This thing called fame

A lot of people want to be famous with the belief that fame generates recognition, affluence, and happiness. This is partially true because fame does bestow recognition but it doesn’t automatically translate to financial success.

If you’re reading this with hopes that when you eventually acquire fame, you’ll automatically become rich, then you have another thing coming, you could be famous and yet not make a dime out of your celebrity status.

There have been situations where some people got the lucky break at some point in their lives, became famous, got wealthy and then, they got too comfortable and complacent that before they knew what was happening, their status and top position plummeted to the bottom, taking their “fat” bank accounts with them.

As with every other position on the face of the earth, complacency is the enemy of progress, it is the largest obstacle that holds a lot of people back from greatness. So if you are working towards harnessing your gift/craft/talent and you hope to not only be famous but be successful as well, then here are a few tips to guide you through because success is not a destination, but a journey:

Be Your Authentic Self: This can be very hard especially in the world we live in, but being your authentic self is the best thing you can be for yourself and your career. The beautiful thing about authenticity is that there is no other one like you, you own your gift and you alone can harness and optimise it. This is your unique identity!

Be Steps Ahead: In-as-much, as you have probably hired people to think for you and help put your brand on that pedestal, applying yourself, brainstorming with your team, being in the know, will always put you a step or two ahead of your peers.

Know what is going on around you, be aware and be interested. It will not augur well for you or your team’s perception by would-be clients/customers/partners if you can’t contribute to a general topic that is being discussed due to naivety or cluelessness, so it pays to be aware and apply yourself. It makes all the difference. Great people are eternal researchers, constantly studying their environment, their field, scouring for information however trivial it might seem. History has shown that most great careers/businesses advanced above others on information that seemed trivial to regular folks and average minds.

Own Your Own Mind: There is a saying that goes: “In a world that’s constantly trying to make you something else, be yourself.” This rings true. Stay true to yourself and your values, you will be surrounded by a lot of distractions and if you are not careful, it will pull you down faster than a bulldozer does an erect structure. Yes, you will definitely get a lot of jabs thrown at you but stick to your principles and eventually, you’ll realise that it was all worth it in the end. It actually defines you and stands you out in the crowd.

Listen: I write this immediately after “Own Your Mind” because I would like to stress on the fact that owning your mind doesn’t mean you should tune out the voice of others. Listen to your advisers, fans, admirers and your critics also, but apply wisdom when sieving what you assimilate versus the ones you discard because sometimes people on the outside see certain areas of your life that you could improve on.

Stay Grounded: With fame comes recognition, the spotlight is on you and no matter how careful you are, sometimes your personal life and career will be splattered on the pages of the newspapers and other forms of media. With this recognition comes attention, people will want to be close to you (for good and not so good reasons). That and so many more will come up as you get famous but be careful not to get carried away, forgetting how you started. Remembering your roots keeps you grounded and is a constant reminder of why and how you started. You didn’t put in so much work to flush it down the drain now did you?

This thing called fame, although just a four-letter word, is a powerful drug. It is strong enough to hold you up or pull you down depending on how you use it when you attain it. so the power to determine the outcome lies in you alone.