60 positive affirmations and mantras to boost your mood
Our inner dialogue, whether positive or negative, has a huge effect on our mood. Words have power, and the way you talk to yourself is as important as the company you keep and the food you eat.
Studies have shown that treating yourself with compassion and understanding is crucial to your overall wellbeing, and positive affirmations are a great way to improve your mindset in minutes.
Positive affirmations are proven to reduce your stress, enhance your problem-solving capabilities (even in difficult circumstances), and boost your confidence.
As Willie Nelson said, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”
There are hundreds of ways to improve your mood with the power of words, from simple phrases like "I believe in myself" or "I am enough," to more specific affirmations like "I am stronger than my fears" and "My life overflows with abundance."
Once you’ve found some positive affirmations that work for you, try repeating them every evening before bed, or writing them on sticky notes on your mirror to boost your confidence in the morning.
You may find that you feel more motivated and energized as you go about your daily tasks, or calmer during stressful situations.
If you’re looking for some extra inspiration, take a cue from famous figures like Maya Angelou, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg with these powerfully positive affirmations that will boost your mood and your mindset.
Positive affirmations
“The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” — Maya Angelou
“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”
“I am making peace with the fact that my to-do list will never be done.” — Nedra Glover Tawwab
“You are the sky — everything else is just the weather.” — Pema Chödrön
“Each day is the field of brightness where the invitation of our life unfolds.” — John O’Donohue, from Benedictus: A Book of Blessings
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” — Willie Nelson
“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
“If you don’t decide what your priorities are in life, everyone else will decide for you.” — Christy Wright
“You are always on your way to a miracle.” — Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (SARK)
“I can do anything but not everything.” — Greg McKeown
“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
“Remember that what’s happened to you does not define who you are.” — Noa Shaw
“Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” — Maori proverb
“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.” — “This Is Me” from "The Greatest Showman"
“I believe the choice to be excellent begins with aligning your thoughts and words with the intention to require more from yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey
“God 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.” — Reinhold Niebuhr
“Everything happens right on time.” — Hoda Kotb
“No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.” — Brené Brown
“Optimism is the fuel driving every fight I’ve been in.” — Kamala Harris
“You make your own luck.” — Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight"
“When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.” — Ron Shelton, "Tin Cup"
“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"
“The unexpected paths are often the most beautiful.” — Damiaan Denys
“Keep your head up, keep your heart strong.” — Ben Howard
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” —Henry David Thoreau
“Great things are done not by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can.” — Horace, “Odes”
“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” — Margaret Drabble
“Discard everything that does not spark joy.” — Marie Kondo
“Today I’m free to pick a healthier support system.” — Nedra Glover Tawwab
“Showing up as your authentic self gives others permission to do the same. That can change the world.” — Shereen Sun
“I am deeply grateful for all that I have, and all that I am.” — Louise Hay
“You become what you give your attention to.” — Epictetus
“You don’t have to wait for life to change to feel better. Feel better and your life will change.” — Patricia Moreno
“All is well. I am open to creative solutions. I release my limiting beliefs.” — Gabby Bernstein
“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
“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” — Mary Oliver, “Evidence”
“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, "Firework"
“Don’t wait for resilience to magically happen when the stars align, just decide that you are.” — Maisie Hill
“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
“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.” — Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive"
“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
“In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus
“Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” — Cal Newport
“Hope is the thing with feathers — / That perches in the soul — / And sings the tune without the words — / And never stops — at all.” — Emily Dickinson, “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers”
“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.” — Rihanna, “Hard”
“None but ourselves can free our minds.” — Bob Marley
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” — Robert Byrne
“Think thoughts that make you feel good, make choices that make you feel good, and take actions that make you feel good.” — Cheryl Richardson
“I knew that was really the only purpose of life: to be our self, live our truth, and be the love that we are.” — Anita Moorjani
“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.” — Deepak Chopra
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“One must be something to do something.” -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” — Maya Angelou
“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
“Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.” — Misty Copeland
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A. A. Milne
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
