20 Inspirational Quotes to Help You Become Your Best Self

Looking for the top most inspirational quotes to help inspire you to be your best self?

Reading inspirational quotes can be super helpful on your journey to be your best self.

As someone who spent a lot of their childhood reading and writing, beautifully written words have always meant a lot to me.

I’ve kept and maintained a list of my favourite inspirational quotes since high school, which I revisit and reread every so often when I need that extra creative boost or positive inspiration.

I even had a John Green quote tattooed on myself after I fell in love with Looking for Alaska, my favourite book of all-time.

I thought I’d do a little post on some of my favourite inspirational quotes to help you be your best self!

Hopefully these quotes can help inspire you to become the best you can be – they definitely help me feel better when I’m in need of some motivation!

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1. “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” -Roald Dahl

Let’s start off with one of my all-time favourite quotes by my favourite childhood author, Roald Dahl.

It’s really not easy to have positive thoughts all of the time.

In fact, it’s nearly impossible, because we all have bad days and bad thoughts from time to time.

Instead of being jealous of someone else for their success, be inspired by them and try to make your own success in your own way.

Instead of letting a small mishap ruin your whole day, move on and try to make the rest of your day better.

It’s not about looking good to other people – it’s about radiating with positive energy, which rolls onto other parts of your life.

I personally believe in the law of attraction, where positive energy attracts positive energy and negative energy attracts negative energy.

I’m not a spiritual person at all, but I have found this mindset to be true for myself!

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2. “A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is instead of what you think it should be, and then making the best of it.” -Anonymous

Expectations can sometimes make us disappointed if things don’t turn out how we wanted them to.

You can’t control every single situation, so try to just make the best with what you’ve got!

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3. “Things get better. You will go from standing in the shower thinking ‘god what if this is for the rest of my life’ to ‘god, I hope this is for the rest of my life.’” -Anonymous

Life is always changing, and things will always get better if you put the effort in to make things better.

I don’t remember much of my traumatic high school experience, but I know I was very sad and very miserable.

I truly could not have imagined that my life would turn out the way it has.

My life isn’t perfect, but I have an absolutely wonderful life filled with people who love me for me, and that’s all I can really ask for.

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4. “Sometimes, you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were.” -Anonymous

I personally believe that people need to experience bumps in the road in order to grow and change for the better.

Because I was bullied in high school, I poured my heart and soul into my studies, and I ended up getting into my dream program at my dream university (Toronto Metropolitan University’s Media Production program).

I had some awful internship and work experiences while I was in school, and I now run my own business doing a lot of the same stuff I was doing for other people.

Resilience is key, my friend!

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5. “Someday you will look back and know exactly why it had to happen.” -Anonymous

I had quite a few heartbreaks in my youth, and I was devastated by each one of them.

I learned a lot from each of these relationships, and them not working out led me to meet my forever partner.

To move on from being cheated on in a past relationship, I downloaded Tinder, which is how I met Adam 7 years ago!

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6. “Be strong enough to let go and wise enough to wait for what you deserve.” -Anonymous

I know a lot of people are afraid of change, but would you rather be stuck in a situation you can’t stand?

Know your self-worth and don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself, because you deserve the best.

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7. “If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse.” -Anonymous

Ya gotta werk if you really want something in life, and making excuses only hurts you if you truly do want it.

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8. “You’re never going to be 100% ready and it’s never going to be just the right time, but that’s the point. It means that every moment is also the right moment. If you want it, you just have to do it.” -Anonymous

We’re all just figuring it out here, my dudes!

Being in your twenties is pretty weird because you kind of still feel like a teenager, yet you’re thrown into adult situations.

I’ve realized over the years that it’s best to just jump right into anything I want to do or learn – there isn’t really a “right time” for anything.

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9. “If you’re happy with what you’re doing and it’s working for you, please don’t allow anyone else to tell you your path is wrong.” -Anonymous

Stop caring what other people think, yo.

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10. “Two things prevent us from happiness; living in the past and observing others.” -Anonymous

Relentlessly thinking about the past and how “good” it might have been will just make you feel sad, and so will comparing yourself to other people in your life.

Try to think of now and the immediate future, and stop worrying about other people and what they’re doing.

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11. “If they respect you, respect them. If they disrespect you, still respect them. Do not allow the actions of others to decrease your good manners, because you represent yourself, not others.” -Mohammad Zeyara

This one is hard, because it’s not easy to be respectful to someone if they’re being a jerk to you.

How other people act is a reflection of them and how you act is a reflection of you, so you should always try to be the best person you can be.

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12. “Self-love is a good thing but self-awareness is more important. You need to once in a while go ‘uh, I’m kind of an asshole.’” -Louis C.K.

Self-awareness is such an important thing, and it can truly help you learn and grow as a person.

It also helps if you have people around you who care enough to try to help you grow as a person!

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13. “Life is too short to sit around and wait for indifferent people to make up their minds about how they feel about you.” -Mike Falzone

That’s just it: your life could end tomorrow, and you don’t want to spend your days worrying about what other people think about you.

The only opinions that matter are your own and the opinions of the people who actually love and care about you.

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14. “Know this: you can start over, each morning.” -Tyler Joseph

We all have bad days, and we can’t all be perfect.

Even if you make a mistake or do something wrong, you can always start over.

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15. “One day I just woke up and realized that I can’t touch yesterday. So why the heck was I letting it touch me?” -Steve Maraboli

Worrying about the past and “what ifs” can be toxic – try to think of now and the future!

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16. “I am learning everyday to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.” -Tracee Ellis Ross

It’s hard not to be intimidated by your goals, but making and taking actionable steps can make such a huge difference.

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17. “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” Douglas Adams

Life will always take ya in weird directions that you’d never intended.

You might not be in a situation now that you expected, but it’s the situation you’re in, and you can make the best of it!

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18. “Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself – what you’re wearing, who you’re around, what you’re doing. Recreate and repeat.” -Warsan Shire

I’m not sure if Warsan Shire is referring to taking photos, but I think it’s a fantastic idea to take photos of things that make you happy.

Did your makeup really well today? Snap a pic!

Watching a beautiful sunset that you don’t want to forget? Snap a pic!

I always love looking back on my memories, especially when Apple does those album slideshow things on your phone.

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19. “I remember when I was younger and I wanted to be beautiful; now I’m older and I want to be intelligent. I want to burn hearts with brilliance and engulf souls with compassion. I want to be loved for my thoughts and nothing else.” -Anonymous

I was so insecure when I was younger and I just wanted to be prettier.

I think being in a loving long-term relationship has certainly helped with my self-esteem, but I want everyone to feel as secure and happy with themselves as I do.

My skills and talent are what I want to be known for, and even though I like to look nice, I’m not obsessing over how other people might perceive me.

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20. “Scare the world: be exactly who you say you are and tell the truth.” -Iain Cain Thomas

Don’t be afraid to be who you are.

I remember caring so much about what other people thought when I was younger, and now I couldn’t give a heck.

One of the best things I realized when transitioning from high school to university was that you could choose who you spent time with, versus being with people around you out of convenience.

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All of these quotes are very dear to my heart, and I hope they inspire or motivate you in some way.

I also have a Pinterest board dedicated to inspirational quotes if you’re interested in reading more!

Do you have any favourite inspirational quotes that keep you motivated? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram!

Be sure to keep up with me on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest if you aren’t already!

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