Having a successful life vs succeeding your life!

My Mom, bless her heart, never cared that much for me to be successful at Life because she had no worries about me going to school, having a degree and getting a well-paid, having a good job. But I gracefully failed at the job part since I decided to be an entrepreneur in my early 20s… And then, she started to worry a little about the direction I'd give to my life. She's from an older school where you need to maintain the same job until you retire, have kids, get married if possible. My Mom is a very unique and unconventional woman, but she wanted me to have a conventional life. What I'm successfully failing at once again!

Before moving to NYC, I was just traveling the world and making money with dance, graphic design and journalism. In my 20s, I was abroad every other month until NYC humbled me down!

I had to see the World thanks to Hip Hop Culture. If it wasn't for Hip Hop, I'd have a very different life… Before the age of 28, I visited almost all of Europe, North America and all the Caribbean, Türkiye, and a few countries in Africa. I was always on the go, didn't care much about the money, and focused on the Life experience side.

And then NYC happened… Mom was a bit scared but very happy for me because I was going for what I wanted. But she had a concern: no man to share my life? Will I ever have the baby fever? Am I going to get a J.O.B.? Am I ever going to settle down and have that conventional life she dreamed of for me?

But she remained silent because she respected my choices and didn't want to project her plans on me…

And one day, she understood me! She understood that it wasn't about any of these things but about THE Life experience! She understood that her daughter might probably not have that so-called normal life. That she'll probably get married and have kids but probably not settle for the traditional family dynamics.

And even if I always had a red thread, I remember feeling down one day and asking my Mom if she wished me to be different, to have a different life, and if I should totally reconsider my life. And she told me: “I want you to succeed your life, not you to be successful at Life! You fought way too much to be where you are at. You even fought me! You didn't do all of this to finally become ‘Mrs. Random.’ Unless that's what you want. Then it's fine… I don't care that you own this and that. I don't care about you getting married if you're not happy. Take your time, my daughter. But don't forget that I'm not eternal… That's the only thing I can tell you. At some point, I won't be able to help you with your kids; and I still want to walk you down the aisle…”

My Mom has supported my unapologeticness and always defended me when people were asking me when will I settle down.

I settle UP!

If you remember my “It's not a crisis, it's a new era” article, that's what I'm talking about. I've never cared about what society expects me to be; I ask myself once or twice a year: “Who do you want to be? How do you want your year to be?” And I go for it.

André Brugiroux is a world traveler. He visited each country on that globe with little to no money, went to jail in some countries, was extradited, and yet had the best life experience, according to me. He traveled for 18 years and got married at 46 years old. And even after getting married, he kept traveling.

One guide that I met in South Africa dedicated his life to living with the Bushmen. He didn't care about a traditional life; all he wanted was to learn, understand, experience with the Bushmen, and he makes money being a Petroglyph Hiking tour guide.

Other people are family travelers: happily married with kids, and they trade a conventional life to travel the world and would rather have their kids learning from Life than from school benches.

These are just a few examples among endless possible lifestyles.

I’ve had 20 different lives so far in this lifetime, and I might not be done. I personally don't measure my success with the money in my bank account, my house, my man, etc. These are nice, don't get me wrong, even amazing; and for some people, it is success and kudos to them. And that's very genuine and from the bottom of my heart. Because the most important thing is to wake up every day at peace, happy, satisfied and excited to live every single moment.

And I totally get it that for some people, a successful life is answering their parents’ wishes and/ or fitting in. It’s pretty reassuring to be “normal".

I personally constantly evolve, and my dreams and desires evolve with me. I like to be excited, intentional, meaningful, impressed, and explore/discover. I love to feel, I love to be in awe, I love to learn, to be amazed, and I'm very aligned with my brain, heart and soul. And that's how I succeed in my Life 🤍.

And being so confident/grounded about myself and my life makes me a better entrepreneur, business owner. Because I know who I am and where I want to go.

No matter if your soul is craving a traditional life or if you're an outcast, be aligned and go for what YOU really want and not what you're expected to be/have (unless that's fully your wish)

Ask yourself who you want to be and if you're willing to do what is required to succeed at YOUR life!

That's all for me, I'm out!

✌🏽🫶🏽🎤