We are our thoughts. We cannot change anything

if we cannot change our thinking.

You have a train of thought on which you ride when you are alone and quietly thinking. The self-worth you feel, as well as the happiness your life brings, depends upon the direction in which this train is moving, the baggage it carries and the emotional space through which it travels. Between life’s stimulus and your reaction is where this space exists; within it is your power to choose how you react, and in your reaction lies your growth, freedom and happiness.

If you truly want to change your life, you must first change your mind. You must free it from the restrictive thinking that holds you back.

Here are 50 thought-provoking quotes gathered from our sister site, Everyday Life Lessons, and from our blog archive that will help tweak your thinking and set your mind free.

You are only destined to become one person – the person you decide to be. Do good and feel good. Do bad and feel bad. It’s that simple. You are what you do today, not what you say you’ll do tomorrow. We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. Ultimately, it’s not what you do every once in a while; it’s what you dedicate yourself to on a regular basis that makes the difference. Stay true to yourself. Never be ashamed of doing what feels right. Decide what you think is right and stick to it. If you don’t stand for anything, you will remain forever on your knees. No amount of money will make you happy if you aren’t happy with yourself. You know you’ve made the right decision when there is peace in your heart. Don’t worry if your goals seem crazy to other people; oftentimes the crazy ideas are the ones that have the greatest impact. If you’re thinking like everyone else, then you aren’t thinking. (Read Thinking, Fast and Slow.) Control your own destiny or someone else will try for you. Sometimes standing up to your friends can be just as difficult as standing up to your enemies. The unhappiest people in this world are the people who care the most about what everyone else thinks. When people undermine your dreams, predict your doom, or criticize you, remember, they’re telling you their story, not yours. There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally. No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities. Your greatest task isn’t to find love, but to discover and destroy all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. A loving, happy person lives in a loving, happy world. A hateful, miserable person lives in a hateful, miserable world. The world around you reflects YOU. Worry gives small things a big shadow. Focus your conscious mind on things you desire not things you fear. Doing so brings dreams to life. It’s not the mistakes and failures you have to worry about, it’s the opportunities you miss when you don’t even try that hurt the most. It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one over and over again. To get something you’ve never had, you must do something you’ve never done. The harder thing to do and the right thing to do are usually the same thing. Our problems are really our blessings if we use them to grow stronger. (Read 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.) Anyone can run away; it’s super easy. Facing problems and working through them, that’s what makes you strong. When you have two good options, always go with the one that scares you the most, because that’s the one that’s going to help you grow. Courage is being scared to death, and then taking the next step anyway. Sometimes our greatest insight comes from our failure, not from our accomplishments. You need to screw up to learn. You need to experience it all to create greatness. Just because you don’t understand something now doesn’t mean the explanation doesn’t exist. Not knowing everything about your future is a good thing. Don’t worry about what you can’t control and you may liberate yourself. People of average ability often achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most people succeed simply because they are determined to. Temporary happiness isn’t worth long-term pain. Patience can be bitter, but the seeds you plant now will bear sweet fruit. The less you expect, the more pleasant life gets. The more you are in a state of gratitude, the more you will attract things to be grateful for. The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for. It usually isn’t what you have or where you are or what you’re doing that makes you happy. It’s how you think about it all. Do not dwell so much on creating your perfect life that you forget to live. You are not in competition with anybody except yourself; plan to outdo your past not other people. To admit that you were wrong is to declare that you are wiser now than you were before. Humans see what they want to see. If you spend too much time judging yourself, you won’t have any time to love yourself or anyone else. (Read The Mastery of Love.) At the end of the day, you can either focus on what’s tearing you apart or what’s holding you together. Look through the front windshield and not the rearview mirror. You don’t get to choose how you are going to die, or when. But you can choose how you are going to live, right now. Be done with regrets; they are an excuse for people who have failed. You still have a chance.

Your turn…

What’s one quote or personal thought that has helped free your mind from negativity and restrictive thinking? Please share it with us by leaving a reply below.