The Illusion Of Success
Anti-Curiosity, Maintaining Truth, Clear Vision
Listen to your inner knowingness. Therein lies your answers. Everything else is an illusion.Curious
Who are you listening to?
“You know to stop being curious when your results are just the opposite of what you need.” - Brian Grazer
Source: A Curious Mind
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If following societal definitions of success takes away your peace, freedom, happiness, or presence (your true identity) — anti-curiosity is calling.
How you live your life and what you deem successful cannot be prescribed.
I had no bedroom when I first moved to Canada in 2019. I slept on a single mattress on a living room floor for six months. Social norms don’t associate sleeping on a living room floor with success and that’s the point of this story.
Sleeping on that mattress without a bedroom was a choice. It meant I could live with three of my closest friends before a couple of them set sail. Success to me was defined by living with people I loved, laughing every day, and spending that time in a fulfilling way. I gave up elements of privacy and comfort in exchange for what mattered to me most at that time. Leading up to that period, when I previously followed other people’s definitions of success, I was miserable. The opposite of peace, freedom, and happiness.
The lesson? Define success on your terms. Insert earplugs and listen within to discover what feels right. Everything else is an illusion.
Conscious
Maintaining your truth:
“The courage to pursue our heart’s calling while staying true to ourselves — that is real success.” -
Source: No More Self Sacrificing
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“100% recommend being yourself, treating others well, sticking to your values, and trusting your intuition, as you search for success. You’ll sleep better at night knowing you didn’t sell out or step on people to climb up.” -
Source: Vex King
Change
Clear vision:
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. - Carl Jung
Source: Letters Volume I
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The answers to what truly matters are often sought in places they will never be found i.e. other people, social media, or objects — causing disillusion and suffering.
You know what matters, but perhaps your instincts are buried under deep layers of conditioning. Be still, put your blinkers on, and do it your way.
Reader reflection:
Have you defined what success means, or are you following societal norms?
I’m curious to know how you define success.
Live Free,
Niall
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LVN Stories
LVN (livin’): described as a feeling of aliveness, freedom, fulfillment, or joy.
shares how life doesn't always go to plan and how new fulfilling paths open up when you keep moving forward with curiosity.
Well written Niall! I’m glad I came across your words on here. Thank you for taking the time to share your magic with me. Success is a feeling more than an external accomplishment or status. It’s an inside job. It’s something I have been exploring the past 10 years as my definition used to be vastly different. I feel as though I’m coming to find a balanced view now (internal and external). But more than anything it’s feeling at home within myself. I feel you may enjoy reading this piece I wrote on following your own path: https://open.substack.com/pub/soulwisdom/p/the-path-of-courage?r=a9uns&utm_medium=ios
Niall, my oldest daughter asked me yesterday, "Don't you wish you made a lot of money as a writer?" I said, "No actually. I never went into college hoping or planning to make money. I wanted to do what I love, to be financially comfortable, but not to chase money for its own sake. I'm happy with less." She seemed surprised. Truly, I've lived frugally my entire life and I'd rather have the freedom to make my life what I want it to be than to be beholden to some corporation who drives the number of hours I have to work in order to be wealthy.