5 Motivational Quotes That Don’t Suck | Free Desktop Backgrounds!

I can’t stand shallow, cheesy “motivational” quotes that have no real substance or usefulness. They sound cute, they look pretty in a Pinterest graphic, but they don’t actually mean anything.

And look, sometimes, it’s nice to just pick a cheesy quote to use as an instagram caption.

I get it.

But when you actually want to communicate something worthwhile in a concise way, these may be a good place to start.

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"I will not make myself smaller so they can feel bigger."

- Karli Sherman

I believe deeply that we should not make ourselves smaller, take up less space, dull our sparkle so others feel bigger or more validated.

Many of us who are “too much” of something, especially women, are frequently made to feel that we should tone ourselves down.

I believe we are NOT too much.

And maybe, just maybe, they are the ones who need to step up and be MORE.

Just a thought.

#domore #dobetter

"Be the same person privately, publicly, and professionally."

This concept, this action, is the definition of a few of my favorite words - Integrity; Congruence; #Authenticity (we love our pillars of #SocialExcellence!)

Aspire to live a life and express yourself in a way that you don’t have to lie or hide parts of yourself. Choose to be the best version of yourself.

I’m not saying it’s easy, or that you’ll always get it right.

But doing what you know to be right, and doing your best - THAT is what produces happiness! AND a better community! We can change the world here, people!

"You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you."

Living outside of your strengths, outside of your purpose, is soul-sucking.

Take it from me, I’ve been there.

And you can power through for a while. But it’s not sustainable.

Burnout is real, and a pedicure or a cup of tea won’t solve this issue.

A nap doesn’t help when it’s your soul that’s tired.

Find that spark. Hold on to it. Make decisions that feed it so your light shines.

Pro Tip: Helping someone else’s light shine also feeds your spark, your purpose. Try it!

"Feel the emotion, but don't become the emotion.

Witness it. Allow it. Release it."

- Crystal Andrus

Somewhere along the way a lot of us missed the memo on basic human emotions.

We took this beautifully complex and impressively nuanced part of the human experience and distilled it down to some surface-level stereotypes and threw away the rest.

So now we think emotions consist of a few simplified terms (happy, mad, sad, fearful, etc.). And we seek to avoid negative feelings altogether.

Big yikes.

Because that’s not how being a human works.

One of the best lessons I learned from grief counseling was accepting all feelings as they were, and sitting with them, feeling them fully so I could accurately label them. Then putting it away. That way when it happened again I would understand it and could deal with it in a healthy way.

All feelings on the expansive spectrum of human emotions are valid. And to live a full, healthy, high-functioning life, we need to

1. Feel them fully and deeply

2. Then understand them so we can

3. Make meaning from them.

"Be the person your dog thinks you are."

Ok I said I didn’t want any cheesy quotes, and I know you’re rolling your eyes right now. But go with me on this one.

I believe dogs are some of the purest souls God put on this planet and humans should be so lucky to have relationships with these magnificent animals and call them friends.

Our pets, and specifically dogs, show us so much patience, forgiveness, raw emotion, and unconditional love. So many things us pithy humans struggle with.

When they trust us, they trust us fully and completely.

When they are excited to see us, it’s heartfelt and sincere.

What if we humans treated each other like that?

What if we forgave, and trusted, and were trustworthy, and showed pure joy, and asked for what we needed, and loved unconditionally???

Wouldn’t the world be a more pure, wonderful place?!

I think so.

So be the person worthy of that dog’s love and attention.

Get on their level.

#levelup