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Advice / Succeeding at Work / Getting Ahead

32 Career Mantras That Will Inspire You at Any Stage of Your Career

Many career experts and industry leaders have written about the benefits of writing aspirations on Post-it notes and keeping inspirational quotes close to your workspace. So you can only imagine the awesomeness that occurs when you combine the two ideas and write motivational career mantras on Post-its—it’s enough to keep you going no matter what your workday throws at you.

We know that it’s hard (and time-consuming) to find the career mantra that perfectly describes where you are at your job or career right now. So to help you out, we compiled 32 mantras you can scribble on a sticky note that’ll keep you motivated no matter what.

Another huge plus: All 32 of these mantras are under 140 characters, so (hint, hint) you can spread the wisdom on Twitter, too!


If You’re Looking for Motivation

Feel like you’ve been staring at your computer screen for hours and now your eyes are glazing over? These quotes will give you that little extra push to finish your day strong.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

Julie Andrews

Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.

Sam Levenson

You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.

George Lucas

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


If You’re Looking to Be a Better Leader

Let’s be real here: Managing people is hard. Really hard. The next time you find yourself dealing with a particularly challenging employee, one of these mantras can remind you what’s important.

Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

Anne Frank

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Edith Wharton

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

Groucho Marx

Good leaders need a positive agenda, not just an agenda of dealing with crisis.

Michael Porter

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Margaret Cousins


If You’re Going Through a Rough Time at Work

You’re bound to hit a rough patch at work sometimes, whether it’s because of a difficult upcoming deadline or a boss who’s making you miserable. These quotes will help you through.

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

Albert Einstein

Either I will find a way, or I will make one.

Phillip Sidney

Do not wait to strike til the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

William Butler Yeats

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

Vince Lombardi

Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.

Walt Whitman


If You’re Dealing With Unpleasant People

Demanding clients, evil bosses, rude co-workers, oh my! Keep your cool no matter what people throw your way.

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

Dale Carnegie

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.

Carl Jung

Do not forget small kindnesses and do not remember small faults.

Chinese Proverb

We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.

Denis Diderot


If You’re Looking for Direction

It’s okay to feel a little aimless every so often over the course of your career. Luckily, it doesn’t take much to get back on track and re-focus.

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.

Milton Berle

Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.

Babe Ruth

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.

Joseph Campbell

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot

The more you do stuff, the better you get at dealing with how you still fail at it a lot of the time.

John Mulaney


If You Just Want Something Uplifting

Looking for an inspiring quote just because? You don’t need a reason to want to feel uplifted and enlightened.

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.

Robin Williams

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.

Thomas Jefferson

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.

Jim Rohn

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.

Thomas A. Edison


Bonus: From Our Readers

I sent a couple of tweets out asking readers of The Daily Muse for their favorite career quotes and mantras, and here’s what they had to say.

You are the entrepreneur of your career, even if you are employed by others.

@ElisaSDavis

Give voice to the voiceless.

@GabrielJR

Don’t be late. Don’t be late. Don’t be late.

@ShanejBernard



What are some of your favorite career mantras? Let me know on Twitter!


Photo of sticky notes courtesy of Shutterstock.