“There’s this idea that you can go on American Idol and suddenly become a star, but you may bypass the spiritual work you have to do to get there. And if you bypass that, then your success will be wafer thin.” - Sting
Reading this quote on Olafur Arnalds' twitter just made my day, and since I read it I'm thinking about it. It feels like the world is spinning faster and faster every day. We are exposed to the success stories of some people we see on media every day such as the girl who became a superstar at the age of 13 or the guy who won 5 Grammys at the age of 21, and in most of this huge success stories, there is this emphasis on age, which makes you feel useless if you are older but have nothing worth winning a Grammy.
For people like me, I mean, for whom the success is an important component of their lives to feel competent and meaningful, this mindset is very dangerous, since the more you hold on to this idea of immediate success and gratification, the more you feel late for everything in life and the more anxious you become. I think when you want immediate success, your motivation and focus become the success you're going to get instead of the work you do or the art you want to create, which will result in failure.
This quote made me realize that there is actually this beauty in taking your time, improving, waiting, learning and being patient, and this beauty as a whole is going to complement your success if you will get it one day, and your success will be much stronger and meaningful.