HJ: Success is not about luck, it’s about discipline. Anyone can become successful so long as they commit to doing whatever it takes. It is the constant upward spiral and refinement of ones technique, strategies and inner dynamics that all come together to produce success, be that financial or otherwise.
– Truth
5 Success Lessons from Famous People
By Manal Ghosain
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Fame, love it or hate it, comes with many advantages that most of us would love to have—without being in the public eye 24/7.
The value of fame (that derives all the benefits) can be summed up in one word: influence.
Famous people have a wide reach and significant mass appeal. And with such power comes great privilege.
Celebrities, be they movie stars, singers and performers, or professional athletes, have access to the best of the best in terms of healthcare, lifestyle, luxury, or anything else their hearts desire. They can have personal chefs, personal trainers, stylists, makeup artists, VIP reserved spots, and an entire army of people (and companies) catering to their every whim.
When we focus on the perks of fame, we can easily fall into feelings of envy and resentment. Life can be so unfair.
And maybe it is. But that’s not the entire story.
Famous people—those who stay famous—must be doing something that’s working for them. They’re active in ways that keep them relevant in the eyes and minds of the fickle public.
And that’s what we’re going to focus on today: The things celebrities do that we can use to succeed—on our own terms.
Success lessons
Look at any celebrity who’s been in the public eye for a while and see if they do the following things.
1- Show up.
Famous or not, privileged or not, continued success is dependent on personal effort and drive.
One can have access to the best trainers and nutritionists, for example, but he or she still has to eat healthy, and exercise. You can’t hire someone to exercise, or eat healthy, on your behalf.
An actor might have a stunt double but he has to memorize the lines, show up, and act.
Famous people might have an easier time getting the help they need, but they still have to show up and do the work.
No matter how limited your resources are, you can show up, and do your work.
2- Take risks.
Fame is a risky business. Everything a famous person does is scrutinized and publicized. But that doesn’t stop them from getting into different projects, or saying no to certain opportunities.
On the surface, it may sound easy to say yes (or no) from a place of fame and power. But when the whole world is watching and judging, it’s much harder. Yet, they do it anyway.
And that’s something we all can do. We can take risks and bet on ourselves, especially when the stakes are high.
3- Keep going.
To stay relevant, a famous person has to stay active. We have entertainers who’ve been in the public eye for over 20 year and they’re still relevant, because they never stopped.
Many of them reinvented themselves several times over. Athletes became actors. Actors became producers and directors. Reality stars turned into authors and fashion designers. And so on.
Keep going no matter what, and change direction or course, when it feels right.
4- Don’t let the results define you.
Let’s take the example of movie stars. Most of them had at least a few projects that flopped. But that didn’t stop them from acting, and getting into other projects.
The hard-working entertainers usually zoom into a project, till it’s done. They promote the hell out of it, and then they let it go, and move on.
Success is about doing your best, not getting a certain result. No outcome (good or bad) can define you, or take away from your value.
This is one of the most important lessons we can use in our work and life in general.
Do the best you can. Promote your work, and then surrender control of the outcome. There is nothing you can do about how your work is going to be received.
5- Don’t reinvent the wheel.
While celebrities command the highest number of followers and fans on social media, they were not the first to embrace it. They mostly jumped on the bandwagon after it was a sure thing.
Most of them grow their wealth, and keep their fame going, by capitalizing on the same ideas that have been tried and tested: more work projects, endorsement deals, private label products (perfumes, clothes or jewelry), writing books, fashion design, and so on.
You hardly hear of a famous person inventing something, or doing something that hasn’t been done a million times before.
We can use the same strategy to build our own success. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel and come up with a brilliant idea. We can leverage our knowledge and experience and create our own success in familiar fields, like writing a book, or creating a podcast, or taking beautiful photographs.
We don’t need to wait for that elusive stroke of genius that sets us apart from others. We can start now with what we know and make the most of the ideas that have been around for a while.
Fame in and of itself doesn’t denote success. It can easily be dumb luck that propels someone to be known for a few fleeting moments. Fame, however, cannot be sustained by luck, or idle talent.
It takes courage and constant work to achieve success.
So let’s get to work. No one is stopping us, other than ourselves. We may not be famous or have access to the best of everything. But we do have access to our own time and effort, our own brilliance and experience, and that’s more than enough for us to achieve anything we desire.
