Self Reliance

Emerson's version of success is not measured in monetary gains or the power you have over others but rather how little power others have over you. He believed that to be truly successful you would have to shake the influence of others and learn to think for yourself so that you could not be controlled. Those that think for themselves instead of conforming should be informed and we should learn to pay more attention to what the voice inside of us says. I believe that this could be one measure of what success is, but should not be the only measure. It is rather easy for Emerson to just say that success is thinking for yourself, it is another to actually shake the influence of others. Friends, family and peers will almost always have an influence in your life, and being able to fully shake that and do what you believe is right would be incredibly hard, but if you believe in what Emerson says, that is what you must do to be truly successful.