The Road To Success Ain't Pretty Fam

Success...the seemingly ever-fleeting hallmark of human existence. The pursuit of happiness. It's self-validating, self-empowering, and its one of the most effective ways to add purpose to anyone's life once achieved. We were taught at a young age by our parents and teachers alike to chase success and it will be waiting for us on the other side. Just one problem. They kind of failed at telling us about all the Saturn-sized potholes in the middle. Or maybe we were just at the mercy of our selective hearing as youngins. Either way, here we are. 

When I was young I never really asked my parents how to be successful or what it even means to be successful. All I was concerned about along with the other 99% of my fellow age group was securing a Razr phone and making my myspace page look as obnoxious as humanly possible. Our elders always told us things like, "You have to work hard for what you want" or "Anything you want in this life you can have if you work hard and don't give up". Solid advice but practical? Not so much. As we aged we developed a keener sense of reality and gained a firmer grasp on what it really takes to not only be successful but what you must endure to achieve it. The first hurdle most of us millennials faced was quite simply....Where the **** do I even start? Now let me tell you, a race is already challenging enough, but not even knowing where to start? Talk about floating up shit's creek, at this point you might as well be backstroking in it. Although life is not a race, this is initially where the millennial pack separates and we see that polarizing divide amongst our peers. Not knowing how or what or where to start your journey can be incredibly frustrating. It's a barrier of entry that claims the hearts and minds of many of us as we fall by the wayside and stray off the path.

Here's a hint:

DON'T STRAY OFF THE ****** PATH!!!

Just because we weren't told we'd change our major 20 times just to graduate with a degree we'll probably never use, just because we spent our entire lives making good grades to show up for a job everyday we don't even like, and just because we've failed at so many things and been told no so many times doesn't never justifies quitting. My mom would always tell me, "Some things in life you'll just have to experience and figure out on your own". Our parents, our teachers, our elders; none of them want to see us fail but often times to give someone perspective you have to let them experience it first. We're experiencing it now. For the ones in our herd who didn't stray, we know what failure really feels like. And if you ask any successful person that's ever lived, they'll all happily tell you in order to succeed you must fail first. You have to know what failure feels like to ever appreciate success. It's the true litmus test that awaits us all throughout our journey. To further drive home the point I'm trying to make to you all I supply this following quote:

"If you can't handle the stress, you won't be able to handle the success either."

So stay the course. Don't stray. Understand that everything included within being successful isn't romantic or exciting. You're not supposed to have it all figured out today or next year. You won't wake up tomorrow radiating in glee with a newfound purpose in life and a handy roadmap on how to get there. You may spend years doing the wrong thing before you even begin with the right. This is all just a part of life. That dash between your birth and death date will be largely defined by how you handle adversity. What you did when things weren't going your way but you fought through and stuck it out.

You may take my post as a very bleak and dismal view of what it takes to be successful but that's not my goal. I'm just giving you that real. Nothing more nothing less. I want to stimulate your mind in a practical way and really make you think about what I'm saying. I'm a realist but I'm an optimist first. Faith and positivity is a winning formula that has gotten me through the toughest of times. Sometimes that's all you have to lean on when nothing's left. So being successful is hard, we all get that by now. What can we do to make that road a little less bumpy? Well, it starts with the mind. The GOAT himself, Kobe Bryant, said it best, "If you do not believe in yourself, no one will do it for you". You must also surround yourself with people who not only want to win as bad as you do but are actually doing what it takes to win. I think the grown-ups call it networking. 

If you think like a successful person, surround yourself with successful people, and consistently work towards that success, who on this earth can deny you your victory? It's yours for the taking.