Success

I was talking with a friend last night about what makes a successful year, a successful person, a successful life. It got me thinking.

Between my teenage years and mid 20´s, I had a very different answer to this question. It was along the vague lines of: having no fear, no vulnerability, and having no anxiety. I wanted to be busy, have zero concern of other people´s opinion and be constantly successful without struggling much. I resisted parts of work that I did not like, and I avoided making mental messes where I dug in tedious things. I probably wanted to avoid feeling fearful, vulnerable, or incompetent.

My definition of success is quite different now.

It involves me directly accepting that fear, anxiety, incompetence, vulnerability, resistance, and messes are inevitable elements of doing good work and being who I want to be. This means I interact with my fear rather than hide from it. I allow anxiety, but I don´t obsess over it. I am value prioritizing and forging ahead over being busy. I care what some specific people think but not all people. I favor sharing over hiding, and I make visible errors. I write this blog. I am more honest.

This is my new success.