The Diary of Ashley Spencer: Getting It

I've always taken solace in words. As a kid, I read books constantly. The girls in “Sweet Valley High” and “The Babysitter’s Club” were my friends when my whole school decided I was smelly. And “Goosebumps” was always there for me when I needed a good scare to shake me out of a grade slump.

I still read as much as I can. I also motivate myself with my own words. I'm constantly coming up with catchphrases, and for the past year, I’ve been encouraging myself to “Get IT.”

“Get IT” started as something I told my friends in regards to their romantic lives. Should they ask the guy in their philosophy class out for coffee? “Get IT,” I’d urge them. "Get-Get-Get-it!" I’d scream, if they didn’t understand the point.

The usage of “get IT” has now expanded to encompass getting that guy, getting that job, getting yourself to finish your latest story or blog post. Generally, it means getting the things that make you happy.

I got something this week: a job! Tomorrow, I am starting to work as an intern at a PR firm. I am very, very, very excited, and a little nervous.

After months of repeating clichés in my head to make myself feel better, I can say I now believe in the old proverb "good things come to those who wait" (and by wait, I DO NOT mean sit on your booty, eating peanut butter out of a jar with spoon and checking your Facebook until you get a call from someone offering you a fabulous job). Hard work does pay off (another cliché) and you just have to keep reminding yourself to “get IT” when nothing seems to be going right.

When you get something, unfortunately, the work doesn’t stop. You can only sit back and revel for about two minutes before new challenges pop up. Did you get an A on that last test? Now you’ve got a paper to write, girlfriend. Did you get someone cute to go to that concert with you? Now you need an outfit. Did you get your driver’s license? Now you need to learn how to drive for realsies, without the assistance of the ever-present Driver’s Ed teacher who always smells like enchiladas.

One of my friends had the ingenious idea of programming his alarm clock so that every hour, some motivating phrase would come up on his phone. "Get it popping!" his dream phone would tell him (to each his own, right?), or "you’re the cat's meow!” When I start my new job, I want to remind myself constantly of how much I wanted to get it, and of the fact that I have to keep trying. I don't need a cell phone app, but will instead keep it old-school and tell myself to “get it” each and every morning. And before I start, I’ll tell myself to “get it” in reference to any cute piece of clothing I can wear as a professional, because I deserve to get that too.

What do you want to “get” this year in your life? What do you tell yourself as motivation?

Related post: The Diary of Ashley Spencer: Don't Leave Me, Khrista