Throwback to the most terrifying but exhilarating few days of my life last summer. Did I succeed? IDK. Did I do it anyways? Yeah I peed my pants (or wetsuit) diving into raging waters and holding my breath longer than I ever thought I could.
But I did it.
Success is a word that is thrown around too much.
What does success even mean? Successful at what?
What your definition of success may be completely different than my definition of success but the image I usually get in my mind for ‘success’ is being someone else’s boss in a beautiful sky rise office with big floor to ceiling windows (it’s sunny everyday of course) and someone who brings me a crafted press from Caribou every morning. Kind of like the characters in the Proposal. lol.
So naturally, anything that doesn’t look like that means you aren’t successful, right? WRONG.
It is so easy to compare what you have accomplished to the plush lives of ‘successful business people’. Granted thats not even what I want to do with my life at all, but there is something so enticing about that life, IDK maybe its the sun pouring in through big windows and the person who brings the coffee.
The most important question to ask yourself is, what will my life look like if I put forth my best self and my best work? What if I followed my curiosity and turned them into passions that I love to play with everyday? So basically, what is your definition of success?
Mine, I am still figuring out. I think I will always have the underlying feeling that money = success, or a steady job = success or having a boyfriend = success. Which are not all wrong, but if that is all you are defining success with, what happens when you have all the money in the world, the best job and a husband? Will you still be reaching for more of the same thing?
Success I think for me, is being ok with failure. Such a paradox, I know. But how can I ever learn about myself and the world if I don’t have some mishaps along the way?
A famous question that pops up among ‘inspirational quotes’ on google says, “What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?” Basically, how would your life look differently if you were driven by passion and curiosity than fear?
On the other hand, what would you do if you knew you would fail?
Would you still go after it? Can your life still be driven by passion and curiosity? I think YES! Fear is a thing and it has a place in the world, but life halting fear of failing? That has no place in our lives. Doing what we love in spite of that little fear voice is how we become strong in ourselves and become ok with failure, because we are doing something that is worth it, that our love and passion for is greater than our fear of failure.
Alright, I’ll step down off the box I have been talking from and let you think.
What is your definition of success? Will you let the fear of failure hold you back?