12 Self-Mastery Quotes That Will Elevate Your Personal Growth

Here are my favorite self-mastery and self-improvement quotes that allow you to start digging inside yourself and searching for who you are. They help you find the raw, most authentic version of yourself. Self-awareness is essential to growth, and one cannot succeed with such knowledge of the self.

I hope these quotes inspire you to go soul searching for yourself. You may, after all, surprise yourself just the right way.

1. "Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." -Carl Jung

Not sure what you want to do? Stuck in life? Look at what your heart aches for and follow the signs your soul gives you. Pay attention to the things you resonate with- perhaps it's going to a place you've always dreamed of. Maybe it's feeling peace when you're sitting by a stream. Whatever it is- go for the things that resonate with you. It's like life is giving you signals to the fulfillment road- read the signals, read yourself. To read yourself successfully you first learn about yourself. Journaling can be a really good way to figure yourself out!

2. "Rule your mind or it will rule you." -Buddha

Learn to control your thoughts, or your thoughts are going to control you. This is where you switch the light from off to on. You're the only one in charge of your thinking, and whatever you think, comes back to you in feelings. So you either feel good or bad based on the thoughts that you are having- so choose to think positively- no matter what the circumstances are.

3. "The boundaries of your life are merely creations of the self." -Robin Sharma, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

You'll go as far as you allow yourself to go. If you have dreams and goals then great, you're already ahead of the game. The next thing to do is to take action. In preparing to take action, write a list of obstacles you may overcome, failures you might have, anything that might get in the way of you and your goal. You're preparing your mind to be able to overcome things you predicted. Don't forget that preparation can go a long way. Believe in yourself, your dream, and go at it full action.

4. "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." -Viktor E. Frankl

When a situation gives you a negative emotion, you have a choice of either changing the situation or changing what you think of it. When you cannot change the situation, then you must change yourself and your thoughts about it. We have our own beliefs based on what we learned from childhood, observing others, etc., But beliefs can change, as can people. If you have reacted negatively to something, then you must begin to dig into yourself and find out exactly why you feel the way you do about it. Those underlying reasons need to be dug up and addressed. If you leave it buried then you will always have that negativity whenever you have to deal with similar issues- not only that but the longer you put it off the bigger the issue becomes. It will always come up until you learn what you need to learn. When you have a negative emotion about something, the only thing you need to ask yourself is, 'Why am I feeling this way? What about this situation makes me feel this way? How can I change my perspective into a positive one, so I don't get bothered by this the next time?' Asking yourself questions will evoke answers that you can then begin to problem solve.

5. "In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess." -Dalai Lama

When you begin to learn about yourself- you begin to learn things that are undeniable. Things that you know are truer than true (thank you, Dr. Seuss). You begin to acknowledge the truth. You can either benefit from it or make yourself miserable with it by ignoring it and making it harder for yourself. But the truth is the truth. It won't disappear just because you don't like it. That's not how life works. You've got to get to the bottom of your feelings and begin working your way through it. You've got to problem solve. How can you use your truths to benefit you? What are the positives about them? Find out things about yourself and how to make yourself into a warrior using the traits and aspects of yourself. Don't let it cripple you. Let it guide you, let it take you on an adventure. Let it change you into a better version of yourself.

6. "Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason." -Katrina Mayer

Is it a coincidence? Nah, just an awareness alert trying to signal you. No one out there has the same dreams as you do. Sure they may be similar, but none are too alike. Which means that you were specially chosen for that job. Don't throw away your dreams. If you're not sure of your dreams, then that's where self-awareness can come in. Start to pay attention to the things you love to do; to your passions, to the things that are fun. Walk in that direction, and it'll lead you to where you want to be. Just don't let anything trip you up along the way- at least for not too long. Anything can be solved; everything comes with a lesson. Make sure you train your mind to deal with it efficiently and effectively.

7. "As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better." -Steve Maraboli

Sometimes, we are so sure about the direction we are going into. But life has others plans. Don't go against that, flow with it and see where it takes you. More often than not, life is redirecting you towards something better. Look within yourself and know that you already have everything inside you that you need to succeed. Don't think about the path you missed because a) it's in the past, and b) it wasn't meant to be. Better things are coming; you must trust that.

8. "The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development." -Robin Sharma

The best way to succeed starts with you. It starts with your self-awareness and knowledge. You must learn about yourself and the way you operate (and why that is) before you figure anything else out. Imagine yourself preparing for a battle; if you don't learn about yourself and train your mind constantly and consistently, you won't be ready for battle. You won't be ready for what's out there. Will you fail? Only if you give up, otherwise, you'll just suffer a bit more along the way. Prepare yourself; know thyself.

9. "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The past is gone- and the future is unpredictable. Right now, within yourself- is your best moment to shine. You've survived everything in the past for a reason. And you'll survive most things in the future too. You are incredibly strong, more so than you think. You fight and persevere through things whether you think so are not. Constantly and consistently. Continue your best, and you will strive. Go out there, brave soul.

10. "Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own." -Bruce Lee

We live in a world where there is too much information. Often times, people believe everything they see and read in the media without ever really having the proper knowledge of what they are even seeing or reading. Don't believe everything you read, hear, or see. Learn the WHOLE story- not jus one side of it. Do proper research before making a decision on what to think and believe. Take in what resonates with you the most- and then add your own mix of uniqueness into it. Balance is always key.

11. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." -Carl Jung

Everything that bothers you bothers you for a reason. You have to ask yourself 'why' to get to the bottom of that reason. When you have a problem with something- it's your issue, nobody else's. Which means it's your job to solve that issue. If you want to stop being bothered by things, people, etc., then learn about WHY you have a problem with it and be honest about it. Once you figure that out, only then can you decide to use your problem-solving skills and fix your issue with it. It's about evolvement- are you evolving? You're not doing this for anybody else but yourself. You can either cultivate self-awareness and learn from it and grow, or you can stay stuck. The choice is yours, it always has been.

12. "The only journey is the journey within." -Rainer Maria Rilke

At the end of the day, you are left with YOU. Self-awareness/growth/all that good stuff- it's not a destination, it's all a process. It's all a journey and a beautiful one at that. You don't ever stop learning about yourself; you just become more aware of yourself and your abilities.

You learn about the things you like and you learn to prioritize what's most important to you. You learn about the things that don't resonate with you and things that do. Why is that?

When you learn who you are- you learn where your decisions come from. You learn to make decisions from a place of self-respect and LOVE instead of from fear and anxiety. A simple example of this can be posting a picture on social media: are you doing it for the likes or are you doing it because it's you and you LOVE it? Are you doing it for your ego or are you doing it for yourself?

Self-awareness also teaches you to take yourself out of situations you don't want to be in because you're more confident about who you are, what you represent, what you want- and what you don't want.

Self-mastery teaches you that you are valuable as anyone else and that you should not be taken advantage of and vise versa.

Self-mastery teaches you your place in this world and what you can do with you for you. You discover so much more about yourself than you could ever imagine- and the best part? Not only is it immensely and naturally enjoyable, but it also never stops (as long as you don't).

The 'self' is a lifelong journey and there are always things to figure out. But why not have fun on the ride? Because eventually, the ending will come, and you'll have to come to terms with whether you lived a life that was good enough for you. And luckily, self-mastery makes that journey so much easier and much more pleasant.

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Olya Barnett a Personal-Growth Coach, she helps empower people to live their best lives by becoming self-aware, altering their mindset for success, and helping people to show up as their highest and authentic selves WHILE learning how to think positively. She is also the creator and writer of www.positivitysparkles.com, a website that promotes positive thinking and personal growth to become your best self! Join our email list for the best goodies straight to your inbox!