Careers and lives are too often hectic these days, making it easy to lose touch with who you are and who you want to be. Just as you’d speak positively to someone else to help keep the person on track, talking to yourself is a way to guide and motivate yourself. Positive affirmations and self-talk can be a powerful force in reminding you of the most important things.
Here are 15 phrases you should say to yourself more often to create the kind of life that will help you become the best version of yourself.
1. I Would Rather Be Kind Than Be Right
You don’t always have to be the smartest or sharpest—sometimes the best thing to do is to be kind whenever you can, realizing how much strength and restraint it sometimes takes. When you make kindness a habit, it will be returned to you tenfold.
2. I’m Never Too Busy
The most successful people have time for others; it’s those who have a hard time getting things done who are too busy to spend time with colleagues, friends, and family. Keep your priorities in order and work to become the kind of person who says, “I’m never too busy.”
3. I Will Say What I Mean and Mean What I Say
Make it an absolute policy to give people the information they need rather than expecting them to know the unknowable. Communication is the key to great relationships, and lack of communication is the source of a huge amount of conflict.
4. I Am Tough and Yet I Am Patient
Be tough and be patient, because someday this pain you’re going through is going to be useful; one day your struggle will make sense. Pain is a sign that something needs to change, a wake-up call that guides you toward a better future. So keep your heart open and do what it takes to stay tough and patient.
5. I Am a Student
Prepare for success by keeping your mind conditioned to always be curious, open to questions, wanting to learn. Remember if you stay ready, you don’t have to prepare when opportunity knocks.
6. I Will Stop Being a Fixer
How often do you find yourself wanting to fix things for others, giving constant advice and interference? Then, at the end, you discover that you’ve turned out to be an enabler rather than a helper. People need a listening ear more than advice; they want to know what they’re capable of, not what you can do to fix them.
7. I Will Stop Judging and Criticizing
Everyone is fighting some kind of battle, and frankly you don’t have a clue what most people you encounter every day are going through—just as they have no clue what you are going through. If you don’t want to be judged or critiqued, stop doing it to others.
8. I Will Be Consistent in My Choices and My Daily Actions
Live your life in a way that leaves no room for regret; never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you are meant to do. Continue to make consistent choices and take daily actions and work hard at what you love, no matter what the challenges are.
9. I Accept That My Mistakes Are a Big Part of Being Successful
We all make mistakes, but you don’t have to make your mistakes your fate. Instead, realize that mistakes are part of every successful story. If you learn from them and adapt with them, you can make mistakes a source of learning. What can you do to make your mistakes OK?
10. I Will Stop Making Promises I Cannot Keep
If you say you are going to do something, do it. It’s easy to make promises, but it’s much harder to keep them. If you want people to trust you, under-promise and over-deliver on everything you do.
11. I Know My Experience Is My Best Teacher
Don’t chase the experiences of others or try to memorize their lessons. Learn from others, of course, but remember that this is your life and your circumstances. Learn for yourself from your own experience, determine the best practice, and then do your thing.
12. I Will Allow My Character to Speak for Itself
Make sure you live in such a way that if someone decided to speak badly about you, no one would believe it. Allow your character to speak for itself.
13. I Cannot Control Everything, But I Can Always Control My Response
We cannot control many things, but we can control one thing—how we respond. Instead of trying to change what you cannot control, work on controlling your own attitude and actions. Say to yourself, I am in control of my responses. They can either be good for me or bad for me, but that is my choice.
14. I Will Stop Comparing Myself With Others
No two people are alike, with the same gifts or strengths. At the end of the day, you are competing only against yourself and no one else. The sooner you understand this, the better off you will be.
15. I Will Work on the Relationships That Matter to Me
All successful relationships require work; they don’t just happen. They exist and thrive when all parties put their hearts and minds in it. In human relationships, the distance is not measured in miles but in love. Two people can be right next to each other and ignore each other completely. Resolve to stay in daily touch with the people who are important in your life—not because it’s easy or convenient, but because they’re worth the effort.
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