Positive Mantras That Inspire Us to Slay Every Day

You've heard the phrase "fake it 'til you make it" before, but what if all you know is the realness? Sometimes, you have to choose your moods rather than letting them happen to you. That's no simple task, but positive mantras make it much easier.

A positive mantra could be a single affirming word or a whole paragraph. The idea is that the string of words helps you enter a meditative state. Mantras are a way to use sound to heal and self-soothe.

Practicing positive thinking won't come naturally to everyone, but if you learn how to harness its power, you could use it to change your life. We’ll explore the effects of these powerful words so you can gas yourself up while you center your mind, body, and spirit.

The power of positive mantras

Positive mantras can have an enormous impact on your life and self-esteem. Many people use them to help manifest particular moods, change how they feel about themselves, cope with challenging situations or emotions, and gather the strength and resilience to move through their day. 

Despite how it might feel, we have much more power over our thoughts than we realize. Mantras are an excellent way to exercise that autonomy and redirect uncomfortable or negative thought patterns.

There are positive mantras geared toward just about every mindset you can imagine. Some are positive mantras for anxiety, while others promote productivity and motivation. You can customize your daily affirmations to achieve any number of personal goals and feel good doing it.

You can use mantras daily to build the confidence to ask for a promotion at work, give yourself more opportunities to practice self-care, or find a way to express your sexual fantasies to your partner. You'll be surprised how powerful daily affirmations are once you use them regularly!

Practical ways to incorporate positive mantras

Want to incorporate positive mantras for the day? There are several ways to use mantras for daily mind maintenance.

• Make mantras a habit: The most important thing is to work them into your routine. If you already have a morning or evening routine, you can slot them in here, depending on what time of day you'd find them most beneficial. 
• Find the time that’s right for you: Manifesting more time with that guy you're casually dating might feel better in the bedroom at night rather than in the bathroom first thing in the morning. It doesn't matter when you say your affirmations as long as it works for you, so feel free to experiment with what feels best.
• Practice patience: Sorry, babe — mantras won’t change your life overnight. Self-affirmations are meant to be practiced, like a muscle you work out and stretch often. The better you get at repeating these mantras to yourself, the more affirming they are and the more empowered you feel.
• Take what you need and leave the rest: It's okay if a positive mantra doesn't resonate with you. One of the unfortunate mistruths we're told is that false positivity is the key to feeling positive. But if you can't find a way to believe in yourself — believe in positivity — you might need to alter what you're saying to yourself.

For an example of how to adjust daily affirmations, imagine someone who wants to feel better about their body image. Ideally, they'd be able to look at themselves in the mirror and spout something like, "I have a beautiful body." But if they find that hard to believe — even after countless repetitions — they should consider changing it to something that feels more affirming.

Something milder, like, "My body does what it needs to do," or "I value my body because it's mine," is a stepping stone that can help build more subtle positivity.

It will yield better results than just lying to yourself in hopes you'll eventually trick your brain into self-love. It doesn't work like that for everyone, and that's okay; practicing positive self-talk is an enormous first step, and you're already doing great!

Our top 30 positive affirmations

Here's our running list of the best positive affirmations to turn you into a wellspring of self-love and comfort. Many on this list were either said or used by successful professionals who, believe it or not, also needed a little boost of encouragement from an affirmation now and then.

Remember to practice the ones that feel suited to you and work up to the ones that don't necessarily fit right away.

1. "Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen." — Brené Brown
2. "Am I good enough? Yes, I am." — Michelle Obama
3. "Your life is about to be incredible." — Tim Storey
4. "Your perspective is unique. It's important, and it counts." — Glenn Close
5. "Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." — Maya Angelou
6. "Embrace the glorious mess that you are." — Elizabeth Gilbert
7. "Everything passes if you learn to hold things lightly." — Oprah
8. "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." — William Shakespeare
9. "I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing." — Louise Hay
10. "I am worthy of what I desire." — Gabrielle Bernstein
11. "Open your heart and drink in this glorious day." — Heather Havrilesky
12. "This moment's as good as any other. It's perfect." — Jon Kabat-Zinn
13. "I am deliberate and afraid of nothing." — Audre Lord
14. "There are no mistakes. Only opportunities." — Tina Fey
15. "I look like me, and that's enough." — Gina Rodriguez
16. "No one can tell you who you are except for you." — Serena Williams
17. "I'm better than I used to be. Better than I was yesterday. But hopefully not as good as I'll be tomorrow." — Marianne Williamson
18. "Your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny." — Toni Morrison
19. "Your crown has been bought and paid for. Put it on your head and wear it." — Maya Angelou
20. "You have a right to the universe. You are given that right simply by being born." — Shonda Rhimes
21. "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." — Louisa May Alcott
22. "My life is my message." — Mahatma Gandhi
23. "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope." — Helen Keller
24. "You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing." — Ram Dass
25. "The wound is the place where the light enters you." — Rumi
26. "Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive" — Eleanor Roosevelt
27. "The braver I am, the luckier I get." — Glennon Doyle
28. "Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am." — Janelle Monáe
29. "You are not what you've done. You are what you keep doing." — Jack Butcher
30. "The secret of attraction is to love yourself." — Deepak Chopra

Don't just be happy — manifest happiness

The mind can be a treacherous place to live. But once we know how to make ourselves a cozy nest, suddenly, everything starts to come into focus. We can live the lives we envision for ourselves.

That's what positive mantras help you do: carve out a personal space of relaxation and positivity, a place where you can be and believe anything you wish. Because you deserve the peace and happiness that comes with being your best self — we all do.