What do you think of when you think of a successful person? What does success mean to you? In this blog post I will share my personal thoughts about success.
Being successful isn’t about the amount of followers you have, nor about how much money you make. It’s about if you’re happy with your life.
For a long time I thought the amount of money and followers would mean how successful I was. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
When I hit rock bottom, lost the love of my life, with no roof above my head, no money or friends, I realised it was me that needed to change. I had to learn to be happy with who I was. Rely on myself instead of relying on a career, or the worry whether people liked me.
I became ‘successful’ the day I realised I was enough. I started growing as a person. And from that moment my career took off as well. That’s no coincidence.
The need to become ‘famous’
People that are struggling with themselves and don’t love themselves seek approval of others. Of friends and family but also of strangers.
Being famous isn’t a goal, it’s just trying to fill that empty hole in your heart. Instead, try to understand why you’re seeking approval of others, because there always is a reason.
When you start appreciating yourself, the need to get approval of others will dissolve.
Making different choices
Often I hear people making excuses to why they don’t do what they truly love. I’m not talking about valid limitations, because it’s a fact we don’t all have the same privileges. I’m talking about choosing to buy a bigger house when you don’t need it and putting yourself more in debt so you don’t have money to follow an art class.
Sometimes people forget that they made those kind of choices themselves.
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
– Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
Surround yourself with people that appreciate you for who you are.
I have become more guarded towards people and sometimes I am sad about that. It’s because I’ve been hurt a couple of times by people. They told me they were my friend but actually they didn’t really care for me. Some used me as a stepping stone, some dropped me when something better came along.
But I also learned what kind of people I can trust. True friends are forgiving. They will understand when you explain how you feel. They will be there for you when you need them, and you will unconditionally have their backs too.
My best friends are the ones I can not speak to for six months and still everything is the way it’s always been, it’s the people that understand my job is my life, the ones I can be myself with without pretending I’m someone I’m not. And that’s the people you need. To me, a true friendship is real success.
To end this blog post, I leave you with this comic below.