12 Quotes to Inspire You to Focus on Yourself Instead of Others

Sometimes it’s hard not to compare yourself to others. Around you, everyone else seems to know what they want out of life. They’re finding the right relationships and advancing their careers, but you feel lost, unsure of yourself and what direction to head towards. It’s hard to know who you are and where you belong in the world.

You try and do your best but it never seems to be enough. There’s so much pressure to achieve and you find yourself trying to fit within certain molds or expectations.

When you’re feeling this way, it helps to go within. Spending time focusing on others drains your energy and can take away from what your own sense of purpose and passions. So focus instead on what’s important to you, and what you bring to your own life. Because you’re the only person in this world who can be you, which is awesome. We each have our own paths and contributions in life. So spend time working to discover that which is within yourself, the greatness, light, and cultivate that spark.

Here are 12 Quotes to Inspire You to Focus on Yourself Instead of Others

“The way you step up your game is not to worry about the other guy in any situation, because you can’t control the other guy. You only have control over yourself. So it’s like running a race. The energy that it takes to look back and see where the other guys are takes energy away from you. And if they’re too close, it scares you. So, that’s what I would say to my team all the time: Don’t waste your time in the race looking back to see where the other guy is or what the other guy is doing. It’s not about the other guy. It’s about what can you do. You just need to run that race as hard as you can. You need to give it everything you’ve got, all the time, for yourself.”

— Oprah

“Ask yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow”

— Unknown

“To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s trying its best to make you somebody else is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting. ”

— EE Cummings

“Sometimes it takes dealing with a disability — the trauma, the relearning, the months of rehabilitation therapy — to uncover our true abilities, and how we can put them to use for us in ways we may have never imagined. ”

— Senator Tammy Duckworth

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement.”

— Unknown

“What if you simply devoted this year to loving yourself more?”

— Unknown

“I cannot say this too strongly: Do not compare yourselves to others. Be true to who you are, and continue to learn with all your might.”

— Daisaku Ikeda, Discussions on Youth

“Life on earth is a whole, yet it expresses itself in unique time-bound bodies, microscopic or visible, plant or animal, extinct or living. So there can be no one place to be. There can be no one way to be, no one way to practice, no one way to learn, no one way to love, no one way to grow or to heal, no one way to live, no one way to feel, no one thing to know or be known. The particulars count.”

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

“Whatever your passion is, keep doing it. Don’t waste time chasing after success or comparing yourself to others. Every flower blooms at a different pace. Excel at doing what your passion is and only focus on perfecting it. Eventually people will see what you are great at doing, and if you are truly great, success will come chasing after you.”

— Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Don’t always be appraising yourself, wondering if you are better or worse than other writers. “I will not Reason and Compare,” said Blake; “my business is to Create.” Besides, since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of Time, you are incomparable.”

— Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

“You are perfect. To think anything less is as pointless as a river thinking that it’s got too many curves or that it moves too slowly or that its rapids are too rapid. Says who? You’re on a journey with no defined beginning, middle or end. There are no wrong twists and turns. There is just being. And your job is to be as you as you can be. This is why you’re here. To shy away from who you truly are would leave the world you-less. You are the only you there is and ever will be. I repeat, you are the only you there is and ever will be. Do not deny the world its one and only chance to bask in your brilliance.”

— Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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Victoria Chialy Smith, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. She provides individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!

15 Beautiful Quotes to Inspire Gratitude

There is power in gratitude. Life gets busy and we forget what we have. Gratitude recenters us, grounds us, focuses us on the richness in our lives.

Often times, its the simple things that can bring us joy. A smile we are grateful for. Ice cream sorbet on a hot summer’s night. Time spent with a friend. A hot shower at the end of a long day.

The truth is, we need to make gratitude a priority. It’s easy to get lost in doing that we forget to simply be. Moreover, gratitude invites other positives in your life, such as greater connection with others, kindness, improved resilience, decreased anxiety, increased self esteem and spirituality, improved sleep, and happiness.

Here are 15 beautiful gratitude quotes to help you reflect and to inspire you.

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

— Marcel Proust

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. ”

— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”

— Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

— A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

— Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

“Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow - you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.”

— Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”

— Maya Angelou

“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”

— Kahill Gibran, The Prophet

“Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.”

— Deepak Chopra

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.”

— Mary Davis

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

— Robert Brault

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

— Melody Beattie

“When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.”

— Kristin Armstrong

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

— William Arthur Ward

“The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.”

— Robert Holden

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Victoria Chialy Smith, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments, and serves the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help develop the best treatment for you!

3 Ways to Find Meaning and Purpose in Your Life

Some days, it can be hard to feel a sense of purpose in our lives.

We go through our days on autopilot. Everything feels as if it is a box to be checked. We have the job we want. The cars and the house. And yet somewhere inside, we wonder, what is this all leading to? What is the point of any of this? Where is the meaning in life?

In fact, meaning and purpose are adaptive and associated with improved emotional and physical outcomes. Meaning and purpose do not only arise out of discovery and development of your own unique gifts and talents, but also through service and connection to others and the greater community.

Here are 3 ways to cultivate passion and purpose in your life.

1. Use your pain and suffering for something greater

Sometimes life brings difficult events that are difficult to overcome. We walk through deep and dark places, grappling to make sense of the pain. Pain that seems senseless can be especially difficult to bear.

It’s counterintuitive, but you can use pain to grow and to discover your greater purpose. By turning toward the pain and embracing it, you can find the greater lessons within them, using them as an opportunity to turn wounds to wisdom. Sorrow and pain don’t have to be life defining, but instead, used as opportunities to move in a different direction.

So rise above the pain to use it for something greater. Oprah suffered a miscarriage at 14 to become one of the most influential women in the media. Charlize Theron grew up with an abusive father to become a celebrated actress. Amy Bleuel founded Project Semicolon, a mental health nonprofit presenting hope to individuals struggling with suicide, to honor her father’s passing due to suicide. There is a greater purpose to your pain, and your job is to find it. Struggles happen to strengthen you.

“Your purpose is hidden within your wounds.”

— Rune Lazuli

2. Focus on Running Your Own Race

Everyone has their own unique purpose in life. The truth is that you’re awesome — a collection of billions of cells, made of stardust. There’s only one person in this world who has the life and destiny you can live and its you. So spend time running your own race as hard and as well as you can.

“You are the only you that will ever be. You’re kind of a big deal.”

— Jen Sincero

3. Tell Your Story

Research shows that those who are able to create meaning out of suffering, and to create a new narrative of their lives after loss, live with greater purpose and fulfillment. Spend time thinking about how struggles and loss have helped you change and grow to overcome life’s adversities. Work to make sense of your experiences. Share your journey to help others feel less alone. Along the way, you’ll find connection, community, and purpose. To see this in action, check out The Mighty, which features a community of individuals, blogging and facing chronic health issues and mental illness together.

“Hardships prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary life.”

— C.S. Lewis

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Victoria Chialy Smith, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments, and serves the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help develop the best treatment for you!

7 Amazing Ways to Practice Gratitude

Gratitude helps us focus on our lives in a new way. It helps us to be present with our loved ones, and present in our lives. Rather than living in one’s thoughts and feeling trapped in feelings of anxiety, stress, or depression, we’re open and receptive to new ways of thinking and feeling. There’s something freeing about gratitude, and something amazing about how it can open up and expand our hearts.

The trouble is, its hard to be grateful. Trust me, as someone who has tried for years at it, it’s not easy! But the benefits of gratitude are worth it: we’re happier and lighter. We gain perspective on our life. And we’re present for it.

7 Amazing Ways to Practice Gratitude

1. Keep a gratitude journal. Write down 3 things you are grateful for each day.

2. Think of a simple thing to be grateful for. It could be something as simple as ice cream on a hot summer day. In your mind, say, ‘Thank you for..!’

3. Observe and be mindful as you go about your day of the small things or people in life that cheer you up, make you feel better, or your life easier.

4. Smile at someone and help make their day brighter

5. Contribute your time and efforts toward a cause you care about. Over time you’ll notice that the more you give, the more you also receive. Funny how life works sometimes..

6. Choose a symbol, like a bracelet, necklace or a small stone. Whenever you touch it, think of something that you are grateful for. In this way, it serves as a meditative reminder to you throughout the day — something to help ground you no matter what the day brings. '

7. Do something nice for someone you love. It can be big or small. Sometimes its the small things that bring great joy and happiness.

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Victoria Chialy Smith, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments, and serves the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help develop the best treatment for you!