Getting Rich and Famous…
Okay, how many of you noticed the ellipsis (dot, dot, dot) in the title? One common usage of that bit of punctuation is to indicate that there’s more to come, and that’s certainly the case with this blog post.
In fact, maybe a more straightforward way to say what I meant is this: Go ahead and get rich and famous, BUT count the costs first. You might be able to do it, but be particular about how you go about it. It might come with hidden costs. And there may be a better way to get what it is that you probably really want.
Here’s a little graphic that shows more about what I mean. (Shoutout to Napkin.ai for generating it, and to our friends at StronglyRootedSolutions.com for telling us about Napkin.)
Several takeaways from the graphic:
You get rich and famous by doing something. You don’t get those things by sitting around wishing for them. As someone famously said, “Hope is not a strategy.”
Picking the right something is important. It can be something that’s personally fulfilling to you, or it can be something that’s just a means to an end. If it’s the former, you’ll almost certainly end up happy with your choice, regardless of the level of success you ultimately find. If it’s the latter, watch out–you might be setting yourself up for disappointment, because…
Chances are much higher that you won’t get rich and famous than that you will. There’s a lot more space in the green and red sections of the graphic than there is in the gold section. And if we’re honest, the graphic is not to scale. In real life the gold section is actually much, much smaller than it appears here.
On its own, getting rich and famous will probably not be as satisfying as you imagine. The graphic shows it brings external validation without joy. Now in all transparency, I didn’t write that–the Napkin AI did. But it rings true. History is littered with examples of it. You might even be able to think of a few off the top of your head.
It’s risky trying to get rich and famous doing something unfulfilling. We already covered that the odds of your getting rich and famous are slim. You might think you’ll improve them by choosing an unfulfilling occupation that seems more lucrative. And you may think getting rich and famous will offset the sacrifice you’ll make by choosing that path of unfulfillment. Maybe you’re right. I’ve never been rich and famous so I can’t say for sure. I hope it works out for you. But imagine for a minute what happens if you don’t beat the odds and you end up not rich and famous and stuck doing something unfulfilling. Not great.
The payoff possibilities are much higher if you pick something fulfilling. Worst case scenario, you get the satisfaction of doing work that aligns with your purpose. Best case, you get the whole enchilada–fulfilling work, plus fame and fortune to go along with it.
Fame and fortune are pretty hard to come by. Only a relative few ever actually get really rich or really famous. You might find fame and fortune doing what you were born to do. Or you might find them doing something you weren’t. Odds are you won’t in either case, but it’s possible. And I hope you do, if that’s what you really want.
But here’s the truth. You’ll only ever find fulfillment doing the former. And if I might be so bold, I think it’s fulfillment that most of us are really looking for anyway.
PRO TIP: If you need help identifying what kind of work might be most fulfilling for you, we recommend the Purpose Factor assessment as a good resource.
