25 Songs That Inspire You to Live a Better Life

Music has the ability to make you feel some pretty powerful emotions. It can bring back memories of good times, bad times, and everything in between. It can also inspire you to be a better person.

Here is a list of 10 songs that inspire me to be my best, and they may just inspire you too:

#1 Bob Seger – Turn the Page

This song is inspirational in that it talks about continuing to move forward despite feelings of being misread, misjudged and misunderstood. It goes into how people have their own opinions and generalizations, but the key is to not let them bother you. You just keep moving forward and give your life your all.

Each and every day, you need to let go of yesterday and everyone in it and focus on the brand new day that lies ahead. Every day, you “turn the page”…

#2 John Mayer – Say

How many times have you looked back on a past situation or experience and wished you had opened your mouth and said something versus staying quiet? Maybe you didn’t say “I love you” or “I’m sorry” when you wanted to but were too scared.

That is exactly what this song references when it continuously reinforces to “say what you need to say.” Words aren’t always easy, with things like pride and honor at stake, but if you don’t say what is on your mind you may waste a very important opportunity to stand up for what you believe in.

So, “even if your hands are shaking, and your faith is broken, even as the eyes are closing, do it with a heart wide open…say what you need to say…”

#3 Garth Brooks – Unanswered Prayers

How many times have you prayed for things to happen, been disappointed when they didn’t and then pleasantly surprised when your “unanswered prayers” were actually a blessing? This song brings to light the realization that although you may think that going a certain way or taking a specific path is best for you, there is often a higher power that knows better and will direct you down a different path.

Try to keep this in mind when you feel discouraged because your time line isn’t being met or if you feel like you’ve been wronged. You may have just been ‘righted’ but don’t quite realize it just yet.

#4 Guns N’ Roses – Patience

This song talks specifically about keeping patience in relationships, which is something that isn’t always easy to do. You want to know if the guy you’re dating is “the one” and you want to know it now, so you try to force the situation ahead earlier than its time which can do a lot of damage if not end it entirely.

You can take the message even further and remember that patience in other areas of life is imperative too. Everything has to run its course and trying to rush it rarely works out.

So, if you’re feeling a little stressed and tense and want the answers to your life right now, just remember “woman, take it slow, it will work itself out fine…all you need is just a little patience.”

#5 Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror

Talk about making positive changes in your life and in the world, this song takes that idea and makes it sing! It starts out by saying “I’m gonna make a change for once in my life. It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right.”

True change in this world starts with you. You can point the fingers elsewhere and tell everyone else what they need to do to make things better, but the only one you can truly change is yourself.

The most important part of the song? It’s “gonna feel real good” when you do – without a doubt.

#6 Matchbox Twenty – Back 2 Good

Although this song talks about the struggles of making good choices when life seems a little rocky, it is a gentle reminder that you’re not alone in your struggles. Everyone goes through periods of time where you feel lost and unsure of how to “get it back to good.”

During these times, it is very easy to make the wrong decision and you can find yourself “caught up in the pleasure or the pain.” Before you are too hard on yourself and compare yourself to someone you deem to be better than you, remember that “inside we’re the same.” Other people struggle too, they may just not show it.

#7 Nickelback – If Everyone Cared

This song makes you think about what the world would be like if everyone shared compassion and caring for each other. “If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we’d see the day where nobody died.”

How true is that statement? Think of all of the suffering we could stop if we all just banded together. Yes, we’d all be “singing Amen…I…I am alive…”

#8 Miley Cyrus  – The Climb

Although this is an older song of Miley’s, one before she transformed from child superstar into scantily clad young woman, it is still very inspirational. There are times you may feel “lost with no direction” but you always need to keep moving forward because good things lie ahead.

Life is a series of “uphill battles” and, although you don’t win them all, the journey will make you stronger than you ever dreamed possible. When you feel frustrated with the journey that you are on in life, just remember that it “ain’t about how fast I get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side…it’s the climb.”

#9 Sammy Kershaw – She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful

Most women want nothing more than to be beautiful, but what most fail to realize is that they already are. It’s just that the idea “never crossed her mind”.

Just because you don’t feel gorgeous in your own skin, that doesn’t mean that others don’t see you that way. Sometimes you have to think beyond yourself and remember that there is someone (or many someones) out there that thinks you are the most beautiful person in the world. Remember them when you’re feeling down.

#10 38 Special – Hold On Loosely

It can be easy to clutch on to things because we are convinced that we need them, or we’re just afraid to let go because they are comfortable to us. However, if you hold too tightly onto things, you run the risk of snuffing the life out of them completely.

This applies to relationships (as the song references), as well as other areas in life. Give things room to breathe and grow on their own. From the wisdom of .38 Special, “Just hold on loosely, but don’t let go. If you cling too tight, you’re gonna lose control.”

#11 What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

No list of inspirational songs would be complete without this classic Louis Armstrong song.

It’s easy to get caught up with bad things happening in the world, and to focus on negative things, but negativity breeds negativity. This song is the perfect reminder of all the incredible and beautiful things that exist in the world. With red roses, babies, friends and laughter, this song can help you remember just What a Wonderful World it is.

#12 Firework – Katy Perry

Like all of us, you’ve felt lonely from time to time and have moments where you wonder where you’re going and what you’re doing – if people notice you. This song is inspirational because it tells you that you’re going to make others look at you in awe.

There’s something special that is waiting to be released and shared with others even when nothing seems to be going your way in life. It’s “Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon, it’s always been inside of you, you, you, and now it’s time to let it through-ough-ough.” So go on: What are you waiting for?

#13 Dare You to Move – Switchfoot

You have past experiences and some baggage that may or may not be holding you back in some way. Some things are easier to let go of than others, and some experiences have little impact on the way you see things. However, some of them are much more influential.

This song is an inspirational and deeply emotional song that urges you to move past whatever is holding you back. Maybe it’s just an event that you need to move beyond, a moment of paralysis or a terrifying obstacle. Whatever it is, accept the challenge and make a positive change for the better.

#14 Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield

Have you ever wondered where you’re going and what you should be doing with your life? Looked at the future and seen so many possibilities, but so little certainty? “Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it,” but still it feels like it’s so far away?

This song is inspirational because it shows you the many opportunities that exist in life and how you can choose your own path in life. It’s okay to break away from tradition and find your own way and dreams. No one else can determine your futures for you; “only you can let it in – no one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips.” So, “live your life with arms wide open,” because “today is where your book begins.”

#15 Imagine – John Lennon

“Imagine all the people living life in peace…” Was John Lennon really a dreamer and too idealist in the things that he wished for in life?

Nearly three decades after it was first written, this song still inspires millions of people to make positive changes in the world so that we can stop fighting one another and simply share it. It helps you to view the world differently and think about the things that you value in life and what it is that you truly need to be happy in life.

#16 Win – Brian McKnightong

When the road you’re going down starts to look familiar and you’re finding it hard to stay motivated and not give in, this song is sure to inspire you. Similar in message to Miley Cyrus’s The Climb, the song is about overcoming obstacles and never giving up in life. You can achieve whatever you want to achieve in life if you “never give up, never give in, never let a ray of doubt slip in….”

And sometimes you’ll fall, but it’s not a fail if you pick yourself up and just keep moving forward to reach your goals. You have to depend on yourself and “never lose hope, never lose faith” because people are going to remember you and the things you achieve.

#17 Reach – Gloria Estefan

The official theme song for the 1996 Olympics, this encouraging song is all about doing your very best for the dreams you have inside of you. Even if it’s only for a moment that you reach higher for these goals, “from that one moment, in my life, I’m going to be stronger” and put yourself to the test.

Reaching out for your dreams can be scary – especially if you’re afraid that you will fail. But, it’s only when you put your heart and souls into achieving your goals that you truly live life to the fullest. Don’t be afraid to reach…higher.

#18 You Get What you Give – New Radicals

The pressure to be something you aren’t can sometimes be overwhelming and intense. This is exactly what this song is about; it teaches you how to be true to yourself in a world where so many people try to be something that they’re not. Don’t give in to peer pressure, and definitely don’t give up on your dreams; you have the ability to achieve what you want in life, which is one of the key themes in all of these inspirational songs.

The most important part of this song? “You get what you give….”

#19 Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson

How often have you felt disappointed or let down when something didn’t work out the way you had hoped it would. It’s easy to step back, give up, or evaluate your life when this happens, but there’s another way to look at things.

“What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter.” Learn from the experience and use it to improve yourself, make yourself stronger, and move on to the next exciting stage of your life. After all, struggles can always make you stronger, smarter, and more independent, which is all at the center of this song.

Although this song focuses on relationships, the ideas can be applied to many other areas in life, too. Trials and struggles happen every day in life, but, with a little bit of time, they also teach you things about yourself and make you stronger in the end.

#20 Hands – Jewel

If you could tell the world just one thing, what would it be? For country singer Jewel, “it would be that we’re all OK, and not to worry ’cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these.”

One of the many great things about this song is that the lyrics are true for just about every situation. Yes, life will get you down from time to time and there are bad things that happen in the world like poverty, which makes life hard, but you can still be happy despite this. And not all fights are out of spite, but rather an act of someone standing up for what’s right. Sometimes, you have to fight to help those who can’t use their own voices.

#21 What a Feeling – Irene Cara

“First, when there’s nothing, but a slow glowing dream….” Every dream has to begin somewhere, and dreams need to be nurtured in order to grow. But, so many people are scared of failing – or possibly even achieving – their dreams, so they get pushed down deep inside of us.

If you want your dreams to come alive, you have to take your “passion and make it happen” because “being’s believing.” You can have it all when you find the courage to pursue your dreams and not let them remain hidden deep within you. So, if you’re feeling a bit discouraged, or want to give up on your dreams, just remember that “you can dance right through your life” if you believe in yourself.

#22 The World’s Greatest – R. Kelly

Like many other songs on this list, The World’s Greatest is a reminder that you always need to believe in yourself – even when no one else does. This is not always the easiest thing to do though, which is why this song is so inspiring and helps you to pick yourself up when you’re feeling blue and keep moving forward.

So, the next time someone asks you who you (think) you are, stand up tall, look them in the eye, and tell them, “I’m that star up in the sky, I’m that mountain peak up high; Hey, I made it, I’m the world’s greatest” – because you are exactly that.

#23 The Voice Within – Christina Aguilera

It’s easier to dream big when you’re safe in our comfort zones and nothing seems harder than it can sometimes be. Sometimes you’re not told just how much the world and people can hurt you or why. You’re told to stand up for yourself, but it can be “so hard to stand your ground when you’re so afraid” – especially when no one reaches out a hand to help you.

These are the moments that you have to find the strength within yourself. Look for the voice within yourself because that will give you strength, guidance, and direction in life. You are your own best friend and your truest supporter so listen to that voice inside yourself because it only wants what’s best for you. This beautiful song is a great reminder of just how strong you already are.

#24 Roar – Katy Perry

Have you ever found yourself biting your tongue to avoid an argument? Or perhaps you’re scared to mess things up. Maybe you’re in a bad relationship or job and looking for the courage to move on. You’re looking for your Roar.

No matter what the situation or who the person is, you always have a choice. This inspiring song will help you to remember that you have a voice and shouldn’t just sit by politely as someone pushes you aside or down. “You hear my voice, you heard that sound like thunder, gonna shake the ground…louder than a lion…and you’re gonna hear me roar.” Try telling yourself this every day and you’ll soon hear just how loud your roar is.

#25 Born This Way – Lady Gaga

The final song on this list is the ideal reminder that you are born the way you are and there’s no need to apologize for that or change who you are simply because others want you to change. Who better than Lady Gaga to remind you that “there’s nothing wrong with loving who you are.”

Everyone is beautiful in their own way and the world needs different and unique people. No matter what you do, where you are, who you are, or what you look like, “God makes no mistakes” so you’re on the right track. Regret can be crippling so “don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you’re set” because you are beautiful in your own way. “Hold your head up and you’ll go far…”

That’s just a few of the songs that resonate with me. What songs inspire you to want to be a better person?

Cover photo: blackenterprise.com