Learning is an integral part of our life. A person who does not learn from their life will not be able to live to his/her potential. Learning life lessons is as important as breathing to when it comes to being successful and happy. But what is even more important is the source or people that we learn from. It is vital that people only learn from the best. That is why, today, I have chosen that we learn from one of the most enticing personalities that has ever walked the earth – Abraham Lincoln.
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
Before we learn lessons from Abraham Lincoln, we should know a little about him. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. He went on to become one of the most famous presidents of the USA. Lincoln is also considered as the best president the USA has ever had.
Abraham Lincoln led a very simple and sober life for most of his young life. He lost his mother pretty early at the age of 10. Even his father wasn’t there with him at the time when he needed him the most. His father was sent from Kentucky to Indiana. Lincoln did not have a lot of people to teach him things. So he taught himself most of the things that he knew.
He liked reading books a lot. Maybe that is one of the reasons behind his profound thinking and also behind why he became so successful in his life. His road to being the president of the USA wasn’t very easy. He had to work his way up to the office being from a poor background.
So what can we learn from Abraham Lincoln?
We can learn a lot from some of the Abraham Lincoln quotes. He lost a lot many campaigns before finally becoming the president of the USA. Here are some of the lessons we can learn from Abraham Lincoln:
A) Lay The Groundwork for Success:
One of the most important things Abraham Lincoln taught people was to prepare for success. Success is not something that comes overnight. One has to work really hard for it. If a person is not preparing to be successful, then he won’t be successful. Many people miss out on recognising the most important thing on the road to reach their goals, which is – success is the result of the process.
It means that if the process is done right, success becomes inevitable. But when a person does not prepare for something adequately, it often results in them failing it. One of the most famous Abraham Lincoln quotes is, ‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.’
B) Hustle Damn Hard:
Abraham Lincoln was a firm believer in the concept of hustling hard. Sure it is a good thing to stop once in a while and get the fruits of patience, but those fruits will be leftovers of the hustlers. If you want to be successful in your life, be patient for the results, they can take a lot of time for showing up, but in the short-term, hustle as hard as you can. Work more hours than you are working right now.
If you get distracted from your work very easily then you won’t be much successful. A person has to be persistent with their goals and toil really hard in order to achieve it. One of the most famous lines by Abraham Lincoln is, ‘Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.’
C) Accept The Greatness Within:
People don’t have an abundant mindset. It is because of lack of self esteem inside them. But Abraham Lincoln stresses on people to build a good and high spirit. It does not matter where they are from, what their background is, or how small or insignificant they look in the society, they can achieve greatness.
If someone else can be the president of the USA, then you can be too. What matters is whether or not you accept it from inside! If you believe you can, you can, and if you don’t believe you can, you can’t.
D) Keep Your Reputation Up:
What does this mean? It simply means be a man of your word. Abraham Lincoln said that a person’s reputation is like glass, once broken, it can never be mended in the same manner. It is true. Once there is a stamp of bad character put on your name, your reputation will never be the same.
Be honest, humble and most of all, a simple human being who is not afraid to speak the truth and accept his/her mistakes. A good reputation will be the difference between two skilful people in where they end up in the hierarchy ladder.
E) Focus On Positivity:
One of the traits that successful people and happy people both have in common is that their perspective towards life is very positive. Abraham Lincoln says that life is a series of choices that people make, and one of the choices that they have to make on a regular basis is whether to be positive or negative towards something that has happened with them.
Weak people often become pessimistic and look at everything with a negative mindset. It is wrong and it does not bring out any good for anyone. If a person consciously keeps on looking at the brighter side of the things, he/she will be able to drive up more opportunities in their life.
F) Dare to be unique:
Abraham Lincoln never really cared much about how people wanted him to be. He did care a lot about his people, but only till the extent where others opinions didn’t hamper his own mindset. One of the most important things a person can do for himself is to dare to be different from others. Take the road less travelled and make the most out of it by improving constantly at what you are doing.
In the end, it all boils down to a person’s principles. These are not just simple lessons learned in life but they are much more than that. These are principles for life. This is what people should learn to follow and practice regularly.
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