Moving past traditional metrics(money and followers) to define success may ease the daily anxiety to fulfill the ever-changing societal expectations. In an African home, we've grown to define success based on certain achievements, and this has denied people the beauty of achievements that falls outside the societal-based definition of success. I wanted to study mechanical engineering after my college and I went to seek counsel from a family friend. Just like the others I had met before him, they believed becoming a mechanic was an inferior profession and would not award me the desired respect in society. No one cared to know why I chose mechanical engineering. They didn't even consider their own opinion, but were worried about society.
Doctors, lawyers, and politicians are believed to be lucrative professions while the rest falls under the low class category. A shoe cobbler is looked down upon, not because they feel he isn't creative, but that the society doesn't rate such jobs as lucrative and believe it can't sponsor a lifestyle that a lot of people crave for. Most times, it isn't about individual opinions or the person's passion but about society. If society starts to become the basis for every choice we make then success would drift to just certain things that may or may not be tied to one's happiness.
Image generated using Gemini AI
An old man once made an analogy of people's life and their view as they grow older. He said, in his adolescent, he believed everyone was watching him, so he did everything possible to gain people's applaud, when he became 30, he wanted to become rich to gain respect from people, but when he became 60, he realized the entire time no one was actually watching him or was truly concerned about him, because they were also busy trying to make a living for themselves. So he lived his entire life trying to live a life for others who didn't care about what he was n't. It was like making a great presentation to please an audience who were blind.
So why not define success on your own creative terms? It doesn't matter what it looks like society is saying, what should matter is what you've defined. Sometimes all people see is what you've defined and not what you assume they expect. It's your world and you define what people see in this world of yours. In a few years to come, it wouldn't be them, but you, because you'll realize everyone was busy creating their world and paid little or no attention to you.
