I had a similar desire to be famous as a child. I think that is a normal phenomenon. Children have big dreams are fairly aware they have their whole life ahead of them to create for themselves. Parents and teachers encourage this sort of liberal (not the political orientation) attitude. It's almost a cliche asking a child 'And what do you want to be when you grow up?' and getting some pretty top-shelf answers. Incidentally, our culture in the West overtly implants a propensity in us from a very young age to adopt desires in the ilk of becoming famous, aquiring lots of money, driving a nice car etc. The ideas we collect as children evolve as we age and mature, but the bedrock of cultural fabric is irreversibly absorbed: the implantations of what kinds of things to value like fame and money and mateiral possessions don't easily leave us like our hotwheels or barbie dolls. By the way, this value system is largely defined in Spiral Dyanmics by the color Orange. Check out Leo's video on Spiral Dynamics if not aready.
Anyway, to get more down to earth, I'm going to submit to you a few ideas that I've personally come to on this topic...
-being famous would be probably be a drag
-very few famous people became famous by the force of their will
Being famous introduces a lot of problems like loss of privacy, being in the public eye for scrutiny, and seems to be a more complicated existence in general. Most famous people became famous by being in the right place at the right time, usually by way of some extraneous circumstance largely out of their control. Daniel Radcliffe for looking like a fictional character, Kardashians for a sex tape, Paris Hilton for being a blond girl who happens to be from the Hilton family, musicians like Coldplay, Grimes, the Eagles did not expect to get big. You get my point. It's unexpected in so many cases. And if not, the rise to fame is often from excellence in a craft or skill. Michael Phelps, Stephen Curry, Usain Bolt, Yo-Yo Ma, Nikola Tesla. To make an important distinction, even among this group of highly skilled individuals (Phelps, Curry, Tesla, etc.) it is overwhelmingly likely that ALL of them became famous by simply loving their craft. Phelps probably loves to swim. Yo-Yo Ma just loves music. Tesla undoubtedly loved science. The getting famous part was just a result of these individuals pouring all of themselves into that thing they love. And this ALL circles back to one of Leo's foundational messages: these people found their life purpose and self-actualized - to an astonishing level. To get back to reality, 99.9% of us are not that awesome. Not me. So I just accept that being famous probably won't happen, and I'm okay with that. Whether this idea bums you out or not, I would recommend actively practicing gratitude for the life you have. I began a practice where I 'count my blessings' as I ride my bike home from work. It's amazing how effective that was for me. 10 minutes a day while weaving through traffic, I thank my lucky stars for... Plus, a fair number of famous people wish they weren't famous and yearn for a normal existence. Isn't that funny! Besides, fame didn't never arrived anyone at a place of joy forever into the bubblegum sunset. The rich and famous suffer like everyone else, have similar problems, go through traumatic breakups, have loved ones pass away, have existential crises just like you are experiencing here. ....
But I confess, I didn't fully shake my own desire for lavish attention and approval from others. So, I found ways to extract that out of the world. In my own case, I picked up juggling a few years ago. It was fun for me and I also noticed the positive attention I got from people. So I kept at it and improved. People's reactions scaled with how much I practiced which motivated me to keep getting better. I definitely thrive on the feedback I get from others. Am I conceited? narcissistic? Maybe, I guess I am, but fuck it I'm having fun and more importantly I am making something happen in my experience that I want to happen. It took a shit load of work and still, most people don't pay me any attention all. Why should they? I'm just another random guy to everyone else; and when somebody does give me positive feedback, I put a smile on my heart. And that's enough! That's no free bus ride, either- I worked for it! So to get the kind of attention you desire this will likely be the path you will need to take: lots of hard work. I saw a post up above that mentioned 10,000 hours to mastery. That's what I've heard and what Leo, himself says. Commit to a thing. Most people don't commit to anything ever in their life. Committing to watching all seasons of Game of Thrones in a weekend is not the right kind of commitment. Make a genuine commitment that comes from YOU. In context of self-development, it's perhaps important above all to recognize that being famous and getting the attention of a celebrity or a street juggler is nothing more than a trivial overlay onto your experience. In the end there is nothing more sacred than the integrity of the mind. No applaud or roars of approval will afford you inner peace.
