Taylor Swift's illustrious career has brought her from a small-town teenager to 24-year-old superstar, and it has evolved quite a bit in the process. But one thing she wants to stay constant is her ability to make good career decisions -- even if it means saying she's had enough.

“Hopefully in your life you make graceful decisions, dignified career choices," Swift tells Variety. "There are lots of different directions to go in, and I’m not anywhere close to being out of ideas here."

But instead of being consumed by the thought of staying at the top, Swift is choosing to let her heart be the judge and letting that define the course of her career. She explains, "... As I grow older, I hope I can continue to rely on gut feelings and continue to be self-aware. Self-awareness is usually the first thing to go when people lose touch. So ideally I can keep my wits about me.”

The 'Red' hitmaker is known for her ability to stay out of the tumultuous and oftentimes headline-grabbing missteps that many stars her age have experienced. So, it makes perfect sense that she wants to be known for dignity, not her downfalls. In the end, Swift wants what best for herself, even if it means missing out on applause.

“I have lot of goals, and one of them is to know when to stop,” she says. “I love the sound of applause but I don’t want to become addicted to it in order to feel whole. It’s the creative part of music-making that I could never live without."

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