Get early access

Lists of lines by theme. Play any set on repeat.

Affirmations for teens

60 affirmations in 7 sets · Updated

Affirmations for teens are short, first-person sentences, like “One bad grade doesn’t decide my future,” that you can say to yourself to get through a hard moment or remember what matters to you. Below are 60 positive affirmations for teens, sorted by the stuff that actually comes up: school, friends, social media, your body, stress and worry, figuring out who you are, and home.

They’re written to be believable. If a line sounded like a poster in a dentist’s office, it didn’t make the list. Every one is something you could say to yourself and mostly mean, even on a bad day.

Pick two or three that hit home. That’s plenty.

Read by Ivy

Press play to hear them read aloud, one after another, on repeat.

In the app, hear your own lines in a realistic voice, or your own, and change any of them. Get early access

For school

Read by Ivy
  1. One bad grade doesn’t decide my future.
  2. I can ask the teacher to explain it again.
  3. A test shows what I knew that day, not how smart I am.
  4. I’ll start the assignment with just ten minutes.Ten minutes is small enough to start and long enough to get going. If you want to stop after that, you can.
  5. I don’t have to be the best in the class to be doing well.
  6. Being confused means I’m in the middle of learning something.
  7. Getting help is nothing to be embarrassed about.
  8. It’s okay to find some subjects hard.
  9. I can be proud of the effort I put in today.

For friends and fitting in

Read by Ivy
  1. I don’t have to change who I am to keep a friend.
  2. It’s okay to be on the edge of a group while I find my people.
  3. I can sit with someone new at lunch.
  4. Not being invited once doesn’t mean nobody likes me.When you’re left out, it’s easy to jump to the worst explanation. There are usually others: a small group, a last-minute plan, a mix-up.
  5. If something feels wrong, I can say no, even if my friends say yes.
  6. I only need a few people who really get me.
  7. Being a good friend doesn’t mean I can’t have limits.
  8. I can stay out of drama that isn’t mine.
  9. It’s okay to grow apart from people.

For social media

Read by Ivy
  1. Other people’s posts show their best moments, not their whole day.
  2. Likes don’t measure my worth.
  3. When scrolling starts to make me feel worse, I can put my phone down.Notice how you feel after ten minutes of scrolling. If the answer is “worse,” that’s your cue.
  4. I don’t have to reply right away.
  5. Muting, unfollowing or blocking someone who makes me feel small is allowed.
  6. I don’t need to see what everyone is doing tonight.
  7. What I post doesn’t have to be perfect.
  8. Before I post about someone, I’ll ask if I’d say it to their face.

For your body

Read by Ivy
  1. My body is changing, and that’s normal.
  2. I don’t have to look like anyone online.
  3. Filters aren’t real life.
  4. My body is for living in, not for being rated.
  5. Regular meals, enough sleep and moving in ways I enjoy all help me feel better.
  6. I’m more than how I look in a photo.
  7. I can wear what I feel comfortable in.
  8. When a mean thought about my body shows up, I don’t have to believe it.You can’t always stop the thought, but you can answer it: “That’s the mean voice again. Not today.”

For stress and worry

Read by Ivy
  1. I can feel anxious and still go.
  2. This feeling is strong right now, and it will pass.
  3. When I breathe out slowly, my shoulders can drop.
  4. I don’t have to have my whole future figured out yet.
  5. My nerves mean my body is getting ready.Nerves and excitement feel almost the same in your body. Calling them excitement can help you use the energy instead of fighting it.
  6. Talking to someone I trust can make this feel lighter.
  7. One thing at a time is enough.
  8. I can get through today, and then tomorrow.
  9. Telling an adult I’m struggling is a brave thing to do.

For being yourself

Read by Ivy
  1. I’m still figuring out who I am, and that’s okay.
  2. I can like what I like, even if it isn’t cool.
  3. My opinions matter, even when I’m the youngest in the room.
  4. I’m allowed to change my mind.
  5. Nobody needs me to be a copy of someone else.
  6. Mistakes I make now are part of growing up, not proof that I’m bad.
  7. I’m getting better at things, even if it’s slow.
  8. Being quiet doesn’t mean I have nothing to say.
  9. I’m worth being patient with.Say this one on the days you’re hardest on yourself. You’d be patient with a friend who was still learning.

For home and family

Read by Ivy
  1. I can disagree with my parents and still love them.
  2. I can explain how I feel without yelling.
  3. Grown-up problems at home are not mine to fix.
  4. When home feels loud, I can find a quiet spot for a while.
  5. My family might not get me right now, and I’ll still be okay.
  6. I can be part of my family and still be my own person.
  7. If home is hard, I can talk to a teacher, counselor or another adult I trust.If you ever feel unsafe at home, tell a teacher or school counselor. If you’re in danger right now, call 911.
  8. Needing space doesn’t mean I don’t want to be close.

How to use them

  • Pick two or three. One for school, one for when your head gets loud.
  • Put them where you’ll see them. Your lock screen, a sticky note on your mirror or inside your locker, the first page of a notebook.
  • Say them at a set moment. On the bus or the walk to school, before a test, or when you plug your phone in at night.
  • Talk to yourself like a friend would. You can even use “you” and your own name: “You’ve got this, Jordan. Just start the first question.” In a set of studies, people who coached themselves this way before a stressful speech felt less distressed and did better than people who used “I” (Kross et al., 2014).
  • Swap them out when they stop meaning anything.

Why believable lines work better

It might seem like the bigger the affirmation, the better. Not really. In one study, people with low self-esteem who repeated “I’m a lovable person” ended up feeling worse, probably because the line clashed with how they already saw themselves (Wood, Perunovic & Lee, 2009). So the lines here are small enough to believe: things that are already true, or that you’re working on.

For nerves before a test, a game or a performance

When you’re nervous, everyone tells you to calm down. That’s hard to do on command. One researcher tried something else: before singing karaoke, giving a speech or doing math problems, people said “I am excited” out loud. Compared with people who tried to calm down, they felt more excited and performed better (Brooks, 2014). Nerves and excitement feel a lot alike in the body, so it’s easier to relabel them than to switch them off. That’s the idea behind “My nerves mean my body is getting ready.”

If things are really hard

Affirmations can help on rough days, but they’re not a replacement for real support. If you’ve been feeling low or anxious for a while, or you’re worried about your body or your eating, tell an adult you trust: a parent, a teacher, a school counselor, a coach or your doctor. If you’re struggling or thinking about harming yourself, you can call or text 988 in the US (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or find a helpline in your country at findahelpline.com.

For parents

If you’re a parent reading this, try not to hand your teen a list and ask them to recite it. Leave a line on a sticky note, mention one you use yourself, or ask which ones they’d keep. Words they choose will feel like theirs.

More lists: affirmations for students, self-love affirmations and affirmations for anxiety.

Loops to play

Questions

What are good affirmations for teens?

Ones that fit the moments you actually face. For example: “One bad grade doesn’t decide my future,” “I don’t have to look like anyone online,” or “I can feel anxious and still go.” Short, true and specific works better than big and vague.

Do affirmations work for teenagers?

They can help as a reminder to be fair to yourself, but they aren’t magic. Lines you believe work better than ones you don’t, and they work best alongside sleep, real support and people you trust.

How do I use affirmations without feeling awkward?

Keep them private and keep them small. You don’t have to say them in front of anyone: whisper them, write them in your notes app, or just read them on your lock screen. Lines that sound like you feel much less awkward than borrowed slogans.

What should I tell myself when I feel like I don’t fit in?

Try “It’s okay to be on the edge of a group while I find my people” or “I don’t have to change who I am to keep a friend.” Feeling out of place is common, especially somewhere new, and it often eases with time.

How can I help my teen use affirmations?

Offer, don’t assign. Share this page, leave a line on a sticky note, or mention one you use yourself, then let them pick their own. Lines they choose will feel like theirs.

Sources

  1. Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2014
  2. Positive self-statements: Power for some, peril for others · Psychological Science, 2009
  3. Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2014