Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. - Arthur Ashe

100 Self Motivation Intentional Quotes To Inspire

We all need a little extra push to keep moving forward through the ups and downs of everyday life. But what is the driving force that keeps you going when things get tough? 

As a self-motivated person, my super power is the ability to keep pushing toward my goals, even in the face of a big challenge or a setback. If this doesn’t describe you, don’t worry! Using this list of self motivation intentional quotes will help you make intentional living and self motivation a priority!

What Is Self Motivation?

My self motivation gives me an inner drive and determination to pursue my goals without relying on external rewards or pressures. Self motivation pushes you to take whatever action is necessary to overcome life’s obstacles. People who are self-motivated usually find themselves better equipped to stay committed to long-term goals, even in the face of challenges, obstacles, and setbacks.

What Is Intentional Living?

Intentional living is a lifestyle approach that emphasizes living with purpose, mindfulness, and a deliberate focus on your values and goals. When you live with intention, you put in a conscious effort to make mindful decisions that align with your core beliefs and aspirations, rather than simply going through life on autopilot or reacting to circumstances as they arise.

How Can I Use Self Motivation to be Intentional?

When life gets busy, hectic, and stressful, it is easy for our priorities and intentions to become blurred. As a certified life coach, one area of personal growth that I help people focus on is becoming more self-motivated. Self-motivation can be a powerful force that helps you stay committed to intentional living in your daily routine. 

I find it helps to start by clearly defining your intentions and goals in various areas of your life. Whether this includes your career, relationships, personal development, health, or any other aspect that’s important to you, make your intentions as clear as possible!

It also helps to ensure that your intentions align with your core values and beliefs. The best way to live a life of intentionality is to make sure that your goals are in harmony with what truly matters to you! 

I have found that it can sometimes help to imagine the consequences of not being intentional. This can be a powerful motivator and remind you of why your goals are important and what you stand to lose if you don’t take action. For example, if you struggle to be intentional with your family, recognizing the impact it may have on your important relationships could motivate you to make a change.

As a life coach, I have noticed that many people find positive affirmations helpful to reinforce their motivation. Affirmations are a powerful tool to remind yourself of your capabilities and the reasons why your intentions are important to you.

Try sharing your intentions with someone you trust, such as a friend, family member, or mentor. They can provide support and help you stay accountable to yourself, which can boost your motivation to live your best life.

100 Self Motivation Intentional Quotes

Let’s dig into this list of 100 self motivation intentional quotes to get you set up with the right mindset to live an intentional life!

  1. “Nobody finishes well by accident.” – John C. Maxwell
  2. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
  3. “One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.” – Henry David Thoreau
  4. “You cannot live with intent if you don’t know what your own intentions are.” – Shawn Wells
  5. “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make us.” – Richie Norton
  6. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  7. “The key is not to prioritize your schedule but schedule your priorities.” – Steven Covey
  8. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” – Nora Roberts
  9. “It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.” – Roy E. Disney
  10. “Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Chose without regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” – Mary Ann Radmacher
  11. “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness — it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brene Brown
  12. “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.” – Amanda Gorman 
  13. “The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first.” – Kumail Nanjiani
  14. “Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.” – Margaret Peters
  15. “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” – Winston S. Churchill 
  16. “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” – C.G. Jung
“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” - C.G. Jung

Inspirational Quotes for Self Motivation

  1. “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
  2. “The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible.” – Andy Andrews
  3. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Tony Robbins
  4. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
  5. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln
  6. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
  7. “The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.” – Joshua Becker
  8. “My definition of success: When your core values and self-concept are in harmony with your daily actions and behaviors.” – John Spence
  9. “To the degree we’re not living our dreams; our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves.” – Peter McWilliams
  10. “Living with intention means … saying yes to what matters most.” – Crystal Paine
  11. “Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliot
  12. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.” – Zig Ziglar
  13. “Although difficult, change is always possible. What hold us back from making the changes we desire are our own limiting thoughts and actions.” – Satsuki
  14. “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” – Roy E. Disney
  15. “You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.” – Evan Esar

Intentional Living Quotes for a Purposeful Life

  1. “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Ghandi
  2. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  3. “Intentional days create a life on purpose.” – Adrienne Enns
  4. “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” – Dalai Lama
  5. “If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” – Bishop T.D. Jakes“The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” – Thomas Carlyle
  6. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
  7. “The two most important days in life are the day you born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
  8. “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
  9. “The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  10. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
  11. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
  12. “It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?” ― Henry David Thoreau
  13. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
  14. “From a little spark may burst a flame.” – Dante Alighieri
“From a little spark may burst a flame.” - Dante Alighieri

Motivational Quotes for Intentional Living

  1. “Intentional living is about living your best story.” – John C. Maxwell
  2. “If it’s a priority you’ll find a way. If it isn’t, you’ll find an excuse.” – Jim Rohn
  3. “If you are not consciously building your habits, they are unconsciously building you.” – Anika J. Green
  4. “Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest, well — that is a choice.” – Andy Andrews
  5. “I’ve learned that people will will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
  6. “When your intention is clear, so is the way.” – Alan Cohen
  7. “To live intentionally implies that it will not always be convenient, but it will take you to significance if you do not give up.” – Sunday Adelaja
  8. “Being intentional means living a life that aligns with God’s plan for you.” – Lysa TerKeurst
  9. “Our words have power. They impact others, but they also impact us.” – Michael Hyatt
  10. “Never surrender your hopes and dreams to the fateful limitations others have placed on their own lives.” – Anthon St. Maarten
  11. “When your intentions are pure, so too will be your success.” – Charles F. Glassman MD
  12. “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” – Aristotle
  13. “It’s not about ‘what can I accomplish?’ but ‘what do I want to accomplish? Paradigm shift.” – Brené Brown

Quotes for Self Motivation and Personal Growth

  1. “Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values.” – Dalai Lama
  2. “Don’t go through life, grow through life.” – Eric Butterworth
  3. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
  4. “Things do not change, we change.” – Henry David Thoreau
  5. “Make a commitment to grow daily.” – John C. Maxwell
  6. “You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are.” – Rachel Hollis
  7. “It’s never too late to begin living more courageously.” – Brendon Burchard
  8. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  9. “To change your life, you need to change your priorities.” – Mark Twain
  10. “The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.” – John C. Maxwell
  11. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” – William James
  12. “Do something today that your future self will thank you for” – Sean Patrick Flanery
  13. “Nobody’s life is ever all balanced. It’s a conscious decision to choose your priorities every day.” – Elisabeth Hasselbeck
  14. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
  15. “If you’re going to grow, you have to be intentional.” – Curt Kampmeier
  16. “It’s only by saying “no” that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.” – Steve Jobs
  17. “Learn from every mistake, because every experience particularly your mistakes, are there to teach you and force you into being more of who you are.” – Oprah Winfrey
  18. “The slower the living, the greater the sense of fullness and satisfaction.” – Ann Voskamp
  19. “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
  20. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. - Zig Ziglar

Intention Quotes for a Meaningful Life

  1. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” – Albert Einstein
  2. “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
  3. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau
  4.  “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde
  5. “Make your life a meaningful one.” – Sunday Adelaja
  6. “An unintentional life accepts everything and does nothing. An intentional life embraces only the things that will add to the mission of significance.” – John C. Maxwell
  7. “Every action has an impact, choose wisely the impact you want to have.” – Mindy Hall
  8. “Intentionality fuels the master’s journey.” – Robin Sharma
  9. “Never confuse movement with action.” – Ernest Hemingway
  10. “The best things in life aren’t things.” – Art Buchwald
  11. “The power of intention is the power to manifest, to create, to live a life of unlimited abundance, and to attract into your life the right people at the right moments.” – Wayne Dyer
  12. “Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.” – Izey Victoria Odiase
  13. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot
  14. “Intention is one of the most powerful forces there is. What you mean when you do a thing will always determine the outcome. The law creates the world.” – Breanna Yovanoff
  15. “The future is not something we enter. The future is something we create.” – Michael Hyatt
  16. “Saying no to one thing is saying yes to the possibility of another.” – Ellie Roscher
  17. “An ordinary life becomes extraordinary when not taken for granted.” – Ayoola Ekunboyejo
  18. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
  19. “Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story.” – Cheryl Strayed
  20. “When you get right down to it, intentional living is about living your best story.” – John C. Maxwell
  21. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer
  22. “Breathe with intention and your paper boats will sail far.” – Nanette L. Avery

Using Self Motivation Intentional Quotes

Living a life of purpose and self motivation can be hard work. But every time I read these inspirational quotes I am filled with a passion to live my life with intention, purpose, and a commitment to my dreams!

My hope is that these 100 self motivation intentional quotes will remind you that you have the power to decide what to do with your time and energy. It’s time to set your intentions and take action to make this your best life possible!

If you are looking for more inspirational quotes to help you build up your self-motivation, check out our list of intentional living quotes!

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! If you know someone who could use self motivation intentional quotes, this blog post could be just what they need!


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