Ajima Jackson

When you are trying to lose weight, workout regularly, avoid stress and change your overall lifestyle, mindset is key. Sometimes, powerful words can inspire and motivate us by planting a seed of positivity in our minds or making us see our situation a little differently. Here are some great quotes from African American women that will inspire you on your weight release, self love and wellness journey.

“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.”
– Angela Walker

“Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.”
– Shonda Rhimes

“I am a strong woman with or without this other person, with or without this job, and with or without these tight pants.”
-Queen Latifah

“Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about yourself. We cannot outperform our level of self-esteem. We cannot draw to ourselves more than we think we are worth.”
– Iyanla Vanzant

“Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your goal.”
– Ava DuVernay

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
– Audre Lorde

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion. The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”
– Wilma Rudolph

“I believe it’s time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them.”
– Janelle Monae

“God, make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.”
– Ruby Dee

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

“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.”
– Michelle Obama

“It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.”
– Jackie Joyner-Kersee

“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.”
– Alice Walker

“I define joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace – a connection to what matters.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
– Audre Lorde

“People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him.”
– Pearl Bailey

“Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.”
– Mary McLeod Bethune

“I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.”
– Nikki Giovanni

“I feel myself becoming the fearless person I have dreamt of being. Have I arrived? No. But I’m constantly evolving and challenging myself to be unafraid to make mistakes.”
– Janelle Monae

“One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see.”
– Gabourey Sidibe

“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”
– Shirley Chisholm

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations. If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won’t exist because you’ll have already shut it out. You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.”
– Mae Jamison

“No one can figure out your worth but you.”
– Pearl Bailey

“If you’re not feeling good about you, what you’re wearing outside doesn’t mean a thing.”
– Leontyne Price

“I never intended to become a run-of-the-mill person.”
– Barbara Jordan

“If your neighbor looks at you like they don’t enjoy the key you’re singing in, look right back, bless them, and keep on singing.”
– Odetta

“I am not a quitter. I will fight until I drop. It is just a matter of having some faith in the fact that as long as you are able to draw breath in the universe, you have a chance.”
– Cicely Tyson

“No person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended.”
– Angela Walker

“Perseverance is my motto.”
– Madame C.J. Walker

“In every aspect of our lives, we are always asking ourselves, How am I of value? What is my worth? Yet I believe that worthiness is our birthright.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“In order for you to be able to execute all of those different qualities as a woman and as a person, you have to take care of yourself.”
– Tia Mowry-Hardrict

“I always felt like my value was much more in my intellect than it was in my appearance.”
– Kerry Washington

“We have to nurture our young women and understand the beauty and the strength of being a woman. It’s kind of a catch-22: Strength in women isn’t appreciated, and vulnerability in women isn’t appreciated. It’s like, ‘What the hell do you do?’ What you do is you don’t allow anyone to dictate who you are.”
– Jada Pinkett Smith

“I don’t harp on the negative because if you do, then there’s no progression. There’s no forward movement. You got to always look on the bright side of things, and we are in control. Like, you have control over the choices you make.”
– Taraji P. Henson

Each person must live their life as a model for others.
-Rosa Parks