14 Empowering Quotes from Jennifer Lopez to Make You Feel Like a Boss
MTV announced on July 31 that Jennifer Lopez will be honored with the 2018 Video Vanguard Award at this year's VMAs on August 20. That got us thinking, not just about her music videos (who can forget 2002's "Jenny from the Block"?) but also about her influence on the rest of the entertainment world. Lopez has pretty much done it all — music, TV, movies, books — and she makes it look so easy. So what's her secret? We dug through some of her old interviews for a little inspiration and insight. Click through for 14 of her most empowering quotes through the years. (Photos via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images + John Sciulli/Getty Images for Neiman Marcus + Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images + Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
On aging: "I seriously feel like the best days are ahead, and I like the idea of getting to do everything I did before but with more knowledge, experience, and street smarts," she told Redbook in 2010. "There's a certain love, appreciation, and gratitude that you have at 40 that you don't have when you're younger, and it makes every accomplishment feel so much better. There's no way in the world that just because women turn the number 40, they're anything less than amazing. That's crazy. If anything, you're even more amazing!" (Photo via Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)
On defying expectations: "People underestimate me," she told W Magazine in 2016. "They always have, and maybe that's for the best. It's fun to prove them wrong." (Photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
On self-motivation: "I always joke about letting the haters motivate you. Everybody has that in their life, people who doubt them or make them feel less than they are," she told Glamourin 2010. "It just takes faith and belief in yourself, and you've got to dig deep into that. That has to come from you — nobody's going to give you that. You can have a great mentor, a great partner, a great love in your life who gives you confidence and makes you feel great about yourself. And that's all wonderful, but at the end of the day, if you don't believe it, all of that means nothing." (Photo via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
On self-love: "Affirmations are so important. I am youthful and timeless. I tell myself that every day, a few times a day," she told Harper's Bazaar in March 2018. "It sounds like clichéd bullsh*t, but it's not: Age is all in your mind." (Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Variety)
On self-care: "You have to take care of yourself, your body, your mind, take care of your soul — be your own keeper," she wrote in her book, True Love. (Photo via Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
On setting goals: "I feel if in your mind you can do it, you can do it," she told Glamour. "You cannot doubt yourself. Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for." (Photo via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
On relationships: "I don't need anybody else. I want somebody else, that would be nice, but I gotta be happy and whole on my own first," she told The Huffington Post in 2014. "You gotta give yourself time and space … to grow and to realize things about yourself, to become your own best friend, to love yourself." (Photo via Kamal Sellehuddin/Getty Images)
On honesty: "Whenever it feels uncomfortable to tell the truth, that's often the most important time to tell it," she wrote in her book, True Love, as well as in a tweet to her nearly 44 million followers. (Photo via John Sciulli/Getty Images for Neiman Marcus)
On being your own knight in shining armor: "What you need to know is, nobody can save you or heal you," she told the Today show in 2016. "Only you can do that for you." (Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
On learning from the past: "I know that being seen as a role model means taking responsibility for all my actions," Lopez told Cosmopolitan in 2013. "I am human, and of course, sometimes I make mistakes. But I promise that when I fall, I get back up. When I am wrong, I will learn the lesson and move on to face other challenges. For me, that's what creating your own life is. Doing your best work while being your best self." (Photo via Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dcp)
On making time for yourself: "You've gotta do things that make you happy," she told Redbook. "As women, we tend to give away a lot. We take care of a lot of people, and we can't forget to take care of ourselves. If that means once a week you're going to go off without the kids or without anybody and just go shoe shopping — well, that's me, because I love shoes — or get a facial even if your sister thinks that's selfish, or join a Zumba class, or take a painting class, or whatever, you've just got to do it. It's just two hours a week, for heaven's sake. … Women have to do things that spark their souls so they feel young, vibrant, sexy, and full of life. You should never lose that part of yourself." (Photo via Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
On being brave: "I'm not always fearless. I'm usually a little bit afraid, but I don't ever let that take over," she told Redbook. "I think when there is a sense of fear, it motivates me. Usually I'm able to tell myself, 'Screw it, I'm just going to do this.' And then that's it, I've done it, and if it was 100 percent a success, that's great, and if not, that's okay too, because I still did it." (Photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
On body image: "When I first started on television, people, and even my own manager at the time, would tell me I had to make all of these changes," she told Cosmopolitan for Latinas in 2013. "But you have to stand up and say, 'There's nothing wrong with me or my shape or who I am; you're the one with the problem!' And when you can really believe that, all of a sudden other people start believing, too." (Photo via Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
On the future: "Always remember," she wrote in her book. "You will live. You will love. You will dance again." (Photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images for DirecTV)
