7 Amazing Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, lecturer, essayist, and poet. He’s probably most known for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. His work has influenced nearly every generation of thinker, writer and poet since his time.

So without further adieu, today I want to talk about some of the profound life-lessons we can learn from Emerson. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

7 Amazing Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Lesson 1: Aim Above The Mark

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.”

To hit the mark, it’s necessary to aim above the mark. If you want to do $100,000 in sales next year, create a plan that allows you to do $150,000. To hit the mark you have to aim higher!

Do you aim high when setting your goals? Things seldom go exactly as you plan them, aiming allows you to hit the target with the inevitable occurs.

Lesson 2: What You Always See, You Stop Seeing

“If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.”

What you constantly see, you stop seeing! You forget the wonders of your spouse, the reliability of your car, the warmth of your home, because you experience them too often. This is just a reminder, to stop, and marvel and the things you wouldn’t want to live without.

Lesson 3: Conquer Daily

“He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.”

Life is a battlefield; to succeed you must “divide and conquer.” Conquer your fears daily; stretch yourself daily. Do something you don’t want to do, something you’re afraid of doing because you might get rejected or you might fail. Do that thing today, and then conquer another fear tomorrow. If you can create the habit of conquering your fear, you can move from the land of impossibilities to the land of possibilities.

Lesson 4: Work on Yourself

“The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.”

If there’s a secret to success, it’s work, but not just any work. I’m talking about working on yourself. Time spent working on yourself will yield you many dividends. Commit to work on yourself everyday, to become a little better, a little smarter, and in time the best version of you will be realized.

Lesson 5: Repair Your Character

“No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.”

Your thoughts determine your feelings, your feelings determine your actions, and your actions determine your character. A defected character comes from defective thinking and can only be corrected via accurate thinking: Thinking that is in-line with where you want to go and who you want to be. Better circumstances won’t change a defected character; only “better” thinking can do that. If you don’t decide to think “better,” your way-of-thinking will eventually drag you down exposing your defected character.

Lesson 6: Think Bigger

“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.”

You are only limited by what your heart can imagine. If you can imagine big things, if you can somehow stretch your mind to see the impossible, if you can catch a glimpse of what could be, then you can go there. You must believe in what’s never been done before, you must believe that you can do what’s never been done before; you must be committed to realizing the impossible. If you can see it, you can have it.

Lesson 7: Make Yourself Necessary

“Make yourself necessary to somebody.”

If you didn’t learn anything from this article, please take this final point. Make yourself necessary! Not just to somebody, but to a host of people. When you work on yourself, and grow yourself, and spend years sharpening your skills, you will become valuable; you will become necessary to somebody.

Thank you for reading and be sure to pass this article along!


Mr. Self Development is an author who teaches a motivational and practical guide to success. Please visit him at Mr. Self Development.com.

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  • http://hanofharmony.com The Vizier

    Hi Mr Self-Development,

    This is a nice article that captures the essence of Emerson.

    The lessons that stand out for me are:

    1. Aim Above the Mark

    Aiming above the mark makes room for mistakes which would inevitably occur on your path to success. This is prudent advice which should be taken to heart.

    4. Work on Yourself

    We have to constantly work on ourselves to grow and improve. The moment we stop doing so, we stagnate. Once that happens, it is very hard to overcome the inertia or to have any success in life.

    6. Think Bigger

    What you mind can conceive you can achieve. If you do not dream big, you will always have a mediocre life. You will always impose stifling boundaries on yourself. Imagination and the belief in your dreams are the starting point on your road to success.

    Thank you for sharing this article!

  • Pingback: 7 Amazing Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson | Lumpuckeroo | Overcoming Lumpuckeroo - Self Improvement

  • http://www.transformationalmotivation.com/ M. A. Tohami

    I like “Make Yourself Necessary”.

    I believe passion is key to enter your excellence zone and be remarkable.

    Do what you’re passionate about and you’ll be destined to leave a great legacy.

  • http://www.theskinnyon.com The Skinny On

    “Lesson 2: What You Always See, You Stop Seeing”

    It is hard to take a step back sometimes and appreciate what you have, what you have accomplished and so forth. This is such an important point. Great post, thank you for sharing!

    -Chris

  • http://www.balancedworklife.com/blog Bryce Christiansen

    Great subject you choose. One of my favorite quotes comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

  • http://theDoOverGuy.com DoOverGuy

    Sweet post. “Big thinking” should never be underestimated. It takes no more effort to think big than it does small. The great news is we get to choose. Thanks for sharing.

  • Jay

    Lesson 2: What You Always See, You Stop Seeing

    “If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.”

    ______________________________
    Habituation naturally makes us forget about the wonders of certain things. You can only squeeze out so much joy out of particular things. For example, you can be so grateful about having potable water, but you can’t constantly pretend you are drinking water after roaming the desert and nearly dying of thirst. Yes water is good, it sustains life, but it’s nearly impossible to hold on to the euphoric giddyness about water. Sure you can tell yourself, “Water rocks! Its the best thing in the world!” but it won’t necessarily translate into a more positive sutained feeling especially dealing with depression. There are times when a shift of perspective makes a very little or makes no dent in our emotional state. One can look at every conceivable silver lining about having a terminal illness and still feel like crap in the end. There are some who can look at every conceivable bad aspect about certain things, yet remain happy. There are also some people who have erratic emotions that do no correspond to certain actions that would normally cause people to respond in certain ways emotionally. But not all about what I’ve said applies to everyone in every situation. I’m just playing the devil’s advocate here.

  • http://revmediamarketing.com Lori R Taylor

    I interviewed Jonathan Fields on my radio show One Click Society. He said he owned a very successful yoga studio in NY. He also helped yoga teachers build their business. One of the biggest questions was “How I Get A Job? What should my resume look like?” He would tell them–look you need to be focused, know who YOU want to work for–then take their classes, participate–ask how you can help; then you can position yourself to become valuable to them or “necessary”. The point you make is well taken; it also translates to “Help me, help you.” I always tell people “if you don’t know your own value, why would anyone else think you are worth it?” Understanding what you are good it and getter better at it each day will keep you growing. And as Tony Robbins likes to say, “If you aren’t growing you are dying.” Nice post. Thanks.

  • http://www.escapethemundane.net/blog Aaron

    Man, we’re truly blessed to have people in this world like yourself that take the time to read through, to learn what can correct and better themselves, and then to get to a point where they can share it to the world, summarizing, adding. The one about not seeing anymore what you always see really hit home with me, sometimes I fail to see some of the blessings which are already around me, thanks for the reminder. Keep writing and I’ll keep reading.

  • http://enlightr.com Craig Thomas

    Interesting quotes from Emerson. I follow the first quote daily, although I tend to thing of it as “Aim for the stars and hit the mud, rather than aim for the mud and make it.”

  • http://www.midwestguest.com Dominique

    I love this handy little distillation of some of Emerson’s wisdom.

    I agree with some of the previous comments about Lesson #2. It’s sometimes difficult to focus on what you do have, rather than what you think you lack. But this is an important reminder to remember the little things you so often take for granted.

    I particularly liked the thought behind Lesson #1 as well. I sometimes get frustrated when I aim high and fail to hit where I aim, although aiming high often leads me to hit higher than I might have otherwise and improve over time :)

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