“Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members” which Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated this in his Self-Reliance essay. I believe that we are all forced to think what others are thinking around us. We are no longer allowed to speak our own words without getting judged by our family and friends. We all want to be accepted and belong to a certain group. We are forced to believe what society throws at us. To be able to break out of this shell and achieve originality, you should trust yourself, follow your beliefs and working towards your dreams as an individual.

You need to trust yourself to be able to achieve originality. Trusting yourself is only the start of living your life. When you trust yourself, you’re able to be more confident. Confidence makes your self-esteem raise and achieving your goals will follow. Following in others footsteps is like following someone that is bigger than you in a war. They are the bigger person and they are leading you to where you want to be, but you are not working for it, they are doing all the work for you. They receive all the pain and failures, and you’re still behind, following them. You will both receive the reward at the end, but while they were working for their dream, you were standing back and watching. As in sports, if you don’t give all your effort but still receive the same reward as someone that tries their hardest and works at 100% effort all the time. In life, not everything comes easy, and you should be able to put up a fight and work for what you believe in. Trusting yourself and becoming confident will help you be the bigger person and fight your own war.

When you work for your dreams, achieving originality will come easier. When working for your dreams, you will feel more accomplished than getting it handed to you. You should never lose sight of the finish line and always be working to achieve your goal and finish. My grandma always says, “It’s not how fast you finish, it’s how well it is finished.” She means that if you hurry through and rush to the end, you may not end up with the best product. If you take your time and complete with the best of your ability, time should not matter. Working towards your dream will show who you are and how hard you are willing to work. You will be able to learn things about yourself as you go through some struggle trying to accomplish something big. Failing doesn’t mean you should give up, it means you should work harder and overcome that failure. You will realize how strong you are and that a little bump in the road will not stop you. 

Follow your beliefs. As Chuck Palahniuk once stated, “The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it, because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles, wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.” This quote makes me think about my beliefs and how they will always exist, and not one person can crush those beliefs. People will try and persuade you to try and ditch your beliefs and follow what they believe. Some things that they’re trying to get you to believe may be true, but you should stick with your core beliefs. Like one of my core beliefs state, “I believe that education in young people’s lives should be enforced and is very important.” I will always stick with this belief and no one can persuade my thoughts about it.

Trusting yourself, following your beliefs, and working towards your dreams all play an important role in being able to achieve originality. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members,” and you should stand out, and believe what you think is right. Stick up for yourself, believe what you want to believe, and don’t let anyone stand in your way.