours a day, every day.  I can't expect to release original content that I am passionate about day after day without getting burnt out now and then.  I can't be mad at myself if everything doesn't get done right, right now.  I do my best with the time and energy I have... And that is enough.

Have a wonderful week!  Do what you can do and when you're done be pleased with what you did get accomplished rather than what you did not.

MONDivation (For your Tuesday): Right Where You Are

I hope everybody had an awesome, fun-filled, extravagant, Labor Day weekend!  I spent Friday in Los Angeles then headed down to Newport Beach, CA, where my parents live and where I grew up, to attend a friend's birthday party and the Pacific Music Festival.  I saw a ton of old friends and met some lovely new ones.

It is very important to always push yourself to be better, but doing so makes it easy to criticize ourselves when things don't seem to go exactly as planned.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and it can be hard to remember that things often fall apart so that other things can fall together.  Try not to worry too much about the little details in life and recognize that you are exactly where you are meant to be at this moment.

Have a great week!

MONDivation

One of my friends, Dustin Farivar, was in town for a day this week and as usual I learned more from him in a few hours then I usually do in weeks.  He has taught me so much regarding social media, branding, and building relationships, and is no doubt somebody to pay close attention to.  I wake up daily to an inspirational "morning quote" in my email box and usually a few articles that are relevant to my goals and interests.  One of the many things we discussed during this most recent visit was the idea of setting goals for ourselves and knowing where we want to end up, even if we have no idea how we will get there.  I truly believe that if we want something badly enough, and we put it out into the universe, that we will both subconsciously and consciously do whatever it takes to move closer to that goal.  Dustin compared it to a GPS system.  We have to know where we specifically want to end up but we don't have to know exactly how to get there.  There are many different routes we can take, some longer than others, but they all will eventually get us there if we know where it is we would like to be.

I've been very fortunate in life but there have certainly been many times where the odds were far from being in my favor and I somehow beat them anyways.  Just because something hasn't been done before, doesn't mean it can't be done.  In my opinion, it actually makes it more appealing to achieve.

I have wonderful parents who taught me that I could be anything I wanted in life and I credit them for the amount of drive and passion I have today in whatever it is I am doing.  No matter how many people are telling you that you can't do something, always remember that if you want something badly enough, your opportunities are endless.  The only person that needs to believe in your success is you!

I hope everybody had a great weekend and that you spend this week beating the odds!

MONDivation

My girl Eleanor R. is speaking my language. Something I am not short of in life is goals for myself.  Unfortunately it's hard to tell if I really believe I can achieve them.

I'm quickly realizing as the years pass and I watch my "Life Goals" list change and develop, that it's ok to set goals without knowing how the hell we're going to accomplish them.  Actually, come to think of it, it's even better than limiting ourselves to the realm of what seems possible.  I officially started my list on October 19th, 2009, and though it now has hundreds of future achievements, I wanted to share some (not all) of the very first things that came to my mind almost three years ago.

I want to focus on #3.  I wrote this goal in 2009 and I didn't begin modeling until early 2011.  I put this goal on my list with no idea how that was going to happen or if it was even possible.  All I knew was that it was a lifelong dream of mine and it didn't hurt to put it out into the universe.  Just two and a half years later, I now live that dream every day.  And better yet, that dream allows me the time and means to work towards many of my others.  I love how I can see the hesitation and doubtfulness as I crossed off the word "super", then achieved the goal of being a model, and then added the word "super" back again when I realized I was selling myself short.  At some point it was something I thought I couldn't do.  And if my dear friend Mrs. Roosevelt is correct... which, let's face it, she's pretty legit... then I guess it is something I must do.

As for the rest of those goals, and the hundreds more that are on my list today, I'm realizing more and more that a lot of the things I thought I couldn't do are proudly being highlighted.

I definitely have a lot to learn in life but I have never been more certain about a statement as I am with this one.  Start setting unrealistic goals for yourself.  And start achieving them!

Who's with me?

MONDivation

When I was thinking about what I wanted to use for this Monday's Motivation, I originally skimmed right over this quote without even reading it.  This image used to be the screensaver on my computer and it has come to be so familiar to me that I forgot the message entirely.  I'm glad I reread it though as it couldn't be more relevant for me right now.

I am constantly trying to improve myself in all aspects of my life.  I'm a bit stubborn in that I tend to set goals for myself and cannot stop until I achieve them.  I am really happy with the place I am currently at, but I know I am destined to do much more and I've begun taking the appropriate steps to get there.

I think it is incredibly important that we never stop improving or wanting to become better versions of ourselves, and this often means stepping out of our comfort zones.  Success takes hard work, passion, and drive.  If we're not willing to exercise these, then we'll remain exactly where we started.  And thats just... well, boring.

Take a step towards something you've been wanting to achieve today.  The only way to fail is if you don't try.

Happy Monday!