Words can often be better than physical affection because they can inspire us. The mistake that a lot of us make is that we wait for someone to speak these words to us when they are right out there for the taking. There are hundreds of inspirational quotes that you can use in your every day life to help you get through the big and the small challenges. It’s time to empower yourself with the inspirational quotes that can help you overcome hurdles and gain self-confidence.

Inspirational Quotes For Challenging Situations

We all have those times when we are facing a challenge where we just need a bit of inspiration to be our best. Sometimes inspiration comes as a reminder that we can overcome any challenge, and sometimes it comes in the form of a great piece of advice from someone who has walked in our shoes before us.

Inspirational quotes are a great source to turn to when you are facing a challenge because they can give you insight that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. The beauty is that there are plenty of words of wisdom out there, just waiting to be discovered and used as you see fit.

There are many beautiful inspirational quotes for you to benefit from, including those you’ll find below:

• “Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.” -Albert Einstein
• “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” -Epictetus
• “If you would create something, you must be something.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• “To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’.” -Edward Bulwer Lytton
• “Every artist was first an amateur.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

After reading these quotes, do you feel inspired to take action? One of these inspiring quotes may pull at your heart strings or make more sense to you than the others, so use it. When you feel like you need a gentle push to keep working through your challenges and toward your goals, say one of these invigorating quotes to yourself.

Keep meaningful inspirational quotes at your fingertips so that you can reflect on them when you need to.

The above was a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna

On the other hand, when we “do it right” how often to we give ourselves a pat on the back? We are our own worst critics, but the only value in that is the headache we get from constantly whacking ourselves. Other people will tell us “good job,” why can’t we tell ourselves that? Heck, we’ll tell THEM “good job,” but say that to ourselves? It just doesn’t feel right, right?

In the interest of starting down that path of “learning to think in a positive manner” here are ten steps to thinking positively.

1 – Focus on where you want to go, not where you’ve been. We’ve all made mistakes. Now it’s time to think about what we want to do to take the next step forward. Set small, positive goals, think about them, and accomplish them.

2 – Learn to forgive yourself and others. Most of us are wherever we are in life because we put ourselves there. We all make bad choices from time to time, and now it’s time to let that go. It’s called forgiveness and we really can forgive ourselves for bad choices. The next step is to move forward and consistently work to make better choices.

3 – If the glass is half full, then fill it. Optimists are right at least as often as pessimists and have a lot more fun. There’s nothing wrong with taking that half-full glass and filling it the rest of the way.

4 – Look for positive role models. We all need to find someone who inspires us. Maybe that person is someone who overcame a major handicap or maybe it’s just someone who put one foot in front of the other, year after year, and came out very nicely in the end. Or maybe it’s someone who just worked his or her pants off and won the big prize. Let that person be an inspiration.

5 – Change your atmosphere. Instead of listening to the news all the time put on a CD with a good motivational speaker or uplifting music. Most of the news is repeated many times a day and it’s not intended to make us feel good.

6 – Headlines (including news stories) are designed to surprise, shock, and otherwise yank you into a story, Disaster and scandal sell, or so the publishers think. Read something uplifting instead. Visit your bookstore or library and make note of all the motivational type books they have available. Get one that feels right and read it.

7 – Read something positive everyday, preferably when you get up and right before you go to bed. Then think about it, in a positive way. Grab that book you picked up in step 6 and read it for 15 minutes morning and evening for 30 days.

8 – Visualize good things happening. It’s too easy to visualize bad things happening. Bills, what the other person will say, “what if this happens…” and so on. Visualize the good thing happening. Visualize the project going well (whether it’s homework or that next presentation) and people telling you that it was “good stuff!”

9 – Mistakes are something to learn from, not a bat to whack ourselves with. We all make mistakes, it’s how we use them to move on that makes us better. So what if we “blew it” on the last effort, there is always a next time and we can always learn from what happened and do things differently the next time. That’s how we improve.

10 – Dreamboarding is the practice of placing images of “what you want out of life” on a piece of posterboard and placing it where you can see it. As a reminder of where you want to take yourself and what you want to have. Some people have found dreamboarding to be very powerful.

Thinking in a positive manner is as much a habit as is thinking in a negative manner. The reason negative thinking is so easy is because we’ve had so much practice with it. Practice the positive thinking tips to overcome the bad habits and replace them with new ones.

Everyone, from you and me to those awesome Olympic athletes, has a set of habits and these habits either move us forward or hold us back. If we can learn the habits of the successful people, and practice them, then we also will move forward.

Your 10 Steps to go From from Perspiration to Motivation

Does everything feel like a struggle? Why not use some inspiration to create the energy that propels you up and over life’s inevitable speed bumps? Here are ten solid steps to get you inspired.

1. Be grateful: Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, take a look at what you do have . Write a list of the “10 Things I Am Grateful For Today.” Do it now.Take a minute each morning to mentally express your gratitude for at least 5 things, whether it’s the air you breathe, the clothes on your back, or those closest to you.
2. Celebrate and list every success: How would you like to have a boss who only ranted about what you did wrong or what you failed to achieve, never giving you credit for the wins? Take a look in the mirror and make sure you aren’t abusing yourself like a boss from hell. Keep a running list of your successes for the year and post it near your computer or nightstand. Pay yourself on the back everytime you read it. Learn to speak to yourself in a positive, uplifting manner.
3. Learn from your setbacks: Failure happens. Accept failure as something good, as proof that you are taking risks and stretching yourself. However, in addition to accepting the losses, you must go back and, like an unbiased scientist, ask yourself what went wrong. What will you do differently in the future? Mistakes are only truly valuable if you learn from them. Even if your home is a problem – this is just a ride, as Bill Hicks
   used to say.
4. Fill your glass: Forget the debate over whether the glass is half empty or half full! Why not take a pitcher and fill it up? Tackle every situation with the perspective that you can affect the outcome. Acknowledge that you have the power to choose.
5. Look for role models: Who inspires you? Is there someone who walked in your shoes and faced similar battles? Maybe even someone who went on to become a superstar in his or her own life? Identify him or her, but don’t put him or her up on a pedestal. Remember that he or she is a person just like you, who overcame the odds, or struggled through extreme hardship and persevered.
6. Become a visionary: You don’t have to be a guru to have a vision of the future. All it takes is a bit of imagination and the courage to reach for something bigger than your current reality. Give yourself at least 30 minutes of daily visualization to let your thoughts dig into this one. How does this vision of the future relate to your life today?
7. Identify the milestones: Set concrete goals for yourself that can be broken down into measurable pieces or milestones. If you want to lose 20 pounds, each 5-pound increment is the next milestone you should aim for and celebrate. Instead of shooting for a distant peak, it’s much more encouraging to set your sights on the corner at the end of the block.
8. Say it with pictures: Research says that 89% of what we learn is visual, 10% is auditory, and 1% comes through our other senses. Draw, photograph, or assemble a collage that represents your aim in life. Hang it on the wall or download it to your computer desktop as a reminder of what you’re working towards.
9. Play: If you feel like you’re toiling, take a break and interject some fun. Do something ridiculous. If you can’t think of anything, spend an hour or two watching 4-year olds play. Learn to enjoy the journey even more than the destination.
10. Ride the wave of change – don’t run from it: Like death and taxes, change is inevitable. However, resistance to change is common and causes untold amounts of struggle. Become a master evolutionist—respond to change eagerly and rapidly.

We all need a push once in a while. Choose instead to latch onto inspiration as a force that pulls you forward and you’ll discover that success can be effortless.

If you would like to read and learn more: emotional freedom technique courses.

Article syndicated courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna