Misconceptions about Success and Stress

 Misconceptions about Success and Stress

Success according to the oxford dictionary is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” In America, we hold a great deal of value on financial success. I would like to think this is because of what that financial success brings us in the way of some level of freedom to live the life we want. Interestingly enough, when one appears to be successful i.e. they have financial wealth or they are making a great deal of money doing what they love, we seem to think they no longer have any problems. Time and time again, I have witnessed people trivialize the issues that someone with money may experience. 

It was evident when TikToker Mikayla Nogueira, after having a long day, expressed that being an influencer was hard work. At 13.6 million followers her revelation was not well received. The backlash she received was extreme and insulting and depreciating and overly harsh just because she is someone making a lot of money. I will say that after a long day, she probably was not thinking clearly and could have expressed herself a little better because she did come off as a little self-absorbed; however, that did not give people the right to attack her in the way they did.  However, we also see it when a celebrity is found out to have committed suicide and people say things like how hard could their life have been with all that money and such? 


Recently, Luvvie Ajayi, who shot to fame after many years of blogging but is a talented writer turned author, talked about how hard it is to be the CEO of her multimillion-dollar brand. Although many people were able to relate to this sentiment, I am sure some will come out of the woodwork to provide disparaging comments as to why she should be grateful, etc. With Luvvie Ajayi's gift of the pen, she was able to more eloquently express the difficulties that go along with being an entrepreneur and head of one's own million-dollar brand.


Here is what I find with perceived success in America, it seems that the majority of people think that somehow negates the realities of stress. It goes along with this idea that we can be stress-free which is a myth by the way.  I will keep saying it till I am blue in the face, there is no such thing as being stress-free. Somehow, we have fooled ourselves into believing that if we attain wealth our stressors will melt away. 

Now success and financial gains do tip the scale because it does allow us access to resources. Those resources can then be used to assist us with situations that may increase stress in our lives. So it makes managing and maneuvering stressful situations better. However, successful people still have stress. Not only that, they still have to build resilience and coping mechanisms and create a space that will allow them to properly address and deal with stressful events. 


This basic understanding of stress and stress management is important because as we continue to move forward in life and accomplish our goals, we have to accept that does not necessarily mean all of our difficult situations will easily be resolved. This allows us to be better prepared to handle the difficult times when they come upon us. This allows us to make plans for how we will deal with disappointments, setbacks, and failures that will inevitably happen regardless of our level of success.

You may feel that once you have accomplished your goal and arrived that all your problems will be solved and you will find happiness. Stuff and situations do not and will not necessarily lead to personal fulfillment, joy, and mental wellness if we are not willing to address our resiliency and coping skills. We must continue to take care of our inner self and remain mindful of taking care of the whole person- mind, body, and spirit regardless of the successes we garner. 



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