1. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.”

Let’s face it: it’s easy to overanalyze, nitpick, and stress over what other people think. We live in a generation where all it takes is a quick click on any social media platform to make information known to your peers. This, unfortunately, comes with some heavy consequences. Constantly looking for other people’s approval, validation, and ratification will do nothing but make you more insecure, so focus on helping yourself before you consider other people’s opinions.

2. “El sacrificio de hoy es el éxito de mañana.” “Today’s sacrifice is tomorrow’s success.”

As a student of Economics, I like to differentiate between the short-term and the long-term. It’s hard to give up something we want in the short-term for something we want in the long-term, but if we do not make difficult sacrifices, we will be left with nothing to show for our hard work and effort in the long-term. Putting away the cell phone to study or skipping a social event to take care of business demonstrate that you are putting the focus on yourself and on your goals and future ambitions. Plus: if you don’t invest in your own future, who will?

3. “You don’t want to look back and know you could have done better.”

This one motivates me because I loathe the feeling of disappointment. Each day is a new chance to try your best and learn as much as possible. Yes, it is difficult to dedicate yourself and have self-control, but nothing worth having is easy and effortless. Each day has 1,440 minutes. You make the conscious choice on how to spend those minutes every day: do not take that decision lightly.