A Blue-Print for Success?

I am painfully ambitious. I have goals so big they are laughable. But the only thing that currently exceeds my drive, is my complete cluelessness. So, my type-A brain solves this problem the way it knows best - through analysis.

And so, since graduating I have developed the strange pass-time of studying people I deem to be wildly successful. I'm talking full-blown highlighters out, notes taken, mind map type beat. Intense, I know, but let me at least try and justify this strange practice.

By studying those who have walked this path already, I don't have to start from square one. I can observe and absorb wisdom, piecing together a blurry blue-print for success.

Over the last year I have had sought out countless conversations with every "successful" person I know. Those who have been generous enough to respond to my pleas for advice have impacted the course of my life and career more than I could possibly express. (side note - if you are young, ambitious and clueless like me, I cannot recommend this course of action enough).

Whilst I am lucky to know some impressively accomplished people, some of the most impactful observations have come from studying individuals who have had a profound impact on culture - be it musicians, business women, artists or designers.

Pair these observations with some critical thinking and patterns for success begin to emerge. The most interesting one (by my judgement) is as follows:

Wildly successful people are profoundly impactful. They achieve impact because of their exceptional ability to articulate what others cannot. In short, they posses a superior ability to communicate a future reality, and therefore speak it into existence.

Let me expand.

The most impactful creatives accurately depict something that has been widely and deeply felt, but rarely articulated. Their work echos an unexpressed part of oneself or society. A song that resounds with a somber sense of nostalgia within you. A painting that feels like a strange extension of your mind state. A film that somehow captures your unsaid emotion or depicts a hidden part of shared culture. This accurate articulation provokes an emotional reaction in you - curiosity; indignation; affirmation.

Similarly, the most impactful business women and men have a vision for a venture. They see the world sideways, envisioning an unexplored solution to a problem. By translating their unique perspective into a compelling concept and articulating it to partners, investors, and consumers they gain immense support.

The most trivial way I observe this theme is through successful influencers. Think of the likes of Madeline Argy or Emma Chamberlain. Why are people so utterly obsessed with them? - Because they are able to put words to your unexpressed emotions and experiences (this is aided by their beauty of course - another conversation in itself). You feel like they know you, they see your experiences and validate them. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go listen to ten minutes of Emma's "Anything Goes" podcast, come back and try to disagree with me.

This theme of success transcends disciplines:

• Curiosity: question "the way things are"; see the world side-ways; develop a unique perspective

• Articulate this accurately

It is a shockingly simple, and yet astonishingly rare skill that I'd urge anyone daring to live an expansive life to put into practice immediately.

End note: A friend recently described being in your early twenties as being an "infant adult". As such, in my naivety, I reserve the right to develop and even contradict this theory.