25 Unique Inspirational Birthday Quotes For Myself

As my birthday is getting closer and my twenties are soon coming to an end, I figured some self-encouragement won’t hurt. I’ve been feeling somewhat behind in life lately, so this collection of 25 inspirational birthday quotes for myself is supposed to cheer me up a bit.

If you feel the same in anxious anticipation of your upcoming birthday, I hope these unique birthday quotes will give you the support and encouragement you need to reevaluate your life and get a fresh perspective!

These are 25 life lessons that I think I need to hear, and depending on where you are in life, you might need to hear them too. So even though I was looking for birthday quotes for me, I want this post to serve anyone who is feeling discouraged, unmotivated, or stuck in life.

But please, don’t just skim through this list!

Read one quote at a time, really think about what it says, and then think about your own life through the eyes of the person who thinks like that. Hopefully, you’ll have an a-ha moment (or several) in regard to what you might have been doing wrong, or get inspired for the next steps to take.

And hey, happy birthday to you! I hope your next year is amazing and full of positive memorable events! Let’s charge it right now with a bunch of motivational birthday quotes, shall we?

Why is it important to say inspiring things to yourself on your birthday?

An upcoming birthday makes you take a critical look on your life.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you think about getting a new perspective, reminding yourself of the big dreams you shoved into a back drawer of your mind and forgot about, or reevaluating what’s actually important for your happiness, a birthday appears to be an important and exciting day totally worth enjoying.

But we are usually doing it all wrong.

According to one Japanese suicide study, people are 50% more likely to die on their birthday compared to any other date. This just proves how much unnecessary pressure we all experience every year on our birthday.

Between all the things we feel we have to do and be and all the traditional expectations from (often totally ridiculous and old-fashioned) society standards, it’s really hard to detach from it all and allow yourself to just feel joyful on your special day.

That’s why reading inspirational birthday quotes to yourself is like getting a breath of fresh air. It’s nice to pause your overwhelming thoughts and listen to something important all those wise and accomplished people have to say.

By looking up things like “short inspirational birthday quotes for myself”, you are giving yourself a little gift: a gift of self-care. Well done for being your own best friend and taking care of your mental health!

With that said, you don’t have to go through the difficult time alone. If you experience a birthday depression (yes, it’s real!), consider talking to a professional listener. From hopping on a quick video call to the privacy of chat messages, you can choose the way of having a therapeutic conversation that is the most comfortable for you. Try it today.

Coming back to our birthday thoughts, practicing self-love means simply knowing when to leverage the external knowledge that comes from inspirational quotes, and basically allowing yourself to be happy no matter what. Yes, it is that simple.

Being kind and saying inspiring things to yourself on your birthday is very important as it helps you figure out what are the things that bring you joy and do more of them, as well as guides you on your journey to reinvent yourself and rediscover your purpose, or find a new one.

Lastly, self-encouragement keeps you in a high vibe state which is crucial if you ever want to feel fulfilled in life. It opens your eyes to the new opportunities that you can’t see when you are locked in the darkness of circling negative thoughts. It distracts you from your comfy cycles of negativity by planting new positive ideas into your mind. Which is essentially the first step to happiness.

So are you ready to stop feeling like that and become a happier person? Let’s start with some quotes!

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25 unique birthday quotes for self

1. Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. – Carol Burnett

Your life is always in your own hands.

Whether you look for excuses or look for opportunities, it’s your choice.

If you are getting everything you want, you are the one to thank for it. And if you aren’t, the person to blame is also you. It’s time to finally take responsibility for your own life and do your best to direct it where you really want it to go.

What is one small thing you can do today to bring your dream life closer?

2. You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens. – Mandy Hale

It often happens that we are so stuck on the specific path that we don’t see better or easier opportunities to achieve the same. If you are constantly hitting obstacles, maybe it’s not the right path for you? Take a break, let yourself breathe, detach from the process, and trust the universe to guide you to your goal.

3. If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. – Roald Dahl

This quote always makes me smile when I read it!

Have you ever noticed how you are always naturally drawn to people that appear joyful and positive? And how people who smile more kinda look prettier than the ones who keep a grim face?

It’s not just a feeling. Studies show that looking at a smiling face produces more brain activity in the reward center compared to just looking at an attractive face. This tells us that the simple act of smiling actually makes you appear more attractive, and who doesn’t want that?

And guess what? The easier way to smile more is to stuff your brain with positive thoughts, of course!

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4. 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

If you ever have repeating negative thoughts like “I am too … for this”, catch them and show them the door. Whether you think you are too young, too old, too busy, too inexperienced, or too unattractive, there is always someone out there who was much more of that “too something” when they achieved the same thing you want.

Look up some biographies from really successful people in your field and draw inspiration from them. You might be surprised to know what they had to go through in order to get there. Let this quote be a reminder that it’s never too late and you can always start over even if you fail.

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5. Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. – Mark Twain

When life comes to an end, nobody regrets going for their dreams, or even failing at something. But regretting things that you always wanted but never managed to do is very common.

We keep putting things off, waiting for the perfect moment which might never come. Whatever you wanna do, today is the best day you’ll ever have to start it. Not tomorrow, not Monday, not next year, and definitely not never. If you really want it, don’t let anything stop you!

6. Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault

Do you celebrate the little achievements and feel grateful for the tiniest things you have? There are so many things that we take for granted and don’t value them enough until we lose them.

If you have a cozy corner somewhere on this planet where you can snuggle up with a blanket and feel comfortable and safe, you are lucky. If you have even one person who smiles when they see you, you are lucky. If you are going to have something enjoyable for dinner today, you have more than enough to be thankful for.

Sunshine, pets, peaceful sky above your head, unlimited air to breathe available for free, and the fact that you woke up to live another day are all awesome things worth acknowledging. Let yourself feel joy in the little moments.

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We tend to easily forget all the small things that bring us joy in everyday life. Find your way to remember.

For example, I have this five-year journal where I sum up every day in a couple of sentences. It teaches your brain to notice the good more and remember it (so you have something to write about at the end of the day!) and it’s really fun to see what was special about this same day a year ago.

7. Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. – Marcel Proust

I thank the Universe every day for my amazing husband. Whether it’s your spouse, your best friend, your sister, your child, or your mentor, if there is a person who makes you happy or joyful or excited or inspired on a regular basis, appreciate them for just being in your life.

And don’t be shy to actually express your gratitude to them. Say, with a little positive energy gift on a random day, without any particular cause. Because why not? They are probably awesome, don’t they deserve the best?

8. Just when the caterpillar thought its world was over, it became a butterfly. – Zhuang Zhou

The way you see life is often limited by your surroundings, social circle, and inner beliefs from childhood. Just because someone tells you that “this is the right way” to do something, or that something is impossible, doesn’t mean it’s true. It might be their truth, but it doesn’t have to be yours.

You can always be your own person, find your own way, prove everyone wrong, and transform into a beautiful butterfly happily flying into the unknown, leaving your mundane life and all the naysayers behind.

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9. Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale

If you start something today, a year from now you will have a whole year of progress in this area. If you keep hesitating and waiting for a better time, the year will go by anyway, and you’ll be still stuck in the same place where you are now.

Maybe it’s not a bad place to be in, but is it everything you ever dreamed of? If you have a feeling that there has to be something more for you, you are not alone. And there probably is.

10. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You might not believe this, but right this moment you have everything you need to change your life into your dream life. And if something is missing, the Universe will arrange it coming to you as soon as you clearly express your intention and start moving in that direction.

This inspirational birthday quote tells us to stop holding on to the past and worrying too much about the future, as your life is happening in this very moment. Learn to be more present, enjoy the current moment as if it was the only one you had, and do what you can with what you already have.

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11. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. – Tony Robbins

You can’t know for sure something is impossible unless you tried it. You may believe someone who tried and failed and gave up and decided it’s impossible, but it doesn’t mean your journey will be the same.

And if someone talks you out of doing your thing and they never tried it, why are you even listening?

It’s your life, and it’s your journey. It might be scary, but you are the only one who can take it away from you by deciding that’s impossible and not going for it. Or not trying hard enough. Or giving up after the first obstacle. If you really believe in something, you don’t stop until you prove yourself right.

12. Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. – Lucille Ball

Self-love is a very contradictory subject. So often we are subconsciously scared to really love ourselves because we think it’s selfish, it’s not what you should be prioritizing, and it’s generally not what a good person should care about.

The notion of being a good wife, husband, a good parent, or a good citizen is based a lot on self-sacrifices and putting someone else’s needs first. But if you compare an exhausted woman who neglects herself and is always stressed out to a happy woman who is peaceful and easygoing, who do you think can be a better mother and make a child happier?

The better you feel, the more energy you have to share with the world. The more love you have, the more you have to share. It’s not sad and depressed people who usually change the world, it’s the ones who know their worth, do whatever makes them happy, and love themselves enough to make the best of what they got.

So love yourself, with all your heart.

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13. Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change. – Gautama Buddha

You don’t have to be buddhist or religious at all to be able to leverage the knowledge of asian spiritual teachers. The short and on point inspirational quotes with the biggest takeaways are all over the Internet, and this is one of the good ones.

The more I learn about the human mind, especially the newer studies on neuroplasticity, the more fascinated I get with by the mind power we all have and only a small percentage of us are using. It’s a big topic to talk about, but the main idea is simple: whatever you think of, you attract more of. Fill your mind with positive thoughts and get rid of all the negativity that holds you back from greatness – and you’ll open yourself to a whole world of awesomeness!

14. When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you. – Lolly Daskal

As another birthday is coming, it’s time to get your priorities straight.

If you are not in a place now where you expected to be a year ago, you probably lost your focus somewhere along the way. Maybe you paid too much attention to the things that aren’t important in the long run. Maybe you just forgot your last year’s resolutions. Or maybe your goals have changed since then.

Whatever happened, let it go. Set new yearly goals and do better this time.

Life only gets in the way if we let it. If we decide it’s okay to postpone our dreams, if we see other things as more important. It’s okay if you did it in the past, but you have to be more conscious about your decisions in the future if you want your life to change.

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15. Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine. – Roy T. Bennett

Low self-esteem is probably the biggest thing that stops people from achieving greatness. If you don’t see how awesome you are, it’s hard for others to see it too, and you are essentially hiding your gifts instead of sharing them with the world.

Grow your self-confidence enough to be able to believe in yourself no matter what. Even when nobody else believes in you. Even against all odds. If you know deep inside it should be possible, be kind enough to yourself to allow yourself go for it.

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16. By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before. – Edwin Elliot

There is only one you in this world. You are totally unique, wonderful, and one-of-a-kind. Why try to be a copy of someone else and even compare yourself to others, if they are not you? Learn from their successes, find out what brings you joy, and do it in your own creative way.

17. Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. – Farraj Gray

I love, love, love this quote! And I think it’s a perfect birthday quote that can serve as a wake-up call for you.

So tell me now: are you working on your dreams or are you just a tiny cog in someone else’s big dream machine? I’m not saying you need to quit your job right now, but I am saying that you can maybe find the time to start working on something that makes you happy outside of work.

18. Sometime, when you least expect it, you’ll realize that someone loved you. And that means that someone can love you again! And that will make you smile. – Homer Simpson

One of our most fundamental needs is to love and be loved. Whether it’s an intimate relationship, a close friendship, or family love, we all want it and we rarely feel completely happy until we have it.

Just remember that you deserve to be loved unconditionally, and let nice people love you.

19. We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future. – Robin Sharma

Whether or not you have figured out by now what your life purpose is, you probably know very well what kind of life would make you absolutely happy. So compare this picture to your current situation, find out what’s missing, and off you go building it! Whatever happened to you in the past, whatever you had or didn’t have, did or didn’t do, it’s all part of your journey. It doesn’t define who you are or what you are capable of.

Turn a new page.

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20. If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. – Banksy

Banksy doesn’t have a face but he has a point.

When you are exhausted, you see the world in darker colors, and the forest in front of you might seem more impenetrable than it actually is. Let yourself pause, step back, dedicate some time to self-care, clear your mind, and then come back to look at your forest with a set of fresh well-rested eyes. Or climb a nearest tree and try to see the bigger picture. You might see a narrow trail nearby that you haven’t noticed before. Or at least a machete that someone who gave up at this point just left there.

21. Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. – Robin Sharma

Are you in a better place than you were a year ago? Do you feel like you are moving forward in the right direction or do you feel stuck?

Of course, if you are completely happy with your life right now, if you already living your dream, I am truly happy for you, and you can skip to the next quote.

But if you aren’t, that’s okay. The moment you realize that you are not growing and decide to do something about it – this is the moment you start growing.

How about making the next year your best ever?

22. Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical. – Sophia Loren

Following ridiculous society standards when it comes to appearances often brings nothing but mental health issues. And whereas the definition of beauty changes from generation to generation and from country to country, our inner need to meet those standards stays the same.

When I say that someone is a beautiful person, I don’t mean that they have perfect facial features (what’s perfect, anyway?). I mean that they are nice to be around, and pleasant to look at (might be anything from an infectious smile or confident posture to incredible art or music they are making out of thin air right in front of you).

We are all born beautiful, regardless of the way we look. Accept your beautifulness and let others see it too.

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23. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. – Maya Angelou

This inspiring quote by Maya Angelou goes hand in hand with another one of my favorite birthday quotes: “If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. – Jim Rohn”.

Change is scary, but it’s always available to you, one way or another. If something’s bothering you and it is in your power to do something about it, do it! And if it’s not, let it go and focus your attention on something worth your energy.

24. Remember, every pro was first an amateur. Start your dream now. – Marie Forleo

While some people have a natural disposition toward some things, nobody is born with excellent skills. Even the most influential person you admire started the same as you did: not knowing how to walk or talk.

Thomas Edison said that he “found 10,000 ways that won’t work” before he actually invented the working light bulb. If you think you are not as smart as he is, try doing ten thousand experiments, or drawing ten thousand pictures, or spending ten thousand hours learning one skill, and then we’ll talk about whether or not you are a failure.

You can’t know whether or not you are good enough to do something until you have not only tried it, but used up all the possible ways to achieve it. So enough with self-flagellation already, and maybe go try something new?

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25. You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. – John C. Maxwell

This is my final birthday quote for yourself, and hopefully, it inspires you to rethink your daily routine. Your habits are things you “just do” without thinking about it, so what habit can you add today to make your life a bit better in the long run?

Final thoughts on unique birthday quotes for myself

These were 25 unique inspirational quotes to say “Happy birthday” to yourself. Hope you loved them and they made you shift your perspective or question a thing or two about your current mindset.

Let me know in the comments below, what is your biggest takeaway and which quote is your favorite! If this post was helpful in any way, don’t hesitate to share it with a friend who might also need a little encouragement.

I hope your birthday goes very well, as well as the whole year before the next one, because regardless of what you think of yourself right now, you deserve the best life has to offer!