Success is Elusive?

There are people who do something once and bang…. they find fame, fortune and success of that type. There are others who work diligently yet never gain any recognition. I have often wondered what drives this? What is the secret to finding commercial success? Yes, I wouldn’t mind a bit of it as I approach my retirement years. Actually, I have a had a lot of career success but a couple of major failed relationships have left me with very little and so, from time to time, I wish one of my hobbies might take off a bit and provide me with more income.

But what is success?

I tend to think of success initially in materialistic terms. It made me money, gained me some fame or notoriety and so on. Actually, success can be defined in many other ways.

I take it as success that I have had a few hit books on Amazon….. even that I have written books at all. I think I have around 40 books out. That, is in itself, an achievement.

 

 

Then there is music. Making records – learning how to record, mix music, get it released and see people play it. That’s success too isn’t it?

 

 

But, I can’t help myself. Now its photos, my book reviews and associated site, this blog, My Haunted Life Too blog and so on and on….. I just keep going and going. And while I have succeeded in doing these things – in ways that I could never have imagined – wouldn’t it be nice to have a run away success. A song that gets 1 million plays or a book that sells 100,000 copies or even a book review site that gets 1000’s of visitors a day?

I’m not even sure how that happens.

And if it did, what would it do to me? Make me want to repeat it but bigger? Yes – most likely.

I really enjoy doing these things. I enjoy that I can do them! The world is full of people who do not have the luxury of being able to do these things and for many reasons from poverty to illness or access or whatever. I am grateful for what I have been able to do and how successful I have been….

I have sold over 17,000 books. But the income from that isn’t very much and the sales from each book slowly fade away meaning another is required. There are days and weeks when my songs never get played. I have yet to sell a photograph. The traffic from my best trafficked site has yet to produce $100 in google ad revenues…..

The lesson I have learned is that turning the success of achievement – doing something you thought beyond you – into money and fame is a very rare and elusive thing….. it seems to occur accidentally to some and others, well they sell their souls really and I don’t see that as a fair cost for the return.

Hey – I’m only 60. There is plenty of time yet …. so I will keep pushing it out happily, enjoying the fact that I can.