Why are people afraid to be.......HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL?

1. 84

   gmwilliamsposted 7 years ago

   Why are people afraid to be.......HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL?
   
   

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2. 68

   lisavollrathposted 7 years ago

   Grace, I think you have to define what highly successful is, because I suspect what you see as success is very different than what I do.
   
   Does success mean amassing wealth, having a high-power, high-paying, high-stress job? Having a big house and an expensive car? Some people use these things as a measure of their success.
   
   Or, does success mean being happy, having enough to get by, and doing work that is fulfilling, but maybe doesn't pay well? Having friends, a happy family, an active social life? Some people use these things as a measure of success.
   
   When I was younger, I studied to be a costume designer. After getting my graduate degree, I was lucky enough to meet, and start working for, someone who went to the same grad school I did, and who was designing shows all over the world, including his first few on Broadway. I worked for him as his New York assistant, holding down the fort, checking in at his home each day, and making sure whatever he needed, wherever he was in the world, got to him.
   
   When I took the job with him, I thought he had the life I wanted.He was, in our profession, successful. He was what I hoped to be.
   
   After working for him for a year, I left New York, and never went back. I learned that although his professional life was on the upswing, he spent his life living in hotel rooms. Some days, he woke up not remembering what country he was in. His partner was essentially living alone, due to the ridiculous number of days my boss was away. He had professional success, but his life was suffering, and there just wasn't room in his schedule to fix that. I decided his life wasn't for me.
   
   So, maybe people aren't afraid to be your version of highly successful. Maybe they've looked at it, and decided it's just not for them.
   
   I have to wonder, Grace, what would happen if everyone decided to be your version of highly successful. Who does their dry cleaning? Who serves their food in restaurants? Who cleans their hotel rooms? Are they same people you throw shade at now, for not being highly successful? Are you sure those people aren't personally fulfilled in other aspects of their lives, while being somehow inferior in your eyes for not being professionally successful?

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   1. 84

      gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      You had a very interesting career.   How lovely.  To me, being highly successful means having a graduate or specialized degree, being in a lucrative career earning from $100K & up.   Well, by my definition, I wasn't highly successful at all.

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3. 56

   peter565posted 7 years ago

   I don't think people are afraid to be high successful (although, unless he is successful himself, guys do get intimidate by highly successful girls, when dating though LOL)

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