We all want to find our very own success in life, where we can live surrounded by loving relationships, work on our projects and passions, and remain healthy and youthful. Of course, your idea of success might be different from mine or another's. It might be financial success, with a big house and that dream car.
Success could also be spending a lot of time on your passion, like writing and recording your own music, without worrying about affording rent. However, for many of us, stating who we want to be and what we want from life often comes out unspecific, with no real plan of action. We often mention the end goal and forget about the entire journey leading there.
So how do we figure out who we want to be and how to get there?
It might be by enjoying the process.
The best guitarist in the world
I have been playing guitar since I was eleven. Since my dad had been working as a musician playing cover gigs for most of his life, I started learning famous guitar riffs like "Smoke on the Water" or "Sweet Child o' Mine."
At 16, I began studying music and started thinking:
"I want to be one of the best guitarists in the world, shredding solos while fans drop their jaws in awe."
With this mindset, I started practicing a lot every day, looking at lessons and guides online, and seeing the results of my work slowly pay off. But the practice routine I had promised myself to follow for the rest of my life shortly became nonexistent, and I went back to putting my hours into video games. I felt like a failure.
Now, at 20 years old, I still love playing guitar, but I have realized something important.
I don't want to be one of the best guitarists in the world. Why?
Because spending 8-10 hours a day practicing guitar, then touring and living on the road playing other people's songs, is not the lifestyle I want to lead. I understand that what I really love about playing guitar is jamming out new melodies and writing songs of my own, without anyone else to judge them.
But doing this every day, with the aim of making money as a business, would probably destroy the pure love I have for music. I simply want to enjoy the process and create for my love of music. With this in mind, my work and income will be something else.
Analyze your goals and dreams
It's important for us to dissect our dreams to see if it's the process that gives us meaning, even through failure, pain, and mistakes. Otherwise, the unexpected turbulence and reality of the journey will put an end to your dream and leave you feeling like a failure.
It's important to note that even doing what you love will inevitably involve hardship and challenges that require hard work and patience. But getting through tough times and seeing our work pay off will forever act as proof of the strength we carry, letting us challenge the impossible.
If you can answer the question of who you want to be, and why, you will be able to lay out the steps you can take from here to start that journey. So write it down, and get your thoughts organized.
The moral of my story is
To reach the destination of who you want to be, you will first face a long process. We love thinking about the day we reach the finish line and get what we want, but the most important part is that we look at the long journey there.
We need to understand what kind of journey it is and be willing to take it on through failure and success.
Sometimes we are wrong about what we really want, and the process will be your truthful companion in figuring this out.
If you manage to enjoy the process, find meaning in it, and simply don't stop, you will inevitably arrive at the finish line. To end it all with a fitting quote,
"You have no need to travel anywhere. Journey within yourself, enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendour of your own light."–Rumi
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