3.9 Ralph Waldo Emerson: Energy and Enthusiasm

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

My college coach had 5 core values that he drilled into us, and the first was a combination of energy and enthusiasm.

I played two years at a junior college in Oklahoma, and we would travel to small towns and small gyms all over Oklahoma. Some games had good crowds and great energy, but many did not.

Our coach would tell us it was our job to always bring energy and enthusiasm to every practice and gym because nothing great has ever been achieved without it.

I realized years later that he was just quoting the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” 

Emerson believed enthusiasm, an intense and eager enjoyment that we have for the work we do, is a powerful motivator that fuels creativity, passion, and grit.

When we bring positive energy and enjoy what we do, we are willing to work harder, longer, and go through more adversity to find success.

Don’t wait around for someone else to come along and hype you up or get you motivated because that person might not ever come.

You do it. You be that person. Every team needs someone bringing the energy - why can’t it be you?

It might not come naturally, and it might take work to shift your energy from negative to positive, but it will be worth it. My college coach would firmly clap his hands when he came into practice and say, “Let’s go. It’s time to work.”

I know now that he was doing so to give himself the energy and enthusiasm he needed to be his best self.

Reflection Questions: How can you bring positive energy every day?