This is Why Other People Shouldn’t Dictate Your Success

Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of personal conviction and passion in pursuing one's dreams, regardless of external opinions or metrics of success.

Abstract

The author of the article reflects on the journey of chasing dreams and the pitfalls of allowing others to define success. Despite initial setbacks and the influence of naysayers, the author recounts a personal transformation from doubting their potential to rediscovering the joy in their craft. The narrative underscores the significance of not basing success on numerical metrics, the necessity of creating content that brings personal fulfillment, and the realization that one's dream need not align with societal expectations to be valid or achievable. The article serves as a motivational piece, encouraging readers to pursue their passions with resilience and to measure success by personal satisfaction rather than external validation.

Opinions

The author believes that one should not give up on their dreams due to the fear of failure or the negative opinions of others.
Success should not be determined by external metrics such as views, likes, or viral content, but rather by the fulfillment and joy derived from the creative process.
Allowing other people's doubts and the pressure to conform to societal standards can stifle one's creativity and hinder success.
It is important to focus on what genuinely interests and excites an individual in their work to maintain passion and motivation.
The author asserts that personal dreams and ambitions need not make sense to anyone else and should be pursued with conviction and a sense of personal purpose.
By prioritizing personal satisfaction and intrinsic goals, such as writing stories that matter to the individual, one can find true success and happiness in their endeavors.

Stop allowing everyone else to decide how you feel and how hard you work for what you want

You have a dream. You’ve probably had that same dream for as long as you can remember. Maybe you wanted to be a best-selling author, see your book on the shelves of your local bookstore, but you gave into the conversation that you’ll never be published. Maybe you wanted to make videos online, but you listened to the people that told you you’d never hit over ten views. What happens to those dreams when you’re the one that crushed them?

If you’ve given up on your dreams, I want you to ask yourself whether it was worth it. You knew it would be difficult from the start, but you still allowed other people’s opinions about your potential success to sway you from truly working towards them. I have been there countless times, and I’ve finally convinced myself that I’ve had enough.

We shouldn’t base our decisions on projected failure, turning down every opportunity that arises solely because we’re afraid. I had to learn to stop allowing the negativity to turn me away from what I love to do, and that’s writing.

Even though I now have a career in writing, I’ve still found myself second-guessing my potential. I stopped writing what I cared about and started chasing the next big goal.

I felt like I was stifling my voice as a creative. I hindered my success because I listened to those who said I’d never make it, even after reaching the goals I set out to accomplish.

Now, I fuel my creativity instead of exhausting it for making more money. I give myself room to breathe so that I can figure out what I genuinely want and what makes me get out of bed every morning. That’s how I felt whole again, and here are a few things I learned along the way.

Don’t base success on the numbers

We get so caught up trying to write the next viral article, post the perfect picture on Instagram to gain the most traction, or garner a ton of clicks on the new video, but how does that honestly make you feel? When you look at your statistics and see something you don’t like, what do you do?

I used to internalize a lot of this, and it made showing up to write feel like a hurdle I had to overcome. The more I looked, the more I felt my creativity be stripped away from me, replaced by feeling like I needed to fix the problem. What I needed to do instead was refocus my creative energy on what mattered, come one view or none. That changed my perspective, and that’s why I keep showing up.

Create what makes you feel good

When your passion becomes your job, you may feel you’re on top of the world at first, but what happens when it stops being fun? When you feel you’re in a tug-of-war between what you want and what the rest of the world is telling you to do, there’s no room to feel good about what you’re working on.

I had to learn to shut the outside opinions out, leave the tips and techniques behind for a little while to revisit the writing that filled me with excitement. I wanted to revisit the urge to type about something that interested me until my fingers hurt and have fun again. Creating what fills you with joy is just as important as your next move to get more clicks and reads. Why? It’s because that’s what will keep you coming back to try again.

Your dream doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else

Even if your dream doesn’t align with what everyone else is doing, that doesn’t mean you should give up on it. Write the book, film the video, and create the art that fulfills your sense of purpose. When I started revisiting my writing with this new perspective, focusing more of my attention on what I enjoyed, I saw something spectacular happen.

I was happy regardless of the traction I had. It stopped being about chasing the next dollar, and it became about writing the next story. That was the dream I had for as long as I can remember. I wanted to write stories that mattered to me, that made me feel good inside, and now that’s the first thing I accomplish every day.

Your dream needs to make sense to you and you alone. Don’t allow any outside influences to steer you away from what you really want.

You’re going to have days where showing up feels like a challenge, but you’re going to push through because you understand your potential. Put it to good use instead of hiding it under lock and key. You might just change your life.