Stop Trying to be the Next Beyonce or Stephen King. Be the Best Version of You.

Published: Sun, 01/06/19

The Most Important Person to Keep Your Promises to is yourself.

— Unknown

In today’s world being you is tough to achieve. If you notice the world we occupy is continually trying to tell you that you need to be someone else. You’re never good enough and whatever you have to offer the world is inadequate without some crutch provided by one of the millions of products that fill that need. The messages from the media are subtle but powerful. But what they aren’t telling you is you don’t need to be anybody but the best version of yourself. My writing and any creative endeavor you are involved in will benefit significantly from you focusing not on trends but on what you find interesting and exciting.
Are you saying I should please myself, Anton?
Yep, that’s precisely what I’m saying.

Being You is worth shouting about!

Never play to the gallery. Never work for other people in what you do. Always remember that the reason you initially started working was there was something inside yourself that, if you could manifest it, you felt you would understand more about yourself. I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations.

I believe this quote wholeheartedly.
To please yourself will be uncomfortable at first. Let’s be honest not many of us won’t buy clothes we haven’t been advised to buy or eat food some expert has recommended to us. So imagine how many people create art that has been filtered through other people’s opinions. What you are actually saying to yourself is that you have no faith in your own creative power and that you need a popular opinion to access what you do and deem it worthy.

It takes a certain amount of bravery and belief in yourself to forge ahead with the idea that is wholly ours. Many of us dream of being read, listened to, admired and emulated by millions around the world because of something we have created. The idea of doing it on our own terms no matter what the outcome is a scary prospect. We’ve been conditioned to be downright negative about what we can do. We tend to undervalue what we have created for ourselves and overvalue creating for a vast audience. But the one thing you can depend on is your audience of one - yourself. You will always be there every day when you wake up. You need to be happy with the work you produce.
Make yourself the audience of one.

The media will not tell you, and the influential vocal few will not say, but the only audience you need to please to be happy is you. While separating your work and effort from the results is one of the hardest things to do, it’s also one of the most important. Otherwise, your sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness will depend on the “results.” If the results are mostly out of your control, it’s pointless stressing over it. Why not measure your success in ways you do have control over?

Remember in everything you do, please yourself first. Stop trying to become the next Beyoncé or Stephen King. The flaw in this kind of thinking is that you'll never truly become a version of that person. As a creator, your job is to commit to becoming the best version of you. If you’re a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday, then that’s progress.
If I can do that, then I’m a happy man.

Peace

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