Success in the age of the influencer
I was reading a book the other day, Love x Style x Life by photographer,
illustrator and blogger Garence Dore' (if you haven't had the pleasure of reading this pretty little book I HIGHLY recommend it!) while feeling reasonably unmotivated and particularly unstylish, I turned to the chapter about her ‘10 steps’ and It was all so very chic that even her tales of struggle sounded like something I could only wish for!
However in the midst of this seemly unachievable success story one
discussion really stuck with me. Dore was reminiscing about a conversation with Scott Shuman, (an equally talented fashion “somebody’ and friend) who quoted, "You have to create your own definition of success".
Something just clicked.
Look, I know this is nothing new and I am still unsure if this casual recount of conversation was intended to be so inspiring but it really got me thinking! In the age of the influencer it's all well and good to talk about success when you are sitting shoulder to shoulder with Anna Wintour at fashion week or receiving tens of thousands of views on sponsored posts, but what does this mean for the rest of us? Are we not as successful because we are running a blog from our bedroom in our pajamas? Should we feel less accomplished? My attitude had always been yes. But this new motto from a simple little conversation in a book changed my whole outlook. Success is completely defined by YOU and no one else. Just because I'm not sharing my posts to a crowd of thousands doesn't make my passion any lesser then those who do. I'm doing what I love because I love it and that in itself makes me feel successful. Every post every picture is
a minor success in working towards my bigger goals.
The next time you are scrolling through instagram looking at influencers with seemingly perfect, glamorous lives asking yourself why cant that be me!? (Which I’m guilty of at least 100 times a day). Don’t forget that there will always be bigger dreams to chase, endless goals
and potential to reach, BUT its just as important to not lose track of the smaller success’ along the way and most importantly not to be intimidated by others definitions of success.
Hardt xx
___________
Chloe Steinhardt
https://www.instagram.com/hardt___