Or are you tired or bored today and need a jolt of motivation?

Then this post will help you out. In it you’ll find 110 of the most positive, inspirational and timeless uplifting quotes.

Powerful sayings that can help you through an unmotivated day, a longer rough patch in life or simply make you see things from another perspective and turn your day around.

Uplifting Quotes to Inspire You Right Now

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
– Langston Hughes

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
– George Eliot

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible.'”
– Audrey Hepburn

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
– Walt Disney

“You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own ability, to be a little more ambitious? I think the world would change.”
– Reese Witherspoon

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.”
– Frances Hodgson Burnett

“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”
– Norton Juster

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
– Anne Frank

“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”
– André Gide

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
– Paulo Coelho

“All serious daring starts from within.”
– Eudora Welty

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
– Steve Jobs

“Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.”
– Roald Dahl

“I believe that if you’ll just stand up and go, life will open up for you. Something just motivates you to keep moving.”
– Tina Turner

“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
– Malala Yousafzai

“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.”
– Deepak Chopra

“No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.”
– Billie Jean King

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”
– Christopher Reeve

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
– Dolly Parton

Uplifting Quotes to Motivate You

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
– Stephen King

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
– Alexander Graham Bell

“If something stands between you and your success, move it.”
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
– Bruce Lee

“I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.”
– Beyoncé

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
– Walt Disney

“When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.”
– Carol Burnett

“People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.”
– Harvey Mackay

“Walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.”
– Kahlil Gibran

“Lay plans for something big by starting with it when small.”
– Lao Tzu

“Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.”
– Mia Hamm

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
– Michael Jordan

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
– Babe Ruth

“All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them.”
– Viola Davis

“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.”
– Charles Kettering

“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.”
– Nolan Bushnell

“There are two types of people: The ones who give you 50 reasons it can’t be done, and the ones who just do it.”
– Hoda Kotb

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
– Tony Robbins

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
– Thomas A. Edison

“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
– Dolly Parton

Short Uplifting Quotes for a Jolt of Energy

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
– Oscar Wilde

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”
– Dory (from the movie Finding Nemo)

“Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”
– Tina Fey

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
– Dalai Lama

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela

“I dwell in possibility.”
– Emily Dickinson

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow.”
– Mary Tyler Moore

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
– William James

“You are your best thing.”
– Toni Morrison

“Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”
– Maya Angelou

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“Don’t dream it. Be it.”
– From the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show

“Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.”
– Salvador Dali

“Live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.”
– Stephen Covey

“You are enough just as you are.”
– Meghan Markle

“Shine like the whole universe is yours.”
– Rumi

“The best is yet to be.”
– Robert Browning

“Do anything, but let it produce joy.”
– Walt Whitman

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”
– John C. Maxwell

“Positivity is a superpower.”
– Ryan Brewlow

“Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”
– Maggie Kuhn

Uplifting Quotes for Positive and Happy Vibes

“If you see someone without a smile, give ’em yours!”
– Dolly Parton

“Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.”
– Jim Rohn

“Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.”
– Mary Lou Retton

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
– Elbert Hubbard

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
– Marcus Aurelius

“I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.”
– Simon and Garfunkel

“The most wasted of days is one without laughter.”
– E.E. Cummings

“Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.”
– Rumi

“Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.”
– Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Where there is love, there is life.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
– Amanda Gorman

“You do not find the happy life. You make it.”
– Camilla Eyring Kimball

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”
– Virginia Woolf

“Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink.”
– Lilly Pulitzer

“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”
– Mark Twain

“Each day comes bearing its gifts. Untie the ribbon.”
– Ann Ruth Schabacker

“No exact recipe for today. Gather all available ingredients and whip yourself up something delicious.”
– Lin-Manuel Miranda

“That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.”
– Simone de Beauvoir

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
– Mae West

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
– Marilyn Monroe

“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”
– Richard Wagner

“Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.”
– Horace

Uplifting Quotes to Help You Stay Positive Through Tough Times

“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.”
– Louisa May Alcott

“There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.”
– Walt Whitman

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.”
– Nelson Mandela

“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
– Brené Brown

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

“You can’t make a cloudy day a sunny day, but you can embrace it and decide it’s going to be a good day after all.”
– Jane Lynch

“A dead end is just a good place to turn around.”
– Naomi Judd

“There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.”
– Hannah Gadsby

“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: We have the power to imagine better.”
– J.K. Rowling

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
– Zora Neale Hurston

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”
– Bryan Stevenson

“That is one good thing about this world – there are always sure to be more springs.”
– L.M. Montgomery

“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
– Michelle Obama

“Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
– Lucille Ball

“One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
– Sigmund Freud

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
– Joseph Campbell

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
– Rabindranath Tagore

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
– Dale Carnegie

“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

“The road to success is always under construction.”
– Lily Tomlin

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than the things I haven’t done.”
– Lucille Ball

Want more motivation and positive energy? Then have a look at these motivational quotes for success, the positive quotes about life here and also this one with work quotes of the day.

It’s not always easy to stay positive at work.

Sometimes because it’s Monday and you’re tired and would like another weekend right now.

At other times because it’s Wednesday and you are doing some boring routine work or you are being dragged down by negative attitudes around you.

So in today’s post I’d like to share my top 22 tips that help me to have and maintain a positive attitude while I work (and that often helps me in my private life too when things get tough).

I hope these tips will help you to be a positive person in your workplace and also spread the positive vibes to the people around you to make it a more enjoyable and successful experience.

1. Get your day started the right way.

Your morning routine and how you start the day tends to set the tone for that day.

A stressed and hurried morning with negative news as you eat breakfast can set a negative tone for that whole day.

A slow and unstressed start to your day with uplifting conversations over the breakfast table or a positive podcast in your ears as you ride the bus can on the other hand set a positive tone for the rest of your day.

So find a routine that lifts you and your spirits up to have a more optimistic and constructive day at work. One where you also feel strong to be able handle negative or challenging situations.

2. Protect your positive mindset from negative people.

No matter if you’ve started your day in a positive way, that can quickly be derailed by negative energy flowing in as you get to work.

Here’s how you can protect your mind and yourself from that:

Focus on minimizing.

You may never be able to fully remove negative energy and people from influencing you at work. So focus on making small changes to step by step improve your every experience.

Spend less time with negative people.

And more of your time and energy with the positive people. Actually sit down and think about this and make a list of the 3 most negative people and one of the 3 most positive people.

This list will bring you clarity and help you find simple ways in your everyday life to shift how you spend your time.

Take 1 minute for gratitude.

Ask yourself:

What are 3 things or people at work that I can be grateful for today and why?

Write down the answers on for example your smartphone (I use the free Simplenote app).

Practice gratitude in this simple way each day – or at least a couple of times a week – to keep your focus on what is positive in your workplace and to stay more resistant to negative thoughts or words from others.

3. Refill your mind with positive energy.

An easy way to further refuel your positive attitude – besides spending more time with the positive people – is to spend time with people and sources further away that uplift you.

You could for example listen to a positive podcast or music on your way to and from work. And read a positive book or blog post on your break or if you have some slow waiting time during the day.

Positive attitudes are contagious, so use that to your advantage as best you can to add more positivity to your day.

4. Plan for your day.

This will keep the stress down, help you be more relaxed and focused and so it’ll be easier to keep that positive attitude throughout your day.

Set realistic goals for the day and week. Because unrealistic expectations that you simply can’t match at the end of the day or work week will only make you feel bad and perform worse.

• Use a limited to-do list. Prioritize your tasks for the day so that you start with the most important one and work your way down. Keep this list small to reduce stress and because things tend to take more time than we budget for.
• Do the most important task first thing in the day. This is often the hardest task of the day too. But if you get it done then you’ll feel good about yourself, you’ll feel relieved and the rest of the day will feel lighter.
• Take regular breaks during your day. Otherwise you’ll perform and feel worse in the afternoon or at the end of the workweek. I usually work for 45 minutes and then have a 5-10 minute break.

5. One thing at a time.

This simple sentence can help you to keep your focus – and your sanity – if things are hectic and stressful.

Plus, you’ll do a better – and surprisingly often a quicker – job if you only focus fully on one task or step at a time.

6. Let your environment help you keep your positive outlook.

Shape your physical workspace and, for example, your phone and computer to create an encouraging and supportive space.

You could do that by adding:

• Inspiring quotes or tips on a note in your workspace.
• A small plant to have some relaxing greenery.
• A picture of loved ones and one of your private goals such as a dream destination you want to travel to.

The last idea is a good way to remind yourself of your purpose for doing this job during tough times. It’s always good to keep your most important whys close by to easily refocus and refuel motivation.

If you can’t keep them in the workspace for some reason then keep them on your phone or in a notebook in your work bag.

7. Help your co-workers and make them feel appreciated.

Build an upward spiral at work with kindness and a helping, grateful and positive attitude.

For example:

• Help out with a practical task. Like fixing a setting for a computer program or carrying an extra bag to a meeting.
• Express your gratitude. If something about a co-workers popped up in the your head during the one minute gratitude exercise in tip #2 then express that to this person. It may not seem much to you but it can make their morning or whole week if they are having a rough one.
• Do a small act of kindness. Such as fetching a cup of coffee or a banana for them too.

These things make the days go by faster, make them more enjoyable and fun and improve morale and the positive attitude at work.

Plus, such kindness and help tend to flow back to you too in the long run and from most people.

8. Know how to make boring work more enjoyable (or acceptable).

No matter what job you have, you usually have to do some boring tasks.

But there are ways to make them more enjoyable. Or at least more acceptable.

You can:

• Focus on how good it will feel when the task is done. Instead of focusing so much on how it’s boring.
• Make a deal with yourself. Set a timer for just 10 minutes and then get going with the task. When the bell chimes you take a break or get to work on something more interesting. Do tasks like these in smaller bursts to get through them relatively quickly. That’s a lot better than procrastinating on them for hours or days.
• Create a pleasurable distraction. Listen to the radio, to a podcast or some music. This and making a small deal with myself are usually my combo to get boring tasks done.

9. Let your lunch time be a slow and relaxing break.

If you can, let this natural midpoint to your day be a time of relaxing.

So, eat slowly. To make that easier, put the fork down between bites. Savor each bite.

Eating your lunch in a slower way like this can help you release quite a bit of stress. That’s at least been my experience. And I know that my afternoons tend to go better if I go about things this way rather than if I wolf down my lunch quickly.

10. Don’t get caught up in the complaining trap.

Author Anne Lamott once wrote:

“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”

I think the same goes for complaining.

Yes, venting can certainly be helpful. But do it for a bit. Don’t overdo it and don’t make it into a routine every day or many times a week.

Because it will hurt you more than the people or things you complain about. Plus, people may start avoiding you because now they want to protect their minds – as described in tip #2 – from your bad attitude and that one person that just won’t stop complaining.

11. Be kind to yourself when you make a mistake (or have a setback).

It’s tempting and for many of us a habit to beat ourselves up when we make a mistake or have a setback.

But I’ve found that a better path forward is to be kind to yourself and to be constructive. You can do that by asking yourself questions like:

• What is one thing I can learn from this setback?
• How would my friend/parent support me and help me in this situation? Then you do things and you talk to yourself like he or she would.

12. Understand that other people’s negativity is often not about you.

Some criticism is certainly helpful to improve and do a better job. Some heated venting can absolutely help you or your co-workers let go of stress and frustration.

But if a co-worker or boss makes it a habit of being negative about the job all the time or critical of you then it is often more about them than you. It’s them lashing out because they are having trouble at home, because they don’t like their job anymore or because they’re having a bad week or year.

To lessen the sting of that, try to be understanding. Put it on them, not on who you are or what you did. And, if you like, spend less time with that person and more with the positive people at work.

13. Use mindfulness to make your day lighter.

I find that going about my work in a mindful way helps a lot to keep negative thoughts to a minimum and to more easily focus on what I need to get done.

To work mindfully simply means to me that I am fully in the present moment and focused on what I’m doing right now. I don’t think about the past. I don’t think about what I have to do tomorrow.

A few tips that help me be more mindful are:

• Slow down. When I go a bit slower it becomes easier to think and focus again. I feel less scattered.
• Do one thing at a time. Multitasking tends to make me unfocused.
• Take a 2 minute mindfulness break in the afternoon. I like to clear my mind and reduce stress that may have built up by taking a small break in the afternoon. During these 2 minutes I sit or lie down. I close my eyes. And then I focus on taking deep breaths with my belly. And focus only on the air going in and out and nothing else.

14. Know quick ways to destress and center yourself again.

If the stress is ramping up during the day then it’s very helpful to already know what helps you the best to quickly reduce that before you get dragged down into a negative funk.

A few of my favorites are:

• The 2 minute mindfulness break. As described in the previous tip.
• Remembering to actually take my hourly breaks. Otherwise they won’t help.
• Having a laughter break. Taking 3-5 minutes to watch something funny on Youtube or listening to a funny podcast.

15. Look at challenges as a way to learn and grow.

I find that I feel a lot better and more confident when I face the inevitable challenges at work with a growth mindset. The mindset that is all about keeping on learning and keeping on growing to find new knowledge, motivation and purpose in the work.

Rather than from the perspective that I don’t want anything to change and just stay in my comfort zone.

This is of course sometimes easier said than done.

But breaking down a challenge into small or tiny steps and then just doing and focusing on one step at a time can make it a lot easier and doesn’t mean that you have to go too far outside of your comfort zone if you’re not up for it today or this week.

16. Celebrate both big and small successes.

Don’t just celebrate big successes and achievements. Refuel your motivation and be a more positive person more consistently by celebrating those small successes too.

If you’ve for example finished the first step of a challenge or a new project then celebrate that with a tasty snack or your favorite lunch.

17. Let a small waterfall of positive moments and achievements rain down on you.

If you’re having an uninspired or tough day then take 2 minutes to think back.

Vividly remember some of your top moments and achievements at work. Maybe when you saved a client that had a big problem and that time when you faced a challenge with a co-worker. Or when you won a sales competition or got glowing words of praise and an extra bonus.

You can also expand this exercise into your personal life and remember how you’ve improved in your favorite sport or hobby or recall a few of the most positive moments you’ve had with your family or friends.

This will lift your spirits and get you into a more optimistic headspace once again.

18. Keep a minimalistic and organized workspace.

I find that if I keep a minimalistic and organized workspace then it becomes easier to think clearly, to focus and I get less stressed or lost in overthinking things.

Because what’s happening on the outside tends to affect what’s going on the inside.

So my workspace contains a big monitor and a small computer on an adjustable standing desk. I use a comfy chair and usually have a glass of water and a small pad of paper and a pen for my daily to-do list.

That’s it.

19. Do your best.

I’ve recently started reading this quote by writer Don Miguel Ruiz every morning after breakfast:

Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

This sets the right tone and aim for my day. And I find that working according to this piece of advice helps me to feel good at the end of the day.

20. Know what you can control, and focus on that.

Don’t spend too much energy on challenges that may be beyond you such as some parts of how your company work, the attitude of your most negative co-worker or that you have to do some boring routine work during each week.

Instead, use your limited energy, willpower and attention as best you can to improve upon the things you can control.

And if none of the tips in this article and none of the ones you or your loved ones can come up with help out where you work because the company culture is too stressful, the work environment is too toxic or because you’re sick and tired of the daily grind then maybe it’s time to make a change.

Time to take a look at what you can control in this situation and start looking for a new job where you are likely to have a better and more positive experience.

21. Have things to look forward to.

It’s a lot easier to stay positive at work if you have plenty of things to look forward to in your life.

Maybe it’s a date next week, a trip during the summer or going fishing with friends in a couple of weeks.

And if you don’t have much going on in your calendar right now, then plan for one or two things to feel more excited again.

22. Have things outside of work that recharge you and make you happy.

To be able to consistently stay positive in life and during your work hours you need things outside of your work that recharge you and make you feel joy.

You need that work and life balance.

So don’t neglect your favorite hobby or sport. Don’t work too much so you don’t have enough time and energy for an evening with friends or the weekend with your family.

Make time and have energy to spare for these most important things in life and you’ll find that it’s easier to be positive about your work too.

Not just for her great songs like Jolene, Islands in the Stream and Here You Come again.

But just as much for her often talked about kindness, positive spirit and her Imagination Library that mails free books to 3 million children each month to help them fall in love with books and to learn reading.

So today’s post is a small tribute to Dolly and a collection of her best quotes.

Inspirational Dolly Parton Quotes

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

“I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.”

“I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give ’em yours!”

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

“If you’re feeling low, don’t despair. The sun has a sinking spell every night, but it comes back up every morning.”

“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

“I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence.”

“When someone shows you their true colors, believe them.”

“When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they’re not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can ’cause I know I’m gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can?”

“The magic is inside you, there ain’t no crystal ball.”

“I never had a doubt I would make it, because refusing to think I couldn’t make it is the reason I could.”

“Dream more, learn more, care more, and be more.”

“It’s so important to instill in children to have faith and to know there are great things out there. Greatness is out there, greatness you can tap into. But it has to start from in your heart.”

“I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love.”

“I was born with a happy heart. I’m always looking for things to be better.”

Funny Dolly Parton Quotes

“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.”

“You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!”

“I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.”

“I am a self-made woman, and I have the doctor bills to prove it.”

“My weaknesses have always been food and men – in that order.”

“I was the first woman to burn my bra – it took the fire department four days to put it out.”

“People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”

“After Momma gave birth to twelve of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.”

“Every single diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes and gravy of some sort.”

“I have pretty good skin considering my age, and I think a lot of it is mineral oil and bacon grease.”

“I have little feet because nothing grows in the shade.”

“Me and God have a great relationship, but we’re both seeing other people.”

“I do wear wigs. I sometimes make the joke about me standing on a hilltop with my hair blowing in the wind – and me too proud to run after it.”

“Anyone who says you can’t take it with you has never seen me pack.”

“I like all that frilly stuff. Like I’ve always said, it’s a good thing I was a girl, or I’d definitely have been a drag queen! Most definitely.”

“People say, ‘How you stay looking so young?’ I say, well, good lighting, good doctors, and good makeup.”

“Now people are always asking me, ‘What do you want people to say about you 100 years from now?’ I always say I want them to say, ‘Dang, don’t she still look good for her age.'”
“A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond.”

“I’ve had heartaches, headaches, toothaches, earaches, and I’ve had a few pains in the ass, but I’ve survived to tell about it.”

Famous Dolly Parton Quotes on Success and Life

“Being a star just means that you just find your own special place, and that you shine where you are.”

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”

“I’ve always tried to never step on anybody to get where I am. I’ve had to walk around a few people, jump over a few of ’em now and then, but I think you’re a true success when you’ve seen your dreams come true and you can take pride in how you did it, and take pride in and respect and appreciate the people that helped you get there.”

“I always knew I was somebody. I dreamed big dreams and I got out early.”

“We need to believe in something bigger than ourselves, otherwise we just become egomaniacs. If you don’t have something to look forward to and lean on, it’s a hard fall when things happen.”

“Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.”

“You know, I look like a woman, but I think like a man. And in this world of business, that has helped me a lot. Because by the time they think that I don’t know what’s goin’ on, I then got the money, and am gone.”

“I never tried quitting, and I never quit trying.”

“I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.”

“I know who I am, I know what I can and can’t do. I know what I will and won’t do. I know what I’m capable of and I don’t agree to do things that I don’t think I can pull off.”

“You gotta keep trying to find your niche and trying to fit into whatever slot that’s left for you or to make one of your own.”

“I’m not happy all the time, and I wouldn’t want to be because that would make me a shallow person. But I do try to find the good in everybody.”

“Tell me I have to be somewhere, and I’ll be there 20 minutes early and stay there longer than anybody else. You hold up a lot of people if you’re not on time.”

“We just gotta do our best day-to-day, be the best person we can, do the best work we can, and just keep on dreamin’.”

“I refuse to settle for something less than great. And if it takes a lifetime, then that’s how long I’ll wait.”

“I always had something inside me that believed I had something important to do. I didn’t know exactly what that was.”

Short Quotes by Dolly Parton

“Wildflowers don’t care where they grow.”

“Smile – it increases your face value.”

“A peacock that rests on his feathers is just another turkey.”

“It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.”

“I’m the little engine that did.”

“A great smile is a wonderful asset, but a good heart is pure gold.”

“If I can hold God’s attention, I can hold the world’s.”

“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”

“Don’t judge me by the cover, ’cause I’m a real good book.”

“Is forever longer than always?”

“I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable.”

“I never let a rhinestone go unturned!”

“Nothing’s ever easy. If it is, it ain’t worth it.”

“I’m just a simple country girl.”

“I don’t know what the big deal is about old age. Old people who shine from the inside look 10 to 20 years younger.”

“A positive attitude and a sense of humor go together like biscuits and gravy.”

“When I sit back in my rocking chair someday, I want to be able to say I’ve done it all.”

Want more inspiration? Then have a look at Anaïs Nin’s Top 5 Words of Wisdom and also Eleanor Roosevelt’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Making Life a Wonderful Adventure.

The ones that are easy to remember and to use in daily life to make it better and happier.

So today I want to share 110 of the most meaningful and powerful short quotes that hit hard.

Timeless and thought-provoking sayings on love, happiness, motivation and life.

Short Quotes That Hit Hard and Will Make You Think

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
– Carl Jung

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
– Abraham Maslow

“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
– Bertrand Russell

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
– Søren Kierkegaard

“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth, because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

“We are all living in cages with the door wide open.”
– George Lucas

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
– Socrates

“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”
– Voltaire

“He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.”
– Lao Tzu

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
– Aristotle

“Whenever people agree with me, I always feel I must be wrong.”
– Oscar Wilde

“We can see through others only when we can see through ourselves.”
– Bruce Lee

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”
– Bertrand Russell

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
– Mark Twain

“Comfort can easily become a very charming and polite thief of joy.”
– Sarah Kelly

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
– Lao Tzu

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
– William Shakespeare

“Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments.”
– Neil Strauss

“The problem is not to find the answer; it’s to face the answer.”
– Terence McKenna

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”
– Voltaire

“There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”
– Thomas Sowell

“Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears in the roots.”
– Rumi

“All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.”
– Alexandre Dumas

Short Quotes That Hit Hard and Will Motivate You

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
– Stephen King

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is right now.”
– Chinese Proverb

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
– Neale Donald Walsch

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
– Henry Ford

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”
– Maya Angelou

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
– Winston Churchill

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
– Jack Canfield

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
– Arthur Ashe

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.”
– William Butler Yeats

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
– Thomas Edison

“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
– John Wooden

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Mark Twain

“Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
– Susan Jeffers

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
– Earl Nightingale

“The universe rewards the decisive.”
– Karen Salmansohn

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
– Wayne Gretzky

“Be miserable, or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.”
– Wayne Dyer

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.”
– Jim Rohn

“No pressure, no diamonds.”
– Thomas Carlyle

“Dream big. Start small.”
– Simon Sinek

“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
– Steve Jobs

“A year from now, you may wish you had started today.”
– Karen Lamb

Short Quotes That Hit Hard About Love

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
– Rumi

“If you would be loved, love, and be loveable.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“Don’t brood. Get on with living and loving. You don’t have forever.”
– Leo Buscaglia

“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”
– Oscar Wilde

“Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”
– James Baldwin

“Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us.”
– Paulo Coelho

“You know who you love, but you can’t know who loves you.”
– Nigerian Proverb

“Where there is love, there is life.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“Love is a friendship set to music.”
– Joseph Campbell

“Immature love says, ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says, ‘I need you because I love you.'”
– Erich Fromm

“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”
– Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Love is what you’ve been through with somebody.”
– James Thurber

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
– David Viscott

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.”
– Kahlil Gibran

“I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.”
– Roy Croft

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.”
– Henry Miller

“You can’t put arms around a memory.”
– Guns N’ Roses

“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.”
– Charles Bukowski

“Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.”
– Victor Hugo

“The best proof of love is trust.”
– Joyce Brothers

Short Quotes That Hit Hard About Life (and the Meaning of It All)

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”
– John A. Shedd

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
– Anaïs Nin

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.”
– Oscar Wilde

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.”
– Rocky Balboa

“The trouble is, you think you have time.”
– Buddha

“One day you will die. All of this will end. All there is to do is play.”
– James Pierce

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
– Robert Frost

“Many people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
– Søren Kierkegaard

“Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn. My God, do you learn.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to.'”
– Lao Tzu

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.”
– Margaret Mitchell

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
– Ernest Hemingway

“Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
– Steve Jobs

“Life is a flash of lightning in the dark of night. It is a brief time of tremendous potential.”
– B. Alan Wallace

“Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”
– Edgar Allan Poe

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
– Dr. Seuss

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
– Kahlil Gibran

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”
– Charles R. Swindoll

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
– Helen Keller

Short Quotes That Hit Hard About Happiness

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
– Andy Rooney

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.”
– Leo Buscaglia

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
– Helen Keller

“Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.”
– Jim Rohn

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
– Haruki Murakami

“Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable than risk being happy.”
– Dr. Robert Anthony

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
– Seneca

“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”
– Albert Schweitzer

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
– Maya Angelou

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

“Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.”
– Heraclitus

“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.”
– James Oppenheim

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
– Rumi

“If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches, but take away from his desires.”
– Epicurus

“The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer

“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.”
– Tom Wilson

“Whatever you feel, you become. It is your responsibility.”
– Osho

“There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”
– Epictetus

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

Want more quick motivation and inspiration? Then check out these short work quotes, the short love sayings here and also this one with lots of quick quotes for fast inspiration.

Make you laugh. Make you feel loved. Be messy but also be the ones you can always rely on when times are tough.

And in today’s post I want to share 83 of the most witty, relatable and funny family quotes.

I hope you’ll find something here that will make you and your loved ones laugh, that you can share in a card or on social media like Instagram and that will make your friends knowingly chuckle about their own family.

Funny Family Quotes That Will Make You Laugh

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”
– George Burns

“If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you’ll be going, ‘You know, we’re alright. We are dang near royalty.'”
– Jeff Foxworthy

“Everyone should have kids. They are the greatest joy in the world. But they are also terrorists. You’ll realize this as soon as they’re born, and they start using sleep deprivation to break you.”
– Ray Romano

“Families are like fudge – mostly sweet, with a few nuts.”
– Unknown

“The other night, I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.”
– George Carlin

“You know what it’s like having five kids? Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby.”
– Jim Gaffigan

“Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.”
– Cary Grant

“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the hell she is.”
– Ellen DeGeneres

“Some family trees bear an enormous crop of nuts.”
– Wayne Huizenga

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
– George Bernard Shaw

“I don’t have to look up my family tree because I know that I’m the sap.”
– Fred Allen

“Obviously, if I was serious about having a relationship with someone long-term, the last people I would introduce him to would be my family.”
– Chelsea Handler

“Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.”
– P.J. O’Rourke

“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”
– Phyllis Diller

“The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.”
– Sam Levenson

“Gambling has brought our family together. We had to move to a smaller house.”
– Tommy Cooper

“The best babysitters, of course, are the baby’s grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.”
– Dave Barry

“When I was ten, my family moved to Downer’s Grove, Illinois. When I was twelve, I found them.”
– Emo Philips

“The man who says his wife can’t take a joke forgets that she took him.”
– Oscar Wilde

“I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”
– Rita Rudner

“The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.”
– Clarence Darrow

“My family is temperamental. Half temper, half mental.”
– Unknown

Short Funny Family Quotes

“You can kid the world, but not your sister.”
– Charlotte Gray

“God gives us our relatives. Thank God we can choose our friends.”
– Ethel Watts Mumford

“Home is wherever my bunch of crazies are.”
– Unknown

“Having one kid makes you a parent. Having two kids makes you a referee.”
– David Frost

“The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.”
– Henny Youngman

“It’s not easy being a mom. If it were easy, fathers would do it.”
– Betty White

“What strange creatures brothers are!”
– Jane Austen

“My father had a profound influence on me. He was a lunatic.”
– Spike Milligan

“Being part of a family means smiling for photos.”
– Harry Morgan

“No family is complete without an embarrassing uncle.”
– Peter Morgan

“Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”
– Rick Riordan

“When children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief.”
– Henry Fielding

“Family group chats: where one person shares exciting news and seven people respond with a thumbs up.”
– Sandra Shea

“Important families are like potatoes. The best parts are underground.”
– Francis Bacon

“All the men in my family were bearded, and most of the women.”
– W.C. Fields

“Families are about love overcoming emotional torture.”
– Matt Groening

“I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.”
– Erma Bombeck

“Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband.”
– Unknown

“Some call it chaos; we call it family.”
– Unknown

“Insanity is hereditary. You can get it from your children.”
– Sam Levenson

Hilarious Family Quotes and Sayings

“A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don’t have a top for it.”
– Jerry Seinfeld

“Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.”
– Martin Mull

“Marriage is not just spiritual communion; it is also remembering to take out the trash.”
– Dr. Joyce Brothers

“There is no cure for laziness, but a large family helps.”
– Herbert V. Prochnow

“If you want to call a family meeting, just turn off the Wi-Fi router and wait in the room in which it is located.”
– Unknown

“I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance – waiting for the bathroom.”
– Bob Hope

“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.”
– Phyllis Diller

“If you don’t believe in ghosts, you’ve never been to a family reunion.”
– Ashleigh Brilliant

“It’s that special time of year when your whole family gathers together in one place to look at their cellphones.”
– Jimmy Kimmel

“Marriages are made in heaven. But so again, are thunder and lightning.”
– Clint Eastwood

“The advantage of having only one child is that you always know who did it.”
– Erma Bombeck

“Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school, I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years.”
– Gracie Allen

“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.”
– Bernard Manning

“A family reunion is an effective form of birth control.”
– Robert A. Heinlein

“If your family tree does not fork, you might be a redneck.”
– Jeff Foxworthy

“I grew up in a very large family in a very small house. I never slept alone until after I was married.”
– Lewis Grizzard

“Children do seem to have a sixth sense for knowing exactly when you sit down to eat something you don’t want to share.”
– Sarah Kelly

“Husbands and wives are irritating. But without them, who would we blame for misplacing our socks?”
– Janet Periat

“Children really can brighten up a house, because they never turn the lights off.”
– Ralph Bus

“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.”
– Phyllis Diller

“I smile because you’re my family; I laugh because there’s nothing you can do about it!”
– Unknown

Relatable Funny Family Quotes to Make You Chuckle

“You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going.”
– P.J. O’Rourke

“Siblings that say they never fight are most definitely hiding something.”
– Lemony Snicket

“If you’re not yelling at your kids, then you’re not spending enough time with them!”
– Mark Ruffalo

“Family ties mean that no matter how much you might want to run from your family, you can’t.”
– Unknown

“When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.”
– Erma Bombeck

“Have you ever noticed how parents can go from the most wonderful people in the world to totally embarrassing in three seconds?”
– Rick Riordan

“Family is just an accident. They don’t mean to get on your nerves. They don’t even mean to be your family, they just are.”
– Marsha Norman

“Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five.”
– Pam Brown

“It’s especially hard to admit that you made a mistake to your parents, because, of course, you know so much more than they do.”
– Sean Covey

“Mother-daughter disagreements were, in hindsight, basically mother stating the truth and daughter taking her own sweet time coming around.”
– Barbara Delinsky

“A vacation frequently means that the family goes away for a rest, accompanied by a mother who sees that the others get it.”
– Marcelene Cox

“Everyone knows that if you’ve got a brother, you’re going to fight.”
– Liam Gallagher

“What brothers say to tease their sisters has nothing to do with what they really think of them.”
– Esther Friesner

“The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old.”
– Jean Kerr

“Family: a social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.”
– Evan Esar

“In some families, ‘please’ is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was ‘sorry.'”
– Margaret Laurence

“Family jokes, though rightly cursed by strangers, are the bond that keeps most families alive.”
– Stella Benson

“It was nice growing up with someone like you – someone to lean on, someone to count on, someone to tell on!”
– Unknown

“There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more secure.”
– Jim Butcher

“If you don’t annoy your big sister for no good reason from time to time, she thinks you don’t love her anymore.”
– Pearl Cleage

Want more relatable quotes about family? Then check out these family quotes and sayings, the short family quotes here and also this post with lots of family isn’t always blood quotes.

It can keep going and going for longer than you thought. Reappear again and again after you think you got to be through the worst of it.

If you’re going through grief right now for a loved one, a pet or a situation in your life that didn’t work out then you’ll hopefully find today’s post helpful.

In it I want to share 120 of the most powerful, comforting and relatable grief quotes.

I hope you’ll find something here that can ease some of your pain and help you to heal.

Quotes on Grief and Loss

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”
– Jamie Anderson

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.”
– Terry Pratchett

“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.”
– Joan Didion

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Grief is a most peculiar thing; we’re so helpless in the face of it. It’s like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it.”
– Arthur Golden

“What is grief, if not love persevering?”
– Vision (from the TV-show WandaVision)

“Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated.”
– Alphonse de Lamartine

“Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”
– Queen Elizabeth II

“When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time – the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes – when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever – there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.”
– John Irving

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”
– John Green

“Grief is a curious thing, when it happens unexpectedly. It is a band-aid being ripped away, taking the top layer off a family. And the underbelly of a household is never pretty, ours no exception.”
– Jodi Picoult

“Life is full of grief, to exactly the degree we allow ourselves to love other people.”
– Orson Scott Card

“The death of a beloved is an amputation.”
– C.S. Lewis

“People just disappear sometimes. You have to love and appreciate them while they’re near you.”
– Haruki Murakami

“Grief is tremendous, but love is bigger. You are grieving because you loved truly.”
– Cheryl Strayed

“You don’t know who is important to you until you actually lose them.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“Grief and love are conjoined – you don’t get one without the other.”
– Jandy Nelson

“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love.”
– Kristina McMorris

Grief Quotes for Comfort

“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly – that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”
– Anne Lamott

“Don’t be ashamed to weep; ’tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones are sealed inside to comfort us.”
– Brian Jacques

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
– A.A. Milne

“There are three needs of the griever: To find the words for the loss, to say the words aloud and to know that the words have been heard.”
– Victoria Alexander

“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
– Helen Keller

“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.”
– José N. Harris

“If there ever comes a day where we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever.”
– A.A. Milne

“Never. We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don’t disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms.”
– Paulo Coelho

“The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.”
– Charles Dickens

“Ain’t no shame in holding on to grief, as long as you make room for other things too.”
– Reginald ‘Bubbles’ Cousins

“We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
– Charles Dickens

“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero

“In the garden of memory, in the palace of dreams… that is where you and I shall meet.”
– Lewis Carroll

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
– Matthew 5:4

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
– Thomas Campbell

“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”
– J.M. Barrie

“She was no longer wrestling with grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thought.”
– George Eliot

“Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity.”
– Terri Guillemets

“A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.”
– Maya Angelou

Short Grief Quotes

“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
– Rumi

“Grief changes shape, but it never ends.”
– Keanu Reeves

“I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.”
– C.S. Lewis

“The pain passes, but the beauty remains.”
– Pierre Auguste Renoir

“It’s ok to grieve, it’s a form of love.”
– Naval Ravikant

“To weep is to make less the depth of grief.”
– William Shakespeare

“Grief is itself a medicine.”
– William Cowper

“Death is a reminder to live fully.”
– Ram Dass

“The only cure for grief is action.”
– George Henry Lewes

“Life is a blink.”
– Hoda Kotb

“Those who do not weep, do not see.”
– Victor Hugo

“The things which hurt, instruct.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“Make peace with the present moment.”
– Eckhart Tolle

“Tearless grief bleeds inwardly.”
– Christian Nevell Bovee

“Loss is not as bad as wanting more.”
– Lao Tzu

“The greater the love, the greater the grief.”
– C.S. Lewis

“Life and death are a package deal. You cannot pull them apart.”
– Frank Ostaseski

“Bear without murmuring what cannot be changed.”
– Publilius Syrus

“The more violent the storm, the quicker it passes.”
– Paulo Coelho

“Sorrow is so easy to express and yet so hard to tell.”
– Joni Mitchell

Sad and Relatable Quotes About Grief

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.”
– Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Losing him was like having a hole shot straight through me, a painful, constant reminder, an absence I could never fill.”
– Jojo Moyes

“The worst type of crying wasn’t the kind everyone could see – the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it.”
– Katie McGarry

“You believe you could not live with the pain. Such pain is not lived with. It is only endured. I am sorry.”
– Erin Morgenstern

“How much more damage anger and grief do than the things that cause them.”
– Marcus Aurelius

“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
– John Steinbeck

“The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we’d done were less real and important than they had been hours before.”
– John Green

“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.”
– Franz Kafka

“Without you in my arms, I feel an emptiness in my soul. I find myself searching the crowds for your face – I know it’s an impossibility, but I cannot help myself.”
– Nicholas Sparks

“It’s hard to explain so much pain.”
– John Lennon

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.”
– J.K. Rowling

“No one feels another’s grief, no one understands another’s joy. People imagine that they can reach one another. In reality they only pass each other by.”
– Franz Schubert

“There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don’t seem to help.”
– Fred Rogers

“All things grow with time, except grief.”
– Jewish Proverb

“Grief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.”
– Veronica Roth

“Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.”
– William Shakespeare

“Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”
– Mark Twain

“Here’s what I know: death abducts the dying, but grief steals from those left behind.”
– Katherine Owen

“Grief can derange even the strongest and most disciplined of minds.”
– George R.R. Martin

Grief Quotes to Uplift

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
– Ludwig Jacobowski

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
– Kahlil Gibran

“Your wounded heart is a very beautiful heart.”
– Fred Rogers

“Life is a balance: grief for what’s lost, gratitude for what remains, and excitement for what’s next.”
– Mark Manson

“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
– Alfred Lord Tennyson

“This is not the life you pictured but here you are. You can still make something beautiful. Grieve. Breathe. Begin again.”
– Thema Bryant-Davis

“I don’t think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that remains.”
– Anne Frank

“When it is darkest, we can see the stars.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”
– Rumi

“Relax. One bad chapter does not mean it’s the end of the book.”
– Paulo Coelho

“The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us.”
– Gloria Steinem

“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”
– Leo Tolstoy

“It’s an honor to be in grief. It’s an honor to feel that much, to have loved that much.”
– Elizabeth Gilbert

“Death ends a life, not a relationship. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.”
– Mitch Albom

“And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.”
– Maya Angelou

“Given a choice between grief and nothing, I’d choose grief.”
– William Faulkner

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien

“You will survive, and you will find purpose in the chaos. Moving on doesn’t mean letting go.”
– Mary VanHaute

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God.”
– Fyodor Dostoevsky

“When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
– Kahlil Gibran

Grief Quotes to Help You Heal

“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you’ll learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to.”
– Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“Be gentle with yourself: You are doing the best you can.”
– Paulo Coelho

“Give yourself space and permission to feel, to grieve, to speak truth, to be speechless, to let go, to hold tightly, to mobilize, to be still, to be where you are. Your process doesn’t have to match anyone else’s in content or in time.”
– Thema Bryant-Davis

“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.”
– Rumi

“Grief can destroy you – or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you alone. Or you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much meaning it scared you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter of each day, and didn’t allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it.”
– Dean Koontz

“We run from grief because loss scares us, yet our hearts reach toward grief because the broken parts want to mend.”
– Brené Brown

“Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.”
– Earl Grollman

“Healing comes from letting there be room for everything: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
– Pema Chödrön

“You can’t truly heal from a loss until you allow yourself to really feel the loss.”
– Mandy Hale

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
– Albert Camus

“To heal a wound, you must stop scratching it.”
– Paulo Coelho

“Our sorrows provide us with the lesson we most need to learn.”
– Lama Surya Das

“We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.”
– Confucius

“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’er-wrought heart and bids it break.”
– William Shakespeare

“Whenever sorrow comes, be kind to it. For God has placed a pearl in sorrow’s hand.”
– Rumi

“Your grief path is yours alone, and no one else can walk it, and no one else can understand it.”
– Terri Irwin

“Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.”
– Marcel Proust

“The antidote to misery is to stay present.”
– Pema Chödrön

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”
– Dr. Seuss

“His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien

Want more helpful and relatable words of wisdom? Then have a look at these quotes about death that will make you think, the inspirational family quotes here and also this one with plenty of positive quotes about life.

I’d say that one very common and destructive thing is that they don’t know how to stop overthinking.

They overthink every little problem until it becomes bigger and scarier than it actually is. They overthink positive things until they don’t look so positive anymore (and as the anxiety starts to build).

Or overanalyze and deconstruct things and so the happiness that comes from just enjoying something in the moment disappears.

Now, thinking things through can be a great thing of course.

But getting lost in a sort of overthinking disorder – where you too often draw up worst-case scenarios in your mind or try to see all the possible outcomes – can result in you becoming someone who stands still in life.

In becoming someone who self-sabotages the good things that happen in life (and the good news you get).

I know. I used to spend too much time on overthinking things and it held me back in ways that weren’t fun at all.

But in the past 10 years or so I’ve learned how to make this issue so small that it very rarely pops up anymore. And if it does then I know what to do to overcome it.

In this article I’d like to share 20+ tips that have helped me in a big, big way to become a simpler and smarter thinker and to live a happier and less fearful life.

I hope it will be of help for any other chronic overthinkers out there too to spend less time on those repetitive thoughts.

Bonus: Download a free step-by-step checklist that will show you how to stop overthinking. It’s easy to save as a PDF or print out for whenever you need it during your day or week.

1. Put things into a wider perspective.

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of overthinking minor things in life.

So when you are thinking and thinking about something the first step is to ask yourself:

Will this matter in 5 years? Or even in 5 weeks?

I’ve found that widening the perspective by using this simple question can quickly snap me out of overthinking and catastrophic predictions and help me to let go of that situation.

It allows me to finally stop thinking about something and to focus my time and energy on something else that actually does matter to me.

2. Set a short time limit for a decision.

If you do not have a time limit for when you must make a decision and take action then you can just keep turning your thoughts around and around and view them from all angles in your mind for a very long time.

So learn to become better at making decisions and to spring into action by setting deadlines in your daily life. No matter if it’s a small or bigger decision.

Here’s what has worked for me:

• For small decisions like if should go and do the dishes, respond to an email or work out I usually give myself 30 seconds or less to make a decision.
• For a somewhat larger or difficult decision that would have taken me days or weeks to think through in the past I use a deadline for 30 minutes or for the end of the workday.

3. Stop setting your day up for stress and overthinking.

You can’t totally avoid overwhelming or very stressful days.

But you can minimize the number of them in your month and year by getting a good start to your day and by not setting yourself up for unnecessary stress, overthinking and suffering.

Three things that help me with that are:

Get a good start.

I’ve mentioned this many times by now. And with good reason.

This is perhaps the best way to influence your day. Because how you start your day tends to often set the tone for your day.

A stressed morning leads to stressed day. Consuming negative information as you ride the bus to your job tends to lead to more pessimistic thoughts during the rest of your day.

While for example reading something uplifting over breakfast, getting some exercise and then getting started with your most important task right now sets a good tone for the day and will help you to stay positive.

Single-task and take regular breaks.

This will help you to keep a sharp focus during your day and to get what’s most important done while also allowing you to rest and recharge so you don’t start to run on fumes.

And this somewhat relaxed mindset but with the narrow focus will help you to think clearly and decisively and avoid winding up in a stressed and overthinking headspace.

Minimize your daily input.

Too much information, too many times of just taking a few minutes to check your inbox, Facebook or Twitter account or how your blog or website is doing leads to more input and clutter in your mind as your day progresses.

And so it becomes harder to think in a simple and clear way and easier to lapse back into that familiar overthinking habit.

4. Become a person of action.

When you know how to get started with taking action consistently each day then you’ll procrastinate less by overthinking.

Setting deadlines and a good tone for the day are two things that have helped me to become much more of person of action.

Taking small steps forward and only focusing on getting one small step done at a time is another habit that have worked really well.

It works so well because you do not feel overwhelmed and so you do not want flee into procrastination or lazy inaction.

And even though you may be afraid, taking just a step is such a small thing that you do not get paralyzed in fear.

5. Realize that you cannot control everything.

Trying to think things through 50 times can be a way to try to control everything. To cover every eventuality so you don’t risk making a mistake, fail or looking like a fool.

But those things are a part of living a life where you truly stretch your comfort zone. Everyone who you may admire and have lived a life that inspires you has failed. They have made mistakes.

But in most cases they’ve also seen these things as valuable feedback to learn from.

Those things that may look negative have taught them a lot and have been invaluable to help them to grow.

So stop trying to control everything. Trying to do so simply doesn’t work because no one can see all possible scenarios in advance.

This is of course easier said than done. So do it in small steps if you like.

6. Say stop in a situation where you know you cannot think straight.

Sometimes when I’m hungry or when I’m lying in bed and are about to go to sleep negative emotions and thoughts start buzzing around in my mind.

In the past they could do quite a bit of damage. Nowadays I’ve become good at catching them quickly and to say to myself:

No, no, we are not going to think about this now.

I know that when I’m hungry or sleepy then my mind sometimes tend to be vulnerable to not thinking clearly and to negativity.

So I follow up my “no, no…” phrase and I say to myself that I will think this situation or issue through when I know that my mind will work much better.

For example, after I’ve eaten something or in the morning after I have gotten my hours of sleep.

It took a bit of practice to get this to work but I’ve gotten pretty good at postponing thinking in this way. And I know from experience that when I revisit a situation with some level-headed thinking then in 80% of the cases the issue is very small to nonexistent.

And if there is a real issue then my mind is prepared to deal with it in much better and more constructive way.

7. Don’t get lost in vague fears.

Another trap I’ve fallen into many times that have spurred on overthinking is that I’ve gotten lost in vague fears about a situation in my life.

And so my mind running wild has created disaster scenarios about what could happen if I do something.

So I’ve learned a better way to break out of such a vicious cycle and that is to first ask myself:

Honestly, what is the worst that could happen?

And when I’ve figured out what the worst that could happen actually is then I can also spend a little time to think about what I can do if that often pretty unlikely thing happens.

I’ve found that the worst that could realistically happen is usually something that is not as scary as what my mind running wild with vague fear could produce.

Finding a different perspective and clarity in this way usually only takes a few minutes and bit of energy and it can save you a lot of time and suffering.

8. Work out.

Working out can really help with letting go of inner tensions, worries and to reduce my stress levels. This is also supported by studies like this one on exercise and mental health.

Exercise makes me feel more decisive after I’m done with my work out and when I was more of an overthinker then it was often my go-to method for changing the headspace I was in into a more constructive one.

My current favorite way to use exercise to improve my thoughts and outlook is to get my heart rate up quite a bit for about 10 minutes a couple of times a week. I usually do this by running.

I also lift free weights two times a week and that helps, but I’ve found that the cardio sessions are even more effective.

9. Get plenty of good quality sleep.

I think this is one of the most commonly neglected factors when it comes to keeping a positive mindset and not get lost in negative thought habits.

Because when you haven’t slept enough then you become more vulnerable.

Vulnerable to worrying and pessimism. To not thinking as clearly as you usually do. And to getting lost in thoughts going around and around in your mind as you overthink.

So let me share a couple of my favorite tips from my daily routine that help me to sleep better:

Keep it cool.

It can feel nice at first to get into a warm bedroom. But I’ve found that I sleep better and more calmly with fewer scary or negative dreams if I keep the bedroom cool.

Keep the earplugs nearby.

If you, like me, are easily awoken by noises then a pair simple earplugs can be a life-saver.

These inexpensive items have helped me to get a good night’s sleep and sleep through snorers, noisy cats and other disturbances more times than I can remember.

Don’t try to force yourself to go to sleep.

If you don’t feel sleepy then don’t get into bed and try to force yourself to go to sleep.

That, at least in my experience, only leads to tossing and turning in my bed for an hour or more.

A better solution in these situations is to wind down for an extra 20-30 minutes on the couch with, for example, some reading. This helps me to go to sleep faster and, in the end, get more sleep.

10. Spend more of your time in the present moment.

By being in the present moment in your everyday life rather than in past mistakes and life experiences or a possible future in your mind you can replace more and more of the time you usually spend on overthinking things with just being here right now instead.

Three ways that I often use to reconnect with the present moment and to practice mindfulness are:

Slow down.

Slow down how you do whatever you are doing right now. Move slower, talk slower or ride your bicycle more slowly. Take slow and deep breaths.

By doing so you become more aware of how you use your body and what is happening all around you right now.

Tell yourself: Now I am…

I often tell myself this: Now I am X. And X could be brushing my teeth. Taking a walk in the woods. Or doing the dishes.

This simple reminder helps my mind to stop wandering and brings my focus back to what is happening in this moment.

Disrupt and reconnect.

If you feel you are getting lost in overthinking then one of my favorite mindfulness practices is to disrupt that thought by – in your mind – shouting this to yourself : STOP!

Then reconnect with the present moment by taking just 1-2 minutes to focus fully on what is going on around you. Take it all in with all your senses. Feel it, hear it, smell it, see it and sense it on your skin.

11. Spend more of your time with people who do not overthink things.

Your social environment is an important thing to think about if you want to break destructive thought patterns and move out of the cycle of overthinking in the long term.

And this is not just about the people and groups close to you in real life. But also about what you read, listen to and watch. The blogs, books, forums, movies, podcasts and music in your life.

So think about if there are any sources in your life – close by or further away – that encourages and tends create more overthinking in your mind. And think about what people or sources that has the opposite effect on you.

Find ways to spend more of your time and attention with the people and input that have a positive effect on your thinking and less on the influences that tends to strengthen your overthinking habit.

12. Be aware of the issue (and remind yourself throughout your day)

Being aware of your challenge is important to break the habit of overthinking.

But if you’re thinking that you’ll just remember to stop overthinking during your normal day – and in stressful situations such as an upcoming date or job interview – then you’re likely just fooling yourself.

At least if you’re anything like me.

Because I needed help. It wasn’t hard to get it though. I just created a few reminders.

My main one was a note on the whiteboard I had on one of my walls at the time. It said “Keep things extremely simple”.

Seeing this many times during my day helped me to snap out of overthinking faster and to over time greatly minimize this negative habit.

Two other kinds of reminders that you can use are:

A small written note.

Simply use a post-it note or something similar and write down my whiteboard phrase, a question like “Am I overcomplicating this?” or some other reminder that appeals to you.

Put that note where you cannot avoid seeing it like for example on your bedside table, your bathroom mirror or beside your computer screen.

A reminder on your smart phone.

Write down one of the phrases above or one of you own choosing in a reminder app on your smart phone.

I for example use my Android phone and the free app called Google Keep to do this.

13. Let it out into the light.

Simply talk to someone close to you about the situation you’re thinking about.

Just venting for 5-10 minutes as a friend or family member listens can help you to release inner pressure and to figure things out for yourself.

Or the other person can ground you and bring you back to earth again if you’re getting lost in nightmare scenarios. And then the two of you can come up with a plan – or at least the start of one – for how to actually improve upon the situation you’ve been overthinking.

14. Journal about it.

If you cannot find someone to talk to about your issue right now then a good alternative is to journal about it, as explored in this study.

Write out your challenge, your fears and thoughts in a paper journal or in a document on your laptop or smartphone.

Letting it out will let you vent in a similar way that you would do with a close friend. And seeing it all laid out on paper or on the screen will make it easier to get an overview of your situation and to find ways to improve things.

I also recommend applying tip #16 and the questions you’ll find there to what you’ve written down to help you find solutions to your challenge.

15. Journal about what you’re grateful for.

Another way to use a journal to direct your thoughts in a helpful and positive way is to do some gratitude journaling.

Here’s one way to go about it. Set off 3-5 minutes in the morning or evening and answer questions that help you to focus your mind on the good things you have in your life. Like for example:

• What are 3 things I can be grateful for in my life today?
• Who are 3 people that I can be grateful to have in my life and why?
• What are 3 things I can be grateful for about myself?

This will give you a great start to your day – or ending before you go to bed – and it will over time help you to naturally focus more on the positive things in your life and less on the negative things (or the ones that could go wrong).

Try to be specific with your answers to make it more engaging and easier – and not boring or repetitive – to continue with this practice over a longer time period. For example, write that you’re grateful for specific joke your friend told you rather than just writing that she’s funny.

16. Just breathe.

Release the stress and calm your mind and body down by fully focusing on your breathing.

Close your eyes. Breathe with your belly for 2 minutes and focus only on the air you’re breathing in and out. Nothing else.

This is one of the most fast acting tips in this article.

17. Set a time during your day to focus on solutions.

One thing that kept me in the overthinking trap was that I believed that if I thought a lot about an issue then I could avoid mistakes and pain and come up with perfect solutions.

But thinking and thinking in an unstructured way just made me more anxious and worried and so I took very little action. It didn’t help in the way I thought it would.

So these days when I start to overthink a challenge I say: “Stop, we’re not going down that road again! What we are going to do is to set off 20 minutes tomorrow morning to work on this challenge in a structured way.”

And then the next morning I sit down with a pen and paper or my laptop and focus on this situation in my life. Depending on the challenge I ask myself questions like:

• How can I remove this challenge from my life? Or how can I at least reduce the impact it has on my life?
• How can I turn this challenge into something positive or what can I learn from it?
• What is the worst that could realistically happen in this situation? How can I prevent that from happening? And, if it still happens then what can I do to quickly bounce back from that?

Making a plan for how to deal with this situation in my life and spending 20 minutes on that and on problem solving helps a lot more than randomly thinking about it throughout my day and week.

When I’ve got at least the start of a plan for how to deal with it then I stop worrying so much and most of my overthinking about the situation simply goes away. Because now I know what to likely expect and what I can do to improve upon this part of my life.

18. Reduce the screen time and scrolling.

If I use my phone too much and scroll various websites and social media channels for too long then my mind can easily become overactive.

If I read a lot of news or check for example Twitter too frequently then it’s easy to get dragged into the fear or doom that is often used to get more clicks.

And research shows that too much screen time can worsen one’s mental health. 

So how do you scroll less in a day or week and stop triggering your own overthinking so often?

I’ve found that the most effective way is the simplest one. Keep the phone far away from yourself. Put it at the other side of the room – or in another room – and keep it in silent mode while working or having dinner. Set it to show no notifications (or as few as possible).

Then check the phone from time to time. Or keep the sound and notifications on for just phone calls and text messages but off for everything else.

19. Put some downtime into your schedule.

If you’re always on and don’t take any or few breaks then your mind keeps going far into the evening about all kinds of things and it can be difficult to go to sleep or get a good night’s rest.

So scheduling some downtime where you may just watch some TV, play a video game, go out for a walk or read a mystery novel is essential to keep your mind from going into overdrive (and into the overthinking that often accompanies that kind of stressed headspace).

I schedule at least an hour of downtime to watch something with my wife or read a book at the end of the day to relax my mind and prepare to go to sleep.

And I also put in several 10-15 minute breaks throughout my workday and about 1 hour for lunch.

If you have a busy life, then don’t ignore this part. Schedule one to a few hours in, just like anything else during your day and week to make sure you actually take the time to recharge.

20. Go out in nature.

Few things are so relaxing as just being out in nature. So go for a walk in the woods, take a stroll on the beach if you live near the ocean or go out camping or fishing for a day or two during the weekend.

This can help you to reset your headspace, reduce stress and slow down from the tempo of your daily life and get a drastic change in scenery.

21. Be kind and patient with yourself.

You will fall. Have setbacks. Not reach your perhaps unrealistic goals about overthinking sometimes.

That’s OK. It’s normal. Progress is a straight line only in movies and myths.

Real life is more messy. Know that. Don’t let that mess dissuade you. Because then you won’t make any progress towards healthier thought habits.

One quote I love and that reminds me of this when it comes to any challenge in my own life is this one by Anne Marie Radmacher:

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

22. Seek professional help.

If these tips don’t work as well as is needed for you, then consider finding professional help from for example a therapist or someone who specializes in mental health conditions.

One on one help over time may be what is needed to learn how to handle negative and anxious thoughts and sometimes incessant worrying in a better and healthier way.

Here’s the next step…

Now, you may think to yourself:

“This is really helpful information. But what’s the easiest way to put this into practice and actually make a real change with my overthinking?”.

Well, I’ve got something for you:

A free step-by-step checklist that includes the best and most helpful steps in this article. Save it or print it out so you have it for the next time when you get stuck in overthinking.
Download it now by entering your email below.