The second post in our series on Women’s History Month features some powerful, fist-up quotes by women in the field of positive psychology. As these quotes will show, positive psychology is one of the fields on which the sisterhood has left their indelible mark. It’s through their research and wisdom that we find ourselves happier and healthier in our daily lives.
Inspirational Quotes by Women in Positive Psychology
Below are 14 quotes by women that will inspire you, motivate you, and give you plenty of food for thought—this month and beyond.
On Happiness
2. “Becoming is better than being.”
—Carol S. Dweck, PhD, psychology professor and author in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
3. “Happiness is not dependent on circumstances being exactly as we want them to be, or on ourselves being exactly as we’d like to be. Rather, happiness stems from loving ourselves and our lives exactly as they are, knowing that joy and pain, strength and weakness, glory and failure are all essential to the full human experience.”
—Kristin Neff, PhD, researcher and author in Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
On Gratitude and Positivity
5. “Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry, and irritation. It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is present oriented.”
―Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, psychologist and author in The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
6. “Positivity opens us. The first core truth about positive emotions is that they open our hearts and our minds, making us more receptive and more creative.”
—Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, social psychologist, researcher and author in Positivity: Groundbreaking Research to Release Your Inner Optimist And Thrive
7. “We’ve also discovered, in the field of positive psychology, that positive emotions are contagious. We literally catch positive emotions off other people.”
—Lea Waters, PhD, psychologist, researcher, and author in her TED talk Warning: Being positive is not for the faint-hearted
8. “The old saying is that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I say f*** that. When life gives you lemons, make margaritas.”
—Kristin Neff, PhD, researcher and author in Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
Editor’s note: We’re behind the sentiment here, Kristin. The only problem? Traditional margaritas are made with limes. But we’ll still be making those lemon cocktails when life hands ’em to us. Cheers.
On Success
10. “Without effort, your talent is nothing more than your unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn’t. With effort, talent becomes skill and, at the very same time, effort makes skill productive.”
—Angela Duckworth, PhD, psychologist and author in Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
11. “It turns out that the process of working toward a goal, participating in a valued and challenging activity, is as important to well-being as its attainment.”
—Sonja Lyubomirsky in The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
On Mindset and Mindfulness
13. “It is not primarily our physical selves that limit us but rather our mindset about our physical limits.”
—Ellen J. Langer, PhD, professor of psychology and author in Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
14. “One thing we know for certain is that chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort. And so I would say that’s really the best way to make decisions. …go after what it is that creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.”
—Kelly McGonigal, PhD, health psychologist and author in her TED talk How to make stress your friend
Your turn: Which of these motivational quotes by women had you nodding along? Do you have a favorite quote of your own to add to the list? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.
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