Inspirational Poems That Will Motivate You To Achieve Your Goals

A few inspirational poems to get you thinking about life, chasing dreams, beliefs and the box that we can put ourselves in, and how they can often become much too small.

Inspirational Poems

The Box You’ve Outgrown

by Gem @ The Goal Chaser

Look past the walls,

Open the drapes,

Dare to peer out,

And plan your escapes,

From the box that you’re standing,

So still and so meek,

Dare to reach out,

And have a sneak peek

Of what just might be,

Of what you still dream,

That excites and delights you,

That gives you your steam

They may have gone quiet,

Those big plans and dreams,

As they aren’t in this box,

So, they’re scary, it seems

Your beliefs, fears and doubts,

All act as a wall,

But this little box,

Has gotten too small

So, bend, break or lower,

Those limiting walls,

Seek, grow and prosper,

And learn from your falls

What would you do?

And where could you win?

If these pesky walls

Weren’t holding you in?

So, chase your big goals,

Beyond this safe zone

Step out of the box,

The one you’ve outgrown.

Have You Earned Your Tomorrow

by Edgar Guest

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?
This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through,
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?
Or a churlish sort of “Howdy” and then vanish in the throng?
Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,
Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?

Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that’s slipping fast,
That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said,
Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,
You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?

Equipment

by Edgar Guest

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You’ve all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise.
With this equipment they all began,
So start for the top and say “I can.”

Look them over, the wise and great,
They take their food from a common plate
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes,
The world considers them brave and smart.
But you’ve all they had when they made their start.

You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if only you will,
You’re well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have legs and arms and a brain to use,
And the man who has risen, great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go.
How much you will study the truth to know,
God has equipped you for life, But He
Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win,
So figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began.
Get hold of yourself, and say “I can.”

Good Timber

by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees,

The further sky, the greater length,

The more the storm,

the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

Caged Bird

by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

Related: 12 Poems To Motivate & Inspire

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Looking for more poems about achievement and inspirational words?:

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Micaiah

Friday 4th of March 2022

Hey, I'm doing a historical analysis on "The Box You've Outgrown" and I wanted to know a few things about it like when was this poem written and what events that have happened in the world that inspired you to write this poem.

Thank you in advance.

Jaimie

Tuesday 29th of May 2018

Hello. Sorry to bother you but I would like to know who the author of this poem is. I am doing an English assignment of this poem about who the author is, the date this poem was published and any other facts about why the author wrote this.

I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Thank You.

GemmaKate

Hi Jaimie, I am the author. Feel free to contact me at gemmakate@thegoalchaser.com with any questions!