Have you ever felt as though your brain were playing negative thoughts on loop, sort of like a tween who’s obsessed with a new song on Spotify? Negative thought patterns can distract you at work, make you feel anxious in stressful situations and just make you feel gloomy overall.
One thing that can help is the process of retraining yourself to think more positively by incorporating positive affirmations and inspirational quotes into your day. You might write them on a Post-It and stick it near your bathroom mirror, copy them into your journal or put them on your phone’s lock screen or computer wallpaper. You can try using affirmations to boost your mood, encourage a healthy habit (such as regular exercise) or start the day with a happy outlook.
It turns out this practice is also backed up by science. A study in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience looked at how positive affirmations affected participants — in this case, the goal was to influence physical activity in sedentary people. In the group who used self-affirmations, researchers noticed increased activity in the brain regions connected with “the anticipation of positive rather than negative future events.” As the study authors wrote, “Affirmations can decrease stress, increase well being, improve academic performance and make people more open to behavior change.”
Ready to get started with some powerful, positive affirmations? Check out these quotes from authors, spiritual teachers, musicians, athletes and other notable individuals.
- 1. The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind. — Maya Angelou
- 2. For there is always light / If only we’re brave enough to see it/ If only we’re brave enough to be it. — Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”
- 3. I am making peace with the fact that my to-do list will never be done. — Nedra Glover Tawwab
- 4. It’s a good day to have a good day. — Author Unknown
- 5. You are the sky—everything else is just the weather. — Pema Chödrön
- 6. Each day is the field of brightness where the invitation of our life unfolds. —John O’Donohue, from Benedictus: A Book of Blessings
- 7. Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.—Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- 8. You are a miracle. You have come to this earth for a brief parenthesis in eternity for a reason. And staying aligned with what feels like your purpose is the key to living a fully functioning life.—Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
- 9. I know that where I am in my life, now, is both temporary and exactly where I need to be to learn what I must learn, so that I can become the person I need to be to create the life I truly want.—Hal Elrod, The Miracle Morning
- 10. If you don’t decide what your priorities are in life, everyone else will decide for you. — Christy Wright
- 11. You are always on your way to a miracle.—SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)
- 12. I can do anything but not everything. — Greg McKeown, Essentialism
- 13. When you feel the need to apologize or explain who you are, it means the voice in your head is telling you the wrong story. Wipe the slate clean. And rewrite it. — Shonda Rhimes, "The Year of Yes"
- 14. Remember that what’s happened to you does not define who you are. — Noa Shaw
- 15. Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows fall behind you. — Maori proverb
- 16. Look out ‘cause here I come / And I’m marching on to the beat I drum / I’m not scared to be seen / I make no apologies, this is me. — Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, “This Is Me” (sung by Keala Settle)
- 17. I believe the choice to be excellent begins with aligning your thoughts and words with the intention to require more from yourself. — Oprah Winfrey
- 18. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. — The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (paraphrased from original prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr)
- 19. Everything happens right on time. — Hoda Kotb
- 20. No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough. — Brene Brown
- 21. Optimism is the fuel driving every fight I’ve been in. — Kamala Harris
- 22. You make your own luck. — Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight"
- 23. When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you. — Ron Shelton, "Tin Cup"
- 24. Each time I give myself a personal / intervention to shift my thoughts / with a positive, clear intention— / sunshine cascades into my world. — Charles Waters, from "Dictionary for a Better World"
- 25. The unexpected paths are often the most beautiful. — Damiaan Denys
- 26. Keep your head up, keep your heart strong. — Ben Howard, “Keep Your Head Up”
- 27. If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies. —Author Unknown
- 28. The question is not what you look at, but what you see. —Henry David Thoreau
- 29. Great things are done not by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. — Vincent van Gogh
- 30. Always do what you are afraid to do. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays & Lectures
- 31. Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can. — Horace, “Odes”
- 32. When nothing is sure, everything is possible.—Margaret Drabble
- 33. Discard everything that does not spark joy. — Marie Kondo, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
- 34. Today I’m free to pick a healthier support system.—Nedra Glover Tawwab
- 35. Showing up as your authentic self gives others permission to do the same. That can change the world. —Shereen Sun
- 36. I am deeply grateful for all that I have, and all that I am.—Louise Hay
- 37. You become what you give your attention to. — Epictetus
- 38. You don’t have to wait for life to change to feel better. Feel better and your life will change. — Patricia Moreno
- 39. All is well. I am open to creative solutions. I release my limiting beliefs. — Gabby Bernstein
- 40. Real growth is not about becoming bigger; badder; more powerful; it’s about becoming softer, more compassionate, and more at ease with truth and vulnerability. — Rebekah Borucki
- 41. Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. — Mary Oliver, “Evidence”
- 42. You don’t have to feel like a waste of space/ You’re original, cannot be replaced / If you only knew what the future holds/ After a hurricane comes a rainbow. — Katy Perry
- 43. Don’t wait for resilience to magically happen when the stars align, just decide that you are. — Maisie Hill
- 44. I am all-knowing. All that I need to know, I already know, and all the guidance I need is within me. — Dr. Carmen Harra
- 45. I will survive / Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive / I’ve got all my life to live / And I’ve got all my love to give and I’ll survive. — Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris (sung by Gloria Gaynor)
- 46. You have two choices in life. You can either like your life, or you can choose not to like your life. I have chosen to like mine. —Barbara Pierce Bush, "Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go A Long Way)"
- 47. In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. — Albert Camus, "Personal Writings"
- 48. Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not. — Cal Newport, Deep Work
- 49. “Hope” is the thing with feathers — / That perches in the soul — / And sings the tune without the words — / And never stops — at all -—Emily Dickenson, “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers”
- 50. “They can say whatever, I’ma do whatever / No pain is forever, yup, you know this /Tougher than a lion, ain’t no need in tryin’ / I live where the sky ends, yup, you know this. — Christopher A. Stewart and others, “Hard” (sung by Rihanna)
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Lexi Dwyer
Lexi Dwyer has been contributing to TODAY since 2015, writing about parenting, food, travel, health and more. She began her career at Epicurious and later worked as both a travel editor and contributing editor at BRIDES magazine, where she took regular honeymoons and reported on food trends, party planning and bridal fashion. Since then she's been an editor and writer for Google, What to Expect, The Bump and People.com, as well as many other print and online publications. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.
