words of encouragement

100 Words of Encouragement To Overcome Adversity

Author: Meika Welds
Have you ever felt simply down in the dumps? I’m sure we all have, and many things (including our own choices) sometimes affect how we think. Working moms, teenagers, and even kids need helpful words of encouragement to boost morale and make them feel like they can face the world. It has been proven that positive comments can change our mindset and improve it. Daily problems beset us all, and sometimes just a positive word can change the momentum when we’re having a lousy day.

What is it that derails your happiness? Most of us are affected by things like:

  • Busy lifestyles
  • Work Stress
  • Family Problems
  • Financial Woes
  • World Affairs

Because of this, everyone needs words of encouragement from time to time. From moms who work from home with kids and need some upliftment to women who have a full-time career and want inspirational words for success or help them reach their goals. Some women handle a lot both at home and work and are particularly grateful for some genuine appreciation. Positive affirmations and encouraging words can significantly impact how others relate to us, and they can transform someone’s day without us even knowing.

You may need these words of encouragement to brighten your day, or you want to encourage a friend, child, co-worker, or relative. Either way, these positive words can significantly influence when used correctly and with someone who needs them.

Word of Encouragement for Success

  1. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” Dale Carnegie
  2. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” Colin R. Davis
  3. “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston S. Churchill
  4. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy looking for it.” Henry David Thoreau
  5. “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” Calvin Coolidge
  6. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” W. P. Kinsella
  7. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” Estée Lauder
  8. “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” Mister Rogers
  9. “Goal setting is the secret to a compelling future.” Tony Robbins
  10. “You learn more from failure than from success. Don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.” Unknown
  11. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” Steve Jobs
  12. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Thomas Jefferson
  13. “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. “Alexander Graham Bell
  14. “We don’t just sit around and wait for other people. We just make, and we do.” Arlan Hamilton
  15. “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” George Lorimer
  16. “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs, one step at a time.” Joe Girard
  17. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar
  18. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” Lily Tomlin
  19. “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a teamwork, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Vince Lombardi
  20. “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford

Word of Encouragement for Upliftment

  1. “Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you.” – Grace Coddington
  2. “Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.” Anne Frank
  3. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Helen Keller
  4. “The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.” Stephen Richards
  5. “When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.” Paulo Coelho
  6. “Winning is fun, but those moments that you can touch someone’s life in a very positive way are better.” Tim Howard
  7. “Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive good things and good people will be drawn to you.” Mary Lou Retton
  8. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Milton Berle
  9. “If we have the attitude that it’s going to be a great day it usually is.” Catherine Pulsifier
  10. “Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up.” – Isabelle Lafleche
  11. “If you believe it’ll work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you don’t believe it’ll work out, you’ll see obstacles.” Wayne Dyer
  12. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” Theodore Roosevelt
  13. “For what it’s worth, it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” F.Scott Fitzgerald
  14. “No one is perfect—that’s why pencils have erasers.” Wolfgang Rieb
  15. “When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.” Les Brown
  16. “There is nothing impossible for those who will try.” Alexander the Great
  17. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Abraham Lincoln
  18. “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” Dr. Seuss
  19. “Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” Malala Yousafzai
  20. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” Babe Ruth

Word of Encouragement for Difficult Times

  1. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”– Robert H. Schuller
  2. “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.” – George Bernard Shaw
  3. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”– Marie Curie
  4. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus
  5. “Make up your mind that no matter what comes your way, no matter how difficult, no matter how unfair, you will do more than simply survive. You will thrive in spite of it.” Joel Osteen
  6. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
  7. “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein
  8. “When you’re feeling your worst, that’s when you get to know yourself the best.” Leslie Grossman
  9. “It’s through adversity that you find the strength you never knew you had.”– Christie Brinkley
  10. “Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.”– Jacques Prevert
  11. “Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.”– Oprah Winfrey
  12. “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see in truth that you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” Kahlil Gibran
  13. “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” Charles Dickens
  14. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” Vince Lombardi
  15. “The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need tomorrow.” Robert Tew
  16. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Dolly Parton
  17. “Every day may not be good… but there’s something good in every day.” Alice Morse Earle
  18. Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” Helena Rubinstein
  19. “Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.” Aldous Huxley
  20. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

Word of Encouragement to Motivate You

  1. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” Carol Burnett
  2. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman
  3. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’” Audrey Hepburn
  4. “Spread love everywhere you go.” Mother Teresa
  5. “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
  6. “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” Mandy Hale
  7. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Malala Yousafzai
  8. “I’m not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn’t open for me. I’m going to create my own door and walk through that.” Ava DuVernay
  9. “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” Ella Fitzgerald
  10. “Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.” Francesca Reigler
  11. “Soon, when all is well, you’re going to look back on this period of your life and be so glad that you never gave up.” Brittany Bergunder
  12. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”– Babe Ruth
  13. “Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.”– Drew Barrymore
  14. “Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come.” Author Unknown
  15. “Let your unique awesomeness and positive energy inspire confidence in others.” Anonymous
  16. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” Jimmy Johnson
  17. “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” Anthony J. D’Angelo
  18. “Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it.” Albert Schweitzer
  19. “When we are open to new possibilities, we find them. Be open and skeptical of everything.” Todd Kashdan
  20. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius

Word of Encouragement for Positive Thinking

  1. “Encourage yourself, believe in yourself, and love yourself. Never doubt who you are.” Stephanie Lahart
  2.  “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” Willie Nelson
  3.  “Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before.” Bonnie Blair
  4. “You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” ― William W. Purkey
  5. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” Eleanor Roosevelt
  6. “Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth, and everything else will come.” Ellen DeGeneres
  7. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt
  8. “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  9. “I tell myself, ‘You’ve been through so much, you’ve endured so much, time will allow me to heal, and soon this will be just another memory that made me the strong woman, athlete, and mother I am today.”  ‘Serena Williams
  10. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein
  11. “Faith is love taking the form of aspiration.” William Ellery Channing
  12. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” Rosa Parks
  13. “Dreams don’t have to just be dreams. You can make it a reality; if you just keep pushing and keep trying, then eventually you’ll reach your goal. And if that takes a few years, then that’s great, but if it takes 10 or 20, then that’s part of the process.” Naomi Osaka
  14. “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”-Zig Ziglar
  15. “It makes a big difference in your life when you stay positive.” Ellen DeGeneres
  16. “We become what we think about.” Earl Nightingale
  17. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen Covey
  18. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Pablo Picasso
  19. “Be so happy that, when other people look at you, they become happy too.” Anonymous
  20. “Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive.” Matt Cameron

Words of Encouragement Can Help

Life comes with difficulties, and we all have to face them. That doesn’t mean we have to suffer in silence, cower in a corner or do it alone. These words of encouragement can have a profound impact on the mind and affect how we deal with life’s problems and come out better on the other side. Remember to spread these words of encouragement to others, even to brighten someone else’s day!

This article originally appeared on Wealth of Geeks.  

Featured image courtesy of unsplash

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