Success

Suc­cess, accord­ing to the nar­ra­tor, is not mea­sured by exter­nal acco­lades such as pop­u­lar­i­ty, wealth, or crit­i­cal acclaim. It is defined with­in the qui­et sanc­tu­ary of the soul, real­ized in the moment of let­ting go of one’s work, feel­ing con­fi­dent that every­thing pos­si­ble has been done to reveal the pro­jec­t’s high­est poten­tial. This con­cep­tion of suc­cess is inter­nal and deeply per­son­al, unswayed by exter­nal opin­ions or mar­ket con­di­tions.

The nar­ra­tive then acknowl­edges that though we might crave recog­ni­tion, such suc­cess is whim­si­cal and heav­i­ly reliant on fac­tors beyond our control—timing, cul­tur­al mood, or coin­cid­ing glob­al events that might over­shad­ow a release. It under­scores the impor­tance of focus­ing on cre­at­ing the best work pos­si­ble, shar­ing it, and mov­ing on to the next project with­out dwelling on the out­comes which are out of our hands.

It delves into the pit­falls of seek­ing val­i­da­tion through exter­nal suc­cess, show­ing how this pur­suit can lead to dis­ap­point­ment and inten­si­fy exist­ing inse­cu­ri­ties. The antic­i­pa­tion that fame or recog­ni­tion will fill a void is often met with dis­il­lu­sion­ment, as these achieve­ments rarely address the root caus­es of one’s dis­sat­is­fac­tion or sense of inad­e­qua­cy.

Fur­ther­more, the text explores the conun­drum faced by artists whose cre­ative impuls­es evolve beyond the work that ini­tial­ly earned them suc­cess. It cau­tions against allow­ing a fear of alien­at­ing audi­ences or dis­pleas­ing stake­hold­ers to impede per­son­al growth or artis­tic evo­lu­tion. Instead, it cham­pi­ons the impor­tance of fol­low­ing one’s pas­sion and instincts, sug­gest­ing that authen­tic­i­ty and enthu­si­asm are the true har­bin­gers of con­nec­tion and, by the nar­ra­tor’s def­i­n­i­tion, suc­cess.

The chap­ter con­cludes by advo­cat­ing for a reeval­u­a­tion of suc­cess, sug­gest­ing that it be con­sid­ered from a per­son­al per­spec­tive rather than through the lens of pub­lic per­cep­tion. It posits that what may be viewed as a fail­ure from an exter­nal view­point could be a pro­found suc­cess to the indi­vid­ual, depend­ing on the per­son­al jour­ney and growth it facil­i­tat­ed. Thus, it encour­ages cre­ators to con­tin­ue their work with con­vic­tion, unbur­dened by the fear of fail­ure or the desire for exter­nal val­i­da­tion, to main­tain a pure rela­tion­ship with their craft.