Motivation Monday: 20x Taylor Swift's most inspiring lyrics

Where should I start? Taylor Swift: I can't imagine a time when I wasn't a fan of hers. That's not so strange, really, because it all started around my twelfth year. While I was unsuspectingly searching for new music on Youtube in the computer room (yes, you did that back then because there was no Spotify), I stumbled upon the song ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift. I clicked on the song and still remember how magical I found the music video: a fairy-tale setting where Taylor sang a song about Romeo and Juliet. Okay, her songs aren't that cheesy anymore, but at that moment, in that phase of my life, that was exactly what I wanted to see. No one around me had heard of her yet, so I immediately introduced Taylor's song to all my friends. Everyone became a fan right away, of course. From that moment on, I listened to that specific song all day long. I even went so far as to have a line from the lyrics in my MSN name: ‘It’s a love story, baby just say yes.’ Yes, I know, super cheesy, but for a twelve-year-old, these are really very inspiring lyrics.

But well, nowadays I am an even bigger fan of Taylor Swift than ever before. This is partly due to watching the documentary (Miss Americana), where I saw such a genuine and cool side of her. Wow, what a woman. Where she used to be forced by her management to sing in a certain direction as a little girl, she is now fully trying to carve her own path. She even went so far as to recently re-record all her albums to gain full rights over them. Then she called on all her fans to only download ’Taylor's version.’ Now that's pretty boss, right? Okay, back to that documentary. During the studio sessions that were captured on film, you really see how talented she is. The ease with which her ideas come up and how she writes her own songs about current (and sometimes quite daring) topics is truly brilliant. For example, she wrote a song about politics, urging young people to vote. She even provoked Trump, who tweeted about her album. Everyone around her had warned her beforehand and said she shouldn't do this because she would lose fans, but that only made Taylor want to do it even more. So I saw a very different side of her, and I was surprised by her intelligence and humor. If you haven't seen this documentary yet, please go watch it because Taylor will steal your heart.

Despite all the heaps of criticism she regularly receives, she doesn't let it get to her. So we can learn a lot from her. That's why I'm sharing the most inspiring quotes from our Tay to get you through this week. And not just through this week, these are life lessons we can swear by.

1. Just be yourself, there is no one better.

2. I love making new friends and I respect people for a lot of different reasons.

3. Never believe anyone who tells you that you don’t deserve what you want.

4. You are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know you.

5. There are two ways you can go with pain: you can let it destroy you or you can use it as fuel to drive you.

6. Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes you’re just strong enough to let go.

7. In life, you learn lessons. And sometimes you learn them the hard way. Sometimes you learn them too late.

8. So don’t you worry your pretty little mind, because people throw rocks at things that shine.

9. I think fearless is having fears but jumping anyway.

10. We don’t need to share the same opinions as others, but we need to be respectful.

11. Anytime someone tells me that I can’t do something, I want to do it more.

12. Your feelings are so important to write down, to capture and to remember because today you’re heartbroken, but tomorrow you’ll be in love again.

13. The cool thing about reading is that when you read a short story or you read something that takes your mind and expands where your thoughts can go, that’s powerful.

14. My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.

15. I never give advice unless someone asks me for it. One thing I’ve learned, and possibly the only advice I have to give, is to not be that person giving out unsolicited advice based on your own personal experience.

16. I never want to change so much that people can’t recognize me.

17. I have this really high priority on happiness and finding something to be happy about.

18. As soon as I accomplish one goal, I replace it with another one. I try not to get too far ahead of myself. I just say to myself: all right, well, I’d like to headline a tour and when I get there, we’ll see what my next goal is.

19. No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Be good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.

20. Life is like walking, you take one step at a time.