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“Don’t be upset when people reject you. Nice things are rejected all the time by people who can’t afford them.”
Rejection can be hard to bear, and harder for some than others. It also has the unfortunate side effect of eroding one’s self-esteem. Again, more so for some than others. The irony in how upsetting rejection is for someone is that it’s more upsetting if they already suffer from low…
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“Be yourself. No one can ever tell you that you’re doing it wrong.”
Being your authentic self is never easy. The harsh reality is that people and their opinions are inescapable; and it’s hard not to be, in some way or another, influenced by them. If you’re wondering if this could be you, here’s one simple way to find out. First, tap into…
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“Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.”
In competitions, we tend to dismiss anything and anyone that’s not first place. Yes, silver and bronze get some attention, but certainly not as much as gold. And certainly not as much as fourth place to last. Unfortunately, the same attitude we have toward competitions is unconsciously carried over to…
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“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.”
Perceiving aspects of someone else’s life as better than our own often leads us to imitate them in certain ways. We may adopt the same things they enjoy doing, their taste in music, movies, etc. But doing all those things doesn’t make us or our life any better. In fact,…
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“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”
This quote comes from Mae Jemison. As a history-making astronaut, she had to overcome limiting beliefs about her goals and aspirations. If she had believed others’ limited imagination, she wouldn’t have even tried to do some of the things she’s been able to accomplish. This quote reminds us to not…
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Living Life Poetically: The Beauty of Self
The ability to be yourself is one of the most important and underrated things you can do in life. It helps to keep in mind that there’s only one of you. So going through your whole life as someone else would be such a waste of who you are. But…
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“Always refuse to be like the others. The more you become similar to the others the more you will be useless because there are already plenty of the others.”
The struggle to fit in is part of human nature. Who doesn’t want to feel like they belong? However fitting in is more glamorized in our minds than it should be. This quote, by playwright and novelist Mehmet Murat Ildan, reminds us that being like everybody else actually renders us…
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“When you finally learn your self–worth, you stop giving others discounts.”
This quote, by Karen Salmansohn, reminds us to know our self-worth. With that knowledge, we’re less likely to give others discounts, i.e. be taken advantage of or be taken for granted. Knowing your self-worth means knowing your value goes beyond any accomplishment. That it’s not what you do. Being worthy is…
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“By being yourself you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.”
This quote, by Edwin Elliot, is a reminder to appreciate what makes you unique. It’s a reminder to not try to hide those things. At the end of the day, who you are has never been in the world before. So “by being yourself you put something wonderful in the…
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“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
It’s human nature to measure ourselves relative to others and try to be better. We see competitions today, throughout history, and across the globe designed to determine who’s better in some way. For example, who’s faster, stronger, smarter, more attractive, talented, or creative. However, beyond outright competitions, we calculate these…
