Did you come across a social media post that used the phrase 'living your best life' and you’re wondering what it means? In this article, we’ll take a look at the meaning, origin, examples, and more.
In short, ‘living your best life’ or ‘living my best life’ is a way to describe a person’s attempt to enjoy their life to the fullest. People will often use this phrase to accompany aspirational images or videos– everything from sky diving and lounging on a tropical beach to drinking a smoothie or doing yoga.
‘Living your best life’ and ‘living my best life’ are phrases that commonly show up on social media. This is essentially a way for a person to say that they are living life to the fullest and achieving the full potential of enjoyment out of their life. It’s common to see this type of expression accompanied by a photo of the person doing something adventurous, courageous, relaxing, or otherwise aspirational.
When using this phrase, you can change the pronoun to fit the context of the sentence.
Here are some examples of how you would go about this:
You’ll find that there’s quite a bit of pushback online about what this phrase really means and conveys.
For example, the Urban Dictionary definition defines ‘living my best life’ in this way:
“A stupid phrase that is used, commonly on Instagram, to give the false reality that you can wake up and choose which "life" you want to live. Perhaps you want to be a lazy dog, or a human facing the challenge of whether to have avocado on toast or a green smoothie for breakfast. Either way, it's got to be the best (breakfast) life you could possibly be living.”
To some people, this is a phrase that conveys more about how someone wants to be seen than what their life is actually like.
It’s hard to determine exactly when ‘living your best life’ became such a massive phenomenon. Some argue that the expression was introduced by Oprah Winfrey when O Magazine published the 2005 book Live Your Best Life.
Five years later, in 2010, Oprah hosted “Live Your Best Life,” an event that celebrated the tenth anniversary of O Magazine. Winfrey’s brand is completely centered around ideas of finding meaning in one’s life, self-growth, and achieving new heights.
You can find mentions of ‘living your best life’ throughout the modern media landscape. It appears in Cardi B’s 2018 track “Best Life” as well as a single by Wiz Kalifa.
How would 'living your best life' be used in a sentence?
Let’s take a look at some examples:
What are some other words and phrases that have a similar meaning to 'living your best life'?
Here are some options:
‘Living your best life’ and ‘living my best life’ are common phrases that show up on social media to imply that one is achieving maximum fulfillment out of their experience. You’ll often see these phrases used along with aspirational images of people doing luxurious, relaxing, or adventurous things.
Are you ready to learn more English phrases and expand your vocabulary? Be sure to check out our idioms blog for idioms, expressions, sayings, and more!
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