Love ’em or hate ’em, inspirational quotes are here to stay. And while these beautifully-phrased tidbits of worldly insight may not have magical powers, there’s certainly no harm in keeping a few personally meaningful messages within eyeshot in your day-to-day. When you’re hitting a low point, the right words of wisdom just might have the power to pull you back into a positive head space and remind you of the principles you want to live by when you’re functioning as your best self. This is a rundown of five inspirational quotes featuring gorgeous hand-lettered wall art from Etsy. Get ready to make your home and office into your personal empowerment haven!
“Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.” -Unknown
You’re clocking in five days a week at a desk job that compensates you well enough to pay rent AND eat food on any given week, but you dream of starting your own reversible hat business. Suddenly, you turn around and a month has passed…then a year…then five years…and yet you’re no closer to accomplishing your dream than you were before.
This is why it’s so important to ask yourself every day if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. Some days, you may only feel up for making a small step, like sending an inquiry email to a manufacturer, whereas other days, you might be in the right head space to order sample swatches or set up your Shopify account. But if you commit to making at least ONE step forward every single day, you’ll probably be impressed by how much total ground you’re able to cover.
Tip: Keep a journal to track your daily progress. It’s a great way to hold yourself accountable, and you’ll be able to look back and find inspiration in the power of doing something kind every day for your future self.
“Great things never came from comfort zones.” –Anonymous
Who doesn’t love to be comfortable? Put me in sweatpants with a memory foam mattress, unlimited delivery food, a fully-equipped TV and a cashmere blanket and I’ll be riding on a serotonin high for weeks without ever leaving my pillowy lair. But like so many of our favorite pleasure-centered indulgences (drinking, drugs, unprotected sex with multiple Bumble dates, sunshine beating down on our skin), comfort, in excess, is bad for our health.
Fact: your comfort zone is an antidote to personal growth. If you’re dreaming of building a business, meeting the love of your life, or evolving into a more confident and successful version of yourself, the worst thing you can do is keep chilling in Comfortville. Your dreams aren’t going to force themselves upon you while you’re skulking behind your cubicle partition at your mediocre 9-5. They’re out there waiting for you to find them, grab ‘em like hell and refuse to let go. So, get your ass up and go get it, girl!
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” -Oprah Winfrey
Fortunately, the truth is that asking for help actually makes us more likeable to our peers and more likely to succeed. According to social psychologist Heidi Grant, author of Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You, we tend to underestimate by about 50 PERCENT how likely people are to help us — and that includes if you’re asking someone for help as a complete stranger. Not only that, but the people we seek out tend to give us better-quality help than we expect. But even when we’re equipped with all of the reasons why we shouldn’t live in fear asking for help, that doesn’t make it easy.
The key is to know how to ask for help (you can find some great pointers in this article if you’re interested) and to believe that you’re worthy of help from others. If the Great and Powerful Oprah says that you get in life what you have the courage to ask for, then you’d better believe that asking is a craft worth perfecting!
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” –Beverly Sills
Want to accomplish great things? In the wise words of Ms. Britney Spears, you better work, bitch. There is no shortcut or magical pain-free formula for success. If your dreams are big enough to be worthwhile, then they’re going to play hard to get.
Your dreams will require you to wake up every single day and choose the more challenging path in the name of the person you want to be in the future. You need to decide to always opt out of the detour (or driving like hell in the other direction) whenever you run into feelings of vulnerability or inadequacy or rejection on the road to success. Stop and pay the tolls, then keep driving forward.
Don’t waste time romanticizing the success of others unless you’re willing to sign up for a long and difficult journey to get to where you want to be is an essential part of reaching the final destination. The good news is that the road to get there will be SO worth it, because you will have never felt more ALIVE.
Even if you never make it to the place you originally plugged into your personal GPS, you will never regret embarking on the journey. When you push yourself to grow, you will always walk away as a smarter and stronger version of yourself.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
Most of us probably have at least one Eeyore in our lives — a loveable-yet-gloomy person who seems to always feel dejected by the universe and destined for disappointment. It’s not easy to change someone else’s worldview (or your own, for that matter), but trying to shift your perspective is a worthwhile endeavor, because many studies have found that optimists tend to be healthier, live longer, and accomplish more than pessimists.
If you’re fixated on the fact that the storm ruined your plans for an afternoon jog, you’ll miss the opportunity to grab a friend, throw on some boots, and dance in the rain. Happy people do not have perfect lives; they have learned how to embrace the unexpected and celebrate life in all of its imperfect beauty.
