On redefining what it means to be successful
No way was I going to give up on my work simply because it wasn’t “working.” That wasn’t the point of it. The rewards could not come from the external results—I knew that. The rewards had to come from the joy of puzzling out the work itself, and from the private awareness I held that I had chosen a devotional path and I was being true to it. If som
... See moreElizabeth Gilbert • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Expected elation. Society has built a world that defines what's appealing and what's not. What success should look like. I spent years chasing this idea, and achieved it. And never felt truly happy. Why? It seems so obvious, there are a million songs and movies about how wealth and fame aren't the end all be all for human states. Yet we pursue it a... See more
At one point in his career, comedian Aziz Ansari felt trapped. He was doing it all—long press tours, performing night after night, juggling multiple projects, saying yes to everything, and chasing every opportunity to stay relevant. One night, feeling particularly stretched thin, Aziz ran into the musician Frank Ocean at a party. “Frank, how do you... See more