One of the hardest things to do in life is to maintain a positive attitude about yourself and to feel confident in your abilities especially when things are difficult or stressful. As a high school student myself, I witness this happening almost every single day. With midterms and university applications coming up, so many students doubt themselves (including me!) and worry about getting accepted into their dream university or getting the necessary marks required to go there. Even adults don’t believe in themselves and sell themselves short, for example thinking they’re not good enough for that big promotion at work or worrying they will fail miserably if they start a business. You are so quick to jump to the negatives and focus on why you are destined for failure that sometimes you don’t even give yourself a chance for success. If you, reading this, are one of those individuals with negative thoughts, I have a question for you…
One of the hardest things to do in life is to maintain a positive attitude about yourself and to feel confident in your abilities especially when things are difficult or stressful. As a high school student myself, I witness this happening almost every single day. With midterms and university applications coming up, so many students doubt themselves (including me!) and worry about getting accepted into their dream university or getting the necessary marks required to go there. Even adults don’t believe in themselves and sell themselves short, for example thinking they’re not good enough for that big promotion at work or worrying they will fail miserably if they start a business.
You are so quick to jump to the negatives and focus on why you are destined for failure that sometimes you don’t even give yourself a chance for success. If you, reading this, are one of those individuals with negative thoughts, I have a question for you: If you can think of so many reasons why you will fail then what is stopping you to flip the switch and think of positive reasons for success? If you have a dream, why are you, yourself preventing it from coming true?
The key difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people don’t waste their time thinking reasons why they will be unsuccessful. They pick themselves up and look forward only at the positives and if at any point they do encounter any difficulties, they work through those difficulties with an optimistic attitude.
So, to my readers, I advise you to stop dwelling on your past failures and never doubt yourself – you have limitless potential and it all starts with your thoughts.
Here are 44 of my favorite “optimistic quotes” to motivate and inspire you to aim for the stars:
- “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”– Winston Churchill
- “When life gives you lemons, you don’t make lemonade. You use the seeds to plant a whole orchard – an entire franchise! Or you could just stay on the Destiny Bus and drink lemonade someone else has made, from a can.” –Anthon St. Maarten
- “We’ll never survive!”
“Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.”– William Goldman - “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”– Helen Keller
- “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” – Helen Keller
- “An optimist understands that life can be a bumpy road, but at least it is leading somewhere. They learn from mistakes and failures, and are not afraid to fail again.” –Harvey Mackay
- “The basis of optimism is sheer terror.” –Oscar Wilde
- “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” –Benjamin Franklin
- “Optimism refuses to believe that the road ends without options.” –Robert H. Schuller
- “Everything great was accomplished by fools who dreamed.”– Emily Dana
- “Always something new, always something I didn’t expect, and sometimes it isn’t horrible.” – Robert Jordan
- “In the hour of adversity, be not without hope; for crystal, rain falls from black clouds.” – Nizami
- “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde
- “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo
- “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr
- “Life has no remote….get up and change it yourself!” – Mark A. Cooper
- “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” –Martin Luther
- “My optimism for life carried through my work.” – John Dyer
- “As I look forward, I’m very optimistic about the things I see ahead.” – Bill Gates
- “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” – Winston Churchill
- “Everything’s gonna be alright.” – Bob Marley
- “Pessimism never won any battle.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
– Lucille Ball - “What is hope but a feeling of optimism, a thought that says things will improve, it won’t always be bleak [and] there’s a way to rise above the present circumstances.” – Wayne W. Dyer
- “It is the hopeful, buoyant, cheerful attitude of mind that wins. Optimism is a success builder; pessimism an achievement killer.” – Orison Swett Marden
- “Live the Life of Your Dreams: Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others.” – Roy T. Bennett,
- “Do not let the memories of your past limit the potential of your future. There are no limits to what you can achieve on your journey through life, except in your mind.”
– Roy T. Bennett, - “Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” –Helen Keller
- “If the sky falls, there’ll be a bigger sky behind it.” –Marty Rubin
- “The problem isn’t a shortage of opportunities; it’s a lack of perspective.” – Tim Fargo
- “Low self-confidence isn’t a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered–just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better.” – Barrie Davenport
- “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie
- “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many–not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” – Charles Dickens
- “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes to simply be human…At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.” – Meredith Grey
- “If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Mary Kay Ash
- “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
- “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison
- “I think that one of the benefits of optimism and idealism is that they lead you into things you would never have tried if you’d let yourself imagine how hard it was going to turn out to be.” – Roméo Dallaire
- “I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle.” – Dwight Eisenhower
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