Do you want to be a famous author, blogger, inventor, designer or perhaps a mega movie or rock star?
It’s time for some tough-love my friends, if you want to know the secret.
Creative Commons by Christian Holmér
Maybe you will be famous one day, but for now you need to do something that matters today.
Famous people are famous for a reason and unless you are incredibly talented and ready to win the latest hit talent show on TV, then you need to know the reason they are famous and use it to your advantage.
No. I’m not going to tell you that becoming famous is work, because that should be obvious and I am not going to tell you that it is persistence because that should be just as obvious.
If you’re not ready or willing to do those two things (work and persevere), then you are not ready for the secret.
It’s about passion.
You need to find your passion, live it and stick with it through thick and thin.
Everyone can tell when someone is doing something just for the sake of doing it. But it’s just as clear, if not more so, when someone is doing something because they LOVE TO DO IT.
You need to love your work and breathe it every day.
It’s not about statistics.
Following statistics is most obvious with new bloggers because stats for blogging are easy to come by. They follow their comments, shares, page views and subscriptions daily, even hourly.
But instead of lifting their spirits and driving them to write more, statistics usually only serve to demoralize, and most bloggers eventually give up because it seems too difficult to gain attention.
If you are a victim of checking statistics or consistently reading reviews about your work, then you need to remember why you started:
For the LOVE of what you are doing.
If you don’t love your work then statistics, reviews and other ways to measure your work can destroy your enthusiasm, and your desire to continue will stall.
Suffice it to say, even if you get the statistics or reviews you are looking for they will not sustain you.
It’s time for a reality check.
I discovered the secret to success and becoming famous in an art museum. It was while reading a caption to one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings that I realized the reality of fame.
The caption read something like this: “Vincent van Gogh was not well known until the end of his life and his paintings did not become celebrated until after his death.”
Did you know that many of the most famous artists who have passed away were not famous until after their death?
It’s true. Great artists such as Edgar Alan Poe, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson and Vincent van Gogh were not as well know while they were alive.
What if those great artists had believed they needed to become famous for their work to matter and be appreciated? They were driven by their passion to create, to write what they wanted to write and to paint what they wanted to paint.
And since none of them became very famous during their lifetimes, what if they had not continued their work?
They didn’t stop or give up, and neither should you.
Here’s the secret you need to know.
Becoming famous is irrelevant.
Some people will become famous overnight and others will not become famous until after they have left this world, and a great many more will never become famous no matter how meaningful their work is.
Every now and then we all need a reality check and get our head’s out of the clouds. Becoming famous is only a byproduct of great work.
Focus on your art and don’t worry about becoming famous. (Tweet This)
First it was TV and now it’s the Internet that has everyone believing they need to become world famous to create work that matters. But no, that’s backwards.
You need to create work that matters first and it needs to matter to you more than anyone else, then maybe others will care about it too. But maybe they won’t.
So if they don’t notice it or seem to care, will you create anyway?
If you answered yes, then congratulations, you’re an artist and your work matters.
Only when you are ready to answer yes will you have the opportunity to become famous. It means being famous (or not) is not as important to you as creating something that matters. That’s a true artist, my friend, and it’s the reason most famous people become famous.
You’re awesome –never doubt it. Your work is not reliant on being famous or the approval of others.
Are you creating work that matters to you?
Share in the comments and if your work is online, go ahead, provide a link to it. I’d love to see what you’re creating.
