When I was a young girl, my dad unassumingly gave me one of my life’s mantras … during a grocery shopping trip. We had arrived at the grocery store but we were still in the parking lot, doing laps in my his truck. After maybe the third lap, I was getting annoyed. What is he doing? This is taking so long! Before too long, I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Dad? Why have we passed so many empty parking spots?” My dad answered immediately. “I don’t want any of them. Don’t ever settle.”

Don’t. Ever. Settle.

Don’t. Ever. Settle. Three little words. One big idea. I don’t remember exactly how old I was when my dad planted this idea in my head. I don’t even remember if I replied. But this moment has been replaying in my head ever since then. Now, this isn’t my only mantra. But it’s a big one for me. I know what I want and nothing else will do.

Now, I’m not glorifying this. It can be a little hard to swallow. However, I do think there’s great power in knowing that I hold this belief. The id...