I had a timely reminder the other day:

“you create your own definition of success”

It’s so easy to get caught up in how the world defines success – money, recognition, celebrity – but it’s more personal than those generalisations. For some, it’s a happy family, for others it’s professional achievements but for creative types, the definition of success seems to skew towards recognition and sales. As a creator, if we stop and think that sometime’s it’s ok to embark on a project simply for the challenge or for the fun of it. Without the pressure of making an end product.

Admittedly, recognition and sales often seem to be the validation of your creativity. But this undermines the pure joy of creating stuff. So, I revisit the cliche of “do what you love” first, the rest may or may not come later.

On reflection, my definition of success is mostly about freedom. Freedom and flexibility of my time, freedom to travel, freedom to explore creative things that interest me at the time. There are so many elements that make this possible and it’s not the same for everyone.

What’s your definition of success?