Why doesn't success lead to happiness?

[tsuki]

On 1.09.2020 at 3:56 PM, actualizing25 said:

I don't understand why success doesnt lead to happiness. People are always saying (including Leo) that success won't make you happy. Why is that?

This saying is prevalent here because measuring life through success is a very crude way thinking, indicating certain carelessness. It is important to define success well before you will try to achieve it. Without care, we are prone to thinking in crude terms, measuring success through money, the amount of women you've slept with, clients, or followers on Instagram. At some level, it is fine to do it this way, but ultimately you will have to ask yourself what it means to be successful to you. That inevitably leads to deeper questions about you, specifically which lead to understanding of happiness. Success at that point is obsolete, because you know that you can only be happy by being you and choose a path that is well-tailored to your specific talents and dispositions.

Successful musicians are successful because they are expressing themselves, not merely because of the fruits of their work. 

Still, if you are convinced that money, women, or status will make you happier, then there is no way around it. It is the reality to you, but be prepared at some point to re-evaluate your choices after you've grown into something more expansive.

Edited October 2, 2020 by tsuki

[LfcCharlie4]

It's not that success can't make you happy, it's that nothing can 'make' you happy, except deep realization of who you are (The Self) and abidance as that, NOW. 

Then, from a place of happiness, we can express that in what we do, and put ZERO expectations on things, people & careers to make us happy and we counter intuitively will get even better results and can enjoy them more.

To me it sounds like you're thinking you can't enjoy success, you definitely CAN, of course living your LP is incredibly fulfilling relatively speaking, but here we talk of absolute peace & happiness, nothing impermanent can bring that.

So, don't think you shouldn't strive for success, it's great fun, just strive from a place of happiness & you'll be even more successful